Chapter 4
Kara floated above Cat Grant’s car and took several deep breaths. The operation with the Hellgrammite had gone well, with Alex being able to take him down before he hurt anyone. With nothing needing her immediate attention, she had decided to help out James by giving Cat the interview she was so desperately seeking. She was still terrified she was about to make a fool of herself, but, yet again, El had come through and reassured her.
“Don’t try to be something you’re not. Cat will see through any posturing you do and tear you to shreds. She’s going to try and get you off balance, stand up for yourself, but try to keep a cool head. Just focus on telling your story, and speak from the heart.”
“So, are we going to talk, or did you just abduct me to show me the sights?” Cat asked with her usual snark, bringing Kara back to the present.
“Apologies, Miss Grant,” Kara replied. “I guess I’m just a little nervous.”
“Oh?” Cat drawled. “I didn’t think you superhero types got nervous.”
Kara chuckled and lowered herself to the ground. “I might be from another planet, but there’s still a person underneath this suit.”
“How very humble,” Cat drawled. “So, tell me, Supergirl. Are you single?”
Kara huffed and was about to snap when she took a deep breath. Cat respected strength, and if Kara was ever to be the kind of woman she aspired to be, she would have to show a little backbone. “If you’re only interested in tabloid trivia, Miss Grant, maybe I should take this elsewhere. Iris West has experience interviewing people like me, and Central City isn’t that far when you’re as fast as I am.”
Cat’s eyebrow raised and smirked predatorily. “How very millennial. Things don’t go your way, and your first instinct is to run away.”
“I’m adaptable,” Kara countered. “I didn’t put on this suit so you could sell papers. If I need to find someone else to tell my story, I will, because there are too many people out there who need to hear what I have to say for me to let you stop me.”
Cat stared at her for several moments and Kara fought not to fidget while making sure her face was still obscured by the light of the moon overhead. Just as she was about to break the silence, Cat began slowly clapping.
“Very good, Supergirl. I guess there’s a spine underneath all those… muscles as well. Now, how about you come down here and we can get started properly.”
Kara smiled and lowered herself to the ground. “I think I’d like that.”
“To start with, where are you from?”
“I was born in the city of Kandor forty-nine years ago -”
“Forty-nine years?” Cat repeated, her tone disbelieving. “You have to give me your skin care routine.”
Kara chuckled and shook her head. “Kryptonians age at a much slower rate than humans do. I’m still going to look like this for the next several decades.”
“Kryptonian? Any relation to Superman?”
Kara paused and took a deep breath. This was the moment El warned her about. If she revealed her relationship to Clark, his enemies would become her enemies. She had gone back and forth on whether to do this, but had eventually settled on not holding anything back. Her cousin was family, his struggles were hers regardless, so she may as well proudly display her heritage. “He’s my younger cousin, actually.”
“Younger?” Cat asked. “Now that’s interesting. If Superman is your younger cousin, then why have we not seen you until now?”
“The answer to that is complicated,” Kara admitted. “I was thirteen when Krypton exploded. Even now, I can still remember the heat of the fires. People were screaming, but you could hardly hear them over the rumbling and the buildings falling down around us. It…” she paused and took a deep breath. “It was terrifying. My parents knew what was coming though, so my father and uncle built pods to escape. Unfortunately, there was only enough time to build two.”
“For you and your cousin,” Cat concluded. Kara nodded and she continued. “Superman has gone on record that he was raised by humans here on Earth. If that’s the case, where were you?”
“My cousin’s pod launched before mine,” Kara explained. “As a result, when Krypton exploded, I got knocked off course. Luckily, my pod kept me… suspended.” Her voice dropped as that old feeling of shame rolled over her. “I was supposed to take care of him. Keep him safe. But, when I finally landed on Earth… twenty-four years had passed. My cousin found me, but by then he had already made enemies. He found a family for me to stay with, and I’ve been hiding ever since.”
“I’m sorry,” Cat offered. “I know what it’s like to lose a parent. I can’t imagine what you must have gone through. However, I have to ask Supergirl, why now? If you were hiding, why expose yourself?”
“Because I can help,” Kara answered. “Because I need to help. I can’t keep hiding when I have the power to help people. To inspire them. Humanity has given me a home when I lost mine. I want to give back in any way I can.” A siren went off in the distance, and Kara tilted her head, listening. “I’m afraid that’s all the time I have, Miss Grant. If you could get back in the car, I’ll drop you off on my way.”
*(OoO)*
The next day, Kara greeted Winn at CatCo while the news played on every screen around them.
“Are you sure telling her you’re Superman’s cousin was a good idea?”
