Kara's Dilemma
Chapter Four
Disclaimer: See chapter 1
The plan devised by the Danvers, Clark and Bruce was a bit convoluted. As requested by the girls, Kara continued to attend Midvale high school with Alex with a few changes. A new identity was created to facilitate taking the additional classes that Kara needed. Bruce helped them create the identity of Linda Karen Zorel using some of the contacts he had made in the past. According to the false history he devised for Linda, she is a young lady who is very gifted and had graduated from an overseas correspondence program with a diploma equivalent to that of a high school diploma. Linda Zorel is the daughter of a pair of Peace Corp Volunteers who worked in areas where the blood diamond trade was very prevalent and was unfortunately killed in a recent insurgence. They included Karen as a middle name so that if anyone slipped and called Kara by her real name they can try to play it off as someone calling her by her middle name instead.
Thanks to input from Clark and Alex, they made sure that this background helped cover for some of Kara's social awkwardness and some of her odd skills or lack thereof. Her "parents" tragic death left the young woman with deep phobia of being in a public place and being surrounded by a crowd. They then made her a ward of Bruce Wayne, who was supposed to be a friend of her dead father. This worked in her favor because they can then use the Wayne resources to allow Kara to take classes remotely from the best universities in the world. The convoluted trail of paper work made it hard to pin point exactly how many classes the young girl is taking at any given time. Thanks mainly to judicious use of her super speed and thank to the many intellectual gifts bestowed upon her Kryptonian heritage Kara was able to finish most of the basic prerequisites she needed within the first 4 months of starting their plan. During the fall semester, they tried to take to test out of as many classes as possible. By the start of the spring semester Kara was enrolled in four different universities all over the world and slowly working her way to a list of degrees, they had chosen from a list to ensure she had a solid grounding of the world around her.
Alex is no slouch and is a full-blown genius in her own right. The Danvers' decided that since it was Alex idea to enroll Kara in advance courses then she should also be part of the experience. She was able to get special dispensation from the school to take some college courses. Bruce and Jeremiah then took advantage of this opportunity to set her up on an advance course load that will have her finishing her undergraduate degree roughly around the time she turns eighteen.
Kara loved her new schedule. It was very similar to what she was used to on Krypton. The additional courses were very easy for Kara and she was able to complete all of her work thanks to her super speed. One thing she noticed was the more she used her speed the better control she had over it and with Jeremiah's help she was able to track her progress. Within those first four months her speed and her control over it has improved dramatically and she is almost as fast as Clark. Alex and Eliza theorized that Kara's abilities are like muscles the more she used them the more finesse is developed and improved control, an odd form of muscle memory. It was as if her muscles are getting used to the amount of power it can harness from the sun and her perfect biology started to create new processes to improve the function of her body one cell at a time.
This was not a progression they noticed with Clark's powers because before he became Superman he never really had a period in his life where he used his super powers on a daily basis. He did mention that ever since he began using his powers more he has noticed that some tasks he use to struggle with is now a bit easier. Things like sudden acceleration without disturbing his environment. His tactile telekinesis is now stronger than ever therefore reducing the chances of injuring any passengers.
All these new changes gave the super cousins an idea. They decided that one weekend a month they will go to the Fortress of Solitude and use the isolated location to go all out and get a true gauge of their powers. The first weekend they went, they had to call Bruce for a lift home because they both managed to blow out their powers. Jeremiah, Eliza, and Bruce had developed a light array that can emit red solar rays to help prevent this issue from arising in the future. They discovered that a short stay in the red sun environment followed by exposure to intense yellow sun light acts as a shot of adrenalin to kryptonian systems giving them a boost if they accidentally blow out their powers making the recovery period after much quicker process.
Bruce also wanted to use the opportunity to train with his friends. While Clark and Kara were under the effects of the red sun array Bruce created an exercise/workout routine that can help improve combat effectiveness. Bruce also introduced not only Kara but also Alex to several forms of martial arts. Overjoyed with the effectiveness the red sun array installed a smaller version in the Danvers' basement just in case Kara blew out her powers due to overuse while performing her extra courses.
