Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I graduated from university at the end of May and it's been rough transitioning to the unemployment line. -_-
My hope is to update more and maybe get two chapters done a week or so. We'll see how that goes.
I can, hopefully, say that the next chapter 'The Calm Sets In' will be posted by the end of the week once I finish and edit it and the chapter after, by next Wednesday.
Also, I encourage y'all to post comments and critiques. Not only do they excite me to write but they help me be a better writer for y'all.
Hope you like the chapter
Argo City, Krypton – Many Years Ago…
With Kara In-Ze's hand grasped in Kara Zor-El's, the older Kara reached for the bottom corner of the wall. When she touched it, a bright light drew a rectangle, which created a panel. When she pressed against the panel a quiet hiss reached her ears as the wall slid open to the right and a soft female voice with a metallic buzz in it said, "Welcome, Kara Zor-El."
The white room had approximately thirty pillars, one-meter-tall and a quarter meter wide, lined the walls of the room. There was one in the middle of the room with, 'Krypton' etched into a silver plaque mounted on it but a centimeters taller and wider. "Each one represents a planet a Kryptonian studied. Come, the one in the middle is Krypton." Kara Zor-El pulled her cousin with purpose toward the middle pillar then made a sudden halt in front of it. She stared at the pillar for a moment before waving her hand above it. A hologram of the planet three meters in diameter glowed a soft blue while the room's lighting dimmed.
Kara Zor-El reached up and touched the core of the planet by stretching up on her tiptoes. The planet expanded to fill the room and rotated, with the pillar functioning as the axis. The different geographical locations of Krypton passed Kara In-Ze at a slow yet steady pace. "Argo City!" she exclaimed as she pointed to a mountainous region several miles from Krypton.
"That's right." Kara turned to her older cousin to see the sadness in her voice was reflected on her face too. The sadness softened when she smiled then looked at the core of their home planet. "Uncle Jor-El says Krypton is dying. Father doesn't believe him and says he's being too dramatic as usual, but I believe him." Kara Zor-El waved her hand back over the pillar again, which made the hologram disappear and the room fill with light. "The Argo planetary colony is over there if you want to see it." Kara Zor-El wandered away from the middle of the room, so Kara In-Ze did the same.
She walked to where her cousin pointed at and found the 'Argo Colony' pillar in a corner of the misshapen trapezoid of a room. When she waved her hand over the pillar, a hologram appeared like before but a meter in diameter and only that corner of the room dimmed. As Kara reached out to touch her home a sharp pain spread through the back of head.
"Zee-bee?" Kara turned at the nickname; she had received it after eating a fruit not meant for Kryptonian consumption. "Come see this." Kara padded over to her cousin, the pain in her head gone, and looked at the hologram of the planet in front of her. "They call it Earth. It's funny because it's another name for dirt in one of its languages." Kara Zor-El's fingers hovered in front of the planet. "It's smaller than Krypton. Uncle Jor-El said the reigning species are called Humans."
"It's very blue."
A giggle sounded from the older Kara. "Yes. Most of the planet is covered with running water and filled with wondrous creatures." The brim of her eyes filled with near tears. "I'd like to go there someday." She looked down at the younger girl and smiled a toothy grin. "Would that be wonderful? To visit it someday with our own eyes?" Little Kara looked at her cousin then at the little planet, unsure of how to answer her.
Kara frowned at the memory, swearing something was hazy with the interaction between her and her cousin all those years ago. She stopped rubbing the back of her head then smiled as she watched two little girls exchange friendship bracelets. They had won them at one of the gaming booths.
Stephanie had brought her and Damien to a street fair held in one of Gotham City's parks. The pathways and trees were lit up in different lights and banners. Kara became fascinated by the clashing colors of the fair the moment she stepped into it. She hadn't seen that many since her mother took her to visit one of the alien gardens in Jor-El's and Zor-El's shared lab.
"I'm not putting that on."
"Aw, come one Dam-ey."
"Eat moldy hotdog, Brown." Kara smiled at Stephanie's attempt to put an oversized, green cowboy on Damien's head. It had a sheriff's star on the front and the words 'cowboy up' printed on the brim. Damien took a ferocious bite of his blue cotton candy then quickened his walking pace. Stephanie glanced back at Kara and gave her wink before slipping the hat on her own head. Kara wore a balloon hat a clown had made for her. It had a green and yellow balloon flower on the front that liked to droop down when she walked. Her hand reached into a bag of caramel corn Stephanie had bought her and bit into a handful of it with a hard crunch.
"Careful," Stephanie had warned when she handed Kara the foot-long bag. "That stuff can be addicting." Kara was three-quarters through the bag when she came to understand what Stephanie meant. Damien was grumbling to himself about fat blondes or something to that accord when Stephanie spun on the balls of her feet to walk in stride with Kara. "So, how does it feel to be amongst the humans?"
Kara's chest constricted for a brief second before realizing no one had heard what Stephanie said, and if they did, they thought nothing of it. "It's interesting. Lots of bright colors and conflicting smells."
