Chapter 28
“ Alex Danvers,” Kara squeaked out, her mind whirling. “Oh, um, yes, hi, Alex, nice to meet you. I’m Kara.” She stuck out her hand to the other woman, “Oh, well, you already know that, so um, hi?”
“Hi,” Alex replied hesitantly, shaking her hand. The brunette stared at her for a few moments, a puzzled expression etched on her face. “I'm sorry, but have we met? You look really familiar…”
“Maybe I just have one of those faces,” Kara laughed awkwardly. She wished the earth would open up and swallow her right then and there.
“Maybe,” the brunette looked at the blonde again before shaking her head. “So Sawyer, breakfast?”
“Why don’t you both join me?” Oh Rao, why did I say that? “The breakfast rush is starting and it’ll be difficult to find a table.” Shit shit shit.
The two women glanced around and noticed that the majority of the tables were already full, other than big ones that were typically reserved for families, and took the offered seats across from Kara. “So Kara,” Maggie started after she put in her food order with Brie. “Since I haven’t seen you in so long, what are you doing? Still painting I hope?”
“Oh yeah, whenever I have time, but I’m pretty busy these days working,” she paused for a moment to glance at Alex. “Um, working for Cat Grant, she keeps me pretty busy.”
Alex snorted while Maggie looked at the blonde incredulously, “You work for the Cat Grant, what’s that like?”
“I’m her assistant, so it’s pretty challenging but rewarding, watching as she changes the world,” Kara replied, still devouring her food. It was really awkward sitting, eating breakfast with her wife and her wife’s girlfriend who was also her older sister’s ex-fiancếe. Why did her life have to be so complicated? “Speaking of that, if I don’t finish breakfast and have her latte waiting for her when she gets to work, she’ll probably fire half of the staff.” She waved at Brie from the table, letting her know to get her to-go order ready and to bring her check out when she was done.
“Don’t worry about it Kara,” Maggie said, setting her hand over the bill when Brie dropped it off with Kara’s order. “I’ve got it.”
“You sure? I mean, I ate more than the both of you combined,” the blonde said, glancing at the meager food on the other two women’s plates.
“It’s fine, I remember how much you eat, consider it my apology for not seeing you in so long,” the woman told her. “Do you still have the same number? I’ll call you, we should hangout. Right Alex?” She turned her attention to the brunette sitting next to her and the woman nodded.
“Ah, right, yeah, yeah we should hangout sometime. I would love to get to know some more of Maggie’s friends,” Alex said, nodding her head at Kara.
“I wouldn’t want to be a third wheel…” Kara would rather go through her innoculations again.
“You can invite one of your friends,” Maggie told her. “You’re from National City, and I could always use some more friends, Alex doesn’t really have any outside of work.”
“Speak for yourself Sawyer,” Alex grumbled a bit, nudging the shorter woman in the ribs.
“I’ll think about it,” Kara promised. “Just text me later Maggie.”
The two women watched as the blonde raced out of the cafe with her coffee and takeout bag clutched in her hand. Maggie turned to her companion, her brow raised at the contemplative expression on Alex’s face. “What’s wrong?” She asked, “Did you not like Kara?”
“No, she seems great, like a walking ball of sunshine really, but…” Alex’s voice trailed off for a moment. “I can’t help but feel like I’ve met her before.”
“Well you have lived in National City for a few years and she grew up here, so it is possible that you’ve run into her before,” Maggie replied.
Alex looked after the blonde thoughtfully, “Maybe, just seems familiar, almost like a dream…” She shook her head, “It’ll come to me later, right now I have to get to work. The director has everyone on high alert for Supergirl.”
Maggie tried not to snort at the irony of the situation and just focused on the topic at hand. “Why are you guys going after Supergirl? I mean, she’s a hero right? She’s not hurting anyone, in fact she’s helping people.”
“Since when are you a fan of superheroes?” Alex asked, “First few weeks after we met, all you did was complain about the vigilantes in Gotham.”
“They’re different, they’re… annoying,” Maggie breathed out. “But Supergirl doesn’t step on cops’ toes from what I’ve seen, though she hasn’t done much yet. I thought you were a big supporter of Superman?”
“Superman is different, we know his story, he’s been a hero for years, doing good. We don’t know anything about this Supergirl, so we need to bring her in and talk to her,” Alex defended. “We monitor alien or meta-human activities Mags, we have to at least bring her in to talk to her.”
