This is something a tad different. Yeah, I said I'd do a standard Supergirl fic, but I decided to do a AU. I hope you like it. If you read between the lines, there's a reason why this story is called Shattered and it becomes even clearer in later chs, not that I'm turning this into English Class now. Anyways, enjoy!
Also, I changed Kara's surname, it wouldn't make sense to have a Kryptonian surname in a Modern AU, please don't be disappointed about that!
Second, I have done a little research regarding to people with high IQ, Terence Tao is a real person (not sure if he's alive or dead) but he really scored an IQ between 225-230. I could've gone 290-300 for Kara, but that's taking things too far. So Kara's IQ is between 225-230.
Update: Kara is in the US Army, not Marine Corps. I also readjusted Lucy's position to suit this AU.
Chapter 1: The Day She Left
Month Zero…
(Scene: Danvers' Household, Midvale/Alexandra's POV)
I sat on the couch, flicking through the channels, bored. I have a two week break from work, which is in National City, so I decided to fly back home. I work as a scientist, I'm a bio-engineer to be exact, my mother Eliza is also a scientist. Yeah, I chose the same or similar career path. My father, Jeremiah on the other hand, is dead. He died when I was young. He was a soldier a Captain in the Army. God! How could I forget to mention my baby sister!? Kara Danvers she is now and she's an orphan. It was a good few years back, I was still a teenager, when mom, and dad sat me down and explained they were planning on adopting. I was a bit put off at first, well knowing I will be knocked down the pecking order, but I accepted.
I thought my parents were adopting another child, who would be like years younger than me. No. They adopted a twelve year old girl. Before my sister was taken in, her real name was Kara Corbett. Thinking about it now, I've never met a teenager my age, with such a tragic backstory, one that no kid in the world would have to go through. I hope. Yes, I was jealous, then, I learned to let that go. As the older sister, it was my duty to keep her safe, feel protected. When Kara came, she was so quiet, closed off, it's like she… shut down on the world. Kara lost her parents in a devastating house fire. No one knows what caused it, it baffled firefighters and forensic scientists alike. The remains of her house is still being examined. By the papers, via CatCo Worldwide Media; in National City and The Daily Planet; in Metropolis, it was called The Phantom Fire.
Clearly the fire must have came from a source, may it be an electrical, candle etc. The fire must've started somewhere. Anyway, I remember Kara telling me, the last thing her parents told her, they love her and they'll be with her in her dreams. They are watching over her. Kara was pushed out the window, into the waiting arms of a firefighter, before they both fell off the ladder when the room her parents were in, just… flashover and her house collapsed. Once Kara became a member of our family, she cried every night, nightmares and begging her parents not to leave her. She was so fragile, I vowed not to let anyone break her.
When it came to school, Kara was a bright and… I'm ashamed to say, a very intelligent student. From what I can gather, her father is a Mathematician, a professor in Physics, Astrophysics and Quantum Physics! Though most of it is primarily theory. Her mother, like me, is a Bio-engineer and also, a part-time professor in Biochemistry! Though her dad was a full-time professor. So clearly, she had no problem with science and math subjects. English was her second strongest, followed by history and geography, but oh boy! Languages were a nightmare! French and German did not go very well. There was one time she was so frustrated with a simple sentence, she got up and stormed out of the class!
OK, so she inherited one (or both) of her parent's temper, probably it's just all the emotions she bottled up for so long. After that scenario, Kara was exempted from Modern Languages and that freed up spaces for her to take up extra-curricular subjects like Applied Maths and surprisingly: Classical Studies. Who knew Baby Danvers had a scholar side of her. She loved reading Ancient Greek and Roman Civilisation and that's when, she's not reading her book on Astrophysics. Kara had the highest IQ Level: 225-230! That puts her on par with Terence Tao! I would love to see them go head to head in a challenge of intellect.
Because of her high IQ, it did leave her vulnerable to bullying. Students picked on her, called her names, the worst of them was Smart Ass. Not in that sense, the other meaning, they thought she was far to clever for this school and she should just leave, go to University. Other than that, Kara was being bullied for some time. Other classmates pushed her to the ground or into the locker, knocked her books out of her hand and wrote mean notes to her. I knew she was being bullied, Kara was just too timid to say anything, so I didn't leave her out of my sight.
