Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Seeing Red

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 04: Alex meets Kara’s BFF

“So tomorrow is the day. It’s been two years.” Jessica started.

“I don’t want to talk about that.” Kara told her, as she always did when the subject was brought up. This time Jess gave her a different answer.

“I have always let you take the lead in our sessions, Kara. But this time, we are going to talk about it. We are going to talk about it often and especially on anniversaries.” her long-time therapist told her.

Kara had enjoyed the weekend, Barry stayed till Sunday, spending Saturday night on the couch as well. Alex discreetly slipped out often, but neither made a move. Kara wasn’t sure how forward she should be, and Barry was no better. They watched movies, ate a lot and laughed a lot, explored National City and had a great time. She felt wonderful.

But Barry was gone now, and Kara was back to reality. Reality included training her substitute assistant, smiling all day while wishing she was anywhere else, hoping something would require her attention that did not involve danger to people, and therapy. Always therapy. No matter how much fun she had this weekend, therapy reminded her that she was not okay, not even close.

“What do you want me to say?”

“Are you going to the cemetery tomorrow?”

Kara thought about it. She still visited the cemetery in Midvale every year on the date… on that date. Last year she had visited the cemetery in a small town near National City on a different date, tomorrow’s date and afterward drank so much she passed out at the bar on a table. One alien attempted to take a shot at the Champion of Earth while she was unconscious. His legs were broken by J’onn Jonzz, who carried Kara home.

“Yeah, probably.” the blonde admitted.

“I don’t think you should. It’s time to stop. Stop going to the cemetery in Midvale and stop going to that cemetery. You have got to stop punishing yourself for things that aren’t your fault. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for your family.”

“Don’t bring them into this.” Kara warned her.

“Why not? Do you think they deserve to constantly worry you are going to slit your wrists again? They are tense right now. Eliza hasn’t been sleeping. She is the one who found you. You don’t think that sight will haunt her forever?”

“I know it will. Thanks for the reminder. I get it, I screwed up.”

It had been two years now. Two years since it happened.

Kara and Alex had been relaxing, watching movies. Nothing had occurred that night that required their attention, so they vowed nothing short of an invasion would drag them away from the loft.

An hour past midnight, Kara heard it. She always tried to drown out noises when watching television but this one for some reason slipped through. It was a car wreck, nothing unusual. Accidents happened every day in and around National City.

This one was different. She heard the car strike a pole and she heard a baby cry. She heard a woman cry. She was taken back to that wreck when she was thirteen, when she watched a mother and child die, because she did not know what to do, wasn’t fast enough, or smart enough to save them all without exposing herself. She barely saved Alex from being killed by a piece of metal in the explosion.

Kara normally hated to fly out her window. She did not like taking a chance of people seeing her entering and leaving, preferring to take off from the roof or run down the street into an alley and take off.

This time she did not even waste the time to change. The girl shot through the window, shattering the glass and surprising the hell out of Alex, who had no clue what was going on.

Kara flew fast, not going high, just streaking over the streets until she made her way outside of the city. She had flown six miles in under a minute, including the twists and turns around the city skyscrapers. When she arrived near the scene, a fire truck was coming but at least a mile away. That was when she heard the crackle of electricity. She could see and smell the gasoline.

Supergirl swooped in but it was too late. The power line ignited the gas and the car exploded, literally in her face. She used her freeze breath, dousing the flames immediately but it was too late. She looked inside the car and saw the bodies. The explosion had made death instantaneous. The charred bodies, the woman reaching for her child, took her back to that day on the beach.

Kara stepped back, her shirt nearly torn off by the explosion and on fire. She never moved, never stopped looking at the bodies. She didn’t notice a fireman putting a jacket over her but did hear the Captain telling her she had done the best she could.

But in her mind, it wasn’t the best she could do. Once again, a mother and child had died in an explosion she was too slow to stop. She was given a second chance and failed again.

The blonde stayed until the bodies were taken out by the fire department. Finally a voice broke through, a female firefighter handing her a fire department t shirt and asking her if she would like to sit down. Kara shook her head, took the shirt, handed her the coat back and took off into the sky.

She arrived home an hour later after flying with no direction. Alex of course, was worried but Kara lied to her, told her there had been an apartment fire and she had gotten everyone out. Avoiding the other questions, the blonde tore her remaining clothes off, placed them in a trash bag then walked straight to the shower. She lay in bed all night, unable to sleep, the faces of both the mothers and babies flashing through her head.

That morning when none of the Danvers saw any reports of a fire, Eliza tried to call Kara. Getting no answer, she checked with Kelex who told her that all of Kara’s suits were at her residence. Eliza used her key to enter the loft when no one answered the door. She had seen Kara’s bike in the garage. If she wasn’t flying or riding her bike she was home.

Calling out and not getting an answer, she did hear Streaky scratching on the bathroom door. When she opened it the woman screamed. Kara was lying unconscious in the red lit room, a straight razor in one hand and both wrists cut with a large pool of blood under her.

Shattering the light bulb, she held onto her daughter’s wrists, putting as much pressure as she could on the wounds, hoping with the red light gone, Kara would heal.

Kara did heal, but she had lost blood, a lot of blood. Calling Jeremiah frantically, he, Connolly and Dante arrived, wrapping Kara in a blanket and carrying her to the car for transportation downtown.

