Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Survivors

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 19: The birth of heroes

Ty Gavin took in his short, skinny young charges, one emotionally traumatized blonde with tremendous power and one skinny brunette with a stubborn streak that could rival Connolly’s. He had been called from California to replace Dante and begin the training while Dante and Connolly joined the team in a search through the Canadian wilderness, looking for the newest downed ship that graced Earth with its presence.

He tried to ignore the watchful eyes of the parents behind him. Even the baby seemed to take a keen interest in these proceedings. Ty had no doubts about the dedication the girls would have. Both were dressed in simple grey sweats with faces that looked ready for war. He did have doubts about himself. The man spent a short time at Coronado as a trainer. This was very different. He also worried about pushing Kara too hard and a light show taking out the large hanger they were in.

“Welcome to Hell Week girls.”

Both girl’s eyes widened.

“Nah, I’m just kidding. Relax. This is one of the spots we will be able to train. At least to start. We will spend time in the wilderness, spend a lot of time exercising, and we are building and refurbishing a few other places. Thats where the fun really starts. But for right now, we take it easy. We get some measurements on strength, speed, agility and go from there. Alex you are going to have to learn different skills than Kara obviously, but you can become just as dangerous. Kara you are incredibly strong and fast. You are going to become stronger and faster. If any hostiles show up, the two of you will learn tactics to make them pay, curse their mommas for given birth to them. Ninety percent of combat is planning and ten percent is shooting people. Actually if plans go to hell like they usually do, shooting everybody you see is the way to go. Now the rules.

The first rule of superhero fight club is we do not talk about superhero fight club. The second rule of superhero fight club is we do not talk about superhero fight club. This is very important. Outside of the hot shrink and the six on our team, and your parents of course, no one knows about this. If J’onn finds out he is going to throw a fit, I’m probably gonna have to shoot him, we could get some jackass in charge and I would have to quit. I like getting paid. Looking this good does not come cheap.

Third rule and this is especially true with you Kara, when I say stop, you best stop immediately. I ain’t playin either.

Fourth rule, don’t ask about guns or knives. Lookin at you, Alex. Until you have absolute control over your body you aren’t touching a weapon. When we decide you are both ready we will begin using kali sticks, batons and gradually move up to more dangerous weapons.

Fifth rule, you are not to use this knowledge outside of our facilities at any time unless it is a life or death situation. Alex, life or death situations do not involve people calling Kara names or being rude to her.

And the final and most important rule. If your parents say they aren’t good with something, we don’t do it and no complaining. This isn’t easy for them to watch and I hope you both realize how difficult this is for parents to watch their babies prepare to fight. If they say no, we stop and I better not hear any whining. There is no whining in superhero fight club. Now we all on the same page?”

“Yes.” both girls answered.

“Yes what?”

Kara and Alex looked at each other. Alex took a stab.

“We aren’t joining the military, Ty. You call Connolly redneck and he is your commanding officer. You really expect us to call you sir? Cause it isn’t going to happen. I won’t try and steal your guns or ask to play with knives and Kara won’t treat you like a Martian who needs to lower his voice before it gets lowered for him. Good enough?”

Ty met the eyes of the older girl deciding he had to deal with this attitude quickly.

“Yeah, thats cool. Aight Alex, show me how many pushups you can do. Kara walk to that padded little square over yonder and wait for us.”

Alex hopped to the ground and began, moving furiously. After twelve she gave out.

“Not bad. When we get you to one hundred one arms then we will celebrate. Work on that every night. Do a set of ten, take a minute, do another set and another and another till you can’t feel your arms anymore. You weigh maybe 80 pounds soaking wet so you are going to have to rely on body weight exercises, stomach crunches, pull ups, push ups. You are always gonna be lean and thats a good thing. Means you can fight quick, not all lumbering like Hawk’s oversized ass.”

“Language!”

Ty looked over sheepishly. “Sorry Mrs. D. My bad. Anyway like I said, give me a few months and I guarantee you can take his big a… butt down. Walk over next to your little sis and let’s start by showing ya’ll how to punch.”

The two girls walked in front of a white square pad about four feet off the ground and three foot high and wide wide. Around it was a solid steel box with a small Led screen imbedded.

“This here is going to measure how hard you can hit by pounds per square inch. An average heavy weight boxer can hit five hundred or so. Somebody like Mike Tyson…”

“Who?” Alex asked.

“Rocky? You know Rocky right? Lets go with him. He could probably reach a thousand. Now the interesting thing is lightweights can hit with as much force as some heavy weights because of speed. Now Kara, when you decked the Martian Manhunter you had some serous strength but you bent your wrist. That is a rookie mistake. You are basically taking the power out of your arm and letting your wrist take all the pressure. I’m going to demonstrate a straight jab. Simplest method of hitting someone. Its quick, compact and delivered in the right area of an enemy’s body can be brutal. All the black belts in the world cannot replace one straight jab into an enemy’s throat or even better turn your hand into a blade and…”

“Ty!”

