Trying to stave off the migraine that she could feel just waiting to strike, Melinda May continued to avert her eyes from the computer monitor in front of her, praying to whatever god might be listening at that moment, hoping that what she was reading would soon vanish. Taking another deep breath, she blinked her eyes several times before once again returning her attention to what Director Robert Gonzalez had forwarded to her to look over.
In a world of Avengers and ancient gods come to life… and Alien invasions and turning teammates Meta, Melinda wondered how anything could surprise her anymore. It almost seemed impossible, but she couldn't help but to be amazed at what she was reading. Sometimes the truth was so much scarier than the party line.
Last week, the life on Earth had changed... everyone knew that. What only a select few knew was how much their world had been altered. And no one was yet sure if it was for the better or the worse.
The general populace believed that an area just east of the Australian continent, somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean, had suffered an unexpected and unforeseen meteor strike of only-seen-in-movies proportions. The resulting tidal wave caused by the impact ravaged the coasts of Australia, Africa and southern Asia, and nearly decimated Madagascar, Japan and the Indonesian islands area… with some of the smaller islands being completely destroyed. Whole countries that had once held thriving cities and populations were wiped out in an instant: thousands upon thousands of lives lost and possibly billions upon billions of dollars in damages.
And the effects of the impact had carried over to all of the other land masses across the world. The West coast of the United States and Mexico recorded flooding across most of its borders, while the eastern border of South America had to deal with harsh tides, as well. No one was safe from the ramifications of such an attack. Not to mention almost every naval craft outside of the Atlantic had been hit and hit hard. Even now, rescue attempts were going on to help capsized and broken ships, both military and civilian.
The past eight days since the event, society had done exactly what it often did in times of crisis: it panicked. Every news agency was reporting looting and rioting in the streets. Citizens were clamoring for answers regarding missing loved ones. Governments everywhere were activating their armed forces, both to protect their interests abroad, as well as helping maintain the peace domestically. States of Emergency were now the status quo. And nobody was talking to anybody else. There were almost no open lines of communication between nations… and the Doomsday Clock was literally only one tick away from Armageddon.
Melinda was tempted to almost laugh aloud, considering how much the pre-Hydra S.H.I.E.L.D. was needed now more than ever. But maybe it was best that no one was talking, or else the world might know that the truth of what happened was even more terrifying than a random chuck of space debris hitting us.
No. Looking over the reports and pictures and eye witness testimonies, Melinda May could only watch and be amazed at the events as they occurred: eight days ago, the Earth was struck by a humanoid figure, a twenty-something female in appearance; that apparently entered the atmosphere through a portal of some type and at a velocity hard enough to almost break the planet.
Immediate thoughts were of another Alien attack, such as how the Chitauri had come through over New York City, but that had been quickly dismissed after initial testing by Stark Technologies had proven that the energy field created from the portal was of a completely different power signature. And besides, the Tesseract was safely off planet, as far as anyone in the know knew.
But talking about the Tesseract brought up thoughts of Thor and Asgard. The Norse godling had already shown that there was technology that allowed for teleportation between realms... both in New Mexico during his first visit, and then later in London when that giant black rock of an alien ship was looking to plunge the universe into eternal darkness. It was a theory that was still being considered, especially with what had come through the portal, but Doctor Foster was adamant that the alien female wasn't from her boyfriend's home world.
So far, no one really had any clue as to who the young woman was or where she was from, though everyone in the know wanted to claim her. Luckily, the first on the scene of point zero the S.H.I.E.L.D. controlled aircraft carrier, the Iliad, and that meant the stranger was under their jurisdiction… at least until someone higher up the chain of command finally took notice. Unfortunately, the eight days that S.H.I.E.L.D. had the young woman in their custody, she had remained unresponsive to all attempts at reviving her. Though she wasn't awake yet, she had already turned the whole team investigating her on their proverbial heads.
Nothing invasive worked on her.
When she'd been picked up, floating at the epicenter of where the falling object struck, all initial readings were off the scale of anything ever seen before. While the young woman appeared to be breathing, visual inspections showed her to have suffered the obviousness of extreme trauma. Her body was covered in cuts and bruises, with various signs of potentially broken bones. The nose seemed broken, as well as the entire left hand and lower arm. Her torso and back were covered in obvious bruises and cuts.
Medical treatment began immediately, but all attempts at entering an IV or injecting her failed. Nothing could get past her skin outside of where it had been already damaged, but those were quickly closing. So far, they had to depend upon oxygen masks and oral medications to say that they were doing anything potentially positive.
