Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Survivors

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 38: With all her strength.

Alex squeezed Kara’s hand and chanced a look at her face. She expected to see tears but instead Kara just looked blankly at her mother with no emotion. Alex took in the woman, having never seen her before. She had seen her likeness in Kara’s drawings but to see her nearly real, as if she was really standing there was shocking. She seemed clearer than Jor El’s hologram had been.

“Kara, my brave daughter. By now you have become the woman I knew you would grow up to be. And though you were sent to Earth to protect Kal El, your destiny is not tied to his. There is no correct path in life. You will lose your way many times. What’s important is that you find your way back to the brave girl you always were. Be wise, be strong, and always be true to yourself.”

The hologram disappeared.

“Wipe the message, Kelex.” Kara ordered coldly.

“No!” Alex shouted. “Do not wipe that message or I will take you apart myself!”

“I must follow…” the robot started before Alex struck Kara in the back of her head.

“Tell it to stop now! If you never want to see it again that is fine but you aren’t destroying it!”

Kara took a breath and hoped Alex hadn’t broken her hand. Alex knew Kara hated it when she slapped the back of her head.

“Disregard that order Kelex. Keep it.”

“This is just like when you wanted to flush your mother’s necklace. You make these quick decisions that you might regret the years from now or even tomorrow. Use your head!”

The blonde’s shoulders dropped.

“Kelex forget what I said about the temperature being 74. I think 55 would be better.”

“No! It stays at 74 Kleenex. Kara, stop playing.”

The girl cracked a grin and nodded. “Fine, 74 it will be but I am dropping it five degrees every time you slap my head. Kelex, tell me about Myriad.”

“Myriad was a weapon designed by the Culuon Vril Dox…”

“Brainiac 13?! Damn it!” Kara shouted. “Is he here on Earth?”

Alex had just seen Kara watch a message from her long dead mother without showing any emotion. The fact that she was freaking out about this Dox guy worried her greatly. The thought of Non made her angry. She sounded very frightened right now.

“I am not aware of him being on Earth. After he was exiled from Yod Colu, he along with another Coluon who called herself Indigo, traveled to Krypton in an attempt to annihilate the planet’s inhabitants. He believed Yod Colu would face an annihilation by what English speaking humans would call the Multitude. His goal was to eradicate life on Krypton so he and other alien races could inhabit the planet, use its core for power and launch a counterattack against the Multitude.”

“Okay… what did the weapon do?” Kara asked.

“The weapon was a large space deployed object that connected all the satellites circling Krypton into a mind control device. After he was stopped, Astra attempted to steal the plans for Myriad. She did not know that Krypton’s destruction was irreversible. She believed if the populace could be controlled, the wasting of resources would stop and the planet could be saved. Her and her followers killed many in an attempt take the plans.”

“So that is why she wanted it and was sentenced to Fort Rozz. Why would Brainiac 13 want a mind control device if he wanted us annihilated?”

“In a strong enough setting, the Myriad signal would conceivably be powerful enough to kill every being, natural to a planet. The signals act as a conduit to the brain. Aliens from other worlds would be safe, Kryptonians dead.”

“And if it is being built here on Earth?”

“Then it will most likely be used for the control or destruction of humans. Mind control would be complete, taking away any individuality. In its highest setting their deaths will be silent but painful. Each human would understand what was happening. They would endure a severe pain inside each of their skulls, worsening until the…”

“Okay, we get the idea. How was it defeated on Krypton?”

“Your father retrofitted a phantom drive as a Phantom Zone projector to eliminate the main conductor ship of Myriad.”

“My father? He saved Krypton?” Kara asked doubtfully. “But if it was going to be destroyed then why bother?”

“The ship carrying you and Kal El had not yet been completed. He and your mother wished to spend as much time with you as possible and for you to be as old as possible to deal with the challenges of Earth. As a result he purposely slowed the making of the ship, forcing Jor El to wait a year after Kal El’s birth to send you away. They were nearly too late.”

Kara and Alex thought of this for a moment, trying to digest what they had learned. Up to this point in Kara’s history she had found out nothing good about her parents. Now she had, but the reasons seemed wrong. Selfish. And yet they did what they did for her to live. Both girls shook themselves out of their thoughts and back to the business at hand.

“My ship, mine and Kal’s ship, it had a phantom drive, correct? It had to have.”

“Yes.”

“Will it be strong enough to destroy the main hub of Myriad if one is built?”