Luckily for Kara, Jeremiah had insisted she provide pints of her own blood in the event she ever needed a blood transfusion in the future.

Though it required brief periods of red sunlight for the IV, it worked, and her blood pressure rose. Eventually she woke nearly catatonic and refusing to speak.

Kara was kept in the DEO red sun room under suicide watch for the next thirty days. The public wondered if Supergirl had died. Max Lord shouted to anyone who would listen that she was not reliable, and humans could not count on her. Cat Grant launched a manhunt to find her.

After thirty days, Jessica deemed her stable enough to be taken to Jeremiah and Eliza’s house. Clark was never told what exactly happened, but he had heard enough.

Kara stayed at her parents for three months, wearing a red sun bracelet so she would not fly off, being watched always and every sharp object in the house removed.

That was two years ago. She burst back on the public scene during a bank robbery with no explanation for where she had been or what she had been doing. Not even Cat Grant could get it out of her. As far as the public was concerned, they had their hero back, bright blonde hair, perfect gleaming smile and beautiful blue eyes. No one knew that she had spent much of the past few months refusing to get out of bed for weeks, refusing food.

“I am glad you know. But you have got to stop going to these… I have always given you space. If you wanted to visit the graves of people who died through no fault of your own, I told them to give you space. It was your way of dealing with it. But last year you could have been killed, passed out in that bar. You are lucky J’onn was following you. Do not go to that cemetery tomorrow.”

“It’s my business.”

“No, your actions affect everyone who loves you, everyone who has supported you, cared for you. You always tell me how much you owe them, so prove it. Stop putting them through hell. Do not go to that cemetery tomorrow.”

Kara said nothing, keeping her face blank. It was a technique she had perfected when she didn’t want to talk about something with Jessica. It drove the woman crazy. Kara would simply agree and then do whatever the hell she wanted.

“Anything else, boss?”

“Don’t play that game, Kara. Your parents, sister and brother don’t deserve it. You may feel that you do, but they don’t.”

Jessica took a deep breath. At times she had been supportive, understanding, encouraging. Other times she had to be direct with Kara. She had been her therapist for nearly eleven years and knew every one of her tells, her moods, her lies and half-truths.

“Okay, how was your weekend? Let’s talk about Barry Allen. How do you feel about everything that has happened? I understand you beat the hell out of Dick Grayson. It’s about time.”

“What do you have against him?”

“The same thing I have against straight razors and alcohol. They are all things you use to either punish yourself or avoid your problems.”

Kara stood up and walked to the window in the living room, taking in the ocean as the sun set. She always loved the water. It was something she could never enjoy on Krypton. To the left, only a few hundred feet away was her parents’ house. In front of their house was the spot she killed Astra and detonated Kryptonite bombs over herself and Non’s army. The girl refused to have therapy at the DEO and Clark was home, but Jeremiah made him swear not to listen. Being in Jessica’s made sense since Alex needed time to finish her move back home.

“Being with Barry was good. I remembered why I loved being around him before, even if we were only texting or calling. He is funny, sweet… and hurt. His Dad was murdered by Zoom. I could have stopped that monster. I never should have listened to Batman. If I would have handled it, his father would still be alive.”

“Maybe, or maybe you would be dead. Either way he could have called you, contacted you. He didn’t want you involved. That isn’t your fault. It isn’t his. These are weird times, Kara. When I told you at 18, that you would change everything, and the world would never be the same, I never imagined all this.”

“Yeah, me either.” Kara admitted.

“Did you drink this weekend?” Jessica asked, standing up and walking to the window beside her.

“Only a few. What’s the big deal? I am over the legal drinking age. I didn’t get drunk.”

Jessica listened to her carefully. A session with Kara always included half-truths.

“Did you drink after he fell asleep?”

The blonde shrugged her shoulders.

“I needed to sleep. I didn’t want him to see me tired. I just had a few to help me rest. No big deal. It helps with the nightmares. I didn’t want him to hear me scream.”

“Okay. Can you remember the last day that you had no alcohol?”

Kara said nothing. No, she could not remember. It didn’t matter because she did not always get drunk. Usually just a few to take the edge off.

“Do you remember the last day you had no alcohol?” the girl countered.

“I remember the last alcohol I had was last Wednesday. I had a glass of wine with dinner. Your turn.”

“I don’t know, okay? I don’t get drunk every night or anything. Sometimes it makes things easier to handle.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know!” Kara practically shouted, turning around and walking back to the couch.

Jessica took her in, the way she looked to the right side and crossed her arms, eyes darting all around, almost as if she expected to be attacked at any time. She had always done this. If Kara hurt herself, she assumed this posture. It was the way she expressed shame. She became defensive, folded into herself.

“Kara, I know you talked about giving this up when you turned 30. Maybe… maybe you should do it now. The red crystal Kelex formed, Jeremiah is studying where the safest place to implant it is. I think this is a bad idea and so does he…”

“I don’t want to wear a necklace or bracelet for the rest of my life. When I give it up I want these powers gone, for good.”

“I can understand that. Jeremiah has been making progress. I think he already has it figured out to be honest, but he is very hesitant to tell you. Perhaps though, it is best to end this now. You are not handling what you see out there well.”

