Hey guys! Sorry this chapter is a little short, but I wanted to make sure I updated within a week like I promised. There's more to come. Enjoy!

Kara's POV:

A cry tares through my throat. I fall to my knees as my hands clamp over my eyes. Though I can't see, I know the coffee table is no longer there. My eyes burn. It feels as though hot iron is piercing through my sockets and into my frontal lobe. Conner is right beside me, kneeling down on the floor, with his hand on my shoulder. He's saying something, most likely shouting my name, but I can't focus on his voice right now. Tears seep out from behind my hands. I don't understand, the pain has never been this terrible. "I changed my mind. Call Clark. Call Clark now!" I beg. I want to tear out my corneas. "Why does it hurt so badly?" I shout. Poor Conner doesn't respond. He just pulls me against his chest and wraps his arms around me. Screaming doesn't help, but it's the only thing I can bring myself to do.

A few moments later Conner's arms loosen around me and Clark turns my shoulders so I'm leaning back against Conner's chest. By now my cries have trailed to struggling whimpers. Clark gently takes my wrists and pulls my hands away from my eyes. "Kara, you're okay. I just need you to open your eyes for me." He says softly.

The heat is gone but the burning hasn't left yet. It's difficult, but I manage his request and gingerly open my eyes. Clark smiles slightly and tilts my chin up so he can see more clearly. He looks at my eyes intently as they continue to water profusely. I sniffle as he wipes away the tears. "You should be fine now." He looks at me reassuringly. "Just try not to use your heat vision right now."

I snort. "You don't have to tell me twice."

He smirks and pats my knee. "Batman will be her shortly with a physician."

My brow draws downward. "Who?"

He pauses and looks up to Conner. I feel his shoulders shrug as he answers Clark silently. "I'm not entirely sure if we can tell you." The man rubs the back of his neck, debating. "It might compromise his secret identity."

I nod in understanding and rest my head back against Conner's collar bone. His deep chuckle rumbles against my back as he rests his chin atop the crown of my head. Clark eyes us uneasily. As though he disapproves of the physical contact. I'm about to question him when he turns his head slightly and Conner perks up. There's a sound of a jet landing on the east side of the fortress. "Is that the batjet in landing bay four?"

"Three actually." Conner responds. I groan in annoyance as his arms give my middle a quick squeeze. "You'll get it eventually." He shifts and pushes me from behind. "Now get up." I stand and giggle slightly, shoving him in the same manor. I increase my force because I know he can take it and send him into the wall. He looks up at me in shock as I begin to laugh, revealing to him that the act was entirely intentional. He wears an evil smirk and hunches over making it look as though he's going to charge. "Well if that's how you want it." I give a quick laugh and sprint down the hallway. He trails behind and shouts. "You can't out run me."

I smirk and glance back at him. "You sure? Clark has some super speed. And we know that I'm stronger than him." I pause with a glint in my eyes. "Maybe I'm faster too." Concentrating like I would in order to control my strength I focus on the muscles in my legs, the swiftness of their movement. I take in a slow, steady breath and then put all my energy into my run. I feel a slightly pained fatigue in my legs and then I lose sight of Conner and pass right by Batman and an older woman in a lab coat. "Hi Batman!" I holler quickly. I become so engrossed in not running into the pair that I don't notice my rapid arrival to the hanger wall. I collide with the reinforced steel and crumble to the ground.

Clark speeds in, quickly followed by Conner. "Kara are you alright?" He shouts from across the hanger.

I lay there on the flat of my back, completely stunned. Pushing myself up on my forearms I glance up at the crater now formed into the wall. The corners of my mouth turn up as my eyes begin to squint. My shoulders shake as my body is wracked by chuckles. When I finally sit up and turn around to see the horrified faces of the four people behind me, I burst out laughing. Clark and Batman stop in their tracks, looking at me in question, while Conner just crosses his arms and shakes his head at me. I look up at all of them from my position on the floor. "Did you see how fast I was going? That was so cool!" I point back to the crumpled steel wall. "And that hardly even hurt!" The astonished smile on my face can't possibly get any bigger. "Ow." I wine, still laughing, and rub my forehead.

The older woman was the first one by my side. "I'm Dr. Leslie Thompkins. Look at me dear." She commanded in a sweet tone. After shining her small pen light in my eyes while her pointer finger directs my corneas she concludes that I'm fine. "Well, you don't have a concussion."

"Sweet." I respond in a peppy tone.

She chuckles. Giving me another look over, she glares slightly. "Your eyes are rather red though, as if they've been irritated."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, that would be the heat vision." I turn to Clark. "Speaking of which, you no longer have a coffee table in the den."