“That depends on several factors. The size of the hub, the power of the satellites it will use, the materials it is made from and the remaining power of the phantom drive.”

“Astra and Non had planned to use Fort Rozz as the main hub. It has been destroyed with a nuclear explosion. What sort of material would they need to rebuild a new hub? Would they even know how?”

“I am not familiar yet with the metals and elements of this word. It would take an extremely strong, resilient metal, resistant to extreme heat, along with several large rocket propulsion systems. The device must be in orbit to link all the satellites.”

“So even if my phantom drive would not work as a bomb I could use a nuclear weapon or perhaps retro the drive into a Phantom Zone projector and send the device there before it is used.”

“That is plausible.”

“Okay then. At least we know how to defeat this thing.” Alex told her, relieved. It seemed easy, find it and blow it up before it exits the atmosphere.

“True but if we nuke it before it leaves the atmosphere, the fallout could kill millions. If we send it to the Phantom Zone we risk opening a singularity and having all Earth sucked into it as well.”

“Your father did it without sending Krypton to the Phantom Zone.” Alex reminded her.

“I’m not as smart as my father. Few people were.” the blonde reluctantly admitted. Whatever failings Jor El may have had in comparison to Jeremiah in the father department, the man was brilliant. Smarter than anyone, even her and her adopted family. The two brothers were without a doubt the most intelligent Kryptonians on the planet, even if they were responsible for its destruction.

“Jor El may know. His face may be gone but the information in his AI is safely downloaded. Kelex, you said Vril left his planet to go to Krypton. After he failed on Krypton what became of him?”

“it is unknown. His fellow conspirator, Indigo, was captured and sentenced to Fort Rozz. There is a high probability if Myriad is being built on Earth it is due to her having downloaded the plans into Rozz’s central computer for anyone to find.”

“Meaning he could be anywhere in the Universe but she is likely here on Earth. She would have access to everything. The DEO mainframes, Norad…”

“She is not all powerful.” Kelex added. “She was stopped on Krypton and captured by a cybernetic net, surrounding her with viruses. She cannot bypass any security measures that she wishes. She is powerful but she is not god like in ability.”

“Okay, so this Indigo is like a hacker?” Alex asked, trying to keep up and realizing it didn’t matter if Kara spoke English or Kryptonese, she was still lost. Biology was more her thing.

“No, she is basically a living computer. Some of their kind were used to run Krypton in the past before they were deemed too dangerous. She can be anywhere there is a wifi signal if she wanted but my guess is she is busy rebuilding Myriad. Astra wouldn’t trust her but I guarantee Non would work with her. Members of the Brainic clan are strong, possibly as strong as I am. They are difficult to physically kill but their form can be torn to pieces and their code trapped.”

“Great, mind controlling devices that cause brain aneurysms, mass genocide, nuclear explosions, possible black holes and evil, super strong living computers. Anything else we need to know about Kleenex?” Alex asked.

“My name is…”

“If she wants to call you Kleenex she can. Speaking of characteristics, I need you to study the vocal patterns of an English actor named Tom Hiddleston. You are to begin using his voice from this point on. If I am going to die one day with you in my ear, I at least want to hear his voice.”

“Whoa! Can you make it sound like Scarlett Johansen? At least some time, like when it is talking to me?” Alex asked.

“No, my robot, my sexy voice. Build your own if you like.”

“Jerk. To think I let you wear my underwear when you first got here.” the brunette mumbled.

“Kelex, make sure the Fortress and any devices we or the DEO use are secure against Indigo. Also make this Fortress impervious to any outside signals such as Myriad. Develop neural blockers that will counteract the device, as many as you can. I don’t know when it will be ready, I don’t even know if she can use it, but we need to be ready. I want all scenarios studied and planned for. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Kara. I understand perfectly. Whatever you wish, I will make happen.” the voice of Tom Hiddleston told her, causing the girl to smile for the first time all night.

“You work fast, Kelex. I like it. I will be back next weekend for the com devices and expect to see progress on Alex’s exoskeleton suit and my outfits.”

The two walked out, Alex slower, wanting to spend a bit of time looking around. This place was unbelievable and they had hardly seen any of it.

“Don’t you want to look around?” she griped.

“No, I want to get home and tell our parents how sorry I am for acting like I have been, beg forgiveness for us taking off with hardly a word and stop any worry for our safety they may be feeling. We will be back here soon. It will always be here. Unless the entire continent blows up. Then it is going to be on the bottom of the ocean but I am sure Tom, I mean Kelex can fix that too.”

