I had gallantly decided to give up my bed for 'Superboy'. The kryptonite poisoning must have really taken a toll on him because he managed to sleep through the ruckus Clark raised upon his return.

I was not expecting to see my cousin so soon, nor was I expecting him to be in such a state. Diana and Babs had just left for their hotel room, hoping to change into street clothes and get some take-out for the four of us; it was a pity really, because the moment I saw Clark land on the balcony, I knew he knew. He stormed into the apartment and found me immediately.

"Kara, what on earth were you thinking?" He started immediately, "I saw the damage that man caused, and how easily he was able to take on Wonder Woman. You could have been killed, especially in your state! How could you put yourself in that danger?"

"Good lord, would you let me speak?" I yelled, effectively shocking and silencing him. To my surprise, Batman swooped into the apartment behind Clark, and immediately pinned Cassie with a look. She stiffened, but kept up her proud bravado.

"Clark," I knew everyone else here knew, "I have quite a lot to tell you. For starters, you are half right; when I first started fighting him today, I was pummeled within an inch of my life; Cassie, as well as Diana and Babs," It was Bruce's turn to stiffen and look away, "Can vouch for that. Babs took me to S.T.A.R. Labs; Hamilton, evidently, had been working on a way to fix me, or just playing with Kryptonite, I'm not really sure, but in any case, he discovered the properties of Red Kryptonite."

Clark paled significantly and sat down on the couch, unable to stand; I accepted his silence and continued my story, "I'm not sure what exactly happened while I was out, but under Barbara's and the Doctor's supervision, I was exposed to Red Kryptonite, and it completely eliminated the prior kryptonite poisoning. I'm at full power now. I can't say for sure, but I could very well be able to hold my own against you now. It was only after that that we were able to take on the clone."

Bruce perked up, "What happened to him?"

My eyes flicked reflexively to my bedroom, and Bruce caught it immediately. "You didn't," he already knew the answer, probably, but his admonishment pulled Clark from his shock.

"It was the only safe place I could think of!" I defended, and jumped in front of Clark as he tried to get to my bedroom door.

"Get out of the way, Kara; this is bigger than you." I was thoroughly shocked by the cold, completely removed tone Clark had suddenly adopted.

"You're wrong," I retorted, pushing him away, "It is all about me, and you for that matter. I have one more story for you. Sit down." I pointed to the couch. When Clark gave me a look telling me clearly that he wasn't amused, I pointed again and added, "Go on, before I have to put you there myself. Same goes for you Bats." It was Bruce, however, who put a hand on Clark's shoulder, silently encouraging him to listen to me. Once they were seated, I began my speech.

"When I was knocked out, I had a dream, of sorts. It confirmed that I am Kara Zor-El, cousin to Kal-El," Clark's shock encouraged me to keep going. "It became clear to me that we are the last Kryptonians; the final voices of a planet lost to time. But the dream opened another thought to me: it told me to put forth my effort to healing and helping this 'clone,' because by the end of it, I would have not only another ally, but another member of a lost family."

"Kara, he's clearly a clone; that doesn't make him Kryptonian," Bruce tried to argue, although it seemed as though he wished he didn't have to make that argument.

"I thought that as well, at first," I agreed, then turned my gaze to Clark, "Until the fight was done. When I kneeled in front of him, to make sure that he was completely pacified, he looked at me, and then at this," I pointed to my shield, "And then he blew my mind, with one word. The same word I said when I saw your shield for the first time after my surgery."

Clark looked up at me; as my insinuation settled in, he looked completely and thoroughly amazed.

"Hope," he whispered.

"Yes," I said, "He knows what we stand for, in every sense of the word." I moved to kneel in front of Clark, and I took his hand, "It doesn't matter where or who he came from: the boy that is currently sleeping in my bedroom is Kryptonian, just like you and me."

"But, but he's a clone of me," Clark stammered.

"He doesn't have your soul," I smiled, "Just because he looks like you doesn't for one moment mean that he is. When you see his eyes, you'll know," I stood up and gently pulled Clark up as well. He was shaking; my news was too much for him. I led him, and by extension, Bruce, to my bedroom, and opened the door to reveal the sleeping teenager.

"He isn't a threat to us Clark, he is one of us."

Clark stumbled forward, bumping into my dresser as he did. 'Superboy' stirred, and his eyes blinked open to focus on Clark. The two held their mutual gaze for a long moment, before the clone stood up to stand before Clark. 'Superboy' was much shorter than my cousin, and now that they were next to each other, Clark looked more like an older brother than the original copy. Their noses were slightly different, and the clone's sky blue eyes weren't at all like Clark's steel gray. After a moment of sizing each other up, Clark extended a hand to the clone. It was clear that the clone was surprised by the gesture, but after a tense moment, he carefully took Clark's hand and met Clark's slight smile.

