Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Survivors

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 36: Truths and Lies

The father and daughter walked hand in hand, bare feet barely in the cold water but neither seemed to mind the temperature. They hadn’t said a word, both lost in their own thoughts but knew one of them would have to break the silence.

“Can I see your eye?” Jeremiah finally asked.

Kara slowly took the sunglasses off and looked at him with a bit of embarrassment.

“The swelling is gone. Only a bit of yellow. You should be completely healed in a few hours.”

The blonde shrugged her shoulders. “I wish it would stay for a couple days. It would remind me of how stupid I am every time I look in a mirror.”

“Don’t do that.” he told her softly. “You are not stupid. You are impulsive and reckless sometimes but not stupid. Never that.”

“Thanks.” she whispered, though she didn’t believe him. “I screwed up last night, and the night before. I shouldn’t have broken into the DEO. I shouldn’t have flown off last night…”

“Kara, please stop. I think we covered that at the house. I wasn’t innocent in the whole thing either. I didn’t bring you out here to talk about that. I just wanted to set some things straight. You seem to have gotten it into your head that I am not proud of you.”

“I didn’t mean that.” she told him quickly.

“Don’t lie to me, Kara. We have always been honest with each other, right?”

“Yes, I guess so. You have anyway. I’ve kept some things from you over the years, things I have done to myself, things I wanted to do… I never lied but I haven’t told you everything.”

“And you think I don’t know when you are holding back? I can read you like a book. A favorite book I enjoy reading over and over again. I didn’t know Zor El obviously. I can’t speak of him. I don’t know what it was like growing up there for you. I have formed some ideas over the years but I have no real way of knowing. What I do know is since you came into our lives, you have been mine. There has never been a time I haven’t been proud of you.”

Kara laughed softly, but there was no humor in it.

“What about when I tried to kill myself? When I was snapping my fingers? Cutting myself, burning my arms and sometimes my legs? All the times I lose my temper, or didn’t get out of bed for days because I let depression beat me? You were proud of me then? When I couldn’t sit through a storm, no matter how small without having a panic attack?”

“Yeah, even then, because I knew you were fighting. You never stopped fighting. I knew you would get back up. Its who you are. You never stay down, Kara. You have been to some very low places in your heart but you always come back. Do you know the first night you slept at our home, when we slept on the roof, I didn’t sleep at all? I lay there and listened to you breathe. I knew my life would never be the same. Not just because of two new children either. I suddenly had this daughter next to me, another girl I would kill and die for. You kind of came out of nowhere and blew me away. You changed all our lives. I also knew you were going to have so many challenges. I had a pretty good idea from the rock demonstration of how terrible what you had gone through had been. I knew it would not be easy, for any of us. Nothing worth having is ever easy. You mumbled in your sleep a few times, and I told you it would be okay. I told you that I would protect you, that no one would harm you. You were safe.”

“I slept all night. It was the first time since I arrived on Earth that I slept all night with no nightmares.” she remembered. “I couldn’t believe you were there with me when you laid down.”

“When you went to school the first day you were so scared and so was I. I wanted to keep you inside, protect you from the world. I knew you would be talked about and worse, I knew you would hear everything. But you took it, you came home with a smile. You made the best of it.”

“That was because Alex got me through it.”

“Yeah, because that is what family does. We get each other through things. If I had a fight, if had people after me, or people that I had to fight before they hurt others, would you want to help me?”

“Of course. Always.”

“Then why would you think I love you any less than you love me?”

“I don’t know.” she answered quietly and looked out over the ocean.

“Those three girls on Clark’s first soccer team, the ones Alex never could get to play. They sat through every practice and game and picked flowers. You asked the grounds keeper to make sure he didn’t cut the wildflowers on the sidelines so they would have bouquets to give to their mothers after the game. You sat with them every game and sang with them, compared bouquets, braided flowers into their hair. Those girls smiled at every game. They smiled the whole time.”

“Alex wasn’t exactly impressed with my coaching skills.” Kara remembered.

“I was. You were so good with them. I remember watching the news, that horrific night when you had run off to Gotham. I was scared out of my mind. I kept imagining in you having a panic attack and suffocating or losing your powers because you couldn’t breathe and burning to death. But as scared as I was, every time firefighters would come down and news casters reported fire escapes suddenly being cleared, a ladder being called for to rescue trapped kids and nurses and… I guess that would be obvious but yeah, despite being terrified, we were all pretty proud of you.”

“I had a panic attack right after.”

“But not before and not during. You fought a battle in that hospital and you won. You never thought twice about going. You didn’t think about what could happen to you. You knew people needed help and you went.”

“I got lucky I guess.”

