"Shaylee... Shaylee... Shaylee..."
Shay follows the whispers and runs around the DEO like a gazelle, trying to figure out where the whispers are coming from.
"Shaylee... Shaylee... Shaylee..."
The whispers continue get louder and louder the faster she runs. Finally, she recognizes the voice and tears start to form in her eyes. She slows down a bit and traces the voice to the jail cell room.
"Mum?" Shay asks, walking over to the glass cage.
"Shay Shay, help me... please." Imra begs, clutching her side. Shay takes a closer look and finds her mother bleeding all over the floor.
"Okay Mum hold on."
Shay scrambles around the room trying to find the key pad and enters in as many codes as possible. After going through dozens of codes, Shay finally gets the door to open and runs inside running to her mothers aid.
"Mum. I got you, I'm going to help you. I promise." Shay cries. Imra's eyes slowly start to close and her breathing gets longer and longer by each breath. "No Mum! Mum! Stay with me! Stay with me!"
"Shay... why did you do this to me?" Imra asks.
"Mum. I didn't mean to I'm sorry."
"Why didn't you just listen?"
"I'm so sorry. Please don't leave me."
Shaylee let's out a gasp and immediately, sits up with tears sliding down her cheeks. For the last few days, Shaylee's been having dreams of whispers and being trapped in the DEO. Shay would usually wake up irritated that she could never figure out where and who the whispers were coming from. Now she wished she hadn't figured where they came from. It was her mind's way of reminding her of all the horror she has done to her mother.
Kara's eyes flutter open as she hears the light cries coming from the living room. She gets out of bed and makes her way to the sofa, where she finds Shaylee sniffling.
"Shaylee?" Kara asks, getting closer to the girl. Shaylee looks up at her and tries her best to hide the tears but she couldn't help it. They were spewing out of her like a waterfall. Kara immediately wraps her arms around her and Shaylee melts into the embrace, clearly needing it. Rubbing the girl's back, Kara holds onto Shaylee until she can feel her breathing steady a bit.
"I killed her..." Shay whispers.
"Killed who? Shay what happened?"
"We were under attack. She told me to stay at the ship but I didn't want to. I wanted to stay and fight. But she was so busy telling me to go that she wasn't even thinking about the fight. Someone came up behind her and... and..."
"Shay honey, I need you to calm down. Breathe." Kara adds, getting Shaylee to take in deep breaths.
"If only I would have listened, she would still be here."
"Sweetheart, who are you talking about?"
"Mum..."
"Shay, your mother's death is not your fault. You were not the one who pulled that trigger. It is not on you."
"Then why does it feel like it was?"
Kara looks at the girl sympathetically and holds onto the teenager as her sobs continue to get louder and louder.
"Honey, look at me." Kara states, lifting the girl's head up. "You did all you could in that situation. Sometimes we don't always have control over things and it's better for us to accept that than blame it on ourselves. You didn't do anything wrong and this is not on you. Do you understand?"
No response.
"Shaylee, do you understand?"
"I understand."
"Good... Shhhh. It's okay. Everything is okay." Kara reassures, kissing the top of her head.
•••
Mon-el wakes up to find someone tugging on his necklace and his eyes slowly open to a giggly Naomi.
"Good morning princess."
"Morning Daddy. Me hungry."
"An appetite just like her Mama's." Mon-el chuckles. "Come on, let's go." They walk out the kitchen and find Kara and Shaylee already there, chomping on waffles and sipping on coffee.
"Morning baby girl." Kara beams, kissing Naomi's cheeks.
"Good morning Shaylee." Mon-el smiles.
"Morning." Shay whispers, taking a bite of her food. Mon-el can sense the teenager's shakiness and Kara gives him a reassuring nod, noticing his concern for Shaylee. He plants a kiss on the side of her head and decides he would address it later when they were alone.
"Mimi, Shay made the most amazing strawberry waffles. You have to try them."
Naomi immediately takes a seat in her mother's lap as she feeds her the waffles. Naomi nods in approval as she snatched the fork from her mother's hand and shoves the rest of the waffles into her mouth.
"Can Shay make breakfast everyday?" Naomi beams.
"Sorry kiddo, I can't do everyday. Maybe like once a week."
"I'll take it. Deal?" Naomi asks, holding out her hand for a handshake.
"Deal."
All of them take a seat and enjoy a breakfast together, listening to Naomi ramble on and on about her "adventures." Soon, they all disperse and continue with their day.
•••
"Shay honey can we talk?" Mon-el asks, knocking on her room door. She nods and makes room for her father to sit next to her.
"I'm sorry for saying what I did. I didn't mean any of it. I just got really upset and things were just spewing out of me."
"I know you didn't." Mon-el replies. "But that doesn't give you a pass for talking to me the way you did. Why were you upset in the first place?"
"It's really stupid."
"Shay, if it's causing you to be upset, it's not stupid." Mon-el reassures. "Now what's going on?"
"The dreams are coming back. The ones of Mum."
"Shay... Why didn't you tell me?"
"You have your own family to worry about now. I'm not your problem anymore."
"Shay you are my family. We may not be by blood but that doesn't mean that I love you any less. You're incredible in so many different ways I can't even count." Mon-el beams. "You were only seven when I first met you yet you still managed to help me get through the darkest time of my life. And from that moment on I promised to devote my life to always protect you."
"I know and I thank you for that, but it's not the same. When I see Kara and Naomi... it just reminds me of what I used to have with Mum. I know it sounds ungrateful and all but I just really miss her."
"Honey..." Mon-el whispers, pulling her into a hug. "I know how much you loved your mother and how much she loved you. You're allowed to be upset about how you miss her. I'm sure she's watching over you right now and beaming with pride about how you've grown into the most beautiful and talented young woman. And I'm in no way trying to replace the bond you had with your mother but just know, you will always have a family with me, with us."
"Thank you... Dad." Shaylee chuckles. Mon-el plants a kiss on the top of the girl's head and debates on bringing up the next topic.
"And there's one more thing I wanted to ask you about."
"Yes?"
"When we were in the research lab, you mentioned something about a mission. What were you talking about?"
Shay takes a deep sigh and stands up, pacing around the room. She preferred revealing the initial plan like this rather than look him in the eye and say it.
"Us landing here wasn't quite an accident. Brainy and I knew that in order to save everyone else in the future, we'd need to prevent Pestilence from ever becoming Blight."
"And why didn't you and Brainy tell me about this?"
"He feared that your involvement with Kara would effect your attributes to the mission so it was better off you not knowing. I'm so sorry for lying to you but-"
"Shay it's fine. I understand what you were trying to do and to be honest, I would've done the same."
"So you're not mad?"
"No. I mean I wish you told me from the start but what's done is done. Get some sleep okay? Love you."
"Yeah goodnight."
Hi guys, I'm back! I'm so glad you are all enjoying Shaylee as a character. She's honestly one of my favorites and it's been fun to add something new to the plot. Here is the highly requested Kara and Shaylee relationship centric(ish) chapter and I can't wait to continue building their bond. Also, I've finally planned out how this story is going to end and I'm honestly excited for it. Don't worry, it's not anytime soon though. Anyways, have a nice day and thanks so much for reading. See ya soon!