Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Seeing Red

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 21: Foundations

The limo drove slowly through the city, Kara holding Alex’s hand to the point of nearly breaking it. The blonde had forgotten how many people were in the world, being confined to her own little underground world for what seemed like years but was just a little over a month.

“You okay?” Alex asked her. Had Kara had her powers, Alex’s hand would have been crushed. It also didn’t escape her attention that her sister was shivering.

“Yeah… I forgot, I guess. I forgot what the world… I haven’t been gone long but… it just seems different.”

“It will for a while.” Alex told her. “Remember the first time we went to the Mall? You were pretty freaked out then, but you… what was it you said? You had to acclimate.”

Kara remembered. “I really liked that word. It sucked when you told me no one used it in conversations. There is a bar close by.”

Alex looked out of the window quickly, wondering if Bruce had made some idiotic decision to take her down a street filled with nightclubs and bars. Instead she saw nothing but shops and restaurants.

“Where?”

“On the wall, next to the alley we just passed, a symbol was painted. The triple circle with the dagger through it. It’s a symbol, letting Aliens know there is a bar nearby. If you go down the alley you will see other graffiti. The police think they are gang symbols, but they aren’t. It will be directions in whatever alien language the owner of the bar speaks. The circle with the dagger means no drugs are sold. That means the owners either sell the drugs they supply with no competition under threat of death or they aren’t selling, and they don’t want turf wars between rival factions over the bar.”

Alex sat back, Kara’s hand still crushing hers, and wondered not for the first time, how deeply Kara was imbedded in the alien drug scene. She obviously knew quite a bit about it.

“Let’s avoid that trip down memory lane, okay? Where would you like to go for lunch? Bruce is paying so let’s take advantage.” the older sister suggested. She would not admit it, but this was strange for her as well. Like Kara, it seemed ages okay that her little sister had woken up and screamed at all of them for kidnapping her, and Alex had seen what Kara was like under the alcohol. She was able to maintain some sort of sanity while drinking and apparently using drugs but once they were taken out, all she saw was a desperate, angry young woman, who wanted nothing to do with the world she saved, but lived in it anyway, suffering.

“Yeah… I don’t want to eat in a restaurant. I don’t want to be around people… this time. I know I will have to eventually…”

“It’s okay. We don’t have to. We can go to the botanical gardens, maybe?”

“Not… not this time. Can we just pick up some drive thru and go back? Do I need to darken my hair? What color are my eyes?”

“Kara,” Bruce interrupted from the seats facing the two sisters, next to a quiet Barry. “I’ll have four Danvers sisters’ favorites brought up to the Penthouse. We will take a private elevator up. I booked it for today, thinking the two of you could spend a little time away from the lab and I could get to know Barry better. Alfred is already there.”

Kara let out a breath and smiled in relief. She didn’t necessarily want to rush back but being surrounded by the world was starting to get to her. “Thanks Bruce.”

Barry did his best not to be bothered by Bruce Wayne knowing exactly what Kara and Alex liked. But why wouldn’t he? It seemed everyone in her life knew Kara better than he did, even after what he had learned. When J’onn turned into a T Rex during training the day before one of the guys had called it an Alex special. Had he done it to her or did she challenge him to imitate a dinosaur once?

Somehow Barry was not surprised when the limo pulled into an underground parking garage and the four entered a large private elevator that went to the top of the very tall hotel. The elevator opened into a room three times the size of Barry’s old apartment.

“Wow.” the Flash whispered. Despite his conviction that he would not be impressed, he was wrong. A man he recognized from the Block walked up to them.

“The takeout is here, Master Bruce, complete with enormous amounts of Ketchup and grease. I have prepared the patio table. It’s a lovely day for dining outside.”

“Thanks Alfred. If you and Bruce keep this up I may forgive you both for drugging and kidnapping me.” Kara told him.

Alfred shook his head. “You are really going to have to let that go one day, Kara.”

The four walked outside where a large blue pool and hot tub resided, overlooking the city. On a glass table near the pool resided four paper bags from In and Out Burger.

He said nothing as they sat down, all of them eating while he, Bruce and Alex, watched Kara and her appetite without trying to be too obvious about it. Barry noted she was eating slowly, not exactly tearing into the food, but seemed to enjoy it.

Nothing was said for a few minutes, just the sounds of chewing while Barry contemplated on the events of his life that led to him eating greasy cheeseburgers with the richest man in the world in a Penthouse suite in Louisville, Kentucky.

Then a French fry covered in ketchup hit Alex on the cheek and stuck there.

He watched Kara continue eating to hide a smile, while Alex peeled off the fry and ate it herself. A few moments later a similar fry hit Kara’s forehead, just above her glasses.

“Please don’t.’ Bruce whispered, but it was too late. The sisters had started a war, fries flying across the able, finally ending with a box the items had been in formerly, hitting Kara in the head. To Barry’s slight disgust, they began cleaning up the mess by eating the fries that landed on the table and their faces.

“Excuse me, children.” Alfred interrupted. “If the two of you are feeling comfortable still, your swim suits are in the bedroom. Eliza has had discreet female employees of Wayne Enterprises packing up your belongings in National City and having them moved to Midvale. I thought you two may pack some bags and have fresher clothes before you return to the lab.”

“Thanks Alfred.” Alex told him gratefully. Though she spent much of her work life wearing black and most of her other life wearing indestructible bronze material and flexible armor, she did miss her favorite jeans.

Kara gave Barry a shy grin and followed Alex to the bedroom. A few minutes later, after ten minutes of small talk from Bruce about the weather and the view of the city, the girls walked back up. Barry’s mouth nearly dropped open, seeing Kara in the black, small bikini, matching Alex’s.