X-Rays and thermal scans were confusing. She ran hot, like well over one hundred degrees, with no other obvious signs of it being a fever. Initial reports said she was human in appearance, and with what little the x-rays could see, it seemed her internal organs and bone structure all seemed to be of a similar design to our own, but with various small differences. Dr. Anne Weaver had jokingly stated it was almost as if both she and humanity were created by the same divine builder, though at different times and different places with different intent.
(Melinda made a mental note to get Fitz and Simmons read in on their alien, to see if maybe they could get better results. She knew Dr. Weaver trusted her two best students from the Academy.)
DNA swabs from the interior of her mouth, as well as testing the blood soaking through her tattered uniform, all helped to confirm that she was definitely an alien, and one that was not from anywhere close to here.
And the clothing she was wearing… at least, what was left of it all, also was causing some raised eyebrows. It was obviously a costume, much like what she'd seen Captain America wearing. Tear resistant material, all seemingly Earth made, with Bluetooth technology built in, except for the remains of what appeared to have once been a red cape or cloak of some sort. No one had been able to determine what that had been made of, but the fact that it was left in tatters suggested that the alien woman had been through some type of Hell before crash landing here.
Melinda considered trying to contact Phil Coulson; her former partner, friend and the once Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., to see what his thoughts on this might be, but ultimately discarded the idea. His recent obsession with alien technology, specifically with what was happening regarding Skye, unfortunately made his opinion suspect. That, and the fact that he was nowhere to be found for questioning regarding the various secrets he'd been keeping, was certainly cause to not involve him. Besides, his unwillingness to work with Director Gonzalez and the Council simply meant he would not be a part of what was happening.
Any further musing she might have had was interrupted by the phone next to her computer. Making sure to take a moment to close the "for her eyes only" documents, she swiveled her chair around and picked up before it could ring again.
"Yes?"
"Agent May?" the unrecognized voice inquired.
"Yes."
"The alien is awake."
Finally.
…
The darkened room was awash with the eerie glow computer monitors, each screen offering either one the different live feeds of what showed a young, blonde woman asleep in a bed; or was currently running a loop from previous interviews of said blonde. From Melinda's perspective, the majority of the small assembly was focused on the central screen, or to be more indelicate about it, the one with the best view of the girl sleeping in the bed.
No. Not creepy at all.
So far, it had been about forty minutes of what she would consider wasted time, as she had already read over the various transcripts of interviews with… Melinda paused to recall the name the alien
"What do we know so far? Bobbi Morse asked as she turned from the viewing screen.
It took some effort, but Melinda was able to prevent herself from rolling her eyes at the other Agent's question. They both had been forwarded the same files. It was Mack that filled in the silence that the blonde's question had created.
"Between moments of clarity, in and out of consciousness, she reported her name as Carol Danvers. A search found a Colonel Carol Danvers of the United States Air Force, retired in 1966. She then went to work for NASA as security chief of a classified base." He looked at Gonzalez. "We're digging get into that. Later, Ms. Danvers was involved in an unexplained explosion on base in 1968. Initial reports are that her blood work came back changed. She vanished a few months later."
"It couldn't be the same person. That girl in there is twenty-five, at most. She's not some seventy-something Air Force colonel."
Melinda could see that the others were in agreement. As a counterpoint, she decided to join the conversation. "And Captain Steve Rogers looks maybe thirty. And Thor? Twenty-eight, if a day. He's probably hundreds of years old. Thousands."
The Director was nodding along with her.
"We don't really know anything about her, at all."
"What about photos?" Oliver inquired.
"A few." Anne answered. "But the ones from her military career and NASA are currently classified. We're going off of ones from family and friends. And while she's blonde, maybe a similar build, it's just such poor quality to be sure."
Robert Gonzalez sighed. "Are we thinking alien? Or enhanced human?"
Bobbi snorted. "Does it matter?"
"Of course it matters." Anne responded. "And with blood and tissue samples we've taken, she's most definitely not human. Not even a changed human."
"Explain."
She turned from talking to Bobbi, and gave her attention to the Director. "Sir, I've studied trace DNA from both Dr. Banner and his Hulk persona, compared those with Blonsky after his metamorphosis. I was even consulted on some Chitauri remains.
"That girl is like nothing I've ever seen. Even T.A.H.I.T.I. cannot compare."
At T.A.H.I.T.I., Melinda straightened up. "Kree? Are you comparing her to Kree?"