“Yes Mr. D?”

“Can you please just show them how to perform the technique?” Jeremiah asked. He had almost made himself think this was a good idea.

“Right, my bad. Okay girls, watch Uncle Ty pound the hell out of this pad.”

Ty’s arm shot out, his fist striking the pad and a number popping up on the LED screen to the side.

“607. Not bad, not bad at all. Alex step up and show Ty what you got.”

The brunette did step up striking the pad and scoring a 72. “That sucks.” she grumbled.

“Because your feet weren’t set. You ain’t gonna get any power out of this arm. Watch me again, watch my hips, watch how I turn into the punch, even slightly. Your power is going to come from your core and your thighs.”

Ty demonstrated once again. This time Alex set her feet, twisted her hips too much and her fist struck the pad at an angle.

“Try again, Straight forward, picture the throat… face of an attacker and slam that tiny fist into it.”

This time Alex performed perfectly, scoring a 92.

“Not bad. Its a good starting point. Remember it ain’t about a whole lot of strength, but more speed. Lets see what little sis can do.”

“You are going to need a bigger pad.” Alex suggested.

“Girl please, this pad is designed to handle 20,000 pounds of pressure per square inch. In other words a person would have to be able to break through three feet of solid steel with one swing. She is strong but she ain’t there yet. Kara step up and do what Alex just did. Pick the spot, twist your hips slightly and fist straight out as hard as you can. I promise it won’t break.”

Kara looked at him doubtfully but approached as told. She planted her feet, copying Alex’s movements and her small fist shot out, a loud pop on the solid pad. True to Ty’s words, the pad only gave an inch and registered a 5,127.

“Not bad, good form, but I could see you. I saw you take out… I saw you move before. You are a blur when you really want to be. Copy the movement and focus on speed, not strength. Don’t hold back.” Ty told her.

Kara took a deep breath, looked at the pad and closed her eyes, focusing. When she opened them, she saw Non’s face in front of her. Striking out, as Ty ordered, no one in the room actually saw her move. Kara was standing still one minute and the next her arm was through the pad, the machine short circuiting and the Led showing an error. The blonde sheepishly pulled her arm out of the ruined metal box and looked guiltily at her instructor.

“I’m sorry. I think I broke your machine.” she told him quietly. Alex and Ty’s eyes were wide open, mouths dropped in schlock. Kara didn’t want to see the looks on Jeremiah and Eliza’s faces so she avoided looking over.

“It’s… its no problem. We can get it fixed… and upgraded. Uh, I don’t think we are going to have anything for you to actually hit for a while until we go outside, maybe find a nice hidden spot where you can hit a cliff or something. Until then, you and Alex are just going to have to copy my movements. That was pretty much all we was gonna do for a few weeks anyway. I want to show you both a certain style and once we get good at it we can try a different method. Alex you are going to keep doing body weight exercises, eating more and running to build up your endurance. Fights don’t always end quick and you are not going to want to be tired in them. Thats why professional fighters do so much cardio. Think triathlete kind of endurance. Kara you are going to have to work on meditation and focus, perfecting the moves we go through. Once you have those techniques down, if anyone ever finds the two of you, you are going to be able to take off their head with that jab. Not many things… I mean a cruise missile could take this thing out I suppose… okay we will figure something out. Lets go back to the mat and ya’ll can watch me perform kicks. Pay attention to my feet. I cannot stress how important cardio, technique and foot work are to fighting. Kara, were Kryptonians taught a certain style of hand to hand combat in the military?”

“Yes, there was standard training.” she admitted, thinking of her beginning forms of combat and self defense that were interrupted when she became a full time motherly figure to her cousin.

“Good. You are going to learn a dozen styles I guarantee those Rozz peeps ain’t ever seen. They may be genetically designed super soldiers but I promise if you ever have to defend yourself they will never have seen anything like you. Lets get to work.”

The work continued for the next two hours, Kara eventually loosening up and having fun, realizing she wasn’t going to have to actually hit anything for the near future. She did feel a bit bad about breaking his boxing machine but he did say it could handle her. It wasn’t her fault she reasoned, if he was wrong.

The following week went well for the most part, except for one nightmare Kara had, that woke the entire house followed by her diving on the roof and snapping four of her fingers while Eliza and Alex dove after her, unable to stop it. Eliza held her mending hand on the roof while Jeremiah comforted a distraught Alex in the bedroom. Kara never spoke of the nightmare and no one asked for fear of a what would happen. Alex followed her around as usual after that, even so far as practically ordering Kara to shower so she could stay inside the bathroom and Kara would be hidden by a curtain, embarrassing the blonde greatly. But as with all other things, Kara found she could not turn Alex down. The parents planned to bring the necessary equipment into the home this weekend to begin studying Clark’s biology and determine what immunizations he might need and whether it would be safe to give him human medication. Kara was excited as well though more reserved. Despite drawing, her dreams they did not improve and may have worsened a bit. The Thursday before the big equipment move that would occur after their weekly training session, this time with Dante and Connolly, Alex and Eliza were requested by Jessica. Jeremiah noted Kara found this strange and was a bit apprehensive and offered to take her and Clark to the beach, hopefully out of ear shot of whatever the hell was going on. Kara had just succeeded in two nights of actual sleep and he desperately wanted to keep her new sleeping habits intact. If she was anxious that could be undone.

