Chapter 20 - Fresh Air

"Don't forget," Eliza called out as Kara and Clark were about to leave the penthouse.

"We will not be long," Kara promised again, glancing over everyone. Her gaze lingered a moment on Cat, who made a dismissive, shooing motion with her hand that made her smile.

Alex could only sigh in irritation, not liking the idea of Kara leaving while not having control of her powers.

Clark looked at Eliza and silently held up his cell phone and pointed to it with a grin, prompting Eliza to nod at him, then slightly shake her head, knowing he would better understand once he had children of his own.

When Kara and Clark left, Cat announced briskly "I'll be in my office," and promptly departed.

Feeling peckish, Alex went to the kitchen counter to find all of the pizza boxes empty. "Carter? Don't tell me you finished off all the pizzas," she accused in disbelief.

"Seriously?" he balked, insulted. "Clark did. I guess he was super hungry," he added with a smirk.

Alex quietly growled with irritation.

"You want to play another video game?" Carter joined her at the graveyard of boxes.

"How about you teach us Settlers of Catan," she countered, causing him to brighten.

"That sounds fun," Eliza said, joining her daughter in the kitchen and putting her arm around her shoulder, giving a warm hug. She knew Alex was not happy with Kara leaving . . . especially with Clark.

"Might as well learn another game I can lose to you," Alex grumbled, glancing at Carter, who chuckled.

SGSG

After a quiet walk in a park near Cat's penthouse, Kara finally spoke. "Thank you for coming."

"I'm happy to be here. I'm really happy you asked me to be," he said with a smile, knowing Lois felt the same from her emphatic "GO!" when he told her of Kara's request.

"I used to walk with my father. We would frequently stroll around Krypton's gardens. They were so beautiful," she said wistfully. "When we traveled to other worlds, we would walk around the most interesting sites," she said with a small smile at her happy memories.

"During those strolls, he would talk about their history and significance. Had he not been a leading scientist, I believe he would have been happy to be an educator," she shared fondly.

"My Aunt Astra would also walk with me. We discussed everything . . . philosophy, science, history, politics . . . my school projects. She always said it was important to be well-rounded, regardless of the Guild I would eventually join. I walked with her more than my mother," she noted thoughtfully. "It is hard for me to believe the woman who loved me like her own daughter would have endangered the Earth and become an enemy . . . ," she said sadly and fell silent.

Clark nodded in sympathy, knowing he would never understand the extent of Kara's turmoil.

"My Earth father, Johnathan Kent, would walk with me too," Clark offered, ending the silence. "We had many heart-to-heart conversations."

Kara nodded with satisfaction. "That is good. Very good."

"My mother preferred to chat while doing our chores together," Clark said fondly. "I worry about her; Dad died too soon. But I suppose that is how everyone feels when someone you love is lost," he said, then looked uncomfortably to Kara.

"I am sorry for your loss, Kal," Kara said sympathetically, placing a consoling hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you," he said, feeling guilty. "We've never really talked about your losses. Well, other than what you told us at the Fortress of Solitude."

"Hmm. Perhaps another time, Kal," Kara said softly, gaining an understanding nod. "I would like to meet your mother someday," she said with a smile.

"She'd love to see you again," he said enthusiastically. "You've met Martha before, but she'll understand the unique situation . . . she did raise me after all," he said with a laugh. "She's still running the farm and is as independent and stubborn as ever," he said proudly with big smile that pleased Kara.

"If she is anything like Alex or Eliza, I would be delighted to call her family," Kara said warmly.

Clark smiled. After a few quiet moments walking, he said, "Something tells me you did not ask me here to talk about Kryptonian or Human walks."

Kara took a breath and nodded. "I have a habit of talking about many things before I mention what I really want to discuss. Father said I should never feel nervous talking with him and it would be best to just get to the point, but Aunt Astra said it was a shrewd tactic to get a feel of my battlefield before engaging," Kara said, chuckling.

"Uh, well, I hope you are comfortable enough now to talk with me. What did you want to talk about?" he asked with an encouraging smile.

"Sex with a human."

SGSG

"Well, Clark's here," Cat said with her cell phone cradled between her cheek and shoulder as she sat at her desk and booted up her computer.

"That was pretty good time. How's Kara doing?" Lois asked.

