Note: This gets angsty; Cat's past isn't nice here.
Crucible Academy
Fist Days Blues
Winn was surprised too see the new girl, and began holding his acoustic six-strings close as though it were a shield. The other girl, a tanned brunette who Kara concluded had to be Siobhan, held a violin, and the last boy was Jimmy Olsen, embracing a violoncello. Cat gave Alex an electric guitar, gave the other blonde an odd look, while she herself held a western concert flute. The young girl watched curiously, and could hear exactly when they intercepted the radio signal.
The dark-skinned boy began, playing a single, beautiful note, to which the leader joined in with the flute, making an incredible melody. Soon, the tanned girl joined in with the violin, playing the same melody as the flute, while James kept to the background. They all stopped and Winn began playing the guitar; basic chords, nothing complex, over and over, again. Cat began singing a while later, and at sporadic points, the violoncello began playing.
It sounded remarkably like 'Dust in the Wind', but the lyrics weren't even in English.
Hay veces que
—
There are times
Kara had never heard such language before, but she could tell what it meant, and she could feel her knees trembling, her eyes watering. It was a beautiful melody, but all she could see, even with her eyes opened and focused on something else, was the death of her planet. Before she was trapped in the Phantom Zone, she saw the explosion; it was reflected on the glass of her pod. Something that happened twenty years ago, but barely half a year had passed since, and she still had nightmares.
Teach me please
To listen to your lips read the sun
Take me away
To where your dreams fabricate your voice
Cat's voice held so much sadness, and the way the others' mingled with her own, left Kara certain that each and everyone of them, knew the pain of losing someone. It pulled at her strings, and when her eyes met hazel, she knew the older blonde's pain was different, that her loss was deeper, and left her a scar and a hole in her heart so deep, it was surprising to see the girl still standing and singing with so much strength.
Where are you?
I'm afraid, help me to walk
For all alone I'll never be able to find
The way to be free
I wanna wake up
Cat's voice held so much sadness, and the young blonde finally shed a tear. Only, this time she didn't have to worry because no others followed. Kara lived with that constant fear, of never being able to stop crying once the first one was shed. Alex was the last to join in with her guitar, and the way her playing mingled with the flute and the violin and violoncello and acoustic guitar . . . her sister was speechless. As soon as the song ended, they all left their instruments and looked as though a weight had been lifted.
"Winn, tryouts." The dark-skinned boy called the other.
"Oh come on Jimmy, you know they're never gonna pick me!" The one in bow-tie complained.
"I didn't train you last summer for nothing!" James replied with a frown. "What did I tell you about calling me Jimmy?"
"I could always call you Jimmbo."
"Only Clark calls me Jimmy." The tall one gave it some thought. "And Lucy. Whatever."
"Then only I'm the one to call you Jimmbo." Winn stated proudly.
"I thought James was Clark's boyfriend —" Siobhan began, just to be interrupted by their complaints and laughed at the protests.
Cat took the sisters outside, ignoring the others, before turning to the brunette sister, "thank you, Alex, you know it never sounds the same when Sio or I play it." She motioned to the young blonde, "and apparently, you sister knows Spanish. Cheers."
"I know what it feels like to lose people who are close to you," was all Kara said, looking at the sun and feeling reinvigorated. "What now?"
"Now, I'm late to a track meeting," her sister remarked with an aggravated sigh, before giving her a kiss to the temple. "Could you show her around?"
Cat shrugged, unfazed by the glare she received from Alex. Instead of doing as told however, she took Kara's hand, guiding her to one of the stands on the bleachers. There, they sat, and while she didn't offer comfort in the way of a rubbed circle on the young girl's lower back, their hands were still joined. Siobhan went towards them just to stop at the sight, and with a frown, turned around. Huffing, she chose a spot that was away and closer to the ground than theirs.
"Oh, your friend —" Kara began, just to be softly interrupted.
"For some reason, my friends get possessive," Cat dismissed with a shrug, "funny fact, she is definitely straight."
"What does that mean?" Those blue eyes were open, and the older girl bit her lower lip.
"She likes boys," she supplied, peering at the younger blonde curiously, "Siobhan only likes me platonically, like a friend and nothing more, but like most people with whom I interact, they grow possessive of me."
"You don't like it?"