The three women sat in Eliza and Jeremiah’s room, not saying anything, but all silently agreeing that they should wait for Kara to be out of hearing distance. Once ten awkward minutes had passed Jessica began.

“I realize this is unusual for us to meet together without Jeremiah and Kara but there are some things I needed to discuss with both of you in regards to Kara’s safety plan.”

“Its going good. I think the training is helping us. She hasn’t hurt herself except the other night but that really wasn’t her fault. She was scared and didn’t know what she was doing.” Alex defended.

“She knew exactly what she was doing. Yes, she was scared and she has trained her mind to react in a certain way to counter that fear. Unfortunately her mind goes quickly to pain as a method to stop the fright. I won’t talk bout what is said in individual sessions so I want you to tell me, how is this plan to keep her safe from herself being enacted?”

Both Danvers looked at each other. “What do you mean?” Eliza asked. “We stay with her, we always have someone in the room. Alex even goes into the bathroom when she takes showers now…”

“Stop right there. We… you two… need to decide what your roles are going to be in regards to Kara. From what I have observed you Alex are the doting big sister when it comes to Clark but the overprotective mother when it comes to Kara. What do you want to be? Eliza, what do you want to be? Alex are you going to be a sister or a mother?”

“I love her and I will be what I need to be.” Alex told her shortly.

“And I have never doubted that. I asked what do you want to be? Do you want her to see you as a sister, a confidante, a person you share everything with, clothes, room, and secrets sisters keep to themselves? Or do you want her to see you as a mother she is scared to disappoint? Because the more I have observed and listened to all of you, I see you falling into that trap Alex. It is easy to switch from one role to another when someone you love is hurting. I understand you are very overprotective of her. But are you her mother?”

“No!”

“Then why are you the one in the bathroom with her?”

Neither females had an answer to that. Eliza spoke up after a minute. “I’m afraid if I try to… I don’t want her to think I am trying to replace her mother…”

“She knows you won’t try. But one day she is going to want you to. Again, I will share nothing that the two of you have not told me you observed about her and what I know from outside sources. Kara lost her world and she wasn’t prepared for it, then sent into a nightmare. She blames two people the most, her mother and father. She will deal with the grief over their deaths one day, probably when we least expect it, but the anger will remain. She is bitter and everything she thought she knew of her family, aunt included, has turned out to be a lie. Maybe not a lie but in her mind it is. She thought her mother and father did no wrong and her aunt was defending the planet, not murdering people. She is going to be bitter about it and that is never going to go away. I got news for you Eliza, she is going to be looking for a maternal figure one day, she is going to crave it, especially seeing how Clark is already calling you Mom and Alex as well… she is going to feel like even more of an outsider. If she senses that Alex is her primary maternal figure she is going to cling to Alex for security and comfort like she does now. She is going to need you Eliza and Alex needs you in that role, even if she doesn’t think so. The same way Kara was thrust into the role of Clark’s caretaker, Alex is going to be thrust into the role of Kara’s whether they admit it or not.”

“I don’t care.” Alex retorted.

“You should. Do you want a sister who you can laugh with, argue with, bond with, be best friends with or do you want to have a girl a year younger than you who looks to you for approval for everything? You told me she worried about embarrassing you all the time. Has it ever occurred to you that the only other person she made it clear that she worried about embarrassing before was her mother and father? Eliza, do you want to be her mother? Alex do you want to be her sister? Because right now, Alex you are acting like the mother and Eliza you are in the advisory grandmother role. You both love her, I have no doubt but defined roles are important. She has already began identifying Jeremiah in the role of father, as we have discussed before. But right now she is leaning more towards Alex in the maternal role, primarily I mean. If that is how you both want it, that is fine. I think it is unfair to Alex but if she prefers it that way, it is a choice you can both live with. I just need to know so I know how to move forward.”

“She is right.” Eliza finally admitted. “If I am going to be her Mom it is going to take more than setting ground rules and hugging her when she is upset. When she is feeling anxious on stormy days I should keep her with me, not both of you.”

