Chapter Text
She closed the heavy door behind her just before another explosion sounded. Grimacing in pain, the woman hurriedly turned all the locks with her injured but still intact hand. When she was done, she leaned back against the door, trying to catch her breath.
She didn't know how she had managed to get to the lab without dying, but she was grateful to all the higher powers that adrenaline was still moving her tired, broken body.
“Liam? Son, are you there?” she called out in a trembling voice into the void.
A few seconds later, a crying little boy ran up to her and hugged her tightly around the neck. Only then did she realize that she had slid down and was sitting on the floor.
“Mam, I'm scared,” the child sobbed, clinging to her even tighter, and she had to ignore the pain from her broken ribs.
“Shh, shh, sweetheart,” she soothed, leaning against the top of his head. “Have you been sitting quietly? No one came in?” The boy shook his head.
“Okay,” she exhaled and tried to stand up, feeling slightly dizzy. “I need you to come to the arc, dear. Can you do that?”
The boy reluctantly let go of his mother, and they slowly walked to the portal. The woman hobbled and sobbed heavily with pain with every step.
“Mam, are you hurt?”
“Everything is fine, darling. Everything will be fine soon,” she assured him, walking with him to the arc. She grabbed the edge of her former desk and carefully lowered herself to the ground. Her injured side was starting to sting more as the adrenaline left her body.
“Listen to me carefully, Liam,” she said seriously to the child, grabbing his shoulders. “Mam needs you to stand right here in this spot,” she pointed to the middle of the portal. “You need to stand there and not move. Do you understand me?” The boy burst into tears but nodded.
“Mam, what about you? I don't want to go alone.” He cried and almost took a step forward, but the woman cut him off.
“No! Liam, stay where you are.” Her voice was an equal combination of severity and calmness: enough for the boy to listen to her.
About a minute later, footsteps were heard in the corridor. The woman cursed under her breath but exhaled a sigh of relief when the archway was illuminated with a bright yellow light.
“Mam, I'm scared.” The boy was crying and shaking, but he remembered his mother's order to stay still.
Behind them, the door began to bang loudly; the thick steel could withstand no more than a minute or two. But it was enough.
“Liam, your mam loves you so, so much,” the woman breathed out, choking on her tears. “I love you so much, sweetheart.”
“Mam...” the boy sobbed pitifully. “I don't want to leave you.”
“My dear, your mam will never leave you,” she assured him. “I'll be waiting for you there.” The steel door started to break. “And mommy will be there too.”
A bright light shone around the boy, and he began to dissolve into it.
“I love you, Liam,” the woman whispered, and the child disappeared. The archway went out.
The door was blown off the wall. Several armed men entered the room, checking every nook and cranny. Two of them stood next to her, guns drawn. And a moment later, he came into her blurry field of vision.
“There's nowhere to run, sis,” he sneered, crouching beside her.
Sick bastard.
“Go to hell,” she whispered caustically, making him laugh. She did not hold back her words because she already knew her fate. The most important thing was that they didn't even know about her son, and he was safe.
“I see you're not doing so well with your latest project.” He pointed to the portal with mock concern. “Couldn't escape,” the man smiled triumphantly, leaning in almost close to her. “I'm going to kill you, just like I killed your precious Kryptonian.” She cringed at his breath.
“Burn in hell, you son of a bitch,” she shouted and spat in his face. The man jumped to his feet in frustration, wiped his face from bloody spittle, and smiled.
“I'll meet you in hell,” he replied in a cheerful voice. “Any last wishes? No?” he continued, only to receive a look of contempt.
“Then say goodbye, sister.”
Alex: God, I missed you.
Alex: I still can't believe we've been together for a year.
Alex: Sorry I took so long today. Kara begged me to leave on time, but I couldn't leave her alone to clean up shit.
Alex: That fucking alien made a huge mess.
Kelly: It's okay, honey. It's not your fault. I'm still cooking dinner anyway.
Alex: You're the best.
Alex: I still feel guilty.
Kelly: Don't. But don't forget the wine.
Kelly: I don't think I'll forgive something like that❤️
Alex: Of course, love 😏 I'm on my way home now.
Alex: Love you.
Kelly: Love you too.
Kelly threw her phone on the couch and went back to the kitchen to check on the chicken in the oven. It was their anniversary, and despite Alex's urging to just make a reservation at a nice restaurant nearby (“So we can just enjoy the evening, you don't have to be at the stove!”), Kelly was cooking dinner for them.
When she was sure the meal was almost ready, she started chopping the vegetables. As she enjoyed the routine, she smiled as she thought about the year she and Alex had been together. It's been a year since her heart has been warm with hope for a happy life with her beloved. And it's been a year since the pain and trauma of losing her loved one hasn't stopped her but moved her forward.
