Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Survivors

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 34: Paranoia

“Why won’t you come out with Lena and me? You say you want me to have friends and she has done nothing to you.” Kara pointed out again. Her and Lena had developed quite a pattern of clubbing on Friday nights after sneaking away from Lena’s bodyguards. Alex had accompanied them a few times but usually begged off.

“Because Lena is your friend. She doesn’t have to be one of mine, Kara. It’s okay.” Alex told her, leaving out the part about not trusting a Luthor, any Luthor.

“It’s not as fun if you aren’t with me. What if I lose my cool? Who is going to calm me down?”

“You can always call. Besides, I have a date tonight.”

This caught Kara by surprise. They had been here nearly an entire semester, a week away from the Christmas break and Alex had shown no interest in dating.

“When did you plan a date? I haven’t heard anyone ask you on a date.” Kara pointed out before realizing what she said. Alex caught it immediately of course.

“Hear? Why would you hear someone ask me on a date? Please tell me you aren’t listening to me all day.”

“Of course not! I just check in on you. You haven’t been taking any drinks you didn’t fix yourself, have you? Who is this girl? What is her name? Where did you meet her? How long have you known her? Why haven’t I heard about her before?”

Alex shook her head, recognizing that she should just give in or Kara would never let this go.

“Fine, her name is Andrea, she likes Andi. We have a genetics lab together. We have been chatting off and on all semester and she finally asked if I would like to go out tonight.”

“Go where?”

“Thats my business, Kara. I do not get involved in whatever you and Lena are up too nor do I read the text messages you and Barry Allen send each other all day and yes I know about should be happy. Aren’t you always telling me I should get out?”

“I didn’t think you would actually do it! Where are you going? I will stay in the background like I always do and make sure everything is on the up and up.”

“No, you will not. You and your friend go have fun. Don’t be out late. I want to try out this new thermal suit and hang gliding helmet tomorrow. It is disturbing how much I am beginning to enjoy these trips to the coldest, most barren place on Earth.”

Kara shook her head, remembering. “I forgot to tell you. We aren’t going to the Fortress tomorrow. I have a better idea. You know how Mom and Dad swear the DEO building is secure?”

“Yeah…” Alex admitted, not liking where this was going.

“We are going to prove it isn’t. We are going to enter and leave undetected. I almost have a plan worked out. We can go over it tomorrow morning and make our move tomorrow night. Then that will prove to Dad that the building is not secure. He wouldn’t risk Mom and she wouldn’t let him go alone. Problem solved.” Kara finished, proud of her reasoning.

“You realize how many federal laws we would be breaking? Forget about the law, they are carrying Kryptonite bullets! I guarantee they are. We could both be killed!”

Kara was a bit disappointed, thinking Alex would be on board.

“Aren’t you the one who gets mad at me when I do something risky without you? This is me including you. If you don’t want to I understand. It’s no problem.”

The blonde walked off to their bedroom, Alex hot on her heels.

“You are going whether I go with you or not, aren’t you?”

“Of course not. We are a team. If you think it is too dangerous then we don’t go. I personally think we can outsmart them. Either of us is smarter than anyone they have in that building and together… but it doesn’t matter. We can hang out. Maybe if your date goes well tonight you can go out again tomorrow night.” the younger sister suggested.

“Kara there is lead in every one of the walls.”

“Which is why I wouldn’t do it without you. Two sets of eyes are better than one. But you are right, its a dumb idea.”

“Do you have any idea how mad Dad would be? Especially if we got caught and not killed. J’onn would keep us in a holding cell until Dad got there. You know he would. Dad would be furious at J’onn for exposing you to Kryptonite, he would be furious at you for doing something so dumb and furious at me for going along with it. You would have to move back home, wherever this new home is. When Mom gets mad at you, you throw puppy dog eyes her way and she folds. When Dad gets mad at you, you go nuts. I’m sorry to use that term but you do Kara. He will put a 24 hour guard on you to make sure we don’t have a repeat of your actions after the last argument. Then he is going to lock you in your room. You are going to have to take correspondence courses. You are going to be like the crazy relative in the 1800s that was kept in the attic.”

“Okay, first of all, lay off the mental health accusations. I am perfectly, somewhat, mostly sane. I admit I have my moments but by the strictest legal definition I am perfectly, mostly sane. I admit my last reaction to mine and Dad’s argument was extreme but I was emotional and he had said very harsh things about me after making a sudden shocking announcement he knew I wouldn’t be happy with. You had been giving me grief about Streaky scratching the couch and with Barry leaving town I was in a heightened emotional state. This little act may seem crazy but If it shows Dad how dangerous that place is and as an added bonus he is angry at Henshaw… J’onn for holding me with Kryptonite then it is worth moving back in with them. Besides I wouldn’t. I am 18 and on scholarship. I can do as I want.”

Alex actually laughed. It looked as if Kara seriously believed that.

“You are such a Daddy’s girl, you hurt yourself and go into a deep depression for days if you think he is upset with you. Guess what Kara? He is going to be upset at all involved! He and Mom will still come to work for the DEO if nothing else to have more of a say in what goes on with the escapees. Your scholarship does not pay for rent. Thats paid by our parents and I for one do not want to move back in with them or you move in with them for that matter. This is not going to happen!”