“I’ve been handling it since I was 18…”

“No, you haven’t,”

“I can’t give up now! Not until Clark, not until he can defend himself. I hope he never becomes this, but if the world ever finds out about him they will attempt to kill him before he comes fully into his powers. If other aliens find out about him, I am the only thing standing between him and them. When he is strong enough to at least protect himself, when I know he can fight and cannot be harmed, then I will give it up. You think I don’t want to?”

“I think you have been punishing yourself for surviving since you landed on this Earth. Despite the years of our sessions you have never stopped. When will you figure out that everything isn’t your fault?”

“Maybe never, okay?” Kara told her, turning her back on her, the final moves the girl had in her arsenal.

“Look at me.” Jess told her. Kara’s head did pop up, but it wasn’t because of any order Jessica gave her. She turned back towards her with a grin.

“We are going to have to cut our session short.” she told her, almost smugly.

“Good, we can spend the evening together tomorrow. I have my whole night cleared. I’m thinking we can have some therapist patient bonding time.”

“I’m busy tomorrow.”

Jess shook her head and grinned herself.

“I know. As soon as you get off work, you will be here. Eliza is coming over and attempting to teach me how to make chicken carbonara. Since it is two-year anniversary of the worst day of her life, you get to be our test subject. Do I need to pick you up from work or will you be here?”

Kara glared at the woman, trying to keep her temper. She hated being manipulated and absolutely hated when her family was brought into it.

“Yeah, I guess I will.”

“Excellent. Tomorrow we are also going to talk about you considering going to AA…”

“I have to go.” the girl said quickly and ran out of the house in a blur. Jessica shook her head. She knew it would be hard when she accepted this job ten years ago. She never dreamed it would be this hard, but she couldn’t, wouldn’t give up. For better or worse, the Danvers had become her professional career, including keeping the most powerful woman on Earth safe from her greatest danger, herself.

Kara was relieved to be out of the house. Once she was free, she felt a weight lifted off her. She needed the sessions, recognized that she did, but that didn’t make her hate them any less.

Now wasn’t the time to worry about it. It was dark outside and once again her little brother was “lost.”

She ran towards her annoyed father who was on the phone. Clark must have had an earpiece in and thankfully hadn’t lost it in the water.

“Good evening, Daddy. What has the spoiled prince done this time?”

Jeremiah looked at her, very annoyed. Yes, Clark may have been spoiled a bit, but it wasn’t that bad.

“He is… lost.” the man admitted.

“What happened to only flying with Kara? He talked you into it, didn’t he?”

Jeremiah smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s night time and no one was around. He promised not to go out far but apparently he went out far enough that he can’t see the lights of the shore.”

Kara rolled her eyes, knowing very well that Clark could see the shore from twenty miles away and Jeremiah knew it as well.

“I’ll bring him back. Don’t worry, your favorite will be here soon.” she teased him.

“I love you all the same. Sorry to cut your session short.”

‘I’m not.”

“That’s the problem. Tomorrow… we are all going to be at Connolly’s, Jess is trying to cook…”

“I was already told I would be there.” she assured him and took off. Kara did not have to fly far. Only a mile out, Clark stood on air, arms crossed, just above the water line. Of course he had that mischievous grin she loved.

“Can’t see the shore, huh? He knows you are lying. You are going to get grounded.” she told him, standing in front of him on air. “Even if by some miracle you couldn’t see the very bright lights of the houses, it’s a clear night. Have you forgotten how to navigate by the stars?”

“Of course not. I am very good at navigating. I just figured you would want out of class early and we could play.”

Kara shook her head, not surprised in the least. He did love to fly.

“I was sent to bring you back and face your grounding.”

“I will bet you right now that I will not be grounded. Mom worries about me too much to ground me. She will probably give me some cookies.”

Kara rolled her eyes once again at the spoiled brat. It was true, Eliza began babying him when he was a baby and never stopped.

“Where is your cape?”

“I don’t need a cape. I don’t knock down trees like somebody I heard about.” he told her, smiling and trying to bait her.

“The cape helps you feel the wind currents better, make stops and turns easier.”

“Don’t need it.” he challenged again.

“So you can handle high winds?”

“Yep, no problem.”

Kara blew, not cold and not hard but hard enough, tumbling the boy end over end leading to him falling head first into the water. She floated above him as he popped to the surface.

“That was not funny!”

“See, from where I am at that was very funny. I suppose Obi Wan was right, it depends on your point of view.”

Clark was full on pouting and seconds away from a classic I’ll tell Mom.

“Help me up?” he asked, reaching for her hand. She had mercy and grabbed him. At that point she realized how much stronger he had gotten. Grabbing her arm with his other, he flipped and sent Kara into the water. She popped up immediately, spitting water out of her mouth.

“You brat! I like these jeans and my shoes and now… and… you are so getting it!”

Clark laughed and took off, skimming the surface of the water. No matter how much better he had gotten and faster as well, he was no match for his big sister. She tackled him from above and forced both under the water. Reaching the surface, they began a splash fight, that led to waves that could be surfed on.

Clark stopped her in mid splash, finger to his lips. Kara listened and knew what he had heard.

“Dolphins? Want to?”

