"Hello Bruce." She smiled warmly at her long-time friend before hugging him firmly.
They had met a year after she had started to live with the Danvers. She had tried to sell him a prototype of hers, even if he made it abundantly clear that he found it amusing that a thirteen year old contacted him to sell what he thought would be a child's toy. Kara proved him wrong in the end. If only though sheer persistence.
She had made a material that was exceptionally thin but tough enough to deflect low calibre rounds that impacted at an angle while still being light and flexible. She had never been satisfied with the final product but at the time resources and finances were limited, especially for an almost fourteen year old living in a small town. He had been in his early twenties then with plenty of easy smiles that screamed excess happiness, just like hers had when she still needed to force them. She could see through him though, one orphan to another and had agreed to sell it to him when he talked about his plans for the material. How he wanted to reproduce it on a massive scale at low cost so that police officers and soldiers could remain safe. Though the plans had never come into fruition, certain rich old board members wanting to sell at higher prices, she had still been paid handsomely.
The kicker was a few years and a very lucrative business arrangement later, she had seen a blurry photo someone had snapped of the then new 'Batman'. Of course she recognised the material the vigilante had worn immediately and after a lot of screaming on her part and a lot of explaining on his part she had agreed to provide him with new gadgets for his escapades from time to time. In return whenever she needed space, from the world, to work on an invention she would stay at the Wayne Manor for as long as she wanted in her own perennial room.
"How are Lucius and Alfred doing these days?" Kara asked after breaking the silent three minute hug, she needed to catch up for those she had missed since the incident.
"They are both doing fine. I do worry about Alfred sometimes, he isn't becoming any younger and he refuses to take a break." She led them over to a couch and they sat down, both forgetting any semblance of professionalism and making themselves comfortable by kicking off their shoes and resting their legs on each other. It had been too long since she last saw him, almost four years and the last time had ended with her in tears.
"Oh I know that all too well, still can't believe he scolded me for taking the dishes to the kitchen last time I was there." She added the last part hesitantly not wanting to broach or encourage the subject of the events that led to her avoiding the Gothamites for so long. Just thinking of it pulled some surface level depression and longing to the core of her heart, making her slightly colder for a second.
"I know, it was the one time I truly feared for your safety. I had learnt that lesson long ago luckily, although I do remember being thrown about the room while being yelled at." Thankfully it seemed he was just as willing to rather pretend nothing had happened.
"What can I say, I have always been his favourite." She teased. "And your little army of children?"
"All fine, the same as always. Prideful, moody, angry, smart and so on. Though the offer still stands Steely. How are Alex and Eliza?" Though they had never formally spoke, both preferring not so subtle hypotheticals, of it both knew of her heritage and Bruce had offered to train her a long time ago if she ever chose to reveal herself. She had said no of course, never actually had she planned to be Supergirl. She had been drilled by the Danvers to blend in and while for the most part she had they had let pursue her degrees once they realised they couldn't stop that, only interfering by occasionally warning her to be secretive about it. Now she was regretting not being trained, she could definitely have used it the few times she had been out there.
"You know I might take you up on that offer, Batty. Alex is over the moon at the moment and I believe Eliza is doing fine. So what brings you here today?" She needed to remember to call Eliza she noted to herself.
"National City. Business. The night kind. To Danvers Incorporated on the other hand, I thought I might pop in to see an old friend."
"And that's friends door will always be open. Now… this business. Need a hand?" It would be kind of cool to go out with him and see how he does things. In all the time she had known him she had never actually witnessed what he did, of course she had seen the aftermath both on the news and his bare body or suit.
"As much as it is appreciated, you know I work alone." The serious look he had in his eyes reminded her so much of when he wore the suit, only the sincere smile undercut it and made him look like a human. If she didn't know any better she would swear that he wasn't. Not with his singular determinism and immense intelligence or relentless pursuit of justice.
Kara raised her eyebrow and supplied, "Army of children." She snickered when he poked her rib cage with his sock covered toes. She was no stranger to these pokes, she probably received them more often than phone calls from Clark.
"AND… It really is nothing I can't handle. Just a bird thinking he can sneak candy into Gotham from the port here."
"Once again though, door is always open. The door has changed though. I'll text you my new address later."
