Scattered Sanity (Sanvers)

Day Three.

(Shit's getting real now. Hop along for the ride, we're off and running.)

Alex was roughly awoken, shaken and jostled with someone gripping her shoulders, her neck snapping back and forth, body limp. Her hazel eyes groggily opened, though her vision was fuzzy.

"What the hell?" She muttered, squinting. She tried to move a hand to rub her eyes, but it was caught and jerked back. Only then did she notice the coarse rope tied around her wrists, binding her arms to a column behind her. "What's going on?" Alex asked, trying her best to keep cool. The last thing she remembered was the water closing over her head, and the sensation of drowning within her glass prison. How had she ended up here?

"Hello, Alex." A confident, almost arrogant voice directed the redhead's attention to a man standing a few feet to her left. He smiled, though malice lay behind it. "Remember me?" He stepped directly in front of her, giving her a full view of his brown hair, parted on the left side of his head, and his sunken blue eyes.

The anger that was tucked underneath his irises triggered a memory within Alex, and she was dragged back into eighth grade, to a boy who was sweet and warmhearted. One who would carry Alex's backpack to her classes, who was always there to offer a kind word, and, though he may have been slightly awkward, he always made an effort to be nice around her. "Rick Malverne." The name slipped from her tongue, accented with her puzzled tone. Why would he be her captor? Had she ever done anything to hurt him? Alex scoured her brain for a possible interaction that had gone wrong, but nothing sprang to mind.

"Ah, so you do." Rick mused, chuckling to himself.

"What am I doing here, Rick?" Alex questioned, doing her best to look him in the eye.

The brunet noticed this, squatting down so he could speak to his captive properly. "Oh, right. I suppose I should address that." He shrugged his shoulders almost apologetically. "Unfortunately, Alex Danvers, you were the bait in this situation. I happened to need something from your dear sister Kara." A wicked grin stretched across his face. "Or would you prefer if I called her Supergirl?"

Alex couldn't help the instant concern that flashed over her features, illuminating her stress over the fact that someone knew of Kara's superhero identity. "What are you talking about?" She tried to feign innocence.

"Don't play dumb with me." Rick sneered. "You remember that day when I invited you to the beach? When Kara single-handedly rescued a woman and her baby from a horrific car crash when she was in just the seventh grade? I refused to believe that day was as simple as a miracle. So when Kara Danvers moved to National City, and Supergirl emerged in National City, it was pretty easy to put the pieces together." He leaned back onto his hands, seemingly relaxed, which irritated Alex. "Now this does all come together, tied up with a neat little bow. You see, my father's name is Peter Thompson."

"The murderer?" Alex interjected in her surprise. Peter Thompson had been thrown in prison for accounts of murder, and he had been known as very dangerous before he had been taken into custody.

Rick grimaced at the use of the term. "Yes, him. Despite what everyone might think, he's a good man. He rescued me from my abusive mother, actually. While your younger sister was hiding her superpowers, I was hiding bruises." He spat the last word vehemently. "My dad took me away from that hell and let me live life as a normal teenage boy. However, he's been landed in prison, as you must know. My proposition was for Supergirl to use her powers to break my father out and return him to me in a time limit of thirty-six hours, or you would die."

"Then why am I not dead?" Alex self-consciously registered her breathing and her heart rate, just to check that she was still alive.

"It was a last-minute decision." Rick admitted. "When I saw your body floating in the water, I had a change of heart, so I saved you. Don't think that I'm getting soft on you or anything. There's no way that I'm letting you go."

"What could you possibly need me for, now that your father is still in prison, and everyone thinks that I'm stuck six feet underground somewhere?"

"When I knew you, Alex, you were everything I wanted. You were smart, funny, beautiful, and a whole lot of fun to be around. I wanted to spend as much time with you as I could, because it meant that I was away from home, and you made me feel like I wasn't some loser." His gaze locked with Alex's, pupil trained on pupil, blue on hazel. "To put it simply, I was in love with you. Whatever my teenage heart comprehended as love was what I felt for you." Rick confessed, moving closer to Alex, who did her best to avoid physical contact. But there was only so far that she could move, and she found herself with his hand caressing her face.

Alex was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, her skin prickling, hairs standing up at the base of her neck. "Rick, stop -"

"I put so much time into this, Alex. More than you would ever believe." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Nearly a year of watching from afar, analyzing everything about you. The difference between how you interacted when around others versus alone, your undying loyalty to those that you love, and how you act so strong, when you're really vulnerable."

"Stalking me?" Alex said disgustedly.

Rick took a strand of Alex's hair, rubbing it between his index finger and thumb. At this point, she could feel his breath on her face. "I still love you, Alex. I didn't ever think that I would after all this time, but I do."

Alex turned her face away, trying to not show how alarmed she was by the limited space between them. "Well, if you've been studying me so closely, you should know that I'm gay, and on top of that, I have a girlfriend." She snapped indignantly.

A noise rumbled from Rick's throat, resembling a growl. With one hand, he snatched Alex's chin and sharply moved it so she was again looking at him. "I was really hoping that you wouldn't mention your little gal-pal. This is going to make things much more difficult." He sighed. "Do you think that you love her?"

"Think? I know I love Maggie Sawyer, dumbass." Alex retorted fiercely.

The brunet shook his head. "I didn't want to do this, but I guess I don't have a choice."

Before Alex could say anything, she felt a blaze of pain scorch across her cheek, dealt by Rick's hand slapping her, hard. She could feel the welt forming, blood rushing to color her normally pale skin a bright red. It stung harshly, causing Alex to grit her teeth to divert her attention from the throbbing. Without even a moment to pause, she was then met with an aggressive pair of lips crushing against her own. She tried to throw her head back, but there was nowhere for her to go, and she was forced to wait until Rick broke them apart.

When he did, his chest was heaving with rage. "Alex, I have waited so many years for you." Rick wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, eyes wild and predatory. "And now you're going to forget all about your beloved Maggie Sawyer."