A/N Hello everyone and a Happy New Year! New Years means new resolutions. So here is my resolution for the year. First off I am not quitting fan-fiction. Thank you everyone for your love and support as I tried to figure out what to do. What I have decided to do is, instead of posing chapters as I write them I am going to complete the story and then post once it completely finished. That will be more manageable for me with my lifestyle right now. So please know for future I will post chapters as soon as the stories have been completed. From there I will come up with a posting schedule. Thank you everyone for understanding and all your support these past few months. Once more Happy New Year!
A few minutes later, Alex walked in. "What on earth are you two doing?"She went over to the keypad and typed in the code. Seconds later, the door opened.
"Just talking," J'onn said as he walked out.
"Strange place for a talk," Alex said.
"He's just being nice. I locked myself in there, and he tried to let me out, and I refused, so he came in with me." Kara said, walking out behind J'onn.
"Why did you lock yourself in there," Alex asked.
"I was punishing myself for hurting J'onn. I thought it was better if I was locked up so I couldn't hurt anyone."
"It was an accident. You panicked. You saw Hank standing over Dad and panicked. I would have done the same thing in your shoes."
"I know that now. Actually, J'onn and I came up with a way to help me get over my fears of Hank Henshaw."
"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this."
"Kara and I are going to start training together. Fighting me as Hank will help." J'onn said.
"No, absolutely not. I am the only one allowed to train with Kara. I thought I made that clear?"
"Alex, I need this. I'm Supergirl. I'm not supposed to be scared of anyone. Especially not J'onn. Besides, I can't do it alone. I need you there with me." Kara said.
Alex sighed. "Are you sure about this?"
"No, but I'll never be able to move on from what happened to me until I can face Hank Henshaw and win."
Alex looked to J'onn. "Are you sure about this? She's going to be terrified of you for a while. She may say things that are hurtful or mean…"
J'onn chuckled. "Nothing Kara Danvers has ever said has ever hurt my feelings. Not even what she said while under red kryptonite. I highly doubt that will change."
"Ok, if you're sure." Alex sighed. She had a bad feeling about this, but she also knew deep down, Kara was right. She did need this.
A couple of days passed, and things remained the same. Jeremiah continued to heal under the watchful eye of his family.
Today though, J'onn, Kara, and Alex had moved to the older base, the underground base. It had been a request made by Kara. The last thing she wanted was people to see Supergirl freak out more than they already had.
As they made their way into the training room, Alex went over to the control panel. "Just remember these lights won't physically harm you, just weaken you to make it a fair fight."
Kara just nodded.
"No, she doesn't need those. Hank Henshaw isn't human anymore. He's a machine." J'onn said. "She'll need all the help she can get."
"Are you sure?" Alex asked. "We all know if Kara hurts you…"
"She won't."
Alex nodded and switched the lights back to normal.
Kara and J'onn moved to the center platform.
"Are you ready?" J'onn asked.
Kara inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. "I'm not sure I'll ever be ready. But I don't really have a choice. I can't help take down Cadmus if I'm terrified of the mere sight of Hank Henshaw."
"You don't have to help us take down Cadmus," Alex said.
"Alex, you and I both know it's not true. I have to do this."
"We can stop whenever you want."
Kara nodded and looked to J'onn. "I'm ready."
J'onn nodded and turned into human form.
Kara gasped and took a step back. Then she inhaled and exhaled a deep breath and reminded herself it was just J'onn. She took a step forward.
"Hello, Kara. We've missed you." J'onn said.
Kara shook her head. Why did she suddenly find it so hard to breathe? "I didn't miss you." That was the worst comeback ever, but she didn't know what else to say.
"You know, out of every alien we've ever experimented on, you were my favorite." J'onn took a step closer to her.
"Just shut up. You're disgusting." Kara said but took a step back.
"I just loved watching your body react to different types of kryptonite. My favorite was the green. The way it weakened you and made you unable to fight back."
"Stop it," Kara said. It was getting harder and harder to catch her breath. "I could have fought back at any time."
"Oh yeah? So why didn't you? I would have loved a good fight with a Kryptonian."
"Because…I don't kill. I wouldn't have wanted to kill you."
"Ah, and that is why you made such an easy target. See, I would have loved nothing more than to kill you." J'onn took another step toward her.
"You never did." Why was the room suddenly spinning, and when did the room get so small?
"No, because I was having too much fun experimenting on you. The way you squirmed and screamed. It brought me so much joy."
Kara dropped to her knees. She put her hand up. "Stop, You win, I give."
