She tapped the steering wheel nervously. The sound of the artificial fingers pattering against the leather seemed so strange and the smooth. She kept stealing glances at Ruby, her excitement for this school-run was the only thing that kept her nerves from truly getting the better of her. Luckily it was cool enough to justify long sleeves, of course the weather had not been kind enough to justify gloves. The greyish black of her right hand almost matched the colour of the steering wheel itself. Ruby having seemingly no trouble with it at least made it easier to deal with. She wanted to return Ruby's strength and patience by trying to keep things as normal as possible. Even if she had worn gloves, there was little she could have done to hide her face. Even having grown used to her new features, glimpses of herself in the rear-view mirror could still catch her off-guard. She reassured herself it was the new environment putting her off and continued to drum against the wheel.
A horn sounded off behind her, the car in front of her was long gone. She quickly put her foot down to compensate. The car shot forward, she misjudged how short the distance was to move along in the dense traffic and needed to brake relatively hard. She braced for the change in force, expecting the inertia to throw her forward only to find she had remained firm. It surprised Ruby and she was caught by the seatbelt.
"Are you okay?" she said.
"Yeah, I'm good," Ruby said, it had been minor and she seemed to shrug it off easily enough.
"Sorry about that," she said. Sam looked at her hand and rubbed her chin, she had not felt the push and pull of the car at all. The forces that would normally fling her around seemed to have lost this battle with her. She shook off these thoughts when she looked to Ruby. She prided herself on her adaptability, this was just a particularly strong test for those skills. The rest of the journey was relatively uneventful. The traffic lightened and clear weather made it an easy trip when she switched her focus to enjoying Ruby's company. The school building got ever closer as the car rumbled on, though they were still a few minutes away she could already hear the chatter of the kids and the usual humdrum of the start of a school day. It took extra focus, but she managed to hone her hearing back to a more comfortable range. She hoped the finer control of her strength and the flying would come naturally a little sooner now she had the real world to contend with. As she checked the sides of the roads she saw plenty of places to pull over, a few students were walking by but the streets were calm enough and not many people seemed to be paying too much attention. They were focused in the direction they were going rather than people popping out of cars around them. It came time to ask the question she had debated with herself the day before.
"Do you want me to pull over here, or should I drop you off right by the school?" she asked. Ruby looked confused.
"Right by the school," Ruby said. The idea of being embarrassed by her strange-looking mother had not even seemed to have occurred to her. She pulled away from spaces to park with a smile on her face. The site of grouped up children with bags that were slightly too big for them came into view as they loitered outside the school grounds. Soon enough they were parked nearby, the click and whir of Ruby's seatbelt flying off was surprisingly enthusiastic.
"Glad to be back I see," she said.
"It's felt like forever, it'll be good to see my friends again," Ruby said. As she got out with no bag, Sam realised she had instinctively put it in the boot before they set out. Any hopes of staying even remotely discreet were out of the question now. She took a deep breath, with Ruby's approval she figured she may as well steer into the skid. She unclicked her own seatbelt, she stretched her arms and legs as she got out of the car. Bad idea or not, she could not stop her eyes darting to the front of the school to look for reactions. She noticed a few people giving her strange looks as she emerged. She did her best to ignore them and walked around the car, opening the boot for Ruby. She grabbed her bag and handed it to her.
"Have a great day, I'll see you later," she said.
"Thanks Mum," Ruby said, set on scampering off.
"Look carefully before crossing the road," she said. The traffic by the school was not even moving as people dropped off their children in the least considerate places they could find. It was a habit people managed to keep in her absence. Ruby turned to give her a slightly bemused look, she knew what she was doing, though it would never stop her telling her to be careful. Ruby turned again to set off but hesitated and stopped herself for a moment.
"Love you, Mum," she said, before heading by the unmoving cars and into the school grounds. Sam stood by the car, her eyes followed Ruby's path into the building. She clocked Ruby getting stopped for a brief conversation with , the school's principle. She was unsure about whether to listen in, she was certainly curious. She opted against it, part of the package of adjusting back to regular life was not to abuse her new abilities. If anything, she could just ask Ruby later. Ruby seemed to move off quickly, though Sam did not know where to look when immediately walked out the entrance and headed toward way. She was an older woman and seemed to care little about hiding it. Grey hair, glasses on small chains and an old-fashioned dress sense all added to this. Whenever they had spoken in the past, was energetic and savvy, it made her think the look she went for was very much intentional. Either way it made for a slightly comedic scene as she jogged out, no faster than walking, and waved her down. She looked taken aback when Sam waved back. She noticed it was because she had waved with her right hand again, she would either have to get used to the reaction or train herself to greet people with her left hand.
