Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Call Me Kara

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 32:

“Kendra! My office!”

Kendra Saunders jumped up from her desk, and moved towards her new boss’s office. She moved quickly, not stopping until she was four feet from the beautiful blonde VP’s desk.

“Yes Mrs. Zorel Allen?”

Kara met her eyes and shook her head slightly in frustration.

“That doesn’t sound good either does it?” Kara asked her new friend.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Kara. I’ve been through a lot of reincarnations with different names and once you get total recall and they all come back, there are times you are like, what was I thinking?”

“Okay, but you are the one saying it. How did it feel? Awkward?” she pressed.

“Zorel Allen was much less awkward than Allen El, or Allen Zor El. Is this really a big decision? If you don’t want to give up your last name just hyphenate it with his on documents and introduce yourself however you want. Isn’t Zorel actually two names anyway?”

“Yeah, my father’s name. When women married a man they took his house name. So my name was Kara, my father’s name was Zor El and so I am Kara Zor El. Of course my cousin was named Kal and males were given their father’s last name only, so one day he could accidentally name a girl Lois Kal El, or some weird name. He’s a weird guy. Not grounded like me at all. I think too much time flying is bad for men. Their brains require more oxygen than women’s so we can go higher and stay longer in thinner air.”

“Thats true. So you want to keep your house name then but you want to share Barry’s as well… I can keep running back and forth. It’s the most fun I’ve had all day. Your mean voice is getting much better.”

“Still not as good as yours. You have that yelling at employees thing down. I thought Miss Grant was here once or twice. You got skills girlfriend. Let’s take a break, have a seat, kick your feet up.” Kara offered, slipping off her heels, leaning back in her chair and on putting her feet on the desk. Kendra sat as well, enjoying the feel of her feet being freed from the chains of footwear.

“Sorry this job is so boring.” Kara told her sheepishly. Kendra had been so excited but it had been a slow day.

“It’s not! It’s… kind of slower than I thought it would be actually.” the woman admitted. “But it’s really cool hanging out with you. I never got to sit behind a big desk and yell before.”

“It’s really fun, right? But yeah, PR sounds like it would be busy but since we don’t actually have any products on the market for this division the only job we really have right now is to be on the lookout for possible competitors trying to discredit us before the product is even ready for trials and covering up Ray’s dumb comments. I kept three women from the outside PR team we had before. They are working up new campaigns and I think they will do better without the more experienced jerks who thought they knew everything. I handle cleaning Ray’s messes up myself and since he is either in his office, in R&D or at S.T.A.R. thats getting easier.”

“Wow. Don’t worry about me though, the last job I had in Central City was at Jitters. A boring job in a nice quiet office is a lot better than working behind the counter dealing with the public screaming for their morning coffee. Oh that reminds me, do you want me to pick up coffee on the way to work?”

Kara laughed, warmly remembering all the times she had bumped and pushed her way through a crowded sidewalk with coffee in hand. Sometimes, a part of Kara longed for those days still, not that she would give up what she had now but that really was a simpler time. Not a happier time by any means but much, much simpler.

“No, I can get my own coffee but thank…” Kara’s eyes widened as the light bulb went off in her mind.

“Call Carter.” Kara whispered, pushing the phone intercom towards her. “Just use Mrs. Allen. I’m liking the simplicity of it.”

“Want me to use the mean voice?” Kendra whispered, Kara nodding in affirmation with a smile. Kendra hit the intercom button that could be heard by Carter’s desk near the top floor elevator.

“Mr. Hall!” Kendra yelled into the device. Carter woke with a start, shaking his head and realizing the boredom of sitting all day at his desk by the elevator had finally caught him unaware. He had only been called for twice all day and he was beginning to think it was because Kara and Kendra were bored and wanted to see if he knew any tricks he could perform to keep them entertained.

“Yes, Miss Saunders?” he answered sarcastically.

“Get to Mrs. Allen’s office now!”

Carter rubbed his forehead and stood up, stretching a bit. Taking his time, he strolled in to see two women, with no shoes on, kicked back, relaxing. Kara even had her arms behind her head, reclining back with her feet on her desk.

“We have a mission for you Prince Khufu.” Kara told him.

“I thought my mission was protecting you, my Queen?”

“We have a secondary mission for you, Prince Khufu.”

Carter saw the smirks both women had and decided he would not win, so rather than trying, took a deep breath.

“What is my mission your Highness?”

“Your mission is on behalf of myself and your Priestess Chay -Ara, and should you fail your shame shall reflect on both of us. Are you fit for an undertaking or do you need longer to recover from your four hour nap?”

“Yes, Khufu, have you had your beauty rest?” Kendra asked.

“Yeah, yeah, what do you two want?”

“We are bored. You have slept enough and I am five seconds away from prank calling Winn and Curtis. Its time we became criminals and made this place more entertaining. First step, we need… Carter, you may want to get a pen and paper. It’s going to be a long list.”

A grinning Kendra handed over a note pad and pen to Carter.

“Go ahead.”

” DeLonghi Maginifica Super Automatic Espresso and Coffee Machine. They sell around five hunted dollars so don’t get anything cheaper. Hey, do you want one for your little desk by the elevator?”

“No Kara… actually a Keurig wouldn’t be bad.” he admitted.

“Add it to the list Prince Khufu.” Kara ordered. “We also need a 60 inch flat screen for the wall facing my desk and a wall mounting kit. I can have maintenance install it tonight. Kendra, you know Cisco and Winn like video games. Have you ever tried to play?”

“No I haven’t. We should see what all the fuss is about.”

“Exactly. You are the best EA ever. Lets go with a Play Station, a Z Box, an Atari,,,”

“Atari was gone before I was born the first time and its X Box.” Carter told her.