“You are seriously thinking about calling him Tom, aren’t you?”

“I thought about Jack or Noah but I really need to stop being so emotional. I’ll probably stick to Kelex. Lets pack up and head back. As soon as we are in cell phone range I will stop in air and you can call Mom.”

“I can’t believe you are making him sound like Hiddleston. You do know that Loki was a bad guy, right?”

“But he was so good at it.” Kara whispered then shook her head. She didn’t need to focus on that right now.

Alex noted that even after the message from her mother, the blonde seemed more confident. It had nothing to do with her mother and she supposed her little sister would deal with that in her own way out of the blue like she normally did. This Kara had a plan, she had tools and she saw hope. She had often said that she felt no matter how hard her and Alex had trained, she always felt they would be outgunned. Maybe that wouldn’t be the case now. Even if it wasn’t true, if it gave Kara purpose she was thankful.

Five hours later, an hour later than the usual time since Kara had to fly over and around a massive storm system, the two landed in the yard. Eliza and Jeremiah were waiting for them on the porch. They looked a bit annoyed but not angry.

“You seriously think that little game you played was me giving you permission Kara, Alex? It may have been cute when you and Alex played that as children but…”

Eliza’s rant was cut off when Kara wrapped her in a tight hug, surprising the woman.

“I love you so much.” she told her adopted mom. “Both of you. I am so sorry for the way I acted and the things I have done. I love you and I never want to hurt you or Dad, ever.”

The blonde walked in leaving Eliza and Jeremiah standing, speechless for a moment.

“I admit thats a new tactic but I like it. What happened?” the mother asked her oldest daughter.

“The Fortress is up and running, we found out what Myriad is, we have a robot probably named Tom who floats and she saw a hidden message from her mother.”

Jeremiah closed his eyes, nearly hitting the speed dial button for Jessica Ryan.

“Don’t. The message didn’t say anything bad. It was actually kind of sweet but Kara didn’t seem to have a reaction to it. She told Kleenex to erase it before I talked her out of it.”

“She is going to have some… who is Kleenex?” Jeremiah asked.

“Sorry, Tom. She even has it using Tom Hiddleston’s voice. I don’t get her thing with Loki. He’s a bad guy.”

“But so good at it.” Eliza whispered then shook her head. “Okay, so she said nothing about her mother?”

“Just that after she began planning for Armageddon that she wanted to get home to you two quickly and tell you how sorry she was for the way she had been acting.”

“Oh… well we can’t ground her anymore since she is already grounded. You however…”

‘

“Was given permission! It is not our fault if you can’t hear over the dryer! Besides considering what we learned, you should both be thankful. There is actually somebody out there that Kara is… maybe not terrified of but yeah… she seemed pretty freaked. Something called Vril Drox I think. She called him Brainiac 13. We don’t know where he is but his side kick is on Earth and was in Rozz.”

“Thats not good. I need to go talk to her, try and feel her out.” Eliza told Alex.

Alex was left standing with her Dad, who still looked upset. Once Eliza was gone up the stairs he pulled his daughter away from the house.

“So what is Antarctica like?” the man asked, any facade of being upset gone as soon as his wife was out of hearing range.

“What?”

“What is it like? To be there? I read the sunrises are amazing. Does this suit have one of those built in warmers? What does the Fortress look like?”

“Uh…” Alex tried to understand what was happening. Away from her mother her Dad actually seemed excited.”It’s… cold. I mean yeah, the suit keeps me warm. The Fortress is going to stay 74 apparently. I have no idea how that is possible but I don’t exactly know how a flying robot who can hook into the internet and copy speech and sound in seconds is possible either. Hell I’m not even sure where all the computers and monitors, how they popped up, where they were…”

“Whoa, there are computers?”

“Yeah, and a couple statues of Jor El and Lara.”

“Oh… thats not going to go over well.”

“Something tells me they will be gone or the robot will be when Kara returns. She has him making her clothes I guess for when she goes off to war or whatever. He is making me something too but I am not sure what that is all about.”

“When is she going back? I think I should go with her. If she gets really upset…”

“You are in no way equipped to handle it as well as me or Mom. You just want to go to Antarctica. The flight there isn’t easy. It is hell on the back and legs. I am going to be walking extremely stiff for the next few days.”

“Worth it. I will figure out some other way. I have to see this Fortress.”

“Why? I can just take pics for you.” Alex offered.