Kara took a deep breath and nodded her head.

“You are right Alex. It is a dumb idea. Thank you for pointing it out to me. I need to get ready. I got dibs on the shower.”

Alex sat on the bed, cursing in her head while Kara took her sweet time in the shower. The older sister did not feel any increased heat in the bedroom or hear Kara squeal, grunt or any other slight sound she may have made over the shower. At ten minutes Alex knocked on the door then went inside, the door as always unlocked. The room was steamy but had none of the dry heat associated with the use of heat vision.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yep.” Kara answered, turning off the shower. Alex tossed her a towel and the blonde stepped out. As usual, Alex casually checked the shower for any signs of blood, no matter how small and glanced at Kara’s fingernails. As usual, Kara casually pretended not to notice. It was a routine they had established over the years and the Kryptonian had long since given up on trying to talk Alex out of it. It used to be Eliza that entered the bathroom between five and ten minutes nearly every day. Kara had gotten used to taking quick showers to avoid her visits.

Once dressed, Kara looked at Alex and smiled, not being bothered by the frown on her big sister’s face.

“You are breaking into that place, with or without me, aren’t you?”

“You know it. You should stay out of it though. No point in Dad being mad at both of us. I will just go to extra therapy sessions. You can’t use the not guilty by insanity defense like I can.”

Alex shook her head, loving Kara’s dry wit and hating it as well.

“Then I suppose we should have fun tonight before we go to the Federal lock up tomorrow. Hey do me a favor and don’t listen to me tonight, okay?”

Kara looked hard at her sister.

“Then how am I supposed to know if you are safe? This city is dangerous. We weren’t here two weeks and someone tried to drug you. There is crime everywhere and aliens for that matter. I can smell them. Their scent lingers. I am not sure if they are Rozz escapees or some of these refugees J’onn talks about but we can’t take that chance.”

“And I am more equipped to handle any of those dangers than any other person besides you. I’ll have my gun on me. I want to be… alone with her. I want privacy. I will text you every hour, just a short text letting us know the other is okay but no listening, please?”

Kara frowned, not liking this but agreed. Alex needed alone time. Instead of coming with her and Lena she wanted to go on a date. This was a good thing.

And Kara hated it. Checking her outfit, a pair of stone washed skinny jeans and a simple white tee, tied at the bottom over her belly button and black boots, the blonde threw on her red leather riding jacket, kissed Alex on the cheek and left the apartment. Forgoing the helmet, she kept her glasses on and broke several speed limits on the way to Lena’s luxury penthouse. Kara had been inside it twice and admitted it was amazing if a bit cold. It reminded her a bit of her chambers on Krypton. The bedroom for the bodyguard who wasn’t standing outside the door was a bit much though. Apparently one was always at the door and one always slept inside. Lionel Luthor took no chances with his daughter’s safety.

That was Kara’s job to take chances or at least aid Lena in her quest for a dangerous life.

Pulling up to the high rise apartment complex, Kara called her only friend who was not her sister.

“Hi Kara.”

“You ready? Need more time? Should I pull the fire alarm again?”

“No… I’m sorry. I was about to call you. I can’t go out tonight.”

“Oh… okay. No problem. Maybe I will take a ride to the beach and check out these restaurants on the water you were telling me about. Didn’t you say there was a pier with a ferris wheel?”

“Yeah… that sounds like fun. I could use a break from clubbing.”

“What’s going on?” Kara asked, noting that Lena seemed reluctant about not going out tonight.

“It’s Lex. I know, you can’t stand him but…”

“He doesn’t want you around me, right?” the blonde guessed, wondering when that would become an issue. She was surprised it took him this long to figure out who Lena’s play partner was.

“Thats just it. He wants us to be friends. He is glad. Its just he arrived an hour ago without warning. I hate to leave him. I know you don’t like him. He really is sorry Kara. He has asked me several times if I knew of a way he could apologize. I have told him to leave you alone and give you privacy. I suppose he was hoping to see us together and apologize himself but I know how you feel.”

Kara took a breath, fighting back the urge to scream. She would have rather Lex forbidden Lena from seeing Kara. In that situation, Lena would of course defy him because Lena hated to be told what to do by anyone. By playing the nice guy he was making it hard for Lena not to help him.

“Lena… if you want, he can come with us tonight. Or I suppose we can go with him since I am sure he has several bodyguards. I will be nice, I promise. If he is really sorry, I suppose I can let it go.”

“You mean it? Seriously? I don’t want you upset. We can always go tomorrow or Sunday.”

“I mean it, Lena. I suppose we won’t be taking my bike tonight?”

“I doubt we would all fit. Lex rented a Mercedes E Class convertible. You can drive. I know you love speed. Park your baby in the garage. I swear it is secure. Then come up. We can take that drive down the waterfront. I know a perfect restaurant on the Boardwalk, great cheeseburgers and crinkly, crunchy fries and its near the Pleasure Pier amusement park over the water.”

“Lex Luthor eats cheeseburgers?” Kara asked doubtfully.

