"Alex, sweetheart…" Jeremiah Danvers sighed, watching the teenager angrily scribble into her book. "I know this… came out of nowhere, really, dropped out of the sky-" Jeremiah was mid-laugh at his own joke but swallowed it quickly when his only daughter shot him a furious look. "But you have to understand-"
"I'm fine." Alex gritted out, her hand, white-knuckled around her pencil. "I understand perfectly."
"Honey." Jeremiah crossed the room in a couple of strides and sat down on her bed. With her desk pushed right against the bed, Jeremiah was able to reach out and still Alex's hand. "I need you to be mature about this. I know you're having trouble dealing with the fact that suddenly you have a new sister-"
"She's not my sister." Alex's voice came out in a low growl. "It was just you, me, and mom. And then-" Alex spat out the next words, all her teenage anger thrown at a convenient target. "-that GIRL came to live with us. Why can't Superman take care of his cousin by himself?"
"Alexandra Danvers." Jeremiah's voice firmed and he scowled at her. "I know you're angry, and maybe a bit jealous-"
"I'm not." Alex responded sullenly.
"-but this is not like you. We raised you to be a mature young lady." Jeremiah's tone softened. "Kara has lost everything. Just imagine if your whole world exploded and everyone you knew was gone."
"She still has Superman." Alex pointed out stubbornly. "So why can't she go to HIS family? Because if it's true that he came to Earth like her, he must have had a family here take care of her. Why doesn't she go there?"
"This isn't up for discussion." Jeremiah sighed. "It's… safer for Kara to be here with us, we've discussed this with Superman. Honey, I just want to know what's wrong. Why are you so upset about this?"
Alex sighed and put her pencil down, finally turning to look at her dad. "Just this whole week, it's been Kara this and Kara that. And I know, okay. She lost her whole family, she's all alone. And mom's yelling at me, and you forgot my soccer match at school."
Jeremiah cursed himself internally as he looked at Alex's dejected face. He HAD forgotten. The match had been two days ago and he had promised to go, along with Eliza! But they had had their hands full with the newly-arrived Kara and Eliza and him had been busy making sure Kara was okay…
"Oh, sweetheart I'm so sorry!" Jeremiah pulled his daughter into a hug and he could feel her stiffen up with resistance and rage, angry tears finally pouring out of her eyes as the story of her assisting in the winning goal came out in fierce angry sobs and how, even at the end, she still thought her parents would come. She waited and waited and by then, she had been stranded with no ride and had to haul herself and her kit home. Even when she got back and they saw her with her kit, Eliza had scolded her for 'going out to play' and he himself had told her she needed to stay with Kara and make her feel welcome. They had completely forgotten about her game. There had been a small emergency at home when Kara had squirreled away somewhere and they hadn't been able to find her for hours.
'I totally forgot.' Jeremiah sighed, berating himself. He just held his daughter and let her cry until most of the tears had dried up and, just like when she was a child, Alex struggled out of his arms after a few minutes of tears and put on a brave face.
"Don't tell mom." Alex hiccupped. "She'll be mad at me."
Jeremiah nodded, the proud tilt of Alex's head making his heart ache. His daughter was a strong one… he would mention the missed match to Eliza but knew that Alex meant her brief crying spell. Eliza wouldn't be mad… but she was just hard on Alex, always had been, and had pushed her to succeed.
"You've always been a good girl, Alex." Jeremiah smiled at the brave front Alex put up. "And we'll make it up to you, alright? But right now, we have to be really brave."
Alex nodded, wiping at her tears with her fingers, cheeks flushed with embarrassment at her own tears. She turned back to her work and picked up her pencil, sketching furiously again. That was a cue for Mr. Danvers to make his exit.
"Let's go out to mall tomorrow, maybe we can buy you something new for your kit so the next time you play, me and your mom can see some new gear on you!" Jeremiah patted his daughter's shoulder awkwardly before leaving the room, closing the door behind him softly. Hands digging into his hair, he growled in frustration, furious at himself and his wife for making their daughter feel like this. But it had to get better… the legal paperwork was being handled by some friends of Superman so Kara's sudden appearance on Earth would be discreet and she would be normal. Kara was going to be a part of the family and it would be great if the girls just got along.
