"Karson, are you paying attention?" Her head lifted to see Bruce staring at her from across the board room table. "Yes, father. Of course." Bruce shook his head, "Then what was I talking about?" Kara's eyes widened minutely as she racked her brain to figure just what her dad had been talking about. It was true, she hadn't quite been paying attention, but thanks to her Kryptonian physiology, she didn't have to be paying attention. Her brain would process any information unconsciously. "Uh...you were talking about the proposal made by Kord Industries, weren't you?" Bruce nodded, "That would be correct. Now, what exactly was the proposal?" Kara sighed and looked out the glass wall of the large conference room, "Kord Industries has not been doing too well for the past year, and LexCorp is wanting to buy them out. However, Mr. Kord is not interested in his company being owned by Mr. Luthor, since he doesn't trust him. So he has offered Wayne Enterprises, and you in particular, a majority share of his company so that Mr. Luthor never gets his hands on the technology of Kord Industries." She turned back to her father, "So? What will you do? Will you save his company or let Mr. Luthor take it?" She watched Bruce start pacing around the room, "Ted is a friend, Karson. Of course, I'm going to help him," he paused before continuing, "Have you heard from your brother today?"
She stood up to try and get some of the stiffness out of her muscles, "Yeah, he's coming by in a few minutes. We're going to grab some Big Belly Burger for lunch. Do you want anything?" He shook his head, "No, that's fine. I'll have my secretary order some food for me later. I've got reports to read over anyways." She shrugged and made her way to the door, "Alright, so...we'll see you at home later, then?" He nodded, "Yeah, try not to stay up too late waiting for me though." She threw a smirk over her shoulder. So it was going to one of those nights. Kara absolutely loved when her father would allow Dick and her to go out on patrol on their own. Obviously, the Batman would be watching over the streets of Gotham tonight too, but he wouldn't babysit them thankfully. She exited the conference room and made her way down to the Wayne Enterprises lobby. She said her goodbyes to the front desk staff and made her way out of the lobby doors. Dick's car pulled up and she hopped in without hesitation. And then they were off, weaving in and out of Gotham City traffic until they reached the Big Belly Burger.
They had just finished ordering when an argument caught Kara's attention. The pair arguing were doing so in hushed whispers so no one else would really be able to hear them. "Alex, just go over and talk to them. Seriously, I've met them before with my dad and they weren't all that bad." Kara looked around for the source and discovered Barbara Gordon, also known as Batgirl, and a brunette only a few booths away, sending herself and her brother looks every few seconds. Kara took some sips of her drink every few seconds to appear busy while she listened in. "Babs, no! I'm not going to go over there and I quote, "Ask them to ask their dad to adopt me." Kara choked on her drink at hearing this, and unable to swallow, did a spit take in her brother's direction. He glared at her and wiped his face with as many napkins as he could, "Seriously?" She wiped off her mouth, "I am so sorry, Dick!" He looked like he was about to say something more before he got a mischievous glint in his eye, "Swallow, don't spit, Karson." He laughed as a blush took over her face quickly. Face burning, she looked away, her gaze falling on the pair that was now looking at them. She swatted his arm, "Pervert."
Her attention was again grabbed by Barbara and her companion as they made their way over to Kara and Dick's booth. Barbara stepped slightly in front of the brunette, "Do the two of you mind if we join you?" Kara and Dick slid closer to the wall to make room for the two newcomers, "Please, by all means." Barbara turned to the Wayne siblings, "Karson, Richard, this is Alex Kent." Seeing her friend about to object, she held up a finger to stop Alex, "Just don't call her by that last name. It's her adoptive one and she much prefers her biological last name, Danvers." Kara tensed hearing the name. "You wouldn't happen to have been adopted by Clark Kent, would you?" Alex scowled, "Unfortunately. You know him?" Kara turned to the redhead next to her, "Barbara, we need to go." The girl looked at her confused, "Oh. Okay, well… we'll see you around sometime then?" She and Alex got up to let the Wayne siblings out, but Kara grabbed Barbara's arm gently. "Let us treat the two of you to lunch back at Wayne Manor. As an apology for skipping lunch here." The red haired girl just nodded in confusion, but she knew that Kara would explain the problem when the got far enough away from curious ears. She grabbed Alex's hand and led her to the convertible that was Dick's car for the day.
