The sun slowly rose over the horizon, bathing everything in soft hues of orange, red, and gold as Jonathan leaned against the porch rail, staring blankly into the distance. He normally enjoyed the quiet atmosphere the morning offered, but his mind was as far from the farm as it possibly could be. The kitchen door opened and Martha slowly walked out carrying Jonathan's cow mug; she approached her husband and stared up at him; after a few moments, she held out the mug to him.
"I shouldn't have let her go," Jonathan said softly.
"Jonathan, you can't blame yourself," Martha replied.
"It's been over ten hours since she left Metropolis, Martha," Jonathan pointed out. "She never made it to Central City; over ten hours, with no sign of her anywhere. For all we know, she could be hurt or…." he trailed off, not wanting to even think about the alternative; he sighed and took the mug from his wife, slowly sipping the hot coffee inside.
A whooshing sound caught their attention, and the couple looked up to see Superman descending from the sky; he landed near the house, and both Jonathan and Martha could see how somber he appeared as he headed up the steps.
"Any luck?" Martha asked hopefully.
"None," Superman replied. "I don't get it; I've checked everywhere—we've all checked everywhere—but we can't find any trace of her anywhere; J'onn can't even sense her." He tried to sound strong, but his voice betrayed him; he felt completely and totally lost. "I don't know what to do anymore."
"Clark," Jonathan said, "I know you may not want to hear this, but is there any chance that this was a setup by the League to get their hands on Linda?
Superman looked at his father in disbelief. "They wouldn't do something like that, Dad."
"You know how they feel, Clark: they still don't fully trust her."
"Not all of them still feel that way, Dad, and the ones who do would never resort to kidnapping her; we don't do that—not to anyone." Jonathan didn't appear convinced, but he remained quiet; Superman looked at his mother. "Has Cisco had any luck?"
"No," Martha replied. "He's been in Linda's room ever since Barry brought him over, but he hasn't gotten," she looked momentarily confused, "a vibe, or whatever he calls it. I tried to get him to take a break, but he's refusing to leave until he gets something." The trio looked over as they heard a car engine and saw a Dodge Viper pull up, parking beside the Kent's truck; Jimmy and Jacob exited the vehicle, both looking extremely exhausted, and made their way up the walk.
"Any luck?" Jonathan asked.
"None," Jacob answered apologetically. "You?"
"Nothing," Superman replied. "The League isn't having much luck; even J'onn can't pick up a reading on Linda anywhere."
"She couldn't have just disappeared," Jimmy said, his voice laced with anger and panic. "She's gotta be somewhere."
Jacob put a hand on his son's shoulder. "You need to get some rest."
"I'm not resting until Linda's back," Jimmy said firmly.
"That wasn't a request, James," Jacob said firmly.
Jimmy opened his mouth, but he was interrupted by a loud screeching sound. Everyone looked up to see a large eagle zooming straight for them. At twenty feet from the ground, the eagle extended its feet, displaying its huge talons—and suddenly morphed into Gar; he landed seamlessly on the ground, crouching low.
"You'll never believe what I just saw," the teenager said breathlessly. "Linda's—"
"Right there," Martha interrupted as she stared past everyone to a point some distance away. Everyone turned and stared in shock when they saw Linda walking methodically down the gravel drive toward them, unscathed—and completely naked.
Superman felt a wave of relief, but her lack of clothing caused him to reflexively turn his head, embarrassed; he glanced at the others, who had done the same. The hero took a deep breath and removed his cape, keeping his eyes adverted as he walked to his cousin. He carefully wrapped the cape around her before meeting her eyes; she stared straight ahead, dazed, her eyes clouded over.
"Linda?" he asked concerned, but he got no response. "Hey." Linda slowly looked over, and it took her a few seconds to acknowledge her cousin. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Linda said monotonously.
"Linda, where have you been?" Jonathan asked as he and Martha hurried over, followed by Jimmy and then the others; the Kents reflexively checked their daughter over for injuries.
"I…," Linda trailed off slowly as she started to sway. Clark gently picked her up, making sure she stayed covered with his cape.
"Come on," he said softly. "Let's get you inside." He headed toward the house, cradling his cousin in his arms.
While Martha stayed with Linda in her bedroom, getting her dressed and settled in bed, Clark had contacted the others had helped search for the teenager. While the majority of the League continued the investigation elsewhere, Batman, J'onn, and Flash—plus Ronnie and Professor Stein—arrived at the Kent House and gathered in the living room within thirty minutes; Pete wanted to join, but he had to head back to the office. The group had barely gotten settled in when Martha came down the stairs, looking slightly exhausted.
"How is she?" Jonathan asked.