“Good job, Barry. Your jaw didn’t drop. I am impressed.” Bruce told him humorously.

“Yeah… I… she… I mean they… yeah those are nice suits. Uh… I was just surprised… kind of caught me…”

“Would you come inside with me Barry? Just for a moment. There is something I would very much like to talk to you about.”

Bruce stood and walked inside, Barry following, thinking this could be about many things and probably about something he had never thought of. The two sat on two recliners looking out the glass wall that led to the pool.

Now he had to keep his eyes off the pool and pay attention to Bruce Wayne.

“How is the training going?” Bruce started.

“What? What…”

“Kara isn’t the only one with a supercomputer, Barry. I keep an eye on everything, threats and potential allies. The work you are doing with the four men in National City, it is going well?”

“Yeah. It’s helped me out a lot. I’ve learned a lot about aliens and I think I am getting stronger. The fighting techniques…”

“Have you learned how to break a wall with your fist?” Bruce asked.

That surprised the man. Maybe Bruce didn’t know everything about his powers.

“I can’t do that. I could with enough distance, but the chances are I would break every bone in my hand if I don’t hit it just right. I don’t have super strength.”

“Are you sure? You can control your cells, vibrate them at a rate that you become intangible, able to make yourself and others move through walls. You can also do the reverse. You can make yourself denser. You won’t ever hit as hard as Kara did, but you can strike with much more power. I think when you get back to S.T.A.R. if you can continue to investigate this Speedforce, you will realize there is a lot you can do. I have had Brother Eye running multiple theories and feasibility studies on potential uses for your powers you haven’t discovered yet. Have you learned how to beat the speed dampening technology?”

“No…”

“When you are ready, let me know. If I am right, I think it would be quite easy for you. You have many skills you have not discovered. There is much more to you than running fast and throwing lightning.”

Barry looked at him suspiciously.

“Have you been spying on me?”

“Watching. I have been watching your adventures on the news for a while, since you made your presence known to the public. Have I been spying on you in your private life? No. But I have watched the Flash. The world, not just Central City, is going to need you more than ever, Barry. You are going to need help. I suppose Kara has mentioned to you that I am interested in putting together a team of special individuals to battle threats to this world, threats that Kara would have handled on her own. Truthfully, I have wanted a team to fight beside her for a while. Alex and I aren’t enough, not for some of the battles she could have faced in the future. I want you to be a part of that team, Barry.”

Barry was not surprised, but hearing it still took him off guard. He had suspected something like this for a while, ever since the training with the DEO agents had begun. The fact that he knew about it and the DEO didn’t, told him those guys at the top of the DEO were more loyal to Bruce Wayne, than the Government itself.

“Who is on this team?” he asked.

“So far, I have a Martian, and I hope you. I also recently met a woman who is immortal, very strong, very fast and has one hell of a lie detector. She will be joining us. J’onn and I plan to make contact with a man who is also very strong and can swim incredibly well. I believe he can control water, but I am not sure of the extent of his powers. That is all I have for now and truthfully all I want. The team needs to be small, at least for now. It needs a foundation first, one you can be a major building block in.”

The Flash thought of this and was surprised. He had figured Bruce would already have everything in place.

“You don’t want Oliver…”

“I don’t want Oliver Queen anywhere near this team. Kara and I have disagreed many times in the past over how to deal with those we deem threats but one thing I do agree with her is that there was never an excuse for Oliver Queen to protect Malcolm Merlyn. He has his own code and his own team. His sense of justice and ours differ. I do not like the things he has done in the past, namely going after high profile targets and giving them a chance to right their own wrongs while killing bodyguards who never committed the sins of the men they were paid to protect. I don’t believe in killing in most cases, but Kara does and from the battles she has had to fight it is understandable. The killing is not what bothers me about Oliver Queen. Honestly, I could care less. It’s his code I don’t like. I have no problem with his decision not to kill Merlyn but letting him free and protecting him was very much against my code. I am not perfect Barry, but I will never lie to you. Can he say the same?”

Barry didn’t dwell on this much. It did not surprise him that Batman would not like Oliver Queen and the reasons made sense he supposed. Bruce had killed aliens and Kara had killed humans. They also lived by the same codes despite their differences on dealing with enemies. Barry was still trying to figure out what his code was or even if he had one. Recent events had caused him to rethink everything.

“So, you will lead this team?”

Bruce laughed.

“No. I am not the man to lead this team. I will fight with this team and I will pay for this team, but leadership is not my thing. I have worked with a select group, people like Kara and Alex if I worked with anyone in the past. In other words, people I have complete faith in. I have too much darkness to be a leader, Barry. So, does Kara. It’s why she was always so resistant to my plan. She doesn’t want to lead, and she is not a follower. J’onn is a natural leader. So is the woman I met in Paris. I don’t know enough about her yet, but I know she was willing to kill me if she had found I hurt Kara. She is a good person. She will join us. I need you on board, Barry. The base of this team must have selfless heroes, those who fight for no other reason than it is the right thing to do. You, Diana Prince, J’onn… I believe you three can be that inspiration, be the ones fighting in the light, while I handle the darkness. This world is going to need hope, Barry. Rumors have already started. Where is Supergirl? The entire world wants to know, and it has only been a week since her last appearance.”

Barry knew this. As J’onn had made fewer and fewer appearances, he suddenly stopped mimicking her, coming to help people in his true form. His appearance and Supergirl’s disappearance from the spotlight was coming under heavy scrutiny.

“I noticed there were no newspapers inside, and I bet the television is having cable problems, right?” he guessed.