“No, they did. I have every picture, sketch, painting you have ever done, even the ones you got rid of because you thought they weren’t perfect. The ones you thought you threw away, I rescued from the trash, straightened them out and have them in a box I keep hidden in my closet, so you wouldn’t find them and try and throw them away again. I still go through them at times. I loved how you would let Clark help you make a new sign for each one of Alex’s games, the joy on his face, even if he did smudge most of it and more paint got on you than the cardboard. I know you think he doesn’t love you as much as Alex but he does. He idolizes both of you. I know you don’t like him bringing up your problems but what 6 year old would even care? He does it because he loves you so much. Speaking of soccer, I don’t think I have ever told you how proud I was of you during Alex’s try out.”

Kara looked away from the ocean and met his eyes.

“Yeah, I don’t know what you did, but you did something. I knew, Eliza knew, that Alex wasn’t popular, and we both worried about those other girls trying to push her around. But they didn’t. They even made a point to stay away from her. I am not sure what you did, I probably don’t want to know, but I know you were looking out for her.”

“She has spent every moment since I have been in her life, looking out for me.”

“When you convinced Alex to sing at that first concert, I was proud of you. Only you could have talked her into that. I am proud of the smile you put on in public, even when you don’t want to. That takes bravery. Kara, I worry about you, I get scared for you a lot. Yeah. I want you at home with us so I can be there for you. Yes, I think Alex is a little better equipped for now to handle living in National City but you have been doing well. Just because I worry does not mean I am not proud of you. It means I love you. I’m kind of weak too. Eliza tells me all the time I have to give you some space, let you grow on your own but that scares the hell out of me. I need to get better at it. But don’t ever think I am not proud of you. I am proud of all my kids but what you have overcome, it takes a brave heart and an amazing soul. You… I can’t speak about your birth father but if he wasn’t proud of you then he was an idiot. Only a fool wouldn’t be proud of you.”

Kara sniffed a bit and stopped walking. Both of them looked out over the ocean.

“You aren’t just saying that are you? Because I know I have done a lot of things you aren’t proud of.”

“You have done some things I wish you hadn’t. But that doesn’t mean I am not proud of you. Please never think that. What you did at the DEO was not a good decision but you did it. You pulled it off. I never want you to do something like that ever again but unbelievably you broke into the headquarters of a black ops agency and stole information and they still don’t realize it. I have to say Kara, as much as I hated you doing it, telling J’onn you did it and watching his strong jaw clench in anger to hide his embarrassment is something I am looking forward to.”

Kara let out a genuine laugh. “Yeah, I can’t wait to see his face too… but… do you really think Lex Luthor planted it there?”

The man took a deep breath and did not answer right away, taking a few seconds.

“I don’t believe the DEO had it there. I believe it was planted. As much as I want to blame Lex Luthor and I think, I believe he did it, we have no way of knowing for sure. If he did and I think we have to go under the assumption that he did, then he is trying to play a very dangerous game. I don’t think his sister has any part of it but I do think he will exploit your friendship with her for his own gains. I do think Lionel Luthor is dangerous to us and I think Lex from what I know is more vicious than his father. I would never make you stay away from a friend but I do have to ask you to stay away from Lex Luthor. His showing up, your bike being tracked and a false file sloppily put on the DEO mainframe… those are three big coincidences. I know you think the same. I also think we can’t do this alone. We have to make a decision. Its actually your decision because we will follow you. We need to know who to trust. If we decide to trust the guys, Connolly, Dante, J’onn, then we need to do it. We can’t be questioning them constantly. We are going to have to give them the benefit of the doubt. But whatever we do we have to be united in this.”

“What do you think, Dad? I’ll do what…”

“No. Kara, this is your decision. I can’t make it for you. You are the one who has to believe in them or not. I’m good either way but we either need to be one, or cut them out completely. It is your choice. We will go along with whatever you are comfortable with.”

Kara nodded her head slightly. “Can I have some time to think about it?”

“You can have whatever you need. What I need you to understand Kara, is that I love you, I will always love you and I am always proud of you. There has never been a time I have not been proud of you. I need you to believe that. Even if we disagree, that will never change.”

Kara hugged her father tightly, burying her head in his chest.

They slowly walked back to the house, where Eliza was in the kitchen heating up pizza for lunch. Kara noticed her hands shaking while she pulled down paper plates from the cabinet.

“You okay?” the girl asked. “Your hands are shaking.”

Eliza shook her head and rested her hands on the edge of the sink, bent over slightly.

“Am I okay? Kara, what would you think if Clark or Alex had done what you did last night and came home looking like you did? How would you feel?”

Kara said nothing. She knew exactly what she would feel. Terror and anger.

“I’m sorry. I promise to never do it again.”

