Close My Eyes and Leap
Prologue
She dreamed of a dying world.
She was sitting in baby Kal-el's nursery when she heard it. Jor-el and Lara arguing in hushed tones that they thought she couldn't hear. Curious, she crept quietly over to the door, pushing it open just a little to better hear their voices.
"Lara, the ships are almost complete. Once I input the crystals Zor-el programmed-"
"I am not leaving Krypton!" Her aunt's voice was sharp and decisive; clearly, this was the end of the argument for her.
"You and Kara, both, will travel in the larger ship," Jor-el continued, stubbornly, as though Lara had never spoken. "The smaller one has been modified specifically for Kal-el, but with the navigation set, you needn't fear becoming separated."
"I am not leaving," Lara repeated, patiently.
"Krypton is going to explode!" Jor-el hissed, suddenly, whirling on his life-partner. "Those fools on the Council refuse to accept the inevitable and I must stay to ensure that the damage is contained as much as possible. But I refuse to watch my family die with me!"
"That is not your choice to make," Lara reminded him. "We'll send Kara and Kal-el away to safety. I am remaining here."
"You'll die," Jor-el said, his voice softly pleading.
"I will die with you by my side," Lara told him, her voice quiet and assured. "Did I not promise to be with you until the next life?"
Jor-el finally nodded, accepting her decision.
"I'll go tell Kara," he said.
Hearing footsteps coming in her direction, Kara moved away from the door, back to Kal-el's cradle. A moment later, Jor-el entered the small room, a tired smile gracing his features.
"Kara, I want to talk to you about something," he said, and Kara nodded, cautiously.
"As you know," Jor-el began, "we've been having earthquakes, fires, and floods all over Krypton for the past several weeks. It's become increasingly dangerous to be here, and that's why I am going to send you and Kal-el away for a while. Just until everything has returned to normal."
Kara opened her mouth to tell her uncle that she knew the truth, but he spoke before she could.
"It's not forever," he told her, earnestly. "And I'll come and collect you, myself, once it is safe. But I need you to look after Kal-el until that time. You must protect him, Kara."
"I will, Uncle," Kara promised, fighting the urge to demand that he and Lara come with them. "I will keep him safe."
Jor-el nodded, tears glistening in his eyes as he kissed the top of her head.
Then, a distant pounding rang in her ears as an earthquake shook the city.
The pounding grew sharper, louder, and Kara's eyes flew open as she realized that the sound was coming from outside her ship, rather than inside her own mind.
The pounding stopped as her ship came to rest against something. Cautiously, Kara tried the door, again, gasping in shock as freezing water cascaded in to fill the interior of the vessel. Determinedly, Kara pushed against the door, forcing it open even wider. Taking a deep breath, she dove into the water and broke for the light on the surface.
Catching a glint of something that wasn't sunlight out of the corner of her eye, Kara quickly changed direction and swam towards whatever it was. The glint turned out to be a small vessel that had been warped by the force of the water. Several people were inside, struggling to escape.
One of the men pounded on the window when he saw her, his eyes widening in shock. Catching her attention, he pounded again, and Kara nodded in comprehension. Gesturing for the man to move back away from the window, she slammed her elbow into the glass, shattering it and engulfing the occupants in water.
She snagged the first man by the collar and dragged him out, shoving him up towards the surface of the water. After she was satisfied that he was swimming in the right direction, she grabbed the other two passengers and towed them with her towards the sunlight.
Breaking through the surface, she took several deep breaths as she swam for the shore. Shortly, her feet touched the sandy bottom, and she released her passengers to stand on their own. One of the men, his hands secured behind his back, fell to his knees without her assistance, retching and gagging up water. Kara watched him dispassionately for a moment before turning her attention to the first man she'd rescued.
"I need to find Kal-El," she told him. "He's just a baby, and he needs me to protect him. I must find him, immediately."
"Is Kal-El your son?" the man asked, scanning the water with a worried eye. "The dam broke so suddenly-ma'am, if he's still in your car-"
"He is not in a car," Kara snapped, testing out the unfamiliar word. "He's in his ship."
"Ship?" the other unbound man echoed, skepticism in his tone.
"It's about this big," Kara gestured. "It's silver and it has symbols…"
She trailed off hesitantly as the men exchanged looks, knowing instantly that she'd said something wrong.
"Why don't you come with us, ma'am?" the first man asked, his voice gone oddly gentle as he reached for her arm.
"No!" Kara exclaimed, shaking her head. "I need to find Kal-El."
"You hit your head and you're confused," the second man chimed in. "Come with us and we can take you to a hospital."
"I do not need a hospital," Kara insisted, fear warring with anger as she stepped back out of their reach. Looking over their shoulders, she added, "And your prisoner is escaping."
Swearing, the two turned and went after the third man, who'd taken advantage of their distraction to make his escape. As soon as their backs were turned, Kara bolted for the tree line.
Once she was far enough into the trees to avoid detection, she stopped running in order to gain her bearings and take as much strength from the sun as she could.
She closed her eyes, breathing deeply, and tried to get her racing heart to slow down.
'This is Earth?' she wondered. 'Why in the world would Jor-El send Kal-El to this place?'
Her musing were cut off when she heard a scream in the distance. The scream was closely followed by a muffled explosion. Kara started toward the sound, then hesitated, torn between her desire to investigate and her desire to avoid any more humans who would want to lock her up. Then, she heard the screams again, and her first impulse won out as she rushed toward the sound.
Reaching the dam, she burst through the concrete wall, scaring the woman on the other side. The woman, holding a little boy protectively in her arms, stared at Kara in shock. Then, she shook herself out of her reverie and offered up a weak smile.