Alex was by her side in an instant. "Hey, it's ok. You're safe. I'm right here."
Kara panted. "Alex, I…I can't breathe…"
"I know it's ok. I'm right here. You're safe. Take some deep breaths. You're safe."
J'onn turned back to the Green Martian. He went over to Kara and knelt down by her. "It's just me. Hank isn't here. You're safe. You're safe."
Slowly but surely, Kara calmed down. She inhaled and exhaled a deep breath and then stood up. "Let's go again."
"Are you crazy, Kara? You just had a panic attack. You need to rest before going at it again." Alex said.
"I'm not going to get over my fear by resting, Alex. I need to do this until I can face Hank Henshaw without having a panic attack."
"Kara, Alex is right. That is enough for one day." J'onn said.
"But…"
"No, Kara, we need to take a break, and we need to take this slow. If we rush into this, we can end up hurting you more. If we're going to do this, we need to take it slow."
Kara sighed. She nodded and sat back down. This was a horrible first try. She was Supergirl, and yet when faced with an enemy, she wound up on the floor hyperventilating from fear. How was she supposed to take down Cadmus if she could barely look at Hank Henshaw without panicking?
"That was good for your first try," Alex said.
"Alex, I ended up on the floor, hyperventilating. That's not good." Kara sighed.
"Do you remember when we first started to teach you to use your powers?" Alex asked. "When you first landed here?"
"Yeah, I burnt a hole in about every couch pillow Eliza owned, I froze your bathroom door shut, and broke the door off the fridge."
"Yeah, but the more you did it, the better you got, remember? Pretty soon, you were able to master your powers easily. This is going to be the same thing. The first time is going to be horrible; you're going to burn a few pillows. But pretty soon, you're going to be able to face Hank Henshaw without fear."
"How can you be sure. Alex?"
"Because you're my sister. I know you better than anyone else. I know you can do this."
Kara smiled and nodded. "Thank you."
They shared a hug. Alex was right. The first time was horrible, but maybe, just maybe she would be strong enough to face Hank Henshaw and win.
She stood up and walked out of the room without another word.
"Was this a bad idea?" J'onn asked.
"No, actually, you and Kara were right. She does need this. It's the only way she'll be able to recover from what was done to her. I still hate the idea, but I know it's going to be worth it in the long run." Alex sighed.
"Is that how you really feel?" J'onn asked.
"Yes, why?"
"Because I might have an idea, but I have a feeling you're really not going to like it."
"What is it?"
"I think Kara needs to get angry."
Alex laughed. "It's very rare that Kara gets angry."
"Exactly, she's dealt with her sadness, her fear, her guilt, acceptance, everything except for anger. She's angry with Lillian and Hank for what they did to her. But since, as you said, she rarely gets angry, she isn't dealing with it. I think the key to getting her to fight Hank Henshaw and stop being scared of him is to be angry with him. Make her so angry that she lashes out and fights him without having time to be scared."
"Ok, but how are we going to do that?"
"The next time we train, I'm going to try and trigger that anger."
"Isn't that what you did today. All that stuff you said…"
"I hated saying it. But I was hoping to get some kind of reaction out of her, something besides fear, even if it was sadness, but all it did was cause more fear."
"So, what's your plan?"
"It involves you."
"Me? How? J'onn, attacking me, will only cause her to use her powers and hurt you. We learned that the last time when she saw you giving Dad the pain medicine."
"That's why I'm not going to attack you, at least not physically."
"Are you going to insult me?" Alex asked with a laugh. "J'onn I survived middle school and high school with an alien sister. I've pretty much had any insult known to man thrown my way. There isn't much that can hurt my feelings."
"Exactly, but Kara doesn't know that. If I can make Kara think I'm hurting you or more importantly, Hank Henshaw is hurting you, she'll become angry and lash out to make me stop."
"I don't know, J'onn. We want her to fight you, not try to burn you alive."
"It's our only other option, Alex. Kara needs something that is stronger than her fear in order to fight me. Anger is the only thing I can think of."
"There are so many ways this can go wrong. If Kara hurts you again, she'll never forgive herself." Alex said. "How can you be sure she'll get angry?"
"It's Kara; she gets angry if someone looks at you the wrong way."
"She's protective. But I'm the same way."
"So, if you heard me insulting Kara, wouldn't that make you angry?"
"Yes, of course, but…"
"No, no buts. It's either make her angry or continue to try and get her to fight back and risk triggering another panic attack or worse."
Alex sighed. "I don't like it, but I don't like the other option, either."
