Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Reborn

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 04: Memories

“That makes no sense.” Kara told her little brother.

The family looked at each other, not sure of a response. Though no one wanted the boy to talk, once he had started, none of them had any idea how to stop him as Clark rambled on through a poorly crafted lie.

The boy had explained that Kara and Alex stopped Myriad. Kara knew this but was vague on the details. He had told her of all the good she had done as Supergirl over the years, but left out everything else.

He left out the self-harm, the depression, the drinking and drug use, the body count she left behind in her pursuit of justice. Kara did not seem to notice, leaving her parents and sister wondering how much she did and didn’t remember.

“If I was doing so much good, why did I quit?” she continued, a confused expression on her face.

“Because I asked you to and you swore you would.” Clark told her. That in itself was not a lie. He had asked and she did swear. The fact she was in rehab when she swore made no difference to the boy.

Kara was still puzzled. “Why would you ask me that? I remember you loved that I was Supergirl. I would fly in from the ocean for all of your birthday parties, take pictures with your friends…”

“Because!” Clark snapped. “I didn’t want you to do it anymore. People stopped appreciating you. Remember when you told me people would be scared of us? Some of them were. It didn’t matter what you did or how many lives you saved. Somebody was always trying to kill you and then Doomsday, even though you beat him, you got hurt. I was sick of it, so I asked you to stop. You promised.”

Kara was surprised by the desperation and conviction in his voice. Something had changed about Clark. Of course he thought she had been dead for the last year. She knew Alex looked different. She was thinner than Kara had seen her before, always shaking and constantly hovering behind Kara. Her parents looked worn out, almost broken in a way she couldn’t understand. They were also strangely silent.

As she momentarily focused on her dad, a memory resurfaced, Jeremiah above her, preparing to place a… red crystal into her shoulder?

“I got rid of my powers.” Kara realized. “Dad, you figured out how to place a crystal in me that mimicked the red sun rays.”

After a moment of awkward silence, Jeremiah cleared his throat which felt incredibly thick and confirmed he did.

“So how did that lead me to fighting some invasion?” the blonde asked her dad. He opened his mouth to respond but said nothing. Kara’s brother, as he had been doing all evening, jumped in.

“The Worldkillers came and nobody could stop them, so you did.” Clark told her quickly. “I told you it was okay and I shouldn’t have. You took the crystal out and fought two of them. Alex fought one and Batman and Lobo fought the other two. You fought Reign and beat her but the first one, the Worldkiller that started the invasion, he… he tried to take over your body. You couldn’t get him out so you sent yourself into the sun.”

Kara knew that wasn’t the whole story. It was obvious by her family’s silence. “How did I get into the sun? You say I sent myself there, but how? I couldn’t have flown that fast, or broken into the core. If I didn’t fly, how did I get there?”

“Zeta Beam.” Clark told her quickly. The boy remembered Lobo used one to get to Ysmault quickly when Kara became a Red Lantern. He had gotten it from a guy in Detroit… “Some guy named Strange owed Lobo a favor. It’s like a transporter, but a lot more powerful. You were going to use it to send the Worldkiller into the sun but it was too fast, so you sent yourself. That was a year ago.”

Alex shook her head, amazed at how quickly Clark was coming up with these answers . Thankfully, Kara’s tells hadn’t changed because Alex could still read her little sister’s body language. She could see Kara obviously knew he was lying or leaving out a lot of detail.

Deciding to intervene finally, Alex moved from behind the couch where she had been rubbing Kara’s shoulders to the front and sat next to her.

“Clark, I think you have caught her up on the basics. Kara, I realize you know he isn’t telling you everything. There is a… lot of stuff that has happened. Right now, I need you to tell me what you remember. Can you do that?”

Kara nodded her head, as Alex took her hand. “What is your earliest Earth memory?”

The blonde grinned. “We crashed. You found us and brought us here. I mean over there.” Kara pointed in the direction of her girlhood home.

“Okay,” Alex continued. “Do you remember where you crashed and how you got here?”

Alex could see Kara thinking hard, too hard. This should have been easy to answer. The crash had been frightening as had Kara’s journey to Midvale across country.

