71. Fear

September 18, 2017 (pregnancy week 28)

Kara ran a hot bath for her wives, and while she waited for the tub to fill, she climbed into the separate shower.  She was quite filthy from giving her wives a good time this morning.  Currently, the moms-to-be were doing their yoga in the bedroom to try and help with their pregnancy pains.  That was also what the hot bath was for.  Her poor wives were in their last trimester, and they were hurting quite a bit.  When she was sufficiently cleaned up and ready to go, Kara kissed her wives goodbye and headed to the office supply store to get Lena a present for her first day at Catco.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam groggily reached out from under her covers to turn off her alarm.  She yawned and stretched, and as she reached out her arm, she felt a lump under her covers.  She chuckled and pulled the blankets down to reveal a dozing Ruby.  As soon as the covers were down, Ruby yanked them right back up over her head again.  Sam wasn’t having it.  She pulled the blankets down again and kissed her daughter’s head repeatedly.  

Ruby giggled.

“Outta bed you daisy head,” Sam quipped.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Ruby sighed with a smirk on her face.

“What would you like for breakfast?” Sam asked.

“Eggos!” Ruby cheered.

“Okie dokie, kiddo,” Sam wrapped her arm around her daughter as they walked downstairs to their kitchen.

Sam pulled the box of Eggos out of the freezer and popped a couple of them into the toaster while Ruby sat at the kitchen island texting her girlfriend.

“How’s Jessie this morning?” Sam inquired.

Ruby blushed.  “Good.”

Sam grinned and texted Douglas good morning.  “How are her new lessons going?”

“Good.  She says she really likes her new tutors.”

“Oh yeah?  Are the tutors allowed to go into Cat Grant’s place?”

Ruby shrugged.  “Yeah, I guess Lena and Ms. Grant made them sign a mountain’s worth of paperwork to promise never to tell anyone anything about what they do, and where they go, and who they’re working with.”

“Wow, really?”

Ruby nodded.

“I bet they can’t wait for their own house to be finished.  Should be any day now, right?”

“By the end of the month,” Ruby confirmed.

Their waffles popped up, and Sam grabbed them and put them on plates.  “Bon appetite.”

“Merci beaucoup,” Ruby answered, practicing the French that Douglas had taught them.

They ate their breakfast while they each texted their significant others.  Soon it was time to get ready for the day.  They got themselves dressed and grabbed their things and headed out the door.

When they got to the school, Ruby spoke up again, “Don’t forget that I have basketball tryouts today.”

“OK, but remember, baby, Mrs. Queller is picking you up cause I have meetings all afternoon.  Okay?” 

“Oh, I forgot,” Ruby pouted.

“I just... I can't get out early.  And you remember how I was telling you that this was an incredible opportunity?”

“Yeah.”

“What I meant was money.  Mom's gonna be making just, like, lots and lots of money.” 

“Do you remember the other day at the waterfront?” Ruby asked.

Sam nodded.  “Yeah, I remember.”

“Did anybody help you with that tower?” 

“Nope, just me,” Sam confirmed.

“Not even Douglas?”

“Nope, I’m pretty sure he was turning the other way.”

“It was pretty huge,” Ruby pointed out.

“It was pretty huge,” Sam agreed.  “I was just so worried about you.  You know... Mom's, they get this adrenaline rush when their kids are in danger.  I had the strength of, like, I don't know, like, ten moms.”

“I think it would have taken thirty moms,” Ruby mused.

“It's not a big deal. You will understand when you have kids,” Sam told her.  “Have a good day at school.  I love you.”

“Love you too, Mom.”  Ruby hopped out of the car and headed into the school.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

“Lena!” Eve cheered as her friend walked off the elevator.  “I mean… Mrs. Danvers, it's so nice to see you.” 

“Hello, Eve,” Lena grinned and hugged James’ assistant.  “You can call me Lena all you want.  Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh, good,” Eve sighed with relief.  “Thank you.  That was going to be a hard habit to break.  Can I get you a coffee?  You take it black, right?  I'm not stalking you.  I emailed your assistant at L-Corp about all your favorite things.  I hate salmon, too.” 

“Well, thank you, yes, a coffee would be lovely,” Lena smiled adoringly at the sweet young blonde.  Her presence was definitely welcome and would help make this transition much easier.  The butterflies in her stomach were already put a bit at ease.

“Great!” Eve turned around and started walking away, but Lena stopped her.

“Eve, why don't you just use this elevator?  It'll go straight to the ground floor.” 

Eve shook her head.  “Oh, no, only the boss can use it.” 