“Because its more than just a building or a cave I guess. Think about it. Until now all we have ever heard about Krypton were the stories Kara told and the pictures she has drawn. But there must be records on those servers. Maybe videos.”

“Videos of what?”

“Clark’s first tooth, his first words, pictures of Kara as a baby, or even a toddler, her first steps. We could see her room… I know it seems stupid Alex but think about it. All the childhood photos of you and Clark that we have, we could have some of Kara too. I would love to see a photo of her with her front teeth missing. Can you imagine how cute she would have been? To see a real smile, free of worry and fear? Just the carefree smile of a little girl? I bet there might be a video of her first steps if these robots were constantly with the kids. Her first word, playing with toys, crawling, you get the idea.”

“Wow. I never thought of that.” Alex admitted. “You think it would bother her if we wanted them?”

“I don’t know.” Jeremiah told her. “But it doesn’t hurt to ask. All these years I have wished I could have seen her growing up, as a baby, a five year old, a ten year old, anything. I never thought we would get the chance but it would be something.”

“Remember with Kara it could hurt to ask. Her parents… her first parents will likely be in them, at least some. I hope some. Alura anyway.”

“Yeah, but I am sure this Kleenex can do something about that. But she could also have pictures of her Mother. She may want that one day Alex. This could be huge for her.”

“Don’t worry.” Alex told him. “I am sure you will see it soon. Kara is a smooth flier. No turbulence. Maybe you can buy an old airplane and fix it enough so she can carry us… forget it, I was joking!” Alex practically yelled, seeing the light go on in her father’s eyes. “Okay I am going to see how Kara is doing. You dream about ice castles and your youngest daughter flying you in a broken down old plane.”

Upstairs, Kara strummed her guitar, already becoming quite good and listened slightly amused at Jeremiah’s excitement about her baby pictures. It was true that nearly every event of her life was most likely in Kelex’s memory and she supposed if he wanted photos she wouldn’t turn him down. Kara actually had a lot of good memories growing up there before her world was destroyed and wouldn’t mind seeing them. At least some of them. She actually had no idea how she would react. Eliza had given her time but she supposed the woman’s patience was at an end because the mother walked in without knocking. She never knocked now that Kara thought about it. Knocking would give the girl time to cover up if she had been doing something harmful to herself.

“Hey. How are you?” she asked, sitting on her bed while Kara sat in the open window frame gently strumming.

“I’m great. I am picking up this guitar quicker than I had hoped. I was worried I would break strings but so far I am good.”

“You sound good. So this Fortress… Alex said there was a message from your mother?”

“You are my mother. But yeah, I get what you are saying. There was. It was nice. She apparently didn’t think I would ever find out about everything that had gone on. She probably never guessed even Jor El’s AI would admit to it.”

“What was it like seeing her?”

“It was… it hurt. No matter what, no matter how angry I am, a part of me still misses her. I still remember what it felt like to be in her arms, after a quake had especially scared me or I was frightened at night. I was afraid of the dark until I was eight years old. Silly I know, but I was.

“There is nothing silly about that. I was scared of the dark until I was 18. Truth be told I still don’t like it. I like to see a little light when I wake up. Seriously Kara, talk to me. How are you?”

Kara smiled but continued looking out over the ocean.

“It really, really hurt. I had forgotten how beautiful she was. I forgot her voice. Her and Astra they were identical but they didn’t sound the same. Not quite. I don’t know. It hit me out of nowhere. I… she didn’t say she was sorry. She didn’t answer any questions I would have had. I’m not sure what she was thinking. Did she hope I didn’t know everything or did she just not want to talk about it? It was confusing and it hurt, my chest hurt, my stomach felt weird, my head hurt. I wanted to grab her but I don’t know if it was to hug her or shake her or both. Then I wondered why didn’t my father send a message? Did he really hate me? I think he might have. He probably didn’t hate me but I don’t think he loved me. Not the way Dad does.”

Eliza patted the bed so Kara sat her guitar down and sat next to the woman, leaning into her.

“She loved you Kara. He had to have loved you. It would be impossible to be your parent and not love you. Even Astra, as twisted as she is, had made finding you her top priority. I pray she never does but I know that one day you are going to find her. That is going to be the most difficult thing you will ever face since you left Krypton and that is saying something.”