“Will you even be able to catch her?”
Alex frowned a bit, “No success so far, but we’re working on it. I’ll see you later Sawyer.”
“Later Danvers,” the Latina woman returned. She watched her girlfriend leave, but her mind was on the blonde that left earlier. There’s something going on with Kara, she thought, something other than dealing with her mother as her boss and being National City’s newest hero. And I’m going to find out what.
“Wait, Maggie, like Kate’s ex Maggie is in town, and she’s dating your wife, one Alex Danvers,” Lena voice came through the phone.
“Yup,” Kara sighed out, pinching the bridge of her nose. It was a habit she had picked up from Cat when the woman was staving off an intense headache.
Lena was silent for a few minutes before Kara heard cackles of laughter from the device. “Oh god, oh Rao, that is so funny, this is so funny. Your life, your life is like a soap opera,” her friend breathed out between peals of laughter, causing Kara to roll her eyes.
“You’re the worst Lena,” Kara grumbled, “I don’t know why we’re even friends.”
“Because you love me,” the brunette replied. “Oh, and I forgot to tell you, someone dropped out of the Venture test launch next month and the organizers approached me about taking the seat.”
“Didn’t they ask you last year if you wanted a seat, and you said no?”
“I wasn’t sure if I would have time, I’m still not sure, the full opening of the company in National City and the renaming ceremony is the day after the launch, so I might not have time.”
“So you’re just going to reserve the seat just in case?”
“It would be a fun opportunity. Nothing like being flown around via Kryptonian Air, but still exciting, just in a different way.”
“Well I’m glad I’m still your favorite way to travel,” the blonde rolled her eyes but couldn’t keep the small smile from spreading on her face.
“Faster and better for the environment, though I break even on the cost by having to feed you.”
“Lena…”
“Hmm? Oh, there’s a fire near an oil tanker at the docks. Probably could use some super intervention. Be careful with the tanker though, it won’t hold up to the strain of super strength so moving it won’t work, you’ll have to put out the fire.”
Kara had already changed directions and darted into an alley, changing into her suit at super speed before flying off towards the docks. Her mask was set firmly against her face and her blonde hair whipped around her as she flew, Lena’s voice still sounding in her ear since she switched to her com. “How do you suggest I deal with it then?” Kara asked.
“Freeze breath would put out the fire, but extreme cold like that might also damage the tanker. Cold water is very different from a concentrated burst of cold air… Can you spin really fast in the ocean and make a water spout? Enough to douse the fire?”
“I can try,” Kara said as she stopped in front of the fire to assess the situation. She heard calls of Supergirl from the first responders on the ground, and gave them a quick wave before diving into the harbor. Minutes later, she emerged in the middle of a cyclone and directed it towards the flames. They extinguished enough for the firefighters on scene to gain control of the blaze and for the freighter to be safely tugged out of the way.
She landed on the ground near the firefighters, her hair and suit still soaking wet, waiting to see if they still needed help. “Thank you Supergirl,” the fire chief said, clasping her hand. “You managed to avoid a huge disaster today.”
“We all did,” Kara told him. “We’re better if we work together.” She pushed off from the ground and quickly found her clothes again and returned on her errand to fetch Cat and herself some lunch. After her shocking and awkward breakfast, she walked to work in a daze and completed her morning. She didn’t get the chance to call Lena and tell her what happened until lunch time, and even then she was interrupted by Supergirl business.
“Good save on the oil tanker,” Winn whispered when she returned a little while later with her mother’s lettuce wrap and her second lunch. She ate the first part of her lunch while waiting for the second part to finish cooking.
“Thanks,” Kara beamed, her eyes trained on the television to see images of her already splashed on the screens with interviews from the onlookers and first responders.
“It’s a good thing that tanker didn’t catch fire, that would’ve been, well, you know, bad,” Winn whistled.
Before Kara could reply, James walked up close to the both of them, still frowning at the sight of the heroine on the screen. “Wonder why she didn’t put the fire out completely? Or use freeze breath like she did for that warehouse fire?” He asked. “I mean, that might have put it out quicker.”
“Maybe Supergirl knew something that we didn’t?” Winn suggested.
“And the firefighters were there to finish putting out the fire, she took out the most imminent danger, keeping the fire from that tanker. Firefighters are professionals, so who better to put out a fire?” Kara pointed out.