Stephanie laughed a little before taking a bite out of her corndog. Kara found herself fascinated by the number of food products one could wrap in bread and/or put on a stick. There was a booth somewhere selling deep-fried Oreos. Stephane grew excited when she saw the sign. Damien had called them "heart attacks in one bite." But Kara thought they looked promising in terms of human food, or at least American fair food.
"Yeah. That's the city for you. Are you having fun?"
"Mhm." A dull ache pulsed at the base of Kara's skull but she ignored it. "On Ar–where I'm from, the local clergy would create festivals similar to this for Rao."
"Who's Rao? I feel like I've heard that name before."
"It was the name of our red dwarf star, but also the name of our god, the god of Krypton."
Stephanie chewed off the last of the corndog bread from its stick and threw it in a trashcan already overstuffed with cups and paper plates. "I didn't know you had religion where you're from. How do you spell that? Rao?"
"In English, R-A-O. There's religion on every planet in every people group. You simply need to pay attention."
"Why do you think that is?"
"There's a teaching on Krypton, and there seems to be one on Earth, that we were all created to worship. Whether or not we choose to worship the Great Creator is on us. It's innate in us. Kara was more interested in the clergy than I ever was. She would…was better at explaining its nuances."
Stephanie reached in Kara's bag of caramel corn and pulled a few pieces out. "Do you miss her?" she asked before popping one in her mouth.
"It is an odd feeling. I remember her voice and seeing her when I was little. But…" Kara stopped walked and curled her fingers into her hear at the back of her head.
"Kara?" The young Kryptonian bent forward and pressed the heel of her other hand against her forehead. "Kara, what's wrong?" whispered Stephanie.
"My head. It hurts so much, Steph." Stephanie placed a hand on Kara's shoulders and motioned to Damien.
"Damien!" The young Wayne had witnessed what happened and ran up to the girls. "Contact Oracle. Something's wrong." Damien gave a curt nod and whipped out his cellphone. "Tell me what hurts."
"My-my head." Tears rolled down Kara's face. "Please, please make it stop," she sobbed out. Suddenly, Kara's head snapped back and her spine straightened before her eyes fluttered shut and she collapsed.
X
Veronica watched Jimmy type at an inhuman speed on his laptop. She found him to be cute when he focused on his work like this, with his brows furrowed together and a deep crease between them. His bow tie was completely undone and his slicked down hair had a few strands sticking up at different angles. Jimmy stopped for a second and rubbed his eyes before he sat back in his chair. He stared at his computer for three minutes before diving back at his article.
"Enjoying the view?" Veronica jumped and glared up at her cousin who was holding out a bottle of root beer for her. She took it from her, which freed Linda to sit on the arm of Veronica's chair. Linda Lake was tall, fierce, and everything you think a power-hungry gossip columnist would be. She had well-manicured nails, expensive pumps, a salmon pink and egg-white dress that showed off the body yet remained professional, and a platinum blonde bob that stopped at her pointed chin.
"Shush. I can't help if he's cute."
"True. He also has a nice-"
"I can hear you, by the way." Jimmy kept tapping at his keyboard but threw a quick glance at the two women. Veronica was suppressing a smile while Linda had her right hand out in a cup shape.
"Oh, we're well aware of that, James, darling," Linda said with an arched brow. Jimmy's lips curled had back when 'darling' left her mouth but he didn't react beyond that. "You know," she directed at Veronica, "there used to be a time where I could make Jimmy blush with a single wink."
"I was much younger then. And before you accused Linda of murder."
"You know," Veronica's nose scrunched up when she realized she sounded like her cousin before continuing her thought. "You still haven't told me why you did that."
Linda gave a dramatic sigh and pushed off the chair. "In my defense, I legitimately believed Linda was the murderess at that time. I was wrong. And I apologized to Linda for that." Jimmy didn't react to what she said so Linda turned her attention to Veronica. "I don't see why you two, or three if you count the younger–somehow more irritating–Lane, have to be in my office doing whatever you're doing."
Jimmy threw Veronica a look that said, 'you wanna take this?' Veronica answered her cousin. "Jimmy explained it like this," Veronica looked up at the ceiling. "'What's the one place in the entire DP building that Cat Grant would never step in?' Linda Lake's office." Linda rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she sat on the corner of her desk. "Jimmy doesn't trust Cat. He wants that clip of Superwoman's arrival in that alley quiet until he can release it in an article or his blog."
"Okay. Now I'm all for ticking off Cat Grant, but I doubt Catherine has any real wish to drag Supergirl's reputation through the mud. If anyone is going to take a shot at Supergirl posthumously, it would be me."
Veronica pulled her legs to her chest then stretched them out to rest her feet on a foot stool. "She has a point, James. Linda," she pointed at her cousin, "complained a lot about Cat over the years, but I've never once heard her say Cat took anything more than playful jabs at Supergirl.
Jimmy faltered in his typing then sighed and lean back in his chair. "I'm aware. Which is why none of this makes sense. The hold-no-bars story on Supergirl, wanting to be the first person to report on Superwoman. Cat is a staunch career woman, but this, this is different."
