Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Seeing Red

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 25: Going Steady

The first breakfast back in Midvale was reminiscent in a way of the fist time she ate in the house after she met Jeremiah and Eliza.

Alex, Jeremiah and Eliza were staring at her, trying to appear casual but failing miserably.

“Good morning everybody.” Kara tried.

None of the three said anything and Clark was busy downing a massive amount of bacon.

Kara let out a breath.

“Who wants to be first?”

“I… uh… so, did you sleep good? How are you feeling today?” Alex asked, deciding to get the elephant in the room dealt with.

“I just woke. I have no idea how I feel. My super reliable sleeping pill put me out at bed time and I woke up nine hours later to food. Can’t be that bad, right?”

“Was your mattress comfortable? Alex said hers was a bit lumpy. Jeremiah is picking her up a new one. The mattresses in the house are so old. Would you like a new one?” Eliza asked.

Kara shrugged her shoulders. “Doesn’t really matter. I take the pill, go to sleep ten minutes later whether I want to or not and then, I open my eyes and there is sunlight. I could sleep on the ground and doubt I would notice.”

No one had any comment, so Kara grabbed a slice of toast. Reaching for the butter and a knife to spread it, she first noticed the silver ware was plastic.

The girl found this strange since all the other belongings were in the house. Standing up, noticing that no one was looking at, her she moved to the kitchen drawer where the silverware had always been kept.

The drawer was empty.

“That’s… different.” she commented, trying her best to sound casual and then decided to forgo the attempt. “No knives I get, but no spoons or forks?”

Jeremiah looked at her for a moment then shrugged his shoulders. “Give it a few months.” He offered. Kara figured that was the most she would get and instead of pushing the issue accepted it and ate. The food was good, some of her taste coming back to her. Food still didn’t appeal to her, but she made herself eat and it was becoming easier.

Of course, it seemed like everything she did was a test. Alex and Eliza watched every bite she took, no doubt planning on talking to each other about it later.

The girl expected this. She knew she would be watched closely, Jeremiah had told her as much. But being treated like she was suicidal was taking it a bit far in her opinion. The meds hadn’t made her feel suicidal except for the one instance early on where her hallucination of Astra encouraged her to kill herself. Other than that, she had not even harmed herself.

Thinking back on it, there were no sharp objects in the cafeteria at the Block. Even the plastic knives had been dulled.

“I’m not going to do anything to myself.” she blurted out.

Clark stopped chewing on bacon long enough to look at her. He didn’t appear angry, but he didn’t appear amused either.

“Then you shouldn’t care if there are sharp objects around or not, right?”

Kara’s cheeks turned red, and not from embarrassment. She had no doubt the meds were helping keep her temper in check and were doing so now. Still, she couldn’t let her younger brother call her out.

“Watch what you say to me.” she told him quietly. “I get I have screwed up in the past, but you won’t talk to me like I am a child.”

“Then stop getting upset that there aren’t any knives around. You are the one who cut your wrists…”

“Clark!” Eliza snapped. “Enough. Let it go. We know you won’t hurt yourself, Kara. Give us a couple months to make sure the meds are working correctly. There is no reason to put anything in this house that might tempt you, is there?”

“No, I guess not.” Kara mumbled, embarrassed and angry that Clark had called her out.

A few more minutes went by in silence before Kara excused herself and walked outside. As soon as she was gone, Alex slapped back of Clark’s head.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she asked.

“What? We stayed with her for months, we moved for her and now we have to listen to her whine about no sharp objects being around? Am I the only one tired of explaining things to her whenever she whines? She has done enough stuff and we are just supposed to trust her now because we are all back in Midvale? We left National City, our friends, my school, our home and she should at least be quiet and not complain.”

Alex rubbed her forehead, debated going after Kara, or walking Clark to a cliff and tossing him off it. Of course, he would just fly, taking all the fun out of it.

“She is trying, Clark. She has done everything we have asked of her.” Alex reminded him. “You expect her to not question anything? I never dreamed we would get this far!”

The boy shrugged his shoulders.

“She hated when I questioned anything growing up.” he fairly pointed out.

Alex stared at him for a moment, before getting up and moving towards her room. She wouldn’t follow Kara but wasn’t getting involved in one of her and Clark’s sibling arguments.

Left alone with his parents, Clark let out a breath.

“Probably shouldn’t have said anything, huh?” he guessed, judging by the look on his parents’ face.

“You miss National City, don’t you?” Jeremiah guessed.

“Not really.” Clark admitted. “I… I don’t know. I guess so much has changed and it’s all because of her. It just irritates me sometimes. I’m glad she is doing better, I really am, but she can’t just sit down and eat without asking about metal objects? She knows why she can’t have them! We are all using plastic forks and knives, but did you hear me, or Alex complain?”

Jeremiah thought of saying something, anything, but a look at Eliza told him she would handle it later. Clark was in a mood and until it passed there was nothing they could say that wouldn’t irritate him more. The boy had gone through a lot of changes and found out a lot of new information, bad information in the last few months.

A couple hours later when Kara had still not returned, he headed up to Alex’s room, finding her on her bed with her laptop.

“What are you doing?” he asked, already knowing she was irritated from the look she gave him.