With another sigh, Jeremiah plodded down the stairs. Seeing that there was nobody in the living room or the kitchen, the soft sound of voices drew him towards the back screen door.
"-forests, not like the ones on Earth, but mostly originating from our largest body of water, the Great Krypton Sea. With the instability of our planet, everything was dying." Kara was sitting on the grass, fingers splayed out as she felt the tickle of the vegetation under her palms. "As such, Eliza Danvers, we did not have so much… green. Not like Earth. It truly is the blue and green gem of this galaxy."
"Fascinating." Eliza's eyes were glued on the child. They both turned to him as they heard Jeremiah's approach.
"Alexandra Danvers did not seem well at dinner." Kara scrambled to her feet, anxiety clear on her face. "Has she contracted some sort of illness? How is her condition?"
"Alex is fine." Jeremiah reached out a hand to place on top of Kara's head. Unlike Alex, Kara was a supremely affectionate person and enjoyed the elder Danvers' hugs and pats on the head. "She'll be happy to hear about your concern. But how are you doing?"
"I am well." Kara fidgeted. This family had been nothing but welcoming towards her, and actually had helped her deal with the death of her parents better than Kal-El had. Kal-El was… well, a fumbling big baby, Kara had decided. Her little cousin may be older than her on Earth, but she was still older than him and he had never had to deal with loss on the scale Kara had experienced. Superman was far out of his depth. He had not grown up on Krypton and was more an Earthling than a Kryptonian. Earth was his home and he was a journalist. The Danvers, however, reminded Kara more of home with their experiments and theories and excitement in the quest for knowledge. Kal-El's vocation could be seen as a pursuit of knowledge, but the Kryptonians and especially Kara's father was the equivalent of an Earth-scientist. Kara's mother was an Adjudicator, but their family had always been, at the core, people of intellectual pursuits.
"Kara, do you want to get ready for bed? I know it's been a long day." Eliza stroked her fingers through Kara's hair. It had been a rough day, really. Eliza had taken Kara out to the mall and the young blonde had freaked out and had been near catatonic until Eliza had gotten them somewhere private so the blonde could relax. With exposure to Earth's sun, Kara had the same powers as Superman. But unlike Superman, Kara came to Earth as an adolescent and the superpowers were something she had to deal with, especially her super senses. Sometimes, things became… overwhelming, and the sensory overload would translate over as intense, debilitating pain. Her body's only defense against that onslaught of white noise was to completely shut down. Which was what happened at the mall that day.
"Yes." No longer absorbing the sun's rays, Kara still knew she had super-powers, but it was still a relief. Kal-El had taught her how to sleep on Earth, to rest her mind. Even if she didn't need to anymore, Kal-El had stressed the need to do so. She no longer had a home and Kara needed to fit in and not give herself away.
Going through the night-time routines that Eliza had taught her, she finally went to bed, lay there and stared up at the ceiling. It was more than a bit overwhelming and she could feel her eyes watering at the thought of everything she ever knew back on Krypton, gone forever. She stared through her roof, still having trouble controlling that part of her power, out into the night sky. The constellations were a bit different than home, but at least she could imagine that she was back on Krypton and not in this strange new world.
Kara didn't know that her weeping was audible outside her door, but was alerted to the fact that someone was there when the door creaked open.
"Hey." Alex looked at her grumpily,surprised she had been caught looking in on the girl. "You're… crying. It's loud."
"My sincerest apologies, Alexandra Danvers." Kara swept at her wet cheeks with her hands, sitting up on her bed quickly. "I did not mean to disturb your rest."
"It's Alex." Alex hated when people called her Alexandra. She sighed and left the room, coming back with a glass of water and a box of kleenex.