James inclined his head briefly, “I can understand that, put wouldn’t it have been safer if she had just put out the whole fire herself?”
“It’s their job dude, Supergirl shouldn’t take that from them,” Winn told him. Kara was about to add something as well but a piercing sound echoed through her ears, causing her to falter. “You okay Kar?” Winn asked as he saw her rub her forehead.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just a headache, probably hydrated,” Kara replied with a tight smile, all the while listening to a message coming in at 50,000 hertz.
“If you can hear this, you were not born on Earth…” The voice hissed out and Kara rolled her eyes despite the pain in her head. “Painful isn’t it?” I’ve dealt with worse really. “The humans of National City will suffer 10 times this pain if you don’t face me.” Kara ignored the rest of his threat, cataloguing where he wanted to meet while she analyzed the alien’s message. He called her Daughter of Alura, meaning that he knew who she was, that it was personal. She was under no delusion that her mother didn’t have enemies; she was an judicator on Krypton, a judge, she sentenced people to prison, to Fort Rozz, one of the worst prisons in the galaxy. She offered no leniency or mercy as she sent prisoners to Fort Rozz in the Phantom Zone. Some got out, served their sentences and left, mere shells of who they were when they went it. Still others remained locked up, frozen in time as the universe changed around them while they remained the same.
Kara knew her mother hurt people, and that whoever was calling out to her was one of those people. What she didn’t know was how he came to be on Earth, and who exactly he was. She turned around from the sink she was pressed against to glance back through the walls into the office. Winn was busy at his computer, her mother was in her office going over some proofs for the new edition, and the rest of her executive staff coworkers were plugging away at their own jobs.
She didn’t know what she was facing with this alien, but she knew that she couldn’t let him have the chance to carry out his threat. She took the stairs to to the roof, spun into her suit and took off for the National City power plant. Kara hovered over the buildings, knowing that each one had a lead coating to contain any electricity or possible radiation. She used to come out here at night as a kid to practice with her x-ray vision without having to worry about looking through buildings to see something she didn’t want to see.
The heartbeat pounding in her ears, slower than a normal human’s, was her only indication that he was here. Kara landed on the ground, her senses on high alert as she waited. There was a slight movement behind her, just a rustle of dirt on the ground, and spun out of the way as a bald man with a ridged head and a gleaming axe flew through the space she had just occupied. She retaliated with a kick to his sternum, sending him back a few feet but realizing that he nearly matched her in strength.
“Who are you?” Kara demanded, her eyes hard under her mask.
The alien stumbled to his feet, a harsh glare on his face and his axe clutched tightly in his hand. “I am Vartox,” he hissed out. “Your mother sentenced me to life in prison.”
“How are you here?”
Vartox just smirked and pointed his axe at her. “You will pay for her crimes daughter of Alura.”
He charged at her again, swinging his axe that had begun to glow with an unnatural light, and Kara cursed silently to herself. The sword Diana had given her on Themyscira would've come in handy at the moment. She released the clasp on her cape to allow her greater mobility, and met the hand wielding the axe with her arm, blocking the blow and countering with a swift punch to his face.
Kara could feel a slight crunch of bones and flesh as her fist connected with his head. Her left hand shifted to grab his arm, and jerked him down so that her knee connected with his head and her foot with his chest. Vartox shifted back and Kara released him to let gravity and momentum take its course as he crashed back down into the ground. “You were supposed to be untrained,” Vartox growled as he heaved himself up again, his axe at the ready but his eyes wary.
She didn’t say anything, just readied for another bout when she detected a third heartbeat in the area and the rotating sound of chopper blades. Vartox must’ve heard them too because he launched his axe in the direction of the heart beat and Kara cursed silently again as she spotted the black clad figure the weapon was speeding towards. Kara moved and pulled the woman away, but not fast enough before the axe reached them, catching Kara in the leg. She let out a loud cry of pain as it cut through the side of her leg, but got the agent out of the way before turning back to face Vartox, ignoring the shooting pain.
