Chapter 8

“I need to find Kal’El son of Krypton” She said, Dick stepped forward raising his hands to show that they were empty,

“I can help, but nobody needs to get hurt, ok?” He said cautiously, her face turned to confusion,

“Why would anybody need to get hurt?” She asked,

“You’re not here to kill him?’He asked,

“No, of course not, why would I want to kill him?” Her voice cracked, Dick glanced at Barbara,

“I’m sorry, like 90 percent of the people who come looking for him want to kill him, and usually it ends with a lot of innocent people hurt, at best” The Kryptonians eyes drifted to her feet,

“I’m sorry to hear that, I’m not here to hurt anyone, I promise” She said sadly, after a second her eyes returned to Dick with hope in them, “ You know Kal-El?” She asked unable to hide her relief and excitement, Dick's shoulders dropped and he glanced again at Barbara, who nodded with a pitying expression.

“I’m sorry” He started “He died a week ago” The girls face hardened,

“Don’t lie to me, I know he’s here, I was just told he was here” She yelled, tears ran down her cheeks, then she continued quietly, “A month ago, I was told he was here a month ago, but now he’s gone”

“He’s not lying to you” Barbara said softly as she offered the girl her phone, on the screen was a picture of Superman shaking hands with a former president next to articles reporting on his death.

“1 week, I missed him by 1 week” Her shoulders slumped back, and the phone slipped from her hand,

“Why do you need him?” Barbara asked stepping closer,

“10 years ago my home was destroyed and my family, my people were killed, I thought I was the last Kryptonian alive, until a month ago, I was told there was a Kryptonian living on earth, not only that but he was the son of Jor-EL, Jor-El was a great uncle who died in the destruction of Krypton before I was born, which meant not only was there a Kryptonian alive, but he was actually my family, and I missed him by 1 week”

“I’m very sorry” Barbara pulled her into a hug “I’m Barbara, and I promise everything will be ok”

“I’m Kara-ZorEl” She answered, her voice raspy from crying,

“It’s gonna be ok Kara” Barbara assured her.

The sound of tires squealing on the asphalt drew the groups attention, Dick threw a batarang at the street lights above them covering them in darkness, Barbara dropped smoke ball to the ground and it hissed as thick smoke poured out,

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“Metropolis City Police” Shouted a gruff voice from the edge of the crater, he extended a pistol over the broken street,

“Don’t shoot” Dick growled, his voice deep,

“Is that Batman? What’s he doing here?” A younger officer asked, panic lacing his voice,

“It’s Robin, I worked with Batman, I was in the area and came to assist, we neutralized a threat, but there's a woman down here who needs medical attention, she’s unconscious but may be hostile, can I trust you 2 to take care of her?” Dick asked,

“Yes sir” The older officer answered, with that Dick grabbed Garfield while Barbara led Kara and Alice away, when the smoke cleared the injured woman was the only 1 left in the crater.

Dick and Barbara bundled the 3 teenagers into the back of his car, he u-turned and sped down the abandoned street,

“Alice, are you ok?” Barbara asked half turned in the passenger's seat,

“My head feels weird and I’m really hungry” Alice muttered, her skin was back to being paper white and her eyes had returned to normal,

“We’ll get something to eat, does your head hurt?” Barbara asked,

“No, maybe I’m just tired” She answered, Barbara studied her face for a minute, she nodded,

“Ok, we’ll see how you feel tomorrow, ok?” Alice nodded.

When Alice woke up they were parked in front of a neon sign, she had crumbs and flakes from fast foot littering her shirt and pants, and empty burger wrappers at her feet, she had been leaning on Kara’s shoulder who stirred when Alice sat up, Barbara was sitting in the passenger's seat with her legs pulled up and and a jacket laid across her, she glanced back a Alice with a tired smile,

“Dick’s inside, he’s getting the rooms” She said quietly, a second later the drivers door was pulled open, Garfield shot up awake making a couple incoherent sounds before remembering where he was,

“I got 2 rooms, Garfield you take the bed I’ll take the floor, you 3 have 2 beds, and that’s up to you to work out” Dick said leaning in and handing Garfield and Alice the keys.

They all climbed out of the car and stood in the cold night air for a couple minutes well Dick dug around in the trunk, he pulled out a bag and tossed it to Garfield,

“None of it will fit you, but it’s better than wearing ripped dirty clothes all night” Garfield looked down and noticed the tears in his shirt,

“Thanks” He said before going off to find the room, Dick dug around a little more and found a small bag of Barbara’s clothes,

“Here” He was about to toss it to Kara but Barbara stopped him by taking the back and tossing back into the trunk,

“There is nothing appropriate for them to wearing in that 1” She pulled out a duffel bag and handed that to Kara, “Go get changed and washed up, and if you can figure it out, turn the heat on, if not, get under the covers and I’ll turn it on when I get there” Kara and Alice went off to find their room leaving Dick and Barbara at the car.

Kara stepped out of the bathroom drying her hair with a towel, Alice turned to face her before immediately covering her eyes,

“Is something wrong?” Kara asked,

“Why are you naked?” Alice asked blushing hard, Kara looked confused,

“The clothes are out here, and it’s just the 2 of us so I thought that was normal” Kara answered suddenly feeling awkward having her naked body exposed to Alice, but Alice shook her head and grabbed a small pile of clothes,

“No, no, it’s fine, I’m gonna take a shower” She said, stepping past Kara, being careful not to look at her.

The room was dark when Alice stepped out of the bathroom in a baggy tee shirt and shorts that were several sizes to big,

“If you want you can share this bed, Barbara can have the other 1” Kara offered quietly and with a hint of embarrassment from before,

“Ok” Alice crawled under the covers on the opposite side, facing beige wall,

“Goodnight” Kara said,

“Night” Alice responded, they sat in silence for several minutes, neither even trying to fall asleep, eventually Alice broke the silence again “I’m sorry about your family” She said, her voice cracking a little,

“Thanks” Kara paused for a second “Are they your parents?” She asked slowly,

“No, I don’t remember my parents” Alice answered, a not forming in her throat,

“I”m sorry, I didn’t realize, I wasn’t…” Kara fell silent,

“It’s fine, it doesn’t really matter, I don’t even remember what I lost” And with that the conversation was done and both girls drifted off to sleep.