“You wouldn’t have guessed I did before you knew me. He really is just an everyday guy once you see under all the crap the media puts on him. You won’t regret getting to know him, I promise. Come up, you can help me decide on what shoes to wear with these jeans.”

Kara did park in the garage, after a call from Lena Luthor to the guard gave her permission. She found a spot right next to a silver Mercedes E Class convertible. She admitted it was a beautiful car and looked forward to seeing what it could do on the highway along the beaches. If she had all night she could take it to Coast City, but she had a breaking and entering to plan in the morning. Taking out her phone she snapped a quick picture and forwarded it to Barry, thinking he would get a kick out of it. On the way up, he called her.

“Please tell me you bought or rebuilt that car.” he greeted her.

“No, if I were to restore a convertible it would be a 69 Corvette, or at least a 68 or 69 Shelby GT Mustang.”

“Have I ever told you how hot it is that you know so much about cars? Especially considering how little I know about cars. I miss you.”

Kara’s heart warmed at hearing that. She missed him too. Despite her assertion that she would cut it off rather than lead the boy along, Kara couldn’t seem to do it. She nearly considered running to Central City a few times and pretending she had taken a train. She hadn’t but it was close.

She missed being kissed even if her experience did not last long enough for her taste.

“I miss you pretty bad too. You know it is okay if you see other… you don’t owe me anything. Barry. You are handsome and in college and probably…”

“Kara, I know I don’t owe you anything. I just happen to want to spend my free time talking to you. I would come see you over the Holiday but I can’t find a train that goes to North Carolina and plane tickets this time of year are a little out of my budget. I did buy you a gift though. I just need you to text me your address so…”

“Barry, you didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to.” he argued. “So whose car is that? I can’t imagine there are many $40,000 cars sitting in public.”

“Try $62,000 without options. Lena’s brother is in town to see her. We had plans to go out tonight and she asked if he could come along. He rented this car. I suppose a minivan wasn’t going to work for him. I don’t know why he got a convertible. Its not like he can feel the wind blowing through his hair. Ouch, that was rude, wasn’t it? Forget I said that.”

“Lex Luthor? You are going out with Lex Luthor tonight?”

“No, I am going out with Lena and her brother is tagging along. I am driving that car. He will be in the back with who knows how many bodyguards following us, I guess.”

“I thought you couldn’t stand that guy?”

“I couldn’t, I can’t. But I am giving him another chance, trying to be cordial for Lena’s sake. Alex is out on a date tonight and I don’t want to be alone. I think after our last encounter he will behave himself. If not, then I am done with him. Lena is kind of my only friend outside Alex who is kind of in a different category being my sister and best friend. Basically Lena is the only friend I have ever made outside my family.”

“Oh really? What about me? Don’t I count as a friend?”

Kara stopped walking, trying to figure out how to answer.

“I think if you lived here, or I lived there you would be the guy I would want to be my boyfriend. As it stands you are the guy I wish lived near me and was my boyfriend. But I would never hold you back Barry. We are hundreds of miles apart.”

“You aren’t holding me back from anything. I guess I should talk to you later. If things go badly, could you call me? Or call me anyway tomorrow? I just want to hear from you.”

“Yeah, I will call you. Good night Barry.”

“Good night Kara. I’ll be sitting here, not thinking about the fact that the girl I am crazy about is hundreds of miles away hanging out with a genius billionaire.” he told her, trying to laugh it off but Kara caught the jealousy in his voice. It surprised her. No one had ever been jealous over her before.

“I’m out with Lena. He is just tagging along. I will tell you in the morning if he still lives. Good night Barry.”

Lex greeted her cordially enough, Kara doing the same but retaining a bit of coldness. She took him in and saw there were not many changes in him since she saw him last year. Still handsome, still bald and still had an air of incredible arrogance despite his well planned casual dress. The light blue tee and white sport coat reminded her of Miami Vice reruns she had watched and she did her best not to laugh thinking of Don Johnson with Lex’s scalp.

Lena and her ate double cheeseburgers and had milkshakes, laughing as they often did about mundane things they found hilarious. Lex sat in silence, smiling but not offering much in the way of commentary. Kara was pleasantly surprised by that. She also wondered about the very thin, tall, short haired, vaguely oriental woman who he called his bodyguard and assistant standing in the parking lot. If Kara didn’t know that she could crush the woman with her finger, she may have been nervous. This Mercy Graves obviously did not approve of Kara, judging by the looks she was receiving, even from a distance.

Lena ran off to gather more cotton candy for the three and Lex was left alone with Kara for the first time that night. Both were looking out over the ocean from the Boardwalk.

“Thank you for not holding me against my sister. I haven’t seen her have as much fun with anyone ever. I thought my stupidity may have ruined that. I am glad it has not.” he told her, surprisingly. Kara never thought Lex Luthor would admit to being stupid. She shrugged her shoulders.

“I told you before, your sister is cool. I like hanging out with her. She hasn’t tried to look into my background or ask me questions about my dead birthparents that I don’t feel like talking about.” Kara told him pointedly.

“You are right. I realize it is too late to change your opinion of me Kara, but I need to apologize regardless. I had no right, I was an absolute ass.”