“I’m not going to school when…”

“Yes. Yes you are. I love her Alex. She needs a mother and Jessica and I have been talking about how to be a mother to an emotionally traumatized child and… I have tried some things but I knew you too had a deeper bond so when she has been really upset I have let you take the lead. It isn’t right. You are 14. Sometimes we are going to have to do things she won’t like to protect her like standing in bathrooms while she showers. She is going to resent someone for it eventually and that person has to be me. It shouldn’t be you. She is going to need someone to love her like a mother and someone to lobe her like a sister, a best friend. That needs to be you. Jeremiah has already began forming a paternal bond with her. This needs to happen. I need you on board though. I need you to let me take the lead.”

Alex looked doubtful. Inside, while she worried about Kara constantly, she liked the idea of being the one person Kara came to when she was frightened or upset.

“This won’t ruin the bond you have to each other Alex.” Jessica told her, guessing what was on her mind. “If anything it will make it better because she will come to see you as a confidante, a sister, a partner, an equal, not a parent. Plus you are not equipped to be a mother at your age to a girl a year younger than you. I am not saying you shouldn’t be protective. You definitely should, but we are talking about roles in the family. She needs to feel like she is there to protect you as much as you have her back Alex. If not it will hurt her confidence, make her feel inferior. The two of you have to be a team, not mother and daughter, for you both to have your best relationship. Think about it and let me know what the two of you decide.”

Jessica moved to stand before Alex stopped her. “Wait, just what are we supposed to do? What do I have to change?”

Ryan shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing much. Keep looking out for her but when she is especially anxious or needs to be watched, it has to be Eliza or Jeremiah unless they can’t. We can talk about it in coming sessions but for starters, start encouraging her to have fun instead of always focusing on keeping her safe from herself. She will start to see you as a warden. You two are more than sisters. Embrace the other parts of it. Let Eliza embrace more. She wants to, but she is scared of stepping on your toes. You two will work this out. Have a good day, you two.”

Alex and Eliza stayed back, wanting to talk but not knowing really what to say. Finally Alex shrugged.

“I guess you get to tell her you are going to stay in the bathroom with her.”

“No, she has been doing well. Besides the incident after the nightmare which she didn’t even try to hide, she hasn’t been sneaking off or doing it behind our backs. We are going to give her some space. If it happens again we can reevaluate and talk to her about other methods. We have to show her some trust Alex or she is going to rely on us not to leave her alone for even a minute for life. She will feel like a prisoner.”

“How do you know she won’t figure out another way to hurt herself? I never would have thought she would do this. What if she starts breaking her toes or her own arm? What if she…”

“There are a lot of what ifs Alex.” Eliza interrupted. “She is never going to have confidence in herself unless we have confidence in her. I hate it as much as you do. I want her at my side all the time making sure she isn’t hurting herself, but we can’t do it constantly. She may as well still be hiding in a cave. If it happens again or she tells us she feels like hurting herself then we reenact the safety measures.”

“And if she doesn’t tell us?”

“We watch her and trust her to tell us. Trust me, huh? I love her too. We all do. Please?”

Alex reluctantly nodded her head in agreement. She didn’t like it but admitted what Jessica said made sense. Before this started, before Kara found out about Astra and Hank Henshaw and that damn car wreck, before the video from Clark’s father, the two had fun, exploring, teaching each other, hanging out. Since all those events had happened to Kara, their relationship had changed, Alex admitting she had become more stifling than anything. Kara didn’t seem to mind, even relied on it but it wasn’t right. She had to be her own person as well.

“Mom… do you ever think she will be able to get rid of the… anger, inside her?”

Eliza shook her head. “I don’t know, Alex. I suspect it will always be there. The important thing is we give her reasons to feel other emotions, right? I think you and your father can go to training tomorrow. I want to spend some time alone with her.”

The next morning Kara was surprised when Eliza asked her to forgo training and spend the day with her instead. Jeremiah and Alex would take Clark to the lab while no one was present except cleaning staff and use the equipment to sequence his DNA and save it then erase existence from the servers. Vivian had promised to double check their work afterward. Kara had no clue what was going on and was apprehensive.

“Have I done something wrong?” she asked the mother.

“Of course not. Why?”

“Because you want me alone and… Alex is always with us and you never want to leave Clark and…”

“And,” Eliza stopped her, “I was hoping the two of us could have some time to ourselves. There is a place I enjoy going and haven’t been in a while. I took Alex there when she was younger but she is more into other things now. I thought you might enjoy it with me. Then I know of an all you can eat Chinese place, pot stickers everywhere, that is nearby. I just thought the two of us could have some fun. If you want to stay I understand…”

“No! I want to go… with you. If… yes, I would like that.”

“Excellent.” Eliza agreed, driving out of the parking lot where she had left the other three. The drive was short but Kara took it in, never having seen this much of the city before. She had been to the mall on the outskirts and the lab farther in but Eliza seemed to be taking them downtown. Kara cringed, trying to hold her breath and ignore the increasing sounds and smells of the more numerous vehicles.