“She doesn’t need to worry. By the time she is ready to go to Midvale the world will have hopefully began following the exploits of this team. I am not suggesting we live together in a dorm house. I only want us to work together when the need arises, when one of us needs help, we all come. We train together, we fight together. You have your team, your friends. They are a part of you and being the protector of Central City. But when bigger problems than Central City metas occur, we all need to be on the same page. One unit, one team, one support structure.”

Barry thought of this, wondering how Cisco and Caitlin would take it. He suspected Caitlin would not care but Cisco… he could imagine the backlash he would get if he told his friend there was a threat to this world and he needed to join his other team and would be back when it was over.

“I need to think this over.”

Bruce nodded, not surprised. “Take all the time you need. You have been a very good friend to Kara. You haven’t been put off by what you have learned about her. I am glad about that. She needs a friend like you.”

Barry was taken back by that. He wasn’t sure what Bruce Wayne’s opinion was of his relationship with Kara.

“Yeah, she is a good person. Her and Alex… I wouldn’t leave… you seem to know a lot about them.” Barry finished, taking the conversation in another direction.

“I have known them since Kara was 18. Can you imagine my surprise when I met her? I was very worried when she first showed herself to the world. It was then that I realized there were enemies out there that I could not stop, that no one could stop. She scared me. Then one night the Danvers sisters show up at my door, asking me for help. I saw them for what they were. Young kids, older than their years, good people, people who loved and were loyal, people that only wanted to help. That someone with her power would not only ask me to help her but trust me with the means to stop her, offering her friendship… it blew my mind. I was there when Alex took out a living computer and Kara killed a White Martian then her uncle. The crew those two had, J’onn, the men training you, Lobo, the most unlikely team and yet all loyal to those two girls. It’s hard not to get involved in their world. They have a way of growing on you. You can understand that.”

“Yeah.” Barry admitted he could. “Alex and she are very close, closer than any two people I have ever known. I guess the four of you are tight. I know her and Dick… but you seem to do a lot for them. You built an underground lab dedicated to helping her.”

“Yes, we are close.” he agreed. “They are like the little sisters I never wanted.”

“Little sisters?” Barry asked, hoping he had heard that right.

The doubt must have been obvious in his voice because Bruce seemed confused at first, then smiled, even laughed. To say the Flash was shocked to see Batman laughing would be an understatement.

“Barry, have you been listening to Clark?” the man asked, trying to calm himself. “Please don’t. He did the blonde, young, trophy wife thing again, didn’t he? He pulled that on Jeremiah last year and the man wouldn’t talk to me for a month. Of all that boy’s powers, it’s his ability to start trouble that is the greatest threat he poses to mankind.”

Barry started laughing as well, though he wasn’t feeling amused. Embarrassed perhaps but not amused.

“Of course I didn’t listen to Clark. I just figured you would say friends or… yeah, that Clark, he does have a way of winding… other people up I would bet. But no, not me. I wouldn’t fall for some eleven-year-old, screwing around.”

Bruce was not fooled but let it go. Clark did have a mischievous streak as big as Kara’s temper.

“There are swim trunks in the bathroom if you want to join them. Looks like they are going to the hot tub. Also, if you are interested, tomorrow night, I could use your unique skills.”

That caught the Flash’s attention.

“In what way?”

Bruce stopped smiling, his face becoming very serious, very quickly, making Barry wonder if his show of humor was as much a disguise as Kara’s glasses.

“I have been somewhat remiss in my duties. I do my part to limit the number of drugs on the street by putting labs and warehouses out of business before the drugs hit the street. I have not done the same for alien drugs. The idea never occurred to me. Seeing what they did to Kara, has me thinking quite a bit about them. I believe there is a manufacturing lab for various alien narcotics in Gotham. I would very much like to burn it down and hand the perpetrators over to Jack Webb’s organization. There will possibly be some aliens who are very fast and I would not be able to keep up with when they run, and they will run. The ones inside who can’t get away, I can handle. I need you to catch the ones that escape. Team aside, how does that sound?”

Barry looked outside, seeing Kara laughing at something Alex said in the hot tub.

“Yeah, that seems like something I could take personally. I’m in.”

“Excellent. Go join them. I have some preparations to make. You will have a briefing packet given to you in the morning before you leave by Alfred, detailing what species we will be facing and the layout of the lab.”

Bruce watched Barry retreat to the bathroom and stood up himself, casually strolling past Alfred in the kitchen to the master suite. Inside he took off his suit coat and tossed it on the bed. Without turning, he greeted her.

“I was wondering how long it would be until I heard from you. You must be good to get past Alfred.”

Diana Prince stood in the corner of the room to the right of the door, arms crossed and a grin on her face.

“But I suppose I couldn’t fool you?”

Bruce shook his head and turned to look at her. She was dressed much more casually today, if tan leather pants and a red leather jacket could be casual. A far cry from the designer dress she wore at work.

“Yes, you would have. I just guessed you would be here, watching. If I came inside the bedroom and greeted you without looking and I was wrong, there would be no one around to know I was wrong. A win win situation for me. So, are you satisfied? She isn’t imprisoned as you can see.”

“I never doubted she was. I told you, you had no choice but to tell the truth. I came to Kentucky…”

“The morning after I met you. I saw the flight plan.” Bruce finished.

“I wanted to speak to her but showing up at your cabin in the woods would not have been the best plan either. I doubt your security would have let me in and ripping off the elevator doors and jumping down the shaft would have had her prepared to battle an invasion. Instead I waited for you to reserve the penthouse at the finest hotel Louisville has to offer and here you are.”