“My bad… there is another one of those game systems. Its the nicer one with the cute little plumbers and the evil mushrooms… I can’t give you all the answers Prince, it is your quest after all.”

“My apologies my Queen.”

“Don’t mention it. That will be a good start so get to it. Be gone, and do not fail your beloved or your boss. Thats me. I’m da boss.”

“What part of the treasury should I use to trade for these items?”

“Oh! Thats the best part. Remember when I said we were going to be criminals?”

‘You want me to steal these items?” he asked doubtfully, knowing better.

“Of course not! Stealing is wrong. We are going to steal Ray’s credit card. He keeps his wallet in his desk. I saw him put it there today. He locked the desk but you can pick locks, can’t you? As many times as you have been reincarnated you must have been a thief or a locksmith once?”

Carter laughed, unusual for him but hard not to around the woman.

“Yeah, I’ve picked up a thing or two along the way. But whenever he leaves, he locks his office door and it’s an electronic keypad lock. I can’t pick that.”

“Yeah I know. Its kind of insulting. You think he doesn’t trust us?” the blonde asked.

“You are ordering me to steal his credit card to buy an expensive coffee machine and electronics that he would have installed within an hour if you asked him for it.”

“I know and I never would have thought of stealing from him until I saw him lock his wallet up in his desk. At that point I knew I had to take it. But we are just going to buy the coffee machines with his card. I think the coffee will taste better knowing we took it from him rather than just asked him. Besides I can handle the key pad. Now the electronics, you are going to steal right out from under Cisco’s nose. I want the toys he keeps in his workshop.”

Carter smiled, “You are evil and you do know how to catch my attention. That little…”

“He’s my little brother! No name calling.” Kara reminded him.

“Sorry, that completely average in height man is not going to just let me walk out of there without calling down a host of people. I will take them but it going to turn into a fight, fair warning. I know your fiancé has a bromance with him second only to his love for Oliver Queen.”

“No it won’t be a fight because he will never know. Kendra and I will distract him while you load up the gear into the Lab van and then we make a break for it.”

“We make a break for it? Do you think this is a good idea? I promised Barry I would keep you safe, not help you play practical jokes on people while a guy who is trying to be on par with Vandal Savage in body count is on the loose, gunning for you. I’m already looking out for anybody resembling Rainbow Bright or a mist in the air seeping through the vents. I don’t have time to play games.”

“You have been napping all afternoon.” Kendra reminded him.

“And you would be able to perform your job much better if you had perfect cups of caffeine heaven.” Kara reasoned.

“I won’t do the gaming system right now…”

‘But…” Kara started, wondering if she would have to use da boss title again. Adding Da in front of it made her seem more streetwise.

“I said right now, Kara. It will actually be a good chance for us to check the security at S.T.A.R. Construction starts in two days on repairing the roof, so we have a short window to get it out before Cisco moves the merchandise but it can be done. We just have to sneak you out tonight.”

“I’m not a teenager. I don’t need to sneak out.” Kara reminded him.

“Fine, midnight at S.T.A.R. How are you going to get me into Ray’s office now?”

“His fingers leave oil every time he touches a button. I can use my vision to see what numbers are used the most and then try every possible combination until it opens.”

“That could be hundreds.” Kendra pointed out. Kara shrugged her shoulders.

“Yeah, but I move fast. It will take me two minutes at the most. Barry did it once to help Snart break into a vault. He managed it in thirty seconds and there were thousands of possible combinations. I can do it. I think Ray only used four numbers.”

“Fine, but you are both coming with me while we pick up the coffee merchandise. I’m not getting blamed for you getting rainbow blasted while I am out shopping for office accessories.”

Kara nodded agreement, expecting as much. Truth be told, she loved being around Kendra and Carter while seeming uptight, loosened up a bit as the morning dragged on and had an adventurous if rough personality.

“Sounds great, I’ve been wanting to get out of here all day. By the way, I am bullet proof which is ironic because I seem to get shot a lot. Since I get shot a lot and have the worst luck, the next time someone shoots at me, I guarantee I am going to have a power outage and be hit. If you ever wonder if I want you to take a bullet for me, the answer is yes. You two have reincarnated hundreds of times. Reincarnation has not been proven for Kryptonians, especially since we don’t have a planet to be reincarnated on anymore and I don’t want to be the first test subject. You two know you get do overs. Me, not so much.”

“I will lay down my life for you Queen Kara and my Priestess Chay-Ara.”

“Nice. I’m beginning to see the appeal you were talking about Kendra.” Kara admitted.

“He does have his uses.” Kendra agreed, grabbing her purse, the three walking towards Ray’s office to begin the afternoon workload.

While her baby sister was starting a life of crime, Alex arrived at S.T.A.R. with the DNA sample. After scraping the sample and finally isolating a clean area, she set up the GC and DNA coder and pushed go. Now all she had to do was wait for a few hours. Wondering what to do with herself she was distracted by the sound of clashing metal. Moving towards the back training room, wondering what was going on, she froze.

Nyssa and Oliver Queen were attacking each other. They were using real swords, not the wooden practice swords, the blades were blurs, sparks flying every time the metal met metal. Neither appeared to be holding back. She wanted to yell at them to stop but was afraid any distraction would cause Nyssa to get hurt.

Finally the two crossed swords and seemed to be at a stand still.

Until Nyssa kicked Oliver between his legs, sending him falling to the mat. Alex half expected Nyssa to jump towards Oliver, plunging her sword into him for a kill. What she didn’t expect was to hear laughter from both of them.

“Damn it Nyssa, every time! What happened to honorable fighting?” he asked, standing up gently.

