Sorry this took so long! Like I said with 'A Period of Adjustment', the Orlando shooting really did throw me for a loop and I didn't feel like writing at all, especially not anything funny or light-hearted. Just couldn't cuz this tragic event weighed me down so much. To everyone in my community, I'd like to say HAPPY PRIDE! Don't let the haters get you down and we're nothing if not resilient. My condolences and love goes out to those that lost someone in this tragedy. No words could properly convey my sorrow but I hope y'all know that your community is an international one and we grieve right along with you.
Now onwards! Hope you like this chapter, it's really not a good one cuz I suck at fight scenes. Comments and kudos are always welcome and I'll try to answer however I can!
"No, Kiera, I am not going to pull that reward ad." Cat Grant rolled her eyes. "At least now I have the good people of National City who are-" Here, Cat raised her voice so it was audible outside in the bullpen, "-ABLE TO GET TO THE SCENE ON TIME. I don't have good pictures yet but sooner or later, someone will get one."
"Someone might get hurt," Kara argued. "Maybe the reward-"
"Kiera, think of it less like a reward and more like opportunity." Cat narrowed her eyes at Kara. "It's a paycheque for doing what my reporters, regrettably and disappointingly, cannot. It is payment for services that I should be paying my reporters for, but unfortunately, I might have to give this payment to someone else because my reporters can't do their job. You know with photos like this, the amount of money I'm putting out is about as much as I would pay for copyright."
"Ms. Grant-"
"We can't all have a LANE STAND ON THE ROOF AND BAIT A SUPER." Cat's voice rose as Lucy Lane walked by. Even outside the office, they could see the in-house counsel rolling her eyes at Cat's attempt to make her feel guilty.
"But Ms. Grant-"
"Kiera!" Cat's patience had worn thin. "I need actually newsworthy items and if my reporters aren't getting in front of the news before everybody else, I can't sell any news because nobody wants to read old news. And when I start making bait-click Buzzfeed trash, you can take me out back and put a bullet into my reputation as the Queen of All Media."
Kara clamped her lips shut, knowing she was toeing the line of Cat's patience.
"Now. I've emailed you a list. Prepare termination letters for the Tribune employees as noted." Cat had barely gotten the words out before Kara erupted again.
"You're downsizing the Tribune? But that was your first acquisition!" Kara fretted. "All those people, they're going to lose their jobs. What's going to happen to them, to their families? They don't have to downsize at the Daily Planet-"
Kara cut herself off, knowing she had hit a nerve when Cat looked up at her with sharp eyes.
"Metropolis has a person who has a cape and flies around performing heroic acts. The Planet puts this person on their cover 51% of the time. We have a person, too," Cat smirked a bit, proud of the the next fact. "And I named her Shadow Agent. But this Shadow Agent refuses to be seen, doesn't talk to anyone, doesn't even talk to the people she rescues except to make sure they're okay. We have NOTHING on her even though she's been active for YEARS. The most we know is that she's antisocial and doesn't talk much. Oh, and we have a billion blurry photos of her. Honestly, how hard is it to get a good shot?"
"The Daily Planet has a smiling, All-American face that everyone loves to see. We don't have anyone and I cannot justify the amount of staff on the Tribune to the board," Cat looked back down on the documents in front of her and made shooing gestures. "So unless you can get me that exclusive with Shadow Agent, start drafting those letters, Kiera. Handwritten, preferably."
Unhappily, Kara left the office to sit at her desk, clicking the mouse viciously as she checked her emails.
"Hey, Kara, what's up?" Winn's sudden appearance startled Kara a bit as he put down a latte on her desk. She smiled gratefully up at him.
"Hey, you hung up really quick last night." Winn sipped his own tiny cup of espresso. Kara was certain that the only reason he drinks those tiny espressos were for those tiny shot cups. He would give each cup to one of the action figures on his desk, making it seem like they were drinking coffee, too. Most people thought that was kind of weird but Kara thought it was hilarious.
"Oh, you know, I was just chilling." Kara shrugged, trying to act casual. "Putting on some sick beats and-and… chilling."
Winn gave her a weird look. "Ohhh-kay… besides chilling, what else?"
"Well, went to the balcony to check out the fight."
"Did you see Shadow Agent?" Winn's eyes practically GLOWED. Shadow Agent was his favourite superhero! Understated, as he'd like to say, but the best one out of the gallery of capes. Shadow Agent had been out on the scene for a good couple of years, still considered new, but her battles were always one for one. She was never caught on camera worked efficiently with as little property damage as possible. She was said to give even Superwoman a run for her money when push came to shove.
"N-No. I was nowhere near the scene of the fight and did not see Shadow Agent." Kara recited what she had practiced, cursing herself for not sounding convincing AT ALL. It didn't take much for Winn to catch on as his eyes widened comically and he leaned in.