Kelly has helped people heal their trauma. Her journey, to be honest, was not the easiest. So, every time her patients got one step closer to healing, she sincerely rejoiced with them and became even more confident in what she was doing.
It was only a few minutes later that Kelly realized something was wrong: the air was getting too thick to breathe, her ears were ringing, and her vision was blurred as if she had spent countless hours reading. Trying to prevent a panic attack, she put down the knife and turned to the kitchen table, leaning on it. Her deep breathing became more and more ragged against her will, and the feeling of a closed space began to press on her chest. Realizing that it was getting harder to stay on her feet, she sank to the floor to feel at least some grounding.
Everything returned to normal as suddenly as it had started with the only difference being that now there was a frightened boy in bloody clothes standing in the middle of the living room. His eyes were tightly closed and his face was wet and dirty.
What the hell?
Still questioning her senses, Kelly sincerely hoped she hadn't cursed out loud because the boy opened his eyes abruptly and looked around in confusion.
“Mam? Mam?”
Quickly assessing the child's high level of stress, the woman carefully stood up, holding the edge of the kitchen table, trying not to frighten the child even more. Realizing that the boy's back was now turned to her, Kelly tried to get his attention as gently as possible.
“Hi,” the boy looked back sharply, and in the same moment, his face changed from frightened to surprised as if the woman's presence had somehow calmed him down immediately but was still unexpected. “Are you lost?”
“A-Auntie K-Kelly? Y-you're alive?” The boy shifted from one foot to the other, as if he was hesitant to take a step forward.
If Kelly was surprised by his familiarity and question, she did her best not to show it; it could have caused a new panic on the part of the child, whose stress had noticeably decreased since he had seen a familiar person.
“Do you know me?” The woman slowly tried to take a few steps towards the young guest. A grimace of panic on his pale face made her stop. After a moment, the boy relaxed a little and shook his head. Then he took a timid step forward.
“Don't be afraid, it's okay.” Kelly crouched down to get on the same level as the child. The boy came a little closer. “You have blood on your clothes, are you hurt? Can I take a look at you?” Now that they were at arm's length, Kelly could get a good look at the child.
The child looked to be about four years old. His blond, wavy hair was a little dirty and damp, as was his face. Full cheeks and lips, and deep, large green eyes reddened with tears. His round chin was spattered with small drops of blood. The boy was dressed in brown corduroy trousers with green suspenders and a red flannel shirt. He was carrying a small backpack. Oddly enough, the child had no shoes, only warm socks. All his clothes were dirty and wet, as if he had been lying in the mud and soil.
“My mam is very hurt. It's her b-blood.” The boy's breathing started to speed up, and he started to cry. “Kelly, is mam d-dead? D-did she die like mommy?”
Before Kelly could answer the too-serious questions for such a young child, they were both distracted by the sound of the door being unlocked and then opened.
“Honey, I'm ho- What the hell?!”
“Alex-”
“Auntie Alex!”
A stunned Alex, one foot still outside the doorway, looked at the child clinging to her leg and then at the equally stunned Kelly kneeling in the living room.
“Who's that? What the hell?”
After recovering a little, Kelly got to her feet.
“Alex, I don't know; he just showed up in our living room.” She gestured weakly, pointing to a spot in the room. Confused, the woman began to walk around. “He was looking for his mother; he's covered in her blood.”
“What the fuck? How did he get here?” Alex seemed to realize that her girlfriend was as shocked as she was because her questions were more rhetorical.
“He called me auntie. He seems to know us well. Do you know him?”
“No... Should I?” Alex asked in surprise, looking at the child.
The boy seemed to understand the surprise of the adults because he slowly let go of the woman and then moved away from her.
“Where is my mam? She said she would be here.” The boy looked at them in turn, confused.
Alex, finally getting control of her body, slowly went inside and closed the door behind her, keeping her eyes on the child.
“She's not here, boy,” Alex said confidently but gently to the child, “but we want to find her very much too. What is your name?”
“Liam,” the boy answered quietly. It looked like he was starting to panic.
“Liam. That's a very pretty name, Liam.” Alex sat down next to him, looking at him carefully. “What's your mom's name?”
“I can't tell you; it's dangerous!” The boy was frightened. New tears flowed down his cheeks.
“Alex, he's stressed. Don't push him.” Kelly walked over to them and sat down as well. “Liam, it's okay; don't be afraid,” she tried to make him feel a little more comfortable.
“I'm sorry, I understand, but there's a woman out there losing a lot of blood right now. We have to help her.” Alex answered her a little more sternly, then turned back to the child.
“Liam, where were you with your mom?”
After thinking for a few seconds, the boy looked behind him and pointed to the place where he had appeared ten minutes ago.
“Here.”
Alex exhaled impatiently, which earned her a judgmental look from Kelly.
“No, Liam, before you got here. What were you and mom doing?”
“I was running, and we were hiding from bad people.” More tears welled up in his eyes. “Where is my mam? I want my mam.” He cried again.