Nyssa smirked. “Says the man who boasts that winning by any means necessary is the only way to fight.”

“It worked for you then.” he pointed out. “Again?”

“Can you stand much less walk?” she asked, smiling.

“You really think I would spar with you and not wear a cup? I learn from my mistakes, Nyssa.”

“Hey!” Alex shouted, hoping to get their attentions. “Are you two trying to kill each other?”

“Of course not love. Just having a bit of practice.”

“Practice? Those are real swords! You two were…”

“This is how we were taught to sword fight. We did not use practice swords. You were taught basic blocks and strikes and if you were cut after that, it was your own fault. There was no such thing as half speed. You trained like you fought.” Nyssa explained.

Alex took Nyssa in and saw she had no cuts on her that Alex could notice. She was wearing her League armor, robe included, and had a feint gleam of sweat over her that Alex was doing her best to ignore at the moment.

“Would you like to try?” Oliver asked.

“Alex doesn’t use swords.” Nyssa told Oliver quickly, who let it go with a shrug. Nyssa knew how Alex felt about swords, the memory of being mind controlled and being forced to attack Kara with one, even cutting her, nearly killing her if not for Eliza. That was one weapon she didn’t use and Nyssa never tried to force on her.

“No she won’t. I have need of the elder Zorel sister.” Cisco announced, “Alex, if I may?”

“Sure I’ll be right there.” Alex turned to Nyssa to kiss her when Nyssa’s phone buzzed. The woman looked at the text as confusion colored her face.

“Alex, where is Barry?”

“Finishing my paperwork at the station if he knows what is good for him. Captain Singh was very specific that it be done by the end of the day.”

“Were you with him today?”

“Yeah, the two of us went out to the farm, to gather DNA from the blood left behind.”

“Uh huh. I’m not sure what these emoji things are, but is that a stick of dynamite followed by several faces of laughing with tears?”

Alex took the phone slowly and saw that it was.

“Barry is weird. Ignore him.”

Another text popped up and Alex saw it was the popular Flash lightning bolt Emoji next to a stick of dynamite again followed by several smiling faces with heart eyes.

“I’m confused. Is he saying… has he taken some drug, that Velocity 9 I have heard about? Why are there hearts…”

Another text as Alex’s heart sunk.

“The Flash is Alex’s hero.” What does that mean… did he save you from something? Dynamite? Did someone throw dynamite at you?”

“Someone is going to throw dynamite at Barry the next time I see him. Text him back a dynamite, Flash lightning bolt, gun and Alex saved your ass first.”

“No, not until you tell me what he saved you from.”

Alex sighed, hoping to avoid this conversation and cursing Barry Allen’s name inwardly.

“Barry and I tried to determine a place in the tree line where Prometheus may have watched Kara from yesterday. We found it, I found it. I stepped near the tree and he had left a land mine planted in the ground. I stepped on it and…”

“If the next words you speak involve a shirtless Oliver Queen I am reassembling the League.”

“I’ve been sparring with you all day.” Oliver reminded the woman.

“No! Barry told me to count to three and before I could even count to one he had me far away from the blast. I guess he thinks he saved me.” Alex finished, shrugging her shoulders.

“He did.” the Arrow happily pointed out.

“I would have figured out something.”

“Yeah, sure you would. How high you could fly, most likely.” Oliver finished and went to the Salmon ladder.

“Don’t you have a city to protect, like 600 miles away?”

“Alex lets go home. I want to check you…”

“I’m fine Nyssa.”

“You are not fine! Checking hostile ground and not watching your step is not fine! From now on I will go with you.”

“No you won’t. I am not a child. I made a mistake and it won’t happen again. No big deal, I love you but I don’t need a bodyguard.”

“Not when she has the Flash to save her.” Oliver said between rungs of the ladder.

“Shut up Oliver Queen! Look, I’m fine, go back to kicking Oliver in the nuts and I will be right back after I see what Cisco wants.”

Alex gave a frowning Nyssa a quick kiss and walked out quickly. She had no doubt she would hear more about it tonight and planned appropriate revenge on Barry. This would not go unanswered.

Alex turned into Cisco’s workshop and saw him holding a… gun?

“Uh Cisco. should you really be handling that? It’s not loaded is it?”

“Yeah its loaded. I even fired it once but I missed. I need you to fire it for me. See if you can hit that.” he pointed to a dummy ten feet away.

“The human size dummy ten feet away?”

“Yeah, its not as easy as it looks. This gun kinda jumps in your hands so be careful; I accidentally shot the wall near the ceiling. I hope Ray doesn’t notice the hole. Caitlin ran in and I pretended I was playing video games so…”

“Why am I shooting the dummy?”

“Its not just a dummy. Its a life size ballistic gel pack surrounded by a new material I came up with. Just shoot the thing, anywhere you can. As close to the center as you can get.”

Alex took the small .38, raised her arm while looking at Cisco instead of the target and fired, hitting the dummy, mid center mass. Cisco looked back at the dummy and then to Alex who had never stopped looking at his face.

“I see you have some aptitude around firearms. I wasn’t sure if you had more in you than close up head shots. Glad to see you do.”

“You want to be next?” she asked the impressed man.

“Not if you want your new toys. Lets take a look the fabric,shall we?” he told her, wiggling his eyebrows.

The two walked over and Cisco pumped his fist in victory. Alex peered very closely and was surprised to see no hole.

“I know I hit this. Its just lycra, where is the bullet? Does the material close up after penetration?” she asked.

“The bullet is on the ground.” Alex looked where Cisco was pointing and saw he was right.

“But this is just lycra.” she told him once again.