“I have Kelex giving me satellite footage of Kara, making sure she doesn’t jump off a cliff, jerk. What the hell is your problem? You said you wanted her to quit, both of us to quit and we did. You wanted her to participate and she did. Now you decide to get back at her for being bossy when you were a baby? Really? You couldn’t wait six months?”

Clark said nothing, admitting she probably had a point. Truthfully, he didn’t know why he was so irritated this morning. Alex was right, Kara was doing what they all asked of her.

Perhaps it was because he was still stung about the secrets that had been kept from him and now that they were back in the real world, so to speak, it hit him harder.

“Where is she at?” he asked.

Alex looked at him suspiciously. “Why do you want to know?”

“Just tell me where she is. The cave, right?”

To his surprise, his older sister shook her head.

“The cliff over the ocean, in front of the cave. She hasn’t gone in. I hope she never goes into that damn hole in the ground again. I’ve taken care of her since you both landed. I have gone through hell with her, so don’t think I don’t get it. I am sick of the things she has done too, but she has also done a lot of good. You try walking in her shoes for a while and see how you handle it.”

Clark decided he wouldn’t get back on Alex’s good side and honestly didn’t want to. She was in a mood right now and he knew why. He also figured he better bring Kara back before she did something to herself and his Mom and Dad blamed him, and to be honest he blamed himself.

Checking with his vision to make sure no one was watching, including his Mom and Dad, the boy moved quickly, only a blur to everyone in the world besides the Flash. He found her in less than twenty seconds.

Surprisingly she was not pouting, or crying, nor did she appear angry. Instead she was sitting by the cliff, legs crossed with a smile on her face, deep in meditation. He remembered seeing her do this a few times with Dante in the past before she ran him off.

Deciding not to disturb her, he sat on the ground quietly, watching her for ten minutes. Clark was surprised at the smile on her face. It appeared natural, not forced and she really did seem relaxed.

Finally, her eyes opened, and she stretched her arms over her head, then stood.

Kara jumped back a bit when she saw him.

“I’m going to have to get used to not hearing heartbeats. How long have you been there?”

“About ten minutes. You looked happy. I didn’t want to interrupt you.” he admitted. “I guess you are probably mad at me, huh?”

To his shock, Kara smiled and shook her head.

“I don’t really have a right to be mad at you about anything. Yeah, I didn’t expect it, but I did kind of uproot your life, lied to you for most of your life and put you through hell, like everybody else. I shouldn’t have said anything. I guess being in Midvale kind of made me forget about the Block for a bit and when I saw the plastic ware it reminded me that everything was not okay, so I opened my mouth. I shouldn’t have mentioned it. No one has any reason to believe me and I can’t blame them. I don’t know if I believe me most of the time.”

Clark was speechless for a moment, having expected some sort of argument or reproach. Instead she was walking around, away from the cliff, looking at the ground with a slight grin on her face.

“What are you doing?” he asked, completely thrown by her behavior.

“Thinking how much it is going to cost to get these trees cut into lumber. You are pulling them up, big guy, but I hate to destroy nature. I’m thinking if I could make the wood part of my house it would still be here in a way.”

Kara pointed beyond a third very tall tree about five hundred feet away from the cliff.

“This is where I ran out of land and turned back to find the cave and Alex. I plan to dig a water pipe ditch and hook into the city water. I’m going to cheat and use an Omegahedron to power the house and pass it off as solar energy. I am certain I can build this house myself. HVAC, plumbing, electrical, it’s all child’s play. The hardest part is moving the material, but luckily I have a little brother who can lift a lot.”

Clark looked around and only saw wilderness and the ocean beyond it. Kara was apparently seeing something on this ground that he couldn’t.

“You are really going to build a house, here?”

Kara nodded. “I really am. I can’t live with Mom and Dad forever, but I love this area. It’s so private, so peaceful. I want to spend the rest of my life here. It’s one of the things I’ve always wanted. I never wanted a mansion, or some huge compound like on Krypton. I wanted something like we grew up in, warm and large but small enough that we could hear each other, no matter where we were in the home. That’s what this is going to be. The first time I arrived here, I took a moment to rest. I’m going to enjoy that moment now and make it last.”

Clark grinned, not seeing her vision, but loving the look on her face. It was one he had not seen in a very long time.

It looked like hope.

“It’s too boring here for me. I want to live in Metropolis. I’ll come visit you though.” he promised, causing her to laugh.

She sat on the ground and motioned him over. He played along and sat next to her.

“You are now sitting on my recliner. At least will it be one day. When we first landed, I was trying to decide how we could find a place to sleep. I looked at the trees and figured I could make a house for us, when people stopped chasing us. I had no idea how at the time, but I promised myself I would give you the life I had on Krypton.”

Clark shook his head.

“From everything you have told me about Krypton, I think I have it a lot better here. You did good.”

“I did horribly. I haven’t protected you. I failed you and I know it. I thought if I could do enough, save enough people, beat enough bad guys you wouldn’t notice that I was an addict. I wanted to be your hero, but I never really earned it. I wish I had. I remember you asking me to taste a cookie, you know?”

Clark had no idea what she was talking about. Baking cookies wasn’t really his thing. Eating them was more his specialty.

Kara saw his confusion and chuckled.

