I lay there, staring up at the ceiling as I struggled to turn and look at the object that was embedded in my side. It looked like a dagger of some kind and no doubt had the kryptonite stones lodged within it that were mistaken for emeralds. My vision started to get a bit fuzzy and my hearing went in and out with waves of volume. I suddenly heard a familiar voice getting closer and closer as I turned my eyes to peer up at the dark figure now looming over me.
"Supergirl!" Bruce yelled as he knelt down by me on the floor. I struggled to even speak. We Kryptonians have these amazing powers but shove a green rock at us and we become instant mashed potatoes.
"K..ry…p..to..n-," I began to say and didn't have enough energy to even finish my statement before I felt the dagger suddenly being dislodged from my side as I let out a gasp of pain.
"Stay with me," Bruce said as he snapped his fingers in front of my face.
"I'll be right back," he said as he placed a hand momentarily on my shoulder. I turned on my undamaged side to watch Bruce go to work on the two goons. The one that had stabbed me was cowering in a corner of the hallway; the serum having obviously worn off, otherwise he would've been trying to disappear I'd imagined. Bruce lurched forward, grabbing the man by his shirt collar.
He peered over the railing to the floor below before grabbing the device from his utility belt that launched a grappling hook. He attached a D-ring to the man's belt before shooting the grappling hook toward a gargoyle statue near the entrance on the first floor. The man was suddenly propelled over the railing with a shriek to the floor below, temporarily suspended above the floor. I saw the other man run past me towards Bruce's back, his pistol at the ready. My eyes widened as I tried to sit up.
"Batman!" I cried out in warning, which made Bruce spin around in time to barrel roll to the right, dodging the bullet the man shot at him. The man continued to shoot every bullet that remained at Bruce who deflected or dodged every single one of them. His form edged closer to the man before the gun's bullets ran dry and the trigger made a light clicking sound. The man looked at the empty gun in horror before launching it at Bruce. Bruce dodged the gun and responded in kind with a fisted swing at the man's right temple. The man blocked the first shot, much to my surprise, and a fistfight ensued, well, a short one that is. At some point amidst the struggle, Bruce had wound a cord around the man's torso and shot another grappling hook towards the entrance on the first floor. The man launched into the air to join the other man, both now hanging in the air from the statue. Bruce's attention returned to me. As he walked over, he pressed his fingers to the side of his cowl speaking aloud.
"Gordon, I have two assailants strung up at the entrance to the charity ball," was all he said before I felt strong-arms sliding under my body to pick me up off the floor. I wrapped my arms around his neck with a grimace. He pressed a button on his utility belt before he walked me over to a nearby window. Within moments, a black plane hovered just outside the window. I had assumed said plane was the Batplane or was it Batwing? In either case, Bruce released the hatch and delicately placed me inside before hopping in himself. He sighed before he pressed the side of his cowl again, speaking,
"Clark, meet me at S.T.A.R. Labs. Kara is injured," he said before quickly releasing the button in his cowl as to not give Clark enough time to question anything. We flew off into the night and arrived at S.T.A.R. Labs in what seemed mere moments. I was dipping in and out of consciousness as I felt arms lifting me out of the plane. I heard Kal's voice and the sound of feet pounding upon pavement.
"What the hell happened?!" Kal yelled. He was in his hero garb and I saw his hand slam into Bruce's chest as he pulled me into his own arms. Bruce held either of his hands up, squaring off his jaw to the shove Kal inflicted upon him. Kal proceeded to rush me into the lab where a man in a long, white coat was waiting and prepared. Bruce followed us in, making sure to stay back and out of the way. Kal gently placed me into a device that was eradiating concentrated rays of yellow sunlight. Suddenly, Kal turned around and shoved a hand at Bruce…again.
"I asked you a question," he said, as Bruce peered on at him.
"Supergirl and I were working undercover. One of thieves attempted to steal a jeweled dagger which happened to be laced with kryptonite," he said simply, standing firm in his stance to leave these two large and intimidating men standing toe to toe with one another.
"Working…undercover? Since when are the two of you a team?!" Kal bellowed as he now began to pace back and forth like a caged lion.
"I needed assets capable of listening for any sense of clues that the charity ball was to be robbed. You'd be surprised how often it happens and this was the first opportunity I had to borrow a Kryptonian's particular set of skills. I'd have asked you, but she looks better in a dress." Kal was all but fuming at that point as he stopped directly in front of Bruce again.
"You two were…on…a date?" he asked as Bruce remained motionless and unflinching.
"It was strictly…business," he stated and I saw Bruce glance over to me, a slight hint of empathy laced over his lips. Kal shook his head and placed his hands on hips.
"What the hell were you thinking? She could have been killed!" Kal bellowed as Bruce's gaze returned to him.
"She's a big girl, Superman. I've told you before, in certain aspects, her genealogy has made her even more powerful than you are. Maybe you should let her explore that more," he stated as Kal's fists clenched at his sides.
"Just get out of here, Batman. And if I hear…anything about you trying to pull a stunt like this again with her, I'll throw you through a building," Kal said, raising an imposing finger into Bruce's face for further affirmation.