“You seriously think I would waste my time making something like lycra? No Detective Zorel, what you are looking at is the culmination of years of theory finally turning into reality. This fabric, while resembling lycra, does not tear. A knife will not cut through, an arrow won’t pierce it and a bullet won’t break it. It gives, it isn’t armor but it will not break. Basically it means if you get shot in the ribs, your ribs are probably going to break. If you get shot in the stomach you are going to feel like you took a wrecking ball to the stomach. But the bullet, blade arrow, will not enter your body. It may beat the hell out of you but it will not cut. This is what your new suit is going to be made of. Now there will be armor, the same type as Oliver’s, very thin and flexible. He took a .45 at close range from some teenage girl a few months ago in the chest and stood up with no problems. But while it will protects your ribs, chest and stomach area the rest of you, even your throat should be resistant to anything entering your body, weapons wise anyway. I can’t speak for Ny…”

“Cisco!”

“Sorry. That was a totally inappropriate joke. My bad. Don’t sic the League of Assassins on me or anything. Anyway, what do you think?”

“I think you just revolutionized body armor technology. This is amazing! You should start selling these to police departments, armed forces, the applications…” Alex rambled.

“Yeah thats the problem. I haven’t quite gotten it down in cost yet. The material that I am making for your suit and Kara’s that she doesn’t realize she is getting, is $20,000. Not something police departments can typically buy by the hundreds. I am working on getting the cost down but I don’t expect many sales right now. It was really a project after Laurel… she never wanted kevlar because she needed to move. But what if she had a material that just refused to separate? Yeah Darhk still may have killed her but that arrow he stabbed her with? It wouldn’t have gone in and that may have bought enough time for somebody, to do something. Anyway, so you are going to have some padding whether you like it or not. I’m not going to have another Laurel…” Cisco stopped speaking and Alex surprised herself when she brought the man in for a hug.

“Everybody who does this knows the risks, Cisco. What you do gives us a chance at survival, a better chance. You do everything you can but people are still going to die.”

“I know. Thanks…” Cisco shook his head. “Okay, put these on. I finally managed to test them without shocking myself. This is not a Cisco Ramon design. I actually stole this idea from Nightwing.”

Alex took the long black glove of the same material as that on the dummy but slightly thicker, and slipped them onto her hands. She could feel slight groves on top running from the top of her hand to her knuckles.

“Bend your thumbs into your palm. You should feel a small button between in the space between the thumb base and forefinger.”

“Got it.”

“Press the button once.”

Alex did so and felt a tingle, not much but she knew electric current was running in the slim grooves over her knuckles.

“Wow.”

“Yeah, now hit the dummy, ether hand but try both. If you get electrocuted I am sorry and you can die knowing Nyssa will make sure I follow you.”

Alex struck the dummy with her right fist and the impact was immediate. She had thrown a hard punch and the dummy nearly broke off the wooden base. Throwing a left she saw sparks jump from where she struck.

“Thats amazing.” she whispered, looking at the gloves that weren’t even smoking.

“Battery courtesy of Ray Palmer and Palmer tech. Both gloves should get you through a war. Now to turn it off, you have to hit the buttons twice more, but if you only hit it once more, that’s megabomb mode.”

“Huh?”

“I mean you are going to knock the crap out of anything you hit but your feet better be set. It threw me across the room when I tried it.”

Alex hit the button on her right hand once more. The current seemed to buzz stronger through the fabric. She planted her feet, right in front of left and through her body into a jab. The effect was immediate. The dummy did break off the wooden base, flying against the back wall. Alex for her part felt as if her shoulder may have been knocked out of socket. She was pushed back but did not fall.

“Thats going to take some getting used to.” she whispered.

“Want me to take the juice down?”

“Hell no. When I get used to it, I want more.” she told the grinning man.

“Thats what I like to hear. You are going to love the targeting mask. You are going to be able to see through walls just like little sis.”

“No kidding?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, but about the mask, I have the optical tech ready to go but I need to know how you want it, what form anyway. See with you being a cop, and thin and having short hair you are going to catch people’s eyes. So if you aren’t being a cop and out doing superhero stuff with the cool kids a simple face mask isn’t going to work. Kara couldn’t get away with it if she spent all day at the station and hers covers quite a bit of her cheekbones and forehead. So the way I see it, you can go with a complete lightweight helmet, a hood, a small one with one of those scarves Nyssa likes, or you can go Black Canary style and we get you a dark brunette wig.”

“A wig? Won’t a wig, kind of, I don’t know, fall off?”

“Not the one I made Laurel. Not sure how Sara’s was but I’m sure there was some League of Assassin trickery going on with it. Blonde makes a good target though. Dark hair, dark outfit, complete stealth mode.”

“Wow, let me think about it, okay?”

“Don’t take long. Your girlfriend’s ex husband has told me to step it up. This Prometheus guy has him more on edge than Slade Wilson did. Not that he is wrong. I got a bad feeling about him too. Anyway you need it done as soon as possible. So I know Kali sticks, Nyssa said she had developed some throwing disks for you?”

“Yep.” Alex confirmed. She had been getting very good with those.

“And the tonfa’s, and two hand guns, both silenced, one with tranq darts and one when its time to get dirty. I’ll need to do test on your chest piece and the biosensors on your suit and if they clash with the new material or if the electric currents in the gloves have any effect on it.”

“Ohhh, chest piece. What design am I getting?” Alex asked, starting to have fun. This sounded a lot better than the old DEO uniform. If she could have it ready by the wedding J’onn would be so jealous.

“What do you mean? Kara already told me. Your family crest, the same one she wears. She wouldn’t hear of anything else. Now do you want it in dark red or like a dark silver? I want it to stand out but since we are going for stealth we don’t want to go white… Alex, you okay?”