“I saw Astra in the bathroom, I felt her, I could feel her breath. It was so real, when I was fighting her, everything around me was gone. I didn’t see anyone, didn’t notice I was crashing through walls and throwing people off me. All I felt were her cold hands, then I felt your arms. You flew into me, and wrapped me up, whispered to me to taste a cookie you made. Alex slipped a sedative in my mouth and that was it. But you… you were the one who did something no one else could do. You held me. You shouldn’t have been that strong but in that moment, when it counted, you were. You saved me.”

Clark felt a lot of pride at that but shrugged it off. “I just didn’t want everyone thinking all Kryptonians were crazy.”

The boy instantly regretted saying it, but Kara took it in stride.

“Sorry.” he whispered.

“Don’t be. I love that you don’t step around me like I am glass. I need that. I am sorry, Clark. I wish I had never been so weak, but I am going to do this. I have broken promises to you before and I can understand if you don’t believe me, but I am going to beat this. I will be someone you can be proud of.”

“I am proud of you.” he told her.

“No, you were proud of Supergirl. I’ve never given you reason to be proud of just me, but I plan to. Now stand up and I’ll give you a tour. I’ll show you the plans when we get back to the house. You just have to use your imagination, Clark. It’s going to be perfect. Okay, maybe not perfect, but it will be ours, and you are going to do all the heavy lifting.”

After giving him a walking tour of the imaginary ground floor and unsuccessfully trying to make him see her vision of the second floor, the boy left with a promise she wouldn’t be far behind.

Kara stayed for a moment, smiling once he was gone and taking several deep breaths, needing to set her own schedule in her mind. Linda, her substance abuse counselor and Leslie, of course, had gone over many techniques and life changes that she would have to incorporate, especially in her first 90 days at home.

In the past, before she left for college in National City, structure was everything to Kara. She had routines and loved them. She trained, she studied everything she could get her hands on in regards to Earth and nature, she had activities with Alex, Eliza, Jeremiah and even Clark’s sports schedules. She painted, she read, she watched television and though she didn’t obsessively plan these events, Kara was a creature of habit, her activities following an unacknowledged schedule. It helped, especially in her mid-teens when she had begun to combat the self-harm she had tortured herself with. The behavior had nearly completely gone away until she moved to National City and her carefully structured life changed.

Now she needed a schedule badly. Her plan had been in place a week before she left the Block. She knew when she would sleep, when she would wake, times in the morning to meditate, then work out and eat. Kara knew what she would eat, when she would read, how she would deal with severe cravings and even when she would paint.

And of course, meetings and therapy sessions, along with house visits from Shay to monitor her medication were a big part of her new life.

She would also have to think about a job, some sort of career. Kara suspected her mother and father would assume she would restore vehicles or be a street artist, but Kara did not want that. Those were hobbies she loved, but she wanted a job, one that she cared about, that she could excel at. The blonde never considered Catco a real job. It was more of a place to hang out with Lois and Cat in between rescues or battles. Before that, she had never been allowed to have a job. Her parents had, correctly, believed she was not stable enough for one.

But if she planned to have a human life, she wanted a human job she cared about. Figuring out what the career might be would be the challenge.

The girl did jump when the ground shook and the sound of falling rock hit her ears. Thinking she was under attack, Kara did the thing she shouldn’t have done, she ran towards the danger. The noise was coming from the general direction of the cave.

At least what used to be the cave. Now it was a crater, the ground that had covered the top of it, crushed into the opening below.

Alex approached from the other side, eyes wide and looking her little sister over and relieved she was okay. Kara shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what to think.

The rocks moved in the center and both sisters prepared, then realized they were unprepared. Alex had no handguns or blades and Kara had no weapons of any kind, nor heat vision.

A small dirty figure emerged from the center of the hole, pushing rock, damp rich soil and some small boulders away. Finally, his feet were clear, and Clark hopped out of the crater then looked at it with grim satisfaction.

“What did you do?” Kara whispered.

“I hit the top of the cavern over and over again and caused it to collapse. If you want to live in front of that thing, I can’t stop you, but you won’t go inside that cave again.” the boy told her.

Kara stood speechless for a moment, mind racing on how to fix this.

“I… I wasn’t planning to, Clark. Its… but… I was…”

“What?” Clark asked, figuring Kara would rationalize the thing staying. “I don’t want you in there anymore, so I made sure you couldn’t. You want to get better, then you shouldn’t care.”

“We were going to put concrete around it to seal it up!” Alex finally shouted. Clark turned around, facing his older sister for the first time.

“Concrete?” he asked doubtfully.

“Yeah.” Kara confirmed. “There are actually three small caves like this, really just small pockets of air covered by rock from the storms over the centuries. I need the ground level with no standing water, so the foundation of the house can be laid securely. The caves were natural draining spots for rainwater, so I planned to close them up by pumping wet mixtures of concerts into them, especially the openings and then using the surrounding rock layers and grooves in the concrete to make a series of natural drainage ditches that would lead to the small pond a half mile west of here.”

Alex shook her head and gritted her teeth. “That way the foundation would not be susceptible to large amounts of sitting water and there would be no way the caves could catch all the water, possibly back flooding during storms and interfering with the ground around the house.” she explained. “You brat. Why don’t you ask…”

“No!” Kara stopped her. “Its fine. It’s no big deal. I appreciate the sentiment. Its… we can work around this. I am going to have to excavate the hole and… it might be easier in the long term like this. Go get cleaned up, Clark, before Mom finds out you are rearranging the geology of the cliff. I can fix this.”