"Well, Sio hasn't had to compete for my affection," hazel turned to blue, and their gaze met, "but when it happened with Les, I didn't like her possessiveness."
"Les, as in Leslie?" Kara frowned and inclined her head slightly. "Does she really like you, like that way?"
"She kissed me, started spreading rumors that I was a dyke — she still takes that shot at me, all because I didn't want to be her girlfriend." She chuckled, clearly unfazed but even the kryptonian knew dyke was a bad word. "This is me, warning you, you might be better off with your sister."
"My foster mom tells me I should make friends."
"Foster mom?"
"Ummm, my family died in a fire," a squeeze to the hand in silent support, "the Danvers took me in."
"You're in a good family then," Cat whispered, "consider yourself lucky."
A football was deftly caught by Kara, even if her back was to the field. Their eyes went to the ball, met again, then turned to the field. Maxwell had aimed at Cat, it was perhaps his fifth attempt at it, and it was only thanks to the wind that he managed to get it close; would have hit the blonde if the new girl hadn't been there.
"What are they playing?" Kara asked, looking at the oval-shaped ball. "What's it called?"
"American football; I would have thought your foster dad would have shown it to you." Cat took the ball, whistled, caught Jimmy's attention and motioned for him to go to the end field and stood there, waiting, watching, feeling. "James Olsen, 6'2", good build, played with Clark and already a senior. Incoming wind and . . . ."
She pulled her arm back, and when she felt the time was right, allowed the ball to be released. It wasn't curved, it used gravity to allow for optimal descent and the blowing wind pushing it forward smoothly; it was a beautiful pass and Jimmy caught the ball in his arms, cradling it as though it were a baby and everyone stared. Siobhan finally approached them then, smirk in place and shaking her head.
"Really Cat, showing off?"
"Got no idea what you're talking about," the older blonde replied, turning around and going back to one of her usual haunts; the library.
"Football tryouts, and you just outdid Max with that pass," Siobhan continued, eyeing the younger blonde as she followed them, "Lex won't like that."
"Luthor couldn't touch me, even when he studied here," Cat snapped back with a huff and a frown. "Like I care what he wants; I envy his fate."
"Maybe when I finally meet your mother, I might understand." The brunette muttered with resentment.
"Siobhan, you lost your daddy, I never met mine," those eyes were amber with fire, rounding on soft brown who went wide with what they saw, "but at least your mom is decent."
Chastised, because Siobhan at least knew about the trap, so she decided to stay behind, and she watched with some resentment as her friend didn't seem to mind the other blonde's company. Yes, she was jealous, but she had never received any kind of special treatment, she had just wanted to make music and reached out to others. Winn was a nice and sweet kid but not mature enough, while Olsen was cool and fun, every once in a while, but he was still holding on to his sweetheart, the girl who had to move to Metropolis, and Siobhan wasn't interested in being the rebound. Maxwell Lord had a bit of both, fun and sweet, but lacking on the cool and nice, and she wasn't interested, least of all someone who only saw himself everywhere.
No, the only one who seemed to have been a good candidate, had been Clark Kent; eye candy, nice and sweet and cool and fun, and not even narcissistic, moving to Metropolis for college with his high school sweetheart, Lois Lane. She was the girl who began being mean, then turned to the defender of others, and Cat Grant's biggest rival. Siobhan sighed; she wish she could have been there to witness it. If only she had been older and able to watch the two titans clashing. If only her best friend wouldn't have lost those three years.
If only I knew what had happened, she thought to herself with another sigh, cheering her unofficial band mates on. Well, James already had a spot, and Winn was trying out for the second time, but Jimmy seemed to think he had a good chance to being a receiver too. They both knew what it felt like, to lose a father, so she cheered them on.
"Cat?"
"Yes Keira?"
"Um, my name is Kara."
"I know, but you're annoying me." At the wounded look, the older blonde sighed in aggravation and took a hand gently. "I'm sorry, I know that was mean — I told you, I'm mean."
"I want to be us friends," puppy blue eyes, and Cat felt a stab at the words. "Can we?"
"That means I would tease you even more."
"But, you wouldn't mean it, right?"
"You're being annoying again," she replied with a huff, "Kara, I'll call you annoying, and troublesome, and Keira."
"But, you won't mean it, will you?"
