Chapter 28

Kara finished up some chores outside of the barn. Not because she was asked to do them, but rather she had some time to think. Today, Kara ventured out for the first time and actually did something, and the rush of adrenaline made her feel really good. But, at the same time, Claire made it look so easy. She feared many times what could happened if she messed up.

The entire fate of the world rested partially on her shoulders, and Kara knew now better than ever the burden which rested on Claire's shoulders. Kara did not completely forgive Claire for the cold way she acted, but she had a better understanding. And hopefully, sometime soon, they could have a pretty good conversation where they could understand each other better.

The wood Kara planned to stack levitated on its own accord ad stacked neatly. Harry showed up and Kara realized she better talk to him.

"I can't say this enough," Kara said. "But, I'm really sorry about how I acted...if I was a bit...well...you know cold…."

Harry placed a hand on Kara's shoulder to calm her nerves.

"You been through a lot," Harry told her.

"Yeah, well you were through more, from what...what I learned," Kara said. "And you don't act like I did to people."

"I try not to," Harry said.

The two walked from the barn and elsewhere on the Kent Farm. After he, Karen, and Lois finished up at the penthouse, Harry hoped to have a chance to speak to Kara. She seemed a bit more relaxed and a lot less frustrated with things, at least from Harry's perspective. There were some demons that she needed to fight, given the fact that her home planet had been destroyed and she spent twenty years in stasis.

"Despite that, Clara really had no right to act like she did to you and to both of us," Kara said. "I know she...she had been through a lot, but….she shouldn't have just shunted me off to the farm and pretty much forgotten about me."

"You and her are alike in some ways," Harry said.

Kara cringed at that reminder how she was acting pretty much the same way.

"That doesn't make things better."

Kara relaxed when Harry squeezed her shoulder. His touch seemed so warm, so gentle, but at the same time soon firm. Kara leaned into him and closed her eyes in deep recollection.

"I wonder how things would have been like if I would have watched Clara from the beginning. I was sent away, to look after her. Only….things didn't work out."

Kara stopped at the edge of the fence leading up to the Kent Farm. She picked up one of the chickens who had gotten loose and walked it back over. Harry followed her and the two checked to make sure no other chickens made a desperate attempt at freedom.

"But, she got found by the Kents...and while I never met Jonathan, Martha's a good person...a very good person. And I could have thought of no one better to take her in."

Harry smiled, he thought so as well.

"Megan's inside," Kara continued. "She was asking me a million questions about the life on the farm earlier….it's not that interesting when you get used to it."

Kara just smiled, she was about the same way Megan was, before she settled in on the farm. Before the novelty wore completely off. Harry and Kara took a longer walk around the barn, to just talk. They would join the others for dinner in about twenty minutes.

Claire showed up, brushing past Rebecca as she stepped inside of the farmhouse.

"You okay?" Rebecca asked her.

"Better than I've been in some time," Claire said. "So, Lois…."

"She's sitting at the table," Rebecca said. "Good luck."

Rebecca's pat on the shoulder was meant to be encouraging, but Claire could not help and feel extremely uneased. She had been avoiding Lois, and the few times they had been in the same room, Lois had given her an earful. Never one not to hold her feelings in, Lois could guilt trip Claire like no one else.

"Lois," Claire said.

"Smallville," Lois said.

Claire took a deep breath and hoped that this could get over with. She likened it to ripping a bandaid off. Best to let Lois yell, while she was out of steam. Despite Lois's coolness towards her, she did not seem to be in a hostile mood.

"I'm going to be doing this a lot lately. But I'm sorry about the way that I've been acting since I came back from the dead."

Lana, Megan, and Rebecca rustled around to help Martha finish up dinner, hopefully this time it would not be ruined by an alien invasion. Claire waited for any reaction from Lois.

"You'll make up for what you've done eventually," Lois said. "But, thank you. I gave you more space than I should have. I should have rode you harder to get over yourself."

"Well, you know me, I would have pushed you away harder," Claire said.

Lois did not deny this fact.

"Harry...didn't turn out like I thought he would either," Claire said. "He's not like Lex. In fact he reminds me more of…."

Claire had been cut off, by the arrival of Harry himself, alongside Kara. The two of them had been in the midst of laughing about something when they entered the farm. Harry stopped short at the group.