“I know, but my nerves are a bit shot, okay.? I told you that I wouldn’t buy you a new phone. Of all the stupid things to say but that is what popped in my head. I didn’t know what else to say. I… I lay on the couch, wondering if I would ever see you again then I woke up to a nightmare. You scared the hell out of me, so I guess right now, no, I am not okay. I know I am supposed to be supportive and… but you scared me. So its going to take a bit for the shaking to stop.”

“What can I do? I don’t want you mad at me. I can’t take it when you are mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you, Kara. Okay, I am mad at you but I am mad because you had me so worried. While you were sleeping it off this morning I stayed in the bathroom because everything I tried to eat came back up.”

“So I can’t do anything to make you not mad at me? I guess Alex…”

“Kara stop. Come here.” Eliza opened her arms and Kara rushed into them. “You are my precious girl. Even when I am mad I still love you. I realize things with the DEO and this move have you shaken and we haven’t handled it well but you can’t keep acting like this. You are going to get yourself killed and you are going to have to kill other people. I don’t want you to have to do that Kara. I know why you have but you have too pure of a soul for that. I want you to try and stay out of situations where you have to kill. It is going to eat at you eventually. I don’t want that for you. If you have no choice that is one thing. You had no choice last night and as far as that Vrang, I can understand the need to vent all this rage you have been holding back but you are going to have to hold back when you can. Try to stay out of situations where you are forced to do something like that. Did you even know that was a bar last night? Did you think? What were you going to do if you walked in and it was full of Rozz prisoners and they all recognized you?”

“I don’t know.” Kara admitted. “Fight, I guess.”

“Do you know what it would have done to us if you disappeared forever? It would tear us all apart, Kara. You aren’t just taking chances with your own life. We are all connected to each other. If one of us is harmed then we all are. Remember that, okay?”

“I will.”

“I love you. I am sure Alex wants to have an in-depth discussion with you but we should probably eat and then talk to Clark. I will talk to him if you don’t want to. I wouldn’t ask you to. Just tell me what you want me to say.”

Kara shook her head. “I knew this day would come. Its on me. I can handle it.”

A quiet lunch was had, no one really talking. Kara could tell Alex was off and she imagined she had one more round of apologizing to do but Clark had to come first.

Kara asked Clark if he would come into the living room so she could talk to him.

“Are you going to tell me what adoption is?”

“I’m going to tell you everything. I am going to tell you why I have powers, where we are from and how we came to be here. It is going to be difficult for you to understand and accept but I will tell you everything.”

“I want to know.” he assured her.

The family had seats but Kara and Clark sat on the floor.

“Okay, I am going to tell you where we are from. This is a secret, the biggest secret we have. If you ever tell anyone we could all be in great danger, so I am trusting you. Can you handle this?”

“Yeah, I can.”

“I hope so. Adoption means that when a child’s parents die, or can’t take care of them, then another set of parents takes the child and makes them their own. You and I are adopted. Our first parents died. When you were only a year old, we came to live here. Mom and Dad took us in, they took care of us. They have been our Mommy and Daddy since.”

“So I wasn’t born, I mean Mommy didn’t have me?’

“No, they chose us. They loved us so much they took us in, took care of us, gave us everything we could ever need and more.”

“So I had a different Mommy and Daddy when I was born?”

“Yes. Like I said, they died.”

“And they were the same Mommy and Daddy you had?”

“No. My Daddy and your Daddy were brothers. You were my cousin. After you were born I took care of you. Before we go further there is something I need to tell you. You know what aliens are, right? You have seen cartoons, where people are from different planets?”

“Like funny looking monsters?”

“Sometimes. But some aliens look just like people. Clark, me and you, we weren’t born here on Earth. We were born on a planet called Krypton.”

Clark stared at her for a moment.

“Seriously?” he finally asked. Kara let out a laugh at his ernest look.

“Yeah, seriously. That is why I can fly and have those lasers that come out of my eyes and can move so fast.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, Clark. I am being very serious. I said I would tell you where we are from and I am not lying to you.”

“So where is Krypton? How did we get here?”

Kara took a deep breath.

“Something bad happened to Krypton. The planet exploded. Its not there anymore. Our parents sent me and you here to Earth in a spaceship. When we landed, we didn’t know anyone. I couldn’t speak English, we didn’t have a place to live and sometimes we didn’t have food to eat. That is when Alex found us. She brought us to Mom and Dad and they adopted us. They chose to become our parents. They didn’t have to but they loved us a whole lot. They took care of us, they did everything for us. When they adopted us, I became your sister and so did Alex.”

“How old were you?”

“I was 13.”

Clark sat on the floor fidgeting with his fingers for a moment and no one said anything.

“You remember our first Mommies and Daddies?” he asked finally.

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t they come with us, in the space ship?”

