A/N: English is not my mother tongue, so I apologize for any grammar and spelling mistakes. (Feels like I set too many commas. Hahaha)
This idea has been flowing around in my mind for a few days now, and I just had to write this.
All the scientific stuff I wrote in this fic, I just made it up. Let's just pretend I'm smart XD
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"You are tougher than I've anticipated. But that, I guess, was to be expected. So I thought…" The man pulled out a remote from his pocket. "…you might need a little more motivating." He turned his attention to the screen on the wall, the only source of light in the dark cell. His expression darkened when he said, "You don't talk, your sister suffers the consequences."
"No, don't!" Alex struggled against the chains, the metal cutting into her skin.
"Leave her alone!"
Her screams were futile, as she heard Kara's cries, racked with pain. Alex looked at the screen helplessly, as her sister lay strapped to a metal table, getting electrocuted. "Stop it!" Alex pulled on her restrains in vain.
"Tell me what I want to know."
"Go to hell!" Alex spat, her eyes gleaming with utter contempt.
The man laughed amused. "Oh well, it's only a matter of time. And we have plenty."
Again, Kara's screams filled the room and Alex was forced to watch as her sister cried in agony.
"NO!"
—
"No!" Alex's eyes shot open, when she abruptly woke from her nightmare. A layer of sweat had settled on her forehead and her breaths came rapidly, trying to provide her lungs with the needed oxygen. However, her organs which were responsible for breathing didn't seem to function properly, as she felt like her oxygen level was not being saturated. 'Breathe.' Alex forced her heart beat to slow down, taking deep and steady breaths in the process. Only when she had finally calmed down, she noticed the familiar machines, the familiar surrounding of her lab.
Alex straightened her back and rubbed the tiredness from her eyes. She needed to continue, needed to work. She needed to help her sister.
"Alex, what happened?" J'onn cut into her thoughts, when he walked into her lab. He had had to control himself not to run, when he had heard Alex shout in her mind, even with his telepathic abilities not actively in use.
"Nothing, just had a…" Alex stopped herself from telling him any further of her nightmare. She was hoping that he was not reading her mind - that would mean breaking their agreement - but also especially because she didn't want J'onn to think that she wasn't ready to work yet. She had been cleared by the doc with three broken ribs, a stitched side, a minor concussion, a reset shoulder, bruised wrists and a bruised face. All her injuries have been tended to and with an agreement that someone was to keep a close eye on her, she was allowed to at least work in her lab if she wasn't overworking herself or doing any physical labor. Emotionally though, she wasn't as fine as she wanted to be. Yet, she had convinced J'onn to have a psychological evaluation after the certainty that Kara would be fine.
"It's just….this is taking forever and I'm getting nowhere!" Alex gestured to her laptop, which was running different sequences of electrical brain stimulation on a Kryptonian brain. Frustrated, Alex ran her free hand through her hair.
"Alex," J'onn began. "You need some rest, get some sleep."
"No! I…" Alex shot up from her chair. "I-I have to do something, anything."
J'onn looked at the woman, he considered his own daughter. She looked as desperate as she was determined. "Alex, you haven't slept in what…" Her boss looked at the clock on the wall to his right. "…28 hours? Look, you might be the best scientist we have here, but you're not the only one." In a few strides he was in front of Alex, facing her with a concerned look. His right hand rested on her uninjured shoulder. "You need to rest, Alex. Go home, take a shower, eat something. I've called your mother. She's on her way."
At that, Alex's eyes widened. She had completely forgotten. Taking a deep breath, she berated herself inwardly for forgetting such a simple task as to phone her mother.
"Go home Alex. It's not a request. You heard the doc. No overworking." J'onn hadn't wanted to use the this-is-an-order-tone, but he deemed it necessary whenever it came to Alex and her stubbornness.
Combing through her hair, Alex sighed and let her shoulders slump, her posture revealing tiredness and defeat. "Okay," Alex agreed, but not before proposing a compromise. "But I'm not going home. We have a shower room here and I have spare clothes in my locker."
