Chapter Text
Alex had just made it back to the DEO to report to Director J'onn J'onzz, when Supergirl landed on the balcony, although falling onto the balcony would be a more apt description, as she crashed into a heap, exhausted from first fighting, then chasing after the Shapeshifter. Alex helped her up and put an arm around her waist. “She knows,” said Kara despondently to Alex, her face searching Alex’s features to see what she thought about it. There was no need to further explain who the ‘she’ was in the sentence.
“Shh, it’s okay. We’ll figure it out. Let’s get you taken care of first. I think a treatment from the yellow sun lamp will do you a world of good.” Alex signaled to another agent to take Supergirl’s other side as she couldn’t fully support Kara’s weight.
“What happened with the Shapeshifter?” Alex asked, changing the subject.
“I tracked it to the National Forest, where I lost it, and then came back here when I felt my powers fading.” And then she blacked out.
---
Maggie leaned back in her chair at the National City Police Computer lab and rubbed her temples. She had been sitting in this chair for almost six hours, looking over Lena’s shoulder as she gathered the evidence they needed. Now, three printers were going crazy spitting out the documentation for what Maggie hoped they needed to put the LutherCorp CEO away. Lena had been amazing, tunneling in through a backdoor to get access to the LutherCorp systems yet staying undetected from their security team, and then finding a secret cache of hidden files, including the ones Lena had shown Mark and he was now trying to destroy. Of course, they had all been encrypted, but Lena said she had a homegrown decryption program she invented. She cracked the code in three hours and 17 minutes.
Speaking of Lena, she wondered if she was as hungry as she was. Maggie had brought in a pizza, but that had been hours ago. In fact, where was Lena? Maggie consulted her watch. She had gone to the bathroom over 25 minutes ago, her most trusted officer escorting her, as they were still keeping it quiet that Lena was alive.
Maggie found the Ladies Room, Lena’s escort, a male officer, dutifully waiting outside. “Where the hell is Lena Luther?” she asked the officer.
“Um, inside the Ladies?” he said a little nervously, as if standing outside a Ladies restroom was going to give him cooties.
“Oh really,” said Maggie curtly. She pushed the door open and they both peered in. There were met with an empty restroom and an open window. “Son of a bitch,” said Maggie.
---
Kara woke up in a DEO hospital bed. She vaguely recalled making it back to the DEO before she collapsed, exhausted from chasing after the Shapeshifter. She felt the warm artificial yellow sunlight on her face. Strangely, she felt good, really good. Better than she had in a long time. She guessed the sun treatment was just what she needed. She checked the clock on the wall. A few minutes past 6 PM. She had been out for over six hours, no wonder she felt rejuvenated. Then she remembered Lena calling out her name before being hit by the shapeshifter. That had been no accident. She knew. She got up to go look for Alex to see what their next move was regarding the investigation of the weapons and then think about how she should approach Lena.
“… What do you mean she crawled out a bathroom window, Maggie?” Kara heard Alex on the phone as she rounded the corner. “Well, she couldn’t have gone far. I thought she was onboard with the plan to stay hidden so no one would know she didn’t die in the missile attack?” Alex turned around as she thought she heard a sound behind her, but the hallway was empty.
---
Lena walked along the long alleyway between her building and the next. She was headed towards the maintenance entrance near the corner. She had reprogrammed her keycard last year to give her access to all the doors in the building when she wanted to use the roof top pool after hours. Now she planned on using her magic keycard to sneak into her own building. After slipping out the bathroom window at Police headquarters, she wasn’t sure if Maggie had already thought to send over a patrol car to watch the front entrance of her building for her, so she wasn’t taking any chances of being seen.
She wanted to get inside her penthouse and grab her computer and then head over to LutherCorp. After shifting through hours of digital evidence, she became convinced the CEO, who had tried to have her killed, had some incriminating evidence including a ledger with all of the money he was making from the sale of the illegal weapons locked in a safe in his office. Her computer had a program that would unlock all the doors without anyone being able to trace it back to her or set off any alarms. She knew Maggie would have to get a warrant to get this kind of physical evidence and if she waited, there was a chance Mark could destroy it. This was her chance.