That leads to another memory, back in High School, I was sitting on the table with Kara having lunch and also, playing guard dog. No one dared to go near her when I was around. I'm a Brown Belt in MMA. Then, I told Kara I was heading to the bin to toss our food wrappers in there. Three minutes! Three minutes! That's all it took for some brave assholes to jump my baby sister! They pushed her roughly onto the ground, I heard her land with a grunt. Then that's when it happened. The side of Kara I do not ever want to see. Some lad made a comment about her parents, that they sacrificed their lives for her and they were stupid to do so. She should've just died with them.
Something snapped in Kara, she stood up, balling her fists till her knuckles went white and in one quick motion, she spun around, punching the young student in the nose, breaking it. Following that move, all hell broke loose. This resulted the bullies in receiving a Grade One concussion, a broken nose, cracked ribs and a lot of bruises. That got Kara suspended from school for three days and she promised to keep her anger in check. It was also when, I learned Kara is a Grade Two Black Belt in Judo. Damn! Kara must ba a rare prodigy, to earn a belt at that age! And the fact, my sister has developed a Short Fuse after the accident. With that, mom took her to Anger Management lessons, she did go to a few but, they suggested that if she was frustrated, sketch or something like that.
Kara enjoys drawing, she's a woman of many talents and a brilliant artist! Such an eye for detail, she also has photographic memory, which helped her in drawing her house, her room, the street she lived on and her parents. She actually found it relaxing and eased her pain a little. Despite all these talents, here comes the ironic part: she joined the Army, a soldier, just like dad! Eliza was close to a heart attack! Although, she realised Kara was not budging on her decision, her career choice and she accepted. Kara applied and spent months training for her Physical Exam, she couldn't prepare for a Medical but just hoped she passed them. The news came after we graduated from High School, the Army accepted her application, she passed all her exams and got through her interview, alive.
I was happy and worried for her. What if she met the same fate as our dad? What will we do then? If there's one characteristic about Kara, it's her selflessness and kindness. A willingness to help others in need and couldn't defend themselves and not expect anything in return. She became a local hero in Midvale, saving an old, frail woman from being mugged. She wanted to use that willingness to help people on the field. She took part in two Peace-keeping Missions. One in Afghanistan and the other in Iraq, pretty bad war-torn countries.
Every time she Skype called us, she'd give us her bright dorky smile, she told us she was OK, she's enjoying her company with Private 2 Vasquez, for short: PV2 and… her CSM: Command Sergeant Major Hank Henshaw is really kind to her. He told her he worked with our father and he made a promise to keep Kara safe. Henshaw instantly recognised Kara as Jeremiah's daughter and was surprised to see her. He probably expected her to work in the field of science or teach. So, I guessed he's keeping a close eye on her. My sister trusts him, so do I and mom.
This leads me to this day, why I'm reminiscing on past memories. Kara is on a six month tour of duty in Syria. It's pretty bad, the ongoing crusade of the so-called Islamic State or ISIS. She's on another Peace-keeping mission. For the time being, there's a temporary truce, but I'm sure how long it will last. The most dreadful attack that happened was in France, Europe. It was the dubbed The Paris Attacks, before that was Charlie. So Europe is on alert. I worry for Kara's safety, not a day goes by without thinking about her. Eliza does pray, praying to God to bring her back safely.
Kara always came back in one piece. She was still smiling, still bubbly and dorky. She hung out with me for our weekly movie nights, brought me with to Game Night with her only two friends from High School or three. James Olsen, his girlfriend Lucy Lane and Winslow 'Winn' Schotte Junior, who has a dark family history I rather not go into. Anyways, they make regular calls to me to make sure I'm alright. Lucy also works in the Army, she's a SGM: Sergeant Major, so I can get certain information from her. I obviously don't ask for the confidential, Top Secret stuff, all I want to know is if she's OK, alive and not KIA or MIA. God! I remember running up to her in the Airport when she returned from Afghanistan. I hugged her so tight, tight enough that she was slamming my shoulders, telling me I was cutting off her Oxygen supply. Oops, but other than that, I was so happy to see her.
All that was fine, life was normal, somewhat until Kara returns after her tour, but fate had other ideas and it all happened, my life and hers, came crashing down by a single accident and a phone call.
Alright, it's short, but it's a start, will get longer in future chs, I assure you, but be warned, I'm coming up to a major exam, that will decide what course and college I get into, so update schedules will be… unpredictable and sketchy. Please Favourite, Follow and Review and just give it a chance! Peace out!