"I will."
"Oh," the alien replied, eyes dropping and mood getting gloomy, an overall look of droopiness made the hazel-eyed girl relent a bit.
"But," blue orbs raised, "but, that means you wouldn't have to take it personally."
"So, we're friend?"
Cat made an aggravated noise at the incessant question. "Look Keira, had we met before, when I was a sophomore, I would have been mean to you just because. Picked on you, treated you horribly, and basically being a bully to you because I felt awful with myself.
"Had we met when I was a freshmen, you would have kept your distance because I was the one being picked on, bullied and teased because I had bracers, glasses, and pimples." She sighed and stared at the sky; they were on the roof of the library, where Miss da Costa had several hammocks perched for after-lunch digestive purposes. There was a blue and a green one, and she took the green one while releasing the hand; the new student took the blue one. "When that stopped being an issue, I decided I was going to be the bully and mean girl, and now that their favorite toy was biting back, those who picked on me — or the one girl to be precise, began treating me badly because I treated others how she had treated me."
"So at first you were the victim, then blamed for being the attacker by the one who attacked you?" Kara concluded, still confused. "No one stood up for you, so you turned into the monster they were, and suddenly they turned into the heroes?"
"Yes!" Cat cried, surprised that some one actually understood her. "That isn't fair! I wanted to crush her, tear into her and leave her with the same scars she had left me."
"What happened?" Blue, the same tone as the sky, peered at her with worry.
"I guess you don't know, or might find it hard to believe, but I'm nineteen Keira, nineteen and still in high school," she grumbled, starting to feel agitated. "I should be off in college, I shouldn't have been made to pay for a mistake that I couldn't control, because I was a child then."
Intense eyes studied the girl. "You really don't look nineteen." Kara commented, before using the hammock as a swing. "So . . . what happened?" The young girl sounded almost fearful of learning, looking at the sky as though hoping to escape the truth.
"I learned that adults are worse than children, that the scars they leave are horrible and take much longer to heal, and that a mother can hate their child with such passion, that it feels like burning ice, leaving you without the capacity to trust ever again," Kara turned to the one speaking, and saw someone who wasn't nineteen, but much older than that, someone who was still hurting from past pains that left her fearing like a six year old child, and she moved to share a hammock with the speaker. "What, do you think you're doing?"
"I can feel the tears you don't want to let fall," the kryptonian whispered, turning and holding the other blonde close. "You look like a child but talk with such wisdom and pain, and I want to be the one to help you."
"You cannot save me from myself." The older one mumbled, burying her face in the inviting warmth and holding the younger girl closer, despite her words
"I . . . want to be . . . the one to absorb your tears," Kara stated, combing her fingers through the smooth hair, "and I promise, to help you stop the flow if the need arises, but allow you to cry for as long as you need.
"Also, to be here if you ever need to let go again," she continued, feeling the tears against her skin and clothes, her free hand now gently rubbing her new friend's back. "I don't need to know what happened, I won't ask, but I'm sure talking about it will help you."
Suddenly, the headmaster, librarian, and counselor, arrived. Miss Tora and Miss Beatriz stopped, and stopped the man, Mr. Johansen; the man taught the biology and psychology course of the school, and was also the psychiatrist of the student body. Speaking to him, they all returned to the library, while Kara watched them through the walls, glad that they hadn't interrupted, but intrigued about the man, as he seemed to have known Cat had been in distress.
"I promise to be there for you," she whispered to the finally calming older girl, before turning to her back, holding her friend close and over her, "any time, any place. If you call to me, I promise to go to your aid."
"I doubt you can save me," Cat whispered, drying her tears, but too tired to notice their position, "no one can. Only I can save myself."
"You don't have to do it alone."
The older blonde sighed, "I guess you're going to be a really good friend."
"I want to try," Kara said cheerfully, earning a chuckle before sleep claimed the tired soul. "My first friend, made on my own, without my cousin's help.
"I'll treasure you, Cat Grant, my first friend; I'll treasure you for ever."
They were moved and awaken by the librarian, Miss da Costa. She smiled at them, "you're using mine, kitties," she teased them, "but I don't mind sharing."
"You're permanently warm, Fire," the headmaster; Kara began wondering why they were always together, "I wouldn't want them to freeze in my arms."