"No. Not Kree. Not Chitauri. Not anything like we have ever encountered." She took a deep breath. "Ms. Danvers is so beyond both of them that I think she might even be a god to the Asgardians."
"Is she a threat?"
"That's what we need to find out."
Tomas Calderon threw down his file on the desk. "I'll tell you what she is. She's crazy. Certifiably insane. Asking about Made up cities and towns. Wondering about Kat Grace or something like that. Some business for cocoa. No such places. And the people she's asking for don't exist."
Mack flipped through his copy of the files. "I think you're misquoting her. Yeah, she said..."
"Don't care. We have nothing concrete on her, just a maybe name and history. And even that's preliminary, what with the devastation she caused. We're lucky our contacts on the mainland can be reached."
Tomas pointed at the monitor with the live feed. "She's dangerous. More than Coulson's agenda and secrets."
"Let's find out." Director Gonzalez answered.
...
Against her better judgment, the Director went through the door first. It was probably fairly safe, maybe, but considering that none of the information provided by the girl inside the room could be verified… in fact, like Tomas was spouting, most of it was gibberish and nonsense, there was just no way to offer any assurance that any of them were out of danger.
She immediately took in the room as the door opened inward. She knew that she and Bobbi looked anything but hospitable, although Director Gonzalez did not look nearly as dangerous as she knew him to be. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were rarely not able to defend themselves… Melinda just didn't have any idea of what they could be facing. As they had discussed, Gonzalez took the lead while she and Bobbi took up guard duty. Bobbi was at the door and Melinda took the far corner of the room. From their vantage points, they should be able to hold the room long enough for reinforcements, if it was needed.
"Hi." The young woman on the bed offered, as she smiled. Cute and innocent. Melinda didn't believe it for a moment.
Robert Gonzalez tilted his head at her greeting. "Hello, Ms. Danvers." He replied, his voice quiet and dark. "I was hoping, now that you are awake, if we might have a conversation."
"Sure."
He gestured to the chair by the desk in the corner of the room. "May I?"
"Oh. Of course. Please sit down."
"Thank you." Melinda couldn't keep a consistent watch at Gonzalez's face, as he was turned slightly away from her, but she was sure that he had smiled at Ms. Danvers as he sat, based on the blonde's reaction.
"Do you mind if I call you Carol, Ms. Danvers?
The woman looked perplexed, "Why would you call me Carol?"
At her inquiry, Gonzalez looked over towards Bobbi, who had pulled out a small tablet from her belt, and started reading from it. "Carol Danvers…"
"Oh, no…" she interrupted. "Kara L. Danvers. The L stands for Linda, my middle name. Not Carol. And technically, Danvers was my foster family's name. I took it to better blend into my new home."
"Make a note of that, please." He stated. Bobbi furiously begin typing on the tablet, while Kara watched. Melinda gave a hard glare at where one of the cameras was hidden. She hoped whoever was watching knew she wasn't happy. All of the research and arguments... all for naught. They hadn't even gotten her name right.
Robert, on the other hand, didn't miss a beat. "So, Ms. Danvers, might I call you Kara?"
She nodded. "Of course."
"My name is Robert Gonzalez. I am the current Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division; or for short, S.H.I.E.L.D." He paused for a moment. "While in the past, we were a recognized Agency that's roots began in the United States and that eventually maintained a worldwide presence… it unfortunately fell under the weight of its own hubris, forced to change or be ultimately eliminated. Now, we are now more of what we started as in the beginning: a small unit of like-minded individuals dedicated to helping keep the peace from those threats not normally understood nor prepared for by the governments of the world. And while in days past, that might have once meant eliminating a threat first and seeking answers after, we have painfully learned that attempting such can often lead to unforeseen and sometimes easily avoided."
"Wow."
Melinda couldn't help it. She snickered. Kara blushed.
"Indeed." Gonzalez answered. "So, you can understand our concerns regarding you."
"Me?"
"Yes, you. From what we have been able to piece together, you are most likely not a native of this planet, nor from this galaxy." The young woman was nodding along with what he was saying, unconsciously confirming their hypothesis: alien, not enhanced human.
"Please, let's not be coy, Kara." He moved his hand up to straighten his glasses before he turned to face Kara Danvers directly.
"Roughly eight days ago, you came to our world through what we can only describe as a wormhole, the results of which have been catastrophic, to say the least." The blonde girl paled drastically. "At this time, your very existence is known to a select few that are deemed trustworthy."
