Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Call Me Kara

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 03:

Kara sat down across from Cait, as the woman insisted she be called in a smaller room in S.T.A.R. labs in a surprisingly comfortable recliner. She resisted the urge to lean back and stretch her legs, not knowing if that would be considered rude. Barry had returned the night before as promised with six pizzas. Cait and Cisco watched the pair down three apiece, smiling between bites at each other like a couple of love struck kids who were seconds away from pulling each others hair just to get the other’s attention. It would have been sweet if either Cisco or Cait could stop watching the massive amount of food disappearing before their eyes. Afterward Kara fell asleep, while Barry sat next to her and eventually her hand reached for his. Cisco dragged him away at 3 AM, managing to get him as far as the couch before the speedster crashed. Cait stayed in a bed in the back lab and Cisco managed to make it home around four.

At eight AM all the inhabitants of S.T.A.R. labs woke while Cisco slept away the morning in his apartment, dreaming of a woman with wings being chased by a blonde with wings. The man had definitely developed a fixation with flying women.

Barry was by Kara’s side before she had even sat up with a cup of coffee, cream and a small bit of sugar.

After Cait had said good morning, Barry received a call from Joe about a robbery in progress. Barry had nearly asked Kara if she wanted to come with but the look of doubt in her eyes stopped him. Instead he promised her he would be back quickly, after he captured the criminals, took them to the police station and then called in sick to work. The whole thing should take about 20 minutes by his guess.

That left the two women alone for the first time.

“So uh… I’m not really good at like making small talk. I mean I am but not really? I mean you said not to thank you but I want to but I don’t want to if you don’t want me to. By the way, thank you for the sweats. The hospital gown was beginning to get a bit awkward… not that I didn’t appreciate it…”

“Kara relax.” Cait told her, a soft smile gracing her lips as she was reminded of her friend Felicity.

“Sorry. Its just weird I guess? Yeah weird. I mean you guys aren’t weird at all. And Barry of course isn’t. I’m the alien and all but maybe thats why I feel… I’m sorry, I’m babbling again, aren’t I?”

“Babble all you want girl. Want me to have Barry pick up breakfast on the way back?”

“You can talk to him? Does he carry a cell phone or something?” Kara asked.

“No he has an ear piece, kind of a small com that allows us to talk to him while he is out there.”

“Oh yeah. I have… had one of those. I used to talk to my sister or Hank… so what do you guys say to him? Like left turn, right turn, stuff like that?” Kara asked.

“Sometimes. Or we give him ideas on how to take down other metas. Cisco usually is the one who talks to him. I monitor his vitals.”

“You do what now?”

“His suit has quite a few enhancements that Cisco made. We can watch his speed, his heart rate, things like that. He has a defibrillator in the suit in case his heart stops for some reason or another. Thank God we have only had to do that one time but it scared all of us.”

“Wait a minute, his heart stopped?! What happened?”

“He was attacked by robotic bees that had a pretty potent bite. Oh his chest piece has a live stream camera so we can watch what he does and see what he sees. There is also therma threading in the suit so we can heat it up if Captain Cold hits Barry with his freeze gun which happens more than I would like. It also gives him greater aerodynamic capabilities minimizing wind resistance. It’s still a work in progress.” Cait told her, the pride she had for Cisco evident in her bragging.

“He never told me the suit could do all that.”

“I guess when he was on your Earth with no one to help on this side of the screen a lot of it really wouldn’t help him. I was pretty worried when he was gone those two weeks. Zoom hadn’t appeared during that time and I thought…”

Kara didn’t need to ask what Cait thought. It was obvious she thought Barry had been dead.

“But he wasn’t.” she continued, “He had you. He never told us about what you two did on your Earth but you certainly made an impression on him.”

“I did? I mean yeah we were pretty much together the whole time. He stayed at my friend Winn’s apartment. They really hit it off but the rest of the time he was with me when we weren’t fighting Live Wire and my former co worker who wanted to kill me. Barry called her Shreiky. She had… anyway I sort of rushed in the first time without a plan and Barry followed me regardless and we both got beaten pretty bad. It was kind of embarrassing. I mean Barry suggested we have a plan but I was so focused on taking them out and I guess… I don’t know I guess I wanted to impress him. He is the reason we stood a chance the second time. He said he had sonic ear plugs from some guy he battled that Cisco made? Anyway he made us some and my former co worker who had like this sonic scream that really, really hurt, didn’t have a chance. Of course Livewire, she is so hateful, anyway she nearly took me again but the fire department saved me. I guess I’m not great with plans.” Kara finished, while Cait tried to absorb this information. This was way more than Barry told her and she wanted to hit him for not sharing the stories.

