"He did what?" Kara said.
"No word of a lie," Lena said. A couple hours had passed by. Mundane chatter with Lena had been no chore at all.
"Did you even need his help?" she said.
"I didn't ask for it, I didn't even mention it to him, but this was before my business days so I didn't have the connections and influence to do anything," Lena said, swirling the tea in her cup.
"How did you even react to that?" she said.
"Well I was wallowing in the lab, annoyed at the lousy security that failed to protect my research. I was dreading the prospect of having to start from scratch, when in walks the supposed consultant that stole my samples and hard drives. Lex was right behind him with a stern look on his face, practically pushing him toward me. All I could do was sit there dumbfounded as the guy begged for my forgiveness. Within a day Lex had found out my work was stolen, tracked this guy down, got to him and marched him over to my workspace to force him to apologise to me in person," Lena said.
"And he stood behind him the whole time?" Kara asked.
"Arms folded and unblinking. When I'd had enough of the grovelling Lex kicked him out, told me he was impressed with my work and suggested I work for Lex-Corp where the security was much tighter," Lena said.
"I'm surprised he was still breathing after Lex found him," she said. Lena looked off out the window, not paying too much attention to what she was seeing.
"My relationship with my brother is a weird one. I used to idolise him, he was always intelligent, charming, kind and fiercely protective. He would take my side when my mother would get particularly nasty or reassure me when I was at my worst. He knew I'd hate it if he actually hurt the guy, it took me a long time to realise he acted that way to try and manipulate me rather than out of genuine affection," Lena said.
"And I thought my sister could be bad," she said.
"Alex does what she does because she loves you, Lex did it because I would have been a useful asset to him. That wasn't the only time he tried to hire me into Lex-Corp and I'm almost certain when he spouted his rhetoric against Superman he was trying to convince me to join his little inner-circle against him," Lena said.
"I dread to think how things would have turned out if you'd said yes," she said. Lena laughed.
"No need to worry, I would practically fall asleep when he talked about "that alien menace." I just wish I'd paid enough attention to realise that Lex was crazy enough to actually take action against your cousin," Lena said.
"I guess it's easy to think that in hindsight," she said.
"True enough, though I think it's what makes him so dangerous. Even when he was angry or going on about Superman, he never raised his voice. Insidious and twisted words disguised behind compliments and how everything he does is in your interest, not just his. It'd be impressive if it weren't so sociopathic," Lena said. Their conversation was winding down, Lena glanced at her watch.
"I'm not keeping you here am I?" Kara said, concerned about how much of Lena's time she had taken. The danger of the ring played on her mind as well, she put Lena at risk every minute she kept her around longer than necessary.
"It's no problem, if anything you've forced me to take my own advice of slowing down and taking a break," Lena said.
"Your work's important, I shouldn't keep you away from it," she said. Lena put her cup down and looked into her eyes for a few moments. She got up quickly afterward.
"If you need me at any point…," Lena said.
"I know," she said. She was disappointed in herself for letting Lena stay as long as she had already, keeping their time short was safest for both of them.
"Bye Kara."
She watched her leave, no doubt calling her driver to jump right back into one of her many projects.
The mild hum started to grow as she looked back to her empty apartment. The space looked a lot bigger without the mess. The damage from the book missile would no doubt take a hefty chunk out of her deposit. It reminded her of her young days, struggling to control her strength and nearly wrecking half the Danvers' household whenever she had a tantrum. Anger was practically a luxury back then. She knew it would only be a matter of time before her clarity of thought would begin to get muddied again. Lena's stories about her family and Lex served to remind her how much worse a position she could be in. Up until now she had been very reactive, only seeing the people Lena told her to see. Her relationship with Alex had mildly improved and with a relatively rage-free state of mind, she thought about Kal. She had mostly avoided him after what happened with Sam. Hearing from Lena about how depraved Lex could be was enough to get her blood boiling and the ring's voice calling for swift justice. Kal had every right to be angry or to lash out, but the mere thought of acting that way was always so farfetched to him. Working through their issues and hearing what he had to say could be the salve she needed. The struggle of having so much power and being in a position where she could not always use it was a problem that had rekindled itself. It was a position only Kal could sympathise with.
If there was an easier solution to countering the ring causing her so much trouble, Kal would be the one to uncover it. A quick flight to Metropolis to see if he was free would take no time at all. She made the decision to head out, knowing the longer she debated it, the more she would talk herself out of it. Either that or the ring would start drilling into her thoughts once more, throwing the unstoppable urges for violence her way. She stopped in her tracks before leaving, looking down at her clothes. An image of a dress started to form in her mind, red of course, maybe a bit vintage. Something a little chic, vertical stripes at the top. She looked at her ring, knowing she could form it with ease. For a moment the hum hushed slightly and her arms felt heavy. She cast the dress from her mind and promptly changed to her usual stylings.
Her flight seemed weighed down, taking several minutes to get to Metropolis instead of blazing into its skyline within a few seconds. The ring's power fluctuated much less than when she first got it, but from time to time it could still play up on her. Landing turned out to be easy as Clark's building's roof was clear. Her footsteps echoed in the stairwell, it was unclear how turning up unannounced would fly with him. Hopefully he would appreciate the gesture, the one certainty is he would want to help her regardless of how he felt about anything else. She sped up, trying to stop overthinking as she wound down each flight. She stared at the door, her fingers were twitching as she mustered the will to knock. She reminded herself it was all her own doing, the drive for a positive step came through as she tapped at it. Light footsteps made their way over. The door loudly unlatched and Lois was revealed to her.
"Hi there Kara, I wasn't expecting you," she said, she seemed apprehensive despite her smile.