"She's . . . managing. Her first instinct was to go hide . . . up North. She's terrified of hurting me . . . or any of us. Thankfully, she can't fly there on her own or she'd be there right now."

"Hmmm," Lois responded as if on the verge of figuring something out.

"What?!"

"It's just . . . a bit of an extreme response when getting used to . . . things."

"Yes, well, I agree. I told her it would hurt us more if she shut us out and not let us help her through this. I managed to calm her down, for now," Cat said, shaking her head.

"Hm hmmm," Lois responded knowingly, finding it interesting that it was Cat, not Eliza or Alex, that managed to calm her down.

"Good God, Lois, are you trying out for a Campbell's soup commercial?" Cat snapped.

"That would be Mmm Mmm good, Kitty Cat, not hm hmmm. I'm surprised the "Queen of All Media" didn't know that," Lois said with amusement.

"Nice chat," Cat said flatly, briskly tapping the red button to hang up and tossing her cell down on her desk with disgust.

With all the advantages of cell phones, there was one thing they could never beat landlines on. There was just something inherently satisfying when dramatically slamming a handset down on its cradle. Cat glanced at her rarely used landline and made a mental note to never call Lois on her cell if she could help it.

A moment later, her cell phone rang.

Cat rolled her eyes and answered. "What?!" she hissed.

"Touchy touchy. What did you call about before? I'm sure it wasn't to update me on Clark's whereabouts."

"Actually, I though you might like to know. I know I would," Cat said honestly, giving Lois pause. "And while the cousins are out for a walk, I thought I'd take the time to follow up on our investigation," Cat said, getting down to business.

"So far, there are no signs of her that I can find," Lois reported. "But my contacts are a bit . . . nervous. So something's going on. What? I don't know. One interesting thing of note is that Lillian is no longer in charge of all the Luthor assets. Her daughter, Lena, has recently taken controlling interest in the main one, Luthor Corp, and some of its subsidiary companies," she said eagerly.

"Was taken . . . or given?" Cat asked pointedly, not exactly thrilled with the news of another Luthor now in the mix, especially someone they knew nothing about. For all the notoriety the Luthor family had achieved from Lex's maniacal criminal acts "in the name of humanity," little was known about the daughter, other than she existed.

"It was taken from Lillian," Lois reported with glee. "After the stock plummeted with Lex's conviction, Lena used several shell corporations to buy controlling interest in the company," she explained, prompting Cat to search for Daily Planet and Wall Street Journal articles on the Luthor Corp takeover.

While the scant number of articles Cat found on this notable event was disappointing, it wasn't surprising; there was public fatigue with the Luthors after the plethora of sensational articles on Lex over the years, culminating in his very public trial. And, of course, financial news just did not sell as many papers.

"She struck when Luthor Corp was at its weakest. Shrewd . . . or ruinous," Cat offered, knowing turning around a company in such fiscal turmoil may not be possible.

"It will be interesting to see what happens next," Lois said with a chuckle. "Lena already voted out the existing management, including Lillian, and is currently restructuring. But the stocks haven't recovered."

"Not surprising. The market abhors instability," Cat offered, putting on her reading glasses as she read another article.

"And I would imagine cancellation of several lucrative projects with the defense industry doesn't help the bottom line. It's almost as if she was trying to torpedo the company. The financial penalties alone for contract breach cost her almost as much as the takeover," Lois said with amazement.

"Interesting that a hostile takeover was needed to gain a family asset . . . and at great expense and risk," Cat said thoughtfully. From her cursory review of the financial articles, Lena Luthor shunned the press, unlike her brother, who took every opportunity to preen and crow.

"Maybe Lena did it for sport," Lois suggested. "Lex certainly loved to one-up people. Maybe Lena took pleasure in outmaneuvering and ousting Lillian while cancelling her adored son's pet projects," Lois said, recalling Lillian's vocal support of her son and his 'noble' motives during the trial.

"That sounds like a psychiatrist's wet dream," Cat said flatly, making Lois snort. "In any event, it seems like Ms. Luthor is trying to actually save the company; why bother going through the trouble of hiring a new management team if she wasn't? The Planet reported a Samantha Arias was hired as CFO," Cat noted.

"Well, I'm not so sure about saving the company with a bunch of new and untested people in leadership," Lois said skeptically.