---
Kara had taken to the skies in her Supergirl outfit as soon as she had overheard Alex’s one-sided conversation with Maggie that Lena was missing. She searched for her heartbeat and found it at her building. Strange, thought Kara, she was in the alleyway next to her building. Kara flew down into some bushes and quickly changed into her civilian clothes. She had no idea what to say to Lena, and hoped something would come to her when she saw her. She took a deep breath and stepped into the alleyway, Lena ten yards ahead of her, was walking her way.
Lena looked up and then froze at the sight of the blonde woman. “Oh no. No! I have nothing to say to you,” she said angrily, holding up her hands up as if to ward her off. Kara stilled, terrified at moving. Lena stared at her for a few, hard seconds, her eyes green blades of steel, then turned on her heel and walked away swiftly from Kara. Kara could only watch Lena walk away from her, down the alley and possibly out of her life altogether, the strongest woman on the planet, helpless.
Then, something happened.
Hope.
Lena turned around about fifty yards away. “I know I don’t have to raise my voice for you to hear me,” Lena began in her regular voice, still angry. “I don’t know which hurts more. The fact that you lied to me or the fact that you didn’t trust me with the truth.”
Kara took a quick peek up at the alleyway to make sure there weren’t any security cameras. Then she reached up to take her glasses off her face and stuff them in her back pocket. She took a tentative step in Lena’s direction, then another. She lifted her hand up to her ponytail and yanked the elastic out as she walked forward, a little faster now, to give the impression that she had walked out of the holder, her blonde hair cascading around her shoulders and down her back. Then she started to jog towards Lena, eyes locked onto hers the whole time. When Lena didn’t move a muscle, she started to run harder, faster towards her.
When she was about halfway to Lena, she moved at Super speed to change into her Supergirl costume. To Lena’s naked eye, it looked like Kara was there one second and then she suddenly disappeared, only to reappear as Supergirl a few yards away from where she last saw her, still running at her.
Blue eyes reclaimed green. Kara stopped just short when she got to Lena. To Lena’s credit, she only flinched slightly. Then Kara stepped into Lena’s personal space. “It’s still me,” she said breathlessly, and grabbed Lena’s cheeks and crushed her lips to hers.
Now normally, Kara was all about consent. But this might very well be the last time she will get to kiss Lena, so Kara wanted to make sure she poured all her passion and emotions and feelings for her into this one kiss. And Lena was kissing her back, her hands coming up to wrap around her forearms.
And just as abruptly, Kara pulled back, breaking the kiss, and removing her hands. Lena was so surprised, she stumbled forward, one hand coming up to steady herself, resting on Kara’s chest, fingers splayed on top of the insignia of the House of El that most people took for the letter “S.” Lena stayed with her head down, looking at her hand on top of Kara’s uniform.
Kara waited patiently for Lena to speak. Heck, she had spent 24 years in the phantom zone, she knew a thing of two about being patient.
“When you said a fire killed your parents what you really meant was your whole planet exploded, killing everyone that you ever knew and loved.” It really wasn’t a question.
“Yes,” said Kara simply.
“And when you said Alex had to show you how to do chores and show you the ropes at school, you really meant she had to show you how to be human and how to blend in.”
Yes.” Again, simply.
“And even though you are not of this planet,” here Lena cut her eyes up at Kara. “You chose to be earth’s protector.”
“Yes.”
Green eyes stared into blue. If time were to stop, thought Kara, and I had to live in this moment forever, well, there were worse ways to spend eternity.
“Can we go somewhere and talk,” said Lena in a gentle voice.
“Yes!” The relief was so palpable that Kara’s knees buckled slightly and she had to take a step back, Lena’s hand dropping from her chest.
“On one condition,” said Lena, somewhat sternly.
Kara felt like she had suddenly flown into a brick wall. No, said Kara’s head. No conditions. Conditions were bad. Nothing good ever came out of agreeing to conditions.
“Anything,” said her heart though her oh, so traitorous mouth. Kara did a mental eye-roll at herself and felt like saying D’oh out loud.
“Can we fly there?” asked Lena shyly. “The first time I flew in your arms, I was a little distracted and very terrified, what with the attempt on my life.” Lena smiled that genuine smile that was only for her.
“Of course,” came the answer easily.
---
Kara held her arms out in front of her. “Uh, let me just, uh, scoop you up, bridal style,” said Kara, bending down and picking up Lena by putting her straight arms behind her knees and shoulder blades. She picked Lena up and was carrying her level like a board and so she lowered her legs so her head was now even with hers. Better. Lena’s arms automatically went around Kara’s neck.