The boy mumbled an apology and ran off in a blur, leaving a shocked Kara and an irritated Alex.

“Thats going to put us back. Not too much though. So we start in a couple months on the foundation instead of next month.” Alex told her. “I’m sorry he…”

“Don’t apologize for him. He has a right to be angry. Things haven’t been easy for any of you, for any of us. I think it will take some time. I know it will. I know that no one in that house, including you, trusts me not to fall back into old habits, no matter what I do. I don’t trust myself completely. But it will come. I’m going to do it this time, Alex. This house… in the past I restored broken things. Now I am going to build something new, something that has never been broken. Something strong that can stand on cliff, facing the ocean in a storm and not move. We should get back. I have to redesign my drainage system.”

It was three days later that Kara arrived in Raleigh on her bike, much to Jeremiah’s chagrin. He tried to talk her into a car, but she refused. His argument that her reflexes could be affected by the medication did not dissuade her. Outside of the church recreation center, Alfred waited for her. The two walked inside, Kara disguised with her newly colored and straightened milk chocolate hair, along with her glasses. Kara Danvers was once again making herself blend into the background of life. She still needed these groups. Her substance abuse counselor told her she did, and Kara had followed directions, plus she found them comforting.

But this was the first trip into the city. Her parents wanted to come with her, but it wasn’t an open meeting. Kara needed Alfred, so of course he was there, as he promised, despite the distance. She had not been out of the house before this, avoiding the news, avoiding the small village of Midvale, avoiding people in general. As much as Kara missed knowing what was going on in the world while she was in the Block, now she was afraid to see what was going on. She told herself she just needed time to acclimate but that wasn’t it. She was frightened of knowing who she could have saved and didn’t.

Kara did not speak at the meeting, simply sat in the back of the surprisingly large gathering next to Alfred and listened. Being at the Block where everyone knew who she was, groups were easier. Now her old paranoia stepped in a bit and she was reluctant to draw attention to herself. This would have to change, but not tonight.

When she returned home, Kara spotted Alex in the driveway, talking to someone. At times like this, she wished she still had her super hearing. Moving in closely and quietly, she recognized the voice, one that surprised the hell out of her.

“Heavy steps, Al Malek.” Nyssa told her. “You are quiet, but you are not me.”

Kara smiled and shook her head, walking towards her best friend who was apparently working her charms on Alex, judging by the look on both their faces.

“I know I am not you. I am much better with knives, and hand to hand combat. I give you swords and archery but up close, I cannot be beat. Alex can’t either. Have you figured that out yet? It looks like you two have gotten very close tonight.”

“No! Nyssa was just here to see you. I was telling her that you were in Raleigh and… and…” Alex stuttered.

“Why don’t you come in, Nyssa? Mom and Dad would love to meet you.” Kara offered. “You can both lie and say you are here to see me.”

“No!” Alex told them quickly. “Mom and Dad don’t need to meet Nyssa tonight. Its past your bedtime… I can’t believe I just said that.” the older sister admitted, embarrassed for her and Kara.

“I can’t either, but you will never live it down, Kara.” Nyssa promised. “It is late. Alex and I were just returning from dinner ourselves. Perhaps another night, a bit earlier?”

Kara nodded, admitting to herself it was a little late for her parents to meet Kara’s bestie and the former head of the League of Assassins. They had not brought up her involvement with that organization but had no doubt it would be spoken about when they met Nyssa.

“That’s a good idea. Are you going to be in the area for a few days?”

“I am. I’ll be near. Alex, would you mind if I have a moment with Kara, alone?”

Alex looked at her suspiciously, but silently agreed, walking inside and leaving the two friends alone.

“Took Alex out, huh? If she and Cameron hadn’t broken up, how long until Agent Chase would have had an unfortunate accident?” Kara asked playfully.

“I would never.” Nyssa retorted. “We did have fun. She is unique as you have told me many times. How are you? I’ve been worried.”

Kara shrugged it off, trying to appear tough and sure she was failing miserably.

“It’s hard. I thought the meeting tonight would help but being around so many people I didn’t know and listening to stories all night, it wasn’t great. It helped I guess. It makes me feel like I’m not… it’s hard to explain.”

Nyssa lightly grabbed Kara’s shoulder.

“You don’t have to. Just remember there are others here for you besides Bruce Wayne’s butler and your family. The League and oaths may be dissolved but our oaths were to each other. I will always be here for you.”

“I know.” Kara whispered, a tear forming in her eye.

Her and Nyssa had spent many nights in Nanda Parbat talking about everything. When Alex had moved in with Cameron, Nyssa was Kara’s life line to stave off the loneliness as Kara’s was hers. Mostly they talked about darkness in their lives and wondering if there was another way to live. Kara was fortunate in that she had a loving family, something Nyssa never had. The two knew what it was like to share blood with those you were ashamed of. They knew what it meant to be woken up by the cries of dead who demanded justice. Nyssa had fought her father’s battles all her life and wanted to fight her own after his death. But once Merlyn was dead, the enemies were not as clear.

They had set their sights on Darhk, but he was also dead now and they were here, in Midvale, North Carolina. Kara’s wish was to be here. Nyssa did not know where she wanted to be. They were both at a new point in their lives. Neither had anymore enemies to fight, other than the darkness inside them.