“El already warned me about people coming after me to get back at him,” Kara said. “I can just add them to the list.”
“Which she knows because she’s from the future,” Winn replied. “Something I am still trying to wrap my head around.”
“You and me both,” Kara replied. “El actually helped me prepare for the interview. I was kinda worried she would basically take over the whole superhero thing when she explained why she was here, but she mostly just keeps to herself.”
“Being your own sidekick would certainly be a new level of weird,” Winn joked.
Kara chuckled but froze when she caught the telltale inhalation before -
“KEIRA!”
“And that’s my cue.”
Marching herself into Cat’s office, Kara found her boss watching the news coverage of her relation to Clark on her wall of screens behind her desk.
“Good morning, Miss Grant.”
“It’s a big day for journalism,” Cat muttered. She turned around in her seat and smirked victoriously. “The Daily Planet can suck it. I scooped them.”
“So I heard,” Kara said. “Are you sure that leading with Superman and Supergirl being cousins was the best move?”
Cat sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. “Please, Keira, have you learned nothing? It’s called a hook. Metropolis might have their mighty savior from the stars, but I have something better.”
“Y-You do?” Kara asked.
“Don’t get me wrong, that hook-nosed harpy Lane was good with the whole baby-in-a-basket, modern-day-Moses angle,” Cat said. “But Supergirl has something her cousin doesn’t.”
“And that is?”
“She’s relatable. She’s an immigrant, washed up on our shores after fleeing disaster and wanting to give back to the place that took her in. The left will be inspired, the right incensed. Everyone will want to read about her, and if I have to use her cousin as a spring board to launch our girl to the top of every headline, then that’s what I’ll do.”
“Y-you mean… you’re writing the article?”
“I am a writer,” Car drawled. “It’s been a while, but you never really lose it. Like riding a bike, or childhood trauma. Now, I’m going to need a bulletproof coffee every hour on the hour if I’m going to stimulate brain activity and keep the creative juices flowing. We will be publishing a special issue of our monthly magazine, The Day After Tomorrow. Forget Caitlyn Jenner and Vanity Fair, I’m going to out do the Times and the Planet with this one. We’re going to need a big party to launch it. Throw something together, say… a thousand guests. Rent out a museum or something. And move Dave out there to another desk, I find his hair distracting.”
Nodding, Kara smiled as she went out to ask Dave for a favour. She had been worried when El told her that her first interview with Cat had come across as something along the lines of a tabloid article, but, if Cat’s old rivalry with Lois had been ignited then clearly something Kara had said during the interview had inspired her to take it seriously.
Her good mood lasted until later that day when she had returned to the DEO where she was met with a disapproving Hank and Alex all while El sat near the back, quietly writing something down.
“Have you lost your mind?” Hank snapped as soon as she touched down. “What were you thinking giving interviews?”
“I had to get the word out there about myself,” Kara defended. “And Miss Grant is the best journalist I know.”
“What’s next? A book deal, a reality show? Keeping Up With the Kryptonians?”
“Ha!” El barked. “He made the same joke with me.”
“And what about you?” Hank demanded. “Aren’t you supposed to be here to help stop things like this from happening?”
“I’m here to help stop the end of the world,” El corrected. “And help Kara to learn from my mistakes along the way.”
“And scheduling an interview wasn’t one you thought that needed fixing?” Alex asked.
“It was,” El conceded. “That’s why I helped her prepare what she was going to say beforehand so she wouldn’t be caught flatfooted. By the way, I was listening last night, and you did great, Kara. Way better than I did.”
“Thank you, El,” Kara chirped. Her older self winked conspiratorily before turning back to Hank who was now looming over her with his arms crossed.
“Firstly,” she rasped. “Stop puffing out your chest, it doesn’t work on me. Second, Kara is her own person. Being a hero is about more than just putting out fires and punching bad guys, she has to inspire people, and telling her story can do that. For both humans and aliens. If she feels doing so is the right move, then I support her. And so should you, because when the reason that I came back in time does show up, you’re going to want as many people with superpowers on your side as you can get.”
Hank glared at her, but didn’t get a chance to respond as an alert chimed and Vasquez called for their attention.
“Sir, we’ve got a Code Grey.”
“Looks like a pile up on the freeway.”
Kara was already in the air, eager to help when El spoke in her ear.
“Be careful, Supergirl. If I’m right, you’re about to be attacked by one of Kal’s enemies.”
“Really? Which one?”
“Reactron.”
Kara sputtered, smothering a laugh. “Reactron? Really?”