“Wow. I had no idea all that happened. It doesn’t surprise me though. You wouldn’t believe the things Barry runs into without thinking first. Oliver has been on him to try and change…”

“Who is Oliver?” Kara asked, not hearing that name before.

“Oliver Queen? He and Barry are strangely very good friends.” Cait explained.

“Well if he is like Cisco he must be a great guy.” the blonde commented. Cait held back a laugh barely, and thankfully hadn’t been sipping coffee or it would have landed on the floor.

“Oliver isn’t like Cisco. He is kind of the polar opposite of Cisco.” Cait explained as neutrally as possible.

“Polar opposite?”

“Yes, Oliver is tall, devastatingly handsome, built like a god, dangerous, very serious and brooding and very, very good at fighting and killing when he needs to. He and his sister are pretty much the protectors of Star City while we handle Central City. He calls himself the Green Arrow unless it has changed in the past two weeks. He goes through names like Barry goes through suits.”

That made sense. Kara remembered Barry asking if she had heard of the Green Arrow when they first met.

“So what powers does he have?”

“None.”

Kara’s face screwed up into confusion, her brows coming together and wrinkling her forehead a bit.

“Then how does he protect the city?”

“He has a complicated history. He is very… I suppose Barry could explain it better. I’m good friends with his fiancee… ex fiancee, but Barry and Oliver are closer, or at least as close as Oliver allows anyone to get.”

“Wow. Okay. I mean I guess I’m just not used to people without powers protecting a city. There are a lot of cities on my… on the earth I came from, that didn’t have superheroes I guess, but police usually handled things or my cousin helped out. It just seems dangerous for him.”

Cait did laugh, thinking of the multiple scars that covered his body.

“Once a meta showed up in town who had the ability to make people act very aggressively to the point of killing others by looking at them. He got to Barry. Oliver was the one who captured and held Barry while we cured him.”

“Whoa. Barry still had his speed?” Kara asked, fascinated. There was so much to learn about this world and she was already being overwhelmed.

“Yes but Oliver thinks differently than Barry. I think because he doesn’t rely on powers he relies on everything else he has. I wish Barry was more like him in that way but thats the only thing I want him to emulate from Oliver.”

Kara left that alone. Cait didn’t say it with any bitterness but seemed worried instead. Kara would have to meet this Oliver Queen to decide for herself.

“So Kara how are you doing? I realize your world has literally changed in a short time but I am glad you are here.”

“Yeah, my world changes quite a bit. My first one exploded, my second one tried to kill me and I am hoping for a better outcome here.” the blonde tried to laugh but didn’t have it in her.

“So you want to stay?” Cait asked, holding back the excitement in her voice. Kara stopped cold at her question.

“I hadn’t really had time to think about it. My sister and cousin are there, my foster mom, my friends but…”

“But?”

“I don’t know. Things weren’t going so well there before the people I saved decided I was too much of a liability. I mean my personal life was a mess, my professional life was going nowhere, and honestly I wondered for a long time if my sister would be better off without me. I brought a lot of trouble into her life. I sort of became her life when my cousin dropped me off after I landed. I guess I haven’t thought about it.”

“Of course not. You have barely been here. But I’m glad you aren’t rushing back. It will be good for you to take some time to yourself. Figure out what you want in life. You have a chance to start fresh here.”

“Thats true. I can just be, oh crap.” Kara froze, realizing a very important hitch in her immediate future. “I have nothing. I don’t have ID, the IDs I had would be worthless here, I don’t have a job, a place to live, money, clothes, even a phone.”

Cait reached across the space between the two and put a hand on Kara’s shoulder before a full blown panic attack occurred.

“Kara those are problems that can be easily solved. Clothes, well you are a bit taller than me but I am pretty sure I have something you can borrow until we buy you some. Barry even told me he was going to give me his card so I could take you shopping.”

“I can’t take Barry’s money.” Kara told her quickly.

“And how did he eat on your earth? Where did he have money hidden on that suit because I am pretty familiar with it and I know we didn’t make a pouch for a wallet?”

Kara blushed a bit. “I may have bought him some clothes. He looked so cute in the outfits though and he couldn’t run around in the red suit all the time, not that this would have been a bad thing…” she stopped herself, looking at Cait quickly, who had a knowing smile…”or a good thing! Not saying either. But of course I helped him and as far as food I love to eat so it wasn’t a big thing to order more. Most of the foods I eat are really, really bad for the average human so we didn’t have much problem consuming calories. I took him to my favorite donut shop and the look on the owner’s face was hilarious. I think we went through two dozen glazed donuts in like ten minutes. They were so good though… I’m rambling again aren’t I?”