“Here I am.” Bruce agreed. “So, the last time we saw each other, you were manhandling me like a chew toy and kicking me out of the largest museum in the world. Something tells me you aren’t here to apologize. I suppose you have given some thought to my proposal?”

Diana walked past Bruce to the window on the opposite wall, taking in the East side of the city. Her hotel room was one level below with her weapons, within easy reach. Not that she feared Bruce Wayne but the security he had at his underground lab and the surrounding area was impressive. He no doubt had a plan if she arrived and she would prefer not to destroy a hotel. Then again, perhaps he did not have a plan. The man knew she wouldn’t follow him with the intention of killing him. She could have done that before he left Paris. He was waiting for her to join him, not attack him.

“Who is the boy?”

Bruce shook his head.

“I’m sorry?”

“The boy? I know you did not invite Kara’s boyfriend for a playdate and I know Alex is gay. I am sure he is a friend of Kara’s and wants to be more, judging by his eyes, but that is not why you brought him here. There is a landing zone, a very small one a half mile from the cabin. You bring her therapist in by helicopter multiple times, always at night, always quietly. Why does he have access to the base? How did you get her here without the chopper? Who is he? No lies. I do not feel like retrieving my lasso.”

“I have no doubt you have taken a snapshot on your phone and can find out easily enough. His name is Barry Allen.”

Diana nodded her head.

“The Flash. Why is he here?”

“He and Kara are friends.” Bruce explained, somehow not surprised that she knew. Diana Prince knew quite a bit about the world of masked heroes apparently in addition to Kara Danvers. “They go way back, before Supergirl and the Flash were known to the world.”

“And you need him.” Diana concluded. “Kara did not look to the suite once during lunch though I know she should have heard my heartbeat. She didn’t. She has not only quit but found a way to get rid of her powers. Now you need the Flash.”

“I’m not trying to buy a private army, Diana. The world needs the Flash. He has not begun to reach his potential yet. He will never have the same powers Kara had but he could be just as powerful. No matter what you think, this team is needed. The papers all over the world are already asking where is Supergirl and it hasn’t been a week yet. J’onn is doing the best he can but people are not going to warm up to a Green Martian as quickly as they warmed up to a blonde teenage girl next door. I am not worried about the rise in crime that could happen, I am worried that one of the thousands of aliens living on this planet sends out word that Supergirl is gone and every warlord in the Universe thinks Earth is fair game.”

Diana turned back to Bruce, and crossed her arms once again her expression neutral, even stoic.

“This team, the one you want me to be a part of, you plan to lead it?”

“No, I want you to lead it. I don’t know much about you, but I do know you have known battle and you were willing to kill the richest man in the world in a very public place because you thought I had harmed a girl you only knew for a few months four years ago. Whoever you are, Diana Prince, whatever you are, alien, god, metahuman, my gut is telling me that you are the person who can bring this team together. It doesn’t work without you. I can fund, I can fight, J’onn and I can strategize but you can be the heart, a heart this group will desperately need if it is going to work. If it doesn’t work, Kara will find a way to come back. You weren’t lying when you said I failed her. I failed both of them. I don’t want to fail them again and failing the world is the same thing in Kara and Alex’s mind.”

Diana took a deep breath and shook her head. She hadn’t made the trip to Kentucky, scouted out Bruce’s hidden compound and kept up with his coming and goings because she was worried about him harming Kara or Alex. She knew when she got on the plane that she would have no choice. Steve would expect nothing less.

“I want to speak to her this week, without having to break into your underground fortress. What day would be good?”

Bruce was a bit surprised. “You don’t want to speak to her now?”

The woman shook her head and bit her lip, debating briefly again what she had already decided.

“I wanted to see their faces, to see how different they are now from when I first met them. It was as I had feared. They are lovely young ladies with eyes of old warriors who have fought too long. Kara seems relaxed in the pool and is doing her best to appear playful, but she is very anxious, and it is growing. She will want to go back soon and the last thing she needs is an unknown element. Perhaps you can properly reintroduce us this week. For now, I suppose you will want to know all about me. Take her back, then return and we will discuss where this goes from here. I am in the suite below this one. I feared if I took the best you may find another hotel.”

“I look forward to it, Diana. Thank you.” he told her sincerely.

“Don’t thank me yet. We have much to discuss. I would like to speak to this Martian, J’onn you said?”

“He will be available tonight I am sure. I believe he was coming to visit Kara tonight regardless. He can come by after she goes to sleep. If you are interested I am throwing a sort of meet and greet for us, including Barry, tomorrow night in Gotham. I would love it if you could attend.”

Diana raised her eyebrow and tried not to laugh.

“A meet and greet? Will the famous Bruce Wayne bring his entourage of lovely ladies as well?”

“No.” he told her, grinning. “It’s going to be held in an almost abandoned section of Gotham, even gangs are terrified of entering. There is a large narcotics lab manufacturing alien drugs for distribution around the world. It is heavily fortified, many armed guards with incredibly powerful weapons and their own powers, depending on the species. My intel says it is being ran by a human who calls herself Roulette. Barry, J’onn and I plan to attack, detain as many as possible, stop those who can’t be contained and burn the place to the ground. What do you say?”

Diana nodded her head.

“I would say that sounds like a fun party I would hate to miss. I think I have the perfect outfit for it.”

The woman walked out of the bedroom, patted Alfred on the back, telling him good day while he tried not to jump in surprise at an unknown in the room.

Outside the girls and Barry never knew she had been there or left.