“If I go to high or too fast, or you are bothered by anything at all, just say ‘down’ and I will instantly return to the ground,” she told Lena in a concerned voice.
“I will be fine, I’m with you.” Lena said, her anger shelved for now, replaced with an expectation of something else, she couldn’t quite name. Maybe it was the fact she had so many questions for Kara about her secret identity.
Kara took off gently from the ground, her eyes fixed on Lena’s face for any signs of distress. Once they were in the air and it looked like Lena was enjoying the ride, Kara finally concentrated on where she was going. She knew a nice quiet spot to take her to talk, but then an idea hit her.
She flew to the National City Nature Preserve instead. She spotted the river snaking through the canyons. “I think you’ll like this,” said Kara as she dove down to follow the water along the red and brown cliffs. Lena felt the coolness of the water as they flew, the verdant scenery rushing past them to create a mystical feeling. “I see so many wondrous sites when I am flying, but it gets lonely because I don’t have anyone flying next to me.” Kara looked at Lena and smiled.
Next, Kara flew towards the downtown area and headed to the highest buildings, even circling CatCo Worldwide Media, the place where she will be working in a few short weeks. The sun had set behind the mountains, but as Kara flew higher, they were still bathed in the last embers of the glowing sunlight. Lena looked down to see the rest of the city in the purple hues of dusk, and back up to see the tops of the building bathed in a warm light.
“I know it’s kinda silly, but when the sun sets, I like to fly up here and catch the last of the dying rays. It feels like I am the only one who gets to enjoy the sunlight a few moments longer,” said Kara.
“Kara, it’s absolutely breathtaking,” answered Lena, with genuine wonder in her voice.
“All this beauty I see from my unique vantage point, and I had no one to share it with, until now.” This time, Kara couldn’t look at Lena. There was so much she wanted to say to Lena about why she hid her alter ego from her. She knew Lena was still mad at her, for good reason. Now was her chance to set the record straight. And even though she had faced bad guys with guns, mud whompers from planet Ramgoon and repsicallions with razor sharp talons from planet Lagos, she had never been more nervous to finally come clean to Lena.
She knew exactly where to take Lena for their talk.
---
Lena looked behind her, away from the sun to see the inky sky creep up behind them, the moon a crescent hung low in the sky, a star or two out. Her emotions were running a gamut just as the colors in the sky tonight, she thought. She noticed they were now moving away from the downtown area towards more residential buildings. She felt them decelerate and lower, until Kara landed gently on a roof top three stories up. She placed Lena’s feet on the roof and Lena let go of Kara’s neck, instantly missing the warmth. Kara started walking towards a coffee table and a beat-up looking couch covered by an awning to keep the elements off of it.
“Kara, where are we? And why is there a couch?”
“We are up on the roof of my apartment building.” The news shocked Lena, she hadn’t realized it from the air.
“I liked to spend time up here when I first moved, so I brought up the couch and coffee table. The door to the roof is kept locked, so the only way up is to fly, so that’s why I couldn’t show it to you,” Kara added hastily. “That reminds me, I promised we would talk, but is it okay if I go to my apartment and change first?”
“Of course,” answered Lena.
“Okay, don’t go anywhere,” said Kara. ”I’ll be right back.”
“Kara, I am trapped on your roof with a locked door and no other way down. Where would I go?” she asked in a slightly exasperated tone.
“I don’t know, but knowing you, you would probably invent a jet pack in the few seconds I am gone,” she smiled at Lena.
Lena smiled back and moved towards the couch. She looked back at Kara and one second she was there and then she wasn’t. It was probably about 60 seconds later when a blur of color showed up in front of her and then Kara, in jeans and a gray, long sleeve shirt appeared before her. Kara would have reappeared sooner, but she had radioed to Alex that Lena was with her and okay and to tell Maggie not to worry.
Lena sat on the couch, still amazed at how Kara could use her super speed to disappear and reappear. It was then she noticed Kara had some things in her arms. Kara took a blanket from off her arm and draped it on Lena’s lap. “In case you get a little chilly in the night air,” said Kara.