"I think I'm going to be sick…"
"Indeed." He repeated. "We don't know the origin point of the portal you arrived from, nor your purpose in coming here. Frankly, you're an enigma that we must solve."
Kara took a very deep breath of air. "What can I do to help?"
"Answers, Kara. We have questions. And the answers you have been providing while you healed, at an amazing rate... Well, your answers are causing more questions than we started with."
"I don't know what's so hard about my answers. You know my name is Kara Danvers, which I really wish you didn't, but that cat's out of the bag. My sister is Alex Danvers. I now work as a junior editor at CatCo in National City. I was formerly the executive assistant for Cat Grant. She, alone, should be able to verify who I am."
She took a breath. "Or Clark Kent in Metropolis. He can confirm who I am."
Melinda watched as Gonzalez sat back in his chair. "Kara. You've given us most of this already. There is no CatCo. No Cat Grant. Nor a National City. No Midvale. No Alex Danvers, at least, not a female one that knows you. Your references don't exist."
The young girl slumped her shoulders. "Barry Allen? Central City? He works for the see see pee dee?"
"There's not a Central City..." Bobbi checked her tablet. "A Bartholomew Allen. Pennsylvania. Owns a grocery store. Married twice, three kids one granddaughter."
Kara was shaking her head. "I thought it'd be cool; be like Flash and travel new worlds... Maybe, but this kind of sucks."
"What do you mean?" Melinda wanted to know.
"A few months ago, I met a superhero named Flash. He'd never heard of me and I'd never heard of him. We were both claiming to be famous, worldwide, but we hadn't heard of each other. That's when Barry... The Flash, he explained that there is a whole multiverse of realities, hundreds upon hundreds. He'd accidentally traveled to mine."
"And you decided to, what? Visit his?" Bobbi sounded mad. Melinda couldn't blame her. If this alien girl had caused so much pain on a whim...
"No. No way." Kara seemed offended. "It might've sounded cool, but no way. I was in a fight with, well, I'm not sure who. Kal-El called. Ships were attacking. We were finally winning when there was some weird explosion."
"And?"
"And I woke up here, on this boat. That's it."
Robert Gonzalez took off his glasses. "Your story is you're from another Earth? Do you understand how that sounds?"
"Do you have heroes here? Super-powered people? You want to tell me about their perfectly normal way of being who they are?" Even Melinda fidgeted at Kara's point. Skye's story alone, which Melinda had sort of been involved in, sounded like a science fiction tale.
"Well?" Kara continued, "You kind of tipped your hand with that explanation about S.H.I.E.L.D. and stuff."
Gonzalez conceded. "Point well made."
"Near as I can tell, I'm from an Earth in another universe. A statement I can honestly say I never expected to come out of my mouth." She smiled wryly. "An Earth different from yours, with different people... Meaning maybe a different history, and different cities, which could mean different geography."
"Or just named different." Bobbi offered.
"Possibly." The blonde alien sighed. "Can I look at a computer? Maybe look for difference and similarities?" She looked so hopeful that Melinda was tempted to say yes right away. Luckily, Gonzalez answered that she could. Later.
Kara shifted on the bed, before suddenly sitting up straight. "You have Game of Thrones, right? Please say you have that in this world."
Bobbi looked at her tablet. "A Game of Thrones. The first novel in an incomplete series of novels by George R. R. Martin? Is that what you're talking about?"
The blonde had never looked younger as she fell back on the bed like a teenager. "Nooooo. Please, no. No one reads those long ass books. Not even me. It was a tv adaptation on HBO. I just started season six..."
Gonzalez raised an eyebrow at Melinda, who just shrugged her shoulders. Bobbi was biting her lip.
"Let's say that you are an alien, but not just from another world, but from another universe... and you were a hero in that universe, on your Earth..." Director Gonzalez steered back to the subject at hand.
Kara huffed as she sat back up. "Fine. What are you getting at?"
At her question, Director Gonzalez leaned forward. "What exactly can you do?"
"Well, I was... not an agent. I guess you'd consider me an asset, for the D.E.O., the Department of Extranormal Operations. They were a very black ops type of agency that protected the United States from alien threats." Melinda watched as her brow furrowed. "At least, that's how it started, although as super-powered humans started cropping up, they kinda added them to what the patrolled."
"And you, being an alien yourself..."
She shrugged. "You have to understand; just because I'm not from Earth, that it's not home, doesn't mean I mean it or you any harm. Army General Lane, from my reality, he's decided that if you're not human then you're a monster that has to be imprisoned and studied. Even maybe tested on."