“Kara, I am so sorry. I forgot you haven’t been in this far… let me turn around, this was a bad idea.”

“No! I am getting used to it. Please? I want to see this place.”

Eliza was doubtful but Kara looked determined and… excited? The look suited her more than fear and anxiety so the mother went with it. The drive ended just past downtown in a large parking lot. At the end of the parking lot were two very large, glass pyramids.

“What is this place?” she whispered, using her X ray vision to peer into the stained glass structures but having difficulty making out exact shapes due to the light distortions from the sun on the angles. She knew that there were people walking inside and large tall structures but wasn’t sure what kind.

“No peeking. These are what the city calls the Botanical Gardens. The small pyramid is a man made rainforest environment. There are quite a few creatures I think you might like. If you start to feel anxious let me know and we can leave or step outside and come back in when you feel better, okay?”

“Okay, I promise.” Kara forced herself to walk slowly by Eliza’s side, patiently waited in the ticket line and finally walked into the open area.

The blonde had never seen anything like it. Ten stories tall, real trees growing to the top of the pyramid, walkways through the terrain, ponds on all sides, and no cages. The birds were flying free in the large structure, the monkeys! Kara had never seen a monkey with her own eyes.

“What is this? It’s amazing.” she whispered. Eliza was glad to see a genuine smile on the girl’s face.

“I know how much you love birds and wildlife and I do as well, so I thought you might like this. Seagulls aren’t the only birds on this planet though you wouldn’t think it in our area. Lets walk and if you have any questions…

“What is that? Is that a monkey? He has friends. Will they come down? Can we climb up?”

The woman chuckled at Kara’s enthusiasm. “No, they tend to stay their distance from people and the staff won’t really approve of any one climbing their trees. They are beautiful aren’t they? Those are called Saki monkeys. Want to see some giant Amazon River Otters? We can get very close to those.”

“Yes! I saw a show on Animal Planet about them. They are so cool!”

Eliza noted that Kara’s glasses were fogging up do to the humid atmosphere. She told Kara she would be back and moved to the gift shop, buying the girl a baseball cap with the Garden’s logo on it.

“Take off your glasses and put this on. It will cover your face enough.”

Kara froze. “I can see okay. I will just keep wiping them off. Its no big deal. I am sure there are cameras in here. Please don’t make me take them off.”

Eliza sighed and bent down in front of the girl. “I am never going to make you do anything you don’t feel comfortable with Kara. Would you wear it even with the glasses? I think you would look adorable in it. Blue is really your color.”

The girl grinned and placed it on.

“Just like I thought, adorable. Lets go check those otters out.”

“And can we sit here for a while and watch the birds? I can’t believe how beautiful the feathers are. The red feathers… the red are my favorite. You know I tried to talk to birds when I first landed? I thought they were the dominant species here. I had never seen anything that could fly.”

The two wandered the paths through the rainforest, Eliza enjoying seeing everything for the first time through Kara’s eyes. The trip had been worth it already. The girl looked like an excited 13 year old should look. She even grabbed Eliza’s hand and pulled her along. The reptiles creeped her out but the color schemes of the frogs impressed her. The girl reluctantly allowed Eliza to pull her away after three hours and four bottles of water for the mother. Kara’s excitement did not dim when they entered the twelve story Aquarium Pyramid. Though the atmosphere was not humid or replicating anything other than what a sane person would want to walk through, the scenery was even more vivid, giant glass walls, millions of gallons of water behind them and every aquatic species one could imagine swam behind it, in full view of all.

Kara stood by each wall at least ten minutes while Eliza pointed out the different species and Kara gave them individual names. She laughed at the penguin exhibit and their antics and watched the dolphins with fascination. Seeing so many creatures on TV was one thing, but seeing them in front of you, in the flesh was quite another. Finally they had seen all there was to see twice and after eliciting promises that they would return, the two went to the promised all you can eat buffet, Kara eating nearly everything in sight, pleasing Eliza tremendously.

Before getting into the car to pick up the remainder of the family, Kara wrapped her arms around the woman.

“Thank you. I had so much fun today.”

A misty eyed Eliza returned the hug and kissed her on top of her head. “I had an amazing time also. Thank you for being with me. I can’t wait for Christmas. You are going to love snow and I bet we can find some animals in the wild you haven’t seen yet.”

The following week, Kara seemed more light hearted, even Alex noticing and relaxing a bit. While she thought the bonding trip idea Eliza had was going to be a waste of time, she admitted it had merits.

“Clark, are you paying attention to me?” Alex asked.

“Hungry? Want a snack?”

“Me? No, I am not hungry. While little sis is upstairs chatting with Dr. Phil I need someone to complain too. That leaves you. Now do I have your undivided attention?”