Next she handed a mug to Lena as she sat next to her, taking out a bottle of water that was tucked under her arm. She placed the water bottle on the table and removed the spoon resting in the mug. Then Kara took a packet of hot chocolate mix out of the mug and opened it, dumping the brown powder into the mug. She added just the right amount of water and stirred the concoction, tapping the spoon against the side of the mug twice for good measure, before placing it on the table.
She then wrapped her hands around Lena’s that were still holding the mug. “Okay, don’t move,” she ordered. Kara used her laser vision to heat the water. When she turned off the red beams shooting out of her eyes, she noticed the water was boiling, large bubbles popping into steam. “Oops, too hot,” she laughed nervously. She blew on it with her frost breath and Lena could feel the temperature around her drop. “Whoops, now it’s too cold.”
Kara gave what Lena would describe as one more ‘jot’ of her laser vision to the brown liquid. “Okay, that should do it.”
Lena had a quip about Goldilocks and ‘just right’ but the joke remained unsaid. Instead, she thought about what she had just witnessed. Now, Lena didn’t really want any hot chocolate. It wasn’t her drink of choice. But when your Superhero girlfriend uses her heat vison and freezing breath to make it just the right temperature, you shut up and drink it.
Kara had removed her hands and Lena took a sip. The ‘just right’ liquid went down smoothly and instantly warmed her up from the inside out. It was a drink she didn’t know she needed. “Um, this is delicious,” she said. Then she realized that although this might not be her beverage of choice, she was willing to bet it probably was Kara’s. “Would you like a sip?” she offered. Kara took the mug, touching Lena’s hands during the exchange of the mug in what could only be described as an intimate gesture.
She took a large sip and made an appreciative groan, before handing back the mug. Lena was glad her instincts had been correct.
“Lena, I want to tell you the truth. But in order to do that, I need to tell you everything. I would like to tell my story all the way through without interruptions. And when I am done, you can ask as many questions as you want and I promise I will answer them all, honestly, I swear, but I have to say all this first. Is that okay?’ she asked with trepidation, her voice cracking.
“Yes, I can agree to that,” said Lena, sitting back on the couch.
---
"You were right when you said my home planet blew up and all that I had known and loved had died. During the confusion of the last few minutes as my planet crumbled, my mother led me to a single spaceship and made me get in. She told me it would follow the one that had my baby cousin, Kal-el, or as you know how as…”
“Superman,” murmured Lena feeling like she had been staring at a hard equation only to realize 2 plus 2 did indeed equal 4. “But you said your baby cousin?”
“Yes, he was younger than me, a baby when his spaceship left Krypton. My ship took off as the planet imploded and the shock waves knocked my spaceship into the phantom zone for 24 years. Finally, my ship escaped and made its way to earth. Imagine my surprise to find Kal-el all grown up and me still 13 earth years old. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time for me in his grown up life, so to make a long story short, he asked the Danvers family to take me in. He also told me I couldn’t tell anyone else that I was an alien from another planet, that is wasn’t safe for me for people to know.”
Kara looked out over the roof as she told this story, the pain of those times still evident on her face. “The Danvers were always kind, but Alex was resentful when I first arrived, and I don’t blame her. She was made to babysit me. Here I was this young thing, full of grief over losing her parents that spoke half English, half Kryptonese. The Danvers lived out in the country and had a small farm, with a garden and some chickens and goats. I was supposed to help Alex with chores but I kept messing up and our Mom would blame Alex for either not teaching me correctly or not watching me closely. I knew it was unfair to Alex and it made me feel even more awful when Alex got in trouble for my mistakes.”
Lena looked out over the rooftop as well and realized that it was now dark, the street light the only illumination on Kara’s face.
“One night, early in my stay with the Danvers, I awoke to find Alex shaking me…
---
“Kara, Kara wake up. You’re having a bad dream,” Alex shook her newly adopted sister, who was crying out and fitfully tossing and turning in her sleep.
“Wha.. what.. Alex, what are you doing in my bedroom?” asked a visibly shaken Kara.
“You were crying out in your sleep again, and this time you didn’t stop, so I came in here to wake you,” said Alex, kneeling by Kara’s bed. “That must have been some nightmare, huh?” she said to try and lighten the mood.
“Yeah... wait, what do you mean, again?” Asked a perplexed Kara, still learning English.