"It's your choice. I wouldn't dare tell you how to help Kara, but I think this will work."
Alex nodded and sighed once more. "No, you're right. I don't like it, still, but I know it will help her."
J'onn nodded. "Ok, so here's the plan."
During Kara's next training session, it was time to put their plan into action. It was either going to help Kara or destroy her completely. Both Alex and J'onn were hoping for the first one. But only time would tell.
"All right, Kara, just remember you want to block me, then knock me off my feet," J'onn said.
Kara nodded. She had liked this idea a few days ago. Now she was regretting it.
J'onn turned, and Kara gasped. "No!"
She backflipped out of the way and then sunk down to her knees, using her cape as a protective shield.
J'onn sighed and turned back. "This isn't going to work."
Kara sighed too and stood up. "I'm sorry. I can't seem to control it."
"It's ok, I understand. Besides, it's not your fault. It's hers." J'onn turned to look at Alex.
"Excuse me?" Alex gasped.
"J'onn, back off," Kara said instantly.
"No, you both know I'm right. She should have gotten to you and Jeremiah faster. Then you never would have been taken, and both you and Jeremiah would be fine."
"That's not fair," Alex said.
"I said back off, now," Kara said with a growl.
"The truth hurts. Don't you blame your sister? I know you do. You told me so yourself." J'onn said, and he turned into Hank Henshaw.
"How dare you!" Kara growled. "I blame you before I blame my sister. Alex has been the one thing getting me through all of this. So don't you dare blame her for this! It's your fault."
"Did you ever think maybe Alex let you get taken on purpose? Your father was just caught in the crossfire. I mean, think about it, she hated you for a good 2 or 3 years after you came to live with her. What if now, after all this time, she is finally able to get rid of you. So you made a deal and handed you over to me."
"Shut up. Alex would never do that to me. You leave Alex out of this." Kara took a step closer to Hank Henshaw.
"But she is such an important part of this. She is, after all, the reason you were taken."
"Stop saying that!" Kara growled.
Hank turned to Alex. "This is all your fault. The fact that she can't fight or is too scared to fight, it's all your fault."
"I…" Alex didn't know what to say. J'onn said he'd attack her verbally, but would never mean what he was saying. But this was feeling too real, too honest.
"Stop!" Kara growled. She flipped in the air over Hank and landed in front of Alex. "You leave her alone now."
"What are you gonna do about it?"
"You really don't want to find out."
"Maybe I do. Come on, show me what you got, or are you too scared?"
"You go after my sister, and there isn't enough fear in the world that would stop me from taking you down." Just like that, Kara started to fight Hank Henshaw. J'onn fought back and together they fought with a series of kicks, punches, a few times Kara flew over him and landed on the other side.
Finally, Hank put his hands up. "You win." He turned back to J'onn and panted.
"I'm sorry. Are you ok?" Kara asked.
"Don't be sorry. You did it. You fought Hank Henshaw." J'onn smiled. "I'll be fine."
"I did? I guess I did. I didn't even realize it…I just got so angry that he was going after Alex that I…"
"Exactly the point," Alex said. "We knew if we could get you angry enough, you'd forget your fear and fight to defend me. So that's what we did. I knew what was coming, it was hard to hear, but I know J'onn didn't mean it."
"Not a word. I'm sorry if I went too far."
"It's ok. I'm fine. It worked; that's what matters."
"Yeah, a little too well. J'onn, I could have killed you." Kara said. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't at least think about it while we were fighting."
"You don't kill, Kara. I know when the time comes, you'll fight the real Hank Henshaw but not kill him." J'onn said.
"I was so angry with you. Those things you said to Alex…"
"All lies. I knew Alex was too tough and confident to be taken down by something so juvenile as to say she was ugly or something like that. I knew I needed something stronger, more painful in order to get both you and her riled up."
"It worked," Alex said. "But as I said, my feelings aren't hurt. It was hard to hear, but I know you didn't mean it."
"Not a single word."
"We should celebrate! I just defeated Hank Henshaw. Potstickers and pizza on me, oh, and whatever else you guys want."
They all laughed.
"Let's go tell dad." Alex smiled.
"Yes!" Kara cheered.
Together they three of them headed off. Kara was able to defeat Hank Henshaw, well J'onn as Hank Henshaw, but still. Now Kara was confident that she was going to be able to take down the real Hank Henshaw with no issues.
A/N Please leave me your thoughts in a review. I'll post the next chapter as soon as the story is finished. Happy New Year!