“That's just silly,” Lena waved her off.  “Anybody who needs it should be able to use it.” 

“Alright!”  Eve practically skipped to the elevator.

“Lena?” James said, coming back towards his office.  “I didn't know you'd be here this morning.” 

“Yeah, I was able to get things in line over at L-Corp,” she replied.  “Sam is going to be taking on some more responsibilities for me.”

James smiled.  “That's good.  I wanna say thanks again for saving CatCo.  And we should really figure out a way to get you up to speed on what's happening here.  I was thinking weekly meetings or-”

Lena interrupted him, “There's no need.  I'll be here every day.”

James stammered. “Ev- Every day?” 

“Yeah, I've set things up at L-Corp so I'll be able to dedicate my energies to learning the ins and outs of how things work at CatCo,” Lena informed him.

“Okay.” James cleared his throat awkwardly.

She frowned.  “You seem surprised by this.” 

“Yeah…” he replied.  “Yeah.” 

Kara burst happily into the office and handed Lena her present.  “Lena!  Welcome to CatCo.” 

Lena examined her gift and smiled.  “You didn't have to do that.” 

“It's a Danvers family tradition,” Kara said, kissing her.  “First day of school, you get a planner.” 

“It's lovely,” Lena grinned, pulling the blonde in for another kiss.  “In the Luthor house on the first day, we would hire a private investigator to make sure our teachers' credentials were up-to-date.

 Kara laughed.  “Is that what you did for the twins’ tutors?”

“What do you think?” Lena retorted with a wink. 

“So, you knew that Lena would be here today?” James asked Kara.

“Yeah, she told me last night.” 

“I should've communicated more clearly, James.  I'm sorry,” Lena apologized.  “It won't happen again.” 

“No, no, no.  It's-  no…” James stammered.  “I mean I feel bad because we just... We're just not ready for a change in management.  We don't even have an office for you, but I-” 

“Oh, no, that's fine,” Lena assured him.  “I won't be needing an office.  It's this new trend in CEOs, we like to roam free, ask questions, and hear unfiltered conversations.  That way we can understand how things are working.  It's much easier when you don't have a desk.  Kara, do you think you might be able to get me the dossier on the Edge investigation, please?” 

“Uh, there's actually something I have to deal with,” Kara replied, mouthing ‘DEO.’  “Can I get it for you later?  Is that okay?”

“Sure, yeah.”

“Sorry,” Kara said, hurriedly kissing her wife goodbye and running out the door. 

“Um…” James cleared his throat.  “Lena, I'd be happy to have someone else do that for you.” 

“No, no, it's fine, I can get it,” she waved him off.  “Thanks.”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

“It is not a personal attack on your taste!” Alex snapped.

“I wasn't even thinking that until you just suggested it,” Maggie hissed.

“It's a fact,” Alex insisted.

Maggie scoffed in disgust.

“Okay, Winn, back me up,” Alex demanded.

Winn turned to them, “Hmm?  I don't think that I should get involved.” 

“Because you're on my side, aren't you?” Maggie smirked.

Alex huffed, “Oh, yeah, right. 

“Well…” Winn squeaked, putting some space between him and Alex.

“What?” Alex balked.  “Wait... I saved your life!”

“Yeah, but, like, so has everybody else here,” Winn shrugged.

“Don't try to make him feel bad for siding with me,” Maggie snipped.

“What, did you pay him to agree with you?” Alex accused.

Maggie put her hands on her hips.  “Oh, now you're accusing me of bribery?”

“Well, if the shoe fits-”

“Hey, hey, hey!” J’onn interjected.  “Hey. What is all this about?”

“We can't agree on one very important baby shower detail - classic rock, or Maggie’s weird lesbian music,” Alex informed him.

“Lesbian music?” J’onn repeated.

“Yeah, like Joni Mitchell and Ani Difranco,” Maggie explained.

J’onn put on this thinking face.  “The human mind reacts to music very much like other stimuli. Tastes, smells.  If the song isn’t something you know, you enjoy it less, and are, therefore, less likely to get jiggy on the dance floor. I say classic rock.”

“Oh, yes!” Alex cheered.

“Come on!” Maggie groused.

“Did you just say ‘Jiggy’?” Lucy asked in amusement.

Suddenly, Supergirl was standing in the middle of them.  “What was the general alert for?” 

“Wait, you get the general alerts?” Winn asked in confusion.  “That's just for the analysts I think.”

“No, I had them add me to the distro list,” Kara explained.  When Alex stared questioningly at her, she said, “I want to know what's going on with the city at all times.”