The two hugged and Nyssa left in her Mercedes, leaving Kara in the driveway, watching her go, wondering where the hell she was staying. With Nyssa it could be the top of a tree, a cave, or a Penthouse suite. Nothing would surprise her.

Star City

The yellow skinned Tsauran, Raun, ran through the warehouse in a panic. His cloaking device was destroyed taking away any chance to appear human and blend into a crowd. That left dark and abandoned places to hide.

And he definitely needed to hide.

It had been simple visit to a drug den, a place off even beaten alien maps, known only to the most dangerous aliens in the tri state area. It was the place, deep underground where they all hoped She would not hear them. No one had to say who She was. Supergirl stayed out of the alien drug trade, according to some rumors, because she was the bigger customer. But having a stash of alien weapons to sell would catch her attention, leading to dismemberment at best and a painful death at worst, if she became involved.

Because of this, Star City aliens kept an extremely low profile, unlike the idiots in Metropolis and National City who practically flaunted being alien in the open, congregating at easy to find bars if one knew where to look.

Star City was safe.

Which was why even panicked, he thought of and did not understand what was going on. It had been a small gathering, discussing business with some associates, playing poker and discussing the latest rumors involving Supergirl and her team of vigilantes, the new metahuman villains and heroes cropping up and bounty hunters like Lobo’s whereabouts.

The bright explosion was completely unexpected, and he worried immediately that Supergirl had found them.

Raun was only slightly less worried when he saw it was her friend in black who had entered through the ceiling.

Batman for some reason had taken an interest in their little club and was destroying the place, all shadows and explosions. The alien had been too stunned to move until he saw one of his associates face slashed, spraying blood over the room and across his face. Raun did what he did best when confronted with open hostilities. He ran.

Eight people in the room, eight distinct species and Batman had to pick him to chase. The Tsauran swore he could hear the cape flapping in the wind above him, the moving of pipes from above keeping up with him with ease.

No human should have been that fast, making him think once again, this Batman was not human.

His racing thoughts ended when he looked forward again and ran straight into a fist.

The darkness he had run into cleared and he quickly realized he was hanging upside down by his feet and his face was even with a very dark cowl.

“You are the Tsauran named Raun. You were seen last month in Metropolis speaking to a man named Rankorr. He is here on Earth and I know his boss is too. Where are they? Tell me where Atrocitus is.”

Raun thought of speaking, weighed the pros and cons in seconds. Normally the man did whatever it took to avoid pain. He was a businessman, not a warrior.

But there were certain rules you lived by if you were an alien on Earth. The first being don’t piss off Supergirl, the second being, don’t talk about the Lanterns, at least those who knew about their existence and the third, don’t talk about Sinestro, Atrocitus or Brainiac. Who knew if they were listening?

Though this man had him very afraid, Raun had seen videos of Atrocitus and his Reds in the past, wiping out planets. Yes, he had met with the human Red Lantern but Rankorr only wanted to find out if rumors about Lobo were true and who he was looking for. Raun had no idea and that was it.

Now, he was about to be beaten, perhaps killed, for the conversation.

“I don’t know…”

His denial was met with another fist, this time to his scaly forehead, disorienting him even more.

“If I let you down, it will be for only one of two reasons. One, I let you go because you told me everything I wanted to know or two, I drop you to the floor because it will be easier to break your legs on the ground. I know you know about the Lanterns. Not many people do but you were talking to Rankorr. He is Atrocitus’ right hand. If he is on Earth, so is Atrocitus. I want to know where.”

“Nobody talks about him. Nobody talks about the Lanterns.” Raun whispered. “How do you know that name?”

“Because the Lanterns talk to me. Like you, they don’t have a choice. Where is he?!”

“I don’t know! You think he would tell me? They could be anywhere with those damn rings. They can form tubes, fly at light speed in space! He could be on Earth one second and gone the next to the other side of the galaxy!”

Batman internally winced, suspecting as much. Still he knew that wasn’t true. If the red ring was here and Atrocitus needed Kara, he would be near, taking care of this himself.

“What did Rankorr want to know?”

Raun thought of lying but a hand on his windpipe stopped that thought immediately.

“If I have to repeat another question you are going to lose a part of your body that you will miss.”

“He wanted to know why Lobo was hunting Atrocitus. Wanted to know any rumors about a red ring on Earth, who was spreading them and if Lobo had taken anyone who would know anything. I told him I didn’t know because it’s the truth! People avoid Lobo like they avoid Kara Zor El. I told him I didn’t know! He wouldn’t tell me where he was staying any more than I would tell him where I was staying!”

Batman took the man in, frustrated, knowing the scum was right. It was worth a shot since Barry was taking care of another problem in Star City. Following up on a rumor one of Dante’s informants had sent him, it seemed like a good place to start, while Diana ad J’onn hit other communes, drug dens and bars of the alien world, looking for information. Apparently, Diana had decided to take along Stewart, a get to know you trip, she called it. In other words, she wanted to know if she could trust him at all and how strong he really was.

“Tell your friends the drug and weapons trade are over. We know about Star City now. Find another hole in the ground to hide and we will find you there as well. Now, run.”