“Ramble as much as you want. I’m kind of quiet so I enjoy it. You remind me a lot of Felicity. Speaking of which she is the greatest hacker in the universe so if you want to stay, getting you all the identification records you will need will be no problem. There is nothing to worry about if you want to stay. And if you want to leave we will all find a way to help you.”

“Thanks Cait. I feel a bit better. I still need to find a place to live. Not that I mind staying here but it is kind of hard to relax around all this equipment.” Kara admitted. The sense of deja vu most likely was caused by her memories of the DEO. Although they weren’t bad memories it almost seemed as if everything was tainted now.

“This place will feel like home in no time but no one should have to stay here. I live alone and have an extra bedroom. I’ll take you there later. You can shower, relax and then we go shopping!”

“I don’t want to put you out.” Kara told her quickly but liked the idea of being around someone familiar as Cait was quickly becoming.

“I’ve always wanted a roommate. I hate living by myself.” Cait told her, sadness evident in her voice, “Besides its either that or live with Joe and Barry.”

“Live with Barry? God no, I do not want him to see me in the morning…” Kara stopped talking, but Cait caught it.

“Don’t want Barry to see you at your worst? I understand now why he was so depressed when he came back.” Cait told her with a knowing smirk.

“What do you mean? Barry was depressed?”

“We thought it was the strain we were all under with Zoom but even afterward, every time we asked him about your earth he drifted off. He thought he would never see you again. You are the reason he was sad about leaving.”

Kara’s heart warmed at that. She remembered the loss she felt when he disappeared. The fleeting thought that the man who could have been the one, just disappeared from her life forever, like her family had done. But now she was with him. Now she had a chance. Did she owe it to anyone to go back? Alex would be fine. She missed her and wanted to hold her big sister right now but if Kara was there she would be hunted meaning Alex would be hunted, because Alex would never let her face any danger alone.

“I was pretty sad too.” she admitted.

The moment of understanding that passed between the women was cut short by Cisco running in.

“Does anyone listen to the com anymore? Barry is out there!” he yelled, a bit of panic in his voice. Cait waved him off.

“The alarm hasn’t gone off on any of Barry’s vital readings. He’s fine. He just went after some robbers.” Cait told him dismissively

“Yeah he caught them ten minutes ago and ran into an old friend. Call Lyla Diggle and ask her if she is aware her pet walking shark is on the loose again! Barry I’m here, what is going on?”

Barry on the other side of Central City by the waterfront was having a bad morning. He really wanted to spend time with Kara, show her around, maybe go shopping, feel her out about her plans for the short term, maybe the longer term, figure out how to convince her to stay. A simple robbery was just a glitch. Catch the bad guys, pick up breakfast and be back with her.

Instead he caught the bad guys near the waterfront only to be jumped by King Shark, bursting from the water to land so quickly that Barry barely had time to get out of the way.

Now the damn monster wouldn’t follow him into the water.

“I really hate this guy.” Barry muttered to himself.

“Barry, make him follow you into the water.” Cisco suggested.

“Yeah while you were sleeping in I tried that. I ran two miles out before I realized he was waiting at the docks for me. I’m not sure if Lyla is curing him or making him smarter.”

“Caitlin is on the phone with her. They are close. Just, I don’t know, hit him with lightning. Do your thing, whatever it is.”

“That’s your plan? Do your thing?” Barry asked, annoyed. This monster was tough. Lightning didn’t affect him unless he was surrounded by water and he showed no indication he planned to get into water again.

Having no other plan, Barry began circling the monster, building up lightning and hoping if he could do strike him enough the beast would black out.

Before he could build up enough speed, King Shark swung, Barry sliding under his clawed hand just in time to save his own head. The Flash got off his knees while still sliding and came to a stop.

“Yeah, definitely smarter.” he mumbled. “Cisco, he is heading into the city. I think he is bored with me or wants me to focus on saving the people before he eats them. I’m backing up and trying a supersonic punch.”

Barry ran five miles away, calculating the straightest path he could take to build up as much speed as possible.

“Barry this is Cait! Do not, I repeat do not do that! If you are off by an inch, or he gets his teeth near you, or even swings at the right time he could kill you!”

“He’s a big target Cait. I’ve taken smaller and been on the money. Tell Joe to get over here. I am going to need some sort of water source of keep him in and keep him electrocuted when he is down.”

“Do not do it. Just run around, evacuate the people and an A.R.G.U.S. strike team can take him down.” Cait pleaded.