Kara raised an eyebrow at him. He seemed sincere and he was correct. He was an absolute ass. Of course she had only met him a few times. Alex and her parents thought the Luthors were some sort of devils but Lena wasn’t. Maybe she should give Lex a break.

Taking a deep breath, she decided to let him off the hook.

“Okay. Apology accepted. Nobody is perfect I guess. I did threaten to kill you.”

“No, just to beat me.”

“Right but it would have been to death. I’m not good at stopping once I have started.” Kara told him with a devious smile.

No kidding, was Lex’s main thought, remembering the video and the alien remains that had been brought out of that garage storage room. Perhaps some sort of anger management counselor would be needed when he had her where he wanted her, by his side and under his influence.

“One thing I will not apologize for is noting you are extraordinary, Kara. I do hope we can be friends eventually and you won’t just put up with me for my sisters sake. We do have some things in common after all.”

Kara laughed a bit and unconsciously adjusted her glasses.

“What is it we have in common, Lex?”

“We both have sisters we love greatly and would do anything to protect. I am betting we both know what it is to be different. To feel like an outsider. I could imagine starting your life over would have been difficult and I am sure Lena has told you what being a Luthor can be like. You never really feel a part of the world around you. It can get lonely if you don’t have family. At least I think so. So we both hold on to the family we have.”

Lex left out the absolute hate he had for his father.

Kara nodded her head. Her and Lena had conversations about this before. Lena loved her adopted father and brother and despised her mother but to the world at large she felt she was an object most of the time, not a person. A very expensive object protected at all times by security. It was only when she snuck off with Kara that she felt truly alive, truly herself.

“I suppose we might be friends one day, Lex.” Kara told him, deciding to give him a break for Lena’s sake at least. “But I have a feeling your bodyguard does not approve of me. She has been sending death glares my way all night.”

“Don’t worry about Mercy. She is paid to look at everyone like that. I will have a talk with her.”

“Don’t bother. I’m not scared of her. She can look all she wants.”

Lena returned with cotton candy and relief that Kara had not killed her brother, meaning he had not said anything stupid.

“Okay, so we have done the ferris wheel, carousel, what else? I can’t believe I am going to eat this cotton candy after all the calories I have consumed. Kara, what are we going to do now? Your call.”

“Isn’t it obvious, Lena? We are going to do what we always do. We are going to leave Lex’s bodyguard in the dust and see if that Mercedes can really go faster than my bike. I found a private runway twenty miles from here. Its abandoned. I think it was used for private planes but my guess is when the neighborhood became industrial the airport closed up. I picked the lock last weekend and put my own lock on it. What do you say Lex? Think we can slip away from your bodyguard? If not I understand. It can be a bit dangerous to take a genius on a high speed joy ride at an airport.”

Lex chuckled, enjoying this. Yes, this alien had a definite wild streak and was devoted to his sister if she was giving him a chance. It was working out perfectly. Lex may not be able to beat aliens to death but manipulating people to do what he wants, human or alien, was a skill he had mastered. He was also very good at playing the long game. With enough time, he always got what he wanted, something his father would find out one day.

“I think I can handle it but I am going to insist I at least get a chance to drive once, Kara. You shouldn’t get to have all the fun.”

“Yes! Me too.” Lena agreed.

“Fine, but Lex has to pull off the escape. His bodyguard seems a lot more alert than yours, Lena.”

“Alert.” Lena said with a bit of bitterness. “That is one way to describe Mercy Graves. I prefer heartless bitch but alert is as good a description as any.”

Lex ignored his sister’s statement, very aware of how she felt about one of the deadliest weapons in his arsenal. Mercy, of course, was listening to everything, due to the bug he had placed in his pocket that fed right into her earpiece. She knew what she had to do. Lex also knew that as dangerous as Mercy was, if she screwed up his plans, nowhere would be safe for her. As such she was very well paid and had every reason to be loyal.

“I am afraid there are no fire alarms to pull here, or reports of cars on fire or feeding bodyguards laxatives in burritos as my sister has done. Have I missed any of you two’s other legendary escape tactics?”

“The laxatives were all Lena.” Kara quickly pointed out.

“Come on Lex. You are always so proud of how much smarter you think you are than me. Give it a shot. Get past the great Mercy Graves.” Lena challenged. Lex laughed to himself, thinking how much Mercy must love hearing his sister talk about her. It was fine. Mercy wasn’t paid to be liked.

“I’ll be right back.” Lex told them and headed towards the piers restroom. Neither girl could see him and figured he must be taking care of business while trying to rise to the challenge. Neither were expecting the uproar that soon followed.

“Hey, some bald guy fell off the pier! He is drowning!” a young man shouted. Another young girl screamed for someone to help the poor man. Mercy having heard this, rushed from the parking lot to the water’s edge.

Lena moved until Kara grabbed her hand. Lex was running from the other side of the restrooms towards them.

“Amazing what you can make people do with a hundred dollar bill. Lets go!”

Kara smiled to herself, listening to Mercy Grave call for a lifeguard, not seeing Lex under the waves. Kara reached the car first and squealed out. By the time Mercy noticed the car moving, it was too late.

“Okay, I admit, that was cool, big brother. You almost gave me a heart attack though!”