"By testing, you mean?"
"Experimented on. There was another agency, sort of, called Cadmus. They took aliens apart and we're doing weird experiments. Trying to duplicate powers. And to see what it took to hurt us, control us."
Melinda noted how as she spoke, Kara went from saying "aliens" to "us." This was personal to her. It scared her, a bit, because it reminded her of Coulson and Skye.
"But you were an agent." Bobbi offered from the door.
She watched as Kara moved her gaze to the blonde S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. "Like I said, I was an asset, not an actual agent. If my sister hadn't been, like, second in command, they'd have probably locked me up. My cousin was enough of a wild card... me being even more powerful was more than anyone would want."
"Are you claiming to be the most powerful person on your Earth?" Bobbi blurted out. Melinda just quirks her eyebrow, but couldn't help but also be interested in the answer.
The cheeks of the young girl on the bed reddened. "It's not like we ever really compared, you know, like a contest or anything. I just was faster, stronger. Raw, but not as... trained, I guess. He'd been Superman for so long. I'd just gotten started, in comparison."
"Superman?"
"My cousin, Kal-El. He was named Superman by Lois Lane, a reporter for the Daily Planet in Metropolis."
As she spoke, Melinda watched as Bobbi started typing on her table. After a moment, she spoke aloud. "Could be a variation of the Daily Bugle in New York City. No Lane working there, however."
"Superman." Melinda prompted.
Kara smiled. "Tall. Muscular. Blue outfit with red cape. Good looking with a middle America kind of look. Truth, justice and the American way."
"That sounds like a cross between Captain America and Thor."
"Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound."
Bobbi laughed. "That's more like Thor." She turned her tablet around to show a nice shot of Thor. Kara smiled, but was already shaking her head in the negative.
"Definitely hot, but nope."
"So, in addition to limited invulnerability, accelerated healing," the Director smoothly returned the conversation back to where he wanted it to go. "Enhanced speed and strength?"
"Uhm..." Kara averted her eyes. "Right."
"So let's talk more about your world..."
…
It took a while to find Kara. The all call had been kept fairly quiet, Director Gonzalez not wanting to unnecessarily alarm the rest of the crew, but trying to prevent a ship wide manhunt meant that only those in the know regarding Kara had to take up the slack. Besides the obviousness of their guest being a complete unknown quantity, there was the fact that if even a small part of her story was true, mainly regarding her abilities, then even if the whole contingent of agents on board the Iliad tried to restrain her, they might still fail. It was not something that made Melinda relax, in the least.
However, the point was moot, since she found the young blonde alien sitting atop the wing of one of the Jump Jets near the port Sid of the aircraft carrier. Melinda tried to quietly approach her quarry, but Kara's voice carried softly to her, though she made no movement to acknowledge her presence.
"I can't find home."
Melinda May turned her gaze skyward at the night sky, in what she hoped was an approximation of were the younger girl was looking. "Home?"
Kara nodded, her fingers pulling the blanket she had around her shoulders tighter. "I'd hoped that Krypton or maybe Rao would be there, but I can't find them." Her voice held a note of true melancholy. "It should be right there," she pointed, "in the southern Corvus constellation, but it's not there."
"Maybe something's blocking the star's light, you mean?" Melinda offered.
Kara smiled sadly. "I can see the planets. The stars. Beyond most telescopes that humanity has created... at least from my Earth. Trust me, my a Krypton isn't there. Like, never was there. It looks similar, but Rao is wrong."
Melinda swallowed. "And Rao is?"
"My world's sun."
Taking a moment to settle her nerves, the agent flipped her com on quickly. "I found her. Drop the search. Over." She turned the receiver off. They could find her if they needed her. Melinda looked to see how Kara had gotten up on the wing. Sighing, she had to take a few minutes to climb around the cockpit and then swing over to the wing where the other girl sat.
At she drew closer, Kara turned and finally pulled her eyes from the heavens above. Her eyes were the bluest Melinda had ever seen, even in the dark. "Sorry if I caused a problem. I really don't mean to be trouble, but.."
"But?" She prompted.
Kara smiled sadly, "but I hoped if I wasn't here, my planet would still be there. I could get answers. Something."
"Gonzalez did offer to help."