Clark was true to his word and would often come by Midvale to spent at least a few hours a week with Kara. They would just talk and hang out or sometimes Kara would spend the afternoon teaching Clark to improve his understanding of Krypton. It was a much-needed connection for them both. Clark never realized how much he didn't know about Krypton and speaking with Kara help bring to life the culture, the people and the hopes his extinct race had. For Kara the situation is as if a healing balm applied over an open wound. She found that teaching Clark helped ease her grief because it was a reminder that not all was lost. She still had Clark and they can build a new start for Krypton here on Earth one lesson at a time. Alex would sometime join them and whenever she did, Kara felt as if her heart could explode in joy. Being in the presence of the ones she loved helped solidify in her mind that she is not alone. She still has her family, both old and new.
Bruce was another wonderful surprise that Kara did not expect. From that very first evening they spent speaking on the back porch, their relationship has grown in leaps and bounds. While Clark is her cousin, and Alex is her sister, Bruce has quickly taken the spot of her big brother. She adored his gruff attitude and his broody moments are a source of comfort for Kara because it reminded her that someone understands her pain. They often would spend some time after their workouts in the Fortress meditating. Kara found the sound of Bruce's heartbeat and even breathing soothing and it was an experience that helped her keep her balance when she sometimes felt that she is being pulled into too many different directions.
The rest of the school year flew by. Kara has officially finished her 7th grade. The Danvers' petitioned the school board to have Kara test out of 8th grade and once the assessment test was completed, the school corporation agreed so in the fall Kara will be joining the ninth graders and joining Alex in the high school building. Summer is officially in session and Alex was very disappointed to find out that she won't have as much time to surf as she had hoped because her parents had other plans for her and Kara. Jeremiah and Eliza got a contract with a prestigious organization to help with wonderful research opportunity overseas. The parents agreed to go only because Bruce and Clark volunteered to host the girls.
Bruce and Clark arranged to have Kara and Alex spend the first part of the summer in Gotham with Bruce and the second part in Metropolis with Clark. Kara and Alex was scheduled to attend Gotham University to finish off some to the lab requirements and classes they are not able to take remotely. Kara was very happy to spend more time with her big brother and Alex was very happy to spend time near cute boys i.e. Dick Grayson. Bruce also offered Kara the use of one of his labs. She was happy to tinker with some ideas she had and was happy to help Bruce with a few of his side projects.
Wayne Corp has developed a special material that he uses for his cape to create the short-term glider he uses in his night job. He also tends to use a lot Kevlar in his bat suits. It is not the most pliable material and he has had a few near misses due to the inflexibility of his suit. He hopes to develop a material that is just as durable but a lot easier to manipulate. Kara had an idea based on the nanomolecular armor used by the Kryptonian military. The Kryptonian version has an AI embedded into the linear matrix of the armor weave but for their purposes they just need the quantum molecular formula to create the material, which should theoretically be stab and bulletproof. The final product performed better than expected. It managed to prevent any piercing damage from any of the common edge weapons. It also managed to stop the impact of many high caliber armor-piercing rounds without any sign of damage. They used some of the properties of the older material to help disperse the kinetic force of a bullet to create a temporary hard armor. It had the double duty of being a fantastic armor when one is falling from a great height. Hard impacts from falls are absorbed by the kinetic armor component helping minimize the damage that will be dealt to the person wearing it.
Bruce loved the material and despite the high cost of manufacturing the material he had several bolts made so that he can commission a set of outfits for the rest of the bat crew and the Danvers' to wear on a regular basis. His paranoia worked in his favor. Barbara who had several sets of underlayer (tanks and t-shirts) made from the material was wearing a set of this "bulletproof" clothing when she was ambushed by the Joker. The bullet would have pierced and severed her spine instead it only left a large red spot that may become a bruise on her lower back. The injury is not enough to prevent her from knocking out and capturing the surprised maniac.
Barbara bought Kara three dozen pot stickers as thanks for helping develop the new material. In gratitude, Bruce offered Kara her own batcycle, which Alex happily accepted on Kara's behalf. Bruce feared for his charges lives after the first time he caught Alex and Kara attempting to spirit the bike away for a joy ride. He immediately asked Dick and Barbara to teach Kara and Alex how to ride the bike. The pair readily agreed. Barbara taught them the basics and Dick happily taught the two girls some of the tricks he learned over the years that may come in handy in the future if they are ever in a high-speed pursuit.
