I could not believe it. I listened to my voicemail again.

"Hey Kara!" the upbeat voice I only ever heard on the phone now caught my hopes, "I'm gonna be in Metropolis next week! I know it's summer vacation, and your cuz lives there, so I was thinking maybe we could meet up! Bring Cassie too, but don't be too loud about it: she is staying with the Wayne's, after all. See you next week!"

Babs was going to be in Metropolis the same week I had Clark's apartment to myself. Could it be more perfect?

I dialed Cassie immediately.

"Hey Kara, what's up?" Cassie and I hadn't talked as much given recent events.

"Wanna come with me to Metropolis for a week? I'll be house-sitting for my cousin and I could use the company,"

She was silent for a moment, "What is this really about?"

"I have information regarding two fronts, neither of which I want to say knowing that you are currently in Wayne Manor."

That caught her curiosity like dangling a string in front of a cat.

"What time are you picking me up?"

I smiled; this week would be full of girl's nights, I just knew it.

"Seriously?" Cassie took in the apartment, "This is where your cousin lives?"

"Yep, ever since Clark moved to Metropolis, this is where he lived." I set my bag down in my room, and pulled down the sleeping bags Clark kept just in case.

"And we get to stay here for an entire week with no adults?"

"About that," I grinned, "There will be one adult."

"Who?" she asked, completely confused. Before I could answer, the doorbell rang. I smiled at Cassie's further confusion as I answered the door. Immediately, a blur of red hair tackled me in a hug.

"Oh Kara, I missed you so much!" Babs was somewhere between laughing and crying, "I can't believe that it's been a year already!"

It was almost exactly a year, actually. I hugged my best friend back, incredibly happy to see her again. A tall, strong woman walked in behind her, with long black hair and striking features.

"Diana, I presume?" I asked, holding my hand out. I had never actually met the teacher; the only information I had was what little stories Babs and Cass had provided.

"Wonderful to meet you, Kara," Diana smiled, completely and utterly genuine, "It's so lovely to finally meet you. I've heard stories from both Barbara and Cassie about your adventures. It sounds like you live to take care of your friends."

"I was adopted," I grinned, "Anybody and everybody could be family to me."

Diana seemed beyond satisfied with that answer.

"So, we have an entire week!" Babs said, clearly excited, "You're the Metropolis natural here, so, where do we start?"

I never felt so happy in my life.

"That was delicious!" Cassie sighed, leaning back with her soda. She had just finished her pizza, and Babs was leaning on the table, chewing thoughtfully on her straw.

"I've been coming here since I was eight," I laughed, "The quality has only ever gone up."

"That's for sure," Diana said, putting down her napkin and leaning back as well; I couldn't believe how casual she could be. The woman looked like a queen, yet here she was, in jeans and a t-shirt, relaxing after finishing a pizza in an out of the way pizza joint. She was amazing.

This was our third day in Metropolis, and I couldn't remember being happier. True to my prediction, we spent almost every minute together, except for Diana's one insistence at always having early nights. Even though I was bummed at first, Cassie gave me reason to be happy.

"C'mon!" She said after her aunt left the first night, "Let's suit up!"

I had told her about the information Robin had left with me, and she took that as a clear sign that I needed to keep working out.

"Look," she said, even now, sensing my hesitation, "Clearly, you're an alien, and clearly, you have some awesome superpowers. You need to use them! Hell, maybe you'll even get to see Superman again."

"But I didn't bring my costume for that reason." It was a poor attempt to shoot down her idea.

"So what?" It's nighttime, and it's not like anyone will recognize you here."

In the end, I had relented, and every night after Babs and Diana left, we went out, even if that only meant flying around for a few hours. It was exhilarating to be flying again.

I should have realized that it wouldn't stay that way.

As Diana set her soda back down, the table, no, the whole restaurant began shaking. We looked at each other, confused, until a huge smash sounded outside. We looked up to see a huge, robotic foot pause neatly in the street before shifting and continuing on. I missed the look Cassie shared with Diana and Barbara, but I felt Cassie take my hand.

"It's time for round two, Kara," she whispered.

"No, no, I am not," Barbara and Diana had already run off to God only knew where, I assumed to find a good place to hide; I wanted nothing more than to join them. Cassie frowned.

"Kara, you have to keep trying!"

"No, Cassie, I don't; you go, if you feel like you need to, but, I…I'm staying here." The look of disappointment on her face almost made me change my mind. She dropped my hand and ran toward the robot, pulling off her jacket to reveal a red tank with a Wonder Woman logo on it. I could see her cuffs shining on her wrists, and her lasso wrapped around her waist. I ran out far enough into the street to see Cassie fly up to the face of the robot and deliver a punch that dented the metal.

It took me a moment to see the other two figures hovering around the robot, delivering attacks with the same style as Cassie. In spite of myself, I found my eyes automatically adjusting to see who the figures were. One had thick black hair held back by a tiara, and wielded a lasso similar to Cassie's—I recognized Wonder Woman immediately. But the girl next to her was slightly different. She had a thick mane of fiery red hair, and her eyes were covered with a mask similar to Robin's. She turned, and I saw a bright blue bird shield blazoned across the chest of her black body suit. But her face seemed far more familiar than that.

The same way Robin seemed familiar.

And it hit me—right then, after all that time, it finally connected. I was watching Diana, Cassie and Barbara fight. Barbara, the police commissioner's daughter was a vigilante, just like Batman and Robin, who I could now see was Bruce and Dick. All this time, my best friends were fighting crime, with less than what I had, and succeeding.

I ran over to a street vendor, and grabbed the same t-shirt I normally wore, with the Superman Shield. "How much?" I yelled over the screams around us.

"Just take it!" He yelled, running away as the foot landed next to us. I whipped off my plain t-shirt and pulled on the new one over my undershirt, then took off.

"Kara?" Barbara yelled, "What are you doing?"

We ducked to avoid a huge arm, and I felt myself smile.

"Exactly what I should have been doing,"

It was easy to take down the robot, with all of us working together. Once the Toyman was neatly tied up, the four of us collected our things from the restaurant, left the fare on the table and soared back off to Clark's apartment. It was only then, when we landed, that I was finally able to look at Barbara.

"I can't believe it," I said, shaking my head. She started to say something, probably along the lines of 'I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you, honest,' but I cut her off. "It took me this long to connect that you were a superhero. It's only been staring at me for months."

Barbara smiled, and Cassie laughed, "Seriously! I thought for sure you would have figured it out the first time we saw the Bat and Boy Blunder."

I smiled, but I noticed that Babs's smiled became somewhat fixed, before she ducked away to the bathroom to change. "So," I noted to Cassie, who was lounging on the couch next to her Aunt, "The night Dick hurt her feelings,"

"They were in costume," Diana filled in, eyes still closed, "And they as good as told me who she was under the mask. She had just managed to save them from a very painful death, and they ignored it."

I thought of when Dick had visited me as Robin, and the piece of a story he had alluded to. He felt real remorse, but when I reached out with my hearing to check on Babs, I could have sworn I could hear quiet crying.

"Also," Diana said, fixing me with a look, "Don't mention the word 'Robin'. She's still getting over it."

I nodded, "I only ever mention him when she asks; this doesn't change anything." Diana dipped her chin in acknowledgement, then looked me over.

"So, Superman really does have a cousin," a bit of a smile touched her lips, "I hear you're having some trouble with it though."

I sighed and sat down, kicking up my feet and rolling my head back in preparation. "Do you want the long version, or the short?"