If what Kara was offering was friendship, well, if he was honest, Oliver was never too good at that. Before the Gambit his circle was small, and he tended to sabotage it a lot. Tommy was the friend that really stuck by him. Tommy...and Laurel. He knew he should follow his own advice, avoid Laurel, and let her get on with her life, safe, but...she had been one of the few things to get him through the island, and that was easier said than done.
Maybe they could be friends? Just friends. She'd never trust him again, and he didn't blame her. He didn't deserve someone as good as her, especially not after his screw-up with Sara.
...After getting Sara killed.
Ice cream was friendly, right?
"No cape!" Booster Gold said, flatly, as Supergirl walked into the training room; no red sunlight this time...with his old cape on her shoulders. "You can't handle the cape. You have to earn the cape."
"He's saying that because he nearly got strangled by it when an enemy got ahold of it." Blue Beetle snarked, from his seat outside the training circle. "But he has a point, no cape."
"All right." Kara agreed, sulking a little as she removed it. "So what are we doing today?"
"Training." Booster replied. "With powers. You're doing better without them, but using them in combat is a lot different than heating up your white chocolate mochas."
Supergirl somehow manage to resist the urge to point out that she often heat visioned his coffee too, and took up a defensive stance.
"Oh, and when you've gone rounds with Booster, then you're facing the Beetle." Blue Beetle commented from his seat, popcorn in hand.
Supergirl whirled to face him. "But you don't have shields like Da…." Kara hit the floor as an energy ball hit her in the back.
"Lesson One: Don't turn your back on an enemy." Booster Gold said, smirking.
"Lesson Two: Don't get distracted by someone who isn't your enemy yet, but keep aware of them." Blue Beetle added.
"Lesson Three: Never underestimate a human opponent just because you're Kryptonian." Booster finished. "Now get up and try again."
Oliver realized he had three options.
He could do what Laurel suggested, and say no to his mother. What's more, he could present the idea to the entirety of the city that he was unchanged by the island and put all his energy into his secret, or could do what his mother wanted, and take a place of 'leadership,' within Queen Consolidated. That would mean long board meetings, stock portfolios, and company dinners that would eat into any free time he had and curtail his mission - but he could improve the company and make it a force for good.
Those were the two options he had originally seen. However, Kara, his new supposed assistant had offered a third possibility. A compromise, of sorts. He could take a smaller role at the company, work with the people instead of the board, which would require less hours, leaving him time to do his real work. And hey, if he had an assistant, he could delegate, couldn't he?
Taking a deep breath, he left his room and walked toward the library, where his mother and Walter often were after dinner. He had something to suggest to them, after all.
Kara had actually dressed up for the dedication, a bit. She wasn't attending as an employee, but as a member of Star City's elite, and also, slightly as a scientist. That, however, didn't mean that positioned between her dads, she wasn't smiling proudly at Oliver Queen where he was sitting on the stage, and when he stood to speak, she took a deep breath in solidarity.
"I want to welcome all of you for coming today." He said, looking over the crowd. "And to thank you, because we're here to break ground on the new Robert Queen Memorial Applied Sciences Center. I wish he could be here with us, but unfortunately, I'll have to do. I've never been much of a legacy myself. I'm not half the man my father was, but I hope that the scientists of Star City can make advances to make our city and our world a better one here."
He reached down and took a real shovelful of dirt, and tossed it to the side as people applauded, Kara felt as though her smile would break her face, especially, as everyone was leaving the site, Oliver walked by with a smile, and remarked: "See you Monday, Kara."
Working at Queen Consolidated was...different. Oliver had very little in the past five years to help him deal with the business. He started by setting up his medium-sized office, which was placed quite a distance from the HR department. He smirked at the thought. It was almost as if his mother didn't trust him.
His office was as inherently normal as he could make it. He even had a plant. Granted, Kara had gifted him the plant on his first day, with a smile, and a comment that he needed something to brighten up the generic office. She was a miracle worker with the staff; she knew everyone, and served as a sort of early warning system. He could judge by how someone acted when Kara greeted them, whether he would be polite and charming, or an entitled asshole. Generally, the board members got the latter, while the general populace received the former.
Kara knew everything going on, names and birthdays, who had babies due, whose son had just gotten into college, and she whispered it all in his ear, making him look like he cared. Which he did! He did care, he was just...focused on other things, and while he hadn't really wanted an assistant, Kara was good. His coffee was always hot, his lunch breaks were always long, and she never asked questions.
In fact, she was a little too good. It made him suspicious. His searches, however, turned up nothing. Kara Michelle Carter-Kord, adopted by Michael Carter and Ted Kord at age thirteen, after her family was killed. Some sources conflicted on whether or not Michelle Carter was her biological mother, but he couldn't find any other names and the records of the adoption were sealed. Graduated early from high school, Bachelor's from Stanhope, Masters from Vandermeer in Hub City. Some image crawls found photos from a few parties, usually with one of her fathers, one or two of a young Kara hanging off the neck of man in a long brown coat. None of it seemed suspicious, but that didn't allay Oliver's concerns. His mission was too important not to be sure.