The ride back was silent as Kara fired off a text to Bruce saying he was needed at the Manor urgently. She made sure to tell him they were fine, but something came up that required his attention. It only took about ten minutes for Bruce to show up after they arrived. During those ten minutes, Alex's confusion and curiosity had grown until she was ready to burst. Finally, she blurted out, "What the hell is going on here? Why all the secrecy?" Dick's face was in his hands as he sat on one of the couches, "I don't even know where to start. This is going to suck so much." Barbara looked at Bruce, "Bruce, this is Alex Danvers. At least, that's her biological last name. Her adopted one is Kent. As in her adopted dad is Clark Kent."
Bruce's face fell, "Oh shit." He looked over at Kara briefly, noticing her clenched hands, rigid posture and her facing the wall. This was going to be so tough for Kara. "Well, I think maybe I should start then. Alex, I know that Clark Kent is Superman. The reason I know that is because I'm Batman. Barbara over here is Batgirl, Dick is Nightwing, and Karson over there is Ajax." Kara put up a hand to stop him, "Dad, if we are going to tell the truth, I want her to know my secret." At his nod, she turned to Alex, "My real name is Kara. Not Karson. I'm Kara Zor-El of Krypton, and your dad is my cousin." Alex shook her head in an attempt to clear it. "I am so confused right now. What exactly are you saying?" Kara took a deep breath in an attempt to control her heartbeat, "I crash landed on this planet eight years ago. My cousin, Kal-El, rescued me from the escape pod I landed here in. He was going to leave me with a family called the Danvers, which means that we would have been adoptive sister maybe. But something didn't go according to plan and he brought me here to Bruce instead. He said that he couldn't raise me in his small apartment, that people would ask questions, that Lois would ask questions. He didn't want me because I was, am different. It's not a bad thing, I see that now, but Clark made me feel like I wasn't worthy of his love. I was born with a penis instead of a vagina, and Clark believes that makes me wrong, deformed. So he left me here with Bruce, and Bruce gave up his party lifestyle to take care of me, to take me in. He got married, and then adopted Dick later on. He showed me that I'm not wrong because of what set of genitals I have. However, the media would have a field day if they ever found out, because the media can and will be mean if given the I pose as a boy in public, hence the name Karson."
Alex was still confused, "But what does that have to do with me?" Barbara jumped in, "Babe, Clark took you in shortly after he dropped her off here. He lied to them about not being able to take care of someone. He used to be close friends with Bruce, but never told him that he took in another. He dropped Kara off here, and has barely ever asked after her. He doesn't care about her, doesn't care that she took on the name Wayne. Yet he took you in, when you didn't even want to move in with him. He made you take the name Kent, but won't even look at his biological family. The only family he has left. Alex, I know Clark doesn't talk about it, but their planet Krypton? It's gone, destroyed, and its never coming back. Everything and everyone they once knew was disintegrated. And he has no problems throwing away the last remaining member of his family. There's something wrong with that. Not only that, but he treats you like crap, so why would he adopt you if he doesn't want to take care of you? Hell, you spend most of your time in Gotham nowadays anyways, and he doesn't care where you are or what you're doing. It's just… the situation is weird, to say the least."
Alex's breath was heavy and her eyes were wide by the time Barbara was finished explaining. "What the everloving fuck?!" Barbara rubbed her lower back before she started to hyperventilate, "I know, baby. It's a lot to take in." Bruce gave the couple a minute to compose themselves before offering, "Alex, if Clark doesn't know or care where you are most of the time, you can stay here. I would adopt you as I have Kara and Dick, but unfortunately, it would cause too many problems right now. The last thing we need is Clark showing up demanding to know why we filed for custody of you." Alex grinned, "Well, I'm actually twenty-two so Clark can't say anything if I decide to move out anyways. I was kind of planning on it once I found a place in Gotham that was in a low-crime area and affordable area." Bruce nodded his head, "Then by all means, move on in. Even with Kara and Dick and the occasional visitor, there are too many empty rooms in this house." Alex nodded in agreement, "Well, alright then. I'll take you up on your offer. Thank you." Bruce looked around at the other people gathered there, before replying distractedly, "Yeah, no problem." Bruce was just now noticing, but where was Kara? How had she managed to slip away without his noticing? Especially since she was the main person being talked about? He saw that Dick had noticed this too now, so he just nodded when Dick motioned that he was going to go find his sister. Oh, there is going to be hell to pay, Clark. And none of us will stop her when she comes for you.