“If I don’t stop her she will probably kill every human on the planet. I am having the Fortress prepared with neural blockers and some made for you and Dad in the event she pulls this off. The portables will give me time to get the four of you to the Fortress. I don’t think she is close to being ready. I am not sure she can even find the material or she is having to process it herself…”

“Kara stop. Forget about her plan for a moment. Seeing and hearing your mother hurt but didn’t it make you feel a bit good?”

Kara swallowed though her throat was dry. She didn’t want to say it.

“All I felt was betrayed. I wanted to feel good, I really did. But she stood there calling me her daughter and how proud she was of me and I wanted to scream. I wanted to ask her what the hell she was thinking. If she knew what I had become. Her brave daughter has turned herself into a weapon because I had no other choice. I had so many questions and I guess it hit me that no matter what, she is dead and I will never get those answers. Its going to be a hole in my life. I wish I had never seen it to be honest.”

Eliza nodded her head, sad, but understanding. Perhaps in a few years Kara would be able to watch it again, and be happy, feel joy. But right now the pain even after nearly six years of being on Earth was too raw.

“What would you like for dinner? I’m sure flying that far must make you hungry.”

Kara shrugged her shoulders. “I could eat a few pizzas.”

“Great. By the way we need talk about this grounding.”

“I’m not grounded anymore?” Kara asked excitedly.

“No, you are.” Eliza told her,dashing her hope. “I don’t want you going out on Friday nights with Lena anymore. It is too dangerous, Kara. I know she has done nothing but you know… you know.”

“Okay.”

“I really think you and Jessica need to meet at least for a little bit everyday until things are back somewhat under control. You were doing a lot better before you graduated and so much has happened in a short time, fighting and the move itself, being in a new setting, I think you are falling back on some behaviors that you had moved past, right?”

“Yeah.” the blonde admitted.

“So everyday for a while, until we can get a handle on the self harm and anger okay?”

“I don’t know if I will ever get a handle on the anger. It has always been there it seems. It’s like a permanent part of me.”

“You have more emotions than anger. You have love. You have a lot of it. But the paranoia is something else we need to work on, right?”

“It’s kind of hard when every alien on the planet is looking for you, plus a billionaire genius is trying to manipulate you.”

“I can understand that.” Eliza told her. “Being alert and cautious is always a good idea. But the overwhelming paranoia has got to stop. You let it cloud your judgement too often.”

“Okay.” Kara reluctantly agreed but wasn’t sure how that would be possible.

“So that being said, I think those conditions are enough, especially playing with the rich and famous of National City on Friday nights. Tomorrow we will buy you a new phone. If you crush this one, you are keeping that piece of junk you have forever, or buying your own, got it?”

The blonde finally smiled. “You are the best.”

“I’m a pushover. I know you don’t like that phone and I want to be able to get a hold of you whenever I want. I love you, Kara. You never doubt this, do you?”

“No.” the girl told her. “I never doubt that. Jor El may have believed that there was no God but me being here with you all, has proven to me that there has to be something looking out for me. I don’t know what the rest of my life is going to be like, how long or if I will be okay once I do what needs to be done. But I know I have you, Dad and Alex. As long as I have you three backing me I don’t think there is anything I can’t do. Just promise me you will be careful.”

“You promise the same. I suppose you need to visit your new Tom next weekend?”

“I just need to get some clothes being made and com links so Alex and I can stay in touch with Kelex at all times. I suppose next Monday you two will be starting at the downtown office?”

“Yep. You and Alex are going to start as interns then as well. Thats what J’onn is going to tell the other agents. You won’t have to be there all the time but it will give you access. Having interns is a bit strange in a black ops agency I would guess but J’onn said Dan would handle all complaints from other agents. I doubt there will be any complaints.”

A week later, the move had been completed, Kara had made her extremely fast overnight trip to the Fortress and had her items. She planned to work with Connolly and Alex the next weekend so Alex could get used to the new suit. Kelex had followed directions but she still felt like there could be upgrades. She had told him a month though so what he had in a week was impressive.

That Monday, Director Hank Henshaw showed the Danvers around the DEO main building, introduced them to their coworkers and lab techs who would be under them and showed them their individual labs. Clark had started in his new school, a very nice one that met Kara and Alex’s approval. He looked adorable in his uniform, which irritated him greatly. The two girls had two weeks left in their break, so figured this was as good a time as any to begin their so called internships.

An hour after Henshaw had taken their parents on the tour, the two girls were escorted inside by Jack Webb. The man was taken back by Kara, noting her hair was a darker brown and her eyes were brown as well. Apparently the glasses he had heard a bit about worked. It was very strange not to see a blonde haired, blue eyed Kara. The man was always amazed at how good she was at playing the nerd and thought in a different world she would have been perfect for undercover work.

