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Lex looks at the television. The news is on. He smirks, seeing the topic.
“Supergirl left the Earth to help an alien planet, no one has seen her since. It’s been a month. Where is Supergirl?”
Lex mutes it. He turns his head, his face shining with green. He raises an eyebrow. “It’s been a month.”
Kara looks at him, her veins glowing green. She is laying on the ground, unable to lift her head. Her cheek is pressed on the ground.
Lex bends out in front of the green glowing cage bars. “People don’t know you’ve been here with me this whole time.” He laughs.
Kara doesn’t respond. She can’t. She doesn’t have the strength to do so.
Lex stands up and walks out the room. Kara lays on the ground, the room shining green.
Lena paces. She has been worried. “Where is she, Alex?” she asks, a frown on his face.
Alex looks at Lena. At her baby sister’s girlfriend. “We are doing everything we can to find her.”
“I know you are. I’m just worried, Alex. Kara’s never been away from us for this long,” Lena tells her, the worry evident in her voice, “at least not without checking in with us.”
“We’re trying Lena,” Alex tells her, exhaustion evident in her voice. “We’ve tracked every possible route from that sector. There’s no trace of her ship. No distress call, no energy signature, nothing.”
Lena frowns. She thinks hard about it. “What if someone is hiding her signature?”
Alex blinks. “Lena-”
“I can’t be the only one who is thinking this Alex,” Lena pleads, her eyes on Alex. “Kara’s not missing. Someone is hiding her.”
Alex nods. “We’ll find her. We’ll find out who is holding her. We’ll get her back.”
Lena blinks. “I’m not worried about whether we get her back or not. I’m worried about what they are doing to her.”
Alex places a hand on Lena’s shoulder.. “She’s strong. She’s Kara. She’ll hold on.”
It hurts to breathe. Kara feels fire run through her veins. Her cheeks lay on the cold cement floor. She moans, closing her eyes. Footsteps get closer. She opens them, her eyelids begging to stay closed. She sees dress shoes.
“You’re still alive, disappointing,” he says, a humorous tint in his voice. He crouches down and looks at Kara, smirk on his face. “Do you know, there’s a betting pool downstairs about how long it’ll take for the kryptonite to finally finish you off. I will say, some people do have faith. ”
Kara licks her lips. “You’re, all, pathetic.”
“Oh, I’ve missed that fire,” Lex says, grabbing the bars.. “You can barely lift your head, yet you still talk like you will survive this.” He presses his forehead against the bars. “It’s tragic, really. The world mourns you, and I get to watch as you take your last breath..”
He leans closer, voice dropping, almost tender.
“You should have stayed gone, Kara. Everyone’s happier when you’re not around to remind them how small they are.”
Kara raises her head just a little to look him in his eyes. “Lena isn’t.”
The smirk on his face disappears for a second. She sees a hint of anger, but it’s gone as fast as it comes. He smirks. “Ah, yes. My little sister. She’s dying to find her. Maybe I’ll bring her here to see you take your last breath.”
“You better not hurt her,” Kara says through her tears.
“You won’t be around to stop me,” he tells her, standing up. He stands and steps away. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the control. “I do have good money on you.”
The lights get brighter. Kara screams as her body burns. She drops to the ground, tears in her eyes.
“It won’t be long now.”
Kara’s body trembles on the ground. Her muscles tense up. She tries to curl up into herself, wanting the pain to stop. The lights dim, and Kara lays there, panting. She opens her eyes, watching as Lex’s shoes walk away.
She lays there, thinking of Lena, of Alex, of her friends.
She knows they are looking for her. They are trying their best to get to her. She just has to hold on.
“I’m trying,” she whispers, her eyes slowly closing. “‘m tryin’.”
Lena’s fingers fly over the keyboard. Her eyes scanning the screen. She rubs her eyes.
Alex places a hand on Lena’s shoulder. “You need rest. Kara wouldn’t want you to kill yourself looking for her. She’d want you to take care of yourself.”
“There’s no time. The longer we wait, the longer he has her.”
“Lena-”
Lena shakes her head. “You know it’s him. He doesn’t just want to kill her. He wants her to hurt. And he'll do whatever he can to make her hurt.”
“Then we’ll find him.”
Lena’s tears fill her eyes. “We have to find her before he breaks her, Alex. ”
Alex nods. She pulls Lena into her arms. “We’ll find her before he gets a chance to.”
Lex leans back against his chair. He has a glass of bourbon in her hands. He stares at the monitor. Kara’s breathing fills the room.
“You know,” he says, leaning forward to the microphone, “I used to wonder why she loved you. My brilliant sister, wasting her genius on an alien who acts like one of us.”
Kara doesn’t move. Her eyes are half open, unfocused. Her face is covered in sweat. Her mouth is slightly open, breathing through it.
Lex smirks. “She did what I couldn’t. She got herself a pet.” He presses a button, and the room brightens again.
Kara cries out, weaker than before. He can hear her sobs mixed in. He takes a sip of his drink, closing his eyes. Oh how he enjoys that sound.
Lena exhales. Her body filled with hope for the first time. “Found you,” she whispers. She grabs her phone and contacts Alex. She wishes she can go with them, but she knows that she won’t do the agents and Alex any good if she went. She’ll just have to wait.
Lena didn’t realize she fell asleep waiting. She jumps when someone touches her shoulder. Her eyes look at J’onn.
“Kara?”
“She’s in the sun room. Lena, it’s not good,” he says, his voice somber. He doesn’t say anything else. Lena runs, her heels clicking on the ground. She runs into the sun room. She stops when she gets inside.
Kara is lying there. Pale. Lena can feel the heat of the lights. She walks to the light. She reaches for Kara’s hand. The Kryptonian slowly turns her eyes. She opens her eyes. Lena feels a knife in her heart from the pain in Kara’s eyes.
“You found me,” Kara slurs, her eyes slowly closing.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough,” Lena whispers, her tears slipping. She holds Kara’s hand tighter.
Kara doesn’t respond.
It’s not until later that Lena finds out about what happened. She learns that Lex kept Kara in a Kryptonite cage. And that he’d make it stronger whenever he felt like it. Kara’s heart was minutes away from stopping from Kryptonte poisoning.
“It’s going to be a long road,” Alex whispers, watching Kara sleep.
“I’m not going anywhere.”