My Name is Kara Zor'El. I'm from Krypton. I'm a refugee on this planet.
I was sent to Earth to protect my cousin, but my pod was knocked off course and by the time I got here my cousin had already grown up and become Superman.
I hid who I really was until, one day, an accident forced me to reveal myself to the world.
To most people, I'm a reporter at Cacto Worldwide Media. But in secret, I work with my adopted sister and my friends to protect my city from anyone that means to cause it harm.
I am Supergirl.
###
National City was alive with activity today, its citizens buzzing with excitement and pride. Today was an important day. People from all over the city, the general public, government officials, police and reporters all gathered in the central district to attend this monumental occasion.
Amongst the crowd was Kara Danvers, a reporter for Cacto Worldwide Media who volunteered to take this important assignment. She was dressed in her plain reporter's suit and blouse, comfortable heels, her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail revealing her young and beautiful face. Her thick rimmed glasses sat prominently on the bridge of her nose, immediately drawing the eye of whomever so much as glanced at her. A useful trick, as it draws attention away from the rest of her appearance. If anyone was to look closer they'd realise Kara didn't need the glasses to see, those thick lenses in reality plain glass with lead imbedded in the frames. The lead allowed her to see the world like an ordinary human. But if someone was to see beyond the distracting spectacles they might realise this wasn't any ordinary young woman standing next to them, but one of the last surviving members of her race and a prominent figure in National City.
Kara's Danvers's birth name was Kara Zor'El, better known to the world as Supergirl. And it was a miracle she hadn't been needed elsewhere today to mark this big occasion. With her cousin off world at the moment, Kara was the only member of the House of El left to defend Earth. She'd been busy these past few weeks racing around the planet helping where she could, but she able to put some time aside to focus on being a reporter at this moment. This was too important to her.
By her side, Jimmy Olsen snapped pictures with his trusty camera focusing on the crowd and the gathering officials. Everyone was already taking pictures with their iPhone and mobiles, but Jimmy always preferred the old tactile approach. It gave the photographs more authenticity he believed. Nobody could argue with the results he produced throughout his career. It's why he was now the Editor and Chief of Cacto. And today was big enough to bring the editor down from his office back into the trenches alongside his most trusted reporter.
"Everybody seems to be excited" Kara observed looking around the crowd.
"They should be" Jimmy nodded, taking photos of the excitement. "It's a big occasion." He paused in his work to look at Kara, lowering his camera to put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" he asked her for the fourth time that day.
"I'm fine" she said shrugging his hand off, her tone slightly more hostile than he had any right to be. Jimmy backed off, nodding silently as he brought his camera back to his face. "I'm sorry" Kara whispered, releasing a tense breath she didn't' notice she was holding. "I am fine" she insisted.
"Okay" he replied, giving her a warm smile. He didn't take any offence to her outburst. Kara was just getting frustrated by feeling obliged to answer that exact question every time one of her friends or family spoke to her today. This was a good day. Why would she be anything but fine?
The two of them looked up from their designated spot alongside other reporters and new crews to see the Mayor, a large fellow with a round face and balding grey hair, glance at his watch and see the time was approaching the decided hour. She stepped forward to the podium atop the raised platform facing the huge crowd gathered in the square and addressed them. "Citizens of National City" he said, his voice booming through the speakers thanks to the penlight microphone on the podium perfectly adjusted to capture his speech. The crowd fell silent as he began speaking, everyone listening intently to his words.
"Ladies and gentlemen. It is an honour to stand before you today on this great and wondrous occasion. I'm delighted to see so many faces here to mark this grand reopening of our cities most treasured and important landmarks."
He gestured to the building behind him, drawing everyone's attention to the very thing they came to see. The building was brand new, the product of almost two years of development. It was large, larger than the building that stood before, a testament to the work put in. this wasn't another site privately funded by the likes of LCorp however, this was a completely community funded development. Everyone in the city chipped in with supplies, materials, donations towards facilities and equipment. The city and its people all came together to make this dream a reality, and it was finally ready to be unveiled.
"It has been five years since the tragic closure of the National City Community Hospital" the Major continued. "Five years since that devastating attack by an alien being who sought to destroy our wonderful city. But thanks to the valiant efforts of Supergirl, its reign of terror was stopped here where we stand right now. But we cannot ignore the destruction that monster left in its wake, or the lives of those who were lost in the attack. That is why, thanks to the generous support from local business, government Charites and you, the people of National City, I am proud to unveil the National City Memorial Hospital in honour of those lost five years ago."
