Broken Hearts (SuperCorp)

Caged Hero

As I struggle back to consciousness, my limbs feel deadened. My head pounds and I fear to open my eyes to the bright light causing the inside of my eyelids to turn red. Lena. I snap my eyes open and immediately regret it. The light pierces my pupils and I squeeze them shut again. I roll over and struggle to my feet and force my eyes open.

Once they adjust I look around. The room is almost as large as a small hanger but it is definitely some sort of lab storage. To the left and right of me are rows of large steel cages. At first, I think something is wrong with my vision but then I look up. Just outside of reach, through the bars that make the top of the cage, is a machine emitting a red light.

"Shit," I say to myself as I realize it's a red sun emitter. Not as sophisticated as Lena's but it explained why I felt so weak. Lena. Her name bringing panic to my mind again casting about I don't see her in the cages. What I do see are the missing Aliens. Some cages even have several different Aliens together.

The cage next to me holds a small pixie-like girl, who despite the pointed features, could pass for a twelve-year-old. Her eyes though suggested she was much older.

"Supergirl." She says in a low whisper. "Are you here to save us?" She looked so hopeful that it pains my heart.

I try the bars fruitlessly, only managing to make an obnoxious rattling sound. I press my forehead to the bars.

"No. They have made me powerless." I don't turn but I can hear her 'oh' of disappointment as her last hope fades.

A door opens at the far end of the room. And then I can hear her. Lillian Luthor's heels click with a solid purpose down the row of cages. I hear her slow and stop in front of mine. She has three men with her that I can hear without looking up. Her eyes bore into me and mine start to sting. Not from tears, from my heat vision. It surprises me because of the red sun emitter but I take a deep breath and pull it back. Who knows what else could be in this cage to nullify my powers. I force myself to meet the eyes of a woman I hate as much as Livewire.

"Well Supergirl, glad to see you settling in. Like the lighting? We couldn't have done it without the help of my wonderful daughter." I tried to ignore her until she brought Lena up.

"Where is she?" I growl out as my hand's white-knuckle the bars.

"Don't worry. My daughter is where she belongs. By my side and using her mind to her full potential."

"She isn't your daughter. You never loved her. All she was to you was something to be used and then disregarded when you no longer needed her. You don't deserve her." My hot anger turned to cold rage. Seeing Lillian smirking was really driving me insane.

"Oh, you are wrong dear. I will always need my daughter. Because she knows you. Knows your weaknesses. We... convinced her to build the red sun emitter for us. Now she will help us with our latest endeavor. We are learning the weaknesses of all the other aliens that come to our planet. Inside and out. So we can better defend against them."

And just like they were waiting for her to say that one of the thugs dressed in a black turtleneck, cargo pants, and combat boots steps forward. How stereotypically bad guy. Is all I have time to think before he raises a gun and points it at the pixie girl in the cage next to me. I cry out but I am too late. A dart hits her in the shoulder and she crumples to the ground.

"Don't worry. It's just a sedative. We need her alive. For now."

"What are you doing to them?" I growl out.

"I told you. Learning all of their weaknesses. With the help of my daughter... and my granddaughter." The look of shock and confusion must have been plain on my face.

"Oh yes. I believe you have met her. Nasthalthia, come here dear." From behind one of the goons, she steps forward. Through the haze of being completely powerless and my rage, I hadn't noticed the girl I had saved several times.

"No." Is all I manage. I know Lena wasn't really close to her but Nasthalthia was the only family Lena felt she had left. And now she would feel even more alone.

"Yes. My uncle taught me all about you Supers. Even though my Aunt is conflicted doesn't mean I had to stay in the dark." The scowl on Nasthalthia's face is dark and hateful. I guess she really is Lex Luthor's niece. Still, I am speechless.

"Yes. Nasthalthia has been helping me since she arrived. She helped me locate you and Lena so we could plant the bombs. And now she is helping us locate aliens off the registry by using L-Corp resources." Lillian helpfully confirms what I was already guessing to be true.

"What about the thefts throughout the city? I mean you have already told me most your plan might as well tell me the rest." I say sarcastically. I can't do anything else so I might as well figure out what they are doing.

"Mostly just new equipment for our lab. Some are to test out different results from our studies. When we found out the Daximites had a deadly weakness for lead we correctly assumed that other races had similar issues."

"What about me. What am I here for." I ask.

"Mostly leverage. If I kill you I won't have any way to persuade my daughter to work. Only the threat of a lethal injection of Kryptonite to your heart keeps her working. Now we must get going. So much work to be done. Killing off invaders won't happen by itself." And with that Lillian Luthor grabbed Nasthalthia by the hand and they strolled off back the way they came. The goons opened the cage with the girl and carry her away with them.

"Lena." Her name escapes my mouth as a sink to my knees and I cry until my body feels so weak that I fall unconscious into a fitful sleep.

I awake maybe three hours later to some new goons depositing the pixie girl back into the cell next to me. She looks in so much pain. I have no idea what they did to her but I crawl over to the cage bars we share and reach through them to grab her hand. My fingers just barely brush hers and she moves to grab mine with a soft moan.

"Supergirl..." she whispers so low that it can barely be heard.

"Shhhh... it's okay. Don't talk. Rest for when I figure a way out, for all of us."

"She... she said. Said that she made the emitter faulty. That you are st...strong enough to overcome it." The girls words shock me. They are weak and hard to hear but they give me hope. I had felt my heat vision when Lillian came to me.

I stand and try the bars again. I pull as hard as I can. Nothing happens. I keep pulling for several minutes. I pull until sweat drips from my temple and my arms shake. Finally, I sink back down with my back to the girl.

"She's wrong. I'm not strong enough. I couldn't save her before and I can't save us now." I think back to how stupid I was to let Lena come with me to the apartment, to let her leave my side.

No response came and I look behind me through the bars to see her asleep. And that's how we stayed. Through the windows high up on the walls I could tell that it was almost dark again. Almost one day since I told Lena I loved her. And she said it back. One of the happiest moments of my life overshadowed by CADMUS.

My last thoughts were of Lena before I drift back to sleep.

Authors Note:
All right guys. The next chapter I am going to write from a third person perspective seeing as how my main character is trapped in a cage. Whoops. Just a warning because I haven't written that way in a while so it may be even worse than my first person.

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