Kara was too busy trying to stay calm. The swim was nice, and the water in the hot tub felt wonderful but it also made her feel more sluggish than she had that morning. What little she did eat was threatening to come up and she desperately wanted to go to the restroom but didn’t know how to do it without Alex following her and Barry realizing that Alex follows Kara to the rest room to make sure she doesn’t try to cut her own throat or wrists or anything else.

She smiled at Barry, and a part of her that was not actively fighting anxiety was surprised out how muscular the slim man was and amused by how pale he was. Kara doubted Barry’s torso had seen sun in a long time.

“So… this is… new.” Barry started. “I guess this isn’t any surprise to you two, huh?”

“Hanging out in a penthouse with Bruce Wayne?’ Alex asked. “Of course not. You don’t really think we needed him to beat Myriad, did you? We only wanted to be friends, so we could take advantage of his cars and yachts. Plus, Alfred is really cool.”

Barry laughed softly but kept his eyes on Kara. It didn’t escape his notice that even though they were side by side Alex was watching her closely as well. The blonde seemed focused on giving the illusion of complete comfort but neither of them were confused.

Kara gave up, trying to exit the hot tub in a dignified fashion and hoped Alex would take it easy on her.

“I need to go to the bathroom.” she told the two and took her time standing up.

“Do…” Alex started then stopped. Kara probably wouldn’t do anything to herself. But asking her if she should follow her to the bathroom would embarrass her with Barry here.

Kara not hearing anything else from Alex, took the opportunity to move quickly, nearly losing her balance due to her shaky muscles but managing not to fall. She grabbed a nearby cotton robe Alfred had provided on a table and moved as casually as possible inside. She didn’t notice Bruce or Alfred watching her, instead focusing only on getting to the one places he could be alone.

Once inside with the door closed and locked, Kara let out a deep breath then another and another. She turned the water on in the sink and splashed her face, trying to prevent hyperventilating. In the past this was the surest sign of a panic attack and the only thing Kara was certain could distract her would be extreme pain or alcohol.

This time she made no such move. The meds must have been working because she was able to stare at herself in the mirror and calm her breathing eventually.

After four minutes standing before the sink, the rise and fall of her chest and her pulse rate had lessened.

She did not have a panic attack.

Before she could celebrate, she knelt before the toilet and expelled the remains of her burger and fries.

Standing shakily and rinsing her mouth out, she could feel Alex outside, not directly outside but nearby, probably waiting to hear something break and rush inside.

It hadn’t happened. Kara was still frightened but she was in control. She did not feel as if the walls were about to swallow her up.

“I’ve pushed my luck too far today.” she whispered and walked out, with a smile towards her sister who was sitting in a matching robe on a couch facing the direction Kara had been in.

“Bruce, I have had a great time, but I really want to get back. I am… getting tired.” she told the man but directed it toward her sister who was already standing.

“The limo will take you three to the park you arrived in. Walk to the back and Barry can take you. I can send the chopper, but I prefer to only fly it there in the dark.” Bruce told her.

“Thanks.” Kara told him gratefully and grabbed the bag Alex handed her. The two entered the bedroom and dressed then found Barry dressed as well. Barry was shaking Bruce’s hand and smiling and the sight of it did something to Kara, made her feel… dark.

The girl shook her head, trying to clear those thoughts away.

But on the ride to the park while Alex and Barry made small talk about music, Kara couldn’t get the vision of Barry shaking Bruce’s hand. It shouldn’t have bothered her, but it did. The reason wasn’t clear.

At least until Barry let her go from his arms at the cabin and raced back to retrieve Alex. For a moment, Kara was alone, no one around her, just nature and the sun setting in the distance. She had a moment of clarity.

She was afraid Barry would go down the same path she chose. The same path that Bruce chose, that they all did.

The last thing Kara wanted was for Barry to turn out like her or Bruce. She wasn’t stupid, she knew Bruce was interested in the Flash since he was first revealed. That was no surprise. What was a surprise was realizing that Bruce was interested in Barry. Her Barry. He wasn’t supposed to be the Flash.

What did that mean?

She liked Barry, felt better with him around. She laughed when he was around, and she missed him when he wasn’t there. He had come back in her life and engrained himself in it quickly, even with everything going on in Kara’s messed up life. Not for the first time, she wondered how things would be different now if she had called him after Myriad. Would she be the way she is? Would Barry still be the Flash? Was that both their fates?

But Kara was being told by everyone if she really wanted peace she would have to leave the saving of the world to others and live her own life, away from that one.

Did that mean that Bruce, one of her few friends, would no longer be in her life, not really? Not the way he had been. What about Barry? Barry would never give up being the Flash. Kara didn’t want… she didn’t know how she felt about that. All she knew was in this dark time in her life, he was one of the few bright spots that she clung to and wondered now, where it could all go, if anywhere.

“What’s wrong?” Alex asked. In Kara’s musings, she hadn’t realized that Barry had arrived back with her and a bag of fresh clothes in her hands.

The girl took off her glasses, the blonde hair and blue eyes revealing themselves once more and smiled brightly.

“Absolutely nothing. It was good today, I’m just really, really tired.”

Barry and Alex didn’t appear convinced, but Kara wasn’t concerned. She just wanted to get back into her underground hideaway. The blonde had not seen one newspaper or news report. The radio hadn’t been on nor had the television. She saw the world, a small part of it today but had no idea what was going on.

Kara’s plan to return to her room and watch Netflix was derailed as her least favorite person on the planet was waiting for her with a big grin on the residence level.

“Kara, you look like hell.” Thompkins greeted her. “No makeup and hair that smells like chlorine. I love it. Shall we retire to our spot?”

“You only fly in at night. How are you here?” Kara asked. Leslie made it a habit of flying in before sunrise and sleeping, meeting with Kara then leaving after sunset.