"YOU SAW HER." His voice was a low whisper. "YOU SAW HER AND DIDN'T CALL ME."
"No," Kara also replied in a whisper. "No, Winn. Don't. I can't. I couldn't. … I'm so sorry."
"JUDAS." Winn's eyes narrowed. "Who got your back when your ex-girlfriend came to town just to break up with you and then camped out at your apartment for almost a week and ate all your food?"
"You did."
"And what did I do?"
"You called Kelly to come to my house so she can tell my ex to go to heck." Kara replied dutifully. "That… was more Kelly than you-"
"You could've called me." Winn groaned and fell on her table. "Oh my godddd… what was she like? What did she look like? Can you describe her costume? Do you think it's made of a special material-"
"I don't know, Winn. I really can't say." Kara was backed into a corner as Winn studied her and a light seemed to go on behind his eyes.
"YOU TALKED TO HER." His voice took on near reverent tones. "You did, I can see it on your face."
"Stop looking at me!" Kara covered her face with her hands, frantically. Why was she so bad at keeping secrets?! Was she projecting all her secrets on her face? What was-
It happened so suddenly she couldn't even brace for it as the window shattered behind her and she was taken in the grip of the man-alien-Shadow Agent had been fighting with last night.
"You. You embarrassed me." He seethed into her face, voice low, his breath sour.
"KARA!" Winn had been blown away several metres, but now scrambled to his feet, unsure of how that would play out if he did.
"No, Winn! Don't come closer!" Kara's heart felt like it was trying to beat through her chest. With an arm around her midsection, Vartox jumped out through the broken window, victim in his arms and all Kara could feel was herself falling like when you're going down in a roller coaster or sky-diving but there was no parachute and no tracks-and she fainted.
Kara did regain consciousness sometimes, feeling at all times that she was on the move. There was a lot of noise at the beginning, but now not at all. But she still felt like she was on the move... The one time Kara was a bit coherent and tried to get up, Vartox had back-handed her so hard she was out like a light again. When Kara finally woke up, she was in the middle of nowhere and a bonfire burned merrily in front of her while Vartox sat opposite her, watching her with dark eyes.
"Finally awake." He grunted, hefting his axe in his hands. "Took you long enough."
"You're Vartox." Kara stammered, drawing herself up to her feet. One side of her face felt tender and swollen.
"Don't run. I'd hate to break your legs." Vartox glowered at her in warning. "It took a while to find you, but I'm lucky you're always on TV, scurrying behind that loud bitch."
Kara froze, having just been about to run for it. Kara knew exactly which clip he was talking about, that one clip that's on right now where Cat was giving an interview and Kara had made an appearance running a small item to her. The clip had gone viral because she had tripped a little bit but made a miraculous recovery. Cat was still a bit mad that Kara had stolen her thunder during that interview but in Kara's defence, she had no control what people found entertaining nowadays.
"What do you want?"
"Shadow Agent," Vartox glowered, "has made me look like a fool. I ran from a fight with a WOMAN. I was WINNING the fight."
"Your winning sure looked like losing from where I was watching." Kara muttered cheekily. Loud enough for Vartox to roar at her, incensed. He jumped over the fire, grabbing her by the throat and squeezing until she could barely breath.
"That's ENOUGH!" The ground trembled from Shadow Agent's landing. "Let her go!"
"I knew you'd come." Vartox smirked, hand still clenched tight around Kara's throat. "Let's finally see who is the better fighter amongst us! I know in Krypton, your women are like Valeronian men. So we will fight like men, but we do it the Valeronian way. Tradition calls for a prize of women, but I will settle for this one."
Shadow Agent's eyes were on Kara, her attention barely on Vartox. He smirked.
"You seem to like her enough to come for her, for her to distract you in a fight. Whoever wins, wins this chattel."
"She has a name." Shadow Agent growled. "She is no chattel."
Vartox let go of Kara and she dropped to the ground, gasping and coughing.
"You can make her whatever you want her to be if you win." Vartox announced, brandishing his axe with a leer. "But when I win, she will be mine to use as I please."
That got enough of a rise out of Shadow Agent and she floated about a foot off the ground, eyes blazing. In a blink of an eye, she had flown at Vartox with a roar, knocking him into the ground and creating a furrow with his body, dragging it with her momentum. It was not a fair fight, really. Shadow Agent was definitely winning, dodging the high over-hand attacks from the axe and really laying on the punches.
But suddenly, asKara watched from afar, it seemed like the tide had turned. Vartox was advancing while Shadow Agent was on the retreat. The hero was thrown back into the circle of light cast by the fire, Vartox advancing menacingly, winding back to bring the axe down on Shadow Agent's head. As the weapon came down, Kara tried to scream, but her voice was gone.
