LVEZ - I was actually amazed at this coincidence! I have been a big fan of SLITH for a while now and was pleasantly surprised to find out one of my favorite reviewers had teamed up with one of my favorite authors! The beginning of the story was spectacular. The hook was great, and you left it off right at a point where the reader is wanting more.
It was interesting the route you took the story. I certainly was not expecting that Lillian plot twist. I'm excited to read any future collaborations or stories you have! Just drop a review here or PM me and I'll be sure to give it a read. Of course, if you're up for it, I'm also open to giving feedback on whatever you guys need. Great start! I can't wait to read more, and plan on finishing up reading soon. Tell SLITH I said hello :)
When they stepped in, Kara was surprised to see her cousin seemingly calm on the other side of the glass. It was a stark contrast to the raging wild beast he had been not even two minutes ago on the security camera feed.
He spoke, voice booming across the room. Though he was locked up, his presence was still imposing and godlike. "If it isn't little miss baby cousin. How's it going on that side of the cell, hm? Must be nice. I thought you and your parents were all about that high and mighty don't lock people up kind of thing. Oh... wait... I forgot... Your mom was the master jailer of Krypton. She even imprisoned her twin sister! I see... it must run in your genes."
Kara was taken aback. She had never witnessed Kal being even the slightest bit disrespectful, let alone him blatantly disrespecting any members of the House of El. She couldn't say she was all too surprised, though. This was Lillian's creation they were dealing with, after all.
"Kal, this isn't you. I can help you. If you'd just let me, I can cure you from this poison taking over your body. I'll protect you from Lillian, I swear. Please, just let me help you."
Clark scoffed. "Protect me from Lillian? Where were you when I needed that earlier? Where was all powerful big cousin Kara Zor-El when I needed her, hm? Just like with everything else in your life, you only show up when it's too late."
Kara had a brief flash of hurt cross her face, before she reminded herself that this wasn't him. Alex, however, wasn't having any of it. "Clark, to be completely honest, I think you should shut the hell up. You have no idea what you're talking about. I understand that this isn't really you talking, but you shouldn't say things you will regret, lest you really want to lose your only remaining family forever."
Kal just laughed. "Ah, big sister Alex. Always coming to her defense. Like Kara should have done for me. How does it feel to be the chosen one? How does it feel to know that out of all the families on this entire earth I could have chosen, it was yours that I ended up ruining?"
Kara's eyes welled with tears as she thought about what he said. It's not like it wasn't something she had seriously considered before, but having someone else say it made it far more real. Because of her, Alex had to completely change who she was, lose all her friends at school, lose her father, lose her future.
Eliza was distraught and just tried to hold their family together when she was gone. She had ruined everything. Jeremiah was with Cadmus now, and once again, it was her own fault. She was the common denominator in the suffering of this family.
Alex saw Kara doubting herself and her position as a member of the Danvers family, and adamantly shook her head.
"You're wrong, Clark. You dropping her off with us was undoubtedly the best thing that ever happened to this family. Everything changed because of her, but it was for the better. Maybe you're just bitter that she grew up after you, that you had to be the one to protect her instead of the other way around... Either way, you really should stop talking. Now."
Alex immediately saw the effect her reassurances had on Kara. Her little sister seemed to be a little less doubtful and distraught, and instead a little more confident. She took the syringe containing the cure, and strode up to the cell door, pulling it open.
Kal didn't back down at his cousin's presence, on high alert of the contents in the syringe. As Kara advanced, he tried moving out of the way. She was simply too quick, and stabbed it in his arm before he could get away.
Clark began to fall, knocked unconscious by the power of the syringe's contents, and Kara quickly caught him before he could hit the floor.
Alex looked over, before rushing out. "We need to get him to the sun bed, and quick. Let's hope this works and it's out of his system."
Kara nodded with determination, and sped off to the med bay. When Alex arrived, he was on the sun bed, and Kara was sitting by him holding his hand.
Her big sister pulled up a chair next to her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "He's going to be okay, Kara. Even if this doesn't work, we'll try again. We'll get him back, you have nothing to worry about."
Kara just sat somberly. "You know, he's right. It's my responsibility to protect him, but all I've done is need his help. The one time I had an opportunity to help him too, I failed. Now he's unconscious because of something I had to inject him with, which was also caused by something that I couldn't protect him from. This is all my fault, I'm a disappointment to my mother and the House of El. She gave me one job and I failed..."
Alex turned to Kara and gave her a stern look. "Stop talking like that. He's going to be fine. You did everything you could in the situation you were thrown into, and there's nothing you could have done differently that would have changed the outcome. You came out to the world to stop him from hurting more people, and he will be forever thankful for that when he wakes up. You saved him, and by doing so, you saved the city from him. Why would your mother be disappointed in you for fulfilling her wishes?"
Kara thought on that for a second, before relaxing into Alex's body. She sighed heavily, but didn't speak. They sat there like that for around ten minutes, before their peace was rudely interrupted.
By a prison alarm.
The one that signified that one of the prisoners had escaped their cell.
Both of the sisters immediately jumped up, on high alert, wondering who it was. Alex turned to Kara and demanded they go check out what happened.
Kara showed doubt, and was conflicted. Her cousin was laying on the table next to her, knocked unconscious while a potentially dangerous prisoner of the DEO was escaping. She didn't know what to do. Luckily Alex was there to take the decision out of her hands.
"Kar, we'll get someone to call Lois. She'll be flown out here ASAP. I know you want to help him, and feel like you have to prove yourself. You think that if you don't help him, then somehow that makes you a failure. But you're wrong. He will bounce back, he will recover with Lois' help. For the time being, he would be more disappointed if you let the prisoner get away because he was tying you down. He'll come out okay from this, he always does. The same can't be said about the DEO agents in here if a rogue alien is on the loose."
Kara nodded, and with one last glance back at her cousin, they ran into the command center. Agents were frantically moving around, grabbing guns and throwing on bulletproof vests. Everyone in the DEO was on the move. As they kept running to the prisoner wing, they overheard one of the guards shouting,"It's Luthor! The Cadmus cell has been compromised! All agents report. Repeat. All agents report."
The sisters looked at each other, fear and anger heightening their movements. They finally arrived at the cell door, and were the first responders there. As Kara pulled the door open to their cell's room, Alex got in position to shoot any potential intruders on the inside. Including Hank and Lillian, or anyone who was in there helping them.
All the agents in the building were scrambling, and there was undeniable commotion.
However, neither of the sisters heard it because when they opened the door, they found their father staring back at them.