"Ice —" Cat's groan stopped the Brazilian from continuing. "Gatinha, what's the matter?"
"You two, talking like an old, married couple," their student complained, grousing, going back to burrowing (as much as she could) further into the younger girl, "share a hammock together."
"Awww, sadly I would set a bad example for you girls, regarding public nudity." The Latina smirked.
"Beatriz!" Cat and B. B. chuckled at the scandalized way the name was said by Tora. The albino was soon standing over them and they shivered at the way it felt as though a blizzard was about to come along. "Stop it."
"Hey, I was just quoting you," the tanned woman began, shielding the two girls; it was the first time Kara felt the temperature so clearly and feared her new friend would get frost bite. "I always want to be with you!"
"She got you there, Miss Tora," the older blonde supplied, peeking, "is it only because the new student is here?" At the blush from the headmaster, and how the temperature seemed to rise, realization dawned. "Ohhh, you thought I was asleep?"
"Gatinha, only I can tease Ice."
"No, Miss B. B., I'm not teasing, I'm only surprised," hazel met ice in a stare, "did it ever occur to you that she might be inappropriate with me?"
"No, because I know she would never do such a thing to a student, let alone someone who has been through what you have," the woman said, surprised when she was pecked by the older girl. "Katt!"
"I love the unwavering faith you have on her," Cat whispered, smiling at the shocked face, "and I've always wanted to know why she's always asking for a kiss."
"Hey, I want mine!" The Latina began just to be stopped by an ice finger and the iciest glare. "You don't want my lips to be touched by someone else's?"
Mortified with the way things were going, the headmaster took her finger from those lush, dark red lips. "She's a student."
"I'm old enough," Cat sort of defended, before giving the tanned woman who had been holding her a peck. "There, now neither of you can complain.
"Come along Kara, last block is about to start." She helped her protégé stand.
"Oh dear Odin," the headmaster moaned in distress, earning a laugh from the librarian as she fell to her knees. "It's not funny!"
"Kara, I need you to listen to me," the girl nodded, still dumbfounded, staring into honey eyes of her fellow student. "Do you know how sometimes mothers and fathers would peck their children on the mouth, or receive pecks from them?" She nodded, still uncertain. "Well, they are both more like mothers to me than my own mother."
"Oh, you mean it was meant as a way to convey feelings of gratitude!" The alien nodded. "Gotcha."
Cat turned to the two women, who were surprised by the revelations. "Great! Okay then, mom, ma, I'm off to class."
With that, she turned and left, puppy Danvers following close like her namesake suggested. The blondes turned around and waved, and the women waved back, still in shock. Beatriz stood from the hammock and went to the one person who could keep her calm, offering a hand. Tora took it and rose to her feet, thinking nothing as the taller woman gave her a hug from behind, and together they walked to the edge of the building. Just in time to see the girls walking off towards the gym, still holding hands.
"I want to adopt her," the Latina whispered, her hold turning possessive and strong. "I want a family with you, and to be able to call her my daughter —"
"Fire . . . ." The pale woman turned around in the embrace, pressing an icy hand to a tanned cheek.
"No, listen, maybe we could appeal, stating we are better off being her guardian —"
"She's nineteen, not a child."
"Ice, she's hurting, and Katherine Grant won't be a mother."
"Baby, please stop," Tora requested, tears in her ice-blue eyes, "no one would grant us permission; that woman has too many contacts. Going against her, it won't do us any good."
"If this goes on, she going to marry our child off, and soon after demand children." She winced with realization, swallowed, and tightened her embrace unconsciously. "I forgot."
"Which makes we worry over our precious kitten," they were both crying. "Fire, Beatriz, I want to spare her such sadness and complications, but there's nothing we can do."
They also knew, if things worked the way they wanted, Cat would already be in college, and wouldn't have met what could easily, become her best friend.
"You weren't surprised by my explanation, yet it's clear it confused you."
"Oh, I've only kissed my father in the way you describe," Kara revealed with a blush, "but once I turned three, it stopped. My mom and aunt used to do it a lot between themselves, and actually allowed me to join in."
"Really?" At the nod in response, Cat arched a brow. "Now I'm intrigued."
