A/N: Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, following, and reading! This chapter is more of a flashback to help move along Kara's progression. I thought it would be unrealistic to have her get over that kind of trauma really quickly. Fair warning: this includes a lot of torture. (Yes I did post two chapters in a row! I felt bad for having such a long break)

Disclaimer: As a reminder…these characters are not mine. They belong to CW, CBS, and DC.

Chapter 18

Kara woke up in a room that was becoming all too familiar to her. The suffocating white walls, and the steady beeping of an EKG right beside her. It practically felt like home to her. She sat up and stared to the side where she saw Barry, head in his hand, elbow on the side of the desk, sleeping peacefully. She could almost see the shadow of a beard on his face.

She groaned and gasped at her phone right beside her. It was full of messages, mostly from Snapper and James, all wondering where she was and to get her ass back to work, the latter one being primarily Snapper. One caught her eye though and she quickly clicked on it, her heart racing.

/We need to talk/ - Lena.

Kara could pretty much hear her heart raging through her chest as her mind came up with the most absurd reasons why Lena was texting her after a week of silence. Or rather…

She checked the date on her phone, realizing that a day had passed since the hostage situation. "Oh my gosh!"

Barry jumped up, hearing her distressed voice and grabbed the first thing he could find, unfortunately ending up with a pencil clutched in his palms. Kara snickered and laughed, pointing at the object in his hand.

"What were you planning on doing? Writing them a letter?" she joked.

Barry raised his eyebrow and mock laughed. "Ha. Ha. Very funny. Actually, in one of my CSI investigations, there was a case where a woman had found her husband cheating on her and stabbed him in the throat with a pencil. He died a very gruesome death."

She made a face, her features contorting in disgust. "Wow. Way overshare. I did not need to know that."

He grinned her and approached the bed, pencil twirling around his fingers. He pressed the tip against her throat gently. "Bam! Dead."

Kara blew gently, encasing the entire thing in ice. Barry yelped, dropping the thing to the ground and watching it shatter. "Nope."

"That was…okay that was pretty cool. Scoot over. I'm sitting here."

She obliged and moved over a smidge and snuggled up to him as he took place right next to her. They sat in silence for ten minutes, merely enjoying being pressed against each other, no worries. He shifted and looked her in the eye.

"Do you know what happened?" He didn't want to push too hard in fear that she might relapse.

She grimaced and nodded slowly. "I-I remember seeing Lillian holding a syringe full of Kryptonite. Then I passed out."

"It wasn't her. It was Alex."

Realization dawned on her, and she recoiled in fear. "Rao, I hit her! I hit her in the arm! Is she okay? Did I hurt her?"

Barry grabbed her arm and squeezed. "It's just dislocated. Dr. Hamilton knocked it back in. She's out with a team to try and apprehend an alien that got loose. She's fine," he assured her, rubbing large circles over her back.

She was quiet for the longest time, noting that there really wasn't much to say after what had happened. She knew that there was something wrong, a problem lurking in the depths of her mind jarring to come out, but it was a fear she wasn't sure she had felt since she was thrust in her pod and rocketed off to earth.

"I was tortured," she said finally.

Barry's heart clenched, but he refused to let her see it. "I know."

"You don't. You don't know what they did to me."

"Tell me."

She took a deep breath. "When they took me, they threw me into a cell with Kryptonite cuffs locked around my wrists behind my back. I couldn't move. I just laid on the ground while it burned into my skin. I stayed there for 7 hours."

Barry just listened. There were no words to respond to the atrocities that Cadmus had done to her, and he found anything he might say would come out as insensitive and inadequate. So all he did was listen.

One Month Ago- Midvale

Hour 1

Kara's eyes kept fluttering open as her head bounced up and down. She couldn't feel anything besides the stabbing pain that each jolt sent, throwing pins and needles through her entire body. It was excruciating.

It was vague but she felt like she could hear Alex's voice calling after her. She wanted to get up. Rao, she wanted to get back up. She wanted to run to her sister, her home and comfort, but she couldn't. She couldn't even feel where her arms and legs were. Everything was numb to the point of nonexistence. It was as if she didn't even have her limbs. That they were merely phantom limbs that weren't there, but she knew she could stand. She just had to be strong enough.

Bump! Another jolt, another shot of pain spiking through her spine. Kara could make out the faint outline of green. Kryptonite. Metallo. She wasn't sure how she was able to piece this much information together while being in such close proximity to the one substance that could actually kill her, but she was grateful for the mental reprieve. She had to escape, or at least survive long enough for Alex to come and rescue her because Alex would come. She would come, and Kara had to be ready.