Finally the younger sister shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, seeming not to care. “No, not really. We crashed and you found us.”

Alex took a deep breath, suspecting what was going on and wondering how much she should push it.

“Do you remember why Krypton exploded?”

Kara looked closely at her, wondering what was going on. They had talked about this a lot over the years.

“The core became unstable. You know that. We had a ship and our parents sent us here to live. Why would you ask me that? Of course I remember why it exploded.”

Alex saw a bit of agitation in Kara’s face, so backed off. Her little sister hadn’t mentioned Jor El, the Codex, her family’s knowledge or even her family being the cause of the planet’s destruction.

“Do you… do you remember Hank Henshaw?” she asked hesitantly.

“Alex!” Eliza snapped. Alex ignored her, focusing on Kara only.

Kara actually grinned. “It was the name J’onn used to run the DEO. I never understood why he used that name. Why didn’t he just go with John Jones or something similar? It was always a pain to remember what name to call him. How are Jessica and Jason doing? Are they still in National City?”

Alex held as still as possible, her suspicions coming true with every statement Kara made. “What do you remember about Jess?”

Kara took a moment. What did she remember about Jess?

“I know she was Jason’s girlfriend. J’onn helped get Clark and me our identities and… Jason worked for him. They moved to Midvale because J’onn was afraid someone would find out about us and he was… no there were more, Ty maybe, and… Dan? Jess is his girlfriend. She is our friend. We hung out a lot, right?”

Alex nodded her head and smiled at Kara, squeezing the girl’s hand. “Do you remember a bar in National City? One that served aliens only?”

“Alex, that’s enough.” Jeremiah told her.

“Stay out of this.” Alex snapped at the man, giving him a cold look. She turned back to Kara who was surprised by the anger in Alex’s tone. Alex knew she would have to relax to keep Kara calm.

“An alien bar? Alex, I have never drunk alcohol. Why would I go to an alien bar… wait, did we take a lot of Fort Rozz prisoners from there? Having them all in one place must have made it easier, huh?”

Alex took a deep breath. It was as she suspected. Kara had blocked out every bad memory. Her mind was jumbled, confused as to dates and times, fierce battles, but it was also protecting her from the horrors she had faced.

When would those memories come back? How would Kara handle them when they did? Alex knew her little sister. Those old memories would eventually resurface. Her brain waves were normal, no sign of any brain damage. If some memories were in her head, all of them were. The bad ones were a ticking time bomb that could be unleashed at any moment.

So the older sister had to defuse the bomb before it blew up in all their faces.

How to do that?

“Are you sleepy? Why don’t we lay down in your bed? I bet when you wake up in the morning things will be a lot clearer.” Alex suggested, hoping that wasn’t the case.

The blonde shook her head. “I have a feeling I have been sleeping for a long time. I feel great. It’s dark outside. Do you want to go flying, Clark?”

“No!” Alex and Eliza said together.

Eliza looked sheepishly at an annoyed Alex and then to Kara.

“Kara, the world thinks Supergirl is dead. It has to stay that way. Do you remember those… churches, the ones that… worshipped you?”

Kara thought about it. It was fuzzy but there. She had landed inside one and…

“I told them to stop. It was just the one. There weren’t a lot of people there.” the girl told her mother.

“There were a lot more.” Jeremiah explained. “More than you could stop. Even the ones you talked to… the point is, the world thinks you died a year ago. If they see you flying around, even by accident the stories are going to spread like wildfire. They will think you have risen from the dead.”

Kara looked blankly at them for a moment then laughed softly.

“I guess technically I have.” she told them. “I can talk to those people…”

“There are thousands Kara, maybe tens of thousands.” Jeremiah told her. “If they see that you have risen from the dead the result could mean… a lot of bad things could happen. Religious wars, political wars… the world needs to believe Supergirl is dead. We can’t take chances. I know you have a lot of… energy right now, but you have to stay low. Do you understand?”

Kara did she supposed. It was a bit frustrating but a look at Alex told her the older sister agreed with her parents, so Kara would go along.