The second part of the summer was spent in Metropolis with Clark. Alex had to attend a special summer camp/internship so Kara had to go by herself. Clark took the first week of her visit off from work and the two of them did the touristy things around Metropolis. They went to a Metropolis Meteors baseball game and Kara loved it! Once she got over the sheer amount of noise and sound around her, she was caught up in the spirit of the game and before the end of the eighth inning, she can be found shouting her cheers and jeers along with the rest of the crowd. It was an experience unlike anything she has ever experience before and while she didn't really understand what was happening in the game she loved the atmosphere where there were so many people just enjoying themselves.
They next visited the local museums. Kara was fascinated by the Natural Field Museum that featured the extinct animals of Earth. She smiled widely when she came across the platypus thinking that it was a joke. She thought someone must have made a mistake. It took Clark the better part of an hour to convince her that it actually was supposed to look like that.
Upon hearing how much Kara loved animals Clark made sure to schedule a visit to the Metropolis Zoo. The trip to the zoo was fantastic. A couple of Clark's friends from Smallville was in town and joined them for their visit to the zoo. At first Kara was a bit worried about keeping her secret from them but Clark quickly soothed her concerns by telling her that both Chloe and Pete knows about his powers and can be trusted with her secrets as well. Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross were Clark's best friends while growing up. Kara loved spending time with them. Chloe reminded her so much of her Aunt Lara. She was an enthusiastic woman with a loud voice and a ready hug. She was full of energy and had an encyclopedic memory when it came to the many exhibits they saw. The whole afternoon she had an arm slung over Kara's shoulder as they walked around. She never missed a bit and joked around with Clark and Pete. She quickly made Kara feel at ease as if they have known each other for years instead of just a few hours. Kara learned that Chloe lived in Coast City and worked for a small nonprofit magazine that helps the veterans in the area. She was a public relations officer for the magazine and often helped organize the benefits and foundations that helped fund the small organization.
Pete Ross was bit more subdued compared to Chloe. Pete grew up and followed his mother into the field of Law. He was a corporate lawyer also in Coast City. While he used to be a very excitable young man times have taught him the virtue of patience and the power of silence. He was very good at putting people at ease but not appearing too jovial at the same time. He had a presence that screamed competency without arrogance. Kara got along with him very well. She loved hearing how goofy Clark was as a teenager. Pete took great pleasure in telling Kara how Clark discovered some of his powers. She especially enjoyed hearing about Clark lack of control concerning his heat vision and x-ray vision. Pete made a big deal to emphasize how Clark discovered these new superpowers around the onset of puberty and normally in the presence of pretty girls. Chloe teased Clark once more when Pete reminded them of how poor hormonal Clark had to walk with his eyes closed for a good part of a week until he learned to control his new vision powers.
The one person Kara was dying to meet was Lois Lane. From the time spent with her cousin, Kara is very aware of the massive crush her cousin have for Lois and she found the whole situation very cute. Alex and Kara would often tease Clark about Lois. It was very amusing for Alex to see the powerful Man of Steel turn red as a tomato from embarrassment whenever she started singing "Lois and Clark up in a tree. K.I.S.S.I.N.G". It had become a part of their normal interaction. Every time Clark came to visit, Alex's first question to him is if he had asked Lois out on a date yet followed by many suggestions of how he can do it when Clark inevitably told her he hasn't. When Alex got the internship, she was somewhat disappointed to go because she wanted to meet Lois too. Alex made Kara promise that if she got a chance to meet the indomitable Lois Lane she must do all she can to fix up Lois and Clark together. Due to this, Clark was very hesitant to let Kara meet Lois. He has made several changes to some of their planned excursions to prevent the two from meeting.
However all his efforts were in vain when they accidentally ran into Lois while on their way back from dinner one evening? Clark and Kara were strolling through the many lit paths through Centennial Park after hitting some of the local food trucks when they ran into Lois who seems to be in the middle of a run. She was dressed casually in a pair of yoga pants topped off with a Metropolis University sweatshirt. Clark was in the middle of a story of how he tricked a villain into falling into his own trap when he was interrupted by a lilting voice.
"Clark is that you?"
Clark froze mid-sentence. His eyes bugging out. It didn't take Kara long to figure out that it was Lois who called out because Clark seems to change personalities right in front of her. Gone was her confident cousin who was just swaggering as he bragged about his "cool" Superman exploits and before her stood his clumsy Clark Kent persona.