“Well,” said Alex, a little sheepishly, “Most nights I hear you cry out briefly, and sometimes you kick the wall, but you always settle back down.” Alex didn’t mention the first time Kara had kicked the wall, it had sounded like a cannon.
“I’m sorry,” said Kara in a small voice. Oh geez, thought Alex, that was the last thing she wanted to do, to make Kara feel guilty for waking her.
“Hey, no, it’s okay,” soothed Alex. After a beat she asked, “What were you dreaming about?”
“It’s always the same thing every time. Watching my mother die as my planet explodes…” she trailed off sadly.
Alex’s heart went out to the younger girl. Sure, she kept messing up the chores and her Mom made her miss spending time with her own friends to watch over her, and she found her so annoying what with all her questions, but no one deserved to relive that kind of nightmare. She made an executive decision.
“Okay, shove over,” she told Kara, getting up off of her knees and pulling back the covers to Kara’s bed.
“What, why? Alex, what are you doing?”
“You keep waking me up, so why don’t I sleep in your bed with you tonight and if you start to have a nightmare, I can just roll over and shake you and not have to get out of bed.” Alex was fully under the covers now.
“Thanks,” came a small voice. Kara felt a lump in her throat. She couldn’t begin to explain the comfort she took in the gesture. Alex rolled over away from Kara and settled into the twin bed.
“Don’t mention it.”
Kara was quiet for approximately two minutes.
“Alex?” came the questioning voice. Alex sighed and rolled over to face Kara, who turned to face her as well, both sharing the single pillow.
“You know how you tell me how to do all the chores for around the farm and I keep messing up?” asked Kara in a worried voice.
“Yeah,” answered Alex in what she hoped was a kind voice.
“It’s just…. I don’t understand most of the words you use. You tell me ‘take that bucket, and fill it with feed, and sprinkle it on the ground for the chickens.’ I don’t know what a bucket is, I don’t know what feed is and I don’t know what a chicken is.”
“You don’t know what a chicken is?” asked Alex, laughing a little.
"Well, NOW I know what a chicken is.” Kara giggled, embolden by Alex sharing the laugh. “They are the things with two legs and feathers, which are different from the goats, who have four legs and little horns, and butt me in the stomach with their heads when I am late with their food. But I didn’t before, and when you tell me stuff, I don’t understand most of the words you use, and you go so fast and when I ask questions you get kinda mad and then I get confused and that is why I keep messing things up. If you can go a little slower and I can ask you my questions I think I would understand quicker, I promise. I don’t want to keep getting you in trouble or anything,” she finished.
Alex was taken aback. She knew Kara was still learning English, but she didn’t realize she needed ordinary things explained to her on such a basic level and that she didn’t welcome Kara's questions.
“Sure, I can do that. I’m sorry I haven’t been the most patient at explaining things. Let’s start tomorrow during morning chores, okay? And you can ask me any questions you want.” Alex smiled. Kara smiled a relived smile back. “But on one condition,” said Alex.
“What’s a condition?” asked Kara.
“It means I will do something for you only if you do something for me. I promise to be more patient teaching you about the chores and you will promise to teach me to speak Kryptonese.”
Kara giggled again. “You want to learn Kryptonese? Why?”
“So we can have a secret language. We can talk and even Mom and Dad can’t understand us!” said Alex, eyes shining.
Kara was touched. “Okay, Alex. Bem Zil. That means good night in Kryptpnese,” she said.
“Bem Zil,” said Alex, getting her first lesson in Kryptpnese.
---
Kara stopped her story and stared out over the roof top, lost in her memoires. With a brief glance at Lena, she continued, “From that day forward, Alex and I became fast friends. She was indeed more patient with me and I got better at understanding English. Plus, she got really good at speaking Kryptpnese and we could have full conversations, sometimes teasing my parents, so it was nice that my native language didn’t disappear.”
“However, one night, when I was about 14 earth years old, we were washing the dishes after a big meal, our Mother and Alex washing and I was drying them. I must have pressed too hard while drying and the plate broke off in my hand, a large part crashing to the floor and splintering in a million pieces. I was mortified. Both Mom and Alex said it was alright, but their kindness only seemed to make it worse. I fled the kitchen. I heard our Mom telling Alex to let me go.” Kara shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with the introspection.