“Of course.” Kara answered. It was a game they played often, mostly when they were at the Fortress. There, as he had gotten a bit less sensitive to the bitter cold, the two would skim over the nearly frozen waters and touch the top of Orcas as they rose to the surface. A clean touch counted but not one hard enough to injure the mammal. Dolphins were a bit trickier, coming up more often and a bit faster than Orcas. Kara handled it with ease but missed often on purpose to keep the boy in the game. She even let him win a few times.

After thirty minutes of harassing dolphins, Kara followed the little boy home, so proud of him. When she was with Clark and they were like this, just the two of them, her problems floated away. Clark was probably the one who broke her out of her catatonic state while she spent three months with her Mom and Dad two years ago. She was sure he knew what had happened but never once asked her about it. Instead he sat by her bed every day and played board games against himself till Kara eventually began to play on one side. From that point he slowly introduced video games into his version of rehab. He was also the source of a lot of guilt. In a moment of weakness she had broken her promise to Alex to never leave her and tried to leave Clark defenseless against the world, having no one to guide him as his powers emerged.

The blonde shook her head, clearing away those thoughts. She did not like to think of that time or any of the other times she had driven Eliza and Jeremiah crazy with worry. Instead she would take Clark inside, listen to Eliza barely lecture the boy then scold Kara for blowing him into the water, and do his homework very fast so the two could play Legend of Zelda before he had to go to sleep.

Once they arrived on shore, Jeremiah stood with his arms crossed and a stern look as he tried to hide his smile. Eliza simply laughed and had two towels ready for them.

Kara ignored the shaking. It had been all day. She was not an alcoholic or an addict. Those were human conditions. She didn’t play by human rules. She didn’t need to breathe, she didn’t need to eat and she definitely did not shake because she had gone the entire day without alcohol and desperately needed a drink.

“Come inside, Kara. I have some dry clothes for you.” Eliza ordered.

“I’m good. I will dry out on the ride home.”

“Come inside, Kara. I have some dry clothes for you.”

“Guess I am doing inside.” Kara mumbled, Clark laughing.

“Mom, I’m sorry I got lost. I just got turned around. I hope you aren’t mad at me.”

Eliza patted the boy on the back and rubbed his hair.

“Of course not. Jeremiah shouldn’t have let you fly without Kara. You must be strong and not ask. He apparently can’t make good decisions when it comes to you and flying.”

Clark nodded his head seriously. “I won’t ask him anymore. He didn’t mean for me to get lost. Don’t be too hard on him.”

Jeremiah and Kara had stopped walking, Jeremiah’s eyes wide and Kara looking at him with her arms crossed and a huge smile. The man shook off his irritation and followed the Mom and her baby into the house.

After Kara emerged from the bathroom, dry clothes and hair, Eliza and Jeremiah were waiting for her in the living room.

“Kara, tomorrow I am going to teach Jessica…”

“Yeah Mom. I heard.”

“Then you know I will need you there to test out her cooking.” Eliza told her, no room for argument.

“Yeah, so around 7?” Kara tried.

“I actually spoke to Cat Grant today who assured me you would be getting off at 5:30. Someone will be there to pick you up. Alex will drop you off at work in the morning. I’m thinking you can bring some clothes and spend the night here. After Clark goes to bed we are going to have a family session.”

That would not do. One drawback of alien alcohol, any of it, was the smell. It wasn’t traditional alcohol like humans drank, and the smell was hard to hide. She could slip away during work but she really needed a drink or maybe two to relax. If she couldn’t take care of her yearly ritual and could not go to the bar afterward, she wasn’t sure when… of course J’onn would be watching the bar.

“What do we need a family session for?”

Kara remembered the days when family session mean that she had hurt herself or done something equally self-destructing and “plans” were put in place to stop her from harming herself.

Jeremiah took a shot, figuring he would be the bad guy and let Eliza off the hook. “Because we still have them once a week. Clark has been wanting to join in and we need to discuss this as well. He is affected by everything…”

“If Clark comes to the meetings or hears anything that is discussed about me, I am never coming to another one again.” Kara told him quickly.

“I understand that.” Jeremiah assured her. “That is why we are going to talk about it, all of us, and look at this from all sides. But whatever decision we come to together, you will abide by.”

Kara’s good feeling earlier was gone. It was made worse by what Eliza said next.

“We also all need to discuss possibly attending AA meetings, maybe on an open night. I would be glad to go with you…”

“I am not an alcoholic!” Kara told both of them, wishing she had quieted and knowing Clark heard that.

“You are shaking.” Jeremiah pointed out. “How long has it been, baby?”

“I need to go. Have work in the morning. Love you both.”

Kara walked quickly outside to her bike before Eliza or Jeremiah could stop her or discuss the issue any longer. The idea of sitting inside a room in disguise surrounded by people she didn’t know, was disturbing. She wouldn’t do it. She didn’t have a problem. Despite her desire to be human, she wasn’t. The girl was just under a lot of pressure constantly. Hitting the road, she drove towards her loft, twenty minutes away, taking her time and in no hurry at all.

As it turned out, Kara probably should have been in a hurry.

