WARNING: genderbending ahead

The Truth About Our Pasts
Carter & CatCo

Kara woke up, but when she did, she had no idea of where she was. Memories seemed to desert her, leaving her without a clear notion of even who she was. Well no, that was a half-lie; she knew she was from another planet, that she had powers and that if anyone found out, she would be taken to a secret military base, killed, and dissected, like those biology labs she did at school, learning about amphibious life forms. Not a nice thought. She felt something pulling at her from deep within, making her suck her breath and forcing changes on her body. Panting, she groaned and forced herself to jump into the sky, before she could take flight. Fighting the tears on her eyes, she focused on her cousin, Superman, and went to him.

She must have fainted mid-flight. For some reason, her suit appeared to have disintegrated, and all she had left was a baby blanket for a cape. That by itself made her feel vulnerable, like a child who needed their blank-y in order to sleep well. Tears began peeking from the corners of her eyes and Earth's gravity pull began working its magic on her. The crash back on the planet left her without energy, and with a pain in her abdomen that was almost too strong for her to control the urge to empty her stomach, almost. It was the first time she could confirm that kryptonians had, indeed, gagging reflexes. For some reason, her cape had disappeared.

"Are you alright?!" It was a man, who was meant to be related to her one way or another. "Were you hit by the foreign object or are you the foreign object?"

"It feels like I'm losing my powers," she whispered at him, groaning and clutching her belly.

"From which planet do you hail from?" It wasn't clear if it was a question, or a demand.

"Same as yours." Her breath turned laborious. "I'm not here as a foe."

"Tell me your name," he requested, but by then, she passed out again.

"He, is obviously male," a man's voice; she should know it, knew it really, but couldn't quite place it.

"Look, the waist indicates female." Other sounds soon began filtering through, leaving her almost deaf. After a moment, she could focus back on the two close by. "Your have no way of knowing without asking."

"Water," she croaked, being unable to feel anything beyond her neck down.

"Right, of course!" The woman was soon by her side and giving her water. She downed it like a pro. "Just how sick are you?"

"I don't know," taking a deep breath, she sat, feeling numb at the chest and below the waist. She worked her arms and legs, feeling them functioning normally. "Honestly, I don't remember anything, but the fact that I know the two of you, that he is family of some sort and that we're from the same planet."

"Krypton was destroyed," it was an unlikely interview method that Clark was an expert at conducting.

"I was sent here to . . . to protect you, I think," a hand on her head, feeling as though the world was crashing around her once again. "Right before the planet was fully destroyed and after Black Zero was sent into the Phantom Zone, just in case."

Her mind blissfully blanked but as soon as she regained her senses, she was given more water then taken out to restore her severely depleted sunlight supply in the balcony of the obvious penthouse. She was breathing hard, and by the time she realized she only had from the waist down covered and was otherwise naked, it was kinda late; she placed a hand on her chest self consciously.

"Are you okay?" The woman was, of course, much more caring. She could only nod mutely. "You know, this could go better if we knew your name."

She opened her mouth, closed it, shook her head and finally sighed in defeat. She didn't know her own name, what was more, she wouldn't know what she should be called now that she was actually a man. The doorbell rang and the woman left, leaving her to feel inadequate as a man standing besides the Man of Steel.

"Thanks," she whispered, finally choosing to take stock of her appearance. "You can go with her, I promise not to fly away."

"Your powers?"

"Not fully there yet," she confessed with a reluctant sigh. "It's as though something inside is constantly depleting my supply. At least my sight is coming back, but I doubt my abilities will fully return.

"It's almost like losing control all over, except things become overwhelming at some points just to immediately fade away." She gripped the handrail at the balcony, just to quickly release it. "Sorry, it seems like the same could be said about my strength."

"Clark," a new voice, one that made her pulse race, said as it began approaching. "I came here to see you, not that 'man' you choose to sleep with; I'm sure your pal Jimmy might get jealous any time now."