“Want a rock? I get you rock.” the toddler walked toward the backdoor, leaving Alex following in his wake. “I need a back up friend for times when Kara isn’t available and the baby isn’t cutting it. I don’t want a rock, Clark. I mean maybe if you think I should throw it at the art teacher. Where does she get off telling Mom I am showing signs of being a future serial killer because she doesn’t appreciate my scientific diagrams? I wanted to tell her we had a lady who chased serial killers providing free therapy for us and she would have noticed by now. Damn flower child. I think Mom and Dad were too but at least they grew out of it and didn’t become art teachers. Don’t tell anyone I said damn.”

Clark stopped at the door and looked quickly up. Alex followed his line of sight and saw nothing but ceiling until she heard it. A very loud screech followed by uncontrollable crying. Kara.

Eliza ran out of the bedroom, racing for the stairs, Alex right behind her, Clark in her arms. When they reached the door, Jessica was stepping out.

“What happened?!” the mother shouted, causing Jess to wince.

“She… she just realized her parents are dead. I mean, really realized it.”

“Then why aren’t you with her?!”

“Because she needs you right now. You are the mother, its your role. Alex, give her some time, she will be… upset and need you. But right now she needs Eliza whether she knows it or not.”

Eliza practically shoved Jess to the ground, running in. What she saw broke her heart. Kara was on the floor in a fetal position, eyes closed and rapidly breathing. Eliza feared a panic attack but quickly saw it for what it was. A child in great pain, crying. Next to her was a book she must have been keeping her own drawings in. Eliza lay on the floor and wrapped her arms around the shaking girl. Kara kept her arms wrapped tightly around herself so as not to hurt anyone. She needed to hold something hard and she only had herself. Even through the tears she felt Eliza’s arms and turned her head into the woman’s chest.

“They are gone.” Kara mumbled and pointed to the notebook on the floor. Eliza glanced at it and saw a red sun and debris… no, not debris. People, Kryptonians in ruin, floating in space.

“I know sweetie. I know.”

“It is not fair. She should have came with me!” Kara screamed then reached for the fingers on her left hand. Eliza didn’t try to stop her, just whispered in her ear.

“Please don’t Kara. Thats not the answer. She wouldn’t want you in pain. She wouldn’t. She is still here in you, watching over you. Please don’t, for me, for Alex, for yourself. Please don’t.”

Kara squeezed her hand but didn’t pull. She began shaking harder and Eliza feared another panic attack. The girl did not pass out though, only continuing to sob.

Outside the room, Alex stood heartbroken, listening to Kara cry, wonder if this would make her better or worse. Jess and Jeremiah were standing by her.

“Why did you run out?” she asked the psychologist.

“I walked out when I heard Eliza coming up the stairs because I am her therapist Alex, you are her family. She didn’t need me, she needed you all. Let her calm down and then go to her. She needs Eliza right now. I don’t think she will have a panic attack and I haven’t heard any snapping bones. She needs to get this out Alex. She will be very sad for the next few days, maybe even weeks, but it will get better.”

“It better.” the girl mumbled and picked up an almost running Clark. He held onto her tightly but his eyes strayed into the room where he heard his cousin crying and Alex was glad Clark would never remember the pain of losing his family, never know what an ass his father was. Maybe it wasn’t right but at the moment she didn’t care.

An hour passed then two, before Alex, Clark and Jeremiah stepped inside. Both Eliza and Kara were lying on the floor but a quick look by the two humans showed Kara had not hurt herself. It was a start, another sign that maybe things would get better.

A week later and while Kara still wasn’t exactly happy, breaking out in tears for no reason, even once at school, the family had arrived at the hangar and was promptly ushered into a helicopter by Jason Connolly. They landed an hour away in an open field with only a small building in the middle of the grassy plains.

“Where the hell are we and why did I allow my family to get on a helicopter with you?” Jeremiah asked Connolly though he was speaking more to himself. Eliza still hadn’t loosened her death grip on Clark, though the baby was fascinated by the flight, as was Alex. Kara had sat the entire time, eyes closed and very rigid.

“What we are doing here is training. Why you allowed your family to get on a helicopter with me, thats on you. If I had kids I sure as hell wouldn’t let them get on a chopper with a guy like me. We are going inside that building and following a small staircase underground. This used to be a tunnel system that led to a Cold War bunker in the event of a nuclear war. It has been decommissioned and since no one uses it any longer or even really remembers it, I thought it may be a good spot for Kara to let out a little aggression and practice flying.”

“You want her to practice flying in a tunnel?” Eliza asked doubtfully.

“If she is ever in a situation where she has to fly whether to defend herself and all of you or get the hell away, the worst thing she can do is hit the open air where others can catch her. She needs to learn to fly around things, stop on a dime, make sharp turns, all the things this tunnel will provide. It is reenforced by ten feet of concrete with steel supports and solid Earth behind that. She can hit the concrete all she wants. Alex we are going to practice close quarters fighting. You have been practicing on a mat, learning foot work, learning positioning, stuff like that. But when, I mean if, you ever get in an actual fight it is likely going to be with someone who is only a few feet from you. You are going to have to learn to escape the attacker’s hold and hurt the attacker. You won’t have time to think of a strategy or see if he has tells. It is going to be fast and dirty and that is what you have to be to win.”