"I don't mean to throw an idea out there that could, possibly, not cause conflict," Linda announced after clearing her throat. "But has it occurred to you to converse with Cat without arguing?"
"Yes…maybe. Not since her final story on Supergirl."
"Then perhaps," Linda picked off an imaginary piece of lint from the hem of her dress, "it's time to rectify that." The room fell into a quiet lull, the three of them pondering on whatever thoughts were floating through their heads.
BANG!
"Oh, sorry," said Lucy. "I didn't expect the door to open so easily. I got the Thai food." She placed the bags of food on a glass coffee table then flopped on Linda's leather loveseat. "What'd I miss?"
X
Stephanie couldn't stop twitching as she paced ten feet one way and ten the other. She watched as Martian Manhunter and Poison Ivy worked together to stabilize Kara In-Ze. Seeing them work so well together unnerved Stephanie. Damien was tense and sitting characteristically still as he watched them work. His eyes hadn't moved from Kara since they entered the Batcave. Superman stood off in a corner with Batman and watched two green-tinted scientists work. Oracle was sitting forward with her chin resting on her laced fingers and staring into space. Stephanie tried to gage the blank expression but couldn't read it.
Stephanie stopped pacing and wrapped her arms around herself as she remembered her best-friend, Cassandra Cain, now long gone with her mother in China. Cassandra could know what someone was thinking by studying their facial expressions and body language. She glanced at Kara again and panicked. It spread from a shallow concern to deep-seated fear over the thought of losing another friend who she had grown so attached to in a short time. Her phone beeped with a text from Kate. Stephanie ignored it by turning her phone off. Manhunter and Ivy glanced from their charts to each other and then to Superman and Batman.
"What's the prognosis, J'onzz?" Though Superman appeared to be the picture of calm but the wrinkling around his eyes and the occasional deep breath said otherwise.
"As suspected. Damage was done to Kara after the removal of the Leech."
"The Leech?" asked Stephanie.
"It was a mechanism used to protect Kara In-Ze's brain while under cryogenic freeze. It is unclear, however, where the damage lies that caused her seizure and what followed. There could be damage to her brain and the Leech's removal allowed said damage to affect her, though none was detected in early scanning. The other theory is the Leech itself is to blame. We won't know for certain until we return to DC. From there, if need be, we'll bring her to the Watchtower."
"The blue Kryptonite-laced-drugs in her body along with this temporary support system should keep Kara in a stable condition, but Manhunter is right," said Poison Ivy. "If we don't get Kara back to DC, then she might not make it."
"Do what you must."
"Thank you, Superman. We'll transport her now," said Manhunter.
Superman nodded. "I'll come with you."
Ivy and Manhunter worked together to prepare Kara's transport with Batman's assistance. Once Kara was secured in Batmna's jet, he programmed it to carry her and Poison Ivy to Washington, DC. Martian Manhunter and Superman followed the plane once it took off.
"Go home everyone." There was a gruffness to Batman's voice that made it throatier than usual. "Even you, Oracle. We need our rest tonight."
Stephanie went to argue but the sharp glare from Oracle was enough to stop her. Batman left the cave with a swish of his cape and Oracle followed. That left Damien and Stephanie alone.
"Everyone is in pain." Damien still hadn't moved from his spot nor did he move his eyes from the Batcave's exit.
"What?"
"You can see it in their eyes, in his voice. In Batman's voice. If we lose Kara In-Ze, it would be as if we lost Kara Zor-El all over again. What's with the look?"
Stephanie balked. "What look?"
Damien turned his head and scowled at Stephanie. "That one of surprise."
"Oh, I didn't… You're usually not so in tune with emotions, that's all."
"Just because I don't express my emotions the same as you, doesn't mean I don't understand them."
"I know, I'm-"
"Fat and stupid it seems." Damien stood and left the Batcave without another word.
Stephanie let her anger roll off her as she worked through the breathing exercises Cassandra had taught her years ago. She let Damien's comment slide since she figured he was reacting out of frustration and sadness. But she sure as heck planned to get him back during a sparring match. "I'll show that brat who's fat," she mumbled as she left the cave.
Kansas City, Missouri…
"Honey or sugar?"
"Do you have any agave nectar instead?"
Lana gave a short laugh and nodded. "I think I have some in the fridge from your last visit." She grabbed the bottle from behind the honey and slid it across the dining room table to Derrick's hand. He wrapped his fingers around his mug and used his other hand to guide the bottle's nozzle over the mug's opening. A three-second count was enough for him before he snapped the cap on and set the bottle on the table.
"How are Linda's parents doing?"
"Spoke with them last night. They're better. It hasn't been easy on them."
"I would think not. Linda was their daughter, even if Kara wasn't." Derrick took a sip of his tea. "Should have added more nectar." He reached for the bottle again. "I'm sorry I missed the funeral. The recent plane crashes in Asia kept me in Shanghai that whole week."
"I understand. Things happen we can't control. I'm glad you're here now, though."
"Me too." Derrick took a breath through his nose then released it through his teeth. "I miss her, Lana. I really do." She placed her hand on his and gave a gentle squeeze.
"I know, Derrick. We all do."