"They were twins," she supplied as way of an answer, which really said nothing, "I could always tell the difference though. I didn't once ask them about it, but one time, when I had turned six, I requested my aunt to tuck me in, and called her mom."
"You hadn't confused them."
"No, but they spoke as though they were both my mothers, so I figured it was fine," the alien shrugged, making the older student realize their hands were still joined, and was surprised when the new girl didn't release her. "My aunt had to dye a lock of hair, so no one would confuse them."
"Your family is weird."
"I'm . . . not normal," she confessed, looking at the ground and biting her lower lip.
"Hey," Cat called her to attention, blue meeting soft, tender honey, "that's another way of saying special. I meant it's strange to make identical siblings distinguish themselves."
"Ah, my aunt was a fighter, got my mom in plenty of fights when she couldn't defend herself, so she did it mostly to keep others from attacking her," she blushed a bit.
"Let me guess, our esteemed headmaster and librarian reminds you of them?"
"Yes!" Kara gave her a bewildered look. "But, my mom loved my dad."
"Hey, when it's between siblings, specially twins, I believe it was purely platonic and romantic, the truest bond of love." A wistful look from hazel eyes, left the kryptonian wondering if it was possible for her to feel so protective of someone she had just met. "I've always wanted a sister, although right now, I'm glad I don't have siblings."
Cat pulled them forward, unwilling to speak about her own words. It was clear that there was something more behind what was said, but Kara couldn't bring herself to ask. It felt tied to that past, and she had promised not to ask about it, and she wouldn't. When they reached the shadow of the gym, she gave in and gave the petite girl a tight hug, not caring if it was awkward when the one being held, couldn't hold back.
"Keira —"
"Sorry," she interrupted, tightening her hold briefly before letting go. "Just wanted to let you know, I'm here."
"You could have just said something," the flustered tone of voice made the tall one grin goofily. "Thanks."
It was shocking enough. Without further contact, they moved on to the girls' locker room, and following the human's example, Kara began undressing. Alex had told her about it, that she would have to get dressed into a uniform, usually consisting of shorts during the summer and long sweatpants when it was winter. Cat got two water bottles, and the alien worried that she had been given one by mistake.
"Winter is fast approaching," the older girl motioned to the blue shorts the new girl was wearing, "if Max keeps to his MO, expect him to make comments regarding your attire."
"Yours aren't long either." The kryptonian shook her head, confused.
"My shorts aren't tight like yours," the other countered.
"Maybe I should use that kind then, like you?" She asked, frowning in worry.
"It'll be a shame if you do," the comment was surprising. "Anyway, if you don't want our Neanderthal companions to whistle or be inappropriate, just stick close to me or your sister."
"So these type of shorts are okay?" Kara was still confused.
"Unless you want to be weird like me," the honey-eyed blonde replied with a smirk, "then I say yes."
Once outside, the new girl noticed what was so different. "Oh!" Her blue eyes went wide. "You don't use skin-tight shorts? Why? Isn't that part of the uniform standard?"
"Nope," the way the p was popped, felt like a caress and goosebumps broke over the alien's skin. "After an . . . incident three years ago, I hate exposing myself unnecessarily."
"Okay," she stopped in front of the older girl, confusion palpable, "is this the double standard my sister meant?"
Cat gave her a surprised look. "I guess you've been living under a rock," but she answered the question with a nod, "I must know, how can someone be so sheltered?
"Also, there are anatomical reasons why men don't wear things so tight," she motioned to several groups, "and most girls like exercising in tight clothes, mostly due to comfort."
"Are those more comfortable?" The young girl inquired.
The older blonde grimaced. "Not really, but the comfort I draw from them comes from feeling less exposed."
"You don't trust people," Kara concluded with a nod, before going to stand besides her friend.
"Yes, I have trust issues," she huffed with a roll of honey eyes, "I've been taught the hard way not to believe everyone. You though, you clearly trust without a care in the world, which tells me I can trust you.
"I just hope you don't get bitten in the ass, or even worse, stabbed in the back for it," Cat muttered darkly, not knowing that thanks to her super hearing, the new girl still heard the remark.
The bell rang and the studen body went to stand before — Kara didn't understand, bewildered at the fact that her math teacher was taking list for their current block.