“Now wait a minute…” Eiiza started.

“Ma’am, I mean no disrespect but Jess said you two backed this. Do you want me to teach her how to fight to live or do you want me to teach her karate? Because karate doesn’t cut it in the real world. I don’t give out black belts or any other colors. Kara is already at a disadvantage because she can’t spar. She has to learn by observing and if it ever comes to a real fight she is going to have to be prepared for the adrenalin, the chaos, all things she can learn in sparring. Since she can’t she has to at least know the techniques to survive. They both do. This is last resort, fighting for your life training. Do you want me to show her how to hurt and disable someone who is trying to hurt her or not?”

Eliza looked at Jeremiah who nodded. “Fine then. Show her what she needs to know.”

“Yes.” Alex cheered, “do I get to knee you in the nuts?”

Connolly shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, do you want to walk back to the surface or have Kara carry you?”

“Point taken.” Alex quickly told him.

“First, Kara there is a suit in the corner of the room below The lights are on over the whole tunnel. We are also developing this place when we have time as a fall back bunker for your family and us should anything catastrophic happen. It is going to take a while since we are hiding this from a mind reading Martian and doing it ourselves. Vivian is good but she can only reappropriate so much money before someone notices.”

“You mean steal?” Kara asked.

“Don’t judge us.” he told her quickly. “Downstairs, blue suit with sensors over them. It will allow Vivian to keep track of you. You got five minutes and we will be down there.”

Five minutes later the family did find a very short blonde superhero in a blue spandex body suit and sensors all over her.

“Put this in your ear… take off the glasses, there are no cameras here. Viv is monitoring these data points on you from the hangar. Its just us. This tunnel runs a mile total. It has quite a few twists and turns. They couldn’t build it straight because of different forms of bedrock or something.”

Jeremiah shook his head, wondering what that…

“I’m not a geologist, okay?” he told the man before he could say anything. “I didn’t build it, I just know it is perfect for her. Kara go to the end in the air as fast as you can. Just like you dove when you destroyed J’onn, do the same thing but really work on speed and controlling your movements especially around the turns. Whenever you are ready you can start.”

Kara handed her glasses to Eliza and placed the funny bluetooth in her ear. Hovering only a foot off the ground she looked at her family, confused.

“I only flew fast that one time when I hit J’onn. I am not sure how I did it.” the girl admitted.

“I don’t know either but you are the one who can fly so you have to figure it out. I can show you how to hit a knat in the eye from a thousand yards away but you are on your own when it comes to flying.” the Seal admitted.

Kara gently and slowly turned, still standing on air and looked down the lit hall. She fell forward, remembering the similarities of flying to swimming. Pushing her arms out in front, she took off horizontally. Though slow at first she began to pick up speed quickly.

“Yeah Kara! Go!” Alex cheered until the family heard the crash a few seconds later.

“Viv?” Connolly called.

“She hit the wall on the first turn. She was going 55 miles an hour. Not bad but no chance at that turn.”

“Uh… Kara? You are okay, right?”

There was silence for a moment, Jeremiah and Alex both moving down the tunnel until they heard her.

“I broke the wall.” she admitted in a tone that indicated she was probably blushing.

“Screw the wall! Are you okay? Is anything broken?” Eliza asked, ripping the com out of Connolly’s ear.

“No, I’m good. I am going to try this next turn. I haven’t made it to the end of the tunnel yet. I got this. I just… yeah I have it figured out now.”

A few seconds later another crash echoed in the tunnel.

“I’m good. Almost had it. I think… yeah I made… yeah I got this. I have it. I broke another wall.”

For the next ten minutes it seemed a series of never ending booms and loud echoes. Kara stopped responding but another crash told the family she was still moving.

“I think the com is toast. Probably smashed against concrete. Or through it.” Vivian explained. “She is getting some serious speed and the force she is hitting with is amazing. Ouch! Yeah, she hit a wall again. She was doing 89 and only needed a few hundred feet. She has rockets on her feet but her wings need work or she is only going to be good in a straight line.”

A few minutes later the family heard Kara screaming. “Get out of the way! I can’t slow down!”

Jeremiah and Eliza pulled Alex and Clark against the wall looking for Kara. They had heard her voice but… then a blue streak shot by and into the wall behind the staircase they descended on. A large girl shaped chunk of concretes was crushed and the little blonde’s suit was ripped, her hair covered in smashed concrete dust and the sensors were blinking on and off.

“Sorry? I got a lot of speed on the straight part towards the end but forgot how to stop.” she shyly explained.