“And what about me? Kara?” she asked. “Does the world, or Midvale at least, think I am dead?”

Alex shook her head quickly. “No. We told everyone you got a job in Paris. No one asked any questions.”

“Why?” the blonde asked. “If you thought I was dead, why lie? Why not just…” Clearly at a loss for words, she looked to her sister for answers.

“Because I knew you weren’t dead.” Alex told her decisively, gripping her sister’s hand even tighter. “I was waiting for you to come home, back to our life and you did. Kara Danvers is all that matters now. Supergirl is dead. She gave up her life for this planet and she has done enough. No matter what, you can never be… her… again.

Kara thought of asking more questions. She had a million of them at least, but her family looked exhausted, even Clark.

“Okay, no flying, I promise.” she agreed. “But I think you should all go to sleep. You look very tired. I know it has been a long day.”

“I’ll sleep when you do.” Alex told her.

Jeremiah knew Clark, Eliza and he would not be going anywhere tonight. He also knew Alex wouldn’t sleep unless Kara slept and she desperately needed to rest.

“Kara, do you remember the tiara Alex made for you? The one you wore when you couldn’t sleep well?” he asked, treading carefully.

Kara actually snorted. “A tiara?”

“A crystal one.” Eliza confirmed. “From the crystals in the Fortress. It helped you rest. I’m not sure if it will work, but I think we all need rest, right?”

“No! It’s too soon.” Alex told them. That crystal had always been successful in helping her little sister have a dreamless sleep, but what if it didn’t work? What if it opened her mind to memories she wasn’t ready to handle? “Kara, if you aren’t tired, would you at least get into bed with me? You can hold me while I sleep, right? I don’t want you out of my sight yet, okay? Not yet.”

Kara saw the desperation on her sister’s face. She didn’t want to leave her either. If sitting up all night was what it took for Alex to get some sleep, she would do it.

“Of course, but I’m not going to stand in the bathroom with you. You smell like… smoke? I guess there was a lot of it at my crash site, huh? You need a shower. I’ll be right outside the bathroom…” Kara stopped speaking for a minute. Waiting outside a bathroom? Why did that sound so familiar?

“Kara? You okay?” Alex asked concerned, knowing what her little sister was thinking

Kara shook her head. “Yeah, just hurry up. You need sleep. I won’t go anywhere, I promise.”

Gotham City Bat Cave

Bruce Wayne sat in front of the large monitor feeding him information from around the world. He had not changed suits, only pulled back his cowl, too tired to do anything else. Alfred had gone to bed, but Bruce stubbornly refused. Instead, he watched news reports on the deaths worldwide related to the so called day of peace and remembrance. He had stopped a bomb from detonating today, saved thousands of lives, but he took no joy from it. The worldwide death toll had topped 5,000. Anti-alien hate groups attacking pro alien groups, jihadist terror attacks, White Martians doing whatever they could to ruin a day devoted to their greatest enemy. Various religions argued on the streets, often resorting to fighting, and the world debated every statement the leaders of the major religions had on the life and death of Supergirl and what it meant for the world.

It made him sick. He felt the need to find someone to fight, which meant he should stay in. After what happened to Kara, the argument he and Diana had afterward, Bruce swore he would never kill another alien despite his agreement with Kara in the past. He handled aliens her way and she handled humans his way. It worked, for the most part.

Bruce also realized he used it as an excuse to feed the part of him that called for blood.

“Please tell me I surprised you for once.” Dick asked, walking quietly behind him.

“I knew you were here ten minutes ago.” Batman responded. “What brings you here from Chicago? I thought you would be celebrating with your team. You all did well today.”

Dick Grayson shrugged his shoulders and took a seat next to Bruce.

“It was just the usual. Six White Martians. Gar, Victor and I did our best to survive, Wally figured out that lightning bolts don’t do a hell of a lot to a White Martian, Raven scared the hell out of half of them, then Kori showed up and blew them to hell. Only thing I have ever seen that burns hotter than Kori’s star bolts was… anyway, it seemed the trouble has ended so I thought I would come… check on you.”