She had completely lost track of time when they had finally arrived at what she presumed to be the Cadmus headquarters. Or at least an offshore warehouse.

They stopped in front of a barred area—a cage, really. It was totally filthy and disgusting, and she thought she saw a rat skitter across the floor. She might have been a bit more upset if it weren't for the fact that Kryptonite was making her insides feel liquefied and broken, but really, anything else seemed to pale in comparison.

Metallo pretty much chucked her inside the cell, letting her arm smack against the concrete. She thought she felt something crack. She was hefted back upwards and her hands were cuffed behind her back, the levels of Kryptonite set on the highest setting.

"St-stop. Pl-please. Stop," she begged.

Metallo didn't respond but turned away and slammed the bars closed. It clanged shut, and for the first time in a long time, Kara was utterly alone. No one to help her or get her out of this situation. It was her worst fear manifested in real life, and she was truly terrified that Alex wasn't going to find her—that she wasn't going to be saved.

"No," she whispered to herself, steeling her mind against whatever Cadmus was planning. "Alex wil-will come. She will."

She laid her head on the flat of the floor and closed her eyes, hoping to gain the slightest bit of rest before someone came and did whatever they had planned with her. It was such wishful thinking. As soon as her head hit the ground the gate reopened, and she was dragged towards a brightly lit room. In the middle was a table with metal links that were for her hands, no doubt. The guards threw her atop the surface, unlocking her cage cuffs and twisting her wrists into the metal links.

Once she was secured they exited the room, and Lillian Luthor approached with a syringe and a scalpel. Kara flinched at the surgical tools.

"Supergirl, finally."

"Li-Lillian Luthor. Can't say I'm su-surprised," each word pushing out a new struggle to get past her throat.

"I wouldn't imagine you would be. I understand you're a very intelligent alien," she conceded.

"Ca-careful. Tha-that almost so-sounded lik-like a compliment."

"Perhaps it was." She held the syringe up at eye level of her, brandishing the green liquid. "Liquid Kryptonite courtesy of General Samuel Lane. We have mutual interests."

Fear flicked through her eyes as her brain remembered the horror that her aunt was put through when Lane had injected it inside her. She remembered the ghostly screams that haunted her sleep when she slept. It was the only time she had really seen such prominent fear paint the features on her face.

Kara wanted to beg. She wanted to get on all fours and beg that Lillian not do what she was about to, but she couldn't. She wouldn't give her the satisfaction, and so she sat there was steely determination, looking down her enemy with a half grin forced on her face. Lillian wouldn't see her fear.

"I would have expected you to beg…even a little bit," Lillian prompted, pressing the needle against the inside of her elbow. "Maybe if you did?"

Kara jerked her arm as best she could, glaring at her. "Never."

"Very well." She stabbed the needle, no warning or indication, pressing her finger on the plunger and watching the green liquid drain into her body.

Kara felt the effects immediately and there was an underlying trill of pain she hadn't ever felt before when in the presence of Kryptonite. It was the fact that it was flooding into the deepest parts of her body, the cores of her organs. It swished through her muscles, tightening and releasing them with a crushing pain that felt like she was being slammed into a semi. It was the tensing of your body right before impact. Right before the indescribable pain smashed through you.

She screamed, her voice a sketchy bellow. She screamed until her voice was raw with pain and tears were burned onto her face. Kara knew that this was what her aunt was begging her for. A release from this inhumane type of torture that the general had forced her into. One more strike of pain and then…she was gone.

She didn't feel any pain. She didn't really feel anything at all. The room was still the same, still a sickly form of a white and she was still on the rickety old table the felt like it was going to crumble under an ounce more of weight. She didn't dare move.

Her eyes seemed to deceive her. She saw the same brown curls spiraling past her shoulder. The same light blue eyes smiling down at her. The same white streak in her hair. She would have expected to see her mother if she was being ushered into Rao's light, but she wouldn't complain. She loved her aunt. She loved her with all of her heart.

"Aunt Astra, where am I?"

The woman walked to her slowly, pressing a cool palm to her face. "Little one, you can leave them. You can come with me."

She shook her head unsure of why she was visualizing her aunt. The one who had planned the mind-control of the entire planet.

"I can't…I-I-I need to—"

"You can be with us, sweet Kara," she whispered, her voice calm and pleading.