“That was amazing!” Alex told her. “Are you okay? Is your head hurt? That looks like it hurt. The speed, we heard you say to move and you were like a blur. You looked like you do when you are really running.”

“I am fine.I don’t think the suit is functioning any longer and the plastic thing in my ear was smashed in a wall but it was fun. Can I do it again?”

Connolly shook his head. “Let me see if the tunnel needs reenforcement. I don’t want the whole thing caving in on you because of a crash in the wrong spot. We are going to come back out next weekend and work for a few hours. I want you to watch what I show Alex. When she swings at me or kicks at me, you do the same to the wall. Don’t go all out. Just enough that you can feel the pressure. If you ever have to fight off humans and don’t want to kill them you have to learn to control the amount of strength you use when you hit something. You are good at containing your strength to hug someone or hold a phone and you are great at punching with the same amount of force a large Tomahawk missile delivers, but you have to find the in-between, just like you do with your heat vision. That is why we practice. Dante will also be with us next week to continue that work while I build little soldier here up. Now copy me, Eliza, Jeremiah feel free to participate if you like.”

“I want to.” Jeremiah told him immediately.

“Jeremiah?”

The man looked at his wife and son. “I want to protect them before it ever comes to that. I need to know what I am doing. That said, don’t break my jaw.” he finished looking at Connolly.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Line up you three. Lets go back over the basics Ty worked on a couple weeks ago and some Kara missed when her and Eliza were having fun while Alex trained.”

The week after Kara felt much better, her and Alex laughing again, the blonde seeming to enjoy spending time with Clark without constantly fussing over him. She still had nightmares but they were less frequent. Eliza and Jeremiah kept watch though. They both knew she wasn’t magically healed and watched for any signs of self harming. At times Kara appeared anxious but seemed to pul herself out of it. Jessica was happy with the progress, Kara opening up more about the anger she felt towards everything she had loved dying, the lies, the actions of her aunt and Non who she refused to call an uncle. Jess noted the girl who once had spoken of Non with quite a bit of fear seemed more focused on her anger at him. She told Jess about the hologram she and seen from Clark’s father and how much she hated him, how he had made her feel worthless.

Jeremiah and Eliza spent quite a bit of time each night after the kids had lain down trying to figure out Kara and Clark’s DNA. Clark’s blood sample gave no clues. His DNA was different obviously but he was not storing power as strongly as Kara. He could apparently become slightly feverish while teething but had never been truly sick. Kara on the other hand was radiating power. Though they only had a DNA swab from her mouth to give them clues, everything about her was not different but more evolved than Clark, leading them both to believe that by the time Clark was fourteen or younger he would have the same powers Kara had.

They also did not believe that any drugs would work on Kara and probably have little effect on Clark. Jeremiah planned to take the blood and saliva samples to the lab this week and after hours, expose them to viruses to observe the reactions.

Deciding to turn in for the night, both jumped at the sound of thunder.

“Did you watch the weather report?” the husband asked his wife. They had made it a habit of keeping up with weather since they both knew one of Kara’s main triggers was thunder.

“Yes, but there was nothing about a storm.” Another thunder roll shook the house and rain began to beat down. Alex ran down the stairs but past her parents and out the front door. Jeremiah and Eliza followed and saw Kara in the middle of the yard looking towards the ocean. The rain was soaking her but she stood strong while Alex begged her to come back inside.

“No! I am tired of being scared!” Kara shouted back to her. All three noticed the lightning flashing over the sea but none of the bolts seemed close. Still, in the open she was a target.

“Kara there is lightning!” Jeremiah shouted and moved towards her in the rain.

“I am not going to be…”

The girl stopped talking and stood rigid. Even in the dark everyone could see her shaking. The blonde got onto her knees and then curled into a fetal position on the wet grass. All three ran to her, watching her eyes roll up in her head and her respiratory rate climbing. They knew she was far gone past getting back. Alex lay on the ground regardless and whispered in her hear to listen to her heartbeat but it was too late. Kara began screaming, followed by hyperventilating and then passed out.

Jeremiah picked her up and carried her back in.

“What happened, Alex?” the mother asked.

“The thunder woke us up. I was going to get in bed with her but she was already moving towards the window. She opened it and walked off the roof onto the yard. I couldn’t get her to stop.”

Jeremiah nodded his head in understanding. “She wanted to beat it.”

Alex lay next to her and the parents sat up all night, watching the daughters sleep. In the morning Kara woke up and saw she wasn’t alone. Remembering her conviction the night before, and lack of memory afterward it was clear what happened.

“I couldn’t do it.” she whispered. Jeremiah placed his hand on her forehead.

“You couldn’t make turns when you were flying the first time. But one day you will, just like one day you will beat this. It isn’t going to happen overnight. But next time, come get me. I’ll walk into the storm with you. We can do it together, okay?”

“Okay. I promise we will do it together. My head hurts, have you figured out if Tylenol will work for me?”