He groans. "Another one?"

"Yeah but this one was different." They all look to Conner as he continues to explain. "She didn't burn a piece of it. It was like the entire table just combusted, and then it was gone."

Dr. Leslie takes a hesitant step back. Sighing, I hunch over and look into my hands. "Should I put the inhibitor collar back on?"

Clark shift awkwardly. "It would be safer for Batman and Leslie."

I nod as Batman steps forward. Raising my head I stretch my neck for him to place the cool metal around my skin. I sigh as I hear the devise hum to life. "Thank you."

He places a reassuring hand on my shoulder. By now I know that it's the bat's way of encouraging me. "After you see Dr. Leslie I need to speak with you."

Nodding, I stand, mutter a quick "yes sir," and follow Dr. Leslie down the hallway to the med bay. "Should you have told me your name?" The older woman looks at me in question. I shrug and hop up on the examination table. "Superman said that knowing your name might compromise Batman's secret identity."

She just smiles in response and listens to my heartbeat intently. "Well I'm sure Clark is just being paranoid." She pauses and looks up to me. "I suppose I forgot who I was talking about." She chuckles to herself. "Don't worry dear. Batman probably threatened the poor boy, but I don't scare as easily." She winks at me. "I own a free clinic in Gotham. It takes a lot more than a batglare to get this old girl spooked."

A smile spreads my lips. I like this lady. She's got spunk.

After announcing that I was in good health, as most Kryptonians are, Clark, Conner, and Batman come into the room. The Dark Knight steps forward and removes the collar. There's a target on the far wall. "Use your heat vision to destroy the target." He orders in a rough voice.

I look at him hesitantly. "Are you sure? After what I did to the table, I'm not sure how this'll work out." He nods stiffly, giving me the go ahead. I take in a deep breath and let it out through my nose. "It's going to be painful." I whisper quietly. Batman doesn't answer. Instead he backs away as Clark comes to rest a supporting hand on my shoulder. Conner comes to the other side of the cot I'm currently sitting on. Staring straight ahead I concentrate on the target before me. At first I feel nothing, but then a slight burn begins to arise from behind my eyes. And suddenly a massive pain erupts. I scream and attempt to close my eyes, but not before the target is obliterated. My fingers rub profusely to make the pain turn to a dull throb. Tears begin to break free. Most of which dry from the heat still lingering on my face.

Dr. Leslie steps forward. "Kara dear, I need you to remove your hands and open your eyes for me." I can hear where everyone is standing in the room. My own form of sonar picks up everyone's movements. Batman is to the side of the target, inspecting my handiwork. Clark and Conner are on either side of me. The latter of which has his arms wrapped tightly around me. And Dr. Leslie stands Next to Clark. Leaning against Conner for support I let my hands drop and open my eyes. No beam leaves them, ensuring the safety of everyone in the room. Dr. Leslie steps forward then and inspects the two orbs burning in my skull. Shining her light in them once more, I complete several visual tasks for her. She sighs once and steps back. We're joined by Batman before she continues. "Well, based on my limited knowledge of Kryptonians and what little we know about you compared to Clark, I would say that since you are stronger and more powerful than your cousin, your powers are developing more rapidly. I believe they're occurring faster than your body can handle, hence your sluggish recovery after you use your heat vision." She turns to Clark. "Do you ever feel pain afterward?"

He shakes his head. "There's little discomfort now, but when I was younger and first getting my powers it was more painful." He looked at me, tears still dripping from my chin. "But it was never this bad."

She nods and mumbles something under her breath. "Well, from what I can tell your eyes are beginning to look less irritated as time goes on. So your body is beginning to heal itself." She glances over at Batman. "I believe this is going to be normal for her for a little while yet. Try to keep the inhibitor collar off as much as possible." She looks back to me with a soft smile. "And try to work on control. Keep from using your heat vision for the next week or so, and then try again. See if your body's healing capability has caught up with the rest of your powers and take it from there."

"But when she ran into the wall, she was totally fine." Conner states, still not leaving my side. I lean further into him, thankful for his support.

Dr. Leslie shrugs. "The eyes are very sensitive. Perhaps that's why it's taking them longer to adjust to her new abilities." She makes eye contact with me once more. "I'm sorry dear, but that's all I can tell you."

I nod, wiping away the last escaping tears. "Thank you Dr. Leslie. I'm sorry you had to come all the way here for nothing."

She smiles reassuringly and pats my knee. "It's no problem at all dear."

With Conner's help I scoot off the bed and look to Batman. "You said you wanted to talk to me." He nods quickly and leaves the room, expecting me to follow.