"Oh thank Rao. You finally moved out that little thing you called an apartment." He always made an effort to say Rao around her, for her, even if it sounded cheesy to him for which she was always grateful. Kara had confessed to him one particularly stressful night at the manor years ago that someone else saying it helped to ground her in reality but also provide a sense of home. Seeing as she had indirectly saved him many times it was the least he could do he had told her, that and pay more than what certain prototypes were technically worth which she had figured out on her own. He would never admit to that.
"Ha-ha Mister Manor. Yes, I did and I'll have you know that that apartment was one of the very few things I first owned that I paid for on my own. It has sentimental value." She defended her previous humble abode even if she could list the plethora of problems it had.
"Yes but that is the only type of value it has." He joked with a challenging glint in his eyes Kara was sure was purposeful.
"You know I can take you in a fight, right?"
"I would like to see you try." He had a cocky joking tone but his eyes momentarily betrayed the serious implication lurking in the background of that statement.
"You'll get the chance when we train. See how you like to be flown and dropped from ten thousand feet." She continued with the playful challenging banter, ignoring the few hairs on her neck that had risen from the look in his eyes.
"I think you mean how I would like to see you try and do that." He held the glare she gave him as they both started to smile like the cat that ate the canary before bursting into laughter. They continued to talk the work day past, Kara having texted her assistant to bring them food at lunch and cancel all her meetings. She was the CEO after all, the meetings could and would wait for her. He excused himself to take care of preparation just before the sun had set and she decided to leave a little earlier than normal to prepare for game night with her friends. She really wanted to know, the intrigue driving the boredom away marginally, what they thought of her know that most of the truth about her had been fully exposed, they had always known that she held degrees but she had never shown or told them fully how she held PhD's in almost everything, that she spoke most languages and so on.
She looked around her penthouse apartment and smiled at all the gleaming surfaces. It took her longer to clean everything, mostly since this apartment was bigger than her last and from her initial shock and raciness that was still wearing down from when she found a business card with a private number and blood red lipstick kiss in her lingerie drawer, Lena was definitely more than she let on. She made sure to lock her bedroom door, she didn't need her friends or her sister seeing the wall there in or the framed photos that would hang there soon if she had any say in the matter. The snacks were set out and she was in her most comfortable sweatpants and university hoodie, completely comfortable and not anxious at all. Now she was just waiting for her friends and sister as the familiar feeling of boredom gripped at the edges of her vision. Slowly pulling her senses towards her study where she could just pick up the bookcase and- Her doorman called up a little while later saying she had guests and she told him to let them up. One by one she saw them file into the foyer with gawking expressions and Winn pensively looking like he had just received the last sweet in the candy shop instead of someone he hated. He seemed to completely miss the size or décor of her home and looked focussed on his own thoughts through his giddy bouncing.
"Hey guys." She greeted with her usual sunny smile they had all become accustomed to.
"Hey Kara." Lucy greeted while James gawked at her, not even pretending not to so in shock she guessed he was. Winn gave a small wave still in thought though even that seemed like a muscle memory response rather than an actual conscious decision. The elevator pinged again and Alex walked out with a giant silly smile and a light blush.
"Hey guys." She greeted them while giving Kara a hug, she leaned into the tall blonde as she looked at their friends.
"Hi, excuse these idiots. James can't believe what he is seeing and Winn will probably tell us his nerd theories later. He's been like that since we picked him up." That seemed to snap them out of it and caused Winn to look indignantly at all of them.
"I'll have you know," He started, "that I have been like this since you picked me up because I'm pretty sure I saw Batman fly past my apartment."
"Isn't he based in Gotham though?" Alex asked, not wanting another problem in her city especially when she was so close to finally leaving the DEO.
"Yes but maybe he's here for another reason." He defended. Kara wanted to tell him he was correct but that feeling was fleeting and she couldn't risk it.
"I'm sure it was Batman." Lucy tried to quell the argument that could possibly evolve. She didn't need Alex sulking at the DEO tomorrow because she lost a verbal argument. Those were the only types of fights she lost, the ones were she couldn't hit someone and even then it was rare. Though Alex had appeared happier today and that made her mildly suspicious, she would need to investigate.
"Okay." Kara said, she had been nervous to speak when she knew she could possibly slip up and reveal Batman's true identity, not even her sister knew she knew. Alex knew she knew Bruce Wayne of course but not even the actual extent of how much or how well. "Let's get game night started. So what do you guys want to do first?"