Batman cut the line and in less than a second from hitting the pavement, the Tsauran was gone, stumbling then sprinting away.

Batman watched him go, ignoring the man behind him.

“That was different.” Oliver Queen admitted, stepping out of the shadows he had been observing from.

“Never seen an alien?” Batman asked, still not facing the Arrow.

“Just the homicidal, emotionally unstable blondes with god like powers. Why are you here, in Star City?”

Batman thought of not answering him. He had no reason to. Still he decided to play along.

“Taking care of business while a friend of mine takes care of a matter of importance.”

“If it is important, you should have come to me. Star City is my city.”

Batman grinned and finally turn to face the hooded figure.

“Thats strange. I could have sworn the statue in front of Palmer Tech was of a young woman in a skirt and cape. I haven’t seen any monuments to a man wearing a hood. You can’t do much to change that either, can you Mayor Queen? Your approval ratings would go down if you publicly attacked a heroine the police and public adore. That must sting, doesn’t it?”

Oliver shook his head and pulled back his hood.

“I don’t do this for statues.”

“And you don’t own any city. I will come and go as I please. My friend will be here any moment with some information for you. I knew you would be watching. Its why I allowed Miss Smoak to pick up the encrypted alien code across her net I transmitted from my tracking beacon. What just happened with that thing is not something you need to worry about. What Barry has found is something Mayor Queen needs to worry about.”

On cue, Barry arrived, surprised to see Oliver talking to Batman.

“Were we having a meeting?” the man asked, noting the tension between the two but satisfied that a vigilante brawl did not appear imminent.

“Barry.” Oliver greeted him. “I see you have made more friends than just Supergirl.”

“Hey Oliver.” Barry greeted, not taking the bait. He then handed a small camera to Batman.

“Just like Kelex said. It’s amazing, a whole city underground, houses, artificial sunshine, even recordings of birds singing. Creepy as hell and abandoned, but there. I ran the whole thing. No aliens or signs of any other life forms.”

Batman nodded, expecting as much. Aliens usually knew all the dirty secrets of the human world. Darhk and HIVE kept theirs very protected. The enormity of what the man accomplished staggered his mind. How he did it without him or Kara noticing… of course neither really paid attention to Star City. Kara and Nyssa had just begun to get interested in Darhk when Kara was taken to rehab.

Batman handed the camera to the Arrow.

“The reason Darhk attacks the docks to stop the cleanup is he and HIVE needed the algae for an oxygen source, part of one that was self sustaining. Underneath Star City, he and HIVE managed to construct a huge fallout shelter, an actual city underground. It needed self-sustaining oxygen because he planned to unleash the entire world’s nuclear arsenal on itself and rebuild from the ashes once enough time had gone by. The city is abandoned, the plans stopped but the area is still there. If it becomes structurally unsound, it could very well turn into a massive sinkhole. At the least, Mayor Queen, I would recommend having an engineering team, inspect it. Perhaps you can turn it into an underground amusement park. I understand the City isn’t doing well financially.”

Queen smirked and shook his head. He had wondered what reason Darhk had for preventing the Bay restoration project.

“I see. I’ll have my people investigate it. Thank you.”

“There is something else, Oliver. Something you won’t like, at all.” Barry told him, in a tone of voice Oliver had never heard from the man. Barry sounded worried and… sad?

“I assumed when I came back out in a hood after my leg healed and wasn’t murdered by your new girlfriend that I was safe from God’s fury. What does she want now? I know she isn’t gone.”

Batman held his tongue, reliving in his mind all the sermons he had given Kara about controlling her temper. Instead of a retort, the man slipped a small drive from his belt and handed it to Queen.

“HIVE had discussed continuing what they called Genesis. There was a meeting. As I am sure you know, we have technology that makes it impossible to hide anything from us, so long as there is a cell phone or any other device that has a microphone or voice tech on it. We listened in on the meeting. We also have video. John Diggle’s brother was giving information on you, your family, your lair and its location. The members decided not to follow through but left Andy behind as a mole. Your suspicions were right, Oliver. John’s brother is and always has been a member of HIVE and he is a danger. How you handle it, that is your problem. Barry wanted you to know.”

A rope dropped down from the ceiling and Batman was gone. Oliver didn’t even follow his path up to the jet, staring at the drive in his hand.

Barry watched his old friend closely, trying to imagine the emotions going through him. This was the kind of thing that could tear teams apart and he knew it.

“I’m sorry, man.” Barry offered, not knowing what else to say. “B… Batman wanted to handle it himself, but I thought you should. I… I maybe should have come to you sooner but there…”

“Stop Barry.” Oliver told him, holding up a hand. “Like he said, I suspected this. I have to talk to John… I don’t even know what to do with his brother. We can’t just lock him up. Maybe Lyla can take him into ARGUS custody but John… I’ll figure it out. We will get by. We always do.”

Oliver slipped the drive into his pocket and pulled up his hood.

“Who is Atrocitus?” he finally asked.

Barry’s face turned grim.

“Someone we desperately need to find and stop before it’s too late. An alien, one with a lot of power, one who is very, very deadly.”

Oliver nodded his head, expecting as much.

“I didn’t even know there were aliens in Star City. No matter what our differences of opinion on Supergirl are, you know I am here for you, if you need me, right?”

“Yeah.” Barry admitted. “I do. Same for me.”