“Lena, you know I’m a great swimmer. Mercy apparently didn’t. So how far away is this airport?”

“Twenty miles. We will be there in ten minutes.” Kara answered, then checked her phone while driving 75 miles an hour down the coast and climbing. No texts from Alex.

She watched the road closely, looked ahead for police but opened up her hearing, taking in the millions of sounds of National City.

Systematically, just as Dante had worked with her, Kara began categorizing them and discarding them. She rid herself of the motors, the tires on pavement, the screaming from inside houses, the water flowing in the sewers below the city. She began eliminating voices, by sounds, deep voices gone, young children’s voices gone,male voices gone, scratchy voices gone. She began eliminating heartbeats from the thousands of voices that remained that were in Alex’s vocal range. Eventually, in less than a minute since she started trying, Kara found the voice and distinct heartbeat she was looking for. Alex. She had her, now she just had to listen for a bit to make sure she was okay. What she heard had her worried immediately.

Alex was breathing hard. Was she fighting? Running? Towards something or from something?

Why was she… someone was near her, another heartbeat, rapid and loud. Was she fighting?

Alex moaned.

Kara listened harder and heard…

“Oh God yes.”

Both Lena and Lex jumped in their seats when Kara turned up the radio and her face turned red.

“You okay?” Lena asked.

“Yep. Doing great. Just couldn’t hear the music. Everything is fine now. Hold on, we are going to open her up.”

The next morning Kara was up way before Alex. As a matter of fact, Alex came home around the time Kara got to sleep.

The blonde made breakfast and played with Streaky while waiting for her sister to wake. Kara thought of asking her why she didn’t text like she said she would. If Kara had done the same to her, Alex would have had Connolly and probably the entire DEO looking for her.

Plus Alex had that girl’s perfume all over her. Not that Kara cared but it was a first date!

“Screw this. You need to get out Streaky. Want to take a ride?”

The kitten didn’t seem to have an opinion one way or another so Kara dressed quickly and tossed her into her backpack with a squeaky rubber mouse. Leaving a quick note for Alex, Kara took the scenic route downtown and checked out the DEO headquarters, circling it a few times. She then took a route farther out, just past the city up a somewhat small mountain. It was more of a rise but plenty big enough for her needs. Once at the top she let Streaky play on the sandy ground and peered in the distance. As she thought, Kara had a perfect view of the desert. She saw everything but even with her sight, it took her a moment to find the small black domes that were barely above the desert ground.

“Looks like it used to be a ballistic missile launch site repurposed into an alien prison, Streaky. That would be a lot harder to break into. I would have to tunnel and probably never get the dirt out of my teeth and hair. Streaky, I have to ask you a serious question. Do you think because I talk to you I am nuts?”

The kitten just meowed.

“Yeah, there are a lot of other reasons why I am nuts. You would only be a reason if you talked back. I wonder if I can teach you what scram means in Kryptonese. You still wouldn’t care, would you? We are going to have to get you spaded soon. We have enough females in heat in the apartment already. I’m not upset. I really am not. But she didn’t even text me. She could have been seen by some alien that recognized me with her and been taken. Someone could have tried to drug her again. How well could she really know this person? Pretty damn well apparently. At least I hope so. But why have I never heard about her before? Am I the only one who isn’t entitled to any privacy?”

Kara sat on the ground, petting Streaky but keeping her eyes on the DEO desert site. She was particularly interested in the comings and goings of trucks and helicopters.

“Want to bust into the DEO with me tonight? Nope, I will probably not be stealthy since I have a weird, unnatural and probably not healthy desire to talk to you all the time. Maybe you could replace Jess? You won’t tell me how dumb my ideas are. Okay, she hasn’t done it but if I told her about my plan to break into the DEO she would definitely not be on board. She can be kind of a pain about breaking the law. Probably the whole FBI thing. I used to be like that but since I found out my family were the biggest mass murderers in the Universe things like breaking and entering don’t seem that bad. Oh I killed a Vrang the other day. I’m trying the complete honesty thing with myself, at least when talking to you. I killed him. It wasn’t an accident either. A couple million more and I might catch up to the House of El body count. One thing we both know though Streaky. This is a hard world and doesn’t have a whole lot of mercy. You have to take care of your own, no matter what it takes.”

Kara’s phone buzzed and she expected a text from Alex. Instead she saw a text from Barry Allen.

“Oh crap, cat! I was supposed to text Barry this morning. Screw it, I’m going to call him.”

Kara did call, grateful that her phone had reception all the way in the middle of nowhere. Of course she was on very high ground.

“Good morning.”

“Hey, I was just wanting to say hi, texting for no reason… just…’

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you this morning Barry. I wasn’t feeling great and have been kind of in a daze all morning.”

“No, its cool. You don’t have to call me. I was just wondering how horrible it was with Lex Luthor. It was horrible, right?”

“Yeah, but he stayed quiet and in the background for the most part. He didn’t hit on me or ask me private questions and I didn’t have an urge to strangle him so it went okay. It was mostly me and Lena hanging out on the Boardwalk. We did take the Mercedes out to the airport I told you about.”

“Oh yeah? How fast?”