“I flew in right after you went to bed at 5 AM. Spit out a pill, huh? Your mother was eager to tell me. Come with me and we won’t be long. I just want to find out how your field trip went.”

Leslie walked off, Kara looking at her sister with a defeated face and following.

Alex and Barry were alone.

“She was nervous the entire time. Today didn’t go well, did it?” Barry asked.

Alex actually smiled.

“Not well? If not for those meds she would have had a full blow panic attack, but she didn’t!” Alex told him excitedly. “She didn’t pass out, she didn’t hit herself, try and scratch herself, all she did was ask to come back! This is huge. You have no idea how huge this is. They are working! No, they aren’t perfect but… I have to tell Mom and Dad and Shay and Caitlin…”

Alex stopped talking, noting the lack of excitement on Barry’s face.

“Look, I know you don’t understand. She was scared today. For someone that doesn’t know her well, I can see how that would be disturbing. But you have never seen Kara really scared. You have no idea. Dad made her immune to Kryptonite, but he has never been able to find anything that could relieve her anxiety. We have all worked on this for years and now with Shay and Caitlin, these medications are a gift, Barry. If we had these when she arrived and if she had never… it doesn’t matter. They worked in a real-world setting! She is going to get better. Therapy, the right combination of meds, this could really work, Barry.”

“She hardly ate. She threw more food at you than she actually put in her mouth.” he pointed out.

Alex agreed.

“Her appetite is going to go through fluctuations right now. I’m not saying it’s over and she now has some magical happiness cure. I’m just saying… imagine you are in a cell and the walls are solid steel. You have a sledgehammer and for years all you have done is hit that wall, over and over and never caused a dent. Then one day, you pick up a different sledgehammer and it busts through the wall. You aren’t out yet, it’s just a small hole but you can see the other side and for the first time in years, something happened, something that can give you hope. That is what I saw today.”

Barry could see her point. As far as Kara went he did have a rather narrow time frame to measure her behavior. Alex and her parents had a different measurement for Kara’s progress because they knew her lowest points. He had only heard about them, but they lived them.

“We need to talk before she comes back. I’m guessing you are staying the night. I am also guessing you are not going back to National City or Central City in the morning.”

“I was only in National City to pick…”

“Don’t.” Alex stopped him. “I know those guys as well as they know themselves. They aren’t sitting around National City letting this happen. They are preparing just like Bruce is. You don’t have to tell me because I don’t want to have to lie to Kara if she asks. I am just taking a wild guess that you are doing something with high ranking members of the DEO that has nothing to do with DEO business. I also know Bruce wants you for something, probably tomorrow night and probably in Gotham or Metropolis, right?”

Barry said nothing, looking up and down the halls as if spies might be around any corner.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Come with me.”

Barry easily followed her but did note that Alex was moving quicker than before. He followed her into her own quarters, as impersonal as the rest, but with just as nice a bed and television. She opened her closet and said something like thank you J’onn then pulled a bag out from it.

Barry grunted when the bag was pushed into his chest.

“Kara had Kelex begin making you a suit the afternoon she found out about you being… him. She was kind of freaked out and all over the place but Kelex told me she ordered him to start working. I am guessing you are wearing it in National City. This is one I had commissioned two weeks ago. If Bruce needs you, you are going to need something a lot tougher. You won’t be fighting the Trickster, or Captain Cold anymore, Barry. You are going to be fighting enemies with Zoom level power from this point on. Only the strongest will come after you now.”

Barry placed the bag on the bed and unzipped it, taking out its contents. It was like the one Connolly had given him. The boots appeared the same, the same strange bottom soles that could change grips, the fabric was just as slick, just as strong. The mask was more of a hardened case and the shoulders seemed a bit more protected. The lightning bolt designs were awesome, wrapped around the wrists of the glove, the pull over shirt and pants meeting with a lightning bolt belt that met the two pieces. He also noted some of the light weight padding was also in the legs and arms as well.

“It has a composite of armor like mine. Lightweight, flexible but will protect you from almost anything. I have taken shots from just about every alien hand held weapon you could think of in my suit and it hurts like hell but never penetrates or burns my skin. The lightning bolt over your right ear is your com with Kelex. I know you like Ramon but when you are in the field with Bruce, I’m letting Kelex be the eyes and ears. He can send you back to Ramon whenever you want but I would suggest keeping him. Suit up so I can show you what else you can do.”

Barry needed no further encouragement, speeding into the new one quickly.

“This feels awesome.” Barry told her. “I thought it would be heavier but it’s so lightweight…”

“I know, I have one. One with a lot more weapons and a lot cooler but the same materials. Okay bolt over your left ear, press it.”

Barry did so, not surprised when dark lenses covered the eye holes.

“That’s an HUD display. It allows Kelex to see what you are seeing. He can give you directions and speak at a speed that will be required to give split second directions, a speed no human can speak at or would understand except you.”

“So, it’s like my chest camera… I mean the one on my regular suit.”

“No, it isn’t just a camera.” Alex told him, trying not to roll her eyes. She gave him a suit designed by an alien supercomputer made from materials Earth may never have and he thinks it’s just a camera?

“It has infrared, targeting, telescopic vision, microscopic vision to an extent. Kelex can analyze whatever you are looking at by scanning it through the lenses, identify people you are seeing immediately, analyze the area around you for sounds, giving you a radar of the area, eyes in the back of your head basically. I have used all of these and trust me, they are useful.”