Kara looked at Eliza. She was smiling at Clark proud of how he was handling things but there was also a tension. Kara had to tread carefully. She knew what she would say in the next few minutes would be tricky and she had a decision to make. Only it wasn’t really a decision at all.

“Because, our parents were scientists like Mom and Dad. They stayed on Krypton to try and stop the planet from blowing up. They wanted to save everyone but they couldn’t. They tried really hard. They were… they were heroes.”

Clark sat in silence for a while longer. Jeremiah and Alex watched Kara closely. Neither could believe what she had just said but once again, they, all three, were proud of her. Kara was always strong no matter what she thought.

“What were my first parents names?”

“Your father was called Jor El. Your mother was Lara. My father was named Zor El and my mother was named Alura. Your name was Kal El. My name was Kara Zor El.”

“Jor El and Lara? What were they like?”

Kara felt her stomach turning. She felt like she did this morning, having an overwhelming urge to vomit.

“They… they were the best people. Like I said, they were heroes. Your father was a… a great man. Your mother… they loved you very much. They were smart and brave. People looked up to them, kind of like they look up to our Mom and Dad now.”

“Oh… okay. But you said you had powers because we came from another planet. Why don’t I have powers?”

“You will one day.” Kara told him gently. “Have you been smelling things you don’t usually smell? Have you been seeing farther than you normally do?”

“Sometimes.”

“As you get older, you will have more powers, probably the same powers I have.”

“Are they going to make me… nevermind.”

Alex groaned and rubbed her head but it was fine. Kara expected this.

“Clark, I was 13 when we left Krypton. I remember everything. It wasn’t… nice. I have had a lot of bad memories and sometimes, a lot of times, I have bad dreams. For a long time I was very angry about what happened. I was also sad. Sometimes I hurt myself because I was angry but I didn’t have anybody to be angry with. So I took it out on myself. Sometimes I still do. When I was your age, on Krypton parents were very strict. When you were told to do something, you did it without question. That is why I sometimes can be bossy. I forget that you are different, that you have spent nearly your whole life here. Clark, there is one more thing you need to know.”

“Is it good or bad?”

“Its bad. Remember I said it was very important to keep this a secret?”

“Yeah.”

“We aren’t the only people from Krypton on Earth. There are others and they are not good people. They didn’t like our parents because our parents were good people and heroes. They can’t find us, they never will and you will always be safe. But me and Alex, we are going to arrest them all one day and put them back in jail where they belong.”

“Alex? Does Alex have superpowers?”

“No, but she has a pretty cool laser gun and can kick a lot of bad guy’s butts.”

Clark looked at the floor then crawled into Kara’s lap, surprising her.

“I am sorry you remember all that. It makes you sad, doesn’t it? Is that why you sometimes scream at night? Because you have bad dreams?”

“Yeah,” she admitted, her eyes misting, “thats why Clark.”

“Why don’t you call me Kal El?”

“Because your name is Clark Danvers. Mom and Dad are our parents. They are your mother and father and never forget that. We would have been lost, alone, hungry, if not for them and our big sister. We are a family and we are called the Danvers. Now this is important too, okay?”

“Okay.”

“You know how you are never supposed to lie? There are some things you are going to have to lie about, Clark. If anybody ever asks you, then you tell them our parents died in a fire when you were a baby and Mommy and Daddy adopted us. That is all. You are going to be moving to National City to be closer to me and Alex in a few weeks and no one should ask you but if they do, that is all you are going to tell them.”

“Okay. I promise I won’t say anything.”

“I know you won’t. You are a good boy. I am so proud of you. I always have been. I am sure you are going to have more questions and when we are alone you can talk to any of us about them.”

“Okay. Can I go play?”

“Yeah. I love you, little one.”

“I love you too, Kara. Thank you Mommy and Daddy for being our Mommy and Daddy.”

Eliza wiped her eyes and grabbed the boy in a hug.

“Thank you Clark. You have made us so happy. You and your sister both have. Go play, I will be out there in a minute.”

Clark, needing no further encouragement ran outside.

“Its easier when they are young. They still have open minds.” Kara mused.

“Like I said Kara. I am always proud of you.” Jeremiah told her. “That couldn’t have been easy.”

“It wasn’t, but it was what he needed to hear. He can never know the truth, about the Codex, about Jor El, Lara and my father destroying a planet, he can never know anything about that. No good will ever come of it. It will only hurt him. If it has to hurt one of us, I would rather it be me every time.”

Eliza sat on the floor next to Kara, and wrapped her arms around the girl.

“I’m pretty proud of you too, Kara.”

“Does that mean you will buy me a new phone and I’m not grounded?”