Her heart in her throat, Kara felt a thrill of relief as Shadow Agent caught the staff of the axe in her hands, baring a ferocious grin at her enemy.
"I will kill you!" Vartox growled.
"You could try." Shadow Agent's eyes blazed with fire as she heated up the head of the axe. It didn't take long for Vartox to realize what was going on but it was a little too late as the axe exploded, sending him flying. The axe, uniquely linked to him, blew back it's energy to it's owner sending Vartox skipping along the dirt until he landed, immobile, a few hundred metres away.
Shadow Agent didn't even give him another look as she flew to Kara to check on her.
"Kara! You alright?" The superhero asked worriedly. Kara could only nod, trying to speak sent her into a coughing fit. Shadow Agent knelt down in front of her, fingers dancing lightly across Kara's cheek and retreating when Kara hissed in pain.
"I'm sorry you got sucked into this mess," Shadow Agent's voice was laced with regret. Kara looked up at Shadow Agent, her costume scuffed from fighting Vartox and Kara grinned at Shadow Agent, completely in awe.
"You did it! I knew you could, but jeez, I was a little bit worried-"
"I was lulling him into complacency!" Shadow Agent protested. Their good-natured snipes were interrupted by loud grunting noises from the defeated alien.
"You…" Vartox struggled to a sitting position, looking around in helpless rage at the remnants of his axe. Suddenly, the area flooded with light, people in tactical gear appearing from the darkness. They had just been waiting until Shadow Agent had taken down Vartox before moving in to detain the alien.
"No!" Vartox roared, he cast around desperately until he found a still smoking shard of his axe. He gripped it in his hands, looking wildly around for another option, but seeing none, he shot a hateful glare at Shadow Agent. "I will not be taken!"
"It's over, Vartox." Shadow Agent called out cautiously.
"You think I'm the threat?" He laughed, coughing out blood. "You have no idea what's coming!"
In a final act of defiance, Vartox plunged the axe shard into his chest, killing himself instantly. A soldier moved forward cautiously, kicking the dead alien, then knelt down to touch Vartox's neck.
"No pulse!" Everyone kind of relaxed, the clicking of safeties echoed in the area, rifles and submachine guns stowed away or pointed down. There was still a semi-circle of soldiers at the ready around the downed body, but it seemed like this fight was over.
"Are you okay?" Kara reached out to touch Shadow Agent's forearm carefully.
"Me? I'm fine." Shadow Agent helped her up, a medic appeared quickly at their side. "We'll get you checked out, but doesn't seem like you have anything broken. Is anything hurting a lot? I am so sorry that you were involved in this, it shouldn't have happened."
"Yeah!" A voice from above called out. "Thought you would protect the civilians a bit better, Shadow!"
"Shut up!" Shadow Agent's usually calm demeanour vanished. "Get down here before I shoot you down!"
Superwoman lowered herself to the ground, dark hair settling perfectly on her shoulders as she landed without a sound.
"Yeesh, you used to be so nice to me, remember?" Superwoman slung an arm around Shadow Agent's shoulder casually, ignoring the way Shadow Agent's body stiffened. "You used to call me 'Great Scion of El' and-"
"Rao, shut up!" Shadow Agent shrugged off Superwoman's arm, sounding like she was actually whining.
"Don't mind her," Superwoman winked at Kara. "She's an ol' stick in the mud and just needs a little un-sticking sometimes."
"Why are you even here?!" Shadow Agent snapped.
"Heard the whole uproar that one of Jimmy's co-workers got kidnapped so came out to see why Shadow Agent wasn't handling it. Personal favour, ya know? And look at you, wrapped everything up nicely!" Superwoman's attention was still on Kara. When Kara noticed Superwoman looking at her, the hero of Metropolis flashed the personal assistant her most winning smile. "I'm sorry, I should introduce myself. I'm Superwoman."
"Kara Zorel." Kara was in a daze as Superwoman shook her hand. Oh my god! It was Superwoman!
"You leave her alone." Shadow Agent's eyes were narrowed. "Why don't you go bother someone else? Or are you in the doghouse again?"
"It's hard to be loved by so many," Superwoman said solemnly.
"You mean hated by so many. I'm surprised Batman still talks to you sometimes."
Superwoman blatantly ignored Shadow Agent and turned her smile back on Kara. "Well, since I changed my plans to get out here, would you care to have dinner together, Ms. Zorel? My treat."
"She has to get checked out." Shadow Agent folded her arms across her chest.
"Then after you get checked out, Ms. Zorel." Superwoman pressed on.
"She won't be going-"
"Sure-"
Shadow Agent cut herself off, looking at Kara incredulously. Before the moment could become awkward, a masked soldier came up to Shadow Agent and saluted.
