I don't own anything but the plot of the story.

Rating: T for my standard stuff

I still remember what it was like, leaving my dying home world for a new planet that I'd never seen before, let alone even knew existed. I still remember what it was like to let go of all I'd ever known and try to embrace the uncertainty that surrounded my new world, wherever it was.

I will never forget the day she came into my life, the girl who fell from the sky and attracted the attention of so many people who all wanted to use her for their own ends, some more malevolent than others. I will never forget the mistakes that we both made, everything it cost me.

If I could remember the exact date, I would say what it was, but I don't, so I won't. I don't think, if anybody could've survived the Kryptonian apocalypse, they would've remembered the precise day it occurred on. We were all too caught up in the fear and the stress and the terrifying knowledge that ours was a doomed world, a doomed race, and that these were our last hours alive. In our home in Argo City, my father, Zor-El, and my mother, Alura, worked diligently as the great metropolis collapsed around us, preparing the shuttle that would hopefully carry me away to safety. Father had worked out all the details with my uncle, Jor-El. They were sending my little cousin, Kal-El, with me to a planet very far away, several light-years away from Krypton. Father warned me that things would be drastically different there. He said that their research had uncovered many things that would come as a change for the two of us, but he knew I could handle it, could teach Kal-El to handle it. But even as they assured me that everything would work out for the best, that I would adjust well because I had the ability to, I could sense that there was something they refused to tell me. I honestly cared nothing for whether they were doing it for my own protection or because they underestimated my ability to process the information. It frightened me all the same.

It was the tail end of June, the twenty-sixth, to be exact, 2009. We had all just gotten over the ordeal with Luthor, Bruce and Clark were somewhat getting over their political issues and opposing views on the future of the presidency's credibility, and I was very pointedly not getting over the fact that, technically, I was still supposed to be grounded. I never took her arrival on that night as anything more than a weird coincidence. It didn't really make any difference to me that the streets seemed like some nightmare fresh out of hell. That was standard Gotham City, a bunch of pretty buildings with dark secrets to hide. It didn't make me worried because I knew we'd survive, we always did, and life would go on like usual. If I'd been acting like a good little exiled sixteen-year-old, I would've been back at Dad's apartment, in bed, asleep. But, as much as I hated going behind Dad's back about being Robin, I couldn't help myself. I lived for the danger I faced every night. I was addicted to that adrenalin rush of staring death in the eyes and then spitting in its face. Even though I knew Bruce would've preferred it if I'd been with him—easier to keep another Jason Todd scenario from happening and all that—he let me go it solo that time, said he was confident in my ability to handle myself. Never was I more grateful for the fact that we hid no secrets from each other when it came to the life.

Mother calmed my nerves as best she could, soothing me, as Father withdrew from my little vessel for the final time, calling out, "Kara, come along. You must go now, my daughter." I was reluctant to leave them behind, and I wished that there was some way I could've brought them along, but I knew that I couldn't. They had resigned themselves to their fates on Krypton. They wanted the culture of our world to live on through me and my cousin. That was the reason they'd built their shuttle to hold only one person, and one person alone—me.

I think the whole city of Metropolis fifty-four miles east of us probably knew when she landed. I know all of Gotham certainly did. It really wasn't something you could miss, especially if you were one of those watching the shower of Kryptonite chunks pummel the city's streets. I had my attention on the docks for stakeout reasons, so that was the only reason I really saw the whole thing. At first, it had looked like a shooting star, and I thought it was until the thing came streaking down into the bay in a burst of flame from being fresh out of the atmosphere, crashing down into the water hard enough to send out a wave that smashed up every car, boat, and flimsily-structured building in sight.

Father helped me into the shuttle, fastening me into the seat and setting the coordinates. I felt indecent without even a casual sundress on, and the fabric of the seat chafed uncomfortably against my skin. But I knew better than to question Father at this point. He knew what he was doing, and I just had to trust him.

Of course, I wasn't the only one reporting a sighting. But I probably was the only one reporting a close call from it. The impact nearly shook me off my perch. Bruce told me, when I called in, to clear out of the docks. He said he was going to handle it, asked me to take over patrol in the city. I didn't want to do it, but what choice did I have? I wasn't about to try to win an argument against him. He was Batman, I was Robin, and I was just supposed to do what I was told and trust that he knew what he was doing…right?

The door slid shut, sealing me tightly into the ship. There was a hissing noise as grayish gas leaked inside the vessel from all around me, and I began to feel lightheaded and dizzy. I laid my head back against the seat, gazing out at Mother and Father for the final time. As I watched, the shuttle slowly began its ascent. Before it took off, however, a bright burst of light exploded from behind my parents, throwing them forward, and I closed my eyes, sinking into a deep sleep with the fuzzy knowledge that I had just watched the two people I loved the most die before me. Suddenly, the mission no longer seemed so pressing that I had to leave them there to perish.

I wished I could've stayed behind and helped out, but, after tuning into the police scanner, I started thinking Bruce was some kind of a psychic. The cops were all saying there was some girl running around in nothing but a trench coat and causing mischief. She was metahuman, by the looks of it, and she was pretty much cornered in the south side, which (conveniently) was closest to the docks. Something told me a relatively large projectile coming down in the bay and her sudden appearance weren't wholly unrelated, so I moved in, without orders. After all, Bruce did say he thought I could handle patrol on my own. I guess…I guess that was really the start of it all, the best and worst few months of my life.

I suppose that I should've been thankful that I slept through most of it. But it only made me wish even more that it had all only been a dream, a nightmare, something to awaken from, and it intensified the pain of realizing that it was all a harsh truth. How could one day make my entire reality so different?

I was usually okay with the fact that I hardly slept those days, since it meant protecting the city. But that one fateful meeting made me want nothing more than to be back at home, in bed, just dreaming it all, and it made my heart pump that much faster knowing that would never happen again. How could one person—one day—ruin my life?

A million thanks to jschneids for helping me out with revisions and plot details. You are awesome! Hopefully this one was better…