Crucible Academy wasn't a normal school. It opened its door at six thirty, provided breakfast and lunch to it's students, and classes began at seven thirty sharp. There was a new schedule per week, in an effort to shake things up, but the official day ended with PE for everyone. This explained why siblings could go around together, and each teacher took to giving their course of choice; yoga, tai chi, were girls favorite, with them making teams later to either play basketball or volleyball, softball or badminton. Tennis was also a popular sport, but only those with top grades could use the single court that they had; this was a cheap way for the school to keep up the grades, and they already had a planned budget to expand on more tennis courts.
"Everyone, gather around!" The man called, "we always start with stretching exercises!
"No, Mister Maxwell, I don't care if you've already been doing a sport!" He called to the boy, who had raised his hand while most groaned. "You all know the rules, so quit complaining!"
A few more grumbles were heard, but nothing evident. They all mimicked the man on the stretching exercises, and once they were done, he huffed in exasperation. Kara heard him mutter something about them needing military expertise to keep everyone in check.
"I don't get why John can't take charge of this," he complained to the other teachers, who chuckled.
"Johansen has counseling," the English teacher replied with an amused grin, "we do need a real martial artist."
"No one wants Beatriz handling that again!" The chem teacher exclaimed, bewildered. "She might be great, but it's still too much contact for some of the boys."
Most kids stuck to running around the field. Alex cheered about finally getting the lacrosse team together, and Kara slowly found herself trying to take in everything at once. This changed when Siobhan caught up with them. It was almost as if she kept the noise at bay.
"Finally!" Cat seemed to complain. "What took you so long? I couldn't hear myself think."
"Hey, you're the one who isn't wearing headphones now!" The brunette called, frown in place. "Besides, it not like you can focus on all the conversations going around."
"Wanna bet?" The older blonde replied with a huff. "Sio, if it's something useful, like a lecture during politics or psychology, I wander, but here? Here, there's too much to wander over, so I can focus on all that!"
"Right, forgot your multitasking nature," the other replied with a sigh.
"So you're actually making it so that the noise isn't around?" Kara gave the brunette a gaze filled with wonder and as though she was the most amazing person in the world. "Where were you a year ago when I arrived?"
"Does she realize how weird that sounds?" Siobhan asked, looking unnerved at the pleased expression from the young blonde. "She's on a completely different scale of weird."
"Yeah . . ." Cat smirked at the way the new girl seemed to be pleased about something, presumably sticking close to the brunette. "You got yourself a brand new puppy Danvers to follow you around."
"Okay, this just got super weird," she made a stop sign with her hand at the new girl, "please don't get any closer."
Kara gave her a puzzled look, "have I offended you, Siobhan?" At the negative, she shrugged. "I was afraid of being overloaded by my hearing, and suddenly you appear and everything seemed better. How did you do it, by the way? All the sound waves seem to bounce off of you. The area around you."
"Ummmmm," dark brown eyes turned to hazel eyes, and the older girl shrugged. She decided to go with the most accurate, and offhanded explanation she had, in an effort of throwing the young blonde off. "I'm actually a banshee, and thus I have the magical ability to manipulate sound."
"Oh wow, that's so cool!" Kara only smiled brightly. "Does your appearance change?"
"I'm going to pretend you just didn't ask that!" Siobhan stated with a blush, not speeding up because her friend began laughing. "Thanks for the help!"
"Oh, you have to admit that's a valid question, and an incredibly unique reaction," Cat teased back, laughing again, making the brunette relax. "She's going to make things interesting!"
The banshee smiled a bit more honestly; she could admit, the new girl had to have been exposed to some pretty strange things, to accept her explanation so easily. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea, adding a new element to their already working composition; an orchestra had many different instruments of different families. It could be nice. Besides, their group was already strange, different and eccentric in some ways. The only one who was mildly normal was James, and that was because Cat was too messed up to be considered that.
"Alex, why am I just hearing about your sister?" Mattie Harcourt was Alex's best friend since childhood. The Harcourt and the Danvers had a long-standing friendship, which explained her surprise. "I mean, we've had barbecues every other weekend. Except since we started middle school, but that's normal. We saw each other more often then and it was okay."
"I told you," Wanda was one of the strangest girls of the school, usually spending time with Alex, because of her ties with Mr. Johansen, for whom the girl seemed to have developed some kind of crush over, or Lena Luthor, alleged ESP user who people tended to steer clear from. "I did say by the end of our middle school, she was going to get a new sister."