"Um, sorry to interrupt, Shadow Agent, but the Director wants to speak with you-"
"Fine." Shadow Agent bit out. She turned to leave, then spun back to poke a finger into Superwoman's chest. "Don't hurt her."
"Hey," Superwoman placed her fists on her hips, comfortable in her blue and red skin-tight costume as she displayed the House of El's coat of arms, bright on her chest. "I'm Superwoman."
"Ugh." Shadow Agent threw her hands up in the air in disgust, then turned to Kara.
"I'm sorry again. For tonight. And for her." Shadow Agent rolled her eyes. "Be careful, okay?"
"Aren't you coming?" Kara felt like she had missed something.
"What?"
"Huh?" Superwoman frowned.
"I thought we were all going together?" Kara coughed. She knew now she definitely missed something. "Because, no offence, I don't know you that well, Superwoman-"
"I'm Superwoman!" Superwoman looked around for support, only seeing people snickering at this turn of events. "Did you just stranger-danger me?"
"She did." Shadow Agent was laughing, actually laughing out loud. Everybody except Kara was looking at the masked hero as if she had grown an extra head. "Oh Rao, Kara, you're the best."
"Um, thank you?" Kara wasn't really sure what she had done to warrant that but she blushed prettily at that compliment.
Superwoman was grinning and laughing now, too, clapping Kara lightly on the shoulder. "You're alright, Kara Zorel. But the dinner invitation still stands and Shadow Agent is definitely coming with us."
"I have work-"
"We'll order and I'll make sure we find a dark corner where nobody sees you, yadayada." Superwoman waved Shadow Agent's protests away. "I'll call you. And no saying no. This is an order from the GREAT SCION OF EL."
"I hate you so much." Shadow Agent groaned. The masked hero faced Kara and gave her a reassuring smile. "Superwoman will take you first after you get checked out, I'll just finish up quickly and join the two of you. She's okay. Really."
"Alright." Kara touched Shadow Agent's arm as they talked, a move that wasn't unnoticed by Superwoman who looked on in amusement. Shadow Agent swept away to debrief, leaving Kara in the capable hands of Superwoman.
Superwoman waited patiently while a medic checked out Kara, his diagnosis uncomplicated as it seemed she only suffered a bruised larynx, bruises to the side of her face, a black eye, plus scrapes and cuts. The most serious was the concussion she got from being knocked across the head by Vartox and Kara had to assure the medic that someone would be watching her when she got home. Otherwise, her injuries would all just heal with time. The medic spread some medical salve over Kara's bruises and advised her to go to the emergency room should she have dizziness, double-vision, vomiting or other fun symptoms.
When they had finished, Superwoman circled an arm around Kara's waist, then lifted off gently while waving down at Shadow Agent with a cheeky grin.
"You two are pretty close, aren't you?" Kara's hoarse question was audible to Superwoman, even with the sound of the whistling wind as they started back to the city.
"She's like the older sister I never had." Superwoman admitted. "Also the younger sister I never had. It's complicated. She was stuck in the Phantom Zone for a while so she was older than me when we were being sent to Earth, but now I think I'm older than her by only… a few years. Oh, but that's all I'm going to say. She's very private."
Kara giggled as Superwoman launched into other stories centering mostly on her own shenanigans before Kara pointed down at a pizza place she liked and suggested eating at her place.
"They have the best stuffed-crust, deep dish pizza and it'll be just us at my place." Kara breathed and that was all the encouragement Superwoman needed to land in the alley beside the place.
The line was thankfully short this time of night and Kara ordered three extra large pizzas, sides, and drinks, remembering an article that Lois Lane had written about Superwoman's love of food.
"Could you tie this up for me? Maybe make it easier to carry?"
When everything was packed up and ready, Kara walked back out and ducked into the alley where Superwoman waited, and she carried Kara her back to her apartment with a little help with directions from Kara. Superwoman had texted Shadow Agent with a phone she had pulled seemingly out of nowhere, then helped put out the boxes on the table. By the time they were finished, Shadow Agent was knocking on the balcony doors.
"Hey, that smells great!" Shadow Agent smiled at Kara. Kara had run to Shadow Agent and stopped in front of her, grinning.
"Hi!" Kara tried to say but just ended up coughing right at Shadow Agent. She clapped a hand over her mouth, still coughing painfully and painfully embarrassed by what she had just done.
"How's your neck? And… damn it, I'm so sorry. Your face is already kinda swelling and colouring up." Shadow Agent reached out hesitantly, watching Kara to see if she'll object, then gently moved her blonde hair away to look at Kara's face and neck. Kara sucked in a breath through her teeth. She could feel the heat off of Shadow Agent's hand.
"I'm sorry, did that hurt?" The hand retreated. "Let me get you some ice."