Alex had just finished putting her clothes back in the closet, feeling a bit of relief that she was back in what she considered her home. Living with Cameron had been an experience and not always a pleasant one. She thought of relaxing in front of the TV while waiting for Kara to return but her plan was derailed when she heard a knock on the door. Kara wouldn’t knock and no one had called or sent a text indicating they were visiting. That meant… any number of things and none of them could be good. Grabbing her Glock, the woman realized it could be an alien, trying to catch Kara off guard, not knowing about her X ray vision. It could be a shifter in human form, a White Martian trying to find J’onn and knowing of her connection to him. She placed the Glock back in the drawer and pulled what Kara lovingly referred to as her blaster and the hilt that expanded into her light staff.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me. Can’t you see through the door or is your vision failing? Perhaps you actually need those glasses now?”

Alex became even more tense. It was a female, that was evident but what did she want Kara for? Kara told her about her X Ray vision?

Alex opened the door quickly and aimed her gun.

Standing before her was a beautiful woman, bronze skinned, dark eyes and darker hair. She had a beautiful smile and seemed amused at Alex’s weapon being aimed at her.

“I apologize. I thought Kara lived alone. I suppose you must be the sister I have heard so much about?”

The woman was dressed to kill, literally. She wore a black pant suit and blood red satin blouse underneath, but Alex could vaguely see the possible outline of a knife handle on her right side, under her jacket.

“Who are you?” Alex asked, backing up to give her space in the event the woman reached for the knife.

“I am Nyssa Raatko, a friend of your sister’s.”

“Kara doesn’t do friends. I know everyone she knows and I don’t know you.”

“We keep our friendship discreet.”

“She doesn’t do discreet with me.”

Nyssa smirked. “It would appear that is not true in this case. You weren’t here when I visited last. You are Alex, correct? Kara told me you were beautiful but seeing you with my own eyes is a pleasure. Kara does not lie, at least to me. You are breathtaking.”

“You are… not unattractive yourself.” Alex admitted, focusing on watching this woman closely, for any movement and not just her face and body. If she turned out to be an enemy, Alex debated pinning her against a wall. For self-defense reasons of course.

“May I ask what sort of gun that is? I assume Kara had it made for you, or did you take it off a fallen foe? Of course, you are the one called Manhunter, correct? Kara does not trust many people. I have seen you in battle and have no doubt your impressive glowing staff is somewhere on you. Why else would you be wearing a jacket inside? Speaking of inside, may I enter? It is becoming awkward, standing in the hallway with a gun aimed at me and I know Kara’s neighbor is a particularly curious type.”

Alex backed up, using her free hand to gesture the woman in.

“Have a seat across from the couch and stay there.”

To Alex’s bewilderment, Streaky jumped onto Nyssa’s lap as soon as she sat and began purring.

“Hello Streaky. Have you missed me? Darling creature, isn’t she?” Nyssa asked.

“She likes to scratch couches. Don’t move.”

Alex walked quickly into the bedroom and grabbed her phone and a com. Stepping back into the room, she snapped a picture of this Nyssa on her phone to send to Kelex and perhaps to look at herself later.

“I hope you got my good side. Perhaps a few more? I don’t mind.” Nyssa told her, enjoying Alex’s paranoia way too much.

“Kelex, who is she?”

“I told you I am Nyssa Raatko.”

“She is telling the truth, Alex.” Kelex confirmed. “Her name is Nyssa Raatko, alias Nyssa Al Ghul. She was the daughter of the leader of the League of Assassins, Ra’s Al Ghul. Her father lost the title in a trial by combat and she is now the head of the League of Assassins. A.R.G.U.S. had a security alert placed on her. She is suspected of 18 assassinations in six different countries. The alert was the lifted three months ago as all information on her in their database was deleted.”

“How was the information deleted?”

“I did it on Kara’s command.”

Alex shook her head, wondering what the hell else Kara had gotten involved in, since she moved out. Apparently, alcohol wasn’t the only problem. League of Assassins?

“So this woman killed her father in a duel and took his place?”

“I am right here.” Nyssa told her. “There is no need to ask Kelex. I will be glad to give you any information you want regarding my identity.”

“How do you know his name is Kelex?” Alex caught immediately.

“You just said, Kelex who is she.” Nyssa reminded her.

Oh yeah, was Alex’s first thought.

“She did not kill her father.” Kelex continued. “Her father was challenged to a duel by Kara. Kara killed her father and became the head of the League of Assassins. She then passed the mantle onto Nyssa under the agreement Nyssa would find Malcolm Merlyn and kill him.”

Alex dropped her gun, trying to decide if she should put it away so she would have both hands to pull her hair and stymie the massive headache coming on, or keep the gun near because she was in the same room as a woman who was head of the League of Assassins!

“Damn it, Kara. Kelex, why didn’t you tell me?”

“You didn’t ask.”

“You didn’t think this was something I should know about?!”

“The protocols you updated while Kara was unable to command the Fortress only instructed me to inform you if I suspected she planned to terminate herself. You said nothing about killing others. Perhaps if you would be more specific in your instructions I may have mentioned this to you. You were not, so I did not.”

Alex sat on the couch, gun still in her hand but on her lap. She expected Kara to be home in the next hour and had no plans to call her so she could make up an emergency to avoid coming.

“Kara will be here soon. You are going to tell me everything.”

“No, I won’t. So if you have moved back in, does this mean Cameron Chase and you are no longer in a relationship? From what Kara has told me, I don’t believe she was right for you. I hope I am not out of line for saying so.”

Alex shook her head, trying to come to terms with this surreal experience.

