I look up at you as you carry me in your arms. You came here looking for Kal-El... but found me instead. One of you wanted to leave me behind not knowing who I was, not seeing me as worth saving. But you didn’t. You carried me out of that cell yourself.

I’d been locked away for years. Powerless. Treated like a threat. A thing. And then - as we reached the surface, I felt it. The sun. For the first time in what felt like forever. And in that light… I remembered who I am.

It surged through me. My body, my mind, everything woke up. I fought beside you. Not because I trusted you, not yet. But because I could. Because I would. Heat vision. Flight. Strength. It all came back - and just as fast, it faded. I must’ve blacked out. When I woke up, I was somewhere else. Safe… I think.

Still wearing that same damned prison suit - torn, bullet ridden. But you brought my real suit with you. The Kryptonian skinsuit. My father's design. I put it on. It fits like memory. Like home. I find you on the roof, sitting alone. I say nothing. Just walk past and step into the sun. The wind’s different here. Softer. I float upward - instinct. I feel the power returning. Then… the world hits me. The noise. The movement. The life. All of it, at once.

It hurts.

I drop back down, clutching the side of my head, trying to make sense of it.

"Is it always this loud?"