"Why you?" she blurted out.

The woman sighed. "Your situation manifested me. You still feel guilty for my death even though you weren't the one to kill me."

"I-I miss you." Kara's head nestled into her aunt's hand, content to stay here.

"I miss you too, little one. Come with me."

She wanted to. Rao, she wanted to. It was becoming increasingly difficult to remember what was keeping her back there with the Kryptonite injection and the torture. With the endless survivor's guilt and the pain of losing people. With the lagging notion that she was a burden to other people, and the reminder that she wasn't really ever a part of the Danvers. Why would she stay?

"Come with me," she repeated. She slid her hand down to grab Kara's in an attempt to pull her towards her. "Come."

And she did…but the perfect world was struck. Both women fell to the ground, and Kara could feel her body. She could feel her body again.

"No. No. No!" Kara didn't want to leave.

She wanted to stay here with her aunt and leave the world, but then her memories flashed in segments. Faster and faster they came and she remembered each moment that happened in her life.

"Hi. My name is Alex. I guess I'm your new sister now." It was said with carefulness but a twinge of excitement at the prospect of having a sister, and an outstretched arm reaching towards her.

She stared blankly at her, not understanding a single word. Instead she hesitantly extended her own arm, nervous when the girl took it in her own and gave it a firm shake.

Kara flashed through again, her brain tumbling through the memories.

"Kara, you need to use contractions. Honestly, no one uses both words. It makes you sound weird," Alex explained while angrily pointing at the paper.

"It is…it's not normal. It does…doesn't sound natural." Kara returned, making a face.

"Well it's going to have to if you want to fit in."

Another jerk…another memory.

She crying as Alex stood in front of the door of the house, bags in hand. Both girls weren't speaking. They didn't know what to say. It wasn't something they were prepared for in any way or form, but they day had come. Alex had to leave, she had to leave for college in National City, miles away from where Midvale was. She had to leave…and leave Kara behind to finish high school by herself.

Alex stared at her sister, and she dropped all the bags. As if navigated by an invisible string, the two girls rushed towards each other, wrapping their arms around and squeezing with everything they were feeling. All the emotions pushed into the hug as both cried with big, fat tears streaking down their faces.

"I'm coming. When I finish high school, I'm coming to National City," Kara stated plainly. It wasn't debatable.

"I know. In the meantime, I'm going to be down here whenever I can. I'll be here whenever I get time off." She smirked at her. "But I can make an exception if any of those jerks give you a hard time. I'll come down and knock them on their ass for you."

Kara laughed at her, her chest heaving to compensate for the abundance of tears she had just shed. But then her face regained its seriousness, and she stared at her sister. "I'm going to miss you, Alex."

The brunette's smiled dimmed. "I'm going to miss you too, Kara. But I'm always there. Whenever you need me."

It felt like the air was being pressed out of her lungs, like being sucker punched by Rocky without her powers. One more something murmured to her. One more.

She was in her loft, in the kitchen actually, pouring two glasses of wine. She knew she probably shouldn't be setting up this kind of setting, especially since he was leaving soon. She didn't want to be disappointed but at this point it was already inevitable.

She carefully carried them over to where he was waiting patiently, drumming his fingers on the cushion of the armrest.

"Here we go," she said, handing him a glass.

"I can't really get drunk," Barry responded sheepishly.

Kara grinned. "Me neither."

"That's a relief. I wouldn't want to be the only sober one and have to cart you to bed."

She chuckled and punched his arm. "Hey! I wouldn't get THAT drunk!"

"Oh one wouldn't expect, but still." His eyes held a mischievous look.

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Despite being the only two people who can't get drunk…it doesn't mean we can't still enjoy it, right?"

He nodded. "That's a yes to that. To enjoying things while we can," he proposed, holding up his glass.

There was a hush, a mood that blanketed the room after the words left his mouth. They both knew what they really meant, and it was a hard truth to swallow. Neither wanted it to happen, but it was going to no matter what they did to try and stop it. They had responsibilities to the people around them, and they couldn't forsake their duties.

Kara raised her glass and clinked it against his. "To enjoying things while we can."

Kara sucked in breath, the memories suddenly ripped away, and she was very aware that she wasn't with Astra or with her sister or with Barry. She was back on the table with Lillian positioned over her, scalpel in hand.