“That is none of your… she told you about Cameron?”

“As I said we are good friends. I do not believe either of us have any other friends. You could say we understand each other.”

“She killed your father.”

“I am in her debt for that.” Nyssa admitted, surprising Alex with her sincerity.

Alex stood up and walked behind the couch to provide cover if she needed it. Once there she raised her gun again.

“This gun can burn through a Khund’s head. You will tell me everything my sister has been involved in or I will use it. League of Assassins or not, I doubt you are laser proof.”

“But you might hit Streaky.” Nyssa pointed out playfully, lifting the cat and placing her next to her cheek. Streaky’s meow confirmed this. “Kara will be home soon. If you don’t mind, and don’t plan on shooting me, I would like to fix a drink. She usually keeps something here that won’t kill me like that foul alcohol she drinks.”

“I poured it all out. The foul alcohol and the rest.” Alex told her. It was one of the first things she had done when Kara was gone.

“That was foolish. She will just buy more and you will have made her angrier. I have seen Kara angry. It is a night poor Oliver Queen will never forget and one I enjoyed immensely. It was the first time I met her and I knew we would be… what would Kara say? BFFs? Perhaps you have tea? Coffee? Anything would be fine.”

Alex put her gun down and walked into the bedroom. Leaving it in the safe but keeping her baton, she went straight to the kitchen and began brewing coffee, trying to wrap her head around Kara not mentioning that she killed the leader of the League of Assassins and Oliver Queen was involved. She knew Kara and Oliver had a falling out but not over what. Kara had kept up with his murders early on with a bit of humor. Lately she could not stand him, even mentioned to Alex once that she wouldn’t cry over his grave if he died. Thankfully, before the coffee had finished brewing, Kara walked in.

“You won’t believe this! Jessica, Mom and Dad, they all think I should go to AA! It’s ridiculous. Also I have to be under house arrest tomorrow night because they are afraid I will… Nyssa! Nyssa? Oh boy, this is so not good. Nyssa, you should have called. You really, really should have called.”

“I was in the city. I have never called before. I did not see you flying about so guessed you might be home. Your beautiful sister has been keeping me very entertained.” a very amused Nyssa told her. She had seen many emotions on Kara’s face, her dry, black humor, her light-hearted playfulness, her rage and her coldness. Worried and slightly embarrassed were new ones.

“She took my picture and sent it to our friend Kelex.” Nyssa added.

“Kelex? Alex, there is… this is… it sounds worse than it… I would have told you but you didn’t need to get involved. It was… it’s a funny story. Okay, it’s not funny at all but there is a reason. I didn’t lose my cool or anything… okay Oliver might say differently but honestly, he has no room to talk. I should have killed him for protecting Malcolm Merlyn after he told me he was dead but… I didn’t. See? I didn’t lose my cool. Nyssa… you can tell her. Nyssa is a friend of mine…”

“And the leader of the League of Assassins. Yes, I heard. Malcolm Merlyn? He was already dead, Kara.” Alex reminded her.

“No he wasn’t. I found proof and Oliver Queen confirmed it. Merlyn brainwashed Thea Queen into killing Sara Lance. Merlyn did this because the League was searching for him. The only chance he had was for Oliver to take the blame for Sara Lance’s murder and fight Ra’s. Ra’s knew he didn’t do it but didn’t care. Oliver had to face Ra’s to answer for Sara’s killing.”

Alex shook her head, desperately wishing she hadn’t poured all the alcohol out.

“Why… that makes no sense. How… what the hell did you do while I was living with Cameron?! Damn it Kara! You tell me you can take care of yourself and you get involved with the League of Assassins! Malcolm Merlyn was dead! It’s probably like that Harrison Wells thing! Maybe he was from some alternate universe!”

“No, he wasn’t, Alex. Oliver thought he killed him while the Undertaking occurred. He was wrong. When he found out he was alive and Thea’s father he stopped Nyssa from killing him. He had her locked in a cage in that damn hideout of his. They shot her with a tranquilizer! I found out when Kelex caught Merlyn on facial recognition at a hotel in Brazil. I crashed into Oliver’s hideout so confront him, freed Nyssa, and then killed her father since he was only concerned with Queen. Oliver couldn’t have beaten him so I did. Sara Lance was Nyssa’s lover. She wanted revenge for her and I wanted revenge for the 503 people who died in the Undertaking! I pulled most of them out and couldn’t recognize them, no one could! They were crushed, children, Alex! To do what she needed to do, her father had to go. Plus the man had wiped out cities for the past hundred and fifty years. She was good with it, I promise.”

Alex and Kara stared at each other, saying nothing for a full minute before Nyssa cleared her throat to break up the awkward tension.

“I should probably be going. You two can work this out. Kara, if you would like to have lunch tomorrow, I have a few meetings in the morning but nothing in the afternoon.”

“I’ll text you.”

“Of course. This has been an unforgettable evening. Alex, I do hope we meet again. I would love to get to know you better. If you would like to have dinner…”

“Nyssa.” Kara stopped her, shaking her head. “So not the time.”

“Of course. Good night.”

“No! Wait! You are my friend! Yes, you can come with me tomorrow night. We are having a small dinner party.”

“No, she can’t. We have plans for after the dinner. Family business remember?”