The alien just hissed at her again and used her injured leg against her, slamming a quick kick into the wound before grabbing his axe and disappearing through the buildings. Kara sighed and limped over to where her cape was lying on the ground, and reattached it around her shoulders. She glanced back at the agent she had pushed out of the way and only just then realized that it was Alex she had saved, Alex who was glaring at her with a harsh expression and a gun trained on her. The chopper had circled back until it was right behind her and Kara could sense they too had their guns aimed at her as well. “You’re the people that tried to shoot me down the other night,” Kara stated shifting a little so she had both Alex and the chopper in her sights.
“You’re an unknown alien with extraordinary powers,” Alex said, “We have to bring you in to assess if you are a danger.”
“Who is ‘we’?”
“The Department of Extranormal Operations, now are you going to come in quietly or are we going to have to use force?”
“I don’t take kindly to being forced, especially by shady government groups,” Kara returned, taking a step back from the agent. Before the words could finish leaving her mouth, Alex and the other agents had fired their weapons, glowing green darts heading straight for her, but Kara was already moving out of the way. She used her cape as a shield, and sped around the buildings, pushing off into the air to get away from the agent on the ground.
The chopper was one of the newer models designed for speed and maneuverability, but it was no match for her training in the sky with Wonder Woman or through the buildings of Gotham with Batwoman. She easily lost the agents tailing her and doubled back to observe the ones on the ground from a distance. Alex, Agent Danvers, spoke with a few of the other agents and through the radio before flailing her hands around in anger. Kara didn’t need to use her super hearing to know that the woman was upset that the agents in the chopper had lost her. She smirked, pleased to know that she had caused some frustration for the shady, government agency and for the agent, though she know it was purely vindictive and uncalled for in Alex’s case. It wasn’t Alex’s fault that she didn’t remember Kara or the fact that they had a one-night stand years ago, or that they got married just prior to said one-night stand.
A burning sensation registered in her leg and Kara hissed as she remembered that the creepy, glowing axe managed to slice through her as she pushed Danvers out of the way. Now she had to figure out if she was going to die from some glowing, alien poison. She took off through the air again, calling Lena as she flew.
“Please tell me that you have an emergency,” Lena’s voice came through the phone. “Anything to get out of my next meeting with the head of marketing. It’s my last meeting of the day, and while he has very interesting ideas, he is so boring to talk too.”
Kara laughed weakly, “Well, funny that, I do kind of have an emergency. I may… well, I may have gotten sliced by a glowing axe wielded by a crazy alien.” Lena was silent for a few minutes, leading Kara to believe that the call was dropped. “Lena?”
“I’m sorry, I thought you just said you got sliced by a glowing axe wielded by a crazy alien.”
“Lena! I’m being serious, get with it! It really burns.”
“Alright alright, just fly to my office if you can do it without being spotted. Don’t really need that kind of publicity.”
“Did your balcony get finished?”
“Yeah. It won’t withstand a Kryptonian collapsing on it, so if you have plans to die before you get here, don’t land on the balcony.”
“Your concern for me is astounding,” Kara rolled her eyes.
“Just get here already so I can make sure you’re not going to die.”
Kara ended the call and changed directions to head towards Lena’s office, only slowing down when she was a few feet from the concrete. She faltered a little as her weight impacted the cut on her leg and fell over, grabbing at one of the balcony chairs to keep her upright. “Kara!” Lena cried, racing out to the balcony to help her friend. “Oh shit, you’re bleeding really badly Kara, I thought you said just a little slice, it looks like that axe cut you down to the bone.”
“It’ll heal on its own,” Kara gasped out, “But I think, I think something’s in there that’s keeping the wound open.”
“I’m not a medical doctor Kara.”
“It’s not like I can go to a doctor Lee, just get it out please, it really, really, really hurts.”
“Worse than shots?” Lena asked as a distraction while she searched through her desk for a pair of tweezers.
“Don’t even joke about that,” Kara hissed out. The brunette finally located a pair of titanium tweezers and sterilized them with a quick splash of the vodka she kept in the bottom drawer before returning to Kara’s side.
She held the tweezers poised over Kara’s leg and gave her friend a hard look. “You kick me, I eat your potstickers during movie night for three months.”
“You wouldn’t dare…”
“Try me,” Lena said sternly, giving her best friend an intense glare. Kara sighed and reached down to grab at her legs to prevent them from lashing out. The brunette waited another moment for her to situated herself, and leant forward, shining a small penlight into the wound. “I think I see it.” Lena took the tweezers to the wound and fished out a small piece of metal covered in blood. Kara’s flesh started stitching itself back up when Lena exposed it to a concentrated infrared and ultraviolet flashlight. She reasoned that two of the types of lightwaves in sunlight would provide her solar-powered friend with a short burst of energy for these emergency situations while she works on building a full solar chamber.