Barry shook his head, trying to take that in. He had seen Alex’s Manhunter persona on television, seen her take on aliens with Kara. The weapons and suit she had were impressive. Some even speculated that she could be a metahuman to account for the force of her strikes. While she was a great fighter, Barry suspected that suit and her hand-held weapons helped pack a punch as well.

“Yeah, I will try this out. When I am in Central City, I will have to…”

“No.” Alex told him.

Barry shook his head. “What do you mean no?”

“I told you when I brought her here that it could be months before you saw her. Remember that? I thought she needed to work on her without the distractions of anything or anyone else. But Mom and Dad wanted you here after they met you. You are good for her, you don’t push, and you accept her for who she is. I had to agree with them. She is different around you and that is why I am glad you are in her life right now.”

“Right now?” Barry asked, catching that.

Alex crossed her arms and began pacing.

“Kara decided to get away from this superhero stuff, but you are going to be in the thick of it.” she told him quietly, then continued.

“You don’t live in Midvale and you want to protect Central City. You want to protect the world if you are getting involved with Bruce. In the future you are going to have to prioritize some things. Kara really likes you obviously. But the better she gets, the less guarded, she is going to fall in love with you. That means if you are going to be a superhero and keep her out of it, she must know you can handle yourself. You have to come back to her and in one piece.”

Barry stepped in front of Alex to stop her pacing, and to read her face, figure out what she was trying to tell him.

“Alex, are you worried because you don’t think you can handle myself?”

“I’ve seen Kara get the hell beat out of her several times. She always wins but it hurts the same. No one is indestructible. What I am saying is I appreciate your loyalty to Cisco Ramon. I understand it. But if you are going to be a part of Kara’s life you can’t die, and you can’t let her see you hurt. That means you wear the best. This outfit is the best. If Ramon’s feelings are hurt I don’t care. You go out to fight, you fight in this. I am not playing games, Barry. Your friend Vibe can name all the evil metas he wants to his heart’s content but when it comes to war, you wear the best armor. We understand each other? You want to be in her life, you better protect yours. If Ramon has a problem with it, tell him I will be glad to stop by S.T.A.R. and he can take it up with me himself.”

Barry took a moment, remembering his thoughts about Cisco and Caitlin when Bruce talked about this team he wants to form. What about his team? What were his plans, his priorities? Was he given these gifts to protect Central City or for something greater? He knew he wouldn’t give up Kara, no matter what capacity she saw him in.

Would he be leaving behind Central City if he had to choose? What about Kara? He had nearly transferred colleges to be near her after they first met. Now she would be farther away from Central City. He would be splitting his time between working for the police department, working with Bruce’s team, working with his S.T.A.R. Labs team and seeing Kara.

Something had to give. He couldn’t have them all.

But one thing he wouldn’t give up is Kara, and Alex was right. He never wanted to see the look on her face when she realized Zoom had broken his back, again. He wanted to be strong and that meant having the best equipment and every advantage he could get.

“I’ll wear it, always.” Barry promised her.

“Thank you. I kind of like you too. We will keep looking for ways to improve it, make it more offensive as you… figure out how to do new things. Let’s go tell Mom and Dad the good news about the meds.”

While Alex was changing Barry’s wardrobe. Kara was face to face with her therapist a day early. Dr. Thompkins appeared to be in business mode, the teasing she showed in the hall, absent inside this room.

“Nelson Mandela said that there is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have been altered. Soon if you keep progressing, maybe a month or two you will be back in Midvale at the home you love. It will have been, for the most part unchanged. You will see it with new eyes though. Today you saw the world. While the world is ever changing, everyday life really isn’t. People go to work, go to lunch, go for walks, jogging, drinks after work, sit in traffic, you get the idea. For the first time since you entered this place you saw that the world was still spinning. You saw everyday life. How long did it take before you were ready to run back into this hole in the ground?”

“About five seconds, maybe.” Kara admitted. “Is that why you wanted me out there? To show me I wasn’t ready?”

Leslie shook her head.

“There were a couple reasons. One is that Shay needed to know to what extent the antipsychotic medications were working and was not sure how to test it. I felt putting you into the world with no warning but having Bruce and your sister by your side would be a good idea. I knew they wouldn’t push you, wouldn’t take you to bars or crowded areas and you wouldn’t run from them. I bet you wound up at some penthouse Bruce reserved. Judging by the smell of your hair there was a pool as well. Hot tub?”

“Seated 6.” Kara confirmed.

“Batman’s secret identity does know how to have fun. The second reason I wanted you to see a bit of the world is to realize that all the prisons you have feared your entire life on Earth are all in your head.”

“My head? What do you mean?”

“When you were 13, 14, 21, ever since you have been here, you have hated labs. Your Mom and Dad told me you really didn’t like hanging out at the DEO with them even though you did. You were terrified of being imprisoned. You told them you would rather be dead than kept here.”

Kara nodded her head, vaguely remembering those things when she first woke up here.

“But yet weeks later and you are given the chance to take the day, get out into the world, do whatever you want, and it took you five seconds to want to come back. This place isn’t your prison, Kara. Neither is the world. You want to be where you are safest and that doesn’t mean a lab or a cell or the free world. You are going to have to work on what you identified today that scared you, overcome these fears and move forward if you are ever going to be truly free.”

“I have been free before this.” Kara argued, twisting her hands together and tapping her toes as she often did when Leslie had caught onto some snag she was about to unravel.

“No, you haven’t. In Midvale you didn’t like to leave the house. You went on family vacations but a big part of you always wanted to remain home and not go anywhere. In National City you were at work, the bar, your apartment or the Fortress if you weren’t flying around saving people. Did you know that there was a park with a feeding zoo and a duck pond ten minutes from your building?”

“Yes, I did.” the girl answered, having flown over it many times.