“She is my friend and does not get to National City often. Plans can wait.”

“She is the leader of the League of Assassins! You want to bring her to Mom and Dad’s?!”

“She wouldn’t hurt them. Nyssa isn’t some serial killer. I told you, she is my friend!”

“Kara, call me tomorrow and let me know. If you wish me to be there I will. Alex, it has been lovely seeing you. I hope we can become good friends as well? Perhaps…”

“Nyssa.” Kara reminded her. “Again, this is so not the time for you to be flirting. I will text you in the morning.”

Nyssa gave one last smile and helped herself out, leaving the two sisters standing closely and staring at each other.

“I would really appreciate it if this could be one of those sister secrets we could keep to ourselves.” Kara tried.

“Ha! You think I would tell Mom and Dad you were the head of the League of Assassins for five minutes? That you killed Ra’s Al Ghul? I didn’t know what a Ra’s Al Ghul was ten minutes ago. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this! We could have handled Merlyn together!”

“You don’t need to get involved in League business, Alex.” Kara told her, walking to the fridge.

“And you do? Since when are you besties with anybody? You pick the worst best friends. First Lena Luthor whose brother wanted to turn you into his personal weapon and trophy wife and now the leader of the League of Assassins! Unbelievable. If I ever move in with another woman you are moving in with us.”

Kara ignored that and moved quickly to the kitchen. Finding no ale in the fridge she looked in her cabinets for…

“You poured out my beverages?”

“The alcohol you bury yourself under every night? Yeah, I did. Why? Are you cold, or is shaking something that you are trying out to blend in better?”

“Don’t Alex. It has been a stressful day…”

“Yeah and tomorrow is going to be worse. It’s the two-year anniversary of you cutting your wrists! You are going to be at Jessica’s and judging by your shaking, you need to stop drinking. I knew you were drinking, Kara, but how much? Enough that you can’t go a few hours without it affecting you?”

Kara sad nothing, walking to the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Out.” Kara told her and closed the door behind her. Alex let her go, knowing she couldn’t stop her. She was going to the bar. Either that or to whatever hotel this extremely hot leader of the League of Assassins was staying at.

No, she was definitely going to the bar. Alex picked up her phone. He answered on the first ring.

“You busy?”

“Never for this. She has gone to the bar?” J’onn guessed.

“Yep.”

“I will watch her. Relax Alex. I won’t let anything happen to her.”

“Thank you, J’onn.”

“Never thank me. I do think it is time we talked about having that intervention…”

“Yeah, I know. She has started shaking. Give it some time though. Barry Allen being with her this weekend, she was in a really good spot.”

“Did she drink after he fell asleep?”

Alex said nothing. There was no point. J’onn knew the answer before he asked the question.

“Rest, relax. I will have her home tonight.” the Martian assured her.

“I can’t do either, but thanks. Text me when you see her.”

Alex hung up the phone and walked to the bedroom, taking off her denim jacket and placing the staff inside it back into the safe.

She then picked up a photo on the dresser. It was a picture of her and Kara at the beach. Kara did not have her glasses on. It was taken on their 15th and 16th birthdays. The smile the blonde had was brilliant. She was in there. She would find her way back. She had too.

Central City

“No! There is absolutely no way you spent the weekend with Supergirl and are not going tell us about it.” Cisco argued. Barry had been on the speed track all afternoon and said nothing, avoiding questions from Cisco and Caitlin. Now Iris was here as well. All three were shouting questions as he ran in circles.

The man finally stopped, skidding to a stop in front of them.

“We had a great time. I crashed a high-priced society event to find her, we stole a Lamborghini, drove it to the beach and talked for a while. Then we went back to her place and watched movies, ate ice cream and had dinner at a few places she liked. We hung out on the boardwalk, rode her bike down the coast, then Saturday night we watched The Force Awakens and I got her to watch the JJ Abrams Star Trek movies. I slept on the couch both nights. That’s it.”

“What did she think of the JJ Abrams movies…”

“Cisco! That doesn’t matter. Did the two of you team up? Fight any aliens or metas?” Iris asked.

“Did you ask her about her respiratory rates when flying?” Caitlin added on. “Can she really fly in space? How does her body operate without oxygen? How much does she have to eat a day? Does she eat or is there some special Krypton diet she is on? Does she even eat organic creatures or is she strictly vegan? Perhaps she eats radiation? Do I need to check you for trace amounts? Could I? I would love to know her diet…”

“Enough!” Barry shouted. “I did not ask her any questions about those… where do you two even come up with this?”

“Do you think you can get me an interview?” Iris pleaded. “It isn’t fair that she only speaks to Lois Lane. Some journalists even think Lois Lane knows who she is when she isn’t flying around. How does she disguise herself?”

Barry took a deep breath.

“Look, I had a nice time. I had a great time. It was really good just… being near her. You don’t understand. Before you knew her as Supergirl I knew her as Kara. That’s who she is and always will be to me. No more questions. She mentioned that she may come to Central City soon to see me. Do not ask her these questions. They would make her uncomfortable and she does not need that. She would probably never come near any of you again.”

Barry pulled himself away from his annoying friends and ran home. It had been quiet all weekend and the Flash hadn’t been missed. He knew it was a matter of time before the next threat showed itself but for now he was happy. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed being in her presence, how relaxing it was, like they had known each other for years.