“!70.” Kara told him proudly. “I think I could have gotten a little more but it was a rental I suppose and Lena is breakable.”

“Uh… so are you. You are kind of more important to me than she is.” Barry reminded her. Kara kicked herself for forgetting that she was supposed to be breakable too.

“Yeah, but I’m a lot tougher. What are you going to do today?”

“Nothing much. My foster father wants to watch the game at CCU today so we will probably go, then I will meet some friends and hang out. Nothing special. Same thing every weekend. Maybe I should transfer to NCU. The weekends wouldn’t be so boring.”

Kara stilled for a moment, thinking he was serious. Her first feeling was joy then quickly followed by terror at the thought of him being so close to creatures like Vrangs.

“Yeah, probably not a good idea to transfer your junior year. I bet your foster father would not approve.”

“If he met you, he would understand. I know I couldn’t but its nice to dream. So what plans tonight? You and Alex going camping again?”

Nope, not the usual camping in Antarctica tonight. Tonight she planned to break into the headquarters of a federal bureau tasked with hunting and killing aliens like her.

Rao, my life is so screwed up, Kara thought. I can’t bring Barry into this. I have to stop talking to him.

“Nope, just going to hang out at the apartment, watch Netflix or Hulu probably. Finals are next week so Alex is probably going to be studying. Us artists have a somewhat less stressful academic experience than fast track geniuses like her. I better go wake her up. I left her asleep in the apartment.”

“Oh yeah? Where are you at? The beach?”

“No, the desert.” conducting surveillance on a DEO black site, “Its really beautiful this time of day. I’ll text you tonight. You can let me know how the game went.”

“Talk to you later, Kara.” Barry agreed and hung up.

The blonde took a deep breath and a last long look at the DEO headquarters. The phone in her hand showing her what she could have had and the black domes miles away showing her what she did have in her life.

“Lets go Streaky. I have a burglary to plan.”

At the apartment, Kara was glad to see Alex was up and in one piece. She hadn’t been drinking by the smell of her. Kara had a particular ability to scent out alcohol, probably by her continued presence in clubs with Lena.

“Good morning.” Alex greeted her, coffee cup in hand.

“Hey, have fun last night?” she asked casually.

“Oh yeah, it was… I didn’t text you. Oh my God, Kara I am so sorry.” she told her worriedly. Kara brushed it off.

“Alex, don’t be ridiculous. I was acting way overprotective. You are a big girl. You don’t need to text me and let me know you are okay.”

“I know, but I told you I would, and I am sorry…”

“Alex!” Kara snapped, then calmed herself. “I said it is okay. No big deal. As long as you had fun.”

Alex was taken back by the tone of Kara’s voice. Before she calmed herself, Kara usually had a moment where she let her true emotions show and Alex knew Kara was mad and she also knew Kara would never admit to it. She decided it would be best to move on and hope she relaxed enough to talk to her during the day.

“Yeah, I had fun. What about you? What did you and Miss Luthor do? What club was it this time?”

Kara shrugged her shoulders. “We actually didn’t go to a club. We went to the boardwalk, the amusement park, ate some junk food and just relaxed by the beach. It was really beautiful. It was nice.”

Something in the way Kara was speaking set a warning bell off in Alex’s mind. Kara was holding something back and she knew if she asked Kara if she had a panic attack or anything else happened right now, Kara would snap. One thing Alex was an expert at, was handling Kara’s shifting moods.

“So… I guess we need to talk about tonight?”

“What about tonight?” the blonde asked, opening her backpack and Streaky nearly flying out of it. The kitten was not a fan of enclosed spaces apparently.

“You took the cat for a walk? Nevermind. You know what I am talking about. You wanting to break into the DEO?”

Kara shook her head.

“I thought about it a lot last night and it is a dumb idea. Dad has made his mind up, Mom probably has too or he wouldn’t go for it. Nothing is going to stop them. If I prove how dangerous the building is, he will just be angry at me for doing it, angry at you for going with me and do it anyway. It won’t prove or change anything. Nothing good can come from it.” she told her sister, doing an excellent job at faking resignation.

Alex was the one who knew Kara best but she could still be deceived because at this moment it looked like she was being sincere.

“Seriously? Because I had our excuses all worked out.”

“Nope, I’m serious. I am thinking I am going to hang around and paint today. I took some photos of some of the piers last night and want to get them onto canvas or at least start.”

“Wow. Okay, I am really glad. I had a bad feeling about this whole thing. Thank you, Kara.”

“Hey, like you said, dumb idea. You know how I can be in the spur of the moment.”

Alex looked carefully at everything, her posture, her hands, the way her eyebrows moved, her jaw and whether it was clenched. Everything seemed fine. Kara was just relaxed, fixing a bowl of cereal.

“I’m thinking of inviting Andi over. She wanted to meet you. How does that sound?” Alex tried. Kara slightly shook her head.

“I think she should come over but the two of you could probably use some alone time. Its a little early to introduce her to the crazy relative in the attic, right?”

Alex tensed immediately. Kara saw and smiled. “It was a joke, Alex. I am probably going to call Lena and see if she wants to go back to the boardwalk. I want to sketch with pencil. Have fun, enjoy yourself. You haven’t had a chance to all semester and its about time. I’ll be home around midnight or so.”

