A Monster

Reyna's palms pressed against the clear window of the cell inside STAR labs. There was a closed door infront of her, and she could hear people arguing.

Her fingers and palms were still soiled with her own fresh blood. Just minutes ago the muscles and skin on her hands had regenerated, and with it came a small amount of blood from them being blown apart and then regenerated.

She briefly examined her hands, and they looked almost exactly the same as before, except for one large detail.

She must have missed it in the commotion of the fight, or right after. Reyna shifted her hands, examining the front and back of her palms, until she noticed two black marks. One on the back of each of her hands.

They weren't a noticeable symbol, and if she had seen it earlier, it's possible she could have mistaken them for injuries. However now, in this well lit room, she could tell.

The marking was a series of black dots, circling one another, growing smaller and smaller.

The fresh tattoos would have to wait. The voices beyond the sealed door were becoming louder, and angrier. She couldn't ignore them now.

Reyna let her forehead rest against the clear, near indestructible glass of her cell, and waited.

" You can't just put her in there, like she's some kind of monster! "

Reyna's heart lifted some, but she still kept her head lowered. She could hear Cisco's voice, and he was sticking up for her.

" You don't understand what I saw her do, Cisco she killed someone!"

Barry's voice was violently loud and frightened. Both men were yelling at one another, and Reyna was having a hard time making out every word that was being said.

" She saved everyone in the City from a terrorist, and you decided, without-consulting- any-of-us-by-the-way, that you were going to reward her by locking her in a cell?!"

She could hear Cisco's voice raise in alarm, but for every level he would reach, Barry could push it further.

" I'm letting her out."

Cisco told Barry, his voice becoming more clear as he grew closer to her Cell.

Within seconds there was no more noise or voices, and Reyna had guessed that Cisco had been swept away before he caused any more trouble.

It was almost three hours later, and Barry still had't let her out.

" Joe said what had happened, are you okay? "

Cisco was the first to rush at her when the first set of doors opened, letting her see everyone through the cell glass. She walked up to the glass, and so did Cisco. Reyna could feel a sheepish smile spring across her face. She had missed talking to him so much.

"Yeah- yeah, I'm okay.."

Reyna held out her hands from behind the glass and Cisco examined them.

Barry and Dr. Wells were also in the room, but neither of them were giving their input.

Caitlin was a little late, but arrived in time to see everyone in a different mood.

" So, what happened? "

Caitlyn's question was quickly answered by Barry, who shot dirty looks at both Cisco and Reyna.

Reyna ignored him for a few moments, bending down to Cisco, and speaking to him quietly.

" I need to talk to you about something, I feel like I need to apologize .. Or something."

Reyna's face scrunched as she could feel her chest tighten and her words get jumbled.

" No-no, this weirdness is me, it's not you.. I have some stuff I'm working though right now."

They went back and forth for a minute, blaming themselves until they were interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

" Evening Ms. Reynolds.. I see you're back from the dead.."

Reyna turned from facing Cisco to see the person she'd been running from.  The same person who had tourtured her.

Amanda Waller.

A terrified feeling washed over her, as she felt fear seep deep into her bones.

How had she found her..

" Hello boys, my name is Amanda Waller, and I'm here to collect ARGUS property."

Her voice was cold and serious, she only lifted her eyes from Reyna for a moment to look at Dr. Wells.

" Excuse me? "

Wells sounded as confused as everyone looked.

Reyna's face drained of all color, and her clammy palms pressed against the glass that held her in her cell.

" Cisco don't let her take me, please-please-please.."

Reyna's voice was strained and frantic as she slammed a hand against the glass behind her, her voice shaking in fear as her breathing increased.

Everything was going to come out now. All the shit she had done and been through, and all of the lies she had used to stay safe.

" It's okay.."

Cisco pulled up his arms the moment she became frantic, trying to calm her. But Waller had pushed through everyone in the group, and was standing proudly infront of her cell.

" Amazing, to think we've lost over a whole year thinking you were dead, but here you were.."

She paused, and looked at Reyna a little closer.

" I see your powers have finally manifested themselves, that alone is worth the wait."

Her voice nearly cleared the room, every sentence she spoke raised further and further questions.

" And if you're wondering who it was that gave you up, it wasn't John Diggle, or his wife.. We have other operatives who are more skilled than them at tracking."

" Am I the only one who doesn't know what's going on? "

Cisco interrupted Waller's discussion with herself, and after he posed the question to her, she quietly laughed to herself before answering.

" I see you haven't been honest with your new friends.. But that doesn't matter, you won't be seeing them ever again. "

Waller brought up a single arm and within seconds the room was filled with soldiers.

" You need to open these doors, now."

Waller eyed Dr. Wells, who had his own questions for her.

" ARGUS has no Authority inside this Lab, I have an agreement-"

" Your agreement was voided the moment I found an ex-fugitive hiding within its walls. You'll comply, or I'll shake this dump to the ground. "

Waller's stern tone and take-no-shit attitude immediately put everyone on edge, and Reyna seemed to be the only one without a voice.

" Mila Reynolds, how long did you think you could stay dead, especially with those new flashy powers.."

" Wait, you said her powers manifested, what did you mean by that? "

Caitlin interrupted Waller's rant with her own question. One which Waller was more than happy to answer.

" We've been waiting for them to manifest since she was a teenager, but something must have happened in Central City that activated her.. What was it Reyna?  Car accident, or maybe a gunshot wound? Maybe it was that explosion a while back? "

" Manifest? "

Caitlin pressed again and Waller sighed, her patience wearing thin.