“When did you make that?” Kara asked, nodding towards the small flashlight.
“I started planning it when I realized my best friend functioned like a solar battery, and had a penchant for heroics. Figured if I ever managed to build it, it would come in handy.”
“Guess it pays to have a geek in the family,” Kara groaned out, feeling her skin stitch itself back together.
Lena ignored the geek remark and just watched as the wound disappeared before her eyes; if it wasn’t for the blood crusting around the area, it would be as if the wound was never there. “You going to tell me now what it was exactly that you were doing?” Lena asked, leaning back on her heels. Kara related what had happened to her friend and Lena stared thoughtfully out the window for a moment before snorting. “You’re going to have a hard time with that wife of yours,” she said, returning to her desk. “An even harder time explaining this to your mother.”
Kara’s eyes widened as she groaned, “She’s going to kill me, thanks for reminding me.” She pushed herself to her feet and made her way to the balcony doors, “Thanks Lena, we still on for movie night on Friday?”
“Of course, but you owe me extra potstickers for giving me a heartattack,” Lena grumbled out. Kara rolled her eyes and nodded before heading out to the balcony to take off. “Oh wait, Kara, with your super hearing, have you ever heard of Cadmus?”
“Cadmus, like Greek Mythology Cadmus?”
“I don’t know, I’ve seen some notations about Cadmus in some of Lex’s old files and in some of my servers. I don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t sound good, especially if Lex is involved.”
“Guess we both have to keep our ears open then,” Kara sighed before shooting off into the sky.
Lena watched her go for a moment before the intercom on her office phone chimed. “Ms. Luthor,” Jess’s voice came through the phone, “I have the head of marketing out here saying he still has time to meet with you if you can.”
The brunette’s head impacted the window with a solid ‘thunk.’ “Fuck.”
“So you didn’t think to tell me that there was this shady, black ops, Men-In-Black style agency after you,” Cat hummed, her words even but her tone dangerous. “Or that this long lost wife of yours works for them?”
Kara flinched slightly at Cat’s tone and folded her legs up on the couch with her. “Yeah,” she replied, sipping at her own glass of wine.
“Or that you had met her as you only to find out that not only does she not remember you, but she’s dating one Detective First Grade Margaret Sawyer.”
“You know she doesn’t like it when you call her Margaret Mom…” Kara started, but seeing the look on Cat’s face, Kara wisely stopped speaking and just waited for the older blonde to get her thoughts in order.
Cat gulped down her wine before pouring another glass. “Alright, let’s start with this alien that called you out and attacked you, who was he and what did he want?” Kara explained as best as she could about what happened with the attack, finishing her story with Lena taking the piece of axe out of her leg. “Remind me to get Lena another bottle of that wine she enjoys for Christmas this year,” Cat murmured, her hand reaching for Kara’s leg. The younger blonde knew what her mother was after and stretched out her leg to allow the woman to inspect it yourself. “And you say that he wanted revenge on your mother for putting him in prison?”
“That’s what he said.”
“And the appearance of this black ops group kept you from incapacitating him and basically let him escape.” Kara nodded again and Cat released her leg when she found no obvious sign of injury. “It makes me wonder if this group knows how this man, alien, got here and why he was going after you, maybe they’re tracking him somehow?”
“If they are, they really should share that information rather than keep shooting at me,” Kara grumbled, folding her legs up again. “Winn is using that shard from the axe to run a search with some of Lena’s equipment, so hopefully we’ll be able to find him.”
“I still can’t believe you let that computer hobbit design your costume for you,” Cat rolled her eyes.
“He has a minor in fashion design, and I like my suit, costume,” Kara replied.
Cat waved her hand dismissively, “I guess you do manage to pull it off, and the gold is a nice touch. I guess the primary color scheme is good for inspiring trust and hope, exact opposite of what your little bat friends go for in Gotham.”
“Well Gotham is different from National City, very dark, you kind of have to inspire fear there,” the younger blonde chuckled.
“Weird city, I don’t know how they manage with all those wackos running around,” Cat hummed, “Not Pamela though, she was a dear to stop by and help with that roof top garden I put in, I do wish that Harleen would stop jerking her around though, they make a delightful couple, much more than that clown Harley goes back to.”