After three hours everyone started looking tired, everyone except Kara. She had annihilated them at Dance Dance Revolution and watched as Alex and Lucy duke it out at a first person shooter game while Winn and James threw virtual darts. The snacks had been demolished throughout the night and her apartment was still mostly clean fortunately. All in all it had been a success and her friends had thankfully not interrogated her too much about the news this morning. After Lucy's fifth yawn however James called it a night for them, them being James and Lucy who had started to date again, and by extension Winn who needed to get a ride back with them. The two sisters said goodbye to their friends and then started cleaning the place.
"So… how was your day at work?" Alex could hear the real question behind Kara's question, Kara wasn't as sneaky as she liked to think she was at times.
"You know fine, nothing exciting. Just the same old things, alien tried to escape, we captured it and put it bac-" She would make her blonde sister beg a little for it even if she was bursting to tell her.
"Oh come on! Just tell me! I'm dying to hear!" Kara whined before plopping a chip she had just found in her mouth. It kind of disgusted Alex that Kara seemed to have no limits to food, especially when she ate something that had most likely been on the floor for hours.
"Fine. It was great. We couldn't stop smiling at each other and at one point we had a make out session in the broom closet." She neglected to mention that she had almost worn a blush the entire day or that the make out session had gotten heated rapidly.
"Aww! You two are so cute!" The blonde voice was incredibly high pitched with excitement.
"Yeah. I was thinking to ask her out again. Maybe to take it further and label whatever is between us but only after a few more dates. I do not want to come off as creepy or over attached but I definitely want to take it further." Alex smiled but hid it behind trying to wash a particularly dirty dish.
"I can hear wedding be-" Kara stopped teasing when a loud smacking sound came from her balcony just to the side of the living room. She and Alex raced over to see a bleeding Batman smiling at them from the floor, riddled with gunshots and coughing blood. She immediately took action, relying on the medical training she had received form Alfred and a few years ago. "Alex, go get the kit I keep under the sink in my guestroom. Big black bag. Now!" She roared to get her confused sister to move it. Once she was gone she turned to her friend. "Bruce, I'm going to need to move you inside. This will hurt." She whispered and picked him up gently, only receiving a single wince. She carried him to her study and waited for Alex to join them with her kit and ordered her to shove the things off of her desk. Alex did that and watched as Kara laid the man on the large black wooden table. He barely fit which said something to the size of the bleeding vigilante. Kara rushed her sister out and told her to wait until she was done.
Slamming the door she rushed back to the bleeding man and quickly, efficiently, removed the suit. She was familiar with its working from spending hours trying to find ways to improve it. Once it was removed she could see three bullets had gotten through, two had thankfully missed anything important but the third looked to be lodged close to his heart, probably stopped by a rib which was sure to be bruised at the very least. Rummaging blindly in her black duffel bag she pulled out a lead lined pen case and retrieved the pen there in. The pen was in fact a prototype laser she had been making to replace scalpels in theatres as it would cut and cauterise at the same time therefore reducing bleeding and time in the operating room. She made three incisions where the bullets were and retrieved the clamps and forceps from her bag. After a few quick stressful ages she finally sowed him up, he would live but just barely and she was grateful she had had fluids on hand. She could already see him waking up so she prepared a syringe to deliver morphine for the pain he would feel.
"Don't. Won't need it." He grunted out.
"Bruce you have just been shot. Three times! One almost went into your heart! I don't care if you think you need it or not, you will be getting it."
"Kara I feel fine thanks to you. Plus I have been shot before." He sat up and flinched which only motivated her to give him something for the pain. She used some speed and quickly injected him. "Fine." He sighed.
"Your welcome." She deadpanned. She wasn't actually upset at the lack of praise but more worried for her friend. She had seen this enough on her visits but it still shocked her sometimes that he could get hurt this much. It made a stark contrast to see her normally large and solid friend be hurt and bleeding. "So what happened?"
"Got distracted." At the raised eyebrow he received he edified, "Barb told me she's planning on going to college this year. Here in National City. Few weeks from now actually. I know she is in her twenties and I don't control their lives, nor do I want to, but I never thought one of them would move away from Gotham." He would never admit it but he had started relying on them. Damn kids.
"I'll look out for her if you're worried."
"Thanks. What are you going to tell your sister?"
