Chapter 02
People don't live forever. But, maybe sometimes, that's for the best...
"Mommy. Daddy is drunk again"
"Kara, you don't know what you are taking about"
"But, mommy..."
"JUST LEAVE YOUR FATHER ALONE, KARA!"
The little girl pouts angrily because she might be a child, but she's old enough to know that her old man is drunk... for the 4th time in a row this week, to be precise. And, Kara loves her father, she really does, but, she doesn't like him when he's like this because you never know how he will behave. He can just cry and drink till he falls asleep, or, he can become the monster that scares Kara the most. What will be today? Kara doesn't know till she hears him yell and throwing things towards them.
'It's gonna be okay because he doesn't aim to hurt us' , her mother always says. 'It's because he's depressed' , her mother always says. 'It's because no one hires him ', her mother always says. 'It's because they lost the house and have to live in a trailer now' , her mother always says and no matter what excuse Alura plans to say today, Kara has no intention to stay around and hear the lies.
Beer bottles start to crash against the walls and Kara knows she has to leave now before she faces the big monster once again. The little blonde grips hard on her teddy bear while she runs towards the door, trying to dodge the bottles and the broken glass, so worried about not getting hurt, that the poor girl doesn't put attention on the candle she drops by accident when she rushes towards the door of the trailer.
"FIRE!"
People from other trailers notice the fire, Kara also notices the fire when she stands there, in front of the trailer. She sees the flames, the smoke as well as the fact that her mother could get out, but decides not to...
"MOMMY! GET OUT!"
Looking her in the eyes, between the flames, Alura shakes her head and stays inside. Her mother is choosing to stay beside the monster and leave her alone. And, the little girl has no words, she just stops gripping on her stuffed toy, the teddy bear drops out of Kara's hands, just like her hopes in humanity.
Goodbyes are never easy, just as new beginnings...
"Kara. This is gonna be your new home..."
Mr. Danvers says when he welcomes the blonde to his home. It's a nice home, and, Kara should feel happy to finally get adopted by a good family, but she's not responding to the good news.
"She doesn't speak?"
Jeremiah shakes his head when his wife asks the question. Eliza ignores why the child has shut down from the world, why her beautiful blue eyes look so empty. It's nothing against the Danvers, it's just that Kara has lost everything, even her hope.
It's sad that at her young age, Kara expects nothing good from this world, maybe that's why Jeremiah stepped in, trying to change that as soon as she found her. He knew Kara's father. Working together in a military project for Luthor Corp, it changed their lives forever.
Jeremiah doesn't speak about what really happened back then, about why he found his exit from the project before it was too late; he'll always regret not being able to do more for Kara's father. And, that's the main reason why Kara is here today. Jeremiah couldn't help his friend when he needed the most, but, maybe he can do something for his child.
A new life, in a new town came with a new last name and a new sibling...
"Alex... I'm Alex Danvers..."
Kara nods when the teenager introduces herself. The brunette wasn't happy about the idea of sharing her room. At her age, she wants privacy and not the responsibility to look after a kid. And, that's why Alex makes no effort at all to give Kara a warm welcome to their home.
Yeah, Alex has no intention of being a big sister for Kara, but that changes when one day at school, Kara gets bullied by some kids because she doesn't speak. They start to throw her food during the lunch break and everyone finds it funny except for Alex.
It's not the first time that someone throws something at her, so Kara doesn't make a big deal about it. ' People are cruel' , Kara thinks. ' People are mean' , Kara thinks. ' People are monsters ', Kara thinks. And, maybe she's right, people can be monsters, but, they can also be heroes...
"Hey! Stop it!"
The big sister instinct finally kicks in Alex, and before knowing it, she's kicking the ass of so many kids. Everyone is shocked with what is happening. They didn't know Alex was a fighter, not even Alex. She didn't know she had it in her. But, as shocking as it was to realize that Alex could fight, it was a bigger shocker for Kara to realize that someone was fighting for her well-being.
Noses got broken, Alex got grounded. But, it was all worth it because Kara was finally getting back something she lost a long time ago: Hope.
Hope of a new beginning, Hope in humanity, Hope that everything will get better. Alex brought back Kara's hopes. And with it, the shy, quiet blonde blossomed into a sunshine and happy person...
"Alex! Happy Birthday!"
Kara sings HB to the grumpy brunette, like every year, and, like every year, Aex refuses to leave the bed at this early hour in the morning...
"C'mon, Alex, it's your birthday! We need to make the most of it!"
Kara tries to get Alex out from the bed, but Alex keeps a firm grip on the sheets, trying to stay between them, like a racoon.
"You know, I liked you more when you didn't speak"
"Hahaha, very funny!"