Everyone watched as the mayor dutifully walked over and pulled down the curtain set up nearby to reveal the shiny bronze plague set beside the entrance to the brand new hospital building. The crowd applauded in unison as the curtain fell and revealed to the world the addition of the twelve foot long memorial listing all the names of the men and women who lost their lives five years ago, their names engraved so they would be remembered for years to come.
Kara clapped along with the rest of the city, fighting back the tears in her eyes attempting to keep a professional façade. Jimmy noticed though, putting an arm around her shoulders without saying a word.
"This new hospital has been outfitted with all the modern technologies donated kindly from the likes of LCorp, Lord Industries, TITAN and government funded charities. Which means this community will have access to medical treatments its predecessor could only dream of. Twice as large so there's room for all to be treated. Now join me as we once more thank everyone who helped make this dream a reality."
The crowd cheered as the Mayor applauded the efforts, shaking hands with the volunteers who are set to begin their work immediately in bringing medical age to the community. With the announcement over, the doors are opened for the first time and opened to the public. The new crew and reporters are given the opportunity of a tour of the facilities while the public take a moment to read the memorial beside the entrance, some placing flowers on the pavement. Kara followed Jimmy into the building glancing at the wall of names, scanning the faces of those reading the engravings with mixed emotions. She saw grief, sadness and happiness all at once on faces both young and old, male and female, families and strangers. See them all mourning together made Kara's gut churn with guilt as she hurried inside.
The volunteers who would be the first wave of staff led the ground on a guided tour of the building, starting in the clean reception area, explaining how they plan to open the hospital to the public so anyone can drop in for aid as well as house up to two hundred patients at a time. Doctors and nurses would be on call 24/7 to ensure the hospital would always be accessible. Jimmy listened intently as he took his photos while Kara's attention was diverted to another plague inside the reception. This one wasn't a wall of names, just a note to one.
"We give thanks to all those who made this possible, including Supergirl who inspires us to come together in times of crisis."
Reading the message directed at her made Kara's knees shake as it filled her with pride and guilt. The city truly believed she was a saviour five years ago, but she didn't feel like one. She looked up at the windows above the entrance shining sunlight into the reception and recalled how the community hospital also had windows like these. She remembered because those where the windows she and the alien overlord crashed through during their battle.
Five years ago she was still only just starting out as a superhero, working with Department of Extra-terrestrial Operations (DEO) to hunt down and capture several escaped inmates from fort Razz, a prison formerly locked in the phantom zone until Kara's pod accidentally helped drag it here to earth. One of those inmates was a warrior from an alien race that saw themselves as conquerors. When he escaped he sought to conquer the planet using alien weaponry from the prison.
Supergirl was set to stop him when he made his assault on the city. The fight was brutal and Kara hadn't gotten used to fighting beings as strong as her yet. And he was strong, strong enough to punch holes in buildings and topple them. She tried to curve the damage by flying them into the air, but he battered her hard enough to send them crashing back to the ground. They landed right where Kara was standing now, in the heart of the community hospital.
With her sister Alex Danvers and the director Hank Henshaw, later to be revealed as Jon Jones the Martian Manhunter, calling out advice in her earpiece, Kara was able to pick herself up and continue fighting. But the warrior wasn't easy to defeat. He used sonic cannons on his armoured gauntlets to disorient the kryptonian before pummelling her through walls and concrete. She punched back but her blows bounced off his armour forged out of the metal alloy from the prison. It was one of the first times Kara found herself bleeding when she felt something crack in her nose, more coming from her ears when she was assaulted by the sonic cannons. The soundwaves made her skull vibrate painfully as her ears started ringing constantly, the walls crumbling around her. She got desperate and fired her heat vision, which missed and cut through the building demolishing an entire wing. Eventually Hank gave her the idea to stun the alien by burying him with the debris, so she caused the roof to cave in on top of him with a well-placed punch to the nearby wall. It worked, giving Kara time to crush the sonic cannons and punch him out of the building into the street outside before knocking him out for good.