He also knew that something was very wrong. The man tried not to think about it, tried to ignore it, but had noticed her hand trembling at times. She would disappear for a moment and be back, but he recognized the smell, even if it had been from her bathroom. It smelt like alcohol but much stronger. He also noted she had rinsed her mouth out several times. Kara had mentioned to him jokingly that there were bars unknown to the public that catered to aliens. Barry couldn’t help but wonder how often she frequented those bars. Hearing what little he did, not knowing the whole story of course, had given him a bit of insight to the girl he had always been crazy about.

Barry walked in, said hello to Joe who was watching a ball game and moved to his room. Staring out the window he thought of all she had told him on the beach the first night.

The stories about her arrival, learning to fight, the prison, her mother, her aunt and uncle. Having to kill her own aunt to save her family. Dick Grayson told him Kara was obsessive about her family. He could imagine the fear she felt when she realized Astra had found her parents and brother.

Barry’s thoughts drifted to his father and of course Zoom. At the end, he had the demon defeated. He had every chance to kill him and hesitated. If the Time Wraiths had not appeared, what would he have done? They had already known they could not contain the man. Could he have done it? Could he have killed?

Kara could have. She wouldn’t hesitate. She had killed her last living blood relative besides Clark because she threatened her adopted family. Kara told him she would have frozen Zoom and shattered his skull. That wasn’t just talk. He knew she wasn’t lying.

There was a part of Kara he had never seen. If Barry stayed involved in her life, he had no doubt one day he would see it.

She had beaten the hell out of Dick Grayson and the man said she did it without her powers. How did she get rid of her powers? Why would she want to? Barry had lost his speed twice and hated the feeling. Why would she want to be rid of her powers?

Because she hated them, he realized. Kara Danvers wanted to be human, it was all she wanted probably. Since she arrived on this planet, she had these powers and honed them, not to help others but for war. She helped others, he had watched everything she did over the years. She had saved thousands. If an earthquake, wildfire, flood, tsunami or tornado occurred she was there to save everyone she could. She had helped trapped firemen, handled hostage situations with police forces all over the country. But that was not why she had learned to master her powers. She did it to prepare for war.

Had the war really ended for her? Had it ended for him? Would Zoom haunt him forever, the look on his father’s face, telling him it was okay and knowing he was going to die? Kneeling over his mother, saying goodbye and watching her die? Barry couldn’t kill Thawne and as a result, Eddie and Ronnie had died. If he had killed him before Thawne ever tempted him with saving his mother… if Barry hadn’t fallen for it…

He shook himself out of those thoughts when his phone buzzed. It was Kara.

/What R U doing?/

Barry smiled, glad that she had been thinking about him.

/Staring out my window, thinking of a flying blonde car thief. You?/

/Thinking about a Trekkie who nearly blew the transmission of a Lamborghini because he couldn’t handle a stick shift. That’s why I won’t let you drive my bike./

Barry laughed, thinking of her in pajamas, crashed on the couch watching television. He had no way of knowing she was drinking at an alien bar in National City, nearly alone, because when Kara Zor El walked in, the majority of aliens ran away.

/So when is the fifth date? I need to plan to avoid my friends/

/they aren’t still upset about me and my flying rodent buddy breaking into their hangout, are they?/

/No, instead they are fan girling and have a list of about a hundred questions to ask you. You could sneak over to my place. Joe can be discreet and he wants to meet you./

Barry stared at his phone for the next five minutes, waiting for a reply and worrying he had said something wrong. He had never met her parents. Did she not want to meet Joe? Perhaps he could tell her she didn’t have to, he could pay for a hotel, or…

While his thoughts ran wild, he finally received a reply.

/Next Saturday/

The Flash let out a sigh of relief.

/Great. We should probably avoid stealing any cars./

/You can be such a do gooder. Why not? The only one who can stop us is the Flash and I think we both know I am faster than he is/

/Sounds like a challenge./

/I’m going to sleep. Talk to you tomorrow?/

/Count on it./

Barry thought of turning in himself. A knock on the front door sent him downstairs. Joe had answered and did not look happy. Stepping back from the door and beckoning the guest in, Barry was shocked to see Oliver Queen.

“Oliver? What are you doing here?”

The man appeared more tense than usual and the Flash mentally prepared himself to take on a meta or some sort of villain the Arrow had tracked to Central City.

“Can we talk outside, Barry?”

Barry nodded and stepped out onto the porch, Oliver closing the door behind them.

“What is going on? You need help, I’m game.”

“I don’t need help, Barry. Felicity told me that she talked to Caitlin. You spent the weekend with Supergirl?”

“Yeah, she said she knew you. She also told me not to ask you about her. You two had a falling out or something? It isn’t my business. Now what is so important you came all the way to Central City?”

Oliver looked down, trying to figure out how to approach this. He had hours, traveling from Star City to figure this out and still hadn’t come up with a good solution.

“Barry, you of course know how I was when I came back from the island. You told me once I could be better, be more. You have saved me a few times and I consider you a friend. I realize this is going to be hypocritical but I… we all, Felicity, Roy, Diggle, we feel like we should warn you.”

“Warn me about what?”

“Forget what you have read in the papers or seen on the news. Do you have any idea how psychotic she really is?”