Bruce shook his head slightly. “I don’t need anyone to check on me. Alfred has been hovering all day. I can handle myself.” he told his former partner, a man who was his son in every way in Bruce’s mind.

“So maybe I didn’t want to be alone tonight.” Dick responded casually.

“You weren’t.” Bruce pointed out. “You have a team, a good team and you do good work. You aren’t alone, Dick.”

Grayson said nothing for a few moments, not really wanting to say anything at all. Despite Dick’s penchant for talking constantly, he enjoyed these times of silence with Bruce.

The younger man finally cleared his throat. “You had a good team. Have you spoken to them…”

“I work better alone.” Batman cut him off. “I don’t need a team to protect Gotham and protecting Gotham is why I do this. I forgot that for too long. The criminals thought they were safe while I was out saving the world with my team. They needed reminding that this is still my city.”

Despite his desire not to, Bruce’s thoughts drifted back to a year ago.

Kara was gone. The League had returned to the Batcave. Bruce should have been rushing to get to Alex at Patterson Air Force Base.

Instead, he asked Diana what the hell she had been thinking.

“I think it is a tragedy, one that…” Diana started to say before Batman interrupted.

“You were going to kill her!” Bruce had shouted. “There would have been another way. You should have had faith in her, faith that she could fight back like she did, but I saw your hand. You were reaching for your sword!”

“I read it in your mind, Diana.” J’onn told her. “I would have stopped you.”

“You think that is what Kara would have wanted?” Diana asked, looking incredulously at both men. “To cease to exist, her body taken over by a monster who would use it to kill perhaps millions? She would have asked me to stop her before that happened and you know it!”

“You knew nothing of what she was facing until you got there. You had one minute of information.” Bruce pointed out. “You thought you could make a call based on that?”

“You appointed me leader! I had to make a call and time was short! We couldn’t let that thing inside her loose!” Diana argued.

“We could have found another way! We had the firepower, the Lanterns…” Bruce countered before Diana cut him off.

“The Lanterns?” Diana asked him pointedly. “The ones you have so little faith in? Tell me Stewart, could the Lanterns have stopped it once it took control of her?”

Stewart said nothing, his face impassive.

“She is right, Bruce.” Curry cut in.

“No, she isn’t.” Barry responded heatedly. “We could have, we should have found another way.”

The division led to a moment of silence until Alfred walked up to Diana. Standing tall before the incensed Amazon, he drew his shoulders back, staring her straight in the eye.

“If you would have struck her, I would have done everything in my considerable power to see you dead.” he told her in a quiet voice, daring her to reply. Seeing the shock of understanding in Diana’s eyes, he turned and walked away.

No one had a response leading to more silence.

After a moment, Bruce’s anger and distrust made the decision for him. “This is over for me. Do what you want with this team but get the hell out of my cave. I am done. Try to replace her work or go back into hiding, Diana. Just get out of my sight.”

Diana stiffened, sorrow heavy in her eyes, before she nodded and walked out. The rest of the group slowly dispersed until only J’onn and Bruce were left behind.

“We need to get to Alex.” the Martian reminded his friend.

Bruce agreed. Action. He needed to do something. He needed to get Alex to the Block.

“I’ll have it arranged for her to be transferred. Get on Brother Eye and check the security feeds from the surgical suite. Alfred can arrange transport for the Danvers. As soon as she is stable, I want her at the Block.”

Bruce walked away, his mind on the tasks at hand, trying to forget the look on Gardner’s face when he said Kara sent herself into the sun. Bruce was good at reading people and Gardner had not been lying. That hurt the worst so he blocked it out.

That was the day the Justice League’s short existence ended. He and J’onn kept in regular contact, but the Martian was the only one he considered a friend. J’onn fought crime as much as he could in Metropolis. Diana appeared occasionally on the London news, stopping the occasional crime or terrorist plot. Curry disappeared, most likely back to Atlantis.

With Kara dead, the Guardians no longer had reason to fear. They instructed the Lanterns of Earth to return to Oa and be reassigned leaving Earth unprotected. The four members gave up their rings rather than leave their home planet.