“Detective Danvers brought this in this morning,” J’onn replied.  “Mr. Schott.”

“Yeah, well, we analysts thought we might be able to see something the cops didn't.”  Winn pulled up a video of a bank robbery on the big screens.

“She hit two banks back-to-back,” Maggie informed her. 

“Where are the guards?” Supergirl wanted to know. 

“Unconscious on the floor,” Lucy answered. 

“Any leads on how she took 'em out?” Kara asked. 

“Well, we thought it might be gas,” Winn replied. 

“But toxicity came back negative,” Maggie added. 

“According to reports, she walked right in the front door,” said J’onn.  “No weapons of any kind. Everyone just cleared out of her way, let her take whatever she wanted.” 

“Whoa!” Winn exclaimed.  “We got a silent alarm tripped at 25th and Cedar!”

“Looks like that's our new friend,” Kara said, putting her game face on.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The Kryptonian flew at top speed to the bank, finding the suspect in the vault, filling up a duffle bag with money.

“I got you cornered,” Supergirl announced to the thief.  

“Do you?” the woman replied casually in a deep and surprisingly sultry voice. 

“What did you do to them up there?” Kara inquired of the cowering people upstairs. 

“I only wanted to play,” the woman replied. “But they didn't want to play with me.” 

Kara put her hands on her hips, “Well, you are not getting away with it.” 

The woman just kept putting money in her bag.  “Oh.  You think you're the cat and I'm the bird. You got it backwards.  You can join me.  Maybe then you'd be happy.  You see, money equals happiness.  More money, more happiness.” 

“Your priorities are seriously out of whack,” Kara accused. 

“I know, right?” the woman laughed a little maniacally. 

“Put the bag down,” Supergirl demanded.

The woman stopped smiling and just stared at Kara.  Suddenly, Kara felt the walls of the vault closing in on her.  She started hyperventilating and fell against the vault wall.

Upstairs, Chief Williams was leading the police into the bank.  “Make sure they are okay,” he directed, pointing at the people on the floor.  “I'm gonna check the vault.”  When he saw the state Kara was in, he panicked a little.  “Everyone out of the way!  Get out of here now!”  He tried to soothe the hero, “Hey, Kara, Kara, it's okay, it's okay.”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

“Okay, the scans of your vitals are coming up normal,” Winn assured.

“See, I told you, I am fine,” Kara huffed.  “This is totally unnecessary. “

“None of the human victims remember what happened in there. Do you?” Maggie asked her.

Kara sighed.  “I don't know. I felt like the walls of the vaults were made of Kryptonite and closing in on me, like I was suffocating.”

“Sounds like she made you feel claustrophobic,” Maggie figured.

“Claustrophobia is a human problem,” Kara denied.

“You used to have episodes like that sometimes, when you first came to Earth,” Alex reminded her.

“That was a long time ago,” Kara dismissed.  “We need to find out who she is and how we track her. 

“Well, at the moment, you're our best clue,” J’onn said, his eyes starting to glow.

“What are you doing?” asked Alex.

Winn raised his hand, “Hey, I thought you couldn't read Kryptonian minds.”

“I can't,” J’onn replied.  “But I can scan her mind for residual psychic activity.”

“Just remind me to get you a World's Best Boss mug,” Winn quipped.

J’onn continued to scan Kara’s mind.  “Well, she's definitely a psychic, but she's not like me. There are traces of a particular type of psionic interference in your mind, the type only used by metahumans.”

“Okay, well, I'll start combing through the metahuman database,” Winn informed them.  

“In the meantime, I'll monitor potential targets for unusual activity,” J’onn added.

“If we locate her, I'll take her down,” Kara said, hands on her hips.

“It's not safe!” Alex worried.

“She caught me off guard last time. It's not gonna happen again.”  With that, Kara turned and left the DEO.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

“Just because I'm stepping in does not mean these deals are voided,” Sam said into her phone, stepping onto the L-Corp elevator.  Her call waiting beeped, and she looked to see who it was.  It was Ruby’s school.  “I'm gonna have to call you back.”  She switched over to the new call, “Hello?  Yes?  What?!”  Sam hopped off the elevator before the door could close, and she headed to Ruby’s middle school.

XXX

“Okay, well, then,” Principal Coburn started.  “There was some kind of argument between the girls that started before morning bell.  It got very heated outside their lockers and Ruby hit Stephanie.” 

Sam’s eyes widened in shock.  “Okay, when you say ‘hit,’ I mean, how did she hit her?  Did she push her?”