"Perhaps it's an assumed risk to get a fresh start with people she trusts. But as intriguing as this takeover and restructuring is, the more immediate concern is Lillian's intent on continuing her son's psychopathic hobby of trying to murder Kryptonians," Cat reported, then exclaimed with disgust, "God! What the hell is wrong with that family!?"

"Bigotry, xenophobia, fear, and a big-ass superiority complex," Lois rattled off, making Cat snort.

"Oh, is that all?" Cat said with a chuckle.

"I'm sure there is more, but I think I've covered the major points," Lois smirked.

"You usually do. Can you give me a list of the Luthor assets that Lillian still controls near National City? Something tells me she would want to be close to her target," Cat said.

"Ok. Where should I send that list to?"

"My email we used on the Senator Hawthorne case," Cat said with a smirk.

"You still have that?" Lois said with surprise.

"I found I couldn't part with it, as it was associated with so many fond memories."

"Bitch."

"You still received credit and shared the award, if I'm not mistaken," Cat said smoothly.

"I wrote the article and was second on the byline!" Lois spat.

"Are you seriously still mad about being second? And whose editing molded it into the masterpiece it became!?" Cat quickly spat back.

"You wouldn't have had anything to work with unless I wrote it!"

"Whose sources gave us the . . . ?" Cat immediately countered, then realized she had been disconnected.

Cat had to smirk, recalling how stunned Lois was years ago, hearing Perry White give Cat what was rarely heard in the bullpen - a genuine compliment about their article. He shifted uncomfortably when he spotted Lois and gruffly added, "You too, Lane," before retreating to his office.

Being first in the byline had poured gasoline on their infamous rivalry. But it was Cat's subsequent, intentionally obnoxious preening over being first had struck the match, causing the conflagration that kept their names in the tabloids long after the award-winning story and resulting political fallout were forgotten.

Too bad Lois didn't do her investigative homework or hard time as Perry's assistant like she had, Cat mused. One of these days she would have to tell her that Perry just listed their names alphabetically.

With a chuckle, Cat opened her in-progress Myriad article on her computer and started typing.

SGSG

To say Clark was relieved to hear the sharp sounds of gunfire would be an understatement.

He looked to Kara, who also heard the noise, which caused her to flinch uncomfortably.

"Gunfire. A lot of it. Always a bad sign. I should go take care of that," he quickly announced and suddenly changed into his Superman suit. "You'll be ok here?" He asked his stunned cousin, who nodded numbly as she accepted his civilian things. "If I take too long, can you use the phone to call Eliza?" He asked, holding up his phone.

Kara looked to the device then back to Kal with another silent nod, prompting a smile as he put the phone on the pile of clothes. "Up up and away," he grinned and shot up into the air.

Kara watched him swiftly head towards the disturbance, still amazed he could fly.

SGSGSG

Hovering over the business district, Superman quickly spotted the cause of the commotion. A man marched through the city, pushing and tossing cars as if they weighed nothing, leaving wanton destruction in his wake. The police, sheltered behind their cruisers, shot at him, having no apparent effect. It almost seemed as if he were a Kryptonian.

Scanning over the scene, Superman was saddened and angered, noting three dead among the wreckage caused by this violent man. Spotting two passengers desperately trying to escape their burning car that had been tossed on its side, he quickly landed and blew out the flames before turning the car back onto its wheels. In a burst of super speed, he tore off the dented doors and extracted the elderly couple, delivering them to safety.

"Oh my God. Thank you!" the woman gasped as she clutched her husband.

"Thank you, Superman!" the husband blurted as he trembled.

With a grim nod at the couple, Superman flew towards the man terrorizing National City, determined to stop the deadly mayhem. "Stop!" he commanded, hovering above the man who had just tossed another parked car, which knocked down a streetlamp and landed in a store front, causing a shower of sparks. "Why are you doing this?!" Superman asked, landing in front of him. He took an uneasy step, startled when he began to feel queazy.

The man smiled malevolently.

SGSGSG

Carter enthusiastically explained the Settler's of Catan game to Eliza and Alex. "You accumulate victory points by building cities and settlements and you can earn special victory points, like by having the biggest army or . . . ," he said, interrupted by Alex's cell phone ringing.

Eliza and Carter looked at her anxiously as she checked the caller. "Uh, it's work," Alex informed them, getting up. "Sorry, bud. Excuse me?" she said to Carter, who smiled with a nod.