Lobo hunted Diasporans in space, keeping an eye and ear out for plots against Earth and checking in with Bruce every couple months. He felt it was what Kara would have wanted him to do.

Alex went on a mission to wipe out the remaining Cadmus cells before the doctor had even cleared her for normal everyday work.

Barry Allen disappeared somewhere in Europe, having never returned to Central City. Bruce could have found him easily but didn’t see the point.

Dante Youngblood never returned from the Amazon. After Kara was gone, after they all understood what happened, the man disappeared into the Rain Forest and had not been seen since.

Kara’s death impacted many lives that day, lives that changed irrevocably.

“Bruce?”

Blinking his eyes, Bruce pulled himself out his memories of the past to focus on the present.

“What?”

“Getting lost in thought old man? Isn’t that what old timers do?” Grayson asked, trying to bring some levity to the room. He had come to be here for Bruce, to try and keep the man from brooding all night or from unleashing his rage onto some unsuspecting low level street dealer. Batman would be looking for any excuse to hurt someone tonight.

“It should have been me.” Bruce told him quietly. “I had more experience at gliding. I was so determined to get on that ship, that I… if I had gone after that glow bug, Alex could have been near Kara’s side. She would have figured something out, something to save her, helped her fight back harder. I went along with it though. I got onto the ship, found out nothing Kara didn’t know when I got to her, could do nothing to stop it. Alex almost died and I did nothing but stand by, watching that black goo invading Kara’s body, her mind. Why didn’t I go after Flower, Dick?”

“You can second guess yourself forever. It didn’t matter. Those two were going to do what they did regardless.” Dick reminded him.

“And I could have talked them out of it. Instead I followed Kara’s lead. I sat back and let her save the world again and let Alex pull off a mission that had a high risk of death.”

Grayson sighed, knowing nothing he said would do any good. He had listened to Bruce second guess himself many times over the past year and before that. Second guessing, blaming himself, torturing himself over things he had no control over, that was who Batman was.

“I loved her too, you know.”

Bruce nodded his head. “You two weren’t good for each other, but I never doubted that you loved her. Not once did I ever doubt that.”

“I wish I could have been there, doing something, anything. I could have… I could have made that jump instead of Alex. Gar could have transformed into a bird or something and…”

“You and your team protected the one US city the Diasporans actually managed to land ground troops in. I’ve seen the videos Dick. Your team fought like gods. Kara would have been proud.”

Dick closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair, trying not to think about that day. Yes, his team, the people he brought together and made into a family had fought like hell and won. The Earth had won. Three hours later, Alfred had called him, at what Dick lovingly referred to as Titans Tower, and told him what the cost of that victory had been.

“Talk to J’onn today?”

Bruce shook his head. He and J’onn remained close friends, but both had a lot going on today and into the night.

“Talk to Alex?” Dick hoped.

Bruce shook his head again. “I tried. I called the house and no answer. I called Kelex who told me Alex didn’t want to talk today and was at home, alone. I called Eliza… she said they were giving Alex space. It was strange. When has Eliza ever given Alex space? I felt like she was… I suppose it is a painful day for the family, but I felt like Eliza was not telling me something.”

“You don’t think Alex got drunk or tried to kill herself, do you?” Grayson asked worriedly. He had talked to Alex at least once a month and knew she obviously wasn’t the same person she had been. Had she fallen into Kara’s old habits?

Batman shook his head. “Alex doesn’t drink and never will. She wouldn’t do that to Kara’s memory or to Clark. She wouldn’t try to kill herself, ever. But… it’s probably nothing. Like I said, they are in pain. It’s hard to tell what a person is thinking on a day like this. I visited my parents… the place. Diana went with me last year at Kara’s insistence because she couldn’t go. Every year before that, Kara was always with me on that day. This year…”

Bruce let the sentence go unfinished. The loss of his friend, even after a year still felt like a knife in his ribs.

The two sat the rest of the night in silence. Though both would never admit it, Batman and Robin needed to be near each other at times. It kept them both sane.

Midvale, the next morning

Kara had been up all night, lying on her side for most of that time with Alex curled into her arms. Her older sister slept fitfully, waking every hour to seek her face in the darkness.

