The air still smelled of burning rubber and spilled gasoline. Flashing red and blue lights painted the city streets as paramedics tended to shaken survivors. What should have been a devastating crash, a pile-up involving a jackknifed truck and three cars, had miraculously ended with zero fatalities.
Because of her.
The young woman in blue and red stood awkwardly at the edge of the scene, shifting on her feet as people stole glances her way. Whispers spread through the small crowd.
"Did you see her lift that truck?"
"She's got the Superman symbol!"
"Is she his sister? His daughter?"
"Supergirl…"
Kara Zor-El ignored them, eyes downcast as she fiddled with the sleeves of her suit. It was the same outfit she had worn the day she arrived on Earth, the last parting gift from her father and a relic of her lost homeworld. It was made specifically for her, fit to her measurements, dyed in the colours of her family and adorned with the symbol of her Kryptonian House.
Back home, she would've worn it with pride. Did wear it with pride. It was customary for all citizens to wear the colours of their houses. But here, on Earth, it served as a reminder of just how alien she was.
The culture was different. The fashion was different. People on earth didn't dress as brightly, most of them anyway. The designs were more varied, less tailored to the wearer, and interchangeable. It felt like humans could own a hundred different outfits without repeating a single one. Yet at the same time, there were unspoken rules for how you were supposed to dress.
No one wore capes. That was reserved for the meta-human class apparently and it made Kara stick out before she even learned to fly. And while the cape caught her some odd looks, it didn't seem to break any social taboos. Unlike her unitard...
The suit left the majority of her thighs exposed. Kara had never considered her outfit as risqué in any sense of the word, it was the style worn by every member of the Science Guild. All genders in the guild wore this style of suit. But here on Earth, it was yet another cultural taboo.
It confused her to no end. Humans wore similar attire when swimming, yet when worn on land seemed to provoke a negative reaction from most. It also seemed to be considered as an effeminate attire, but seeing as she was a woman, there shouldn't be a problem, right?
Yet here she was. Feeling self-conscious in an outfit that had once been so normal for her.
However, the biggest cultural difference when it came to wearing her Kryptonian suit, wasn't the colour, the cape or the lack of conformity to human fashion. No, the biggest taboo was the symbol of her family.
On Krypton, the House of El was a respected and honoured family. But also one of many respected and honoured families. People in certain circles occasionally treated her with undue respect simply because of her family name, the rest of the population simply thought of her family as a group of respectable scientists, nothing more.
Here on Earth though, her house had a far different reputation.
The people looked at Kara with awe, wonder and hope in their eyes. They stared at her like she was the living embodiment of Rao himself. Bestowing her with a name and a title, that she didn't want or feel worthy of.
Supergirl.
She'd only been on Earth for a handful of weeks and had done little more than fly around some cities with her cousin. This was the first time she'd had to put her powers to good use. And, if she was being honest, she was a bit scared.
It had all happened so fast. Kal was giving her another joint language and flying lesson when his communication device beeped. Something about a league emergency. He apologised and took off in the blink of an eye, leaving her to find a way back to Smallville. However, Kara got lost.
She was still learning the layout of the planet and where each continent was located. She'd managed to work out where America was, and after a brief flight across the coastline, found her way to Metropolis. From there, she knew the direction back and would've gotten back to the farm safely had a truck not veered off the road of a very busy highway.
Without a second thought, she'd reacted. Using the powers that were still as foreign to her as they were to the humans she'd saved. Perhaps more so, considering the city.
Now, here she was, standing at the edge of the scene, unsure what to do with herself.
It wasn't her first time in the city, she'd watched Kal help several people here. But it was her first time being here alone and on the ground. People kept staring at her, taking pictures with their communicators and whispering. She felt completely out of place.
She hadn't wanted to talk to anyone. Not yet. She was still trying to get the hang of speaking English. Her Kryptonian accent was thick and she had noticed that people often found it difficult to understand her. The humans in Smallville were polite and patient enough, especially the Kents, who were doing everything they could to help her adjust. But here, in a big city, and after her first rescue, she felt overwhelmed.
The people she saved offered their thanks. Some of them spoke too fast for her to understand. Then came the authorities, who attempted to question her about the incident. The man who first approached her started asking her questions, but his accent was odd compared to those she had encountered in Smallville and he kept using words she didn't understand.
It took some time to realise they were asking her to turn the truck over and open up traffic. Something Kara felt stupid for not realising sooner. She was grateful when the authority man gave her a thumbs up, a gesture that coincidentally meant the same thing back on Krypton.