Even if she somehow managed to bring him perfect pastries.
Kara was winding up the day, texting her dads to tell them to have a good trip as they headed off to Gotham. She was planning on heading over to their house to train in the sun room, as she packed up for the night.
"Kara!" Oliver said, as he left his office, arm slung around his best friend, Tommy Merlyn. "Come out with us to the bar tonight. I haven't had a chance to thank you for all your hard work."
"That's...uh...really not necessary, Mr. Queen." Kara murmured, standing awkwardly. "I wouldn't want to impose."
"Oliver, Kara. Mr. Queen was my father, and it reminds people my name's on the building." Oliver reminded her.
"Sorry." Kara apologised. She usually didn't make mistakes like that, but something about Oliver made her nervous.
"More to the point, a pretty girl is never an imposition." Tommy said smoothly. "Unless you have a date?"
Kara snorted at that, despite herself. "Not unless you count takeout and borrowing my dads' private gym, since they're on their way to Gotham."
"Then you have no excuse. Come on, Kord, you work too hard." Tommy teased.
"Oh, all right, fine." Kara replied with a laugh. "Why not?"
The choice of a bar instead of a club was Oliver's suggestion to Tommy to keep Kara more comfortable, or so he whispered, but the fact was, he felt he could observe her better in a bar, sitting between he and Tommy, than he could in a club where ultimately more people would be trying to claim his attention.
So far, it was working, as she had relaxed, chatting with Tommy about his day, while he sat back and refilled her long island iced teas. "Do you like working for QC, Kara?"
Kara turned her head and gave him a smile, though her eyes were as sharp as ever. "It's interesting."
"Hey, no talking about work!" Tommy complained. "We're here to have fun!"
Kara turned to Tommy and giggled. "Sure, Tommy, I didn't mean to leave you out."
Oliver was about to ask her another question, when the television over the bar broke into the conversation: "Breaking News: Flight 225 to Gotham City is experiencing loss of altitude. The pilot seems to be circling the city after apparent engine failure."
Kara dropped her glass as her eyes flicked to the screen, and then to the two men. "Did she say…" She was digging for her phone in an instant, checking for messages. "I have to go...I'm sorry."
Before Oliver could even stand, she was out of her seat and running out the door.
"Holy shit." Tommy said, eyes wide.
Oliver swallowed hard, Maybe he was a jinx after all.
Kara ducked down the dingy alley beside the bar, already dialing on her phone. Unsurprisingly, she got no reply from either of her dads, but as she peeked off her light blue oxford, she reached new levels of frustration with the third call she tried, still running. "Rip, where are you? Do you not know what's happening? Get your ass over here! Dad's in trouble!"
Not knowing if her half-brother would get the message, she took a deep breath, and stripped down to her Supergirl uniform, ripped her hair out of the ponytail, and took off.
This was not how she wanted to start. This was not the first rescue she wanted to do. What was wrong with a kitten in a tree? She pressed herself further and faster than she ever had in flight before, digging her nails into her palms. The stakes were too high. She couldn't fail.
One of the engines disconnected as the other caught aflame, and Kara barely managed to put her hands up as steel and flames moved past her face. Putting on an extra burst of speed, she grasped hold of the wing, attempting to level the plane off, but it wasn't enough, so she moved to the fuselage, pressing her body against it for as much leverage as possible, finally getting the plane to level.
Then, grinning with adrenaline, she looked ahead, only to see Star Bridge up ahead. "Oh for…" She moved further back toward the center of mass, and pushed with all her might, feeling and hearing the steel buckle as she attempted to turn the plane enough that it wouldn't impact the plane. She let out a roar of strain, and then she and the plane hit the water.
Ted Kord was glued to the scene outside his window, watching for some sign, any sign. He knew what it felt like to hit water from that high up, and with the extra mass of the plane, he wasn't going to breathe until…
"Teddy!" Michael hissed beside him as a pale hand came out onto the wing, followed by the appearance of Kara's head, hair darkened with soot. She was panting, but fine, and the fear clenched in his chest let go in a rush of relief.
"She's barefoot!" Michael said in an undertone, chuckling, as he, like everyone else, snapped pictures.
"Must not have had time for the boots." Ted whispered back. "What are you doing?"
"Baby's first rescue. You bet your beetle I'm getting pictures." Michael hissed back."These'll be worth a fortune someday."
Kara gave them a smile, slightly quartered away, offering an almost perfect view of the crest on her chest, and as the spotlights came down, she bent her knees and then flew off.