"Sorry, lost track of the time," Harry said.

"Mmm, I bet you did," Rebecca said.

Harry just gave her a mock glare, and Kara did as well.

"Well, to be fair, we were running late too," Megan said as well. "And I've been trying to pry Martha Kent's special secret Pecan Pie recipe from her, but she's been more guarded to her secrets than Batman is."

Everyone in the kitchen laughed, including Karen who had just came in from the upstairs area of the farm. She noticed how close Harry and Kara was, and it was obvious they would be. Given that Kara was technically a younger version of her, why would she not have the same tastes?"

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," Martha said.

"Well, I'm not sure I would," Rebecca said. "Although, I'm sure Batman would welcome any comparison to you."

Harry sat down on Claire's other side on the table and Kara sat down next to Harry.

"We were in the fields, just enjoying the scenery," Kara informed her cousin.

"I spent so much time wandering those fields when I was younger I lost track of time," Claire mused. "That fencepost out the window….see that?"

Claire pointed outside, and Harry and Kara followed with interest.

"That was where my ship crashed," Claire said.

"I thought it might have been," Harry said. "Every now and then, I get memories, but they're just faint...almost like I'm watching them on some kind of home movie or something."

Claire just smiled, she recalled that time, wandering those fields, coming to terms with her powers. She had almost forgotten the self discovery period of her life, how Claire wrestled between being Claire Kent and being this powerful Kryptonian.

Before finding the balance, the balance was the key, and Harry, despite being less than two months out of the tube, seemed to adapted quite nicely to everything. She sucked in her breath.

"I realize after today I've been so distant and cold with everyone," Claire said, frowning. "It's just...and this is not an excuse...but it was just one thing after another. Pa dying, Kara arriving on Earth, my death, and then my comeback afterwards. I guess I went full Kryptonian to combat it."

Kara cringed at Claire's assessment . There was a huge debate on Krypton about how emotions stunted their advancement as a society. Some agreed, and some disagreed, and those who agreed, they used both meditation tactics and crystals to numb themselves from any emotional attachment.

"So, I guess I would like to apologize to both of you for the way that I acted," Claire said. "If nothing else, I forgot how rough it is to be a teenager, and how that period of life can be a challenge."

She spoke to Harry more clearly now.

"You didn't ask for this," Claire said. "And you would have been a weapon if the Team didn't find you...and they likely would have….well I don't want to think about it."

Harry agreed with Claire about this, he did not want to think about it either. His mother's bright blue eyes locked earnestly onto his green ones.

"Do you have any idea how they got ahold of your DNA?" Harry asked her.

"Not a clue," Claire admitted.

One mystery they could solve at another time.

They all enjoyed a nice meal. Claire had been much more relaxed today, and while there was still some tension between her and Lois, everything just settled down as much as possible.

"So, how have you been lately?" Claire asked Lana.

"Oh, you know me, busy trying to keep up with the latest trends," Lana said. "But, I think the fall season is going to be big, especially with the new Superwoman inspired line of merchandise."

"I can't believe I'm that big in Italy," Claire said.

"You're big everywhere," Lana said. "Given how many times you've saved the world, why wouldn't be be big?"

Claire drank her milk, just looking a bit modest, although she could not help and smile at the thought of being so big. Martha smiled at her daughter, proud to see she was in a good mood and turned her attention to Harry who had been sitting next to Claire and Kara.

"So, Harry, you're starting school next week, right?" Martha asked. "Lois told me."

"Happy Harbor High, Senior Year," Harry said. "Megan, Donna, and I…..Donna's another...friend of ours."

"Oh, I met her one time, she's a nice girl, a bit spirited, but we were all at that age," Martha said.

"Good luck with not being bored," Kara said.

"Kara," Claire warned her.

"Well, it's the truth," Kara said with a shrug. "I mean, High School was interesting for about a week. But, I found out how useless the teachers were, and how I could teach most of the classes better than they could be the time they were twelve. About the only thing that I had trouble for with English-Lit, but I picked up on that as well by the end of the first semester."

"I know you're more brilliant than you should be," Claire said.

"I was a Junior Member of the Kryptonian Science Council," Kara said.

"Yes, you were," Claire conceded. "But, that doesn't change the fact that the qualifications of a dead planet aren't going to get you anywhere on Earth."