Kara was also grateful that the authorities kept the local populace back. It was difficult enough to make herself understood. The thought of trying to answer the barrage of questions people had about her was overwhelming.
That didn't appear to stop one woman from approaching. Kara was unsure if the woman worked with the authorities or not, she wasn't wearing a uniform. She moved with sharp confidence, pressing forward like she belonged anywhere she set foot and didn't seem the type to take no for an answer.
"Hey there," The woman greeted smoothly, flashing a laminated badge that Kara couldn't read. "Lois Lane, Daily Planet."
Kara straightened at the name. Kal had mentioned her. Kal lived a human life, with a human name. And most other humans didn't know about his alter-ego. Kara didn't know how much this Lois woman knew about her cousin, or her for that matter, but she did know that Lois was one of the few people he trusted. But still… talking was hard.
Lois, noting the girl's hesitation, softened her approach. "I'm not here to interrogate you. I just want to ask a few questions."
Kara wasn't sure what a terror gate was, but it sounded bad. She nodded, trying not to appear as anxious as she felt. Lois gestured vaguely at the red-and-yellow crest on Kara's chest.
"So, it's pretty obvious by now that you bear some relation to Superman," Lois started gently. "We've seen you flying with him for the last couple of days. However, he's been vague on the details. Tell me, in your own words. Who are you? And what exactly is your relation to Superman?"
Kara exhaled. She could do this. English. Small words. No nervous babbling.
She lifted her chin. "I am Kara Zor-El. I am…" She paused, searching for the right phrase. "Kal-El's... uh. Cousin?" The Kents had used the word a few times.
Lois's pen scratched across her notepad. "Superman's cousin? I see. Fascinating. From Krypton I assume?"
The word caught her off guard. A small stab of pain twisted in her chest. Kara blinked it away before she could dwell on it.
"Yes," She said, betraying none of her inner turmoil.
"According to Superman, his home planet was destroyed over thirty years ago?" Lois went on, looking at her curiously. "How is it that you've only just arrived? Is there a chance the destruction of Krypton was less... total than he was led to believe? And are more of you on the way?"
Kara's mind flashed with images. A red sun rising above a devastated wasteland. An empty sky filled with the dying cries of her people. Her home, her world, reduced to rubble.
She shook her head. Focusing on translating the question.
"No," Kara said sombrely. "No more Krypton. Only us..." Lois gave her a sympathetic look, with a small twinge of guilt. Kara was grateful for the silence that followed. "And uh," Kara went on, eager to change the subject. "My ship get caught in a... a? Um?..." Her hands gestured aimlessly, struggling for the word, then pointed up into the sky.
Lois followed her hand. "A cloud?"
"Yes!" Kara brightened, nodding enthusiastically. "A cloud. In space, hold ship. Slow down very much. I land only recently."
"Right," Lois said, jotting down a note. "That must be why we haven't seen you until now. So, you grew up on Kypt-" She cut herself off, catching the flinch in Kara's expression. "-uh. Never mind, we don't have to talk about that," She flipped through her notepad, looking for a safer topic. "What can you tell me about the scene that happened here? Is this your debut as Supergirl? Can we expect more heroics in the future?"
"Heroic?" Kara's brow creased, unsure of the word. She shook her head. "I'm not... Hero? I close by. So I help. Stop people hurting."
"Sound's pretty heroic to me," Lois said, tapping her pen. "Glad to know that being a big blue boy scout, or girl scout as the case may be, is a family trait. I'm sure the citizens of Metropolis will be glad to know that we're in good hands."
"Girl scout?" Kara asked, confused.
At that, Lois arched an eyebrow and gave the girl a once-over. "Actually, speaking on which. You look young. Like, really young. Not a kid, but... How old are you?"
Kara could see the slight judgement in the reporter's expression and suddenly felt self-conscious again. She shifted nervously, feeling the need to defend herself. She wasn't a child, despite what Kal and the Kent's thought. She was an adult. The suit she wore proved it.
Only upon reaching adulthood would a Kryptonian receive their suit and be allowed to wear the sigil of their house. And while Kara was young, only a few months into her adulthood before Krypton's destruction, she could proudly state she was the mature age of-
"Twelve!" Kara declared, puffing up her chest with pride.
Lois froze. The pen stopped moving. A beat of silence stretched between them.
"I'm sorry, what?" Lois's eyebrows lifted in disbelief.
"I am twelve!" Kara repeated, nodding proudly.
Lois blinked. Then blinked again. Then looked over at the totalled cars, at the girl who had ripped open doors with her bare hands, lifted a whole truck, and carried two injured people at once without breaking a sweat, and then looked back at Kara, who was still standing tall with pride.