“Oh, no, she punched her in the face,” the principal stated. 

“Oh, God,” Sam sighed.  “Is Stephanie all right?”

“She's okay,” Principal Coburn assured her.  “It didn't go further than the one punch.” 

Sam shook her head in dismay.  “I just... This is not like Ruby.” 

“Ruby is very well-behaved,” the principal agreed.  “I was shocked when they told me she was involved in this.  Is she acting okay at home?  Sleeping normally?”

“Yes.  Yes, nothing out of the ordinary,” Sam assured her. 

The principal continued, “I know you're a single parent.  Has there been some sort of shake-up with Ruby's father?  You know, sometimes children can sense-” 

“There is no father, it's just us,” Sam replied quickly.

“I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry,” Principal Coburn apologized.  “We just want to find out what's going on with Ruby and make sure that this is an isolated incident for her. 

“Well, I agree,” Sam nodded.  She grabbed her purse and headed out to get her daughter.  “Today of all days,” she chastised.  “Come on.”

In full pout mode, Ruby grabbed her backpack and trudged out.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The Catco elevator dinged, and Kara hurried out.  

“Hey, how you doing?” James greeted her. 

“I'm okay,” she sighed.  “I'm just running late.” 

“For what?” James asked. 

“Uh, Lena called a meeting for the newsroom,” Kara replied.

James frowned.  “She did? 

“Yeah, she didn't tell you?”

“No, she did not.”

“Huh.”

“Kara, there you are,” Lena grinned, walking up to her and giving her a kiss.

“I'm sorry, I tried to make it work, but it just…” Kara threw her hands in the air and sighed heavily.

“Good meeting?” James asked.  “Was it good?”

“Yeah, I was just going around to all the departments, giving them a little pep talk,” Lena told him.  “I really missed you there,” she pouted at Kara.

Kara’s phone rang again.  “Shoot. I... I have to take this.”  She walked away to answer the call.

“Where is she going?” Lena complained. 

James looked around to make sure there wasn’t anyone listening.  “Look,” he spoke softly, “I talked to Lucy, and she said that they’re trying to track down some sort of psychic metahuman, but she keeps getting away.  Now, did you think that I didn't wanna be there?  Is that why you didn't tell me?”

“Well, to be honest, I thought you would be too busy to act as my chaperone,” Lena answered.

“I don't wanna chaperone you.  I don't consider myself a chaperone.  I consider myself the person who's been running this company for a year,” James said firmly.

Lena smiled defensively, knowing that James was feeling threatened by her.  “All right, Mr. Olsen.  I have a meeting with the advertising department in twenty minutes. I'll see you there.”

“See you in nineteen.”

“Twenty will be fine,” Lena purred.  

As she walked away from him, James bit his lip to keep from saying something snarky to his new boss.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Supergirl sped across the sky to National City Savings and Loan where another alarm had been tripped.  She spotted the metahuman in the parking garage and quietly flew inside, shooting a blast of heat vision at her.  

Unfortunately, the woman sensed her attack and side stepped it.  “Trying to sneak up on a psychic?” she accused, dropping her bag.

“Almost worked,” Kara replied.

The woman didn’t answer.  She simply shot a psychic wave at Supergirl, making her stumble.

“Supergirl, are you all right?” Alex worried.  She looked to J’onn, “Tell me there's something you can do.” 

“I can try and create a psychic shield to protect her mind from the attacks,” he suggested. 

“It'll work?” Maggie asked.

He sighed, “I don't know.”  He pressed his fingers to his temple and his eyes glowed red as he tried to shield Kara’s mind.

The metahuman smirked.  “Someone else has come to play.”  

“J'onn,” Kara breathed.

“Your friend should be careful.”  She closed her eyes, and J’onn fell to the ground, gasping in pain.

“J'onn?” Alex, Maggie and Lucy cried out, running to him. 

The metahuman opened her eyes again and smirked at Kara, “Just you and me now.”

Before the woman could get the better of her again, Supergirl blew a giant gust of ice breath at her, knocking her into the windshield of her car.

The next blast of the metahuman’s psychic attack was so strong that it shattered the rear windshield of the Jeep behind Kara, knocking the hero to the ground.  “Mind over matter,” the woman taunted.

“What are you doing to me?” Kara demanded, standing back to her feet, though she wobbled greatly. 

“Fear is a powerful tool,” the woman replied.  As the thief walked towards her, Kara’s vision changed.  Instead of a parking garage, she was in a Kryptonian pod launching station.

“Kara,” the woman said.  

How did she know her name?   