Kara stood behind the rest just watching. She saw the monitor and saw the monster. In all the aliens she had faced she never saw anything that resembled this thing.

The blonde felt strong, she knew she could stop this creature, but if she did she would be a target again. Kara remembered the first time she met Hank, telling him the world didn’t fear her cousin. He told her she was wrong and he had been proven right in the end. What kind of start would she have in this new life if she chose it, if she already made people fear her?

What kind of start in this new life would she have if Barry died?

“Cait can Barry take this thing down?” she asked quietly.

“He has before but that was difficult enough and he had to pull off a last minute idea of running on water and electrifying it around King Shark. This time…”

“This time nothing. Barry has this. Relax Kara. This is what we do.” Cisco said, pride obvious in his voice.

Before Kara had a chance to voice anymore worries, Barry was back from his five mile journey. Even without the audio, all in the lab could hear the sonic boom that rocked the city from miles away. The camera on Barry’s chest showed the sky. He was on his back.

“Barry!? What the hell is going on?” Cisco yelled. Caitlin looked at the Flash’s vital signs and noted his breath rate was slow and his heart rate had leveled out at resting pace.

The Flash had been knocked out.

“Pulling up Wharf cameras now.” Cisco mumbled. “Damn it they are both down.”

The trio looked at the two, Barry and King Shark twenty yards apart, both on their backs. Kara’s heart felt as if it stopped and a bit of bile rose up. Was this how Alex felt when she watched Kara fight?

“King Shark is getting up.” Cait whispered, “Wake up Barry!” all pretense of calm gone.

“I…” she didn’t want this. She didn’t want the world to know. They would fear her, hunt her… of course…

“Cisco do you have another suit for Barry?”

“Yeah, its in the glass case in the room three doors down the hall. Thats my workshop.”

Both turned around but Kara was gone. Changing into the unfamiliar outfit she noted immediately Barry was quite a bit taller than she was. The boots kept the pant legs from falling too far down her legs to hamper her running. She pulled her blonde hair into a quick bun and flipped the mask over. Adjusting it on the run, she managed to hold the eyeholes up just in time to avoid running into a car.

Then the blonde stopped.

“Where do I go? How do I get there?” she yelled, hoping an earpiece was in this suit.

“Go to the docks. He is about a block in on Foster Street.”

“Where the hell is that?” she screamed, her unfamiliarity with the city being a major hold up to her plan.

“Follow my directions.” Cisco ordered. “How the hell is she running this fast? I thought her power was flying?” Kara supposed he was asking Cait.

On the final turn, the blonde in the ill fitting Flash suit stopped and stared for a moment at the monster who was standing on wobbly legs, The thing had to be fifteen feet tall.

King Shark took a step towards Barry who was lying on the ground still. Kara could hear his breathing and heartbeat though so he was alive.

Before the creature noticed her she ran towards him, jumping slightly at the last minute and ramming it’s gut with her shoulder. The monster flew back and fell but rolled over and hopped back up quickly.

“You have to be kidding me.” she whispered. The blonde had hit with enough force to shatter three feet of concrete.

“Who the hell are you? Did I travel back in time again?” a voice behind her asked.

Kara turned and saw Barry had woken. He met her eyes and smiled, recognizing her instantly. Who else would it be? “Can you get him in the water?” he asked with a wink.

“I’m not flying him there.” she told him. If people saw her fly, then they saw some other power like heat vision, it would only be a matter of time before the world feared her.

“Okay… no problem. I can…”

“I never said I couldn’t get him in the water, just that I wouldn’t fly him there.” Kara corrected. She ran towards the shark again, stopping short to give him a target. The monster attempted to grab her, allowing Kara to wrap both her arms around the one massive wrist and twist her body, sending King Shark into the air a block away straight to the harbor. Before the creature hit the water, Barry was running making a whirlpool, and once King Shark hit the surface he guided a lightning bolt into the water. The harbor lit up with electricity and King Shark roared, before sinking underwater.

Back on the docks, Barry took Kara in, ill fitting suit, baggy pants and a mask that kept falling past her eyes.

“This looks way hotter than it should.” he told her, causing her to smile a bit. Until she noted the blood dripping from his lip.

“You’re hurt!” Kara took her thumb and wiped the stream of blood clean.

“I’ll be healed in no time. So thanks. You saved my life.”

“I owed you one.” she quipped back.

“Maybe I can take you out of the lab later and buy you the best burger in any universe as a thank you?”

Kara smiled at the thought. As grateful as she was for his friends help, she really hadn’t had time to talk to him alone.