“I was crying and upset and ran out behind the barn and before I realized what was happening, I took off and was flying in the air. And it felt wonderful. And a little voice in the back of my head said I shouldn’t show my powers, that it was unsafe, dangerous even. But flying just felt so right, it didn’t feel dangerous or unsafe. For the first time since coming to earth, I felt like myself. Had everyone been lying to me about hiding my powers, I thought?” she looked Lena’s way again.
“I went flying every night that week, after everyone in the house had gone to sleep. On the seventh day, Alex was waiting for me behind the barn when I landed. She jumped out and yelled ‘busted!’ I begged her not to tell Mom and Dad and she said ‘tell them, I want a ride.’” Here Lena chuckled a little.
“So I took her flying, carrying her much like I carried you tonight and it was so, so wonderful to take Alex flying and share that experience with her. For the next few weeks, we would go flying, mostly on the weekends. Alex was on the school’s volleyball team and they held practices and games that summer and she got this idea for this big tournament in which her team would be playing. We bought some bed sheets at the thrift store and sewed four of them together and then painted ‘This is Bear Country’ on them, our high school mascot being a bear. Then I flew her to the roof of the gymnasium the night before the competition and we hung the bed sheets so it was right above the entrance.”
“The next morning,” Kara continued, “As the team piled into the school bus, Alex kept telling her teammates they were going to win because the gym was “Bear Country.’ She kept repeating it, she told me later, so much so that her teammates got a little sick of it. And then when the bus pulled up to the entrance, they all saw the bedsheet Alex and I had hung. All heads swiveled to her and she just smiled as they exited the bus. Unfortunately, her coach had heard her repeatedly proclaim that this was Bear Country too and asked her if she had anything to do with the prank. Alex dutiful pointed out that four out of the twenty teams in the tournament were nicknamed The Bears. The coach wasn’t convinced, but she couldn’t prove anything. Alex was named team captain that fall.” Kara chuckled at that memory.
“One night I told Alex there was going to be a super full moon and that it would be cool to go flying in the bright moon light,” Kara continued. “We took off as usual and it was indeed magical. The earth below bathed in a slivery light. What we didn’t realize was that if we could see the earth lit up by moon light, others could see us in the sky. Many people called the police department to report an UFO, we found out later. Then I saw a flash of orange from below and heard a loud noise as something felt like it pricked me in the back. Alex told me to fly home as fast as I could and land. I could hear the panic in her voice, so I did what she said. We saw all the lights were on at our house and our Mom and Dad were on the front porch scanning the skies.”
---
“Oh gosh, Alex, there’s Mom and Dad, they must know we went flying,” said a nervous Kara, as she landed behind the barn and set Alex down.
“Kara, it’s going to be fine. Let me do all the talking, okay?” Alex tried to give what she hoped was a reassuring smile. She knew how much trouble they were in but didn’t want Kara to know.. The two girls walked up to two very mad parents on the porch.
“Inside, now,” said their Father. There they all stood around the kitchen island, Alex and Kara on one side, their Mom and Dad on the other.
“Dad, it’s not what you think,” began Alex.
“It’s all my fault. It was my idea to go flying. Alex didn’t even want to. Punish me, not Alex,” overrode a panicked Kara. Alex shot her a withering look. So much for letting me do all the talking, she thought.
“Do you know how many people saw you flying, Kara,” said their Mother.
“Miles Henderson thought he was under attack from aliens. He got out his shotgun and accidently shot himself in the foot,” said their father.
“Old man Henderson shot his toes off?” Alex barked out a laugh.
“Alex, this is no laughing matter,” their Mother tried to impress the gravity of the situation on them.
Kara shifted at the counter top. She felt itchy all of a sudden. She heard five little ‘plinks’ hit the ground behind her. Unfortunately, so did everyone else.
“What was that?” asked their Mother.
“What was what?” answered Alex, a little too quickly.
“Alex,” warned their Mother, as she crossed over to Kara and looked at the ground. “What is that?” she asked, pointing to five pieces of dark material, flattened, and laying on the floor behind Kara. Their father moved around to see as well.
“Alex, what IS THAT?” their Mother asked again, her anger radiating in waves.
“Buckshot,” said Alex in a very small voice.