"Oh hey Lois! How are you on this swell evening?"
Lois laughed a little at Clark's response. "I'm doing fine Clark. How has your vacation been and who is this with you?" Lois flashed Kara a large beaming smile that made Kara like her immediately.
"It's going great. This is my cousin Kara. We have been visiting some of Metropolis' sights and just hanging out."
Kara held out her hand to Lois and the older woman took it promptly. "Well I'm glad to meet you Kara. It's nice to finally put a face to a name. Clark has been talking about you a lot. He couldn't wait for you to get here. He kept bugging Jimmy and me all week for ideas on things the two of you can enjoy while you are here. I hope he hasn't been dragging you to all the boring sights."
Kara smiled back at Lois. "We have been having a great time. I'm also very glad to meet you. Clark talks about you all the time. He is always telling me and my sister Alex how amazing you are and how pretty and how your eyes are so ummph..."
Kara's words because quickly muffled when Clark wrapped her up in his arms with one of his hands covering her mouth. "And…that's enough of that. I'm sure Lois doesn't want to hear anymore. We should really be going Lois. Oh, golly look at the time. It's Kara's bedtime so we got to run."
Clark wasted no time hauling his younger cousin over his shoulder and running the opposite direction and away from Lois before Kara can say anything else. Lois smiled at Clark's retreating back and Kara's giggles as they moved away. Lois shook her head at her coworkers' antics but a small smile played upon her lips in amusement at their adorkableness.
Kara's stay with Clark had a dual purpose. She had some courses to finish up in Metropolis University under her Linda Zorel disguise. Clark taught her how to navigate the numerous bus lines and subway stations that she needed to use to get to campus and back to the apartment. Clark accompanied her for her first day. Once he was assured that she wouldn't get lost and after getting her assurance that she has his contact information if she needed to contact him Clark went back to work and Kara went to her first lab of the day. (For the duration of the chapter while she is on campus and anytime she deals with students from the university I will refer to Kara as Linda to reduce the amount of back and forths)
Adam Blake was filling in as a lab instructor for a friend who had to go home for the summer due to a family emergency. Betty has been a good friend and if he didn't fill in for her she would surely loose her scholarship. So rather than work on his Master's thesis that will be due at the end of fall semester he is babysitting an advanced engineering lab course. The roster shows only a handful of students, most of whom Adam has already met at one point or another on campus but the only oddity is the last minute addition. Linda Zorel. She is apparently a transfer from overseas somewhere and has a wealthy benefactor. Adam didn't know what to expect from her but according to her exam scores she is a brilliant student. The lab is scheduled to last for four hours. Adam knows that this a tentative schedule and it isn't unusual for the lab to end earlier. Adam sat in the back of the lab by the main generator and waited for the classroom to fill up before he began handing out the itinerary. While the lab final will be an individual project, there were some basic aspects that the university expect each student to grasp. Adam hopes to go over these concepts before the third week therefore giving the students the remaining 5 weeks to prepare and present their final projects. The students began to trickle in and they began to bunch up together into groups. Linda was the last person to come in. She took the lab bench furthest away from Adam and seems to keep to herself instead of attempting to socialize with the others. Adam was very surprise to see how young Linda was. He was a child prodigy himself but even Linda seems to have him beat by a few years. Once all the students are finally seated Adam began his quick course introduction.
The class passed quickly. Adam was pleased to note that all of the students seems capable of keeping up but he will be sure to keep an eye on a couple jokers just to head off any mischief they may have planned. He was very pleased to note that Linda had no problem whatsoever with the course material he presented and from the looks of things she may already be familiar with it. He decided to speak with the young lady at the end of the next class to determine how far ahead she is and if she were perhaps would like to get started on the final project sooner. As he walked out of his building past the bus stop and towards the faculty parking lot he noticed that Linda was standing at the bus stop all by herself. Deciding not to waste the opportunity, he approached the younger girl. He was very surprise to see that Linda is actually much younger than his first estimate. Initially he thought she must be around 15-16 but upon closer inspection she appears closer to 13. Further intrigued due to her young age, he was more determined than ever to discover more about his student.
"Hello there. I'm sorry to disturb you but I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Adam Blake I'm the substitute course instructor for your lab course."
