After I finish my shower I feel refreshed.
I step out of the shower/tub and check my reflection in the mirror. There is a large, fading bruise where the damage to my ribs was the greatest, but other than that my skin is pale as ever. I dry off with the towel and put my bra and underwear on, then wrap the towel around my body and head for my room. When I walk in Linda is still sleeping. She must have had a tiring day for her to be out like that. Not fearing she'll wake up anytime soon, I drop my towel on the floor and grab my clothes for the day. It's Sunday. I was supposed to open the shop at 11 am but seeing as I was unconscious that would have been hard to do. Instead, I opt for playing hooky and hanging out with Linda today. I slip a simple t-shirt on over my bra and pull on a pair of Daisy Duke shorts; clothing that always causes a few heads to turn.
I walk over to Linda to see if she's still asleep. When I lean in to get a closer look at her face I see something that makes me pause. She's crying. Linda is crying in her sleep. It's not a full gush, more like a few individual tears. A fresh tear falls from under her eyelid and I catch it before it gets halfway down her cheek. Linda must have felt the touch because her eyes flutter open and lock with mine. She blinks a few times and sits up in the chair.
I decide to sit on the edge of my bed in front of her as she adjusts herself. After she fixes her clothes, she picks up the dropped blanket and rolls it up then places it on her lap. Propping her elbows on the blanket, Linda drops her head then takes her glasses off. I almost reach out for the handing holding them as she rubs her eyes then slips them on. Before she takes her hand away from her face though, she brushes her fingers down her cheeks.
"I was crying in my sleep, wasn't I?" I nod. Linda does one of those quiet derisive laughs.
"Linda, are you okay?" I finally ask. She crosses her legs and smiles at me.
"Yeah, I'm fine. That's not the first time that's happened."
"This happens a lot?"
Linda stretches her arms over her head. "Yep," she says while yawning.
"Why?" She looks me straight in the eyes and puts her arms down slowly.
"Because the dreams I have are sad."
"What are they about?" Linda places the rolled blanket on the floor and sits next to me.
"My parents." I'm confused.
"Is it because you miss them?"
"No, not my adoptive parents, my biological parents."
"I didn't know you were adopted."
"So is Clark, my cousin. That's how we're related, through our biological fathers." I scoot closer to Linda while she talks to where our thighs are almost touching.
"Tell me about them." Linda sighs then lies down on my bed with her feet still touching the floor. I do the same.
"Clark and my parents were scientists. My father was a fantastic scientist, second only to his brother, Clark's father. Anyway, there was suspicion that where they worked was being sabotaged. Clark's father tried to prove it, but the heads of the facility were too stubborn and prideful of their own work to believe such a thing could happen. Now, my father did believe his brother, he just didn't tell him. Both of them tried to find out what was going to happen separately, but by the time they did it was too late. Clark's dad tried to warn everyone, but no one listened. During that time, my parents were able to leave the area, but Clark's father was apprehended and accused of sabotage. In a matter of no time the entire area exploded and everyone there was killed."
"I'm so sorry."
"You didn't cause it. Anyway, after I was born my parents moved to the United States. When I was teenager, we moved to Kansas because we heard rumors my cousin had not been killed in the explosion. While there, my parents got into an accident. They died instantly." Linda starts to cry again while she's talking. I shift onto my right side and wipe away the tears.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," she says while swatting my hand away and wiping the tears herself. "Look, the story has a happy ending. While I was at the orphanage I did some digging into adoptions around the time Clark was a baby. The one that stuck out perfectly was an adoption made by a Mister Jonathan and Missus Martha Kent. When I was old enough, I went to Smallville and met up with Clark after contacting him. We did a DNA test and found out we were related."
"I'm glad," I say while playing with the edges of her long brown hair.
Linda looks at me and smiles. "I'm glad you're glad, but you might want to tell your face that."
"What?" I stop looping the strands through my fingers and look at her.
"Well, from your face it looks like you want to ask me a question." Darn it.
"Okay... First, where did this happen? You said after you were born your parents moved here to the US. Are you European?"
"Something like that." Great, now she's being vague.
"What were your parents' names?"
"I'd rather not say."
"Then how can I look up what happened?" Linda leans on her left side and faces me directly. Our faces are only six inches apart.
"You can't. Look, I know you're interested in knowing more about me but that's not the way to go. It's not my past that defines me it's who I am now." Linda reaches back and pulls the tie out of her hair then runs her hand through it. I can't resist touching her locks, so I reach up and ruffle it. "Hey! Don't mess with my hair."
I sit up and use both hands to ruffle it. As I mess with her hair, Linda takes me by surprise. She flips me on my back and straddles me faster than any soldier I've ever seen move. I'm still laughing until Linda takes my wrists and pins my arms down. The look in her eyes makes me gulp.
"Not bad for a farm girl slash reporter huh?" I'm having trouble forming words and… well, breathing with Linda hanging over me like this. We stare into each other's eyes for a while and I swear she starts to lean in when her cell phone goes off. I swear under my breath. Linda hears me and points a finger at me like she's chiding me.
"Danvers here." Linda listens to the other line and nods every so often at what the other person is saying. "I understand… I'll be there soon… No, thank you. Good-bye." Linda hangs up and looks at me.
"You have no idea who just called me."
"Who?"
"Detective Bullock. He wants to talk to me about the Intergang case."
"That's great."
"Yeah, except Maggie isn't on board with it."
"So?"
"'So? So, if she isn't on board and Bullock wants to talk to me about it that means only one thing. Commissioner Gordon went straight to Bullock himself."
"Why would he do that?" Linda taps her cell phone against her lips a few times then stops and smiles.
"Barbara." I get it. Barbara must have called her father and asked if Linda could do a story on the Intergang case. As I was thinking about the case something popped in my head.
"Hey Linda, two things." Linda looks down at me and listens. "First, why did you have the Reddner watch?" Linda smiles and wiggles a little bit. I do my best not to jerk from her movements because she's still straddling me.
"You're going to have to ask Supergirl that if you meet her." I roll my eyes on the inside considering I already have.
"Okay, and two, could you get off me please? You've been straddling me for a while and your wiggling isn't exactly helping me." Linda's eyes widen as she looks down and realizes her position.
"Sorry," she says with a strained voice and a blush as she gets off me. After how many times she's made me blush, it's nice to make her go red in the face. I'm about to make fun of her when my cellphone buzzes. I have a text message.
We need to talk. ~ Maggie
Now is not the time for her to text me with a need for a serious talk.
"Is everything okay, Katherine?"
"Everything is fine. It's just Maggie. She probably wants to vent about you working on the Intergang case, um Linda? Why do call me by my full name?" Linda thinks about it for a moment then shrugs her shoulders.
"I don't really know. I guess because it's one of my favorite female names and I like saying it… Katherine." I smile.
"Okay, I was just asking because everyone calls me Kate. Even my father calls me Kate."
"Do you want me to call you Kate?"
"No! I mean yes, I mean no." I take a breath then continue. "It's okay to call me by either. I just especially like it when you say my full name. It sounds nice." Linda smiles and leans against the closed balcony doors.
"Okay… Katherine." I get caught in a trance with Linda when her cellphone goes off. "It's the office. I've got to go." Linda moves away from the doors and towards me.
"But it's Sunday."
"I know, but the news never rests." Linda kisses me on the top of my head. (A good testament to how tall she is.) "See ya around… Katherine." Linda winks at me then leaves my room.
Darn her and her cuteness.