"It's fine." Kara's face was completely red. Superwoman snickered behind them, but Shadow Agent was grabbing paper towels, turning on the water in the sink and freezing the water in her hands with her freeze breath.
"Come on, you two. Food's getting cold."
"Yeah, yeah." Shadow Agent wrapped up the ice and placed it gently on Kara's cheek. "Here you go. Hold on to it, okay?"
"Mm-hm." Kara did as she was told, hoping that the bruising was covering her blush that she knew was on her face.
"Guuuyyyysss…" Superwoman whined.
"Alright, alright. Hold your horses… I've always wanted to try this place," Shadow Agent floated over the long couch and grabbed a pizza, biting into it and letting out a positively indecent moan as she chewed. "Oh that is amazing-what."
Kara and Superwoman were both staring at Shadow Agent.
"Make that noise again so I can remember it forever." Superwoman leered lasciviously at Shadow Agent.
"I hate you, you know that?" Shadow Agent replied dryly, used to Superwoman's personality.
"Bow before the Great Scion of El!" Superwoman guffawed.
"I will never live that down, will I?" Shadow Agent glared at Superwoman irritably.
"Never." Superwoman agreed, popping the tab on one of the cokes on the table. "I'll remind you forever."
"I'm trying to figure out who I hate more," Shadow Agent mused out loud. "You or the paparazzi."
"If you just embrace them, you wouldn't have so many troubles. The press loves me." Superwoman gave another blinding grin while flexing a bicep. Kara watched the two interacting, eye wide as it suddenly sunk in that she had two well-known superheroes in her living room, eating with her. Winn was going to freak out!
"-probably take down that reward, too." Superwoman gestured with a piece of garlic bread. "Right, Kara?"
"Sorry?" Kara croaked.
"Super Idiot here wants me to just give the interview." Shadow Agent looked like she was thinking about it. "For once, she does make a good point. At least with the interview, I won't have random people hounding me."
"But what about your privacy?" Kara protested, remembering how strongly Shadow Agent felt about this. The masked hero sighed in resignation.
"It's not worth it if innocent people are putting themselves in the line of fire just to get a photo of me." Even though they were having a super serious conversation, the tomato sauce on the side of Shadow Agent's mask was really distracting. Superwoman was keeping a straight face but the little upturn at one side of her lips told Kara that she knew.
"What?" Shadow Agent noticed them staring at her. "What's wrong?"
"Got a little something there, Shadow." Superwoman was smirking again, tapping her own cheek. Shadow Agent's hand flew to her mask then excused herself to the washroom.
"Well, Kara, what's up with you and Shadow?" Superwoman leaned back in the armchair she had commandeered. "You guys seem to really get along."
"Well," Kara blushed, "I did help her out with Vartox before."
"Threw a fire extinguisher right in his face." Shadow Agent was back and sat down next to Kara, closer than she was before, as she reached for a piece of garlic bread.
"Well, I mean you two… seem really at ease with each other." Superwoman grinned again as Shadow Agent gave Superwoman a warning look and Kara blushed to the roots of her hair.
"We're just… comfortable with each other." Shadow Agent said uncomfortably.
"First time to be so comfortable with someone," Superwoman replied innocently enough, then winked at Kara. "Our Shadow's a bit shy."
"Don't call me that. You make me sound like a dog."
"She basically was MY dog when she first landed," Superwoman laughed at the scowl on Shadow Agent's face. "Right after she got here, she just followed me around and insisted that I stop fighting for Earth."
"I was your personal guard. I am the last one and my mission was to protect you." Shadow Agent said stiffly, the atmosphere suddenly heavy.
"I appreciate it, Shadow." Superwoman said, not unkindly. "But here, we don't have to do that. You can be who you want and I can be who I want. We make a difference, here, on a grand scale! And I'm glad that you're trying to live like a regular h-"
"That's something Kara doesn't need to know." Shadow Agent said sharply and threw Kara a look of apology. The blonde understood, but the subterfuge still stung a bit.
"I'm not going to give away your human identity." Superwoman rolled her eyes.
"You just told her I have a human identity!" Shadow Agent threw her hands up in the air in exasperation.
"I'm sure she assumed you did already-"
"-assumptions are different from confirmation-"
"-need to stop freaking out-"
"Ladies!" Kara had to step in, raising a hand up in the air and putting one hand on Shadow Agent's shoulder. Even with her throat feeling like it was on fire, Kara forced herself to talk. "Time out here. Let's just both cool down, and let's try to get back on topic. Shadow Agent, are you sure you want to give an interview?"
Shadow Agent shrugged, still glaring at Superwoman. "I feel like this is the fastest way to prevent civilians from getting hurt. If Cat Grant wants her interview, well. I guess going directly to her would get her off my back."
"You don't have to tell the whole truth." Kara supplied meekly.