“God no, you are grounded for the next century but I am very proud of you. I suppose we should watch the little guy play. “

Alex and Kara agreed and stood. Kara told everyone she had to go to the bathroom first. Looking at the faces of those around her, she sighed heavily.

“Which one of you is coming with me?”

“I am sweetie. Its okay.” Eliza told her and followed her to the bathroom. After what Kara just had to do they were not leaving her alone for a while.

Alex did not appear to be angry that night, instead working on the bogus files. She was sure if there was a way to decrypt them she would find it. The longer she worked on it the more convinced she became that this was no encryption. It was just random code. Kara begrudgingly agreed, not because she was upset that they hadn’t betrayed her but because she felt like a fool for thinking they had, being suckered by Lex Luthor.

“So I guess you are pretty mad…” Kara tried.

“Not now. You don’t need anyone else hammering you. Its over with and I never want to think about what could have happened, what did happen to you, again. You know how I feel. No reason to keep beating you over the head with it. I should have texted you. I was caught up and…”

“Stop Alex. Don’t apologize for having a life. I don’t want that.”

“I could have taken five seconds to check on you, to let you know I was doing okay. I guess I have just gotten so used to you hanging out with Lena that I forget that you might have…”

“Stop. I am not your responsibility. It was dangerous, breaking into the DEO. I didn’t want you to be in trouble or worse get hurt or killed. Thats the only reason I didn’t tell you.”

“I have trained for six years to do dangerous things that can get me killed so we can do them together. Me and you, we always come first. If I asked you to stay away from Lena, would you?”

Kara did not think long. She knew the answer.

“Yeah, I would.”

“I wouldn’t ask that but I know you would because we come first. Same with whatever girl I happen to be with. We come first. You and me. Don’t fight anymore aliens without me, understand?”

“Yeah, same goes for you.” Kara told her jokingly.

“I’m serious.”

“So am I. It won’t happen again. I promise. You know I never break my promises to you.”

Alex silently conceded. Kara did not break promises. At least promises not involving hurting herself.

“I’m used to a lot. We have been through some pretty tough things together. We have gotten through them together. I’ve just never seen you… hurt by…”

“Someone other than myself?” Kara guessed. Alex looked at her and nodded slightly. Kara saw her sister’s eyes were becoming wet.

“And your eye… I thought… I thought you might have internal bleeding and I didn’t know what the hell you drank. Your ribs were broken and you weren’t breathing that well. It scared me, Kara. I was really, really scared.”

“I know. It won’t happen again.”

Alex hugged her and went back to her work, blinking away the threatening tears. Neither said much more that night, lost in their own project of trying to decrypt something that wasn’t there to decrypt in the first place. Kara wanted to make sure nothing was there and Alex wanted to prove to Kara nothing was there. Since computer science was neither’s area of specialty, it was unlikely either would make much headway.

The next morning, after a big breakfast, thanks to Kara’s returning appetite, they had guests, more guests than they expected. J’onn, in Henshaw’s skin and all of Connolly’s team were present. Kara became tense seeing them all here and began scanning them for guns.

“Have a seat gentleman. You know where the fold out chairs are.” Eliza told them.

Kara nearly asked them to disarm but thought better of it. She didn’t feel weak, Clark did not look sick so there was no Kryptonite in those clips. That meant she could disarm them all in a second if she needed to.

“So what happened? Who put the tracker on Kara’s bike? Alex told Dante it was Lex Luthor? Why would he do that?” J’onn asked. Kara looked at Jeremiah, who explained the events of the last few days. J’onn was not happy.

“So not only did you break into our headquarters but you led Lex Luthor right to our door?” he asked the blonde.

“You are in the middle of National City. You have a balcony. You have FBI agents going in and out all day, dressed in head to toe black. You seriously think anyone looking would have a difficult time?” she countered.

“It is still against the law…”

“So what? You are going to arrest me? I’d like to see you try.” Kara responded, getting angry as she often was when challenged.

“Lets calm down. Kara honey, its okay. Please don’t fry him.” Jeremiah asked, mindful that Kara had an explosive temper and J’onn had no sense of self preservation. “Lets forget the fact that an 18 year old girl broke into your high security building undetected and stole data from your system. Frankly, you should be embarrassed. As far as talking to her about the foolishness of the act that is our place, not yours. You might want to learn from what she did and tighten up your own home.”

J’onn grudgingly asked Jeremiah to continue. He became angrier the longer he listened. However the word Myriad placed his anger on the back burner, instead focusing on anxiety over what a Myriad toy could be.

“I suppose first I need to know a few things.” Connolly spoke up for the first time. “Kara, do you believe that file was planted or that we have been studying you?”

Kara looked at her parents then at Alex, She didn’t see an answer in any of their poker faces. She supposed like Jeremiah said, it was on her.