“Good morning girls. We need to go to Human Resources so badges can be made. Don’t worry, Kara, there isn’t going to be a picture of either of you on the badges, just a bar code. You cant have one taken with your glasses on and I never want any record of either of your faces in the DEO. Then I have assignments for you both.”

“Assignments? This internship is a cover so Kara doesn’t have to break into your place. We aren’t actually doing any work.” Alex told him quickly.

“You are going to like these assignments, trust me.” Webb told them.

After what seemed like forever in human resources, the two were led to an underground area Kara had not had time to explore. This was a gymnasium. In the middle were all manner of free weights, which Dan Hawk was currently grunting with. On the walls there were doors opening up to what Alex assumed were sparring rooms.

“Kara, if you will wait here for a moment, I will show Alex her first assignment.”

“If I am going to be working out shouldn’t I change?” the brunette asked.

“No, jeans are perfect. When you are out there you won’t have time to change. No reason to treat anything different.”

Webb led Alex into the room and she was surprised to find a female agent waiting for her.

“Agent Cameron Chase, meet Alex Danvers, new intern. She has security clearance and will be working with you when she is able to be here. She is going to work with you on hand to hand combat. Until the two of you are used to each other, use gloves and mouth pieces.”

The blonde woman, who Alex couldn’t help noticing was beautiful, shook her head.

“I am sorry sir. I am supposed to teach a college intern how to fight?” Chase asked.

“God no. Your hand to hand combat sucks, Chase. You are a great shot and have bravery and smarts but you aren’t much of a fighter yet. Alex is here to help you.”

Chase turned red from embarrassment and a bit of irritation. No, she was very irritated.

“This kid is going to teach me?”

“You don’t look much older than me. Do your parents know you are out playing secret agent?” Alex asked.

“Chase this girl has trained with Jason Connolly since she was 14. She is his protege. He has taught her to fight, to shoot, to use a variety of weapons. She is going to help you. If you want to ever get into the really wet missions you are gong to listen to her. Alex, Cameron, have fun. Alex don’t hurt her too badly. She needs to learn how to fight not take a beating.”

Webb walked out leaving the two girls alone.

“You really learn to fight from… him?” Agent Chase asked, looking at the 19 year old with more respect now.

“Connolly? Yeah. He is friends with my parents. Why?”

The young woman shrugged her shoulders. “I… and other agents heard he is untouchable.”

“He can be touched hard.” Alex assured her. “But it isn’t easy. Lets get started and I can show you how. We should start with just a basic fight. Show me what you got.”

“Shouldn’t we put on sparring equipment?”

“I don’t know Agent Chase. Do the aliens put on sparring equipment before they attack?” Alex answered her own question by moving quickly, striking Cameron in the jaw and knocking her to the ground. The younger girl circled her slowly.

“Get up Chase. I promise you by the time my internship is up you are going to be glad to see me go.”

Down the hall quite a ways from the main sparring room was a separate door Webb led Kara too. He poked his finger with the tip of his knife and placed it on a key pad next to the door, jutting out from the wall. Next he placed his face against a screen above the key pad.

“Retinal scanners and DNA check. I am the only one who has access to this room in. Not Henshaw, not Connolly, not Dante. If you ever attempt to rip the door off a trigger activates and the light bulbs in the ceiling shatter.”

“Okay… is there a reason for this? Mom didn’t threaten me this much to make sure I didn’t peak at my birthday gifts.”

“Because your birthday gifts didn’t have the potential to kill you. The other guys have had more contact with you while you were growing Kara. I wished I had been able to spend more time with you but I was usually stuck running this thing for Director Henshaw. As such, I am the only one who can do what needs to be done. That being said, I am the one person who won’t tip toe around your issues. If you even think about hurting yourself or worse in this room, I will take you down and drag you from it. You will never enter again. There is a metal detector as we walk in. If you have any metal on you, take it out now. You won’t need any weapons or any kind of metal inside.”

Kara shook her head, trying to figure out why Jack Webb was talking to her like this. Was there Kryptonite in the room?

“Whatever you say, Jack. The only metal I have on me are my keys. I will leave them on the floor.”

The blonde dropped her keys and Webb opened the door, motioning for her to walk in first. Kara did, noting that the room was lit up in a soft red, not bright but enough to know the lightbulbs were very different.

