Kara woke up feeling almost perfectly healthy. She felt only a little sickness from the green still surrounding her cell. And strangely enough, there was nearly no pain in her arm, stomach, or face. It all felt healed.

She looked down to reveal flawless skin and was shocked. She was perfectly fine. Was this all the work of the sun lamps? This is incredible! Then she remembered what Lillian had said the day before.

I am only allowing the privilege to heal so that you can undergo more extensive and painful testing tomorrow.

Her stomach sank as Lillian's words resurfaced. Today was going to be even worse than yesterday. She wanted to leave, to get out. She needed her foster parents. She needed Alex.

Kara reached into her pocket and pulled out the picture, engraving it into her memory. She looked at it, longing for Alex's arms wrapped around her. Longing for just a glance into her warm and reassuring brown eyes. In person. Not in this picture. It felt like it wasn't enough anymore.

She was jolted out of her thoughts by the door opening. Kara quickly shoved the photo into her pocket, and acted normal. She couldn't risk getting it taken away, it was her lifeline in this horrible place. The only thing keeping her going.

Lillian set up the camera once more as Hank stepped into the cell. An exact copy of the day before. Kara's fear spiked as Hank pulled out a kryptonite knife. Serrated this time.

He plunged it into her leg.

She screamed as she felt her flesh splitting apart, her blood rushing out.

This continued for three hours, until she blacked out from the pain.

Later

When she woke up, she felt completely fine, save for a little dizziness from her cuffs.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and let her eyes water. Her future looked so bleak, and she felt hope slowly ebbing away, with every new wound Hank inflicted. But she refused to cry, because of her promise. She couldn't fail Alex so soon.

The younger Danvers sister pulled out the picture and brushed her finger over their faces. It was only three days ago, but it felt like three lifetimes. How could everything have changed so quickly? When had things started to go downhill so fast?

Once again, her thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. She hastily shoved the picture back into her pocket. Then she saw Lillian enter with a camera. And Hank enter with a green knife.

She endured the torture until the pain released her from the prison that was consciousness. When the darkness finally took over, so did her increasing feeling of helplessness.

She woke up the next day, feeling perfectly fine. Pulled out the picture. And like clockwork, Lillian and Hank entered the room.

And the cycle continued.

One week later

Everything was numb. Her emotions. Her body. She just didn't feel anymore.

The only emotion she allowed herself to feel was sadness. And she felt just a little bit everyday, when she looked at the picture. There was a desperate long to just see Alex. Just to see a little. Anything. Her hair. Her eyes. And everyday when she realized she wouldn't be able to, a fresh pang of sadness broke her heart.

But everything else was numb. There was no room for the other emotions. She had gotten used to the feeling of the knife digging into her and the ensuing white hot pain. It's not that she didn't feel it anymore, it's that she learned how to hide her pain. It was all psychological.

Lillian observed that it had gotten to a point where Kara seemed to just completely stop reacting to her stab wounds. Whether it was from her sensory adaptation, her getting used to the feeling and to the pain. Or if she just didn't care enough anymore to feel anything. Lillian didn't know.

But what she did know, was that Kara's exterior pain tolerance had been tested to its limit. She also concluded that Kara's lack of reaction was due to her psychological strength.

That's when she decided to switch it up. She turned to the video camera and stated,"Week 1 Pain Tolerance Trials have closed. Results were most intriguing. Also with the completion of this trial, synthetic kryptonite version 5.0 has been perfected and successfully weaponized. It's time to test internal pain tolerance and strength of physiology."

With that, Lillian pulled out a green-tipped syringe.

With glowing green liquid inside.

And she stepped into Kara's cell.