“This Atrocitus, is he something you are going to need help with or is that why Supergirl has been missing? Is she taking care of it?”

Barry didn’t answer right away. He would say nothing about Supergirl but what did Oliver need to know? Was there anything he could do to help? Barry knew Bruce did not like Oliver Queen but if Diana thought Oliver could be a help, she would have asked for him.

“Probably best to stay out of it and look out for Star City. If we can’t handle it, you will be the first person I call. If I call you, Star City and the world is going to need all the protection it can get from whoever is left. See you later.” Barry told him and was gone, leaving Oliver Queen and a path of lightning in his wake.

Midvale four days later

Barry arrived at Kara’s for the first time since she had been home in Midvale. He wanted to come with her, but she had asked for some time to acclimate and to hold off till Monday. The man wasn’t sure why but gave her what she wanted. They had talked every night after Barry’s ongoing combat training and to his surprise she did not ask about the battles the Justice League, as Cat Grant had dubbed them, fought in public. Not that there had been many, but he expected Kara would have been absorbing all the news she could, once she was home.

He then suspected that she had avoided news altogether. From what Barry knew of her, avoidance was a big key to Kara’s psyche when faced with something uncomfortable. She avoided talking about drugs or alcohol before rehab, hated leaving the Block for an afternoon, tried to avoid him by pushing him away and now, wanted to avoid the news and knowledge of what the world thought of her disappearance.

The man appeared at the back of the house, just as Kara was arriving home apparently, looking like hell. She was wearing jogging shorts and a tank top with a sports bra underneath, bright yellow and blue Nikes on her feet and her brown hair in a tight, wet ponytail.

Her face was bright red, and she couldn’t seem to catch her breath. Her body was covered in sweat and the girl bent over, placing her hands on her knees.

“You… you are early.” she whispered, through deep breaths.

“Yeah… are you okay?”

Kara nodded her head. “Just out for a run with Alex. The gym in the Block kept me strong but I don’t have a lot of history using my lungs without my powers.” she explained then stood up, placing her hands behind her head.

“So, running six miles with Alex can be kind of challenging. I am getting better though. My lungs are fine, I just have to get used to pushing them, like I have been pushing my muscles. Let me shower and we can hang out.”

“Where is Alex? You said you were running with her?”

Kara nodded her head. “She has probably been home for twenty minutes now. Like I said, not that fast yet. Come inside.”

Barry followed Kara, kind of amused, seeing the formerly indestructible Supergirl out of breath from a six-mile run.

Then he remembered that before he was struck by lightning, Barry would not have attempted a six-mile run.

Inside, Eliza and Jeremiah were waiting for him, A recently showered Alex, smiling sweetly as she tossed a towel to Kara.

This was first time he had seen inside the Midvale home that Kara always spoke of with such reverence. It was easy to see why. Like the house in National City, this one was homey, no touch of vacation home in it. But it also felt more her. He knew Alex and Kara never lived in their parents National City home but the two had spent their childhood together in this place and he desperately wished these walls could talk.

Barry had a sinking feeling that the only reason Kara was not insane was because of the love she felt in this house. This was the place that shaped her as much as Krypton. The darkness may have come from Krypton, but the light came from Midvale.

Once they all had a seat and he heard the shower start up, he asked how she had been doing.

“Still not watching the News.” Alex answered. “I think it’s a good thing but they…” she motioned towards her parents…” think she is avoiding.”

Jeremiah shook his head. “She is avoiding but thats not a big deal right now. Honestly everything is going better than I hoped. I wish she would get out more.”

“It will happen at her own pace. She did go to a meeting but should be going to more. Alfred called this morning, wanting her to meet him in Raleigh tomorrow night. It’s an open meeting so Alex is going to go to this one and we will rotate.” Eliza explained. “All of us going at once may be too much for her. We are going all going to try Al Anon meetings while she is in hers. Other than that, we are taking it a day at a time. Her attitude has been as positive as it had been at the Block.”

Barry read between the lines. They may have seemed pleased and probably were, but they were also scared. Kara was doing good and he was sure history had taught them that regarding her, things could change quickly.

“So,” Jeremiah started, wanting to change the subject before Kara’s shower was done. “What plans do you two have for today?”

Barry was kind of taken off guard by that. He hadn’t really had any plans besides hanging out with Kara.

“I… thought we would just hang out here…”

“Please don’t.” Alex told him quickly. “Take her somewhere, anywhere. Let her drive her bike, ride with her, run alongside her, I don’t care, just get her out. She has been doing good, but she hasn’t had one bit of fun since she was let out. Take her to a movie, anything. The anxiety meds are doing good and you know how to read her if things are going bad. Just please, take her somewhere. I will give you money if you need any.”

“Yeah, me too.” Jeremiah chipped in. “I’ll pay you to take her out. She is getting way out of hand with the structure thing. I get that its important, but she is acting like she is in the military or prison. She spent more time fixing her schedule to include long distance running than she spent running. Take her, please.”

So that was what Barry did. Kara seemed very reluctant to leave, making excuses to show Barry where she planned to build her house, her favorite sitting place on the beach, her favorite areas in the woods.

Her parents and sister assured her that she could do all that in the morning and Barry was welcome to stay the night if he wished.