She could also feel the affects almost immediately. It was not the sickening feeling she got from Kryptonite. This was much, much different. She had not felt like this in a very long time.

“What is this?” the girl whispered.

“Dante insisted if we captured your aunt that she not be exposed to a Kryptonite cage that kept her sick. As a result we had our geek squad develop a red sun room. I am assuming since you are asking, that you can feel the difference.”

Kara nodded her head, still in somewhat shock. Webb pushed her gently from behind, causing her to stumble a few steps.

“My powers, my strength, they are gone? For good?” she asked, a bit too excitedly for Webb’s taste.

“Not for good. Once you are back in a yellow sun, or at least out of this, you are back to normal. Since it has become obvious that you cannot help but get into fights, you need to know what it is like to get hit as hard as you were in Metropolis and still battle. You did great. Now I am going to make you better, get you out of fights without so much damage. For the first time in your life you will be able to spar with me and not hold back. Eventually we will bring in Hawk to practice fighting larger aliens and others to simulate fighting multiple enemies at once. We can do this every day if you want, or once a week, whenever. As long as we aren’t on a mission I am ready to go.”

“Thank you.” the blonde whispered.

“Kara, if I even suspect that you are holding back, letting me strike you, I will end the session and you will never use this room again. You aren’t going to be able to get a hold of a power source that can replicate this. You won’t even know how we did it. Maybe you can figure it out but you won’t, because outside of here you need your powers to defend your family. But I am not going to be your tool to punish yourself for whatever you believe has been your fault since you landed here. Do we understand each other?”

Kara nodded quickly. “Why won’t Dante train me?”

“You have learned all you need to know from him. Plus he refused to hit you. Since you broke into my building and made me look like a fool, I have no such problems. Are you ready to start? We are going to take it easy at first. I have no idea how strong your joints and tendons are so we are going at half speed first.”

“No. I need to see Alex and my parents in here now.”

“You think I am leaving you alone in here? How stupid…”

“I’ll stand in the hall! Please get them now.”

Jack looked at her for a moment. She seemed really… happy?

“Wait outside.”

Kara waited in the hall for five minutes before Alex and her adopted parents ran up.

“What is wrong?” Jeremiah asked immediately, then realized Kara was smiling, actually smiling a real smile.

“Open the room, please Jack. Hurry.”

“I haven’t had the chance to explain to them about this room.” Jack said, hoping he wouldn’t get yelled at much. “I am the only one who has access to this room. It has a retinal scan and DNA check and no one else is allowed in.”

“Open the damn door, Jack!” Kara practically shouted.

The man did and stood back, watching the four enter. Kara grabbed Alex as soon as they were inside and wrapped her in a hug, for the first time in her time on Earth, able to hug someone as hard as she wanted and feel a hug in return.

“Thank you so much. I love you.” she whispered in her sister’s ear.

“You can feel this, can’t you?” Alex muttered in slight awe. Kara did not appear sick but she was not as hard as before.

“What is this?” Jeremiah asked Webb, already getting angry.

“He can explain later. Hug me. Both of you. Hug me as hard as you can.” Kara begged. The two obliged and when they had her and Alex in their arms they realized, for the first time, Kara was feeling human contact as well as they could. The girl squeezed each of them so hard the veins in her arms and neck stood out.

Webb stood at the door, and then stepped into the hall, wiping a tear away himself. It was a private moment between a kid who had not been able to feel a strong hug in a very long time and the people she loved the most.

Sparring could wait till tomorrow.

The next day, Kara, still riding a high, prepared to go to the beach with Alex who was also feeling pretty good. The previous day had been emotional. Hugging, being hugged by Kara so hard, the tears of joy that ran down her face. Real joy, something not seen on Kara often.

Then there was the yelling of her father towards Jack Webb for creating something like the room in the first place. Henshaw had to arrive and calm things down. Dante had been nowhere around so it fell to the stoic Martian to settle the argument, event though it was one sided with Jack on the defensive.

“Want to go train later? We can go all out against each other now. Want to see who is better, big sis?” Kara challenged, a large grin planted on her face.

“I will never hit you and I know you wouldn’t hit me. You just want an excuse to be in that room again.”

“Can you blame me? Thats fine, I will soak up plenty of rays today. I can’t believe I am actually wearing the bikini I bought. If Dad sees me…”

“It wouldn’t be good but he is at his new job and we are going to be at the beach, far away. Now change so we can jet.”