“Kara,” the woman said again.

Supergirl couldn’t focus.  Her heart was racing, and she was practically hyperventilating.  She fell to the ground again.

“Kara.”  In the place of the metahuman, Supergirl now saw her mother and father standing before her. “Kara, I love you.” 

“Mom?” 

“Kara, because of the Earth's yellow sun, you will have great powers on this planet.  You will do extraordinary things.”

Supergirl forgot all about the present and was rocketing out of her parents’ launch pad, suddenly twelve years old again.  Below her, she could see Krypton falling apart.  The whole ground was now just angry lava, and there was debris everywhere.  Kara felt like there wasn’t any air in her pod.  She tried to breathe, and soon, she caught up with Kal-El’s pod.  As soon as his pod launched into hyperspeed, she knew it was her turn, and she’d be with him soon.  Unfortunately, that’s not what happened.  Instead of heading toward Earth, her pod was hit with some of Krypton’s floating pieces of land, now turned into solid meteor-like objects.  Her pod careened out of control, spinning in space until the hypersleep function kicked in, and she fell asleep.

After that, Kara was transported back to the day at the beach when she was still brand new to Earth, but she had all these powers, and a car accident nearly got her into a lot of trouble and worst of all, Alex had been seriously hurt that day.  “Alex!” she screamed.  But it had no effect.  Alex was injured anyway.

Proceeding that, Kara watched from the second floor of the Danvers household as Jeremiah was blackmailed by Hank Henshaw into working for the DEO.

As soon as that vision faded, Kara was again back in Midvale, mourning the loss of her and Alex’s friend Kenny.  She had been powerless to keep him from getting killed, and she almost lost Alex that week, too.  “Alex!” she screamed again.

Kara’s next vision was of being trapped by Lillian Luthor, being forced to make herself powerless to save Mon-El’s life, Lillian strapping her down to take her blood.

Next, she was rocketed into her fight with Rhea, feeling the strength draining out of her as the Kryptonite sucked the life out of her.  She couldn’t fight.  She couldn’t stand.  She could barely breathe.

Next, she was underwater, completely unable to breathe, knocked senseless from an exploding missile.

Her last and final vision was the worst of all.  Lillian and Henshaw were there with Kryptonite weapons, and try as she might, Kara couldn’t stop them from kidnapping her family and taking them far away.

“Alex!” Kara screamed again.

“Supergirl. Supergirl!” Alex hollered into the coms.

Kara woke up on the ground, completely disoriented until she registered Alex’s voice.  “I'm here,” she panted, trying to get her bearings.  “I'm here.”  She tried to calm her heart rate and her breathing, but the terror still clung to her bones.  As soon as she could manage to stand again, she rocketed back to the DEO.

Kara leaned against the briefing table and sulked.

“I'm sorry I couldn't hold her off. She's more powerful than any psychic I have ever encountered,” J’onn apologized. 

“What happened this time?” Alex wanted to know. 

“It was the same as before,” Kara answered, not looking her in the eye.

Alex looked like she was about to keep questioning her when Winn (bless him) interrupted.

“I got our girl!” the tech announced.  “Gayle Marsh, law-abiding citizen of Skokie, Illinois, until one day she snapped and went on a bank-robbing spree.  Uh, let's see, authorities nicknamed her ‘Psi’ after a string of psychologically-enhanced robberies, which ravaged a series of small town banks throughout the Midwest a couple of months ago.” 

“Where do we go from here?” Lucy questioned.

“Well, now that we know a little bit more, I thought I might start trying to adapt our psychic dampening technology to stop her,” Winn informed her. 

“Good work, Agent Schott,” J’onn complimented gruffly. 

Winn beamed.  “I still love it when he calls me that.” 

“But,” J’onn continued, “We still need to know how she's infiltrating people's minds, so get started.” 

“I'll head to the precinct and see if there's an update on any witness reports that might help,” Maggie volunteered. 

“I’ll go with you,” Alex offered.

Kara kissed her wives, and when they were gone, she pulled Winn aside.  “I need to talk to you.” 

“Ooh, this is very covert ops,” he quipped.  “What's up?” 

“I know how she's doing it,” she admitted.  “I felt her this time.  She's targeting people's fear.” 

Winn stammered, “H- how do you know that?” 

“I saw my mother,” she explained.  “I saw Krypton explode. I relived my last moments there.  And then being stuck, floating through space for so long, knowing I could never have my life back…  Psi put me back in that pod.  Completely trapped and alone. It was... It was so quiet.  The silence was the worst part.  I felt completely cut off from everything and everyone I have ever known.  And that’s not even the worst thing I saw.  We have to stop her, Winn.”