"Sorry to drop by like this, is Clark in?" she said. Lois quickly glanced back into the apartment.
"He's working," Lois said. Kara squinted, trying to work out if she meant if it was work that involved a cape.
"Will he be back soon? I can wait," she said.
"Now may not be the best time," Lois said. Her reluctance started to make sense when she spotted a child walking to the kitchen. The child stopped to watch this scene unfold, cocking her head with a curious look on her face. Lois quickly noticed her.
"Maybe you should just come in," Lois said, stepping aside. The child went about her business, disappearing into the kitchen.
"Babysitting for someone?" Kara asked.
"You could say that." Lois' eyes glanced over to the kitchen door. Her nervousness dropped slightly as she led her through to the lounge area. "So, what brings you to Metropolis?"
"I wanted to see Clark, things have been a little tense at home and I thought it would be good to hear from him," she said. Picking her words was tricky having to stay vague enough in case this child overheard anything. She imagined Lois knew the details of Kara's complicated circumstances, although there was no way of knowing how deeply Clark had gone into it with her. In her few dealings with him, her current condition was a topic the usually confident man never really knew how to approach.
"I think he'd like that," Lois said. Her eyes kept drawing to the kitchen door, the child was now peaking round the doorway with a glass of water in her hand. Lois still seemed distracted, with a pained expression and a bit of hesitation she spoke up.
"Don't be rude now, come in if you want to say hello" she said. The girl was slightly startled and sheepishly shuffled in. "This is Kara, she's Clark's cousin."
"Hi," the girl said. Her posture was strangely upright for how shyly she had entered. She was young and had long, brunette hair. "I'm Ruby."
Kara furrowed her brow. The name was somehow familiar.
"Hi Ruby, nice to meet you," Kara said, she mustered a smile despite her conflicting thoughts. Lois seemed at a loss for words, it was something she did not know Lois was capable of. Unsure of how to react to the situation developing in front of her, she started to think she was missing something.
"Are you staying long?" Ruby said, rapidly shaking off her initial sheepishness.
"I'm waiting for Clark, but I'd be fine hanging around some more," Kara said, doing an impression of her old self in an attempt to be more upbeat for the curious child.
After a short silence, Ruby piped up again.
"Do you want to see my room?" Her confidence was growing rapidly, and Kara's smile became genuine at this child's enthusiasm to host her.
"Okay then," she said, standing up.
"I don't know if that's…" Lois said. She stopped herself when she got confused looks from both Ruby and Kara. "Just don't keep her too long, Kara is a busy woman." Lois shot a worried look at her, only further adding to the thought she was missing something obvious.
Ruby led her into the room, it was surprisingly orderly, only a few messily stacked books on a small desk was totally out of place. It seemed like she had been settled here for a while.
"How long have you been staying here, Ruby?" Kara said.
"A couple of months now," her demeanour seemed to drop a bit.
"Sorry, I haven't spoken to Clark in a while," she paused, as the ring buzzed away in her mind it seemed to drain any ability she had to talk to a child. Ruby shook it off and proudly presented what she was reading, along with the few decorations she had picked out for the place. Kara was taken aback by the Lava-lamp at the side of her bed. It had been a long time since she had seen one, Ruby was enchanted with the blobs of gel merrily floating around for a moment.
"You've certainly made this place your own," she said, spotting a small poster of Superman near the desk. It was odd to see, Kal hated merchandise based around him and he would have protested one up in his own home.
"Big fan of Superman?" She said, studying it. It was slightly cartoonish with that standing triumphant pose he enjoyed pulling off every now and then. Ruby sat down at her desk, she started fiddling with a pencil and looking at the poster too.
"Do you know much about him?" Ruby said.
"A reasonable amount," Kara said, the fact the poster was up at all meant she did not know Clark's real identity.
"I've always been a fan of Superheroes. Clark doesn't speak much about him, but he definitely knows him," she said. Kara looked around the room.
"How'd you end up with Clark and Lois?" It was mostly an attempt to deflect the conversation away from the topic, though she was also genuinely curious. Clark had not mentioned any of this to her.
"They're friends of my Mum's old boss," Ruby hesitated, her voice had cracked a bit.
"It's okay," Kara said.
"My Mum's been sick, Clark and Lois have been looking after me," she said. As the words slowly processed in her brain, the situation she had got herself into had dawned on her. The timing of Ruby's stay, Clark not mentioning it and Lois' apprehension came crashing into one horrendous recollection, Reign muttering the word "Ruby." Lena had largely kept quiet about everything to do with the World Killers. Despite this, she had heard enough to piece things together, she was standing in the room of Sam Arias' daughter. She did not react, but the fight with Reign played in her mind. There was a flair from the ring as she pictured her brutal attack on Reign and heard the pained struggle she went through when she lost her arm. She hated going back to it, it was so clear in her mind. As she stood in the room and made polite conversation with the daughter of the woman she had done so much harm to, the worst of it was how little it affected her. Shortly after the incident she felt euphoria, then extreme remorse.
Now at this point she had spent so long training herself to ignore the ring that the memory had become numb. She could look into the eyes of this girl and feel no guilt about what she had done. The ring's euphoric influence at the recollection of that night with Reign made itself known, Kara always did her best to push it away but some of that positive shiver crept through. It was something she never really wanted to address and avoided conversation about it, even with Lena.
Though the memory was so clear she did not skip a beat as she spoke again.
"Well I'm sure your Mum is under the best care possible," she said.
"She is," Ruby said, looking at the poster. "And Clark and Lois have been really nice."
"They're good people," Kara said. She put her hand on Ruby's shoulder. Ruby gave her a slight smile, but all Kara could think of was that emptiness toward her mother's plight whilst the ring merrily pulsed away at the memory.