The man at her side chuckled; he knew better than to take it seriously, since the relation between both women was what kept them at the top of their game. A sibling rivalry of some sort that the blonde couldn't let go of. "Come on Cat, no need to be mean," he went back inside and right on time to stop the petite woman from seeing the wounded kryptonian. "I'm sorry I couldn't be at the ceremony, I know you were given the final approval for your CatCo to be a brand."

"Yeah, I already have the building selected, I'm just missing a balcony and the original architect is working on it."

"Only efficiency in those you hire," the man teased; the stranger outside took a fistful of curly dark-brown hair and frowned, since the tresses were meant to be blonde. "Come, let's talk some more."

"I'm sure thee are other ways to look down on people."

"I want the best seats when the world gets burned down."

"That's grim."

"Why don't we move the conversation to the living room?" Was Clark trying to get the conversation back to neutral ground, or get the women away from the alien, or maybe both?"

"Of course." The first woman began moving.

"Sure —" she could tell the exact moment when the other woman, Cat, turned to look away, just for their eyes to meet and the gasp felt like a stab. "Lee?"

"I found this . . . man on my way there," Clark seemed to be grasping for ideas.

"When we found him, he was delirious, seemed to have been mugged and we just couldn't leave him there."

"So instead of taking her to the hospital, you took her to your house?" At their hosts' looks, the woman elaborated. "When you referred to her as a man, she winced; she clearly doesn't see herself that way yet."

"I have no idea how this happened," the stranger finally spoke, then turned to the guest, "you called me Lee?"

"That was . . . your middle name, and it's the closest I could be without being offensive," Cat supplied as an answer. "We better check hospital records for any FTM surgeries."

"It could have been done illegally," the other woman countered, concern and worry evident, but the other scoffed and shook her head. "Could you please tell me what you find dismissive from my premise?"

Approaching the (wo)man in the balcony, she began denoting where the changes could be and how they evidently weren't there. "A scar at the very least should be found here. The abdominal muscles are the same, as well as your waist. Your back had always been so well defined, it has only gotten a bit wider." Her arms were soon holding the petite woman close of their own accord, enticing her to breath in deeply. "I was afraid something bad had happened to you."

"I'm sorry my soul," she whispered back.

"You also don't know her strength; no one would have been able to force her."

"Then why would she wince at being called a man?" The other woman inquired, clearly the reporter in her coming to the surface and light.

"There are many risks in all operations," Cat replied scathingly, "not every body will react the same way to it. Considering the drastic change she had to go through, it's not surprising for her to be shocked."

". . . ." The woman was clearly at a loss. "It seems you have intimate knowledge of how she was before the change."

"Are you going to go with your gossip column to spread the word of how Cat Grant is a dyke?"

"Wait, wouldn't pansexual or bisexual be more accurate?" Clark inquired.

"Try demisexual," the quiet stranger supplied.

"No, I wouldn't go around saying things behind your back; no matter how true they might be, you should tell your own story!" The woman then huffed for a bit. "I'm not like you, holding a grudge over some, silly thing."

"Right, because you're 'one of the guys' and not a girl like me," Cat sneered. "Clark, could you lend this beauty some clothes? We're leaving."

"It feels as though you knew she was here and came for her," the woman accused.

"Uh sure but," the man gave his relative a narrowed-eye evaluation, "as suspected, my shoes wouldn't fit her."

"I guess I can spare my sneakers," the statement was followed by a long suffering sigh, and while their host was led to the closet, they began following them.

"Thank you both, you've been most gracious," Lee frowned a bit, then turned to the woman in her arms as they moved to the living room, "my soul, how about we check the hospitals?"

"Of course, heart dear," the term was clearly a slip, but only Clark heard it out of range. "You must have changed your name again."

"How many times have you changed identities?" The man asked as he came back with the clothes.

"At least four times," Cat winced a bit, as though remembering something, "for some reason, I can't seem to recall the first two; I was too little, or too shocked that they are associated with painful memories."

"Here are the shoes." The woman froze. "Clark, when did you give Cat permission to use your computer?"

"Lois," the man exhaled the named, and she now finally had the name for the face. "Don't edge her further."