“You should tell J'onn and Alex,” Winn insisted.

“No,” she refused.  “They can't know.  They'll just worry.  You have to be the one to solve this, that's why I'm telling you.  You're already altering the psychic dampeners, right?  This will help?” 

“Yeah, I mean, knowing that it targets fear centers, sure.” 

“Good.”  Kara’s phone rang again.  “Hang on. It's Lena, I've got to go.”

“Hey, hey,” Winn stopped her.  “I'm... I'm sorry that this is happening.  If…”

“I'll be fine,” she said distractedly walking away. 

“Um…  OK…”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

“Got in a fight? I mean…” Sam sighed heavily.  “I just want to understand here, baby. What happened?”

“She called me a liar,” Ruby muttered.

“Well, who cares what Stephanie Harrison thinks?” Sam challenged.

“I'm not a liar,” Ruby insisted.

“What did you tell her?” Sam asked.

“I told her that you rescued me at the waterfront, that you have superpowers.”

Sam’s eyes widened comically, “That I have superpowers?”  She scoffed.  “No. No, I don't have powers.”

“Then how did you lift that huge thing?” Ruby wanted to know.

“Honey, I told you, it's adrenaline, okay?  I'm not…”

“Why don't you just admit it?” Ruby frowned.  “Do you know how many people in this world want to have superpowers?  Do you know how special it is?”

“I'm not special!” Sam said loudly.

“Yes, you are!” Ruby argued.

“No, I'm not!  I'm just an average mother trying to take care of her kid!” Sam shouted.  When Ruby pouted at her, she reeled herself in.  “I'm sorry.  I'm sorry.  Ruby, I need you to hear me.  I don't have powers, okay? 

“You think I am a liar, too,” Ruby sulked and got up from the table and walked upstairs.

“No, I don't think you're a liar, I just think you need to let it go!” Sam called after her.  She rubbed her face with her hand in frustration, “Oh, God, I just want you to let it go.”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

“What do you mean, you got in a fight?” Jessie exclaimed.  “Ruby!  What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Ruby sulked.

“Did someone hurt you?” Jessie growled.  “I’ll have words with them, if I have to.”

“No, I just-  I told you I don’t want to talk about it.”

Jessie was a bit dumbfounded.  “Ruby, I don’t understand.  I thought you could talk to me about anything.”

Ruby sighed.  “I’ve gotta go.”  She hung up before Jessie could say anything else.  She knew Jessie would be just as disappointed with her as her mom was, and she just didn’t want to deal with that right now.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara hurried through the bullpen trying to get to her desk, bumping into someone on the way, “Oh, sorry,” she muttered distractedly.

She could hear Lena on the phone, coming up behind her.  “No, no, it's fine. We can reschedule.  We'll connect later, okay?  Thanks.”  Lena hung up the phone.  “Kara!  Kara, I was looking for you.”

“Yeah, I know. I got your message.”  She got up and kissed her wife.  “What's up?”

“My contact at Morgan Edge's bank came through.  I would like you to go interview him,” Lena requested 

Kara nodded.  “I can, but there's something I have to do first.”

“Okay, other work stuff?” Lena asked.

“Um, Supergirl stuff,” Kara whispered.

Lena rested her hip on Kara’s desk.  “Kara, I think I know what's going on.”

“What do you mean?” the reporter frowned.

“You, rushing in and out of the office, not focusing on work.”

“Lena, I’m trying to catch a criminal, OK?”

Lena wasn’t having it.  “I grew up in a house with the most deceptive people in the world. I can tell when someone's lying to me. You don't have to hide from me, Kara.”

“I…”

“It's about me, isn't it?”

Kara’s frown deepened.

“You don’t want to work with me,” Lena stated without accusation.

“Lena, no!” Kara almost shouted.  When everyone turned to look at her, she blushed and lowered her voice.  “That is not what's going on with me.”

“Okay,” Lena waved her hands around.  “Then what is?  You can tell me.”

“You know. It's personal. And I don't wanna talk about personal things on the job.  We can talk about it when we get home.”

“Okay,” Lena crossed her arms and suddenly looked the full picture of a mother disappointed in her child.  “Then let’s talk about work.  This is unacceptable behavior for an employee,” she spoke surprisingly gently in Kara’s opinion.  “You ran off this morning when I gave you an assignment.  You missed a staff meeting.  And now when asked to do a job by your boss, you act like it's an inconvenience.  I did not spend $750 million on a company as a favor to a friend, nor do I plan on being an absentee landlord.  I'm a business woman and this is an investment.  I plan to get out of it everything I can.  Don’t dink me around, Kara.  Just because we’re married doesn’t mean you get to skate around doing nothing.  Do you want this job, or not?”