"Don't know. What do you want me to tell her?"
"Anything. The truth if you want, it would be nice to meet the amazing Alex Danvers, hero to a superhero, in person."
"Oh come on, I thought we had moved past that by now." She whined at the teasing. He had pointed it out over the years that Kara would always talk about her big sister as her own role model.
"We have, just making sure you won't forget. Bring her in." He insisted and she was relieved a little, maybe one day she could be entirely honest with Alex. She only had a few secrets from her sister, this being one of them, and removing any would make her life a little less complicated.
Kara rolled her eyes and walked out the study and found her sister sitting on the back of her leather couch with her eyes closed. She looked so relax it almost seemed like she was sleeping but the periodic movement of her fingers said she was very much awake.
"Alex." The blonde tested. Her sister looked up and looked at her with such an intense expression. One Kara had only ever seen a few times from her sister.
"What the hell was that?" Alex's voice was strained as if she was forcing herself to not scream.
"I have no good way to answer that."
"Fine, do you know Batman personally?"
"Yes."
"How long?"
"Years, almost since a year after I lived with you."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"It wasn't my secret to share. Come on, he wants to meet you." That seemed to shock the brunette from her anger, possibly rage. Kara knew her sister had probably thought she would never get any answers for whatever had happened tonight. Regardless the brunette followed the blonde back into the study and came face to face with billionaire playboy and philanthropist Bruce Wayne. Alex started to laugh hysterically causing both of the other two to look at her like she was the mad one.
"You can't be serious. Please tell me you're joking." She managed to croak out between laughs and tears, from the shock and absurdity. Alex couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing, never in a million years had she thought that Bruce fucking Wayne could be the masked vigilante that almost extinguished crime in Gotham, the DEO had been analysing his work for years now trying to figure out how he did it. Many believed it had to be in alien in some way.
"You finished?" Kara asked as soon as Alex calmed down. "Alex meet Bruce, Bruce this is Alex."
"It is a pleasure to meet you. Kara has told me so much about you." He kissed her knuckle when she went to shake hands. She blushed and smiled shyly at him, apparently he had that effect even on lesbians.
"Bruce! MY SISTER!"
"Right, sorry. The masks sometimes come out on their own. Nice to meet you." He said much more appropriately this time and Kara gave up on the glare she had been holding.
"Same. So when exactly did you two talk about me?"
"Oh when didn't-"
"Bruce." Kara interrupted before she could be embarrassed, even more. Her cheeks already felt hot.
"Oh come on Steely. It's adorable."
"Steely?" Alex interjected.
"Kara is Steely. My nickname for her."
"And he is Batty. I mean his nickname is Batty. Because you know." She demonstrated by putting her index fingers at the sides of her head, just poking out to create the appearance of bat ears and wiggling her body slightly to bop her head about.
"How well do you two know each other?" The familiarity was palpable between them, so much so that Alex knew it had to have developed over years to reach this point.
Kara looked at Bruce mentally asking how much she could reveal. He nodded once and she knew that he would take it from here. She and Bruce may not have a telepathic link but they knew the other well, so they were always on the same page.
"Your sister helped me with key elements of the suit I wear," He indicated towards where it lay in pieces on the floor, "and from time to time provided me with devices to aid my crusade. Though at first neither of us knew it."
"That reminds me, I want to take another look at that mesh, I had to have made a mistake somewhere for it to have broken. I am pleased it has held this long though." She could see Bruce trying to tell her something but she was already lost in her mind as she felt the material beneath her fingers. She moved to her one bookcase and picked it up to move it aside. Behind it stood an open passageway, only large enough to squeeze through, that would descend to just below the basement. That was where her home lab was hidden, it had cost a fortune but she had found someone who specialised in doing these sort of things to buildings. She descended quickly enough only stopping when she reached the chair of her desk that stood in the corner of an immaculate white lab. She booted up the air-gapped computer there and retrieved the file that held the formula for the material. The actual assembly had been perfect but there was a problem with the formula she had never been able to figure out, causing it to degrade at a slow linear rate until it couldn't take the damage anymore. Maybe some of the knowledge she had gathered over the years could help her now. After what felt like minutes a hand gently grasped her shoulder, shocking her back to the real world.
"Alex?" She saw her sister look worried for some unknown reason, what could possibly have happened in the last few minutes for this type of reaction.