Kara knew, but she did not like it. Still, she was the top of her class, despite being bored as hell along the way.

"You could start taking some college level courses," Rebecca offered. "That's what Barbara did when the regular classes started not to challenge her."

"Maybe," Kara said with a smile, that was an idea.

They finished eating the dinner, and then moved onto desert. Megan turned her attention to Martha.

"This must have taken a lot of time to get right," Megan said.

"Sorry, dear, but no," Martha said with a fond smile.

Megan pouted at the table, which caused them to get a laugh.

"You'd have better luck prying one of Alfred's recipes away from him," Rebecca murmured. "Still, trying to get the Lasagna recipe away from him, eight years and counting."

Harry smiled, Helena said the same thing about the Wayne Family butler funnily enough. Rebecca decided to lean towards Harry.

"So, when we're done, I've got something for you," Rebecca said. "Well, actually, it's Lana and I both who have something for you, she helped design most of it, and did a lot of the work on it, but I made some suggestions."

Kara finished eating her desert, she had to admit that dinner at the Kent Farm was one of the reasons things which made it worth being here. Claire put her hand on Kara's shoulder.

"Your mother wants to see you," Claire said. "You want to fly out to the Fortress and visit the bottled city of Kandor?"

Kara had been surprised, Claire denied her visiting the Fortress of Solitude a few times in the past. Things must have changed for Claire to make that offer. She did want to see Kandor again, along with her mother. It was a little piece of home, although Kara found a new home and new friends here.

Rebecca and Lana lead Harry out to Lana's old family home.

"The Potter house," Lana said. "My aunt wanted a home in in the big city, so she...left the house to me."

Harry just nodded in response at this revelation.

"I spend most of my time up at the Kent Farm after Jonathan Kent died," Lana said. "Helping Martha, and Kara...and also looking after her after Claire died...she made me promise that if anything happened to her up there."

Harry walked past one of the rooms, and noticed a picture of Claire, Lana, and a third girl from high school, one with shoulder length blonde hair. Lana's eyes flickered to the picture briefly and she let out a sad sigh, before moving Harry down the hallway, with Rebecca following her behind.

"Since Kara got a suit, it's only fair that you get your own," Lana said.

"It's not a problem," Harry said.

"Yes," Rebecca said. "It's not that you don't look nice with the jacket, jeans, and shirt look, but at the same time…"

They pulled a tarp to reveal a high dark-blueish black high tech suit. It was nicely designed, with fabric that stretched, and formed to the skin of its wearer. Tron lines, for lack of a better term covered the suit, the lines meeting at the ever present shield of the House of El plastered all over the front of it. Harry looked over the suit.

"So, what do you think?" Lana asked.

"It's amazing," Harry said.

"Fashion and engineering has always been two passions of mine," Lana informed Harry. "This gave me a chance to indulge myself in both of them."

"You did a super job," Harry told her. "And I mean that."

Lana looked him dead in the eye, and she had been very pleased. She helped Martha design Claire's first suit as well, and a couple other suits beyond that. She hoped that it would serve Harry did.

"You can easily add the anti-Kryptonite shield to the plate once Whitney and Jesse finish with it," Rebecca added. "So, how about you try it on?"

There was a small part of Rebecca and Lana who were disappointed when Harry did not change in front of them. Not that it would take him that long to change as he entered the room just less than ten seconds after he exited the room. The suit fit him very nicely.

Lana moved over and ran her hands over the suit, the tightness of it flattering Harry's body very nicely. Her hands quickly brushed over him.

"Just making sure it stays close to your skin," Lana said. "If I can feel all of you...it's a good sign that it's working...and it can stretch….for other purposes as well."

Lana went as far with this test as she would dare. Rebecca just looked very much amused at this.

"So, when Lana's done feeling you up, how about we take that suit out for a spin?" Rebecca offered him.

"Love to," Harry said.

"Everything's good," Lana said when she pulled away from him. "Have a nice flight."

"Thanks again, to both of you," Harry said.

Lana turned around to tidy up, to leave Harry and Rebecca, or rather Superman and Nightwing, to test the capabilities of the suit first hand.