"Yeah, your clairvoyance also spoke of Clark as an alien," Mattie scoffed.
"I need to start getting other friends," Alex muttered to herself, blushing at their current conversation and noticing how her sister almost stumbled. "Maybe I should just move to a different school, one with more normal students."
Her childhood friend snorted at that, but the other girl seemed to stare off into the horizon, in another one of her trances. The Harcourt family was also filled with doctors, they seemed to breed doctors, so of course they didn't believe in ESP or clairvoyance, or other such things they deemed 'unreal' and unproved by science. It didn't matter that Lex had built a machine to prove his sister was an actual psychic, mainly because they couldn't trust such a biased source.
But the more Alex talked with Wanda and heard her prophesies, the more she was inclined to believe her, specially since she was banned by the headmaster from giving out cheat codes on tests. That, and how accurate her predictions were; whenever the girl spoke about rain, or not eating certain things in the cafeteria, it was strange to feel as though she had narrowly avoided death, or getting drenched.
"I don't know Alex," Wanda began, not paying any attention to Mattie's scoff, "it's your senior year; do you really think transferring in the middle of it is going to be of help?"
"She does have a point," the other agreed, smirking at the alarm of the Danvers girl; Mattie, agreeing with Wanda?
Alex stopped the perpetually calm girl; she knew the future, unless there was certain death in her path, she would remain unfazed. "Tell me, is the apocalypse approaching?" She ignored her friend's laughter, she was being deadly serious. "Did you see it coming and have made peace with it, or did you find a way to remain alive?"
"Alex, I promise, you'll be the first to know," Wanda replied, cocking her head to the side after a while. "You forgot your umbrella. I told you it would rain —"
"And that I would forget it, even if I packed it before hand," Alex shook the shoulders a bit. "I know."
"Then take the offer that comes your way." That said, Wanda resumed her running path.
"Can you at least not be the enigmatic cliché?" Alex called after her, huffing. "You also didn't tell me what you saw, for me not to leave."
"My supposed crush on our esteemed biology teacher," Wanda called back, smiling when the girl caught up with them, "you're going to experience it for real and first hand."
"Shouldn't that make you run?" Mattie asked, just to shake her head with a frown. "Danvers, you're supposed to be a girl of science! You cannot possibly believe this rubbish!"
But, Alex believed. Not because Wanda had the perfect, 5.0 grade-point average ever since they met, never failing a test in her life, but because every single prediction she made, regarding anyone's life, always came true. Always. Sure, she should be scared that she would end up having a crush on a teacher, but the look on those clear eyes spoke of a possibility of it being real and being beyond what she spoken. The prospect made her heart speed.
"Hey, what's up with your sister's fascination with Cat Grant?" Mattie asked in a whisper.
"What fantasy describes as true love," Wanda replied, even if she shouldn't have heard the question, "what sci-fi likes to explain off as destiny or fate, and romantics call soulmates, that's them.
"What we all strive for, but condemn with scoffs," just as the skeptical of them scoffed, "always doubting the essence of it."
"Oh yeah, then who is my true love?" Mattie challenged.
"I cannot see that far but James, he has met her, much like Clark and Lois, Peter and Lana."
"I refuse to believe they'll be all together for the end of the years!"
But, Wanda said nothing about that. "We are getting new transfer students. I won't be here to formally meet the last two, but I'll get to meet them." For the first time, Alex saw the girl positively beam at the prospect. "Alex, you're very lucky, and J'onzz deserves a chance."
The warrior among them; healer and . . . (whatever the hell was the term for clairvoyant in gaming terms was) oracle?, definitely not fighting material, sighed. "You won't ever give me a straight answer, will you?"
"The last time I did, I lost a friend," she had tried to warn the Luthors, they only forbid their daughter from keeping her as a friend, "I might shape your actions in the future. The more vague I am, the less chance I'll harm you."
Mattie huffed and rolled her eyes, and the rest of their run was done in silence. When time came for yoga before the day ended, Alex ditched them for tai chi, although Wanda went with her. They met Cat, Siobhan and Kara there, truly by chance; the older blonde would sometimes disappear, likely going to the library, or to cool down at the principal's office. Other times, she would go for volleyball, or yoga, not so frequently at tai chi.