There was a voice in the back of her mind, begging her to fight. To remember Barry. To remember Alex. To remember that she wasn't just dying…she was leaving behind those she loved, that meant more than everything to her and who loved her.

The pain had worn off—worn off being a very loose term, but she was grateful for the absent stabbing pain she had grown accustomed to.

"My apologies, Supergirl. I need to be more careful next time to make sure you don't slip in and out of consciousness." The scalpel's tip pushed into the middle of her chest, almost poking through the S of her suit. "Now onto phase 2."

Kara bit her lip. Yes. She was going to fight. Alex was coming, and she was going to save her.

Hour 4

Kara woke up, feeling like she was slammed into the ground with the force of a planet. Her hands were once again pinned behind her back, but at least she was still alive. Lillian had taken her time with this phase, cutting in and out carefully. She was sure not to injure any vital organs, but only get exactly what she needed.

After she had finished, she stabbed yet another needle into her skin and took blood. A lot. Kara felt woozy afterwards, like she was sinking in the middle of the ocean with only a small piece of plywood to support her. She couldn't walk…she couldn't even stand, so the guards threw her over their shoulders and tossed her back into the cage.

She heard a chuckle from beside her, and she instantly shot up, ignoring the fire in her blood from sitting up too fast.

"Who's th-there?" she croaked, her voice dry and raw from a lack of water and the endless screaming.

There was a scuffle of movement from next to her as a head peeked out from the darkness. Her hair was blonde and short, shooting up from all sides, and her face was sullen with cheeks caving in. The woman scoffed and threw her head back to retain a sense of dignity.

"Kryptonian," she spat, the word sounding vile on her lips. "I should have known."

"Who are you?" Kara asked, shifting to the side to get a better view. She looked like a human, but the clear disdain for her race of people sounded personal. It clicked, and she pulled herself closer to the bars that separated them both. "Daxamite."

The woman nodded and grinned, her chin protruding in pride. "Yes. I was a guard for her majesty Queen Rhea." She glared once more at her. "Until you and your merry band of idiots killed her."

Kara's eyes closed, remembering how she had plead to Mon-El for him to save her. It was a just reward, but she couldn't help but feel guilty for the kill. She had hoped so much that she didn't have to kill her, that she could still somehow be redeemed.

"I'm sorry," Kara opted to say.

She saw the emotions in the woman falter. "A Kryptonian? Apologizing? I thought for sure their arrogance would prevent them from ever admitting when they were wrong."

Kara winced. "I'm…I'm just sorry. I didn't want to."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "But you did, and you will pay."

Kara scoffed at her. "I don't see how much I could 'pay'. I mean we're already trapped with Cadmus. I'm pretty sure we're already suffering."

That seemed to have stumped her, and they sat in silence for a while before something dawned on her.

"How were you not affected by the lead?"

The woman's face fell, almost looking like guilt. "Cadmus has an advanced filtration system. Lex Luthor had constructed this in case he needed to be safe after releasing Kryptonite in the air."

"Of course he did."

The woman paused. "What is your name, Kryptonian?"

"Kara Zor-El," she replied, not caring that she had revealed her name.

"Zor-El? One the ruling houses on Krypton. Of course you would be."

Kara ignored her remark. "And yours?"

"Tera-Zar."

The doors to her cage were opened, and a guard entered Tera-Zar's cell. The man clutched a metal stick in his hand, and grinned at her.

"I told you what would happen if you walked again!" He raised his stick and it began its downward path before Kara yelled.

"Stop it!"

She didn't expect anything to happen, but the guard hesitated, whipping around to face the person who had screamed. He locked eyes with Kara and scowled, moving out of Tera-Zar's cell to Kara's.

"What did you say, alien?"

She pushed herself off the ground, groaning from the pain that built in the middle of her stomach. "I said to stop it."

He nodded as if it were a perfectly reasonable explanation. Almost like he was just going to just leave and never come back, but then the scowl returned and so did the pain. He struck her in the back first, her face colliding with the concrete. Then he moved to kick her in the face until her head felt like a cymbal crashing together in such a way that it was more a competition to see who could be the loudest than actual music. Kara could vaguely hear Tera-Zar from the back of her mind yelling at the guard, but she didn't care. She was trying to survive.

She could feel herself blacking out again before a flash in her mind reminded her. Fight.