Eliza and Jeremiah had seemingly worked out a schedule between the two, one staying awake while the other tried to sleep. Every two hours one of them would walk the hall from Alex’s bedroom to Kara’s where she held her sister. Seeing the blonde was still present they would wander back to bed.

This reminded Kara of something, but she couldn’t place her finger on it. The blonde felt Jeremiah and Eliza had done this before, checking on her constantly at night.

But why would they have done that? Their actions tonight she understood. They had thought her dead for a year, were shocked that she was alive and hoping it wasn’t a dream. Still, the familiarity of it bothered her.

Her memories were jumbled and that was frustrating. She wanted to remember everything. It was obvious to her Clark was lying tonight, but she picked up some nuggets of truth.

She most likely had fought Doomsday though she had no idea how she could have won. For that matter how did she defeat an invasion? Reign must have been there. How did Alex defeat Flower of Heaven?

Why could she remember some birthdays and not others? Her sense of time was shattered. She remembered her motorcycle, rebuilding it, starting her up for the first time, but not how old she had been.

Kara remembered the night she had found Streaky on her bike, but could not remember what she had done in the hours that led her to that alley.

The cat in question was sleeping deeply behind her, a paw in her hair.

Clark tried to stay up as long as possible, obviously watching Kara from the guest room with his X Ray vision, but finally fell asleep at 3 AM.

At five AM, Kara had her chance to find answers. Alex was in a deep sleep and Eliza and Jeremiah had both fallen to exhaustion.

Kara slowly slipped her arms from around Alex and moved quickly, so fast Streaky barely noticed her pulling away.

She came back from Alex’s room and sat down on the bed carefully so as not to disturb her sister or cat, then opened Alex’s laptop.

What had happened in the past year?

More importantly, what had happened in the years leading up to her final battle that caused her supposed death?

Calling up a simple search for Supergirl, the first result caught her attention, a downloadable book for sell.

The Life and Death of Supergirl, by Lois Lane .

The book downloaded in seconds and two minutes later, Kara had read the large volume twice.

Lost in thought, she walked to her bedroom window and stared at the ocean beyond.

Two hours later, Alex woke suddenly, turning in bed and grasping for Kara. Stretching out, she found nothing but empty space. Had it been a dream? Where was she? Alex had felt her last night, felt her sister’s arms around her and had held on tight, afraid to let go.

Sitting up quickly, she saw the laptop, powered up and sitting on the bed.

“I’m here, Alex.” Kara’s voice called to her.

Alex turned to the window where Kara stood with her arms crossed. The blonde turned to her older sister and smiled.

“I thought… I thought it was a dream for a moment.” Alex admitted, her heart rate slowing.

“I’m sorry I let you go. I planned to stay in bed, but I needed answers. I knew Clark was lying last night.”

Alex was not surprised by the revelation. She shouldn’t have let the boy weave a tale that would not hold up very long. Still, the older sister hoped that he would have satisfied Kara’s curiosity for one night.

Alex followed Kara’s eyes to the laptop on the bed and pulled it into her lap.

Numerous links were open, Lois Lane’s book had been downloaded, Daily Planet and Catco Archive news sites covering the worldwide events of the day before.

“I think we should spend some time in the Fortress, just the two of us this morning.” Kara suggested. “I have so much energy I can’t stand it. Perhaps bathing in red sun rays may help. I have to counter all this solar energy in my cells some way if I can’t… let loose. I also need answers. I want you to tell me the truth.”

Alex felt her chest tighten. “I’m… I’m not sure if you are ready for the whole truth.” she admitted.

Kara shook her head and lay down on the bed, drawing Alex to her.

“I want to know why I can’t remember huge chunks of my childhood, here and on Krypton. I want to know why I announced to the entire world that I was an alcoholic and drug addict. I want to know why I tried to kill myself two years before that. I want to know why I was wearing gloves at the press conference. I want to know about the red ring you asked me if I remembered. I want to know why you have clean surgical scars on your abdomen. I need to know Alex. I need you to tell me the truth.”