Conner's POV:

"Conner, I need to talk with you as well." Clark speaks up. We both leave Dr. Leslie behind and walk into the next room.

I sit down on the couch as he sits across from me. "What's up?" I ask.

He sighs. Great, this can't be good. I think to myself. A loss for words ensures that this will be a difficult conversation. Hopefully this one's not about M'gann.

"It's about Kara."

I sit up straight. "What about her? Is she alright? Dr. Leslie just said…"

He interrupts me. "She fine Con-el. Don't worry." I relax slightly, but am on edge once more as Clark rubs the back of his neck nervously. "Bruce found some interesting information about Cadmus' intentions."

My brow scrunches. "Did they want to use her as a weapon against us?" I ask quickly. "Because that's not her fault. We both know that I was in the same situation. She couldn't control how they raised her."

He leans forward and rests his arms on his knees. Suddenly his hand are much more interesting than anything else in the room. "No Conner it's not that." He pauses and looks up at me. "I mean yes, they were planning on using her against us, but not in that way."

"Then what do you mean?"

"Cadmus thought that because she was a woman, she'd be too weak to do me any real harm."

I scoff. "That's stupid. She's stronger than both of us combined."

He nods. "We know that now. But at first they weren't sure how powerful she would become."

He's not making sense. "Then what's the problem."

He sighs. "When making you, Cadmus made sure to tamper with you DNA specifically so it would be diverse enough when compared to Kara's."

A frown springs to my features. "What do you mean?"

Kara's POV:

"You're meant for each other." Batman stated flatly.

My brow scrunches. "Excuse me?"

He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Cadmus found you twenty years ago. Fourteen years after Clark was taken in by the Kents." I nod in understanding and allow him to continue. "It wasn't until six years later, when the first sightings of Superman appeared, that Cadmus actually saw any use in you." My brow draws downward. Use in me? I have so many questions, but I keep my mouth shut in order to hear the full story. "After Superman was created, Cadmus saw him as a threat."

"That's a natural instinct." I comment.

"Agreed. But with you only being six years old at the time, Cadmus didn't know how you would develop, if you would have powers or not. They weren't even entirely sure Superman was Kryptonian like you." He pauses and gives a sigh. "That's when they started looking at possibilities of procreation." My eyes grow wide as I stare at him straight. He continues with some hesitation. "They knew that you were the answer to developing a protector. But they were unsure if you would be able to defeat Superman if the need ever arose."

"Why, because I'm a woman?" I ask sarcastically.

"Precisely."

I cross my arms and lean back in my chair. "Jerks." I mutter under my breath. "I'd like to see them tell Wonder Woman that she can't defeat Superman."

Batman smirks slightly. "She can hold her own against Clark. One of the only people I know who can, actually." He sighs once more and begins to continue. "So Cadmus believed that you were still part of the equation. In order to protect the world from a rogue Superman they needed you."

"Lovely." I mutter.

"Cadmus knew that they couldn't involve Superman directly, so they attempted to clone him."

I perk up at that statement. "Conner."

He nods. "The first few attempts failed. It was only when Cadmus cloned half of Superman's DNA with that of human DNA did a proper subject arise."

A silence falls over us. Uneasiness settles in my stomach so I decide to break it. "So what does that have to do with me and Conner?" The answer is obvious, but I don't want to hear it.

"It's as I said before." He looks up and stares at me. "Cadmus intended to make Conner for you."

I shake my head. This is so stupid. Anger rises within me. How could some government society just decide what my life is all about? They kept me from going to school. They stuck me in the middle of nowhere Kansas! That's when I realize it. "Wait, they had me live right next to the Kent farm. How did they know?"

His face darkens. "Cadmus is run by a woman named Amanda Walker. She knows the secret identities of the entire League."

My eyes widen. "So she can blow the whistle on you guys anytime she wants." He gives another stiff nod. Rubbing my temples I begin to process this information. Frustration begins to build as I realize that the only thing I was meant to be was a mother. I don't even like kids! So many thoughts and feelings spring to the surface of my mind. One stands out amongst the rest. "Wait, why didn't they just use Conner to defeat a rogue Superman."

"That was the plan if any immediate threat occurs, but given time Cadmus had a longer plan set in motion."

"I don't know about you, but I would think that with Clark being my cousin, Conner's and my DNA would be too close to actually go through with these plans."

He shook his head. "Cadmus tampered with Conner's DNA at the early stages of development to ensure that that wouldn't happen." He waits until I make eye contact with him to relay his last statement. "According to Cadmus, you are Conner were meant for each other."