Moving to the kitchen for some privacy, Alex answered, "What's up, J'onn?"

"We've detected a large spike of kryptonite radiation in the center of National City. According to police chatter, there is a man with super-human strength attacking civilians and destroying property," he said as Vasquez called to him in the background. "Wait one, Alex. What is it, Vasquez? He is?" J'onn said with surprise, then reported to Alex, "Superman is on scene. I didn't know he was in town."

"God damn it! He came to talk with Kara. They went for a walk!" Alex blurted in frustration and started to pace.

"You mean she's outside, alone, while this is going on?" he said, alarmed.

"I'm heading to the scene," Alex said abruptly and hung up, noting all the worried looks directed her way.

"What's going on, Alex?" Eliza asked as Cat joined them.

"Trouble downtown involving kryptonite. Superman is on scene," Alex said bluntly.

"Where the hell is Kara?" Cat blurted with concern.

SGSG

Hearing the strangled groans from Kal-El through the continued sharp cracks of gunfire, Kara took her glasses off and glanced towards the disturbing sounds. The distant image of her cousin on the ground writhing in pain came into focus, startling her.

She could hear the violent man's taunts as he towered over her fallen cousin. "I was hoping for the girl. But you'll do," he grinned, pulling his shirt open to reveal the green disk in the center of his chest. When he stepped forward, a green beam shot out, causing her cousin to thrash about in more pain.

"I wonder how long it takes to kill a Kryptonian?" he said with amusement, continuing to bombard Superman with the green light "Not so super now, are we, Super man?" He laughed.

Kal was not going to survive the attack! She had to save him from the green radiation!

Kara glanced frantically around, her x-ray vision sweeping through different structures as her mind raced for options. Her scanning stopped when she focused curiously on something she couldn't see through. A plan suddenly came to mind.

With a swiftness that startled her, she found herself in front of a closed shop, nearly toppling over from her sudden stop. She glanced up at the the large wooden sign displayed over the door - Captain Bob's Dive and Tackle Shop.

Still hearing the disturbing sounds of her cousin's continued distress, she grabbed the door handle, inadvertently tearing it completely off. With an irritated sigh, she tossed the handle aside and pushed the door open . . . with more force than intended. It flew open, with a loud bang, shattering the glass and leaving a splintered wooden frame. With a slight, guilty cringe at the damage, she entered the store and spotted the material she couldn't see through at the back of the shop.

Tossing Clark's belongings onto the counter next to the cash register, Kara headed towards the barrel of diving weights. She picked up one weight, which looked like a thick buckle, and frowned; hauling around a container of loose weights would be unwieldy during any rescue attempt. Hearing more gunfire and Kal-El's groans, she anxiously picked up the barrel of lead weights with surprising ease and moved to the front on the store where there was room to work. After pouring the weights noisily onto the floor, she absently tossed the barrel aside as she crouched down next to the pile of buckles, wincing at the sound of glass shattering when the barrel finished its flight across the room and crashed into the glass display case of diving watches.

After a heavy exhale, she stared at the weights with great determination, knowing one of her powers was supposed to be heat vision. She stared. And stared. And stared.

Only managing to prove she still could not see through the material, she frowned then glared at the weights with disgust, causing an odd sensation to bubble up behind her eyes - just before intense beams of light shot out. Yelping with surprise, she recoiled, causing the beams to travel up over the counter and cash register to the wall of fishing poles, engulfing everything in its path in flames.

"Rao!" She blurted nervously, jumping up to deal with the fire, frantically waving her hands and awkwardly blowing. Managing to extinguish the flames, she blinked at her success, which now looked like a tornado hit the store . . . during an ice storm . . . after an unfortunate fire.

Pushing aside her guilt, she inspected the metal, which had slightly deformed. She stared at it again, this time not jumping back . . . much . . . when the beams of light shot out, further melting the metal. After a moment, Kara hesitantly reached out to touch the now orange, molten metal. In spite of Alex's claim about her being fireproof, a niggling doubt remained until she tentatively dipped her finger tips into the bright liquid. To her relief, she only felt the heat, not the intense pain she expected. With a hopeful smile, she started to shape the metal into something she could carry.

After some more heat vision and sculpting, she donned the make-shift shield on her arm and swiftly departed in a powerful gust, leaving the remnants from ruined dive and fishing magazines to gently snow down upon the charred floor and counter.