Alex let it be and made her call. Kara did not listen and had no desire to. Instead she acted as natural as possible, while her mind went over everything she had seen at the DEO downtown building, both above and more importantly below.

At five o clock, Kara had parked her bike in a city garage and changed in a convenience store bathroom. Decked out in black spandex running tights, her black riding boots and a black turtleneck sweater and gloves, she felt she was ready to go. The black wool mask would be all she needed to place on her head when she reached the inside. Instead of heading towards the building or waiting for dark, she walked almost a mile away and found a manhole she had spotted earlier. Double checking with her X ray vision, she was assured that the drainage tunnel led right under the DEO headquarters.

Kara hopped into the drainage tunnel but hovered above the knee deep water. Her boots were waterproof but she did not want to leave traces of smelly water in the DEO. Laying out she flew to within a couple hundred feet and stopped before a slight turn, pressing against a wall. There was a camera in the tunnel. Placing the mask over her head, she debated whether she should disable the camera.

“I have to disable that camera.” she decided then looked again. “No, if I can slide against the wall at the very top, above the field of its vision, I can slip right over it. It is going to be tight. Worse case is it catches me and I abort the mission. All it will see is a masked figure in black walking in the tunnel. If I get questioned I can blame it on Batman. I really need to meet that guy one day. I like his style. I also really need to stop talking to myself.”

Kara did move to the top, laid out as if one with the wall, her side inches above the camera angle. She had gotten very good at moving in complicated ways with her flight. She didn’t really need the cape but liked the feeling it gave her, the security.

She skirted just above the camera, her feet barely missing the top. Luckily the camera was focused down the tunnel and not moving. The blonde looked ahead, once again hovering over the water. She saw no more cameras, but did notice a laser just above the waterline. Stupid, since Kryptonians could obviously fly.

But the DEO was not looking for Kryptonians. Kryptonians would not try and break in undetected. They would crash right through the place and level it. Kara knew there was an electric barrier at the top but the side of the building seemed open.

Moving ahead she found what she was looking for. A spot just under the first floor basement. The concrete was thick, about a foot, but doable. She just had to figure out how to quietly remove a foot of concrete.

“I guess it would be too much to hope there would be a manhole that opened right into the building. Its fine. You got this, Kara.”

The girl took her fingers and began grinding into the concrete. Rather than breaking off a huge chunk with a very big swing causing a loud boom, she used her fingers to chip away, It took her nearly an hour, an hour in which she stopped every few minutes to listen for alarms or voices rushing towards the large basement.

Eventually she had chipped away a hole and hit daylight, or basement light as it was. Floating into the hole, she quickly checked and saw no cameras.

Her X ray vision showed cameras in the next room but rotating. It was a simple matter for her to move quickly across the room without the camera noticing. She continued this path through the underground room until she reached what was surprisingly a nuclear reactor.

“So this is how they power the holding cells. Mom and Dad are going to work in the equivalent of a nuclear power plant.”

The blonde saw an AC vent and floated up, glad to see it was large enough to maneuver in. She pulled the vent off and slid in, doing her best to fit the vent with the stripped bolts on top and cornered to appear still latched from below if anyone should look.

It was a simple to check the vents and find what she needed. Kara never intended to break into the DEO to prove to her adopted parents how unsafe it was. She simply wanted information. A work station in an office below her as being used. Kara watched the woman in the small nearly subterranean office type away.

She waited.

And waited.

After two hours the female agent looked at her watch and stood up, gathering her belongings. Once out of the office and door closed, Kara slipped inside.

The work station was in the process of powering down and she stopped it just in time. It was password protected though. Since the woman had never stopped typing, Kara never saw her type the password.

Taking a chance, she turned off the lights and looked hard at the keys. The obvious keys had the most oil, the A, S, E were most commonly used. Other keys stood out though. Deciding she would concentrate on five letters plus A and E, Kara began a systemic typing, guessing passwords and different combinations at what would be amazing speed.

Until the system locked for fifteen minutes when she was wrong on the tenth try.

The blonde froze, listening for an IT nerd to sound an alarm but nothing happened. Deciding she did not have fifteen minutes and then perhaps longer since there were thousands of possible combinations, she slipped out the door, watching the camera at the end of the hall move up and down the hallway. Once again slipping under and away was easy, and she continued to the next floor. Kara found a broom closet across from an office that was occupied. She watched again, seeing through the male agents back. He stood up, hopefully to go to the restroom.

Kara was in luck. The man returned and typed in his user ID and password. Another two hours went by and it was now nearing midnight. The man packed up and exited the office. Kara slipped out and opened his door as soon as he was gone. No one locked anything around here surprisingly. Why would they? This building was secure, right?

Using the ID and password, Kara got in easily. She began searching the databanks, ignoring the personnel files, the mission reports, training files, purchasing files and lab supplies folder. She found the higher security files and using some information she had found online posted from the best hackers in the world, started trying different backdoors inside. Kara knew Vivian set up this system but she would have been more focused on information not getting out than being used.

Unfortunately for her the man who worked here did not have higher level clearance. She used Dante’s last name and first initial for a user ID, based on what the previous occupant’s sign on had been.