I have to fight. Her body refused, but she pulled herself off the ground, using her legs to push her head into his stomach. It connected, and he stumbled backwards, cursing. His stick dropped, and she moved to kick it away, her head banging from the impact. Her hands were stuck behind her back, and there was no way she could properly fight without their use. The guard recovered and stalked towards her, using his elbow to smack her in the face. He twisted his leg until it smashed into her kneecap, causing her to scream in pain.

She fell to the ground, holding her knee in her hand and trying not to move. The guard merely glared at her and posited his foot above her face. "Nighty night, Kryptonian."

Then…silence.

Hour 5

Alex wasn't here. Alex wasn't coming. She sucked in a breath and sat up, coughing and sputtering. She felt warm hands on her shoulders push her down until she felt her head laying on something—maybe a lap?

"Shhhh, you're okay," she heard someone whisper.

"lex-Alex?" she tried.

The woman shook her head. "No you big, dumb, Kryptonian. Tera-Zar."

Kara laughed. "I must be dead then because why would you ever help me?"

"You saved my life. You stepped in for me, and I will honor your sacrifice."

Kara rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm going to die anyway, so I might as well make sure no one else dies."

She paused the moment the words left her mouth, and she realized what she had said. No, Alex was coming. She had to. She was going to.

"You kept saying Alex and Barry. Who are they?" she asked, not viciously but curiously.

"Alex is my hero," she said, her head spinning. "She's my big sister. Barry….I love him. He's…no one yet, but I love him."

"Ah," she said knowingly. "Complicated?"

She nodded. "Very. He's from a different universe."

"Well, Kara Zor-El. Trouble and complications seem to follow you everywhere, don't they?"

"Yes they do." She tried sitting up before being pushed right back down again. "Why are you in here? How are you in here?"

She grinned. "Well, I convinced them that they needed you alive. Fortunately, on Daxam I was a healer as well as a warrior. I told them I knew how to help you so that Lillian never had to find out."

"I think you and my sister would get along," Kara admitted, imagining her new friend and sister interacting. "She would love you."

"I can't wait to meet her," Tera-Zar said, holding a cool cloth to your forehead. "Best I can figure, you have a concussion, a few broken ribs, and a torn kneecap. You won't be standing anytime soon."

"Just get me under a yellow sun, and I'll heal."

"I'm afraid a yellow sun is hard to come by down here."

"How long have you been down here?" Kara asked, holding her side.

"Ever since the Daxamite invasion. I was caught by a Cadmus operative and stuck here before the lead was released."

"You been here for months?"

Tera-Zar flinched. "Has it been months? I felt like I have been here forever."

"I'm so sorry," Kara replied simply. "You shouldn't have to endure Cadmus's torture."

"I am stronger than I look. Just worry about yourself, Kryptonian."

The gate opened and Tera-Zar positioned herself in front of Kara. They heard the click clacking of Lillian's heels before they saw her standing in front of the door, three guards on her side.

"I heard you have made a friend, Supergirl." She made a motion and two of the guards grabbed her by the arms and legs, hoisting her into their arms. The third one pointed a gun at Tera-Zar.

"Kill her," Lillian said, with a voice that sounded like she was merely asking for a pen.

Kara shook her head. "No! No! I'll do want you want; I won't be difficult. Don't kill her!"

She clicked her tongue and waved her hand, and the guard lowered his hand. "Not yet, then. She might be useful."

Tera-Zar winked at her as they pulled her away. "Good luck. I'm hoping to see your sister soon."

Kara gave her a tired smile and collapsed as the guards lugged her back to the room that had become her hell. They placed her on the table and secured her wrists, the metal skimming the skin that was already raw and blistered.

Lillian smiled widely. "Don't worry, my dear. We're almost done. Then you can go home."

"You would never let me go home."

"No, of course not. Not unless we have a reason. Which I do. I just need to do one more experiment. I want to know just all the effects Kryptonite has on you.

Fear prickled through her facial features, and Lillian stared knowingly. She readjusted her face quickly

"Let's get started, shall we?"

The woman walked over to a lever on the other side of the room and shoved it upwards. The room's luminescent glow switched to emerald green, and Kara twitched from the effect. She squirmed and muttered underneath the burning pain. Lillian observed and jotted notes in her book before flipping it up one more level. The lights increased, and Kara felt her insides jostle around as the green spread through her veins.

Her muscles tensed, and her hands shook. There was a depth of pain the Kryptonite exploited. A depth pulled from her soul and thrown against all the different parts of her body. It was a mineral made specifically to kill her and its molecular composition did exactly that. It reached into her very atoms, her very DNA and ripped it apart.