"My name is Kal-El, but you can call me Clark."

The clone frowned slightly, taking in the information, before he admitted, "The only name I know is K-One-Three. That is what they referred to me as."

"Who?" Bruce asked, clearly interested.

"The…" The boy trailed off, "I'm not sure; my memories are…confusing."

"Don't worry," Cassie came forward, "I know that feeling. But you're lucky enough to come into a family, like I did. We'll get you figured out, just wait,"

She put a hand on his shoulder; he looked at the hand, and then focused on Cassie.

"You're the one who shocked me,"

"Wha…?" Cassie wasn't expecting that, "Yea, that was my lasso; sorry, but you were attacking us."

"That's ok, it's the only thing you did that I felt." He delivered the line with a completely straight face—I don't know if he knew what humor was—and Cassie's shock quickly became hurt pride.

"What?! How—yea well we still beat you!"

"At which time I believe she," he nodded to me, "was the one who actually had me in a hold, while you were using your…um, 'lasso' I think you called it?"

Cassie was about to go off on him; probably in a speech about how he was lucky she wasn't a full grown Amazon, but I cut her off. "C'mon Cass," I said, gently prying her hand from his shoulder and guiding her away, "Superboy here has had quite a day. He deserves a good rest."

"Indeed," Bruce agreed suddenly, "I believe the two of you were to drive back tomorrow, correct?"

"Yea, Clark's supposed to drive us," I confirmed.

"Good," he turned to address the boy head on, "Get a good night's rest tonight; you'll drive back with them tomorrow, and you can stay in the cave for the time being. As Cassie suggested, we'll help you figure everything out."

Even though Bruce didn't break his no-nonsense tone once, his offer surprised me somewhat. I realized a moment later that it shouldn't have; Bruce was going to study the clone while he was in the Cave. I wanted to call him out, but, as much as I hated to admit it, Bruce probably had the right idea. I had experienced everything K13 was capable of, and someone had to make sure that it didn't happen again, unless he was on our side when it happened.

"Thank you," Superboy bowed his head slightly, "I am quite tired,"

"Rest well," Clark said, "Once we've got some things established, I know there are two people who would quite like to meet you."

With the prospects of such a bright future in front of him, it was no surprise that the smile on K13's face was one of the happiest I had ever seen.

The next morning came like a dream.

I woke up from my sleep-obtained position between a sprawled out Cassie and Barbara. Diana was still snoring softly on the couch, and I could hear both Clark and K13's gentle breathing from their respective rooms. I carefully lifted Cassie and Babs off me and floated quietly toward the kitchen. As I passed the guest bedroom, however, I heard the slightest shift, and a slight hitch in K13's heart rate and breathing pattern. Immediately curious, I turned my x-ray vision towards his door.

K13 was lying in bed, straight as a board, but his eyes were open and staring at the ceiling. I watched him stiffen, and his eyes flick toward me.

"I know you're watching," he whispered so breathlessly I actually had to strain a bit to hear him, "You could just come in."

I floated to his door and opened it quietly, then shut it quietly, to decrease our chances of being interrupted.

"I'm not completely used to peering in on people," I whispered, sheepish after being caught so easily, "I only recently received my abilities."

"But you're a krypton," K13 seemed confused.

"But I was raised as a human. I had severe kryptonite poisoning that prevented me from even recognizing my heritage until almost a year ago. And even then, I couldn't reach my full potential until after I fought you for the first time."

I watched his face fall in what appeared to be guilt, "Yes, I remember…" He trailed off, and looked at his hands, "I am sorry about that. I could not fight it when he introduced it to me. But once he had, well, I suppose that just means that he didn't know what would happen."

"Who?" I put a hand on K13's shoulder, "And what?"

"The man who created me, he is the only face I knew." K13 looked at me, "He was using me to test the effects of kryptonite; just before I broke free and came here, he introduced me to red kryptonite."

That was it: that was the red I saw in his eyes! His eyes were the color of red kryptonite.

"K," I spoke as calmly as I could, "Did you ever hear the man's name?"

"I don't think I ever…no," he paused suddenly, "Once, they said it once, when someone else came in to call him away. They called him Doctor."

"Did he have a last name?"

K13's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "What is a 'last name'?"

I bit back my sigh; of course he wouldn't know, there was still so much to teach him. "A last name is a family name, one shared by a members of a family. Traditionally, when women marry men, they take their husband's last name."

"What is your last name?"

"Kent," I smiled, "Although my Kryptonian last name is Zor-El."

"But Clark's kryptonian name is only Kal-El?"