"Here. Wipe your face." Alex pulled out a couple of kleenexes and gave it to Kara. "Drink some water, maybe it'll help you sleep."
"I do not sleep, Alexan-Alex." Kara frowned a bit at the shortening of the name, feeling wrong using it but eager to please the older girl. She took the proffered glass of water with a thank you and gulped down the liquid, marvelling at the slight mineral taste of the water. Everything was new. Eating was new. Kara was eating a little bit at the time, but the food had been… weird in her system, but it was her favourite thing about Earth so far. Kara was not sick, but it digested differently what with her new powers.
"But you eat."
"I do not need to eat." Kara wanted to squirm under Alex's gaze. The brunette was an oddity to Kara. While the elder Danvers were welcoming, talkative and affectionate; Alex was distant and cold. Tonight, she wasn't… unfriendly, but more curious. Not wanting the conversation to end for some reason, she continued talking. "When I was with Kal-El, we did not eat and we spent the entirety of our time together teaching me how to adapt to Earth's atmosphere and how to control my powers-though I seem to be having a bit of a problem with that."
"Are you going to accidentally blast someone with your eye ray thing?" Alex frowned.
"Oh, absolutely not." Kara shook her head, horrified. "I have that firmly in control. Think of it functioning not unlike… a sphincter that naturally remains closed unless I force it open."
"Ew."
"... a female sheep?"
"No. I mean that sphincter metaphor sounds… like, you know. It's not a pretty thing."
"Understandable."
Alex gravitated towards the chair situated in front of the lone desk in the room, sitting down to study Kara. "Why do you talk like that?"
"Am I speaking incorrectly?" Kara asked self-consciously.
"No… your grammar and everything is fine. But you're too formal." Alex pursed her lips. "You can tell, right? There's a difference between how I speak and how you speak."
"Yes." Kara tilted her head and frowned, still not understanding.
"It'll be hard for you to fit in." Alex pointed out. "You'll draw attention to yourself cuz nobody speaks like that normally. Not even adults."
"Understood." Kara looked troubled. "It will take some time to change my way of
speaking. But I will attempt to adapt."
"Well, you're already calling me Alex, so that's a start." Alex gave her a small smile of
encouragement, Kara's own shy smile making Alex forget that she should be resentful of this stranger in her house.
"Did Superman teach you? How to speak English?" Alex had never really spoken to the Man of Steel before, but from some news reports, she knew he didn't speak like Kara.
"No. My spacecraft has language modules. After I landed on Earth, it was directed to teach me the language most spoken by the majority of the population in the closest proximity to me." Kara explained.
"So not Spanish?"
"I can speak Spanish." Kara smiled. "But the people I communicate with regularly are English-speakers so I seldom have to use Spanish."
"Did it take you a long time to learn?"
"No. The language acquisition was instantaneous." Kara bit her lower lip in thought. "Learning would be the closest approximation of the bond I share with my spacecraft. Would programming be a better way to describe the language function? It is… a mix between traditional Earth programming and learning, though I am not a machine."
Time passed by, Alex asking question after question while Kara eagerly answered them, the aching hurt momentarily bearable as they spoke quietly about Earth and Krypton. When the sky started to brighten outside, Alex finally excused herself, donning her gruff exterior again.
"I have to go to sleep." Alex stood up abruptly and made to go. She was thankful that it was going to be Sunday morning. If Alex had to go to school, she would probably fall asleep in all her classes.
"Alex!" Kara called out after the retreating brunette.
"Shh! Kara, it's like, 5am!" Alex turned back a finger to her lips.
"Alex," Kara repeated, quieter. Then the blonde beamed a full-blown open-lipped grin at Alex, and the older girl thought that it wasn't unlike looking at the sunrise. Warm, bright, and beautiful.
"Thank you." Kara felt better. Better than she had since that awful day when her parents sent her away from their dying planet.
Alex shrugged awkwardly, not really knowing what she was being thanked for, just wanting to hurry back to her room before her parents woke up to find her still away.
"You're welcome."