Superwoman looked horrified while Shadow Agent looked thoughtful.
"Just enough of the truth but not quite. Enough that your privacy is protected and everyone else is satisfied."
"That's not very ethical journalism," Superwoman frowned. "Journalists need to report the truth and if you're encouraging Shadow Agent to lie-"
"I'm not a journalist," Kara pointed out slyly. "I'm an assistant. And it's the journalist's responsibility to find the truth. And I'm not telling Shadow Agent to lie, I'm just telling her to… be vague if she has to be. Try to tell the truth… but I don't know if what she's saying is the truth or not. And neither does everyone else."
"Except me." Superwoman pointed out. "Huh. I wish you had briefed me before Lois ambushed me when we first met. I'm forever thankful to Lois that she doesn't publish all the crap I told her the first time."
Shadow Agent rolled her eyes. "All she had to do with flutter her eyelashes at you and offer you food and you spilled everything."
"Let's not talk about this." Superwoman huffed and crossed her arms. "I'm still quite sensitive about that. I didn't even know she already had a boyfriend."
Kara tucked that piece of information away, hoping that Superwoman didn't know that Kara had a bit more information about who Lois was dating… and that it was her cousin, Clark. And… wow. Confirmation that Superwoman liked Lois. Like, LIKED LIKED Lois.
"Ugh, I'm dreading meeting the 'Queen of All Media'," Shadow Agent snorted. "That woman is-"
"Hey, hey, hey." Superwoman, surprisingly, came to Cat's rescue. "Cat Grant actually is one of the better reporters I know, up there with Lois. She's skilled, but she also adheres to a really strict ethical code."
Shadow Agent rolled her eyes but nodded grudgingly.
"Well, I trust you on that, my lady-" Shadow Agent cut herself off but Superwoman had already heard and looked positively delighted.
"You can refer to me as 'my lady' whenever you want." Superwoman was grinning again, then turned eyes on Kara. "Shadow here, as you've heard, was part of my personal guard when I was a baby. Her story and mine are interconnected so… maybe we should give the bare bones? Shadow, you're on point."
"Unlike Superwoman, who is an independent superhero, I'm still considered an independent but I cooperate with the US government, in one of their off-the-books organizations. I don't actually have a military rank, just 'Agent'. So Cat Grant got that right, at least. I am an agent." Shadow Agent held out a hand to stop a protest that seemed to be just on Superwoman's lips. "Superwoman doesn't quite agree with me on this but I feel like I could do the most good in an organization like the DEO."
"DEO?"
"The Department of Extra-Normal Operations-"
"-more like the Department of Extraordinary Dicks-"
"They jail aliens." Shadow Agent explained, cutting off Superwoman. "Without trial or due process, yes yes. I understand the need to jail dangerous criminals, but Superwoman's spent too much time on Earth to appreciate how dangerous some of these beings are. But the up side to me being at the DEO is I can make sure that at least they're treated alright and I'm given leeway to negotiate with their home world to take their criminals back."
"Why are there so many aliens here that our government would need a whole secret department to deal with it?" Kara asked, frowning.
"When I came out of the Phantom Zone," Shadow Agent sighed, "I... might have brought Fort Rozz with me. It was Krypton's maximum security prison and it was also in the Phantom Zone. From what I know, it rode on the tail of my pod and when I crashed here, so did Fort Rozz. What I'm telling you right now is what I'm telling you, okay? It's your government's secrets."
The blonde bobbed her head anxiously, understanding what Shadow Agent was saying to her.
"Okay. So let's not talk about the escaped convict aliens like Vartox. Or super secret government agencies that will probably make me disappear," Kara shuddered. "I feel like maybe we keep this light and… as personal as we can within your comfort zone and let the government deal with their secrets. More 'celebrity interview' than 'uncovering all our government's dirty secrets'."
"Okay," Superwoman zipped off then came back with a notebook. "It's okay if I use this, right? Found it on your counter-top-hm."
"No, don't look at that!" Kara squealed and tried to take the notebook back from Superwoman before she saw but it was too late as she handed it back, smirking. Kara's face was red as a tomato. Superwoman must have seen what she had drawn on there.
"Superwoman, what did you do?" Shadow Agent leaned over to try to look at whatever was in the notebook, but Kara hugged it even closer, ripping off the top few sheets and thrusting the now clean notebook into Shadow Agent's hands.
"Just concentrate on your questions!" Kara stuffed the pages under her shirt and scowled at the two superheroes. "Don't look at me!"
"Okay, okay," Shadow Agent held up her hands in surrender. "Let's see… so should I mention being connected with Superwoman?"
"Maybe just tell them you're part of the police on Krypton?" Superwoman suggested, making a face. "I don't know how I feel if everyone knows I'm practically royalty on Krypton with my own guard and stuff."