Alex wiped her eyes and smiled. “Yeah, uh, whatever color you think is good. I trust you. Thanks…”

Alex moved quickly out of the room, nearly forgetting to pull the gloves off. Nyssa ran into her in the hall, shocked to see her crying.

“Alex? What’s wrong? I heard gunfire? Did you shoot him? If so, don’t cry about it, these things happen and I am fairly certain Palmer or Holt can perform most of the functions Cisco does.”

“No.” Alex chuckled. “Just got a little emotional. It doesn’t happen often and I got taken by surprise. I have a few hours before my DNA test is complete. Lets go home?”

“Yes, of course love. But you are okay?”

Alex smiled and sniffed. “Yeah. I am pretty damn perfect right now.”

At the apartment later that night, Caitlin and Kara rehashed their days, preparing to watch the Late Show. An hour later, ice cream eaten, Kara was reminded of something she had been hoping everyone would forget.

“So Cisco is going to fire up the red room tomorrow. If you could be there at 10 for your exam, it would be great.” Cait quietly suggested, ordered.

“Exam? What exam?” the blonde tried.

“You know what exam. You are a month along. There might be one or two symptoms but we need to be prepared for the coming months. We need to make sure everything is okay…”

“Of course everything is okay. I’m immune to everything. Nothing has gone on down there out of the ordinary except the night that caused all this. This whole exam is completely unnecessary. Why can’t we just do the little cream and run the light over my stomach, uh ultrasound? Or listen to her heart?”

“Her? Number one the heart doesn’t develop till the second month, however considering the baby is soaking up sunlight I’m not even sure what effect that will have. I doubt it will increase development time, at least I hope not, because if it does that baby could age rapidly once born too. I don’t see it happening. I don’t think the baby is going to be a speedster right out of the gate. Barry has lost his powers before as you know, and we had to recreate the accident last time, so he could get them back. Barry’s DNA makes him able to absorb the Speed Force but unless something triggers it, I am not sure what will happen. Then again it could be inherent since we don’t know of any metahumans that have had children, so the child may very well be a speedster. In any event we need to be prepared.”

“Are you saying my baby could die of old age before she is a year old?” Kara asked, suddenly very worried.

“No! If that were the case you would be already showing. No I don’t expect it. The Speed Force hasn’t rapidly aged Barry but I have to look at all possibilities and anticipate solutions. We also really have no way of knowing how long Kryptonian pregnancies can last. The AI was left back on the other Earth. I doubt your cousin knows. Perhaps if Roy tells him, he could take the initiative to do some research but you said he isn’t very bright.”

“What does this have to do with me and stirrups?”

“I have to make sure everything is okay, there are no potential problems that could hamper delivery later on, plus you are going to be more and more… powerless the farther into this pregnancy and you need to be as healthy as possible. Speaking of which we need to start you on immune boosters. You have never really used your immune system and I do not want you being hospitalized with pneumonia before you deliver.”

“Okay, yeah immune system. Drugs. I can handle that. As far as the rest you just kinda have to get down there and… take a look, right?”

“Well yes… we will have to perform a speculum exam…”

“No! I don’t even know what that is but it doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not bad Kara. Its just a device that I will insert…”

“No!” Kara yelled, covering her ears.

“Its not that bad and I know you can still hear me. We are also going to have to do a pap smear. Thats…”

“I know what that is! No! No, no, no. Bad Caitlin. That is not happening.”

“Kara it has too. Don’t be a baby. It will just be the two of us, but Eliza will be there if you want her to hold your hand or participate…”

“You realize this is going to fundamentally change our relationship forever right? We may not be able to look at each other the same way, ever, ever again. This is going to be… no! Who came up with this and what… I mean isn’t childbirth going to be traumatic enough? Thank Rao there are drugs that can help with that pain… Caitlin? There are drugs, right?”

“Yes, but can’t be sure what effect they may have on you, if they will even work or if they could harm the baby. There are too many unknowns, Kara. I think it would be best to have a natural childbirth.”

“Natural? My… I’m compatible with humans. Harry said so. Drugs should work on me the same way as they do on anyone else.”

“And you know how they burn through Barry.” Caitlin reminded her.

“Can you cut the baby out? You’ve cut me open before. Just do it again, and poof there is the baby. I wake up and I’m a mommy. Easy. Some sun lamps and a few hours and I am good as new. Doesn’t that sound like a good idea?” Kara tried.

“C sections are performed as a last resort Kara. It is best for your baby to be born naturally.”

“Again, I have to ask you if you understand this could change our relationship forever? You could have a starring role in my next recurring nightmare, Caitlin Snow.”

“Maybe, but I will still always do what is best for you, even if it is scary. You are the bravest woman I know. Actually all of your family is pretty amazing. You can handle this Kara. I’m going to bed. I love you. It will be okay.”

Caitlin hugged her and left an already traumatized Kara sitting on the couch, thinking about the nightmares that awaited her. Barry texted her and she texted in reply that he wasn’t her favorite person right now and he should probably wait until tomorrow afternoon to see her in person.

So of course Barry called.

“What did I do?” was his greeting. “I didn’t put her on the land mine, I saved her.”

“Hi sweet… wait, who was on a land mine?”

“Alex? She stepped on a land mine this morning? I saved her. Isn’t that why you are mad at me?”

“Alex stepped on a land mine? What were you doing? Why weren’t you watching out for her?Who put a land mine where?”

“We went to the farm to try and determine where Prometheus may have watched you from. We found it. She moved close to a tree he was hiding behind and stepped on it. I moved her out of the way in plenty of time. She wasn’t in any danger.”

“Really? She stepped on a land mine. If she hadn’t been as smart as she is, her foot could have very well lifted off and boom! No more Alex! Does that sound like she wasn’t in any danger Barry? Why was she there anyway? Why didn’t you and Joe go?”