Linda was preoccupied with trying to understand how she missed the scheduled bus. It seems Clark gave her the wrong schedule. She now has the dubious pleasure of waiting around for an extra 20 minutes for the next bus that would take her back to Clark's apartment. Mentally cataloguing the work that awaits her when she gets back because she was suppose to finish some work for correspondence course from the University of Aberdeen she didn't notice when a young man approached her.
Linda visibly startled at the voice beside her. She turned towards it and was surprise to find her lab instructor. "Hello. Yes I recognize you from the class that ended only a few minutes ago."
Adam smiled. "Well yes, of course. Anyway, I wanted to say that I'm glad to have you in class. I hope it won't be too hard for you to keep up."
Kara smiled at the nice young man. "Thank you that's nice of you to say. It looks like a…um…-nice class. I'm sure I'll be just fine."
Adam chuckled awkwardly at the way Linda phrased it. He could sense that it took Linda a few moments to decide on that particular adjective. "Yes it is a nice class and I'm sure you will be. I hope you don't mind but based on your performance today and how often I caught you correcting yourself and holding back your efforts you seem to already be familiar with the concepts we were discussing. In fact based on some of the notations you had at the edge of your lab book I would hazard to say you are already past the points we need to cover in class. So can you tell me why you are taking the class?"
Linda cringed then sighed. Alex was right. She sucks at being undercover. She didn't even last one class before someone noticed that she was holding back. Linda wanted to tell the young man he was just imagining things but when she looked into his eye, she felt a sense of curiosity, benevolence and understanding. She didn't feel suspicion or fear despite the fact that this man may have discovered her cover up. Linda decided to try something else. "Well I was told I had to take that class to move forward. I am familiar with the course material. I was home schooled for a large portion of my life and engineering was a particular favorite of my tutor. He was actually an engineer that worked for the Peace Corps."
Adam felt that Linda didn't tell him the complete truth but enough of it rang true to him that he decided to let the matter slide. "Alright. I can sort of understand that. I actually had a similar experience to you and my instructor at the time saw that I was a bit ahead and gave me more opportunities to finish up and offered me more options as well to accelerate my studies. I will always owe Dr. Garrett for his insight and in an effort to "pass it forward", I'd like to offer you the same option. In the next class period, after I give the other students the introduction lecture for the lab they are supposed to complete I'd like for you to come to the front station and I'll have a small project for you. If you can finish the project to my satisfaction I'll speak with Dr. Garrett who is now the department chair, into letting me set up a special accelerated schedule for you."
Linda beamed at Adam. "You'll do that for me? Why? You don't even know me."
Adam smiled at Linda's confusion. "As I said I'm passing on the good deed done to me by Dr. Garrett. I don't know what it is about you Linda but I get the feeling that I should help you. I can feel it. Someday you will be someone who is very powerful and you will help so many people."
"Alright then. Thank you Adam. I promise you will not regret this chance you have offered me. I will see you in class in a few days." Linda said agreeing to Adam's offer just as the bus she needed pulled up to the curb.
Adam watched the bus carrying Linda drive away before he began to walk to his car. For as long as he has known it he has always been able to sense about people like their intentions and he could sense nothing but good intentions when he looked at Linda. Satisfied with his good deed for the day he turned his mind to more important things, like what he should get for dinner.
The rest of summer flew by quickly. As it turns out Rao seems to be watching out for Kara because meeting Adam was truly a great turn of fate. Adam, with Dr. Garrett's assistance, was able to set Kara up on a course schedule that offered her the chance to test out of certain lab courses provided she can pass the profiency final that is normally given for the course and can show with a project her understanding of the concepts that would normally be covered during class. It allowed Kara to bypass several summers' worth of lab courses and she was that much closer to finishing of the first set of degrees that she had chosen to pursue. In return for Adam's assistance, Kara helped brainstorm with him ideas for his Master's thesis. Kara hinted at a few advances that maybe possible with the redirection of focus from one of his theories. Adam took the hint and before he knew it he as a good outline for his thesis paper that with all the research he has done in the past, he should be able to defend his thesis easily to finish off his Master's degree. At the end of the summer, Kara and Adam could be considered friends. The exchanged emails and promises to stay in contact especially since Adam may need a few more hints in the future.
I had more planned for this chapter unfortunately real life got in the way. I wanted to post this before too much time has lapsed. More coming as soon as possible. I am looking for a beta reader if anyone is willing to help me out.