Kara rolled her eyes, “Only you would be on a first name basis with some of Gotham’s most notorious villains.”
“Like you don’t have lunch with Selina every time she’s in town,” Cat retorted.
“Selina is fun.”
Cat just hummed, “Speaking of villains, what are you going to do with this alien when you manage to catch him? Doesn’t seem like normal jails will be able to hold them.”
Kara’s phone chimed and she glanced over at it, seeing a message from Winn show up on the screen. “Looks like I’m going to find out, Winn has found him. I’ll call you later Mom.”
Before Cat could respond, Kara had changed into her suit and was taking off from the balcony, heading towards the coordinates Winn had sent her. He seemed to think that the alien was moving, so told her to look out for a vehicle of some kind, like a tanker truck. The location was a stretch of deserted highway on the outskirts of the city in the mountains, so Kara knew when she spotted the lone truck on the road that she was in the right place.
Flying over the truck, Kara glanced through the cab and saw that Vartox was in the cab and grabbed the back of the trailer, jerking it to a stop and flipping it back behind her. The truck wobbled in the air a bit before crashing down, and the smell of gasoline and oil instantly reached Kara’s nose. Vartox appeared from the wreckage, his axe clutched tightly in his hands and the ever present sneer plastered on his face. Electricity from the truck sparked and set the leaked gasoline on fire, causing the remnants of the vehicle to explode, blasting around them.
“I won’t be underestimating you this time daughter of Alura,” Vartox growled out before he threw his axe at her.
A number of things happened at the same time that would’ve been missed by anyone with normal vision, but Kara saw them as if they were happening in slow motioning. She caught the axe as it was hurtling towards her face just as Vartox launched at her and a large rocket appeared, barreling towards them. Kara knocked him aside, striking his face with the flat of the axe before catch the rocket and tossing it at the fallen alien. As soon as the rocket impacted his chest, it exploded, causing Vartox to vaporize under the pressure of the heat and power of the blast.
Kara didn’t have to wait long before she heard the telltale sound of feet slowly walking towards her and a drone flying just out of comfortable range of her heat vision. “Are you going to shoot more darts at me?” She asked, turning her attention to the agents approaching her with the axe still loosely clutched in her hand.
Her eyes scanned the clustered agents, skating over Alex’s annoyed features before landing on the man standing at the front of those gathered. “No Ms. Zor-El,” the man said, staring down the Kryptonian, “You have managed to avoid us quite well, and I figured that talking would be a better plan at this point.”
“You know my Kryptonian name,” she commented, ignoring the rest of his words. He was fishing for more information, and her mother always taught her how to get information out of an interrogation if she ever found herself in that situation, as well as how to not give anything away.
“We know quite a lot about you Ms. Zorel,” the man continued and Kara wondered if it was a type of power play, him continuing to say her name while she not knowing his.
“Probably not as much as you would like,” she mused, tilting her head a little bit as she studied the man contemplatively. Something about him seemed off, something she couldn’t quite place but decided to keep in the back of her mind. “I do know a lot about you though,” Kara continued, “The DEO, department of extranormal operations, top secret agency running with the barest government support. Do you know how that alien, Vartox, got here and why he was targeting me.”
The agents shifted uneasily and Alex’s eyes narrowed, but Kara never broke eye contact with the man in front of her. “You’re well informed Supergirl.”
“And you dodged the question.”
“That would require more security clearance than you have.”
“Then I guess we’re done here,” Kara said, turning to walk away but Alex’s voice stopped her in her tracks.
“What about the axe?” Alex called, her eyes still guarded and wary.
Kara glanced down at the axe in her hand; she almost forgot she was still carrying it. “It’s going with me,” she said, looking back up at the agent. “I know somewhere safe to put it.”
“Like the fortress of solitude?” The brunette bit back and Kara just rolled her eyes.
“Do give me some credit, I’m not that stupid,” she replied before shooting off into the air. She thought it was an improvement that they didn’t automatically start firing kryptonite bullets at her, but only a slight improvement. Once she was out of sight, Kara shifted directions and started heading east, breaking the sound barrier as she flew. “I know just the place to take you,” Kara murmured, letting her hand trail across the axe. “I know someone that would love to have a new weapon to toss around.”