A paramedic nearby audibly choked. Someone else whispered, "Oh my God, a child just bench-pressed a semi."
Kara's defiant pride faltered slightly at the stunned look on the woman's face. She'd just broken another cultural taboo, hadn't she?
Lois's mouth opened. Then closed. Then opened again. "You're twelve years old?" She gestured back to Kara's body, the height alone being an argument. "Do Kryptonians age differently or something? I would've guessed you were closer to twenty."
Kara wasn't sure if she was being insulted or not. She didn't look Twenty! She was younger than the reporter and Lois didn't look a day over seventeen-
"Ah," Kara said, realising her mistake. "Sorry. I still learning human language. Earth maths is... different," Kara waved a hand, trying to find the word. "Different counting?"
Lois pondered it for a moment, confused at first, then slowly understanding. "Right. You mean twelve in Kryptonian years, not Earth years."
"Yes." Kara nodded, relieved. "Earth years small. Krypton years big."
Lois's pen was at work again. "Interesting. So, any idea how old you are in Earth years?"
Kara tilted her head, thinking. There were several conversions she had to do in her head. Her brain wasn't quite used to Earth's math. Seconds were the same, but minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years were completely different. And then there was the fact that humans didn't even have tridents, which was a measurement that sat between hours and days.
Sixty-four seconds to a minute, sixty-four minutes to an hour, six hours to a trident, three tridents to a day, four days to a week, eight weeks to a month, seventeen months and two days to a year, excluding leap years every five years. Converting to human measurements would be faster if she had her old computer, but a quick calculation and a bit of estimation would be enough.
"Nineteen," She answered. Pausing briefly before waving her hand around. Eighteen to nineteen. Close enough.
"That makes more sense," Lois said, nodding as she wrote. "Still a little on the young side, but better. We've had teens with powers before, so the public will accept it easier."
"Teen?" Kara asked.
"Someone between the ages of thirteen and eighteen," Lois explained, tapping her pen against her chin. "Not a child, but not quite an adult."
Kara wasn't sure she approved of that. Human culture was confusing. You were either a child or an adult, why did they have a middle ground?
"So," Lois continued. "If you're twelve, how old is Superman?" Lois smirked like she was setting up a trap.
Kara did another quick calculation. It was easier now that she'd already done it once.
"Seventeen?" Kara frowned. It still felt weird to her, knowing that her younger cousin was actually older now. "But Kal was just baby when I left. So Wait. Maybe that make me... Twenty-nine?..." Her frown doubled down. She wasn't sure if she should count her chronological age or just her biological age. Space travel was confusing. "No, no. Too confusing. I am twelve. And half. Or uh. Nineteen. Yes."
Lois chuckled, shaking her head. "Yeah, that does sound a little confusing." She clicked her pen closed, offering Kara a reassuring smile. "Well, I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. I can tell you're still adjusting, so I won't keep you much longer." She tucked her notepad away and gave Kara a considering look. "But I'd love to sit down for a real interview once you're more settled in. The people of Metropolis are going to have a lot of questions about their new hero."
Kara shifted on her feet, uncertain. "Hero? I don't know…" She glanced at the people still gathered near the wreckage, some still staring at her in awe. "I… help, but…"
Lois nodded, as if she understood. "Well, if you ever want to talk, about that or anything else, just find me at the Daily Planet. Or, y'know, you could just land on my balcony. Superman does it all the time."
Kara managed a small smile at that. "Kal said you are… nice lady."
Lois smirked. "Did he now? I'll have to remind him of that next time he gives me a hard time."
Kara gave her a small nod, then glanced up at the sky, ready to leave. The attention was starting to overwhelm her again, and the conversation had taken more energy than she expected. Without another word, she lifted off the ground, rising effortlessly above the street. A few people gasped and pointed, but Kara barely noticed as she took off into the sky.
A few minutes later, she found Kal hovering above the Metropolis skyline, arms crossed as he watched the city below. He turned at the sound of her approach, offering a small, apologetic smile. "Hey. Sorry about earlier. There was a League situation."
Kara nodded, landing beside him. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah. Just one of those 'minor nuclear reactor meltdown' things," He said lightly, but his expression was tired. Then his eyes flicked over her curiously. "What about you? You get into anything while I was gone?"
Kara thought about the accident, the rescue, and the strange but kind woman with the notepad. She thought about how people had looked at her, whispered about her, given her a name she wasn't sure she wanted.
She exhaled and gave Kal a small, thoughtful smile.
"I had a nice conversation."