“Thats a bold statement Flash. I guess I will take the challenge. First I should probably get some clothes.”

“I don’t know. I’m really liking the outfit on you.” he said, trying not to laugh at how adorable she looked in his oversized suit.

The playful moment was cut short by a flight of black helicopters flying towards them. Kara froze.

“Who are they?”

“Thats A.R.G.U.S. I guess they are kind of like your DEO…” Barry stopped when he realized what he had said. Even through the mask, he could tell what Kara was thinking.

“Go to the Lab, change into the sweats and get Cait to take you to her place. I promise you Kara you are safe. I know these people.”

“I knew my people too. I thought I did.” she admitted.

“They won’t ask questions. Go.”

Needing no further encouragement, Kara ran, remembering the directions Cisco had given her slightly, she only made a couple wrong turns before arriving back at the massive structure.

The Flash stayed on the dock and watched the four helicopters land in a nearby parking lot. Five minutes later men in black with very large rifles rushed towards the water. Three scuba divers also jumped in.

The man and woman he was waiting for were the last to arrive.

“Lyla, Dig.” Barry greeted them. Both looked sheepish. At least as sheepish as John Diggle was capable of.

“Hi Barry. I am so sorry about this. He escaped last night and killed the guards before one could sound the alarm. We had no idea he escaped until the shift change this morning. I should have warned you but we didn’t think he would be stupid enough to come back here.” Lyla explained. “Our procedures to reverse his conditions are having one major effect. He is getting smarter, thinking more like a human than a shark.”

“And he still came for me? What did I ever do to piss this guy off?” Barry asked. Both Lyla and Diggle shrugged.

“Anyway if you guys could keep him in his fish bowl I’ve got something important I have to do. So…”

“Whoa there Allen. You don’t have anything to tell us?” Dig asked.

“You looked like you have gained a few new muscles? New hairstyle? Looks great on you man.”

“I don’t have a new hairstyle and I don’t need any new muscles. I’m talking about the little Flash clone that just tossed that monster a block into the water like he was a teddy bear.” Diggle crossed his arms and gave his best intimidating stare. For a man that gets his ass kicked on a regular basis training with Oliver, he sure is confident, Barry thought.

“That wasn’t a Flash clone. That was me. I can do this thing where I move so fast that it looks like there are other copies of me. It’s a speed mirage. No big deal.”

“Uh huh. And your speed mirage looks just like you only shorter and in a suit that does not fit?”

“Yep.” Barry agreed.

“And your speed mirage just lifted a two ton monster and threw him like he was nothing?”

“I’ve been totally working out.” Barry tried. Lyla actually laughed quietly, much to Barry’s irritation.

“Do you know what one of the differences in you and Oliver are Barry?” Dig asked.

“I haven’t killed hundreds of people?”

“Yeah that, but the one I am talking about is lying. You are nowhere near the skilled liar Oliver is. Now something is going on and since you are the worst person on Earth at keeping secrets I have to wonder why you are trying. You in trouble?”

Barry had enough. Big guy or not this man needed to know who the superhero is and who was the Green Arrow’s sidekick.

“First of all John, I am not the worst person on Earth at keeping secrets. Cisco and I were discussing this last week over dinner and there are a lot more people that know who the Green Arrow is than know who I am. I’m serious, we made a list. Towards the end we started writing down names of people who didn’t know. Second of all, if I was in trouble I can handle it, but I’m not. If there is something going on that I don’t want to tell you about I would expect both of you to trust me. I believe I have earned that. I mean I did take down a group of assassins in a castle and rescued you all from a dungeon in like ten seconds. I think, yeah I’m pretty sure I saved you Lyla from a very sharp boomerang that was headed for your back and every time one of Amanda Waller’s old pet projects gets loose I’m the one cleaning up the mess. I need you both to forget anything you saw. The person you think you saw you didn’t see. I did a speed mirage. Thats all it was. I built up enough force that I was able to use momentum and toss him into the water. Thats it.”

Both were taken back by Barry’s tone. Neither had ever heard him even close to angry. Dig looked at his wife, worry on his face but nodded to her. They would let this go. If Barry said he had this then he had it. They did owe him a lot, and despite being freaked out by his speed, Diggle loved the kid.

“Well once again A.R.G.U.S. thanks you for your help. If you ever need us, for anything, even speed mirages that lay on the ground while another mirage beats up a monster shark, let us know. We are always here for you, understand?” Lyla asked.

Barry hugged her.

“Thanks Lyla. I really got to go.”

Barry pulled back and took off in a flash of light. Dig shook his head.

“I will never get used tot that.”