Password?

If there was one person outside of her family that Kara knew very well it was Dante.

Awanita

Access granted.

Kara nearly snorted out loud.

“Figures he wouldn’t want the one who wanted him. He would rather have the woman who told him never to return. Focus Kara.”

The security levels were a gold mine. She had what she wanted in seconds.

Fort Rozz prisoner profiles.

Reading through them quickly she was surprised by what she found.

Out of the 896 prisoners, 792 died on impact. The Kryptonians had not been exposed to sunlight during the crash and Fort Rozz’s short time in the solar system. The cells did not have window so they were depowered. Though the Fort survived relatively intact, the sudden jolt, slammed most of the prisoners into walls and floor. Most died from bodily or head trauma.

There was a list of those bodies recovered and the list of those missing. Astra and Non were among the missing of course. So were 27 other Kryptonians. Kara searched the desk and luckily found a flash drive, downloading all the information on the aliens.

Next she checked the captured or killed file. She was surprised to see the names of ten other Kryptonians, Astra and Non not among them of course. She continued to move through the files until she came to one that sent a chill down her spine

Kara Danvers.

With a shaking finger, Kara clicked on the file. She saw multiple sub files. Jeremiah Danvers, Eliza Danvers, Alex Danvers, Clark Kent/ Danvers, Kara Kent/ Danvers.

Under the file with her name, there were several documents.

Psychological evaluation. Powers, strength level, speed measurements.

Kara opened up the psychological profile, now feeling very warm rather than cold. She felt as if her blood was boiling. It took all her self control not to destroy this place.

The document with her psych profile was shrouded in symbols, none making any sense. They must be encrypted. There had to be a key, some way of opening it. The other documents were the same.

Kara had to know what Jessica had told J’onn and who knows who else. Did Dante tell them of her feelings for him, did Connolly tell them every conversation he and Alex had ever had? Had they all been played from the beginning?

“Damn it! Why can’t I get this to clear? Is this some damn Martian code?”

Shaking, not from fear but anger, Kara put the files on the flash drive and logged off. She had everything they had on her and her family. Once the documents were decrypted she would find out how screwed they were and decide from there who she had to kill to protect her loved ones.

If she couldn’t decrypt them, once the Fortress was operational, Kelex could.

Kara took the small drive and slipped it into the top of her wool mask, preparing to leave. She had what she came for. Her worst fears had been confirmed. Her existence had not been kept a secret, her therapy sessions, the training she had done, it was all recorded. Protected well but it existed. That was enough. She would not let them know this knowledge. Not yet.

Once she found what she needed, she would strike. At who was the question. The blonde moved. She had to retrace her steps out, had to go back to the bathroom where she had stashed her clothes and phone on top of a ceiling tile. Then she would work on uncovering her find.

Metropolis

Lex Luthor sat in his high rise office, sipping Vodka and looking out over his domain. He was in a very good mood, having returned from a very successful trip to National City only hours ago. Mercy walked in and he didn’t need to ask her. If she was bothering him this late, it was good news.

“Your guess was right, sir. The GPS chip I put on her bike after the three of you left was well hidden and has worked as you suspected.”

“It wasn’t a guess, it was a deduction. Kara works in conjunction with a government agency that cleaned up her kill. She isn’t working with them though because she never goes into any office building. But she circled that building last night after she left and this morning. She also was in the desert for two hours this morning. The only thing out there is an old Nuclear silo my father believes is being used by an organization called the DEO. This building must be connected. It was only a matter of time before she went in. Surveying that building, she gave us a map with a big red X. So now we know the DEO does exist and where its headquarters is. We also know that while she knows them she does not work for them. I am assuming they are her only support though. She broke in tonight?”

“Yes sir.”

“Thats my girl. I am assuming she did so undetected?”

“No alarms were raised.”

“Beautiful. Were you able to pull any files?”

“No sir. The system is beyond my skills. Whoever is handling cyber security for them is very good. However, the system is more focused on keeping information from getting out. It was simple to place something inside.”

“And Kara downloaded it?”

“Yes. She downloaded the file I planted.”

“All it had were the topics I gave you, correct?”

“Of course. If she tries to open up any part, for instance the psychological profile, she will only see encrypted files. There is no actual information there, just lines of code. If someone were to try to decrypt the documents the code is programmed to appear as if it self destructed. All she will believe is they had something on her but never know what.”

“Excellent work Mercy, as always. She now thinks they are studying her, even her psychology, but she will never know what they know.”

“They know nothing. They had nothing at least.” Graves pointed out.

“It doesn’t matter. The doubt is there. She will not trust them. It will always be there. If we added information she could learn it was false since it is information we do not have. Simply throwing it out there is all it takes. She is an alien who attacks other aliens, has been living under an assumed identity, wears glasses that protect her from facial recognition. She is paranoid, Mercy. She is going to need help and in less than two years, she is going to trust me, not them. Go home for the night. I’m going to sit and enjoy my small victory today.”

“Yes sir. Enjoy your night.”

Mercy left, leaving a very satisfied Lex Luthor.

“Its a matter of time, Kara. Soon I will be the only one you can trust.”