" , so good to see you again," said as she approached.
"It's good to be back," she said. She watched the Principle's expressions closely.
"I've missed Ruby, she's such a bright young thing," Mrs. Bennett said, she was not subtle in her attempt to take in the sight before her. The official line that the school was told was a rare disease that only specialist equipment in Metropolis could treat, she imagined this did not translate to ghost-white skin and a robotic arm in the staff's mind.
"She was excited to come back, she missed this place a lot," Sam said, starting to feel slightly more self-conscious as more parents and students began to look their way.
"I've always loved her enthusiasm. Anyway, I just wanted a quick chat. There are a few things to sort out admin-wise now that she's returned. Nothing too strenuous I assure you," she said.
"I'll be happy to do what's needed, if it's paperwork I'd prefer you e-mail it to me though," she said.
"That's no problem at all," she said, she hesitated slightly and adjusted her glasses. "Apologies if this is a little forward but I also have to say the PTA has lacked a certain… drive, in your absence. I wouldn't ask if you didn't seem up for it, it's just you seem to be in remarkable condition all things considered. If you have the energy it would be great to have you back."
Sam was unsure how to respond, the request seemed genuine rather than her trying to be polite.
"Well the treatments were certainly very effective," she said, deciding against directly addressing the elephant in the room. "I'd like a bit of time to think, I'll be picking up Ruby at the end of the day. I can print out and hand over any admin in person if you'd prefer. If I've decided whether to dive back in by then I'll let you know," she said.
"No problem at all , I'm so glad that things have turned out so well for you and Ruby, we've all been praying for your health and safe return," she said.
"Thank you, it means a lot," she said, hiding a smirk. If they had only known how bizarre the circumstances they had been praying about were.
"Well, I must be going, take as much time as you need," she said. Mrs. Bennett glanced back at her a few times as she walked away.
She took a deep breath as she got back in the car, there were still a fair few prying eyes her way. She found herself caring less than she thought she would.
When she returned the home the rest of the day flew by. The admin thrown her way was simple enough to deal with. She had been worried her odd circumstances would make some questions difficult to answer, Lena's cover story was more than comprehensive enough. She had spent the past few hours going over what the school had thrown at her, checking over and over for any inconsistencies or odd answers that would make Ruby's transition back to National City more difficult. As she was getting herself in order she was interrupted by a knock at the door. She had only been back for a day and was not expecting anyone. She froze in place for a moment, the door seemed ominous and approaching it was hard to muster courage for. As she looked around the room it occurred to her she did not need to approach to see who was visiting any more. She squinted slightly and saw the other side easily enough. A smartly dressed, short-haired woman was waiting there. She slowly made her way over, inspecting this woman with each step. She opened the door carefully and a badge was quickly flashed at her.
"Hello there Ms. Arias, Alex Danvers, F.B.I." was said at her. She opened the door wider at seeing the badge. Quickly noticing this woman's hands were of a similar design to her own prosthetic, her tense shoulders quickly relaxed again. This woman looked oddly expectant.
"Hello, can I help you?" she said. Her face seemed to relax slightly at this response.
"May I come in?" she said.
"Oh of course, sorry, I wasn't expecting visitors," she said, stepping aside.
"Sorry to drop by unannounced, Ms. Luthor has been working with us to ensure your transition. Just wanted to check in on you," she said. Any suspicion she had was quelled when Alex took her jacket off, almost the entirety of her arms were the same design as hers. Sam moved toward the fridge, she was about to offer something, then remembered she was yet to do a grocery trip.
"I'm afraid all I can offer you is water," she said.
"Don't worry about that, I was asked to swing by to see how you were settling back in," Alex said.
"That's nice, I must say it's been surprisingly easy so far," she said, offering her a seat on the sofa. Alex obliged, Sam took the chair nearby, she found herself doing her best to sit up straight.