“Because she is a cop and Joe doesn’t know what went on out there and it will stay that way. I kept an eye on her.”

“Yeah, you watched her step on a land mine.”

“Kara, I’m sorry. I will watch her more closely but I did save her. Look if you aren’t mad about Alex, or at least you weren’t, why are you mad at me?”

“Because this is all your fault. You started this chain reaction.”

“Im confused.” Barry admitted.

“You were the first to put something inside me, then a baby is in inside of me that is going to come out in a spectacularly painful fashion, and now other things are going to be put inside me tomorrow. Do you know what a speculum is Barry?”

“Yeah, its…”

“Well I don’t, but I am going to become intimately acquainted with one tomorrow. I have never been intimately acquainted with anyone or thing before you and since I became intimately acquainted with you, other things seem to be wanting to invade my nether regions. I did not travel ten thousand light years for this.”

“I’m sorry. I thought you were happy about the baby?”

“I am happy about the baby! I’m not happy about having the baby. Why can’t I just be put to sleep for this exam and for the delivery and poof, I wake up and its over? Why Barry? Why does everyone think I deserve humiliation?”

“I… I… I”

“I, I, I ? Thats the best you got, love of my life? The exam is going to be conducted by my supposed best friend tomorrow at ten. Don’t be anywhere near the lab. I don’t know if I can even look in a mirror after this is done, much less look at anyone else. Its barbaric. They know I am fine. They are doing this to screw with me.”

“No they aren’t Kara. You want me over? I wouldn’t mind sleeping with you tonight, we can keep the nightmares away. I’m kinda needing you right now.”

Kara looked at the time on her phone. That wouldn’t work.

“Can you come at 1?”

“1 AM? You want me to come over at 1? Why can’t I come over now?”

“I have this thing I have to do tonight. It will only take an hour or so. I’ll be back by 1.”

“What in the hell do you have to do tonight till 1 AM?”

“Stuff.” Kara answered. She loved Barry but her plans would be just the kind of thing he would talk her out of or participate in. She didn’t want to harm his friendship with Cisco.

“Stuff? All I get is stuff? There is a maniac gunning for us. You are going out at midnight and you are giving me stuff as a reason.”

“Yep.”

Barry sighed.

“Okay then, I guess I’ll see you at 1. You won’t tell me what you are doing?”

“Its better you don’t know. Just know that it doesn’t risk the baby or me, I promise.”

“Okay. See you in a couple hours.” Barry ended the call and Kara texted Kendra that the mission was a go.

Barry did see Kara a couple hours later, dressed like her sister usually dressed, head to toe black, even as far as black face paint. Carter had brought some along and she couldn’t resist. Barry didn’t even bother to ask, sure he would find out soon enough. After Kara exited the shower, she fell into a deep sleep in his arms. At 6, Barry got a call from Joe that an apartment complex was on fire and people were trapped. Kara moved to join him until she saw the look on his face followed by him looking directly at her stomach. She dropped her head and lay back in bed, while the Flash went to save the day. It would be a long nine months.

When Kara reached the office that morning, Kendra was already making espresso on the new machine. She had noted the Keurig on Carter’s desk but didn’t see him until she reached her office and saw him mounting the television that used to belong to Cisco on her office wall.

“You know what would be great? A couch so the three of us can sit and play games without having to worry about these uncomfortable chairs.” Kara pondered, doing anything she could to keep her mind off her pending violation by her best friend and mother in two hours.

“Good idea. We can grab Ray’s…” Carter started before Ray hollered for Kara. Carter motioned for her to be seated and walked outside her office, stopping the man.

“Carter, good morning. Is Kara in her office?”

“The Queen is in the throne room. She has not had her first cup of coffee yet and does not take audiences with commoners before then.”

“Carter… you know I am the owner of the company, right?” Ray asked.

“I know that after I died, you tried to pick up Kendra. I know I have a mace that I can use to tear apart your shiny little suit and if you shrink I will hit you like a baseball… or golf ball depending on how small you go. I know that I was hired to protect Kara Zor El and I am to screen visitors. I know that I can make you feel a world of pain, Ray Palmer. So why don’t you stand there a bit longer and tell me about how you own this company?”

Ray gulped a bit and rephrased his request. “Could you possibly, ask the Queen if I may have an audience with her, please?”

“My Queen?” Carter called, never breaking eye contact with Palmer.

“Yes, Prince Khufu?”

“She calls you by your… oh this is getting ridiculous.”

“The Court Jester wishes to have an audience.”

“Allow him in, Prince.”

Carter stepped to the side. “You have five minutes. She has an important appointment to be at this morning.”

“Of course.” Ray agreed.

“And eyes off Chay-Ara.” Ray rolled his eyes and marched in front of Kara’s desk then turned around, taking in the gaming stations on the new shelf against that wall and the very large flat screen mounted on the wall. They looked familiar…

“How can I assist you today, Mr. Palmer? Make another comment in public that could be construed as a sexual innuendo?” Kara asked, way too proud of herself.

“Yesterday, after you had left early for the day, I finished my very important work and came back to my office to retrieve my wallet. Do you know what I found?”

“Your wallet?” Kara guessed.

“The drawer my wallet was in, was filled with coffee beans. Top to bottom coffee beans. How can this be? My office was locked. Only I have the code. My desk was locked, only I have the key.”

“It does sound like a mystery. Maybe you should ask Sherlock Holmes… you guys have him right?”

“Yes… not the point. I pull out my wallet from the ocean of coffee beans and find my card has been moved to a different pouch so I check my purchases online. Guess what? I bought some pretty expensive coffee brewing equipment, equipment that is the exact same as in your office. So I am thinking since this machine is obviously mine, I will go ahead and take it to my office.”