"Royalty," Shadow Agent sneered, "You're royalty like Cat Grant is an actual Queen."
"Okay, so write that down." Kara still had her arms crossed over the crinkly paper hidden under her shirt. "And same story, you came in a pod, too?"
"Yeah. Nobody really believed Krypton was in trouble, so maybe we just say that you fled when things got hot." Superwoman said casually. Kara could see the clenching of Shadow Agent's jaw and the way her hands tightened into fists.
"How do we explain me leaving my duty?" Shadow Agent asked stiffly. "I don't want to be known as a coward."
"Easy: me." Superwoman spread out her arms. "You were investigating my parents because of their ideas about Krypton, and you saw me go off in a spacepod. You jumped into the next pod to retrieve that adorable baby."
"That sounds believable." Kara nodded. Shadow Agent jotted down that detail, scoffing at Superwoman's 'adorable' moniker. "Okay, so here are a few questions I'm sure Ms. Grant will ask you…"
They spent a couple of hours throwing around ideas, with Shadow Agent nixing some stupid ideas from Superwoman ("Tell them your superpower is TALKING LIKE BATMAN.") and writing down the ones she likes.
"I'm going to pass this by the Director at the DEO." Shadow Agent took out a phone from her costume-where do they pull them out of, Kara wonders-and checks the time.
"It's pretty late." Shadow Agent and Superwoman clean up super-fast, before Kara could even get off the couch.
"Woah. Can you guys come over every night?" Kara asked hopefully.
"This idiot would eat you out of house and home." Shadow Agent started shoving Superwoman towards the balcony.
"Lies!" Superwoman laughed, catching Shadow Agent in a headlock. Shadow Agent slipped out of it and twisted Superwoman's arm behind her back. "Owowowowow… uncle. I give, Shadow!"
"Shadow Agent."
"Yeah, I give, Shadow Agent!" Superwoman was still grinning though when Shadow Agent let her go. "You gotta work on that temper of yours."
"It only comes out when I have to deal with you."
"You love me, just admit it. I am the SCION OF EL." Superwoman clapped Shadow Agent on the shoulder good-naturedly then turned to Kara to shake her hand.
"Thank you for treating us to dinner. Next time I'm in town, maybe I'll take you out to that dinner? Probably will be without stick-in-the-mud if I've passed your stranger-danger barriers?" Superwoman was still holding on to Kara's hand and it was making Shadow Agent's left eye twitch.
"Sorry about that. You never know, right?" Kara laughed in embarrassment, realizing that Superwoman was trying to ask her out. And why not? Superwoman had been funny, mischievous, and all in all she seemed like a genuinely nice person.
"So that's a yes?"
"Sure, why not." Kara shrugged, not seeing Shadow Agent throw Superwoman a furious look or Superwoman throwing back a smug one of her own.
"Oh, and please don't tell anybody I'm like this. This 'me' is when I'm comfortable with people, with my friends. Gotta keep up my public persona, ya know?" Superwoman straightened up, looking a lot more hero-y. "But you got to see the real me. And I'd like to consider you a friend."
"I'm honoured."
"No no, Ms. Zorel. The pleasure is all mine." Superwoman's tone of voice changed to the one that Kara usually heard on TV and in soundbites on the radio. "Now, up-up and a-"
"Get out of here," Shadow Agent pushed Superwoman off the balcony. The hero of Metropolis yelped and righted herself, shooting Shadow Agent a dirty look before blowing Kara a kiss and flying off.
"Sorry, Superwoman is super obnoxious. That's her big secret: She's annoying as hell." Shadow Agent shook her head. "So I'll see you tomorrow after lunch?"
"Yes. I'm sure Ms. Grant doesn't have anything booked in at that time slot-last I checked anyways-" Kara was going to clear Ms. Grant's calendar for sure, even if there was something booked in. "I'm… sorry you had to do this."
"I guess it was inevitable." Shadow Agent jumped up lightly, balancing on the ledge of the balcony. "Oh, in case you haven't, maybe you should call your family. I've notified the authorities, so they know that you're in good hands."
"Oh!" Kara slapped a palm to her head. "I left my cellphone at work!"
"I'm sure your neighbour will lend you their phone-"
"It's fine." Kara shrugged. "My aunt probably didn't even get the news I was in trouble, probably stuck in a forest somewhere-"
"What about your parents?"
"Oh," Kara shrugged nonchalantly, but she could feel like a lump growing in her throat at the thought of her parents. "They died. When I was like, fourteen."
"Oh." Shadow Agent cleared her throat uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"
"It's fine, it's cool, you know?" Kara forced a laugh, then coughed painfully. "It's cool, I was okay after a while. My aunt took care of me for a bit, then I stayed with my cousin and sometimes his parents."