I smiled, "We both belong to the House of El, or the family of El."

K13 nodded, clearly processing the information, then looked back at me, "Where do I belong?"

My heart skipped a beat. But as soon as I worried about my answer, I realized it was immediately before me.

"With us; you are as much a member of the house of El as I am."

"So I am K-One-Three-El?"

"Not if you don't want to be."

"But that is my name, is it not?" The poor boy was so confused. I took his hand in mine and gave it a slight squeeze.

"Look, you were given the name K-One-Three as a classifier; it doesn't truly define you. In the next few months, with Bruce's help, you'll be figuring out exactly who you are. Part of that process, hell, maybe even the start of that process will mean finding a name that fits you, and one that is hopefully slightly easier to say than K-One-Three."

Despite my hope at a humorous close, K13's eyes were still furrowed in deep thought.

"Do you have some paper and a writing utensil?"

"Um, sure," I pulled out one of the journals I kept in my room, just in case, "Here, it should be blank."

K13 took the journal and the pen, flipped open to the first page, and wrote out, in neat block letters "K-O-N-E-T-H-R-E-E." Once the final 'E' was complete, he stared at the paper. I waited, thoroughly confused, as five of the longest minutes of my life passed. As he stared, K13 began to slowly twist his head one way, and then the other, before, finally, he drew two lines down from the first 'E' and 'T' and wrote the letters 'E' and 'L' below.

"That is how you spell 'El', yes?"

"Um, yes," I said, surprised that he had found a connection.

K13 nodded, then drew lines down from the 'K', 'O', and 'N' and wrote the letters down directly, leaving the word KONEL.

"Konel?" I asked.

"No," he answered, confused at my misinterpretation; he looked back, then nodded to himself, and transcribed the letters again, only slightly differently: Kon-El.

A shiver ran down my spine, and I whispered the name.

"Does it work?" He asked, as if he was a puppy waiting for affection.

"It's perfect," I answered, "It's a perfect Kryptonian name."

His face lifted for a moment then it fell back into deep thought. "I will need an Earth name as well." It was a statement, no trace of question.

"How about Conner?" I suggested, "It sounds pretty close to Kon-El."

"Conner?" He repeated, as if tasting it, before he presented me with the book, "How do you spell it?"

I carefully wrote the name below "Kon-El," and handed the book back.

"Conner," he said again, still testing the name on his tongue, "Conner…" He trailed into silence, still quietly repeating the names before him. A moment later, he looked up at me, with a soft smile. "I like them. I want to be Conner."

I felt a smile spread across my face.

"Welcome to the family, Conner Kent."

A few hours later, after everyone had awoken to the new day, we divided our duties accordingly. True to yesterday's plans, Clark would be driving me, Cassie and Conner back to Gotham, where he would deposit Cassie and Conner at Wayne Manor, and me at my house. Diana and Babs would stay in Metropolis for the rest of the day, ensuring the safety of the citizens until Clark returned. Apparently they would be off to Hong Kong next.

I hated having to say goodbye to my best friend again. We stood in front of each other, mentally reliving the huge revelations of the past week, taking in all that had changed even though, really, nothing did.

"Still think this trip is good for me?" she asked, only half joking.

I sighed and crossed my arms, "Given what you were escaping, and what you've become, yes, I guess it is good for you. Just," I let my arms drop, and I felt myself actually showing a weakness, "Don't forget to come back one day, ok?"

She smiled tearfully and pulled me into a hug. "Don't worry, I'm one year down, two more to go. I'll be back for senior year, and you can fully educate me in the ways of high school."

I laughed in spite of myself, and punched her as lightly on the shoulder as I could, although I still saw her wince slightly.

"Have fun, Babs."

"You too, Kara," she smiled, "And keep an eye on Cassie. I don't think Conner fully understands the premise of 'teasing' yet, but I'm pretty sure he enjoys getting her worked up."

"I wouldn't worry too much, I'm sure he can handle himself."

"Well yea," she laughed, "But, I don't know, think about it," she looked over to where Conner was holding a very frustrated Cassie back by her forehead. "He doesn't know how to act in society. He may know how to speak fluently, but he doesn't actually know things, you know?"

As vague as the comment was, I understood her implication. I looked over to where Cassie was trying her damnedest to lift Conner up. I thought about the naming session I had with him this morning.

"Yea," I said, "I know what you mean. Clark and I have so much to teach him."

Babs turned back to smile at me. "So basically, you and Cassie are gonna be teaching him how to be a teenager."

"Oh lord," I laughed, "That poor boy."