The women looked at each other.
“We need to inform the DEO-”
“No, Alex, wait,” Kelly stopped her. “He's stressed. If we want answers, it's best to keep him here for now. A new environment will seem like a threat to him. It will make him shut down even more.”
Alex nodded after thinking for a moment.
“Okay, you're right,” she replied and took her phone out of her leather jacket pocket. “He needs new clothes; I'll call my sister, and the three of us will figure out what to do.”
Kelly got to her feet and walked over to the boy.
“Liam, are you hungry?” The boy nodded his head timidly. “Great! How about some chicken?”
And so, for the first time that evening, the boy's face showed something like a smile.
“Hey, Kar, still awake?” She stood in the bedroom by the slightly ajar door, watching Kelly and Liam in the kitchen.
“Alex? Are you okay? Is something wrong with Kelly?” Kara sounded sleepy but concerned.
“Yes,” Alex answered and then immediately corrected herself. “I mean, no, we're fine. But we need your help... with something.”
“Alex, what's wrong?”
Alex took a deep breath and tried to think of a way to explain.
“We kind of have a child at home, a little boy,” she looked back at the two in the kitchen. Liam was sitting at the table, and Kelly put a plate of food in front of him. “Kelly says he came out of thin air, all dirty and wet, covered in his mother's blood, but he doesn't want to tell us anything about her. He doesn't even say her name.”
“Oh Rao.”
“Yeah. We need to find his mother as soon as possible. Could you please get some clothes for him from the DEO? Up to three and a half feet tall. Kelly and I think it's best if he stays here tonight with people he knows.”
“With people he knows? What do you mean?” Kara asked, confused.
“Um, I'll explain later, sis. Okay?” Alex closed her eyes, clutching her forehead with her free hand. “Just... get some clothes and get over here. We need you.”
“I'm on my way. I'll be there in a few minutes.”
“Thanks, Kara.”
Alex hung up the phone and, mentally pushing herself, left the room. Kelly, who had been watching Liam intently, turned her attention to the woman and smiled slightly.
“How is he?” Alex asked her, sitting down in the empty seat next to Kelly.
“He seems better. Very hungry,” Kelly replied, shaking her head. Alex took her hand and squeezed it lightly in an attempt to reassure her.
“Liam?” Kelly tried to get the child's attention. The boy, still chewing, looked at the woman. He hadn't cried for the last five minutes and was pretty quiet, even allowing the woman to wash his hands and wipe his face. “We know your mom, right?”
Liam nodded cheerfully.
“Aunt Alex works with mommy.”
The women looked at each other in surprise for the umpteenth time that evening.
“So, if we know her, you can tell us about your mommy, right?” Kelly asked him very carefully.
“You know mommy's secret,” the boy assured them, furrowing his blond eyebrows. As if he were weighing up what to say next in his head, he swallowed and spoke: “Mommy says you can't talk to anyone about her secret without permission. I can't ask permission now,” and as if nothing had happened, he went back to eating.
“Honey, how many people do you know with secrets?” Kelly asked, sounding like she was hinting at something.
“You mean...”
They were interrupted by a knock on the balcony door. Alex hurriedly got up from the table and first went out onto the balcony to join Kara.
“Kara,” Alex wrapped her in a quick hug and breathed a sigh of relief. “Did you get him clothes?”
“Yep.” Kara tossed a black bag as proof of her presence. “Is he okay?”
“A little better. We're trying to get him to talk. Kara,” an unpleasant sensation in her throat made her pause, “he recognized Kelly and me like we're his family. Try to react calmly if he suddenly recognizes you too.”
“No problem, Alex, I'm good with kids,” Kara assured her with a warm smile and handed her the package. “Should I change into my normal clothes and walk through the door?”
“Yes, yes. I think that would be best,” Alex nodded.
As soon as Kara took off, Alex stepped off the balcony and almost immediately had to open the front door for Kara. Later, she would definitely need to talk to her about the importance of a delay between Supergirl and Kara appearing in the same place, Alex thought.
Kara crossed the threshold, a little surprised but smiling sunnily at the happy expression on the boy's face as he jumped into her arms with almost superhuman speed before she could say a word.
“Mommy, Mommy! Mommy!” The boy clung to her legs as if in his own life, almost carrying her off her feet.
“Um... What? What's going on? Alex?” Kara just stared at her sister, still holding a smile on her face that was more like a grimace of horror.
“What the hell?” She looked over at Kelly, who was also shocked but somehow holding up better.
“Mommy, hold me!” Liam bounced eagerly on the spot, holding his arms up to Kara. She looked down at the child in confusion and felt very sorry for him. Without thinking twice, she picked him up. Without hesitation, he grabbed her neck and pressed his face against her body with all his might. “I missed you so much, mommy.”
“Well, I suppose we found his mother.”