Why wasn't J'onn surprised? Though not entirely satisfied, he found it was enough for Alex Danvers; persistence ran in the family. Moreover he understood her need to be near her sister. "Okay, I'll have someone prep a bed for you, next to Kara." J'onn looked one last time at her and patted her shoulder in comfort, indicating that he would be there for her if she needed anything, anything at all.
"Thank you," Alex said gratefully, as her boss left her alone with her thoughts. She knew that J'onn was not at all trying to hinder her work, he was just showing his concern, even though from her view she didn't deserve any. The guilt was pulling like a threat on her conscience, and she tried to shake that crushing feeling aside. Although not really succeeding, Alex heard the words that had plagued her mind since the incident. This is your fault. Yes, it was her fault. She had failed her sister.
—
"Kara!" Eliza cried, coming through the door.
Alex immediately shot up from the chair in surprise, but regretted it the minute her ribs complained in pain. "Mom!" Alex straightened up.
Eliza's eyes moved from the blonde figure on the bed to her eldest daughter. In a few strides she had her clasped in her arms. "Oh god, Alex you're okay. You are okay, right?" Eliza leaned back from the embrace and took a good look at her. "Oh Alex…" She raised her hand and it trailed down Alex's bruised face. Eliza saw that, her daughter's arm was held in place with a sling and her wrists were bandaged.
"Mom, It's okay," she said under shallow breaths.
"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" Her mother asked in dismay.
"I'm fine." Alex responded, hoping her voice didn't sound strained.
"Alex what- what happened?" Her mother demanded and Alex gulped. In a way she dreaded to tell her mother what happened, even if her and J'onn had talked about letting her mother know only so much as she needed to know. Better spare her the news of what horror had befallen both her daughters.
"I'm sorry. You know I can't tell you the details. But stuff happened and I can only tell you this much: For some reason Kara isn't waiting up. She suffered some brain damage, to what extend we don't know yet. Concerning her injuries, once we know she's stable we will put her under the sun bed." Alex turned to Kara and looked down at her small frame. She had a few wires attached to her head and chest. One hand was in a cast and secured with a sling.
Eliza's eyes now hovered over her youngest daughter, studying her unmoving body. The only sign of life was her chest that rose and fell and the quiet steady beeping from the machine next to the bed. She was sure that under the hospital gown she had more injuries, if only minor ones. "And, what about your injuries?" She asked Alex, knowing that she had to ask, to make Alex talk about herself. "Don't say I'm fine. You always say that."
"I'm….my injuries have been tended to. They're only minor." Alex lowered her head and her eyes focused on a spot on the ground, when her body began to tremble slightly. 'Pull yourself together,' she thought to herself. Alex cleared her throat and looked up again, pushing an uncomfortable feeling aside. "Mom," she started, waiting for the familiar words to fill the quiet room. This is your fault.
"This is not your fault." Eliza said firmly.
For a second Alex looked totally surprised. "You don't know what-"
"But I know you," her mother cut in. Eliza had always come down harder on her eldest daughter, and she had raised her to be a responsible woman. Eliza might not have known the full story, but she knew her daughter and she knew that Alex would never do anything to endanger her sister, nor would she ever purposely hurt her. Alex would protect her, even at the cost of her own life. "Alexandra, honey, I don't blame you. Kara wouldn't blame you, so don't blame yourself."
'You don't know me.' The words rang in Alex's mind, as she denied every attempt of her mother to lessen her guilt-ridden conscience. When she felt her mother approach her with open arms, she shied away, immediately mumbling, "I'm sorry. I have to go, work on something to bring Kara back. If you wanna lie down, use the bed." Alex gestured to the unused bed and turned away, wanting to escape her mother's observing eyes. As she left the sickbay, Alex breathed out and muffled a cry that was about to slip past her lips.
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So this is the first chapter. There's definitely going to be a second chapter coming. Please leave a review? O.o THANKS FOR READING!
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