It had been a long time since Kara saw her mother, well even longer from Alura's perspective. Technically, only a year had passed from Kara's conscious perspective, but still, that did not stop her from being a bit anxious as Claire escorted her into the bottle city of Kandor. Her legs shook ever so slightly with Claire leading her into position. Yes, she was nervous, but also excited. She could not say much more than that.

"Clara...and….Kara?"

Alura looked as beautiful as Kara had remembered her, and still rather young looking, despite the amount of time that had passed. Then again, Kara recalled her grandmother being fairly youthful looking, before she was killed in Black Zero's attack when Kara was young. Alura swept up Kara with a hug.

"Mother, it's good to see you once again," Kara said with a smile. "And father...he didn't make it?"

"No, he was one of the first," Alura said. "Brainiac wanted to preserve many of us, but eventually some of us perished. Most of the men of Kandor are gone...and then there were those of us were on the borders when the city had been taken. They died from their injuries, despite our best efforts."

"I can't believe it," Kara said. "Krypton is gone...it blew up...just a month after Kandor was…."

"The Council should have listened to Jor-El's warnings," Alura said. "But, they refused to believe that Krypton could be in any danger. If they listened, then there might have been a chance."

"Maybe it was just inevitable," Claire gently summarized.

Alura hated to admit her niece was right, but she did have a point. Krypton's destruction might have been inevitable. She moved to show Kara and Claire the crystal fortress, along with the tower. She broke out into a very evident frown when looking at the half finished platform.

"Being on a planet underneath a yellow sun may cause difficulties," Alura said. "I'm not certain all of us are ready for that power."

"Well, we don't know what would happen if you're transported out of the city," Kara said. "You've been in this environment for so long that the shock could kill you instantly if you had been moved."

"Yes," Alura said. "Earth's atmosphere is….well it's enough where we could normally adapt. And you were better prepared when you had been sent to Earth, in your respective ships, if I'm to understand."

Kara nodded, although she had been knocked out for about thirty years. So much time missed, although she would more than make up for lost time.

"So, that young man that was with you, it's a shame that he did not have a chance to visit," Alura said. "I would have liked to get to know him better."

"Wouldn't we all," Kara murmured.

Claire supposed she could see the attraction that they had for Harry, but as his mother, biologically speaking, it would be wrong for Claire to act on anything like that. Despite the fact that incest would not be as big of a problem on beings that more more advanced, Claire still could not reconcile that.

And Claire felt ashamed at the few thoughts she had about Harry already. They clashed with some of her more conservative views on life. She struggled to deal with the polygamy aspect which was ruling their lives lately, and the very obvious fact that her fiance, happened to be in a relationship with Harry. Granted, Claire pretty much blew Lois off, so she only had herself to blame for this, and she did call him off.

"He's my son," Claire said.

"I know, he is," Alura said. "And I'm sure you're very proud of him...and he's a credit to you."

'Actually, anything that he's done is because of him, and not because of me, 'Claire sadly thought.

Nightwing and Superman had a relatively quiet patrol. Even going into town, there did not seem to be that many problems. They sat perched atop of a library, overlooking the general store from across the street.

"Kansas does not have the crime rate that Gotham City does," Harry commented.

"Yeah, obviously not," Rebecca said. "So, have you slept with any of the members of your Team yet?"

Rebecca watched Harry's expression, but he just broke out into a smile.

"Donna and I got together, about a week ago," Harry said.

"Really?" Rebecca asked.

"Is that a surprise?" Harry asked.

"Not really, but Barbara and I were both wrong about who you would get with first," Rebecca said.

"Really?" Harry asked. "Who did you think?"

"To be fair, Donna was a close second," Rebecca said deflecting the question.

Thankfully for Rebecca, Harry did not have the opportunity to prod her some more. Because, a group of rowdy hillbillies showed up and began to harass a young woman and her children. They were riled up about something.

Rebecca just sighed, it was not like fighting mobsters or gangsters, or Arkham's finest, or some of the weirder villains she encountered with the Titans, but hey, it was still some people who needed a reality check.

Harry already moved in to deal with the criminals, and Rebecca followed. She thought despite there being a small gang of about a dozen Hillbillies, this was an unfair and uneven fight.

Time to leave, and time to say their goodbyes. Harry received a message from Mareena, which told them that the Cave was clean, and Batman wanted to meet with them within the hour for a mission briefing.