“Blame James,” El said. “My point is, keep your guard up. If he shows up, I’ll try not to interfere, but you can’t let him get near any civilians. He fights using a suit powered by a small nuclear reactor and while it’ll hurt you, the ionizing radiation he throws around will incinerate anything else.”
“Any other tips,” Kara asked as they approached the freeway.
“You don’t have anything to contain the core, so don’t damage it too much. If you do, he’ll just flee. Mind your surroundings. He can fly, so try to get him into the air and away from the civilians, and keep in mind that his armor makes him just as strong as any alien.”
Kara nodded and dropped onto the freeway where traffic had come to a halt and a bus had turned on its side. Remembering what El had told her, she took a moment to quickly scan the area and found one woman stuck inside the bus, calling for help. Stretching her senses, she heard the soft whine of some kind of machinery as well as the soft roar of an engine maybe five hundred meters away in the air above the freeway. Reactron was there, waiting for her.
Taking a deep breath, she landed next to the closest EMT.
“This place is about to be attacked,” she said. “How can I help and get you and these people out of here as quickly as possible?”
“The driver is still stuck inside the bus,” the EMT explained. “We can’t get to her because there are live wires on the ground.”
“Okay.” Kara thought about her options. “The man who did this is trying to get back at my cousin through me. I’ll get the driver out, but you need to be ready to transport her immediately.”
The EMT nodded. “Understood. Good luck, Supergirl.”
Floating over to the bus, Kara dropped inside where she found the bus driver huddled on the ground, bleeding from her forehead. A quick scan revealed bruises and a cracked collarbone, so Kara felt safe grabbing her and floating the two of them out of the bus and back towards the ambulances. She had barely managed to place her on the gurney and step aside when a blast of white hot pain slammed into her side and sent her flying.
“Get back!” She shouted at the gathered crowd as she pulled herself to her feet.
“Kara, his name is Ben Krull,” El relayed. “He was a nuclear engineer at the Bakerline Nuclear Power Station when terrorists attacked it and caused a meltdown. He blames Kal for not being able to save his wife.”
“Mister Krull!” Kara called out. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Ben Krull is dead,” Reactron shouted. “All that’s left is a ghost. And now, Superman is going to know what it’s like to suffer.” The glowing core on his chest brightened and Kara barely dodged as another bolt of radiation blasted from the gloves on his arms only for it to melt a hole a foot in diameter in the bottom of the overturned bus behind her. Remembering El’s advice, Kara threw herself into the air as Krull charged up another blast. She managed to dodge that one as well, and dove forward to tackle him. The two of them exchanged blows, with every punch from Krull sending Kara flying. She hit back just as hard, but couldn’t seem to land a decisive blow between the nuclear blasts and the civilians that needed protection.
“You’re stronger than I expected,” Krull growled. “But that won’t stop me.”
“It seems to be doing alright so far,” Kara shot back.
“I underestimated you,” Krull admitted. “A mistake I won’t make a second time.”
Turning away from her, Krull’s suit powered up and he sent the largest blast yet at the bystanders, forcing Kara to fling herself in front of them. Digging her feet into the pavement beneath her, she screamed as the blast washed over her, her vision darkening. Dropping to her knees, she could do nothing but watch blearily as Krull flew away.
*(OoO)*
Hours later, Kara was still stinging, both from her defeat at Reactron’s hands and the DEO’s refusal to get involved. Yet again, she found herself seeking out El, hoping her future self had some advice, if not on how to pull Hank’s head out of his butt, then at least on where to find Reactron.
“Let me guess,” El croaked as she joined her in the barracks. She was kneeling on the ground, meditating. “Reactron is outside the DEO’s jurisdiction. Call Kal?”
Kara sighed, dumping herself in on El’s bed. “That about covers it, yeah. But, if I go to Kal for help this soon, everyone is always going to think he’s better than me.”
“He’s been doing this for a few decades,” El reminded her. “He is better than you.”
“That’s not helpful,” Kara whined. “How am I supposed to stop Reactron without the DEO’s help? How did you do it?”
El hummed and rose to her feet. “Hank and Alex eventually came around on their own. Reactron abducted Maxwell Lord to help fix his suit, and he kicked my butt. Then, after round three, I beat him and Hank had him thrown in one of the DEO’s holding cells.”
“And if I wanted to skip the round two beat down with the help of my favourite time traveler?” Kara asked mischievously.
“Well, Krull uses cutting edge technology to commit crimes, right?” El asked. Kara nodded, grinning as her future self smirked. “Then how about I abuse my future knowledge to introduce you to the best scientific mind and law enforcement officer I know way ahead of time.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Let’s do it!”
El grinned, though it never reached her eyes. “Looks like you and I are going to Metropolis, then.”