She hovered over the alien exhausted and aching, the hospital in ruins behind her as she struggled to regain her breath. Alex ordered her to return to their base and she did, trusting them to pick up the defeated inmate. She was treated for several broken ribs and a punctured lung, along with a temporary ringing in her ears, all of which she healed from. She found out later when it was reported how many casualties the fight claimed, which was more than she could stomach. She returned as soon as she could to help clear out as much of the rubble as she could. No one in the city blamed her for the attack, or the deaths. But she still carried their loss even to this day.
Kara was brought out of her flashback when a hand was placed on her shoulder, bringing her attention back around to see Jimmy standing behind her. "Are you okay?" he asked.
This time Kara didn't snap at him, wiping her eyes of the tears escaping her ducts. "It's a lot" she admitted at last. Jimmy knew about her secret life, knew she was Supergirl. So he knew about what happened here five years ago and why today was a big moment for her personally. "I thought I could handle it" she said.
"You're doing pretty well all things considering" Jimmy replied patiently, looking at the plaque she was reading. "You know it's not your fault, what happened here."
"My pod brought Fort Razz to Earth" he reminded him. "All those prisoners were here because of me. I might've stopped him here, but a lot of people still paid the price."
"And they will be remembered" Jimmy told her, guiding her to the entrance so they could look at the memorial wall with flowers and cards. "They have a place for their love ones to mourn them. And this moment is for more than just them. It's a symbol to show what people are capable of even after such tragedy." He turned to Kara, putting both his hands on her shoulders. "And it means a lot that Supergirl was able to be here for this moment" he added.
"But Supergirl isn't here" Kara noted, referring to herself as her two separate identities.
"But she is" Jimmy replied, referring to Kara as the same person. "And that's what matters."
He gave Kara a hug, which was exactly what she needed in that moment. All the guilt and shame shed been carrying for five years finally felt lighter just for a moment. It was why she volunteered to join Jimmy on this assignment instead of sitting it out. She thought it'd give her closure, let her pay her respects to the deceased, move on from this horrible tragedy. It didn't take it all away, but it did enough to make it bearable.
They stepped away as Jimmy checked on the status of their guided tour inside, asking Kara if she was up to joining them. "No, I think I want to stay here for a while" she said, looking towards the memorial. Jimmy nodded, returning to their tour group to continue documenting the facilities for their piece at Cacto. Kara wasn't sure how she'd write her story when the time came, but right now she wanted to simply finish what she came here to do.
Walking over to the memorial, Kara's eyes scanned each of the names on the wall. They were nurses, doctors, patients, visitors, bystanders, men, women and children of all ages. Fourteen in total. She stood before the names and knelt in front of them, lowering her gaze to the flowers and bouquets placed below them, cards and photographs lining the pavement. All from their loved ones. She felt the tears coming back and removed her glasses. This wasn't something Kara Danvers needed to say. "I'm so sorry for what happened to you" Kara Zor'El said, knowing her apology wouldn't bring any of them back. "I'm sorry for bringing that monster to your city. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I hope you can forgive me. Maybe then I can try forgiving myself" she muttered.
As she knelt in front of the names of the people she failed, she once more scanned the cards lining the pavement. She found one placed with a single flower and a ring, a gorgeous ring with an engraving: to my love I give my heart, may it beat for you until the end of time. It was beautiful. Tears began falling down her cheeks and Kara closed her eyes. Along with the tears her ears started to ring, a painful whine cutting though her skull. It reminded her of the sonic cannons the alien warrior used, the memory haunting her again. But just as soon as it began it stopped and Kara opened her eyes to see the names glowering over her.
She wasn't ready to forgive herself just yet.
Her pitiful moment of apology was interrupted when her super hearing picked up the sound of sirens and tires screeching across tarmac. She tilted her head and focused her hearing to find the police radios reporting an armed robbery, hearing gunshots over the noise. She gave the wall one last look before rising back to her feet. "I'm sorry" she apologised one last time, turning away from the hospital and racing to the nearest alley.
She knew Jimmy would forgive her for abandoning him at the hospital. He understood when duty calls. He was friends with Superman before she met him. And as he boss she could trust him not to fire her for disappearing. She ran into a blind alley where nobody could see her, unbuttoning her blouse revealing the large S across her chest as she swiftly changed into her costume and got back to work.