“Lex would have to have been incredibly smart to do it. He had to have been watching me for a long time. The tracker could have been put on my bike by Lena’s bodyguards because they were upset about the two of us sneaking off. I… I don’t think you keep a file on us. I hope not.” Kara finished.

Connolly shook his head.

“Kara could we talk alone? Just for a minute? Just between me and you.”

“I don’t think…” Eliza started.

“Its okay Mom. Lets go outside.”

The two walked outside towards the cliff, out of hearing distance from the house even if someone walked outside.

“So you broke into a high security government compound, stole something, waited a day, found a bar, killed someone and then got drunk. I’ve had weekends like that. If I wasn’t so worried about you I would be proud of you. I never wanted you to have to kill anyone, especially when you were 13, but I knew the day would come where you had to, especially if you got involved with this Fort Rozz business. You went looking for trouble but once it found you, you did what you had to do.”

“You aren’t upset?” Kara asked. Connolly shook his head.

“I would be a hypocrite if I was. What went down is between you and your parents. Thats why they are your parents. I even get why you did it. When you have had bad things happen to you, especially by the people who were supposed to take care of you, like your Kryptonian parents, it makes it hard to trust anyone, doesn’t it?”

Kara shrugged her shoulders, not meeting his eyes.

“I have my team, selected by me and molded into a family. They are the only ones I completely trust. You have the Danvers. They are the only ones you completely trust. But things are going to have to change for both of us, Kara.”

“I know. Dad said we either trust you completely or cut you out.”

“He is right. Its your decision. I can stand here and talk for an hour on why you should trust us but nothing is going to change the feeling in your gut. You either do or you don’t. Have you ever read Stephen King’s Dark Tower series?”

“You know how I feel about horror novels. I haven’t picked up anything with his name since I accidentally read half of the Shining.”

“These aren’t exactly horror novels. I’m not a big fan myself but there was a belief system in the books, called Ka. Its kind of like fate. A Ka Tet is a group of many from all walks of life coming together as one. The question you have to ask yourself is if we are going to be a part of that. We can be many acting as one, or we can stick to our own circles. Its your decision. I’m going to leave you alone for a while. Think about it and when you come back, we can talk about Myriad, or you can ask us to leave. Your call. I personally think we have a better chance working together against Astra and Non but that is up to you. Either way, once you make a decision that is it. We won’t question each other again. If you trust us, you trust us. If not I understand and it has been an honor working with you and your sister.”

The man left her staring at the ocean, a view that had become so engrained in her she had taken it for granted until she moved to National City.

Trust. Trust a Government agency, or trust only her family, no one else.

Had it just been Kara, she wouldn’t have anything to do with them, whether she trusted them or not. She felt she would be better on her own, finding and taking out Rozz escapees one by one. But Jeremiah, Eliza and Alex were determined to be in this fight. If she said no to the DEO, would her adopted parents work for them anyway?

No, they wouldn’t. They would do what she wanted, or didn’t want in this case. But Alex wouldn’t. Alex needed weapons, she needed Kryptonite, she needed a team.

But it all came down to one thing. Did she trust them? She had trusted Zor El and Alura. She had trusted Astra despite her husband. She had been betrayed by them all in her mind.

Dante had been strangely silent during the conversation. He hadn’t even looked at her. Did he know she doubted him? Of course he knew. It must have hurt him.

Connolly was right. When you have been betrayed by those who were supposed to look out for you, trust was hard to come by. His mother had killed herself in front of him. He would know.

Kara took a deep breath. Like all the decisions in her life she had to hope for the best. Many of her decisions had been wrong but some had been right. The most important right decision she had ever made was coming back to Alex after she had left when her parents found out about her. She trusted then. This team had been with her nearly her entire time on Earth. They killed for her.

Walking inside, she saw that everyone was waiting, expecting an answer.

“I suppose we should talk about Myriad.”

A collective breath was let out in the room. Even J’onn broke his customary frown to give way to a look of relief.

“Yes, we should.” he finally said. “Any ideas Kara? Have you ever heard about it, maybe as a child?”

“As you know I wasn’t told much about anything as a child. However, if she is having problems finding metal, it must be something huge that needs to go into space or contain a large amount of power. They originally based in Fort Rozz and I am guessing it would have been perfect for them. They are most likely trying to rebuild something like it again. Alex and I will have access to all Kryptonian data banks soon. We have been building a Fortress in Antarctica.”

“Antarctica?” Eliza asked, trying not to groan.

“Yes, we camp out there on Saturdays. Its been fun.” Alex told her mother.

“The area is carved out. Once I place the crystals where they need to be, the Fortress will build itself in the space I have made. I believe in the crystals there should be technology, such as a Kelex and of course Jor El’s hologram. If anything is known about Myriad, it will be there.”