"I'm not her keeper and neither are you. She's going to do what she wants, but, for what it's worth…I'm sorry," he said before he gave me one last glance and disappeared into the night. My eyebrows furrowed, having heard this entire exchange and I lifted a hand up to Kal.
"Superman," I called out. It was so weird having to call your super hero friends and family by their super names when unknowing ears were within shot. Kal walked over to me and took my hand.
"Don't be so hard on him. I made my choice the day I decided to slap this symbol on my chest and do what you do," I said to him weakly as he ran a hand soothingly over my head and hair with a light shoosh sound.
"We will talk about this later," is all he said before I let the unconsciousness completely sweep over me and allowed the warm healing rays of the yellow sun to soothe me.
It took a couple of days of those yellow sun spa treatments before I was feeling fully like myself. The conversation that Kal and I had in reference to the Bat was anything but productive. It came to the point where I told him he was right about everything, just so he would shut up about it. I love the big guy, don't get me wrong, but to say he's been smothering me would be an understatement. I spent a good hour alone convincing him that I needed to stay at my job with Wayne Enterprises because my cover was already so firmly established and Bruce already knew who I really was.
I approached the steps leading to the front entrance of Wayne Manor. I hadn't even heard so much as a peep from Bruce since that epic day and I'd have to say, I was more than a little miffed about it. I paused before knocking on the door to see if my super hearing could pick up any conversations happening within the house. So I occasionally like to eavesdrop, you know you would too. I picked up a conversation occurring between Alfred and Bruce from within the kitchen.
"Master Bruce, I am sure Kara is fine. Her cousin has been through outrageously more tragic occurrences than a mere dagger and easily lived to tell the tale," Alfred encouraged.
"That's not the point, Alfred. I should have been there, I shouldn't have told her to go after him," Bruce argued.
"You would have told Robin or Batgirl to do the same thing in the past. Was it any different to put them in potential harm's way over Supergirl?" Alfred inquired.
"Of course not, I just-,I should tell her to find another cover job. The waters between Clark and I have become increasingly muddy," Bruce said and at that comment, I whisked through the door, possibly splitting some of the wood in the frame.
"Oh no you won't, Batboy," I said, putting my hands on my hips after having super sped into the kitchen, glaring on at Bruce who rose an eyebrow at me.
"Were you…'listening' to our conversation?" Bruce asked with mild amusement as I took a few steps closer to him.
"That isn't the point. The point is, that I didn't spend hours of my time arguing with Kal and convincing him that keeping my job at Wayne Enterprises not only made the most sense because it was already so established, but also because you already know who I am, for you to just be a coward and tell me to quit!" I rattled off, barely taking a breath as Bruce's eyes slowly widened. Alfred approached me, lightly placing a hand on my shoulder.
"I am very pleased to see you are well, Miss Kara," he said before he high tailed it out of the kitchen.
"Coward, huh?" Bruce asked, folding his arms over his chest sternly and imposingly.
"Did I stutter?" I asked, narrowing my eyes up at him.
"Does it infuriate you that you become more attractive when you act all intimidating in stature?" he asked with a lopsided grin. I had to shake my head at this comment because it completely caught me off guard. I even forgot what I was trying to be intimidating for.
"Attractive?" I managed to reply as he smirked at me.
"You know you are; now you're just fishing for compliments," he said as he raised a hand to brush the hair from my eyes with a smile. I could feel a lump forming in my throat as I stared up at him, especially when he started to learn forward and then, suddenly, a familiar voice echoed through the hallway.
"Kara, are you here?!" Dick yelled as Bruce and I took a step away from each other. Dick appeared in the doorframe of the kitchen, peering on at me with concern. He ran over and wrapped his arms around me tightly.
"I just found out that you've been in recovery for the past three days, why didn't you call or text me, Babe?" he said with frantic concern in his voice as he peeled away to peer down at me, his hands clenching my shoulders.
"I'm sorry Dick, I would have, but I wasn't exactly cognitive during that whole process," I said when suddenly he leaned in to kiss me. I had a split second at this point to decide how I was going to handle this situation. On one hand, I could idly kiss him back as to not raise suspicion while, in the process, thoroughly piss of Bruce, and on the other hand, I could go completely stiff and let Dick kiss a dead fish while simultaneously breaking his heart. My life sucked at this very moment, even worse than having a kryptonite dagger in my side. Who was I kidding? Bruce didn't care who I kissed! So I kissed him back. Dick pulled away and smiled down at me idly, rubbing the back of my neck with his thumb.
"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you," he said to me and I heard Bruce clear his throat behind us; the sound of keys jingling. He roared past us, barely bothering to glance in our direction.
"There's an emergency at the office. Lock up when you two leave. Kara, glad to see you're feeling better," Bruce said, and there he was…back in Batman mode. I hid a frown as I watched Bruce walk out the door and jumped a little as the door slammed shut. Dick's eyebrows rose.
"Wow…must be one hell of an emergency," he said, and all I could do was sigh.