"But, aren't they your aunt and uncle-?"
"Oh, no, it's my aunt on my mother's side that took care of me, my Aunt Astra. My cousin's parents died when he was a newborn, on their way back from the hospital where he was born. Um, his father, George, was my father's older brother," Kara laughed shrilly at the stricken look on the visible parts of Shadow Agent's face. Her family just had bad luck. "My cousin went to his mom's best friend when he was a baby, cuz, even before my cousin was born they had made sure the will said he didn't go with his dad's side of the family. Long story."
"I'm so sorry." Shadow Agent was extremely sorry she had brought up such a personal topic.
"No, no, it's fine." Kara shrugged. "I don't want you to think about that part of me. I'm alright."
Kara felt a bit of bitterness well up inside her as she looked down at her feet, willing the tears not to come. It was always like that. When people found out about her family and her situation, there was a lot of pity. Poor, pitiful, Kara. The tragedy was like a wall, sometimes. People felt sorry for her, treated her like she was made of glass. But she wanted to not be reminded all the time of her personal loss, especially when people looked at her.
"Hey," Kara could see Shadow Agent's feet come into view. "Hey, it's fine."
"I just wish I hadn't told you." Kara muttered, her throat aching.
"Kara, it's fine." Shadow Agent seemed like she wanted to hug her, but settled for awkwardly patting Kara on the shoulder.
"When Krypton exploded, I lost everyone." Shadow Agent's voice seemed to quaver at the end of her sentence. The hero cleared her throat and continued. "All of my friends, all of my family, all of the Great House of El… I know what you're feeling."
Kara tilted her head, looking at Shadow Agent cautiously.
"Superwoman looks at me a certain way, sometimes." Shadow Agent confessed. "She realizes that… I lost more than her. She came here when she was a child and never knew her parents. I came here and knew I had lost everything. Superwoman… I hate when she looks at me like that. I know she cares, but sometimes I just want her to stop."
Kara let out a little sob and bobbed her head up and down, feeling relief that Shadow Agent understood. The thought of Shadow Agent looking at her differently was something she never wanted to think about.
"Alright. It's really time for me to go now. Remember to ice up your face and neck, it'll bring the swelling down." Shadow Agent squeezed Kara's shoulder once, then backed away back to the edge of the balcony.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Kara asked hopefully.
Shadow Agent sighed. "I feel like you need to take some time off, maybe working
right away isn't that good-"
"It's fine. And the sooner we get this over with, the better." Kara answered quickly. She just wanted to see Shadow Agent tomorrow, so she could be sure tonight wasn't just a fantasy. Everything had been so surreal, with Shadow Agent rescuing her and her dinner with Superwoman and Shadow Agent after...
The dark-clad hero seemed to take a few seconds to think before nodding grudgingly.
"Alright. Now, please rest. And I'm really, truly sorry for today."
"It's not your fault." Kara croaked out, smiling and wiping at her tears.
"Good night, Kara." With a final nod, Shadow Agent flew off until she disappeared round a high-rise in the far distance.
Kara stood there, looking out into the night sky for a while before going back inside to her laptop that she had left on her kitchen island to check her notifications. Seemed like everybody on her Facebook had seen the news of her abduction and were sending their thoughts and prayers. There were several emails from Clark, the last one being that Lois had talked to him and he knew Kara was back and she needed to CALL HIM.
Kara was about to head out the door to borrow a phone from Alex when she caught a look of herself in the reflection of her range hood. Her throat was a mass of ugly colours, as was one side of her face. She could barely see out of one eye.
"Yup, this is gonna be real impressive." Kara cringed, suddenly not feeling up to going over to see Alex. She wanted to, but… maybe she could deal with everything tomorrow. She popped a quick email to Clark to tell him she was alright and would call the next day, and another one to Cat so she knew Kara would be in for work tomorrow. Kara took a quick shower, blow-dried her hair and went through her nightly regimen, before stumbling to bed.
"Fricking frackle-lackle!" Kara tripped over the clothes she had tossed on the floor, careening onto her bed.
"Stupid Kara, stupid, stupid…" Kara reached down and pulled at the shirt that had tangled up her feet, feeling something crinkly in her shirt.
"Whaaa… oh." Kara took out the balled up pieces of paper and smoothed them out. It was a sketch of Shadow Agent on top of a pile of rubble, looking straight at her. Then another, a close up of Shadow Agent's face and her smirking mouth... Kara was quite proud of these drawings but would rather have destroyed them than let Shadow Agent see. She was so not going to let Shadow Agent know she was a TINY BIT of a fangirl, no way in hell. It would probably make the hero uncomfortable.
"But even after everything that happened, today wasn't a bad day at all." Kara mused sleepily. Lying back in bed with her drawings clutched to her chest, Kara was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.