“Wait a minute. Thats what you meant by building a Fortress?” Jeremiah asked. “Those crystals can just have flying robots pop out of them?”

“Yes. Kryptonian crystals were how we stored many things, knowledge, power, technology for space travels. The military needed to save space, make ships smaller. The crystals can break down physical objects and store the atoms inside then regenerate them when asked. The Fortress is almost ready. We will be activating the crystals when we return after the Holiday.”

“You are both grounded. Antarctica?” Eliza complained.

“Whoa.” Alex told her, stopping that line of thought. “You never once said we could not camp in Antarctica. You cannot ground us for something you never said we couldn’t do.”

Eliza looked at Jeremiah who shrugged his shoulders.

“She has a point.” the man admitted.

“Fine. From this point on, if you two leave the country without letting me know first you are both severely grounded and moving in with us. Do you both understand?”

“Got it.” Alex agreed.

“There is another way to find out what Myriad is. I can ask Astra.” Kara told the room.

That shut everyone up.

“You think I am going to allow you to go near her? Kara, seriously.” Eliza told her.

“You don’t have to allow me near her. J’onn can use one of those phones that are impossible to trace. I can go somewhere far away from National City. Deliver a phone with my number to the bar I destroyed. Leave it with the bartender with instructions to get it to Astra and call me. She won’t be able to resist. It sounds like the alien population on this planet knows who I am anyway. I can talk to her, ask her to stop, and I can also tell her that Non is trying to find me behind her back to kill me. If nothing else I can cause a rift between the two of them. Best case scenario we can track her phone. Even if she isn’t at her base, we can block out some places. If she is in Europe it is unlikely that she would fly to the US to call me. Plus if the Fort Rozz guys regularly frequent a bar in Metropolis, they must be near there.”

They all were lost in their thoughts for a moment. Finally Jeremiah voiced the biggest concern.

“Kara, how would you handle hearing her voice? Please think hard about that. Could you handle it without having a breakdown? You haven’t heard her voice in a very long time.”

“I stared down Jor El. I can handle her on the phone. If it gets too much I can always hang up. Jessica can be with me, you can all be with me. You can also fake some background noises, something she could hear that would give her an idea of where I might have been and set a trap.”

Kara’s sister and parents did not look happy about this.

“Can we wait and see if you find anything out at this Fortress?” Eliza asked. “I think you should only call her as a last ditch effort. You have to see the potential damage, Kara.”

Kara did think, using her head instead of her heart that was normally ready for action. She had to admit that she did not know how she would react.

“Fine. We set up the Fortress when we get back and if there is no information there, we go with my plan. Agreed?”

Everyone in the room reluctantly agreed, none happy but seeing the wisdom in the plan unless Kara suffered a complete breakdown from hearing Astra and by extension, her mother’s voice again.

“Kara, I would like to be able to visit this Fortress.” J’onn told her.

“Fine. Give me and Alex access to the DEO and I will let you visit my clubhouse with me. You show me yours and I will show you mine.”

“Kara, please never say that again.” Jeremiah asked.

“I cannot just give an eighteen year old access to the DEO.” J’onn argued.

“Call us interns for all I care. We will even dress like black is the only color on Earth. Those are my conditions. You want to play in our ice castle, We play in your alien prison.”

J’onn shook his head but he really did want to see the information banks of Krypton. Apparently Kara could have access to the DEO whenever she wanted anyhow.

“I will work something out. Anything else you want since we will be working together?” the Martian asked.

“I need a new unlimited data service plan, with an I Phone 7…”

“Kara!” Eliza scolded, dashing the girl’s hope.

“Never mind. We won’t have much time. It could be years or months or days before whatever weapon she is working on is ready. I am going to have to draw them out. Alex and you can all watch my back, but this starts now.”

“College…” Jeremiah started.

“We can still go to college. Its not like we are going to do it full time. I just have to be seen, I have to get them to converge on me. If Astra doesn’t budge, we have to do something and I am the only target that will bring her out.”

“No, you stay out of the public limelight. We work together then you have to maintain secrecy, the same as we do.” J’onn argued.

“I will unless it becomes necessary. We may work together but my opinion matters too. I won’t take orders from you. We are teammates, I am not your subordinate.”

J’onn said nothing, knowing that arguing with her would do no good. Kara was happy to see this. Then Connolly had to ruin her mood.

“Kara, you are sure you want to become this involved? You can concentrate on college, enjoy life for a few years. We do have some idea of what we are doing. We have captured or killed…”

“Yeah, I’ve seen the numbers.” she told him, causing Hawk to snicker. He still couldn’t believe the brass ones on this kid.