Kara opens the curtains and the sun comes in. The blonde smiles, embracing the warm touch of the sun. It's a beautiful day to celebrate one of her favorite people in the world. And, it was a wonderful day, or it had been till Eliza asked their help to clean the garage.
"We have so much stuff. Where did all of this come from?"
"I keep telling you, Alex, you're a hoarder. If you keep being like this, no one will marry you!"
"Shut up!"
Alex playfully pushes Kara away and both sisters laugh, making jokes about all the useless stuff they find in their garage.
"Are you bringing this to college?"
Alex sighs when she sees the box with all her science trophies in it; she loves them, each one of them, it's a reminder of how amazing she's. A booster to her self-esteem, but she doesn't think she will have the space in the dorms, so she decides to label that box with the label 'to donate'.
"Hey! You can't donate them!"
"Kara, I'll not bring them with me to Metropolis. And, mom asked us to give away all the things we will not need anymore"
"Yeah, but..."
"It's okay, Kara, I don't need them"
Alex might feel she doesn't need them. But, Kara needs them to stay in their home. Her big sister is going far away, to college. And, she needs something to hold on while she's gone. Each one of the trophies is linked with a happy memory of Kara working with Alex, side by side. She has always assisted Alex in her science projects, and she's not ready to let go of those memories, so Kara takes the box to the attic to hide it. But she wasn't the only one to try to hide secrets in the attic...
"Crap!"
Kara drops old boxes when she gets into the attic. She settles the box she was bringing in and kneels to clean the mess caused by her clumsiness. Bunch of papers, data from old projects of Jeremiah. Nothing revealing for Kara till an old picture catches her eyes.
"DAD?!"
Nothing gets hidden forever, and some secrets come out into the light, just to bring back old monsters back to our lives...
"Kara? What are you doing here? What a nice surprise!"
Jeremiah looks happy to see Kara on the lake where he was fishing. The girls don't like to fish, that's why he's surprised to see Kara here, but, when the blonde shows him an old picture he had in the attic, the reason for her presence becomes more clear now.
"Kara, please, let me explain..."
"Explain what, Jeremiah?! That you knew my father, that you knew about my family all this time and you never said anything to me?!"
The blonde snaps at the man who has been like a father to her for so many years now. She has never raised her voice to him, nor to Eliza, never! But, when she saw the picture of her biological father, side by side with Jeremiah, she felt betrayed, lied to, and scared of what this could mean...
"You knew my father"
"I did..."
"You know what happened to him. To my parents?"
"I know about the fire. About how you might think it's your fault, but it's not your fault Kara"
"You don't know that. You weren't there! You..."
"I wasn't there when your father needed a friend. When he needed a hand, I couldn't help, but, I'm here for you, I..."
"What do you mean with ' you weren't there for him '?"
Jeremiah gulps hard, he knows something. Something he doesn't dare to say. He hopes Kara will understand he just wants to protect her, but, if there's something Kara doesn't tolerate, it's to be lied, even if it's for her own good.
Her mother always lied, pretending that everything was okay while her father became a drunk monster. Kara knows what lies do to people. So no, she will not be lied to again.
"Tell me the truth. You know something about my family. Something I ignore..."
"Yes"
"Tell me what you know"
"I can't Kara, I'm sorry. I can't..."
Kara deeply exhales. Rage overwhelmed her senses, causing her to say awful things like ' I hate you! ', 'I don't want to see you again!'. Kara angrily yells awful things as she runs away, leaving him alone on the lake with a sad look on his face.
Kara said so many things that day, things she regrets now, because she never thought those things could ever be the last words she said to him.
'It was a heart attack '. That's what the medical reports indicate. The Danvers hear the same cause of death from all the doctors of the hospital. Over and over again, they say the same thing. But, just because they say it a thousand times, it doesn't make it feel more real.
"This can't be happening... not, on my birthday..."
Eliza holds Alex in a big hug, trying to give any kind of comfort to her kid. While Kara is just there, in silence. Looking at the emptiness of the room... of her heart.
It's very late when they come back home from the hospital. Still shocked about how the beautiful day became one of the worst days of their lives. And, Alex doesn't understand what happened, she doesn't get why her father suffered a heart attack while he was fishing, but, Kara has a hunch of what went wrong.
"Alex. There's something I need to tell you..."
Alone in their room, Kara tells Alex what happened earlier that day. She expects to feel better after it, but, she feels even worse, especially when Alex angrily slaps her in the face.
"Alex?!"
"You killed him!"
"Alex, no! I..."
"Killing your parents wasn't enough, isn't it? You had to kill my Dad, too?"