“BUCKSHOT?” said their Mother in a very big voice. She grabbed Kara’s shoulders and turned them, seeing the holes in back of her t-shirt where the buckshot had entered and then flattened against her skin. Then she grabbed Alex’s shoulders and inspected her front to back.
“What’s buckshot?” asked Kara. She was promptly ignored.
“Where did this happen, Alex?” asked her mother heatedly.
“When we were flying over old man Henderson’s farm,” answered Alex.” He must have shot at Kara before he shot himself.”
“Alex, for Pete’s sake,” said their mother, the lack of a swear word not indicative of how angry she was.
“Mom, it’s okay, Kara has super skin, the bullets can’t penetrate and hurt her,” she said to her Mother.
“But you don’t, Alex.”
Kara wasn’t sure what was going on, but with the way her Mother said that, Kara knew she had placed Alex in danger tonight. And she felt physically sick.
After their Dad coaxed their mother upstairs so he could talk to the two girls alone, the three of them sat at the kitchen table. Their Father explained he worked for the super-secret DEO that tracked and helped aliens. When people had started to call the police about a UFO, they DEO had been listening in and funneled the calls to him and then checked to see if was the Kryptonian girl they had planted with him to watch over. A quick check of her bed told him she was indeed missing.
"Kara, your cousin and I have been telling you that it is dangerous to show the world your superpowers. Tonight, people saw you and panicked. One man shot himself in the foot, even.”
“That’s because he’s an idiot,” mumbled Alex.
Their Father shot Alex an exasperated look, “And he shot at you and Alex, too,” he said gently. The kitchen remained silent at that revelation, the ticking of the clock counting out the dread Kara was feeling.
Their dad tried another tack. “Kara, what if people knew about your super strength and asked you to rip open the vault down at the Midvale bank so they could easily steal the money inside it?” he asked.
“Then I wouldn’t do it, because stealing is wrong,” she answered proudly with her chin up.
“I’m glad to hear you say that,” said their Father. “Now, what if the bank robbers head a gun to Alex’s head because they knew she was your sister and said they would kill her if you didn’t help them rob the bank?”
Kara gasped and put her hand over her mouth.
“Or threatened to harm your Mother or me if you didn’t do what they asked?”
“Unfair, Dad,” said Alex protectively.
“It is a valid question, Alex!” He continued in a stern voice. “That is one of the dangers of people knowing you have super strength, Kara. All sorts of bad criminals will try to use you to do bad things, and possibly hold hostage or use your loved ones to get their way. Or a bad guy might be mad at you and try to shoot at you and instead hit someone standing next to you. You almost got Alex shot tonight!”
“Dad!” Alex practically shouted. She knew he was scaring Kara.
“He’s right,” said Kara in a stark voice. “I almost got you hurt tonight, Alex, and for what, so I could fly? I can’t believe I was so selfish. You’re right,” she said to her Dad. “I’ll never fly again, I promise, or show my super strength to anyone. It’s too dangerous. I don’t ever want anyone I love to get hurt. I promise to keep everything hidden.”
“Oh Kara,” said Alex, aware of what she was giving up.
---
“So, you see my aversion to telling anyone my secret? It was drilled into my head from a young earth age that if I told anyone, I put them in danger, either from friendly fire of being around me or hurt to get me to do something illegal,” here Kara looked at Lena imploringly.
“And I kept my promise. I didn’t fly again until five years later. Do you remember when Supergirl first came out to the world?” She asked Lena.
“Um, I think the first sighting was when Supergirl saved a plane from going into the river,” answered Lena. It was weird to refer to Kara’s alter ego in the third person.
“I only flew to save that plane because Alex was on it. Otherwise it wouldn’t have occurred to me to use my super strength due to the conditioning I received as a young teen on earth,” she answered. “And it was the first time my powers didn’t feel like a burden, or something in which I needed to feel ashamed.”
She squared her shoulders at Lena. “Lena, I love you.” She held up her hand. “And I don’t need you to say it back, or expect you to say it back. It’s enough to get to tell you before it’s too late. I almost lost you today. And it has been drilled into me to keep those I love safe. And that is why I didn’t tell you. Not because I wanted to lie, I truly hated that part. And not because I didn’t trust you. I do trust you, 100%, implicitly. Please believe me. I was doing what I thought was best to protect you.” Kara felt emotionally spent. “I’m done now. Do you have any questions for me?” she asked in a small voice.