Kara moved to do just that until her phone rang. It was Eliza.

“Hey Mom.”

“Kara… I need you at Clark’s school, quickly. He is holding his ears, he won’t stop crying, saying something about too many sounds and the smells. He is dizzy…”

“Calm down, I am on my way. Please ask him not to say anything to anybody but you. Tell the teacher something.” she told the woman, already moving. It was daytime so flying was out. The Ninja it would be.

“I told her he has epilepsy and is having a seizure. I am trying to get him to leave but he says the sounds are worse outside.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Kara told her, hanging up the phone and turning to Alex. “Its Clark. I have to go.”

Kara ignored Alex running after her, the blonde only focused on getting to Clark. Alex saw that she was not going to catch up and grabbed the keys to her own bike.

After the longest ten minute drive, stopped by every red light it seemed, Kara finally made it to the private school, not far from the DEO.

Running inside she was thankful the classes were in session and children were not crowded around the principle’s office. She used her X ray vision and saw Clark curled up in Eliza’s arms on the floor. Without waiting for admittance from the secretary she walked quickly into the room and dropped down beside her little cousin.

“Clark, its me. Open your eyes.” she whispered. Clark cracked one eye open a bit.

“Kara? Is it always like this for you?” the little boy asked, breaking her heart.

“I will help you learn to control it. It isn’t easy, it wasn’t for me, but you are going to have me. We can do this.”

“I keep seeing through things. The noises, its like the sound got turned up on everything and everything stinks.”

“Not everything. The bad smells are just easier to focus on, Little One. Listen to me. Open your eyes but don’t look at anything too long. Keep moving your eyes all around. I’m going to pick you up and take you to Mom’s car. It is going to be loud when she starts it up but that is okay because when I pick you up, listen to my heart beat. Put your ear to my chest and just focus on my heart beat. Count them and don’t stop. Alex does this to help me calm down a lot still. Until we can get you someplace easier to handle, you are going to have to be brave and listen to my heart. Understand?”

The boy nodded his head and practically jumped into Kara’s arms while trying to hold Eliza’s hand. Alex arrived seeing her worst fears realized. At least he hadn’t had a dose of heat vision.

“Is his skin…” Alex started then remembered to whisper.

“It can still redden. He isn’t completely…” Eliza told her, not needing to say the last part.

“Alex I need you to go home and bring my black flight suit Kelex made to Mom’s house. I also need the backpack with as much canned food as you can pack. Frozen meals work as well. Please hurry.”

Alex did hurry, not liking where Kara was going with this but understanding a bit.

She arrived thirty minutes later with a black long sleeved suit and boots and a very heavy backpack.

“It’s still loud.” the boy whimpered. He was now in Eliza’s arms listening to her heartbeat.

“What should I do, I mean we do Kara? How did you handle it?”

“I handled it painfully because I didn’t have another option. He does. I need to take him somewhere I can control the amount of sound, starting with nothing and building it slowly up, exposing him to different sounds. It could take a while, maybe two weeks to a month. I need to take him to the Fortress, Mom.”

“Let me get some warm clothes and clothes for us then…”

“I can’t carry you both and the back pack. I need to take him.”

Eliza and Alex looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Kara and Clark had not been gone from Alex since that day the two had run off after Eliza and Jeremiah found out about her.

“Kara.” Eliza started.

“He is in pain. The flight there is going to be bad enough but it is better than anything here. Once inside I can make it perfectly sound proof. Its the only place I can take him that won’t hurt him.”

“But… what about you?” Alex whispered.

Kara shook her head.

“Mom, you told me five years ago to trust you. You said that you would protect us and you have, all of you have. I realize I have given you a lot of reasons not to trust me but right now I need you to. He needs you to. I can help him, I’m the only one who can. I won’t let anything happen to him.”

“I know you would never let him be harmed. It is you I am worried about, surrounded by all those memories of Krypton…”

“I need you to trust me, trust that I will be okay. Please.”

Alex looked at the ceiling wanting to scream for being in this position but unable to since Clark was flinching at even a whisper it seemed. Eliza needed to make a decision. She should call Jeremiah to help but he had no idea what was going on yet. She had only been focused on Clark when the call came and since.

“Please Mom. Trust me.”

Eliza nodded and smiled at the girl.

“I will. We need to get him some warm clothes for the trip and a few days. I suppose you can have clothes made there?”

“Yes,” Kara told her, relieved, “thank you.”

“I trust you, Kara. We all do. Help our little boy.”