"Well, we've done what we can on our end to keep things smooth, you'd probably be reassured that your daughter's school have a knack for detail, harder work for us but they certainly have her wellbeing at heart," she said. Sam laughed nervously and looked over to her laptop, suddenly no longer satisfied with the job she had done.
"Well I'd like to say I can't thank you enough, I'm guessing my situation was quite a difficult one to get your heads around," she said. Alex chuckled.
"Certainly more unique, I'll give you that. It's nothing we can't handle," she said. Sam nodded, trying to keep her attention away from the prosthetics Alex was merrily waving around as she spoke. Alex noticed her watching them intently, she guessed as an FBI agent she was more attentive than most.
"Sorry," she said.
"Ha, don't worry about it. Of all people I imagine you understand better than most," Alex said, flexing her fingers.
"I guess so, if you don't mind me asking, how long have you had them," she said, she wondered whether asking how it happened was appropriate.
"Oh, a while now," Alex said.
"Do you get used to them?" She asked. Alex sighed.
"In a way, as good as they are, that detached sense of touch never really goes away," she said.
"Sorry, I don't mean to pry," Sam said, suddenly very aware of the tingling in her real arm.
"It's fine, feel free to ask this sort of thing. I'm here to help you settle," Alex said.
"Apart from a few odd looks thrown my way I've done alright so far, granted I'm only a day in," Sam said.
"I guess I'm lucky that most the people I know are used to injuries and odd sights. I know of some support groups that you might find useful," she said. Sam rubbed her arms, unsure how she would be received at something like that.
"How helpful are they?" She asked. Alex seemed to stop herself at first, before making eye contact with her.
"I've heard they can be very therapeutic," she said, adjusting her shirt uncomfortably. Sam looked at her own arm, it was not something she had really considered, concerned if maybe the reality of it was yet to hit her.
"Well, if these check-ups are regular then I can talk to you about it," Sam said.
"Well actually, that does lead me onto my next point. I was going to wait but it seems like you've already settled in somewhat," she said. Sam leaned in closer as Alex carried on. "I have to admit, your particular set of skills is something we're very much interested in. Lena said you declined her offers and wanted some time off…" she trailed off.
"Are you about to offer me a job?" Sam said.
"I guess, look I know it's early but someone who can thrive as CFO of one of the biggest companies in the world could help us a lot," she said. Sam stopped and allowed herself to think, she had surprised herself with how easy the school run had been and without the school throwing admin at her she probably would have struggled to fill the time.
"Is this a standing offer? I was hesitant to re-join the PTA today let alone the FBI," she said.
"Yes. I apologise if it seems insensitive to ask you so soon. I hope you understand, someone as capable as you could do some great things and we don't want to pass that up," she said.
"No offense taken, I imagine I wouldn't be able to sit still for long. I'd like to wait a bit and think about my options first. I've been fine so far but it's still early days," she said. Alex handed a card over.
"Call me whenever, even if it's just to talk about settling back in or arm troubles. And as far as the offer, even if its just consulting for a few hours a week, we'd love to welcome you back into work," she said.
"Thank you," Sam said, she sat back slightly. It was nice to have a contact that at least partially understood what she would be going through. As she sank back, Alex seemed to get less comfortable.
"I hope all continues to be well, unless you have anything else to ask I should be on my way," she said, moving off from the sofa. Sam followed her to see her out.
"Thank you, Agent Danvers. I'll get back to you as soon as I can," she said.
"Alex is fine, and no rush. Even if you just want to talk, you can call that number," she said.
She closed the door, alone again. It had already been an odd day, she had feared what it would bring but already everyone seemed to want to be her friend. Even with the niggling doubts eating at her, it was clear she was put together enough for people to ask for her help. She was glad Lena had talked her into coming back. She looked at her home and a large smile crept its way on to her face, things were working out better than she could have hoped. All that hesitation and delaying seemed ridiculous in hindsight. After taking a few moments to reflect on how well things were going the realties of the day started to flood back in. She had forms to look over, she had the school's apparent attention to detail to deal with. She also made a note on her shopping list for later, a reminder to splash out on the gift for Lena, Lois and Clark.