Two and a half hours later, after the prolonged goodbyes, and the long road trip that served to introduce Conner to pop music and establish that he had another ground with which to tease Cassie, we finally arrived at Wayne Manor. Alfred, Bruce, and Dick came out to greet us, and I was amazed at how much of a difference lay between Bruce-Bruce and Bruce-Batman. Dick, I realized, only had the mask to disguise him.

"K-One-Three," Bruce, started, extending his hand.

"Conner," Conner reintroduced himself with a smile as he took Bruce's hand, "or Kon-El." Bruce nodded his approval, and turned to introduce the others, "This is Alfred Pennyworth, my butler, doctor, and overall caretaker,"

"Pleasure to meet you, Master Conner," Alfred bowed slightly.

"And this is my ward," He said, placing a hand on Dick's shoulder, "Richard Grayson."

"You can call me Dick," he smirked, "It'll be nice to have another teenager in the house for a change."

"And what do you call me?" Cassie grumbled, throwing her duffel over her shoulder.

"A headache," Dick mumbled under his breath, before he turned to me. Alfred, Clark and Bruce were showing Conner into the manor, leaving the two of us alone for a moment. "I heard you saw an old partner of mine," He said, leaving the implications open for me to follow.

"She isn't ready yet," I answered, cursing myself for not guessing he would do this, "If you were to try anything right now, I'm pretty sure it would break her."

"How am I supposed to tell her I'm sorry if everyone is telling me to just leave her alone? There are so many things I need to say to her!"

I shook my head; Barbara's mental health was more important to me than his need for redemption, but that didn't mean I didn't feel bad for him. "I'm sorry, bird-boy, but those things will have to wait until she's ready to hear them. Whether that's this year, next year, or even ten years from now—you have to understand a teenage girl. We're going through just as much inner turmoil as you are, and hearing hurtful words at this time can completely alter who we become."

"But I didn't mean what I said, she's got to know that,"

"That's the funny thing about words," I said, "They have a way of affecting us, whether they were supposed to or not, and vice versa."

"So no matter what I say from this point on, the only way that I can expect to fix it depends entirely on how Babs receives me when she gets back."

"Yep,"

Dick let out a frustrated growl and brought his hands up to his head, as if he had a headache. "I was such an idiot to let her go."

"See," I said brightly, "You're learning!" When all that did was earn me a probably well-deserved glare, I shrugged, "Then look at it this way, Boy Wonder; she's using this trip to establish herself. She's building her own identity, becoming something other than the female version of the bat."

He paused for a moment, taking in the new perspective.

"That is easier to accept," he conceded, "But only slightly."

"As long as it leads you to the conclusion that she needs this trip, that's what matters."

Apparently, they had already finished the tour of the mansion, as the tour group, minus Cassie had returned to the front door. Clark was shaking Bruce's hand, before he turned to Conner. I trained my ears in to hear, "Once you're settled here, I have some people I think would be happy to meet you. Also, as your 'brother' of sorts, I expect you to try your hardest in everything you do."

Conner smiled, clearly happy with the turn of events, "Thank you, Clark. I look forward to it." I floated over to Conner and gave him a hug.

"I'm only a phone call away, just remember that," I said, "If you need anything, I'll be here."

"Thank you, Kara," Conner's sincerity was a little heart-wrenching, in a way, "For giving me a chance."

"I only gave you what you deserve, Conner. You're a part of our family, now and forever. Now," I said, giving his hand a squeeze, "have fun, I'm sure you'll fit right in here."

"It appears you think I fit in anywhere here," he observed.

"You see, both this manor and Clark's apartment in Metropolis are places for people like us. It's where the misfits go to be superheroes."

Even Bruce smiled at that.

A few minutes later, Clark and I were on our way back to my house.

"So," I said, because this was the first time we had alone to talk since the events of yesterday, "all of the green kryptonite is gone now."

"I noticed," Clark agreed, but he didn't say any more.

"So…do you think you would reconsider me being Supergirl?"

Clark sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't know, Kara: it's dangerous out there."

"C'mon Clark! I survived an encounter with a Kryptonian on steroids! I'm at full power! At least give it a chance."

Clark was silent for a moment, before he sighed and relented, "Ok, ok, but only on weekends, and I don't want to hear that your schoolwork is hurt in anyway, or it stops immediately."

I could have literally flown through the roof. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and cheered, thanking him over and over again.

"One more thing," he said, "Are you really intending on only wearing that leotard? It seems somewhat skimpy."

Before I argued against his point, a thought occurred to me.

"I have a feeling that will be a back up," I finally answered, "But there are so many ways to wear a girl version of your costume, Cuz, I'll have a lot to try before I finally decide."

"As long as they cover an adequate amount of skin, I can work with that. I don't need you flying around Metropolis or Gotham half-naked."

I laughed and punched his shoulder.

Suddenly, life seemed so much brighter.