Chapter Text
Lex Foster struggled to slip her key into the door of their new apartment. After today’s day of work she was ready to collapse into the too-big bed of the penthouse.
It was still insane to her that they had this kind of money, that Ethan's stocks had worked out in whatever way they had. It happened so fast she wasn't sure she believed it, but she didn't have the energy or knowledge to doubt Ethan, and Hannah was the happiest she had seen her, with that fire behind her eyes that Lex hadn't seen in a long time.
She finally shoved the key into the lock, turning it and pushing the door open, calling out to her boyfriend who she knew would still be awake, “Ethan, I'm home” The apartment was quiet, Hannah was probably sleeping, “I had such a weird shift, I must've fell asleep because I had this freaky dream-” her face fell as she rounded the corner to the kitchen. Ethan was sitting at the table, burying his head in his hands. As she walked in he raised his head, but didn't look at her, just stared blankly at the table. His eyes were red and puffy, he had been crying, something was wrong.
She dropped her bag on the floor, a sinking feeling starting in her stomach, “Ethan what’s wrong?” She stood, staring at him, unable to move. Panic settled into her, her own eyes starting to well with tears. Ethan never cried.
“Ethan?” She choked, suddenly realizing an absent, empty feeling inside of her, “Eth where’s Hannah?”
He slowly looked up at her, his eyes filled with a hollowness and deep regret, “Lex” he croaked, swallowing hard. His face was full of guilt, like there were a million things he wanted to say but couldn’t find the words.
“Ethan?” She exclaimed, her voice full of panic with a tinge of anger, “Where is my sister?” He broke eye contact with her, closing his eyes and biting his bottom lip. Before he had the chance to say anything she was dashing off to Hannah’s bedroom, calling her name, “Hannah?” she cried, “Hannah?!”
She threw open the door, revealing Hannah’s painfully empty room. Running over to the bed she started throwing Hannah’s pillows and blankets on the ground, desperately searching for something that she knew wasn’t going to be there.
She was stopped by a voice calling to her in the doorway, “She’s gone Lex.” Ethan said.
She rounded on him, “What does that mean?”
“I- I tried to convince her not to,” he pleaded, taking a step back, “I wasn’t going to let her do it. It was like something took over me, it made me say yes.”
She charged at him, grabbing him by the collar and forcing him against the wall across from the room, “Ethan what the fuck happened to my sister”
A tear rolled down Ethan’s cheek, “I’ll explain everything, I promise, but can we just sit, please?” He asked, his voice quieter.
She took a breath, stepping back and letting him go, “Fine”
20 minutes later Lex sat on a chair in the living room, her head in her hands.
“I’m sorry Lex,” Ethan said, trying to compose himself, “I just wanted to help. I just wanted to see you happy again.”
Lex shook her head, quietly sobbing into her hands.
“That's all she wanted too, she was gonna do it whether I let her or not.”
Suddenly, Lex stood up, fists clenched. Her expression was a mix of anger, confusion, and something unreadable. She looked like she wanted to fight someone, scream at Ethan, scream at herself, but instead she just let out a defeated sob.
Ethan stood up, gently wrapping his arms around her, allowing her the option to walk away. Lex leaned into the embrace, crying into his chest.
“I’m so sorry Lex.” Ethan muttered into her ear, “I should've stopped her, I shouldn’t have let her do it”
Lex sniffled, “I knew she was different. I should’ve realized when Webby showed up, maybe I did, I just didn’t want to believe it,” she looked up at him, “I didn’t want her to be like me” they sat down on the couch, “Webby warned me this would happen, said I would have to be the protector. I guess I couldn't even do that right”
As the words left her mouth she felt a sudden surge of power around her, the world going monochrome and time freezing. She looked around, caught off guard by the sudden change in atmosphere, she found herself standing in a great white abyss.
Suddenly, a hauntingly familiar voice called out from behind her, “It's not your fault, Lexi”
She turned around to see the ethereal form of her childhood best friend, “Webby”
The white haired girl smiled sheepishly, “Hey Lex”
She looked at the girl with mild disbelief, “Why-”
“It's not too late” Webby introjected, “Hannah is more powerful than my brother realized. That's what he wants, her power. It’s an easy way to manipulate people’s minds, get them to join his hive.” She spit out the last word like poison, “He has her body, but she's fighting his control of her mind, and she's winning, Lex.”
Lex’s eyes widened, “So she’s…”
“Alive, yes, for now.” Webby affirmed, “But she can’t fight him forever. Pokotho is nothing if not persistent and he won't stop pushing until she gives in. She needs help.”
Lex’s expression turned to a fiery determination, “What can I do?”
For a moment Webby smiled, recognizing the protective side of Lex, “First, we have to let her know we're coming, give her a reason to keep fighting. She can buy us time.”
“How?”
“Do you remember your gift, Lex? Webby asked, forcing Lex to recall the years of her life that she had pushed down, vowed to forget about for Hannah's sake.
She flinched at the memories, “Maybe a little”
Webby sat down, gesturing for Lex to join her, and outstretched her hands, “I'll help you”
Lex joined her on the ground, tentatively placing her hands on the other girl's. She had done this before, a long time ago.
“Close your eyes,” Webby instructed, “Feel the space around you, the emptiness, the void.”
Lex focused, feeling the space of whatever pocket dimension they were in.
“Now push past it, into the space beyond. Find the black and white, find her.”
She thought of Hannah, her energy, and searched for it. Finally, she found it, a faint pulsing surrounded by a swirling dark energy. She pushed towards her sister, fighting against the psychic energy that pushed at her from all sides. Then she saw her, hugging her knees, eyes shut in pained focus, “Hannah!” she called to her.
The girl’s head shot up, looking at her sister with a scared, bewildered look, “Lexi?”
As they recognized each other the force pushing Lex got stronger, trying to keep her away, “Hannah I’m coming to help, you have to hold on a little bit longer.” She shouted
“I can’t Lexi” Hannah cried, “I’m not strong enough”
Lex pushed forwards once again, “Yes you are, Webby knows you are, I know you are. We can stop him, you just have to keep fighting.” She wished she could run to her sister, hold her, tell her everything would be okay, but she could feel her grip on this section of the black and white slipping away. Something was pushing her out. Hannah started to be obscured by a cloud of swirling blue, and she made a final desperate call, “I’m coming Hannah, don’t give up on me” she managed to get out before she was flung backwards, her eyes flying open to find herself once again sitting across from Webby.
Webby smiled, nodding affirmingly, “Good job. Now you have to get to the roller rink.”
Lex stood up, brushing herself off, “I'm going to save her.” She said, affirming it to herself more than anything.
“You can do this, Lexi. You have what he doesn’t, your reason to keep fighting.”
As Lex opened her mouth to respond, the white started to fade around her, returning her to the monochrome living room. When the room had fully returned, the stasis holding it in place snapped, color returning.
Ethan felt the shift in demeanor in Lex and gave her a confused look, “What just happened?”
Lex stood up again, “We need to go to the roller rink, now”
“Why? Lex what's happening” Ethan asked, standing up next to her with a bewildered look on his face.
She rushed towards the door, “I’ll explain in the car, we have to go”