"Kara, when are you going to come up?" This confused the blonde more, why would she come up if she just started.
"What do you mean?"
"It has been five hours already, you still need to sleep to function."
"Sorry, must have lost track of time." She tried to deflect.
"You know it's more than that. The last time you were that disconnected from your senses you tuned out for five days. You promised to never get like that again." She had promised it then but never taken it too seriously. As long as Alex never found out, and she took great pains to make sure that would never happen, everything would be fine.
"Sorry, I'll come up now. I think I might have figured it out. What have you been doing for so long?"
"Oh Bruce and I were talking." Alex sing-songed glad that everything seemed better for the moment.
"About?" Kara tried to ignore the foreboding shudder in her spine.
"You." Kara went bright red at that.
Three weeks later Kara and Alex were standing at the finished building of their new scientific institute, were they were waiting for the mayor to finish making his opening speech at the podium. After what felt like an eternity he finally introduced Kara, somehow managing to sound misogynistic while doing it. Kara stood up and walked to the podium with a stance that exuded power. Normally she would fidget to expend nervous energy but today was about showing strength so she kept still as she started.
"As many of you attending today may know, four and a half weeks ago I along with my sister Alex Danvers started our own company. Danvers Incorporated. I am unafraid to admit that that idea had been born out of malice, a way to hurt someone I had held dear to me at the time. Luckily, I came to my senses soon after. I had let go of anger and as that happened I realised one thing. That though the idea had come from a dark place, it had been the right idea at the time. The right way forward for me. I carried through with the plan, to follow a path I had laid out for myself. To build a media empire worthy of the people in National City, the people in this world. I am thankful to say that today with the support of you, the great residents of National City and the world, that Danvers Incorporated is becoming one of the fastest growing online and offline media sources. Having amassed a mighty following in all our media related facets. So many thanks to all of you, the people, the supporters, the heroes." She paused to clap, allowing the public to join in. She spotted Lena a few rows back with large sunglasses and a stunning dress, barely covering the bite marks Kara had left on her recently. Her eyes drifted over the crowd until it reached the paraplegic section they had cordoned off. There sitting in her wheelchair was Barbara. The redhead looked as good as the last time Kara had seen her. Kara would make special effort today just to see her, she needed to. When the crowd settled down she continued her speech.
"But. And yes unfortunately there is going to be an interjection. I am not satisfied, not with what we have accomplished so far. So that is why I have asked all of you to join me here today. To witness the next step in the road Danvers Incorporated will take to expand and better our knowledge of this or any other world. To better life for all, to better life for you. So my friends I implore you witness this monumental moment as Alex Danvers, an amazing woman I have had the privilege of knowing a very long time, cuts the ribbon and officially open National City's greatest scientific institute." She finished with a large smile and applauded with the crowd as Alex came up to cut the ribbon.
Kara had given her a special pair of engraved golden scissors just to cut the red ribbon, like in the cartoons and movies. A bit cliché but they could still have fun. Alex smiled at her and cut the ribbon which caused the confetti cannons to shoot. The air was thick with multi-coloured paper shreds for a moment, so much so that it separated them from the public's view for a few seconds while they continued to thunder their praise at the sisters. Kara felt a little ping against her head and looked down to see a crushed bullet on the floor. It must have come from the public's side based on where it had struck her head, she shoved it under the podium with her foot and clapped away. When the confetti cleared she smiled at the public as if nothing had happened but searched the crowd for the possible shooter. She saw no one and as she couldn't react on it now, unless she wanted people to panic, she left it. She would retrieve it later on for analysis. She returned to the podium and said her final words.
"Welcome to the future! Welcome to Kalex!"
Hi. Sorry for the long wait but I was in the hospital. Fine now. I am a huge Batman fan but while writing this I wanted to illustrate their connection and somehow ended up with this.
I'm going to try to explain my choices more in the future, a major one being differing personalities of the same individuals. I have always believed that people act differently in different groupings. For example, with someone with authority you may be well behaved, with friends you may be unruly, but with both it could be a combination.
A few people commented for me to continue this. Thank you by the way and don't worry I am going to continue this. Currently there are a further four chapters that needs to be edited before release, I edit each chapter at least ten times which can take up to nine hours in total. And as I am a person with a busy life, it takes a while to fit it all in.