“Did you ever go there or just fly over it?”

The blonde shrugged her shoulders.

“Tell me what you saw that frightened you today. Tell me the most frightening thing. Was it the people around you? Were you wondering if they knew you?”

“No,” Kara answered. “It wasn’t that. I saw… I saw a sign… the directions for an alien bar and the first thing I wondered was if I could get away. I didn’t want to, I don’t want to, but I knew if I had my powers I would have left. Nothing has changed. I haven’t changed.”

Kara tried to hold back the tears, but they came anyway. Leslie watched her, not moving and not saying a word until the girl calmed down. She then moved her chair closer and placed a hand on Kara’s.

“You have changed, Kara. You are crying because you wanted to go to a bar. That wouldn’t have happened a month ago. You are also right that if you had your powers you would have left them. Now, you do want to get to Midvale, you do want to start a new life and you don’t want to be afraid every time you are around alcohol, do you?”

Kara shook her head. “There won’t be alcohol at home. Mom and Dad wouldn’t allow it.”

“Alcohol will always be somewhere. Drugs are always somewhere. You are going to have to face it before you go home. You weren’t even out of a limo or hotel and you still saw enough to frighten you. This is why it is so important that you begin taking your work with the substance abuse counselor much more seriously. Some of the employees here are recovering addicts and alcoholics. People that have gone through what you are going through and fight it every day like you are going to have to. Alfred is going to start a group that meets tomorrow night and you will be there. I want you to participate but more importantly I want you to learn, learn from them. Listen to their stories, their struggles, their failures and their victories. Can you do that? Can you commit to it, really commit to it the way you have been committing to our sessions?”

Kara wiped her eyes and nodded her head with a small smile. “I will, I promise.”

“Last week I wouldn’t have believed you. This week, I do. See? You are making progress. Go, be with your loved ones, relax and don’t spit out anymore pills or Eliza will force feed them to you. Have a good night, kid.”

Kara did leave and tried to relax. Alex was in a good mood and Barry seemed relaxed and happy. Her parents were catching up with Clark and she was only poked once for a blood sample. She ate dinner, but not much. It wasn’t a lack of appetite so much but the taste of the food. Or lack of. The food had been great but today and now this evening it was if it had lost its taste. Nothing tasted good or bad, just bland. Deciding she had enough for the day, Kara thanked Barry for being with her and left him with Caitlin. Alex was already asleep by 9, so Kara figured she would follow suit. She felt drained.

At 9:15, Clark and her parents entered her room.

Eliza gave Kara a cup with five pills.

“Are you my nurse tonight, Mom?” she asked humorously.

“We were coming this way to tuck you in and thought we would save the nurse a trip.” Jeremiah explained.

All three were staring at her with grins.

“Thanks?” Kara offered and swallowed the pills, followed with a cup of water.

Eliza stepped up, arms crossed with a smile on her face.

“You are really going to make me do this, aren’t you?”

Eliza said nothing.

Kara sighed and opened her mouth, giving the woman a look inside.

Satisfied, Eliza and Jeremiah hugged her and with a good night, left her with Clark.

“If you want to tell me how your day at the beach went you better do it quick. I have about ten minutes before I am out for the next ten hours.”

The blonde climbed under the covers, a little surprised when Clark did the same next to her.

“I had fun. How was your day?”

“It was… not good. I didn’t feel comfortable. Are you okay?”

Clark nodded and wrapped his arms around Kara, laying his head on her shoulder.

“I want to sleep with you tonight. You mind?”

“Of course not.” the blonde told him, happily. She loved when he sought her out at night. It was usually Eliza he slept with, if anyone. She could feel her eyes getting heavier and knew she would be out soon for the night.

“I told myself, I promised myself that I wouldn’t keep anything else from you. I wouldn’t hide anything. I haven’t had a chance to tell you, but three days ago, Leslie found out more information about what happened on Krypton before we left. She asked Kelex some questions about my DNA and it led to other things… anyway, do you want to hear?”

Clark said nothing for a moment, then told her he did.

So, Kara told him, holding nothing back, Alura’s threats, her plans to get Kara off the planet no matter the cost or what she had to do including murdering her husband and setting up Clark’s father. After she was done, she waited for a response from him, any response.

Finally, she heard him laugh softly.

“Clark? You okay?”

“I’m better. This is good.”

“It is?”

“At least we had one relative that just wanted to protect her kid. Sounds to me like my aunt was kind of a badass. She didn’t want to keep Krypton alive or smuggle the Codex off the planet. She just wanted you to live and did what she had to do to make sure it happened. That’s pretty cool.”

Kara squeezed him, pulling him closer and closed her eyes, grinning.

“Yeah, I guess she was kind of a badass.” Kara admitted before darkness took her.

Gotham City, Monday Night

Barry followed Bruce’s directions and arrived on top of an old shipping building, running up it slower than he could, to not give himself away with a lightning trail. He had left the Block that morning after having breakfast with the Danvers and spent the day at Wayne Manor studying a data chip Alfred had slipped to him on his way out.

On the roof, Batman was crouched at the end of the building, looking over the massive old warehouse below and across the street. Standing next to him was J’onn Jonzz, tall, green, armored and caped. He quietly zipped next to the two. Bruce spared him a glance.

“Nice outfit.” he offered.

Batman and the Martian Manhunter did not seem surprised but Barry was when a woman walked up behind him and greeted them.

The Flash, Batman and the Martian Manhunter looked her over.

“Nice outfit.” the three told her.

“Thank you. Its vintage.”

Diana pulled the sword from her back and smiled.

“Gentleman, shall we?”