The woman, Lois, sighed in dejection. "Fine, we still need to talk." When they left the room, did the stranger finally began dressing; the belt helped, as did the undershirt and plaited one.

"So any ideas on your most recent identity?" Cat asked softly, still searching for missing patients or such from hospitals nearby. "It might help."

"Let's try Lee and my last name?" She supplied, not really sure why.

"Lang?" Her heart's owner began typing. "Lee Lang."

"It feels, familiar."

"I'm glad you're remembering." Miraculously, a match was found. But it would seem that she had travelled all the way from National City. "That's great, it's right where CatCo's HQ is located."

"You do know I could never forget you, right my soul?" She pecked the woman right when the other couple came back. "Do you want to get married?"

"You need a ring to pop that question." Lee hesitated, then dropped her head with a sigh. "I'm kidding!"

"At the same time, you're right," the reply was total, even if she fished into the pockets of the jeans that weren't her own. "But I cannot use this."

She passed the ring to her distant relative, smiling sadly, then a pull on her gut forced her to take a sharp inhale.

"Thanks for busting the surprise," Clark remarked, sarcasm evident but his smile and Lee's laugh was enough to tell those two had shared something. "Lois, marry me."

"What?"

"He asked you a question Louise," Cat egged, smirking.

"Actually, it was a statement," both aliens remarked at the same time, looking at their respective soulmates.

"You're missing the bracelets, Clark," Lee remarked, eyes still not leaving amber ones.

"Says you," the man replied, but didn't produce any bracelets. He seemed to realize something and could only grin as he took his relative and gave her an appreciative noogie. "Come here, you!"

She only laughed and began tickling in response, to which he only laughed right back. It was brief, but so family like, they could have been brothers grinning like fools, then disengaged just to take the other into a hug. Like having forever known each other, with the promise to never meet again; bittersweet.

"Clark, as always it's been real nice seeing you," Cat remarked with a soft smile directed at him; cheek kisses and she turned to the woman and grimaced. "Too bad you'll have a cancer."

Lee winced. Somehow, it felt as if those words would end up hunting her beloved. "Lois, it's been a pleasure, despite the fact that these are less than ideal circumstances. Clark, I'm nor sure how to say this, so I'll be straight with you about it: next year a pod will land. Make sure the girl is with people you trust to raise her."

"I promise to do the best by you," how he knew, she didn't have a clue, but it felt like a relief. "I guess that explains why you had my blanket, yet not-blanket with you. Don't worry, everything will work out."

With those words, spoken so softly that no one else heard, they shook hands, and she went with Cat back out. It was a quiet ride back home. Unable to control herself, Lee took the woman besides her and to her lap, holding her tight. All she need, all they both needed, was the contact after what was like a lifetime's separation, yet having known each other for so long, the tender love felt like it was there for the first time.

The arrival at Cat's house was almost soothing, their embrace all they needed. Lee, however, seemed to be expecting someone, and as though realizing no one else was there, she deflated.

"What is it, soul?" The amber-eyed blonde inquired, having picked on the signs. "Whom were you expecting?"

"Carter?" She replied, pouting softly. "I don't know, a boy with my eyes and curly dark-brown hair."

"I don't think your surgery allows for such an option." The tease was evident. "Besides, it's obviously dyed; our child, son or daughter, would be blonde."

But they both knew that the only surgery that had popped, was an MTF, not FTM. How she could fake being a man when she had been so well endowed as a woman, was beyond either of them. Lee felt the pull once again, determining it came from within her belly button and fear gripped her. They did as much catching up as they could, meaning Cat sharing what had happened since they had last seen one another. That same night they finally spent it together, with Lee showing Cat just how real the body was. Despite being someone who prepared for all eventualities, the petite woman didn't think to use contraceptives of any kind. Nine months later, a baby boy was born. Lee got to carry him, holding the two most important people of her life close and seeing them home before being pulled from it all. For some reason, a cancer began spreading from her abdomen, she could see it with her vision, before it was taken from her, along with all her other superhuman abilities.

She fainted, and with her, the key to their memories together.