Ray moved towards the espresso machine until Kara spoke.

“My Prince, my warrior Priestess?”

Kendra and Carter stepped in front of the machine and stared at Ray, arms crossed.

“Its like that huh?” Ray asked, nodding. He turned back to Kara.

“I own this company. Do you know what that means?”

“That you finally stopped shirking your responsibilities off on Felicity for the past two years?”

“Uh… yes… but that is not what I am talking about.”

“Do you mean that you are going to fire me so I can begin my lucrative career as a trophy wife?”

“You wish. No, what it means is I have a lot of time. I can have as much time as I want during the day. I have the best techs in the world, I have the best toys. You want to start a prank war, Kara Zor El, I promise you, it will be one fight you cannot win. You want to play? Yeah, its on. Never start a childish battle with a childish billionaire with too much money and time on his hands.”

“Gather your soldiers, Atom. I have my warriors.” Kara told him confidently.

“Barry stays out of this. No one else should be caught in the crossfire. Of course Cisco may not be thrilled to find his gaming system got jacked but that is between the two of you. By the way, turn on your monitor.” Ray suggested.

Kara looked at him sharply but reached over and turned it on. Once the screen came alive she wasn’t sure what she was seeing but obviously Ray had changed her screen saver.

“What is that?” she whispered, motioning for Kendra.

“Thats a photo I pulled off a medical book website. Thats what a pelvic exam looks like Kara. Have fun today.”

Ray walked out but was pleased to hear the Queen of Krypton scream before he did. “Yes indeed Predator, you have no idea what you have gotten yourself into.”

At ten sharp, Kendra had Kara at S.T.A.R. Carter was left behind to protect the kingdom but would follow as soon as Ray left the office. Of course Eliza and Caitlin were present, as was Alex.

“Why are you here Alex?” Kara asked cautiously.

“To make sure you don’t fly off or run off in the red solar room. Mom insisted on quite a bit of security while you are in the red sun room, so Nyssa and Barry are here. Oliver is also. They are around just in case. Jax also showed up this morning. Please remember that though the lamps aren’t used anymore for training, that is still our training room so… you know.”

Kara swallowed hard, and moved towards the room before being stopped by Cisco’s voice.

“How did you do it? Barry’s access code was used last night but the camera’s were wiped. How did you do it, Kara? I know Barry wouldn’t do it.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Kara told him defiantly.

“You seriously think you can take all my toys and get away with it? I’ve already sent Winn to check your office.”

“Tell him good luck getting past Carter. If Ray can’t do it I seriously doubt Winn can. Besides I have no idea what you are talking about. Now go, I have business to conduct.”

“Nope. I am sitting right here and I am going to listen to the screams. Have fun Kara.”

Kara bravely faced the training room and walked in behind Caitlin with Eliza and Alex on either side of her. She saw the instrument of torture and let out her first scream as the door closed behind her.

While the exam was being conducted, Barry had walked into the control room with Oliver and Joe. All three men winced every time Kara yelled No stop, or just plain yelled.

“She is going to be pretty mad at you.” Joe told Barry, pointing out the obvious.

“She was there too, when it happened.: Barry weakly argued. “She is the one who said she couldn’t get pregnant. This isn’t on me.”

“Yeah, good luck with that reasoning. Mention it to her when she is done. After she is done, we need to have a meeting. All of us.” Oliver told him.

Barry was instantly alert. “I thought you wanted to wait until next week.”

“I do, but I need information before you can address everyone. Sara will be here shortly and I am hoping her and Alex won’t attack each other…” Oliver stopped talking when another scream erupted.

“I don’t think Alex is going to have energy enough to attack anyone. Besides I think the two have come to a sort of cease fire. Pretty sure anyway.” Barry hoped.

“Great. Anyway, I need more information and I think I have a place to start. I want to fill everyone in. No secrets. We are in this together so we all will know what everyone is doing.”

“Wow, thats impressive, Oliver.” Barry admitted.

“I don’t see we have much choice. According to my source…” Oliver mentioned, mindful of Joe being here…” this guy is from Russia or knows of me from my time in Russia. We need more. His motive is strange. Killing police officers, agents, superheroes. It makes on sense, there must be something else about this guy that is motivating him.”

Ten minutes after Kara’s last scream, a pale and shaken Kryptonian emerged, with her exhausted mother, Caitlin who appeared as if she had been up all night and Alex, sporting a bruised cheek.

All were asked into the large conference room by Oliver. Alex only acknowledged Sara with a nod, instead rubbing her cheek and glaring at Kara who would have looked apologetic had she been looking anyone in the eye. All had a seat, Kara asking to stand but Barry offering her a seat regardless which she took. She also allowed him to grab her trembling hand. Present were Jax, and Stein, Eliza, Jeremiah, Harry, a smirking Ray, Sara, Alex, Oliver, Nyssa, Felicity, Caitlin, Carter, Kendra and Cisco.

“Than you all for giving me a little time.” Oliver started. “I believe I know where this Prometheus may have seen me in Russia. I only did one thing that may be considered heroic during my time there…”

“How long were you there for?” Cisco asked. Oliver ignored him.

“As a captain of the Bratva, I and three men journeyed to a small village inhabited by the Kimek tribe in Siberia. It was a long journey and the area was sparsely populated as most of Siberia is. A man who we believed was a mole for a rival mafia was supposed to be hiding with this tribe. My job was to find him and kill him, bring his body back to Moscow. I was successful at this task.”

“I’m sorry, did you say you were the hero of this little tale?” Cisco asked, to make sure. Oliver looked at him and Cisco apologized and asked him to carry on.