Kara felt properly chastised.  “I'll get in touch with your contact at the bank.”  

“Thank you.”

Kara’s phone rang as she headed back towards the elevators.  “Hello?” 

“Kara?” Alex said quickly.  “She hit another bank.”

“I'm on my way,” Kara told her, stepping onto the elevator.  The door closed behind her, and she started to push the ground floor button, but suddenly she felt the walls closing in on her just like they had done at the bank that morning.  She tried to breathe, but it felt like she couldn’t get enough air.  She stumbled around the little box, gasping and shaking.  She had to get out of there.  She looked around for an exit.  There were none, but she could see the light shining down on her too brightly, and though she knew it wasn’t the sun, she knew that the sun was up there, and she just had to get to it.  She crouched down and rocketed herself through the ceiling, up, and up, and through the roof of the building until she felt the sun on her skin and she could breathe again.  “Okay,” she panted.

“Supergirl?” Alex called.

“I'm okay,” Kara said, still catching her breath.  “I'm headed there now.”

“She got away,” Alex informed her.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Kara snuck into the DEO from the ground floor, so she could avoid Alex, Lucy, Maggie and J’onn.  She texted Winn to meet her in the infirmary, so he could try and see what had just happened to her.  “She must be getting stronger.  I felt her in that elevator with me.  She was in my head again.” 

“Well, there is no sign of any psychic intrusion,” Winn said, finishing up his scans.

“What?” Kara said disbelievingly.

Winn sat down across from her.  “I think that you just had a good old fashioned panic attack.” 

“That's not possible,” Kara argued.  “No, I'm... I'm stronger than that.”

“Look, she got in your head, okay? And now she's forcing you to live through some serious trauma.  That is gonna take a toll on anyone. I don't care if you're the strongest person in the world, which…” Winn waved his hand at her.  “Look, it's nothing to be ashamed of-”

“I never said I was ashamed,” she replied quickly.

Alex was walking by when she heard voices where they weren’t supposed to be.  She peeked her head into the room and found Winn and Kara.  “Winn, J'onn's looking for you,” she lied.  “Hey, what are you guys doing up here?” she tried asking directly.

“Just talking. We're hanging out, just being friends,” Winn chuckled nervously.

“Alex, I have to go, sorry,” Kara told her, kissing her and hurrying out of the DEO.

Alex stayed and just stared at Winn, knowing she didn’t have to say anything at all.  She knew there was something going on, and she was going to get it out of Winn one way or another.  She just stared and stared, stepping closer and closer to him until he finally gave in.

“Yeah.  Mmm-hmm.  How's it going?  I'm good. Thanks for asking,” Winn huffed another nervous laugh.  “Just a normal day in the DEO, man.  Nothing abnormal happening here. Nothing going on.  I mean... And Kara, Kara is... She's fine, right?  I mean, she's not totally, completely fine in, like, the normal sense of the word.  You know what I'm saying... You said J'onn was looking for me.  I'm just gonna go ahead and tell you everything, yeah.”

Alex smiled victoriously.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

“So sorry again about today, Lena.  Ruby had an issue at school.  It's never happened before.  Yes, I've pushed all the meetings to tomorrow.  I've gone through the charts for the presentation.  It should not be an issue.  Thank you so much for understanding.  Okay, great.  Yeah, thanks again.  I'll see you tonight.  Yes.” Sam answered the door and paid the pizza guy.  “Ruby!  Dinner!  Hey, Rube?  Sam went upstairs to check on her daughter, figuring the preteen was busy listening to music or something.  She knocked on the door, and when no answer came, she poked her head in.  “Rube?  Ruby?”  She pulled out her phone and texted Ruby, ‘Where are you?’ but no answer came.

XXX

Ruby sat at her favorite pizza parlor eating a slice of pizza and drinking a soda.  When she got her mother’s text, she just ignored it and went back to eating.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Alex, Maggie, and Lena met up back at Ms. Grant’s place to find Kara and get her to talk to them once and for all.  They were fed up with her being so secretive.  When they entered the bedroom, they found Kara sitting on the floor speaking Kryptonian.

“What are you doing?” Alex asked gently, sitting on the bed in front of her, followed by Maggie and Lena.

“It's Kryptonian meditation,” Kara explained.  “We say an ancient mantra to strengthen the mind.”