" Mila's been in ARGUS since she graduated High School, but her abilities have been a recessive process."

She continued to talk as everyone in the room remained silent.

Reyna let her forehead rest against the window that she was enclosed behind. She couldn't tell what was a lie and what was the truth.

" Mila's bloodline is, unique.. We nicknamed them Project Apollo.. It only seems to show itself in the female genome.."

" Apollo's the god of light and healing, which would have been a great name.."

Cisco spoke, trying to lighten the mood, and Reyna let out a loud, shallow laugh. Even in the face of all of this shit he was still trying to make the best of it.

She listened to what Waller was saying, her eyes were closed and tensed up. She wasn't sure what was real and what was a lie.

" You get it from your grandmother, Reyna.."

Reyna's face lifted off the glass, but she still didn't make eye contact with the woman who had condemned her.

She had fond memories of her father referring to her as " Reyna " instead of Mila, because of the close resemblance between the two.

She began to listen much more closely to what she was saying, Waller knew many details about her life, details no one but Reyna should know.

" Your family was found by ARGUS when we were founded, and have been used for weapons-ware since then.. You are no different. "

" You're not going anywhere with her.."

Barry spoke from behind Waller.

" And is The Flash going to stop me? "

Barry looked taken aback, and Waller used her momentum to bring Reyna's past to light.

" There is so much about this Fugitive you don't know.."

Waller walked back up to the glass and paused, peering in at her with a unsatisfactory smile.

" Mila Reynolds is a fugitive, a War Criminal.. She's committed crimes against her nation and its allies.."

Reyna finally spoke up, an uncomfortable lump in her throat.

" Tell them why.."

Waller was surprised by Reyna's tone, but continued anyway.

" She let the Vice President get abducted by a terrorist group and executed a prince on foreign soil."

Everyone was looking at her now, and Reyna could barely stand to look any of them in the eye.

" And.."

Reyna looked at the floor of her cell, bringing up her scraped up forearms and resting her head against them.

" And nothing. "

Waller's lack of decency set her off, and before she knew it, she was trying to break out of her cell to go after her..

" She let six children die to save a thieving, rapist bastard that didn't deserve to be buried.."

Waller shifted her eye sight from Reyna and to a wall adjacent to her cell.

" I had six children die in my arms, I got to watch the light fade in their eyes!"

Reyna lashed out at Waller, slamming a bloody fist into the glass that was between them.

" I couldn't get their blood off my skin for weeks Waller, fucking weeks! "

Reyna's emotions had gotten the best of her, and her eyes had begun to fill with tears.

She could still see everyone one of their faces if she looked hard enough. Each more beautiful and innocent than the next. It had been her mission that night to save the prince, but instead she chose to abandon him and save the children he was keeping as sex slaves.

" You.."

Reyna's blood was smudged across the window, but she still managed to point a clear finger through the glass as Waller.

" You chose to save him over them, and when I couldn't take it anymore you told me this was how the world was.. Well, I couldn't work for ARGUS anymore after that, not-another-fucking-day!"

Reyna's voice had cracked and fluxuated as her adrenalin spiked. She had lost the trust of her friends, and now Waller was trying to belittle her name further.

No. She wouldn't let her lies overshadow what had happened.

" You don't get to decide what is wrong and right, you're a soldier, you follow orders or you get relieved. "

Waller's version of 'relieved' was in a box, six feet under the ground.

" You know what, I don't need to explain anything to you or these people, you're coming back to Lian Yu .."

The clear, glass wall to her cell opened, and her associates in STAR labs looked around, confused and over run with soldiers.

Waller brought up her hand, and every soldier in the room paused, awaiting an order from their superior.

She briefly took a phone call before clearing her throat and changing her tone.

" Something, more concerning has come up in Gotham City.. So for now you're free.. But I'll be back for you, so don't go too far.."

" It was a pleasure meeting all of you.. Cisco, Caitlyn, Allen.." Waller only looked at Wells before she left the room, not saying any other pleasantries as both she and her small army left the room.

The eyes that were looking at her weren't as angry or judgmental as she had thought they would be, but she knew there would be questions.

" You've been lying to us, this whole time? "

Barry seemed the most hurt, and she was surprised that Cisco had been taking everything so well.

" So, this explains the advanced fighting style.."

Cisco's comment was scorned by the rest, but Reyna knew she needed to talk about the elephant in the room.

" I joined ARGUS a little after my eighteenth birthday, and up until late last year, I was still a high ranking Civillian Transporter .. I ran into some, politically controversial situations, and Waller decided that saving the life of an Arabian Prince was more important than the lives of his people or the children I had decided to protect, so much so that she had the children killed within my custody to make sure I had no further distractions.. I tried to leave, and I was denied."

" So you faked your death? "

Caitlyn chimed in, and Reyna nodded.

" Mila? "

Barry spoke with a disconcerted look on his face, and Reyna nodded.

" My friends called me Reyna in school.. I moved a lot as a kid, and with a name like Mila, you get picked on a lot.. Reyna was easier.."

Reyna answered truthfully, her voice shaking a little, as she stood infront of some of the only people she cared about.

" I'm going to go to Starling City, I don't want to bother any of you anymore.." Reyna spoke, shifting her gaze from theirs and quickly leaving the room before anyone could send a counter argument.