"Physically, she seems fine," Martha answered as she walked over to her husband, "but she won't talk about what happened; she got a little agitated when I asked her if she could remember anything."
"Not surprising," Batman spoke up from his spot in the far corner of the room. Jimmy snorted mirthlessly from his spot on the couch, and the Gothamite narrowed his eyes at the teenager. "You have something to say?"
"Just trying to figure out how many bats short of a belfry you are," Jimmy replied curtly as he looked right at Batman.
"Jimmy," Superman said gently, "you need to calm down." He knew the combination of sleep deprivation and concern for Linda was fueling the teenager's emotions at the moment, but it still wasn't going to help the situation.
"Why?" Jimmy asked, keeping his eyes on Batman. "So Bruce can go on and on about how Linda made this whole thing up for whatever reason because he doesn't trust her?" He felt his father's hand on his shoulder—something that would normally calm Jimmy down (slightly)—but he was too agitated for even that.
"You're right," Batman said curtly, "I don't trust her—but it doesn't mean I believe she made the whole thing up."
"You said—"
"I said what I did," Batman interrupted, "because whatever happened to her in that ten-hour period was obviously traumatic—whether she remembers it or not—and given her past it's not surprising she's agitated."
Jimmy wanted to make a snarky comment, but he couldn't come up with anything logical to counter Batman's statement.
"Now, while the rest of the League continues investigating the situation out there," Batman continued, "we should focus on Linda and what we know." He turned to J'onn. "You think you could get into her mind like you did the last time?"
"I've been trying to access it since I arrived," J'onn answered. "For whatever reason, I can't gain entry—which would support your theory about Linda being traumatized."
"You think Linda's blocking you?" Superman asked.
"If she is, it's subconsciously," J'onn replied, "and if she's not, then there's something—or someone—else we need to worry about."
"Well, the good thing about vibrations," Cisco spoke up, "is that they're not limited by telepathy or the subconscious," he paused, momentarily lost in thought, "I think." He saw movement in the kitchen and glanced over; Linda walked slowly toward the kitchen door. "Hey, look who's up." Everyone looked over and saw the teenager, dressed in a pair of blue jean shorts and black cami tank top; her hair hung past her shoulders.
"Linda," Superman said as he crossed the kitchen to his cousin, "you should be resting."
"I don't need to rest," Linda said monotonously as she turned to face Superman. "I am fine."
"Linda," Jonathan said as he and Martha approached. "Are you okay?"
Linda frowned. "And you're speaking to me for what reason?" she asked in a slightly haughty voice. Jonathan and Martha stared in shock at their daughter, but she looked past them and saw the others standing in the living room, staring at her; she narrowed her eyes briefly. "What are they doing here?"
Superman tilted his head, confused; he glanced at his parents. "Uh, why don't you guys back off for a moment," he said. The Kents appeared troubled, but they listened to their son; the Kryptonian waited until they'd backed off before turning back to his cousin. "Are you okay?"
"I said I was fine," Linda snapped.
"Linda, you were missing for over ten hours," Superman replied, "then you show up with no memory of where you were or wearing any," he shifted, looking a little uncomfortable, "clothes. That's not fine."
"I was in a safe place," Linda replied, "a place I was shown the truth."
"What are you talking about?" Superman asked, his stomach tightening. "What place? What truth?"
"Who I really am," Linda replied. "I am Kara Zor-El of the House of El, and it is time to fulfill my destiny."
Superman's stomach knotted; the last time he'd heard that word in the context of anything Kryptonian, horrible things had happened. "What do you mean 'destiny?'" he asked softly, worried.
"To be the rightful ruler of this world," Linda replied calmly. "It was your destiny at one time, Kal-El, until you rejected it." She glanced over at the others and smirked condescendingly. "Look at them. They're all primitives, powerless, weak," she watched as Batman put his left hand over a compartment on his belt, "trying to improve their position with pathetic inventions," she glanced at J'onn, Barry, Cisco, Ronnie, and Professor Stein, "or abilities that come nowhere near the level of ours." She looked back at her cousin. "We can still fix this, Kal-El; if we work together, nothing can stop us."
Superman swallowed before setting his jaw. "Linda, I don't know what's happened to you," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders, "but you have to fight it. This is not who we are, and you know that."
Linda stared at Superman for a few seconds, expressionless. "Very well," she said calmly as she pulled away from him and took a step to the side, keeping her back to him. "If you choose them over your rightful place in this world, then you can die with them." She suddenly balled up her hand and quickly twisted around, swinging her fist and hitting Superman square in the jaw. The force sent the young man flying backwards, crashing through the kitchen door.
(End of Chapter 3)