"Well, I was half expecting Clark, but you'll do," she said, confusing Kara. "My cousin, she's back there, she's unconscious-"
"Go," Kara told her. "Take the boy to safety; I'll get your cousin."
"Thank you," the woman said, hitching the boy higher in her arms and carrying him out of the rubble.
Kara darted further into the wreckage of the dam, coming upon a woman lying on the ground, her head pillowed on a rolled-up jacket. Kara lifted the woman into her arms, grabbed the jacket, and went back outside, to where the first woman was blinking in the sunlight. Laying her passenger on the ground, Kara looked at the little boy, who was still clinging to the woman.
"Is that Kal-El?" Kara demanded.
"Kal-El?" the woman repeated, glancing down at the boy. "No, he's--he's not Kal-El," she finished, shaking her head. "I really need to get Chloe and the kid to a hospital. Can you help?"
"There are people coming," Kara told her.
The woman looked puzzled for a moment, then she heard the sirens that had attracted Kara's attention. She nodded in comprehension.
"You want to get out of here before people find out that you can bust through solid walls," she said.
"I didn't-" Kara started, but the woman cut her off.
"You saved our lives, I'll save yours," she said. "Get out of here, and I'll tell the cops the wall just fell in."
When Kara hesitated, the woman continued, "Lex has ruined enough lives with Project Ares. If you managed to escape, then you need to stay off his radar so he can't find you again."
Kara nodded, accepting the excuse the woman handed her, and ran to get out of sight as she heard boots crunching on the rocks. She stayed at the tree line until she saw the women and the child being taken away to a safer location, then she ran in the direction the explosions had been coming from.
The explosions were being caused, she discovered, by a pair of men, one seemingly intent on murdering the other. And the attacker clearly had the advantage, as he hit his opponent hard enough to send him flying into the air.
Kara instinctively moved to intercept the flying man and braced herself for the impact, and the force as they hit the ground created a crater in the earth. The man struggled to his feet as his attacker strode forward, shaking his head, sadly.
"And here I thought you'd be more of a challenge, Kal-el," he said, sneeringly.
"Kal-el?" Kara gasped, and the attacker turned his attention to her.
"Well, this is certainly an unexpected reunion," he began, but Kal-el stepped between them, blocking her view.
"Leave her out of this," he growled. "This is between you and me, Phantom."
"She's more involved than you know," the Phantom mocked. "Aren't you, Kryptonian?"
In answer, Kal-el hit the Phantom, staggering him back several feet. Then, he grabbed Kara by the hand and started running, dragging her along with him.
"Where are we going?" Kara demanded, breathlessly, as they sped through the trees.
"I need to get the Phantom further away from people," Kal-el answered. "And I have to take you with me, or he might decide to stay and go after you, instead."
"How far away do you want him?" Kara asked.
"As far as possible," came the grim reply.
"There's something I could try," Kara volunteered, hesitantly. "I don't know if I could do it, I've only heard that it can be done-"
"What are you talking about?" Kal-el asked.
"Flying," Kara told him. "I could try to fly him away from here."
"It's too risky," Kal-el insisted, shaking his head. "It might not work, or he could really hurt you up there."
"But, you just said-"
"We have to fight him," Kal-el told her. "Take a stand. We can't let him hurt anyone."
"I-I can't face him," Kara whispered, staggering over the rough ground.
"Together we're stronger than he is," Kal-el said. "He can't beat both of us."
"I can't," Kara repeated.
"Then stay somewhere where he can't hurt you," Kal-el said, and that was all the warning Kara got before he slammed to an abrupt stop at the river's edge.
Underscoring his last statement, Kal-el pushed her toward the cover of a pile of rocks. She hid, obediently, just as the Phantom appeared practically out of thin air.
"You thought you could hide from me?" he asked.
"This ends here," Kal-el told him. "I'm going to stop you."
The Phantom sped towards Kal-el without a word, as Kal-el ran toward him. There was a deafening crash as they slammed into one another, and when the dust cleared, Kara was horrified to see that the Phantom had Kal-el down on the ground, his hands locked on either side of her cousin's head.
"I'm going to destroy you," the Phantom crowed, as Kal-el writhed in his grip. "I'm going to take everything you are, and then I'm going to tear you limb from limb."
Kal-el gasped, trying to force a scream past his lips, and Kara clenched her fists in frustration. She could hear her uncle's voice, entreating her to protect his son, but part of her remained frozen in terror at the thought of facing her tormentor.
"Where are you, little Kara?" the Phantom called out, as he continued to drain Kal-el of his life. "Don't you want to watch me murder the son of Jor-el?"
"Kara!" Kal-el gasped. "You have to stop him."
"Yes, Kara," the Phantom said. "Stop me, if you can. She's weak, you know," he continued, conversationally, to Kal-el. "She'll never come to your rescue. And she'll be the next one I kill."
"You leave her alone," Kal-el growled.
While they were fighting, Kara slipped, unnoticed, from her hiding place and around the pair, sneaking up on the Phantom from behind.
"Maybe you don't know me as well as you thought," she said, startling him and drawing his attention to her, away from Kal-el.
Before he could speak, she hit him, tearing him away from Kal-el and sending him flying, to land several feet away. Hurriedly, she grabbed Kal-el by the arm and dragged him to his feet, as the Phantom stood up and advanced on them, furiously.
Kal-el glared, and twin beams of fire shot out of his eyes, striking the Phantom in the chest. He let off a second volley, but the effort left him weak, and he wound up leaning on Kara just to stay upright.
Kara, in turn, wrapped her arms around Kal-el's waist, and pushed off of the ground, praying that her attempt would work. As they shot into the air, Kal-el a dead weight in her arms, she heard the Phantom calling out to her.
"I'll kill you sooner or later, Kara. Just you wait."