Kara stays speechless, tears fall from her blue eyes. Years ago, she told Alex about the fire where her parents died because she trusted her. Kara never thought that piece of information could be used against her like this. 'Maybe people are really monsters after all' it's what Kara thinks when she hears Alex poisoned words, filled with hate. It's a more painful thing than Kara has ever heard before...
"I'm sorry, Alex..."
"Get out!"
Kara doesn't move, she has no idea of what to do or what to say but...
"Get out! Leave! This is not your home anymore!"
But, Alex makes it very clear that she's no more welcome in the house, so, without flinching, Kara walks away. She leaves the house, she leaves the town, she leaves behind Kara Danvers, the sunshine girl she became, just to be faced with her biggest fear: loneliness.
Without a place to go, without a family to rely on. Kara has no idea of what she should do. She has nothing left, except to find the truth about her family. Jeremiah was hiding something, deep down, Kara knows it. And, trying to find that truth, it's the only that Kara has left. Or, at least that's what she believes.
After a few years of finding nothing, Kara finds something she wasn't expecting to find, something that brings her to a little town called Smallville...
"Hello. Are you lost?"
Kara opens her mouth, but no words come out. She knocked on the door, without having a plan for what to do next...
"This is the Kent farm. What brings you here?"
"Are you Clark Kent?"
"Yes. Why? How do you know my name?"
"Because I think... I... you're my cousin..."
"Huh?"
Kara is as confused as Clark. She was sure she didn't have living relatives. But, when she started to investigate her past, about her family, she found that she wasn't the only adopted child in the family. Clark was put up for adoption, years before Kara was born, maybe that's why she didn't know about his existence till now.
Clark knows about his adoption, he knows his biological parents sent him away, hoping he would find a better life, and he found that better life when the Kents took him in. That's why he never felt the need to reach out to his biological family. He doesn't feel the need to know about his blood family. But when he looks at Kara. At the skinny girl who has probably not eaten in days, he doesn't have it in him, to turn his back on this girl who proclaims to be his family.
Clark opens his door for her and once again, Kara has hopes in humanity.
"Looking at how much you can eat. You're definitely Clark's family!"
"Hey! I don't eat that much!"
Everyone chuckles and Kara blushes a lot. The Kent have welcomed her with open arms. And, it was nice to be part of a family again. So, nice that Kara forgets about her research and the main reason she's here till one day...
"Your father worked for Luthor Corp?"
Kara nods when Lex looks at all the documents that Kara brought with her. He hears her out without judging her, with nothing more than empathy. And, Kara couldn't ask for more than that.
"I just want to understand why my Dad became the monster he was before he died"
There must be a reason to drink so much, to be so angry. Kara wants to believe that he was pushed to become that monster, and she wants to know why. She has lost so much already, finding the truth about it, it's the only thing that gives her a reason to keep going in life.
"I can help you. I'll help you!"
"Really?"
Lex nods and he has every intention to help Kara find the answers she was looking for, but like everything in life, you plan something, and finish doing something else. And that's what happened to Kara when she overheard Clark and Lex, talking about making a family together.
"Lex, we can't afford a kid now"
"I know, but we are getting old. And, time flies so fast. Before we know it, we're in our 80's with no one to visit us during Xmas"
Clark chuckles and shakes his head. He wants a kid too. Since Kara came to live in the farm, a protective instinct activated in him. A feeling he likes a lot and he would like to explore more but...
"Two men can't have a baby, Lex"
"According to whom?"
"Lex..."
"Someone can carry the baby for us"
"Who? Those kinds of things cost lots of money. And..."
"And, we don't live forever, Clark. We are here today, tomorrow, we don't know. So, let's make a family now. Let's bring a little joy to this family, now. A little hope to show us that everything will be okay"
Lex's words touch a soft spot in Kara's heart, and, maybe that's why she decides to do something about it. From all the things she has heard from Lex and his past, she's sure that there's one person who can make this possible. That's how she decides to reach out to the only person who might be able to help them...
"Hello?"
Lena never takes call of people she doesn't know, and when Jess told her that the call was from one Miss. Danvers. The name didn't ring the bell at all. Nevertheless, she took the call by request of her assistant, completely ignoring that her entire world would turn upside down from this exact moment because, from all the things she was expecting to hear, she wasn't ready to hear what Kara was planning to say...
"Hi. I'm Kara Danvers. And, I need your help to make a baby"
"What?!"
People don't live forever. And, that's okay. That's a reminder to never forget that we need to make the most of it, in this life. For those we love and care. And, that's what Kara plans to do with the help of Lena.
Focusing on making Lex & Clark's wish coming true, once again, Kara acts, ignores what her actions might engender.