"And I appreciate it. Ever since I've been given Internet access, I've been looking over so many things..." Melinda nodded. There was no reason to tell her that they'd been monitoring her computer usage. So far, they'd had to pull in four extra bodies to try and keep up with the amount of content she had gone through; everything from recent history (the emergence of Iron Man to the formation of the Avengers, to Hydra and the dismantling of S.H.I.E.L.D.) to worldwide geography. On that, Melinda was sure she was looking for the cities that she called home in her reality. "... Trying to maybe find something of home here."
"Any luck?"
Here, Kara shrugged. "Am I supposed to be a superhero here? Will you even allow that?"
Melinda barked a short laugh to hide how nervous Kara made her. "Allow you? How could we stop you?"
The blonde pushed her hair behind her ear. "After the destruction I caused? How could I ever face anyone ever again?" She continued speaking, even when she could see that Melinda was about to interrupt. "Besides, I'm not much of a solo hero. I liked working with my team. I was the brawn of the team. Heavy thinking and strategy was more Alex's thing. Or Lucy's."
"That bad at planning?"
"No." She ducked her head, almost embarrassed. "Just new at it. Kal-El had been at it for years. Everyone just wanted me to be normal, to stay under the radar. I took up the title of Supergirl to save my sister, and then it took off from there. But that was less than a year ago, although at times it seems like forever."
"Supergirl?"
Kara laughed along with the brunette. "Yeah. Not my choice. Cat Grant, the proclaimed Queen of All Media, threw that name on me before I'd even perfected my costume."
"But... girl?"
"Oh. I know, believe me. I would've gone for something cool, like Captain Marvel or Warbird or something. Not super girl. Ugh. But Kal-El was Superman, so I was Supergirl."
Melinda finally sat, forcing Kara to scoot over. Considering all that she had learned, and going completely on her gut instincts, she leaned forward resting her elbows on her knees. "Maybe you could join us?"
"You mean S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"Yes. You could help us out." Melinda sighed. "Our world is on the brink of some major changes. We've got alien technology causing genetic changes to humans. A... well, a friend got changed, and she's now with others that changed, like her."
"I-I..." Kara licked her lips. "I always want to help, but I want to go home. I had friends. Family. And my sister, Alex... she's probably going crazy with worry."
Melinda nodded. "And we'd help you try to go home. I promise, but you could change everything here. Help to save so many, do so much good. Help fix some of what your arrival broke." A little guilt never hurt.
Kara looked like she was going to answer, when she suddenly tilted her head. After a brief pause, she rolled her eyes. "Ready to join the conversation?"
Melinda jerked slightly when a voice spoke from the darkness behind her. Apparently, they'd been under observation for a while, but Kara wasn't surprised.
"If you don't mind." Mack offered as he approached.
"What's your take on this?" Kara asked Mack. "You okay with me being part of your team?"
Mack looked uncomfortable at her question, but Melinda shot hm a look and smiled at Kara. "We could help you create a new suit."
"Winn would be jealous. He was my best friend." She explained. "He really designed most of it before the D.E.O. got their hands on material that a civilian couldn't."
"We might be able to requisition a jet pack from Stark." Melinda nodded as Mack finally got with the program.
Kara suddenly grinned and gently grabbed Melinda by her arm. Before she could question the gesture, Kara pulled them both off of the wing. She tensed, ready for the eventual fall, but it never came. They both slowly floated to down to land in front of a gaping Mack.
"Uhm..."
Laughing, Kara curtseyed. "None of that armor and stuff. It'd ruin my girlish figure."
Melinda just stared at the girl. "Care to explain that?"
"While I told you some of what I can do, I left out a lot of the more... well, flamboyant powers in my arsenal."
"Flamboyant?" Mac asked, while Melinda processed. "You can fly?"
Kara nodded. "Fly. Shoot lasers from my eyes. Freeze things with my breath. Hold my breath for hours. All my senses are way off the chart."
"Is that it?" Mack asked.
She laughed. Slowly moving over to the Jump Jet they were just sitting on, Melinda watched as Kara put her hand along the underside and lifted it off the Iliad's landing strip. Kara showed no strain at all.
"I could probably lift this entire ship and carry it to the other side of the world in a couple of hours."
Mack whistled.
Melinda quickly glanced around to see if anyone else was around to see what she was doing. Seeing that they were currently safe from obvious spectators, Melinda quickly moved to Kara. "Maybe we could show off later."
Nodding, Kara's cheeks tinted red as she set the plane back down.
"Definitely a super girl. Come on, Warbird." Melinda smirked as the sparkle returned to those blue eyes. "Let's get you to Gonzalez and the Council, let them know you're in."
…