“After the body had been loaded up in the vehicle a nomadic tribe had descended on the Kimek. Despite the harshness of the climate, the tribe had managed to raise quite a herd of cattle and the nomads wanted them. The tribe consisted of mostly women and children, with very few men able to fight. It wasn’t our responsibility or our problem but by that point in my life I had seen and done too much… I fought them off. I killed all 12 of them. Either one survived who was part of the nomads, or this Prometheus was hiding in the village and I hadn’t noticed him. I plan to go back to the village. This was only four years ago, so I am sure someone remembers seeing a young man with solid white hair. I honestly can’t think of anything else I did in Russia that could be construed as heroic.”

“Just to be clear, this heroic act you performed involved the deaths of 12 men, on top of the one you were sent to kill?” Joe asked, fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

“Better 12 men than a village of thirty, women and children included. I am not saying it is heroic, I just can’t imagine anything else that would be considered heroic.”

“Again, you were there how long?” Cisco asked.

“Oliver, aren’t you not exactly in good standing with the Bratva right now?” Barry asked, not crazy about this plan.

“Uh… it’s complicated… I think. Probably not but there were some misunderstandings… regardless I won’t be dealing with them. Felicity, Dig and I will be landing in Altai Republic by private…”

“Old.” Felicity corrected.

“plane under different identities. We will be fine.”

“You are going to Siberia to a remote wasteland in an area littered with nomadic mad men who are little better than lunatics. Alex’s life is at stake. I will go with you.” Nyssa told the man. Oliver was slightly surprised she would leave Alex but indicated silent agreement.

“As is Alex. I can’t leave her here with a mad man on the loose.” Nyssa finished.

“Uh, I can take care of myself.” Alex told her indignantly. “But I would like to go to Siberia. I’ve never been.” she admitted.

“Fine, the five of us go. We leave tomorrow.”

“Alex, the Captain may not be happy with you…” Joe started then stopped at her look.

“Just explain that it is part of the investigation. He won’t mind. I’ll even have Barry write a report about it when I return.”

“That is so unfair.” Barry mumbled but stopped at the snort from Kara, who still refused to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Sara, is your father and Donna secured in the safe house here in Central City?”

“Yep, I’m keeping a watch on Mom too.” she admitted.

“Good, Thea will be staying here in the lab. I don’t want anyone in Star City for the time being. Our families are targets. Keep an eye out and have someone armed with you at all times or arm yourselves. Barry is going to contact some friends and call a meeting next week in Ray’s new hideout. Its time we got organized. Anyone with special gifts or skills who makes a habit of standing up for people who can’t stand up for themselves is a target. Barry and Kara will guide a new team, whose sole purpose for now is to stop this man, and afterwards, to develop a system that allows us greater communication and teamwork when crises arise. We will be back in four days at the most. Until then, everyone please be vigilant.” Oliver finished.

“Sweet, the first official meeting of the Justice Society.” Cisco exclaimed.

“The who now?” Barry and Kara asked at the same time.

“The Justice Society. This guy hates anyone who fights for Justice. We are forming a secret society…”

“Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds? Do you ever record yourself and play back what you say?” Harry asked. Cisco didn’t answer nor did anyone have any further comment so the meeting broke up.

After assuring Barry, she was okay, also known as lying, Kendra and Carter accompanied Kara back to her office. She needed to check in on her employees progress with their marketing ideas and contact a few media outlets about possible interviews with Ray, then planned to go to her apartment and cry in the bathtub while eating a cartoon of ice cream. Walking into her office, she was pleased to see everything was as she left it. Kendra sat at her desk, planning on checking her Facebook and Instagram accounts while Ray prepared a cup of coffee. Before the cup had finished he heard a scream from Kara’s office. Running in he found Kara and Kendra staring at the television mounted on the wall.

“What’s going on!?”

Kara pointed to the monitor on the wall.

“Its just came on. I’m not sure what that is supposed to be. It won’t turn off.” she mumbled.

“I’ve never seen it from this angle, but it is obviously a woman giving birth.” Kendra informed her. Carter took the remote and tried to turn it off. Having no luck, he saw the batteries had been removed. Apparently the television had been set on a timer and he had a pretty good idea who had done it. Reaching behind the TV, he pulled it slightly up on the bracket and pulled the power cord.

“What was that? Was that gooey, bloody… was that supposed to be a baby? Why was the woman screaming?”

“Because it hurts like hell. Kendra has never dealt with it well either.” Carter told the blonde.

“Yeah, its kind of like being ripped apart.” Kendra admitted. Kara backed up and sat in the chair Kendra had pulled in earlier.

“Ray Palmer did this. He must have had Winn or Curtis help. You realize what this means? It means war has begun and I swear on the honor of my house, we will not loose. I’m going to go home and cry. In the morning we plan our counterstrike.”

Kara walked out, followed by Kendra, who walked her home everyday. A block from the office the two were approached by a woman.

“Hi, I’m Linda Parks. I work with Iris. I just recognized you. Iris had shown me a picture on her phone of you and Barry. You are Kara right?”

Kendra was instantly wary. Something about this woman set her off.

“Yeah…”

“I was wondering if you had time for a quick interview? I am doing a story about Palmer Tech’s new base of operations in Central City and the purchase of S.T.A.R. Labs. Do you have a moment? I could buy you a late lunch?”

Kara met Kendra’s eyes and silently let her friend know to be ready. This could be the break they all needed. The time she had spent getting to know Iris better in the recent months would pay off, because she knew that Linda Parks wrote the sports section and that there were two Linda Parks still on this Earth. It was time she found out why the Earth 2 Linda Parks was here and what she knew of the man who sent her after Superwoman.