Hour 7

It felt like days that she spent under the middle setting. It felt like forever that she was forced to suffer under the radiation of Kryptonite. She didn't see when Lillian snapped the lever to the next and highest setting, but she felt it. She screamed until her lungs and throat were so raw that nothing came out. Kara knew Lillian was jotting down her findings and soon enough they would have everything they needed and she would be dead. There was no way Lillian was going to release her.

She had to live. She had to get to Tera-Zar and get them home. Her tears felt like acid as they dripped down her face. Alex isn't coming. Her heart broke because she knew it was true. Alex wasn't coming. She would have been here. She should have been here, but she wasn't and it was up to Kara to save them. But sometimes surviving was so much worse than dying.

It would be a release in death. There would be a freedom in dying. In that moment she understood her mother's decision. She understood why she didn't crawl into the pod with her and get rocketed off to earth. There was freedom in death because you escaped the guilt, the pain, everything that made life horrible. But it took everything that made life wonderful, full, and grand as well. Kara wanted so much to be free. She wanted so much to be rid of all the responsibilities and all of the things she had to be and do.

Alex wasn't coming. Barry wasn't coming. No one was coming for her. For the first time since Metallo had brought her here she felt truly alone. And the realization hurt more than the Kryptonite.

Present day- National City, DEO

Kara was floating in the air enjoying the sun's rays on her skin. It had been three hours since she had told Barry everything. She still knew she had to find Tera-Zar and save her. She couldn't let her remain under Cadmus's grip.

Barry had been quiet the entire time, listening to her recount the whole experience through tears. It was a painful memory to return to, but she had to tell him. She had to tell someone, and she couldn't imagine someone better than him.

She had been flying for hours, not really understanding where she was going, but when the curved roof came into view, she knew she had gone to the place she would always go when she was feeling lost. To the only person she trusted enough to talk to at the moment.

The balcony was open, the curtains swinging in and out. Kara landed softly in the room, the night sky illuminated by the cluster of lit lamps in the room. She waited until they finally turned around and stood next to her, arms supported by the single bar, to talk.

"You've known, haven't you? This whole time you've known?" she asked.

The woman slid the glasses off her face, holding them in her hand. "Of course I did, Kierra. I spent years with you as my assistant. I feel ridiculous not having recognized it sooner."

Kara blew out a breath. "In your defense the disguise was pretty good."

Cat rolled her eyes. "It was glasses and a slouch, Kierra, not plastic surgery." She turned to look at her, seeing the haunted expression. "Now I know you didn't fly all the way here to take a tour of the White House, so tell me, why are you here?"

"I was taken. Tortured by Cadmus," she choked on the words. "I don't know how to go on when all I remember is what they did."

Cat flinched at the statement, horrified and sick at the prospect. She cleared her throat. "Kara, I can't imagine what you went through. I can't imagine the consequences of what they did to you, but I do know one thing. You are the strongest person I have ever met, and it is your ability to continually see the best in people and rise to the occasion that makes you Supergirl. Now it won't take a day or maybe even a year, but I am certain that you will get past this. You are surrounded by people who love you and who care about you and leaning on them is what will ensure you come out of this victorious. Your heart is what has kept you from becoming your fanatic aunt or the fascist queen, and your heart is what will keep this from killing you from the inside. Of course, this will change you. You had to endure a trauma that most of us can't dream of, but you won't let it control you."

She twisted to look at her former assistant in the eyes. "You're going to be fine. Trust those around you, but trust yourself even more. Your mind is not your prison because it is controlled by your heart—the biggest and most compassionate heart this world has ever known."

Kara let out a breath. She felt like she could finally breath again, free of the constraints of the prison Cadmus had constructed, not only against her body but against her mind as well. Cadmus had no control of her.

"Thank you, Miss Grant. I-I've missed you."

Cat smiled softly. "I have missed you as well, but you have been doing just fine without me. Now, shoo. I imagine you have more things that must be done."

Kara leaned in, giving Cat a hug quickly before launching herself in the air.

"Oh, and Kierra?"

Kara turned around, hovering in place. "Yes, Miss Grant?"

"If you ever feel like making another cross-country trip….my door is always open."

Kara nodded and smiled. She was going to be okay. She was going to save Tera-Zar, and Cadmus no longer had a hold of her. She was stronger than them, and she would be damned before she let them take yet another thing from her. She was coming for Tera-Zar and Cadmus. And Kara was not going to lose.