"It wasn't a problem," Martha said. "I'd love for you to come by more often, but given that you're going to start school next week...it might be hard….I remember how busy Claire was in her senior year."

"Yeah, I remember that too," Lois said.

"And I remember you having to take your senior year twice," Claire said.

"And I remember telling you never to bring that up again," Lois fired back.

Claire just responded with a cheeky grin. She followed Karen, as it was time for them to have a discussion as well. Harry, Megan, and Kara walked up the hill, with Megan and Harry taking the nearest Zeta Tube back to the Cave. Megan stopped and turned around to Kara.

"So, do you think you would like to join the Team sometime?" Megan asked. "I mean, have you given it any thought?"

"I don't know," Kara offered with a half shrug. "I would like to get my bearings a bit more...but it might be something to think about it in the future."

"Well, I'm sure we'd be glad to have you," Harry said.

"We really would!" Megan piped up.

"I hope to see you two again soon," Kara said. "But….Harry...there's something that I want to give you before you leave."

"Oh?"

Kara leaned in and planted a passionate kiss on Harry's lips. The moment the two touched each other, electricity and warmth spread towards them. Kara was never shy about what she wanted and she wanted Harry, and this was just a little taste of what she wanted for him.

The beautiful Kryptonian pulled away a few seconds later.

"Maybe we can go out sometime," Kara said.

"We will go out sometime," Harry said. "I'm sure we can arrange something."

"Good," Kara said.

"I can't help and feel a little bit left out," Megan said.

"Sorry about that."

Kara grabbed Megan and pulled her into a very passionate kiss. Megan just melted into Kara's arms, wrapping her arms tighter around the other woman, sucking on her lower lip, everything that she could imagine. This was not the kiss she expected, but it was one that she had welcomed completely.

"Don't be a stranger, Miss Martian," Kara whispered hotly in Megan's ear.

With a wide smile, Kara stepped back and Harry walked over towards Megan. He thought about kissing her as well, but at this point, it might break Megan's mind.

"So, ready to go?" Harry asked.

"Y-yeah," Megan said. "She really is a good kisser."

"Well, I knew that already," Harry said. "Because, she's Karen, only younger…."

"Huh?" Megan asked. "Oh, right, different Earths….um…."

"Hello Megan?" Harry offered.

"Yeah, that," Megan said still distracted after the aftermath of the spicy kiss.

Harry's arrival back into the cave got his fair share of attention, as Artemis, Whitney, and Donna gawked at his new suit.

"Pretty nice," Artemis said with a smile. "And it fits you well."

"Yeah, the engineering is just amazing," Whitney said.

"Lana Lang made it, with help from Rebecca," Harry said.

"Engineer and fashion designer, she's a keeper," Whitney said with a smile. "Seriously, those lines, they must absorb and store more solar radiation. Which would be handy if you were on a planet with a red sun. Granted, we still don't know how a different color sun other than red or a yellow sun effects Kryptonians, do we?"

"No, sorry," Harry said.

Helena and Mareena were more subtle about their interest in the suit. Still, they spent a brief moment eating up the eye candy. Donna rose up to him and felt the suit.

"Oh, this is about as good as it gets without being forged by the gods themselves," Donna said. "If you need any help getting out of that suit….I'll be happy to peel it off you."

"You're not the only one," Artemis said. "Not that he doesn't look nice when he's in it."

Harry focused on Mareena who looked a bit weary.

"Okay?" Harry asked her.

"Just dealt with Black Manta's latest attack on Atlantis," Mareena said. "He was after the Starfish specimen...he blew the damn thing up when he couldn't get to it. He's always such a sore loser….the last piece was...well it was transported somewhere else for further study. Aquaman and Batman took care of it...and now Aquaman's on the hunt for Black Manta now."

Mareena and Tula were able to protect the students, they saved more lives, and not for the first time again. She talked to Tula about potentially working together with the Team, but she was adamant about focusing on her studies and said that not everyone was good at balancing as Mareena did.

"Sounds like you had an adventure today too," Mareena said.

"He did...well we did," Megan said.

That story would have to wait for another time, as Batman arrived at the cave. The entire Team gathered around, awaiting to see what Batman would say.

"A situation has arised in Biayla which has demanded our attention."