“Then there is a price you are going to have to pay Kara. It may be one you don’t want to pay.” the man told her.

“There is no price I won’t pay to keep my family safe.”

“Lex Luthor is watching you. If you become general knowledge one day, everyone is going to be watching you. The Government, A.R.G.U.S. the military, you are going to be watched. You are too, Alex. Eventually someone is going to figure out who you all are when you go public. Jeremiah and Eliza can be kept in relative secrecy working for the DEO and so can Alex if she decides way in the future that is what she wants. But everyone else you bring into your life, is in danger.”

“I don’t plan… oh.”

“You need to cut ties with Barry Allen. Anyone you and Alex bring into your lives is a potential target that can be used to hurt you or use you.” he told her. “Its a lonely existence, Kara. Once again, are you sure?” Connolly asked.

“Now wait a minute,” Jeremiah argued. “All she has done is text the boy…”

“And my calls could be monitored. I text him off my regular cell phone and I guarantee if Lex can plant information in the DEO server he can read my texts. Anyone I talk to is in danger. I need to stop hanging out with Lena. I don’t believe she has anything to do with his plans but it is still a weak spot, a way to have access to me. Nothing is more important than taking down whatever Myriad is and stopping them. I understand, Connolly.”

“Okay, thats settled. If you guys want help moving after Christmas let us know.” he offered. The team and J’onn rose and walked outside, leaving the family in the living room, with a lot to think about. Dante returned a minute later.

“We flew a chopper down here. Here is your cat. She can tear up furniture here.” He opened a backpack in his hand and with a vicious screech, Streaky jumped out, saw Kara and climbed up her body until she was hidden safely in blonde hair. Dante turned and left without a word, letting Kara know he was furious with her.

Outside, the men stood around their rented black Expedition with J’onn who had a rented Chevy sedan.

“I have to go back. You men scout out this bar, do not enter and take as many photos as you can of suspected escapees. If you see any targets and think you can safely follow, engage away from the bar. I don’t want the place closing down.”

“Ten four.” Connolly responded.

“And under no circumstances are any of you to engage Lex Luthor. He is too high a profile target right now. Do not, under any circumstances have any contact with him. Do we understand each other?”

“Absolutely J’onn. The time isn’t right but he will get what is coming to him. When the time is right of course.” Connolly assured him.

J’onn drove off, seeming satisfied, leaving the five alone.

“So we are going after Luthor, right?” Webb asked.

“You are damn right we are.” Connolly told him. “Get Vivian to give us a lay out of the Luthor Corp building and his main residence. I want everything on Mercy Graves and whoever else is in his security detail. We are going in tomorrow night. We are going to make him wish he had never heard the name Kara Danvers. We all know what we have to do. Standard entry, take down and torture. Lets get to the Hangar.”

That night after a quiet dinner, Kara lay in bed, thinking if she could actually handle talking to Astra, even if it was only over the phone. To hear her voice, her mother’s voice, she didn’t know if it would send her into a panic attack, bring her to tears or make her incredibly angry. She had to hold it together no matter what, if this happened.

Alex was in the shower and she thought Clark had already fallen asleep. She was surprised when he walked in.

“Hey Kara? Are you up?”

“Yes. Is everything okay?” she asked, wondering if he had more questions and what lies she would have to tell now.

“Yeah.” the little boy turned on the lamp by her bed. “I talked to Alex tonight about when I was adopted by Mommy and Daddy. She told me how she found us.”

“Oh really?” Kara asked, very alert.

“She said after we landed that we were in a lot of danger. She told me that you protected me, that you had always taken care of me since I was born. She told me you stayed up and didn’t sleep so I could. She said you went hungry but made sure I ate. She said you put me behind you when she found us because you wouldn’t let anyone get near me.”

Kara did not say anything. There was really nothing for her to say.

“She said you have always protected me. Were you hungry? You didn’t have food, did you?”

“It was okay. We survived.” she told her little brother.

“She said you were dirty but kept me clean. You sat in the rain because you used my blankets to keep me dry.”

“I would do anything for you, Clark.I have loved you since the day you were born. Before I met Alex, you weren’t just my cousin, you were the only friend I had. I remember your first tooth, your first word, your first step. You have always been mine.”

“Thank you.” Clark told her, sitting on the bed and hugging her tightly. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

A sob came out of Kara’s throat before she could stop it. Clark was not bothered by the hot tears running down her cheeks into his hair, or the chocked sobbing that continued. Kara could not stop herself, the memories of those first few horrible days on Earth hitting her hard and fast. She held onto the little boy as tightly as she could without injuring him.

“I love you, Kara.” he whispered in her ear.

Even through the tears and the quick breaths she managed one sentence.

“I love you too, my Prince.”