So, changing into her riding clothes, jeans, cotton top, black leather jacket and black riding boots with helmet, she began the journey to Raleigh, not having a clue what to do, while Barry held on behind her.

It was during the last miles to the city after she had come to be very comfortable with his arms around her waist that she hatched her plan.

Barry expected a lot of things, perhaps a park on the outside of the city or maybe Kara would be ready enough to venture to the downtown area and visit the Botanical Garden she had told him she loved.

Anything was possible except what he did find himself in front of.

They had arrived at a Garden of a sort. A Hilton Garden Inn to be more precise.

Barry stayed outside on the bike, speechless, while Kara walked inside. Coming back out ten minutes later, she had a key card in hand and motioned for Barry to follow her.

They arrived at a very nice suite on the third floor with a very large king sized bed.

Kara took off her jacket and tossed it onto the desk against the wall.

“Are you my boyfriend?” she asked suddenly.

Barry wasn’t quite sure how to answer. Like Alex had mentioned to him in the past, a simple question could be a trap when Kara was involved. It was nearly impossible to know what was going on in her mind.

“What? Well… I would like to be but you have never said anything… we have kind of talked about it and I told you I wouldn’t go away but I am not trying to claim you…”

“If I told you I met a guy and was going out with him tomorrow night, how would you feel?”

A spark of intense jealousy hit Barry immediately. He held it back, though he doubted she missed it.

“How would you feel, Barry?” Kara asked him again, stepping closer.

“I wouldn’t like it.” he admitted quietly.

“You wouldn’t like it?” she asked curiously.

“I would hate it.” he bit out. Barry wasn’t sure why he felt so threatened suddenly. He knew Kara had met no one since she left the Block.

Or was she talking about Grayson?

“Because I am your girlfriend?” Kara pressed.

“I want you to be.” he admitted.

Kara nodded her head and placed a hand gently on his chest.

“You aren’t my boyfriend. I know that. Still, if I found out you were going on a date with another woman it would break my heart… and I would probably break a few things on her.” she admitted. “I wouldn’t have a right to feel that way, but I would. I never cared before, about any guy, who they did, what they did, but I care about you. My Dad thinks you love me. Do you?”

The man was surprised at her bluntness, but Kara always did surprise him.

“I… yeah. I… do. You are going to ask me why, right?”

Kara shook her head.

“I am figuring out that the whys are not always that important to know. I will always wonder why Mom and Dad took us in, knowing how much trouble it would bring them. I will always wonder why they didn’t ship me off when I was young to some alien psychiatric hospital when I was a teenager. I will never understand why Alex didn’t try and take me to her parents or tell someone I was there when she found me. Why she agreed to hide me. I am just glad that it happened. Some things I never stop wondering about, things about my House, Krypton, my Aunt, but others… I have been working hard at therapy, you know? I have had to learn to let somethings go, be grateful for others and stop questioning if I do or do not deserve every good thing in my life.”

Kara turned around and walked to the sole chair in the room and had a seat. She leaned back and smiled, not quite meeting his eyes but not looking away either.

“Leslie told me that I may never learn to love romantically until I learn to love myself. I am not sure if I agree with her. I’ve done a lot of good things, Barry. I have also done a lot of very bad things, things I would change if I could, but I can’t. I don’t know if I will ever love who I was, but I think I can love who I can become. But you… you drive me crazy. You are the one thing in my life that has never made sense to me.”

Barry laughed quietly, hoping that was a good thing and sat on the edge of the bed, trying to relax and hoping this wasn’t another of Kara’s attempts to push him away.

“Everyone thought I was an idiot for spending time with you when I first met you. You were looking for proof of me and I spent my life hiding who I was. I should have gotten as far away from you as possible. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.

I should have stopped talking to you, texting you, slowly disappeared because I knew what was coming and what I would have to give up. I couldn’t do it though. Not until I heard Lex Luthor threaten to kill you.”

Kara finally met his eyes and pulled out the lightning bolt necklace, rubbing it with her thumb and forefinger.

“All the stuff I saw, the things I did, the drugs I took, the alcohol I drank, you were always there. It was like you were a ghost who wouldn’t leave me alone. Then there you were again, under a red mask, having gone through so much because I was too weak to stay, too weak to keep looking in on you. It hurt, so I stopped and the minute I took my eye off you, everything changed.”

“We talked about this, Kara. It was my decision to not reach out to you.”

Kara stood up and walked over to him, looking down on the man seated on the bed.

“Here is the thing, Barry. Despite not loving who I am all the time, I love my brother and sister, my parents, my friends, few though they be. I am also certain, as certain as I can be, that I love you. Thats why you scare me so badly. It’s one of the reasons why I still can’t bring myself to watch the news. But I am working to get over that fear because I need you in my life. I need my family and I need you. I want you. You seem to not mind punishment, so you must be good with it. Now I want something from you. I want it now. This isn’t some attempt to push you away or change things to a physical relationship only.”

Barry felt himself beginning to sweat but was unable to say anything. Kara stepped back and pulled off her top, revealing the blue bra underneath.

“I need you to make love to me. I want you too. I’ve never been with a guy who really loves me, who loves me. I want it to be you. Spend the afternoon making love to me and we can talk about going steady afterward. Would you agree to that?”

Barry stood up, now very close her.

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“Then make love to me, Barry.”