Before anything happened, Wanda placed a hand on Alex's arm; "Your sister can handle it."
"Alex, what are the symptoms of high blood pressure?" Kara questioned her, looking at Cat with worry.
"Why do you ask?" Alex inquired, but before anyone could do anything, Leslie drenched Cat in cold water, laughing. "Leslie! That's dangerous!"
"Oh come on, she's faking the panic attack!" Leslie scoffed, snarl in place.
"Leslie, you idiot!" Siobhan cried.
"You take Leslie," Wanda told her friend, "I'll take the banshee."
Alex shook her head, not understanding why Wanda insisted on calling Siobhan that, but did as told. Mattie was already make her way over to them; she should be able to help, she was a purebred doctor. But Kara was already handling things, going to her new friend and falling on her knees besides the older blonde, ignoring the wet grass on her skin and forcing swirling, green eyes to meet her own blue.
By the last lap, Cat decided to push herself. She felt stronger, she could handle her heart's accelerated heartbeat. So she had pushed herself, but memories came from the state of her own body. She wasn't as strong as she had been before, she couldn't fight the memories off completely. So by the time she came to a stop, she drank from her second bottle, ignoring the way the new student imitated Siobhan by pouring water over her head; she had noticed Kara's lack of sweat, but it would be hard to tell then.
Looking at the girl helped distract her flooding memories, changing instead to the new ones, the ones with the young blonde in them.
It had worked, at least until Leslie decided to pull a prank and drenched her in cold water. It was a bad idea; she had a heart condition ever since her mother's trap, and the water brought those memories forth. The warm water soon ran out and instead, it came out cold. And although it helped slow her heart beat down, she felt the betrayal just as clearly as if it had happened right then. Crying for help, for her mother to come and save her, from what her own mother wanted, crying out for a second chance, unable to realize that her voice wasn't even working; whether from cold, or from her own sadness, she didn't know.
"Cat," a voice through the fog, and her teared eyes managed to focus on soft blue, "Cat, your heart is beating frantically, you need to calm down."
Are you real? But, her voice wants working, yet the girl took one of her hands, gently untangling it from its grip and pressing it over the warm skin, right over a strong, slow-beating heart. Cat pressed their foreheads together, not having known how much she craved for physical contact. "Help me." Her voice was finally working again. "Help me."
"I'm here Cat," yes, she was real, she was Kara, and she was holding Cat; the older girl finally let go and began crying, hiding her face on the right shoulder, trembling, but her heart beat calmed and emulated the beat beneath her right hand, her shaking frame slowly began rocking. "I'm here, and I won't let anyone hurt you ever again."
Those words proved to be enough to help her body finally still, sagging in relief when the other girl's arm pulled her closer. Cat didn't know if she fainted, or maybe just fell asleep, but those strong arms were soon holding her, and they weren't letting go. Her heart finally calmed, her blood pressure regulating, her body temperature rising to normal levels.
Kara had no idea where to go; Mrs. Hart was a kind nurse, but her new friend clearly needed someone else. With that in mind, she chose to go to the library, not surprised when she found the librarian, headmaster, and counselor all running towards them. When they saw her though, they seemed to calm down. She noticed her sister going with her, and smiled at the support; the teachers had rounded up on Leslie.
"Miss B. B., I think —"
The woman didn't bother to listen, or to take the petite form from her arms, she just hugged them both. Slowly, the headmaster began guiding them back towards a less open space, and with no stares. Mr. Johansen though, began asking question, and Alex supplied them as best she could.
Hey, Wanda here!
Since some (or maybe most?) of you, will want to know what comes next, I'm here to let you know; hey, I'm the clairvoyant here!
Background on Astra, and her "child", who is going to be a new transfer.
Okay, thoughts on this new, Astra/Alex mode, with teacher/student scenario?
What about, having Cat be adopted by Ice and Fire? Give it some thought.
Forgot to mention the song that's in this chapter: Pensando en Ti by Mago de Oz
Literal translation: Thinking of You; this song is beautiful and speaks of how we constantly think about those we lost.
Siobhan, Winn and James all lost their fathers, so for them it's the most perfect way of expressing how these men will always be in their thoughts.