“Hmm. Never seen you do that before,” Alex mused.

Kara sighed.  “I've never felt like I needed it.”

“Winn's still working on the psychic dampening technology,” Alex informed her. 

“Mmm,” was all Kara said.

“We had a nice chat.”

“Did you?” Kara narrowed her eyes in irritation.  “He told you, didn't he?”

“Well, he's not very good at keeping secrets,” Alex replied.

“And then you told them,” Kara added, referring to Maggie and Lena.

“Yup,” Alex fully admitted.

“You shouldn't have done that,” Kara huffed.

“Well, we used to talk to each other about this kind of stuff. Why didn't you tell us you saw Krypton, that you were having panic attacks?”

“I didn't want you to worry.”

“You fight the most dangerous and evil people on the planet, so we’re kind of always gonna worry.”

“That’s part of the problem!  I don’t want any of you getting too stressed out while you’re pregnant!”  Kara threw her hands in the air.

“Babe, you have to know that your secrecy is making us ten times more stressed out than what we would be if we actually knew what was going on,” Maggie told her softly.

“I don't know how to fight this one,” Kara said meekly.  “And I should be able to stop her, but... But then she makes her way into my mind and... And forces me to relive the scariest moment of my life. It's... It's torture. How am I supposed to deal with that?”

“Well, by remembering that your fears don't define you,” Alex encouraged.  “You are who you are as Supergirl.  Who you are as Kara.  That's what defines you, and she's got nothing on that.”

“No, who I am feels broken. Alex, I'm trying to be myself again, but everything that used to make me feel good, like... Like a relief is.. It's disappeared.  I’m just scared all the time.  I’m scared of failing.  I’m scared of losing you all.  It’s just so overwhelming.  I feel powerless.”

“It's not always gonna feel like that, I promise,” Alex told her, stroking her cheek.

“My life as Supergirl was the one thing I could count on. I could go out there and help people. I could make a difference in the world. I could... feel strong, even though a huge part of me feels so weak, and she's taking that away from me. And if I don't have Supergirl, what do I have?”

“You got us,” Alex reminded her.

Kara started to tear up.  “I know that, silly.”

“Come here, Angel.”  Alex pulled her to her feet and had her sit down between her and Lena.  “We’re here for you, Kara.  You can’t worry about worrying us.  It makes it so much worse when you hide things from us.”

“We love you so much, Kara,” Lena said softly.  “We’re a team, remember?  El Mayara is the code that you live by, so don’t forget it.”

Maggie was not to be left out.  “We have to stick together.  We have to keep communications open, so our relationships don’t break down.  Talk to us, babe.”

Kara took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.  She closed her eyes for a moment and then she started speaking, telling her wives everything that she saw while she was under Psi’s influence.  She started to cry halfway through, and her wives held her and kissed her and promised to support her.  They apologized profusely that she was feeling so powerless, and they kept promising over and over that they weren’t going anywhere.

When Kara finally calmed down, the moms-to-be offered to take care of her by going down on her.  The hero couldn’t resist the offer, especially after what she had done that morning for them.  They took turns getting her off until she knotted, and then they spent some time just cuddling her.  In the end, Kara did feel a lot better.  She apologized for making them worry, and she promised to keep them in the loop from now on.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Construction sounds abounded in the neighborhood as two guards carried their bags of money back to the armored truck.  Suddenly, they both started to see a swarm of bees surrounding them.  They shrieked and flailed around, dropping their money bags to the ground, trying to swat the bees away.  While the men were distracted, Psi casually walked up to them, picking up the bags and admiring her handiwork.  

Sirens approached, and she was surrounded by police shouting at her.  “Stop!  Get down!  On the ground now.  On the ground!”

Psi smirked and turned to the man in the wrecking ball cab.  She turned her powers on him, and he found himself immersed in a cabin full of snakes.  The man screamed, “Get it off me!  Get it off!”  In his effort to evade the snakes, he bumped the controls for the wrecking ball, sending the giant metal ball swinging wildly, hitting police cars and buildings alike.  The people on the street started panicking and screaming, getting Ruby’s attention from the pizza parlor inside.  She texted her mother her location with the message, “Come save me mom.” 

XXX

Back at the DEO, the gang was watching the CCTV of the whole incident.  “That thing could take out an entire block!” Alex worried.  

“I have to get down there, now,” Kara growled. 

“Hold on,” J’onn stopped her.  “Not without this you're not.”

Winn handed her a weird... thing.

“What is it?” Kara asked.

“Psionic inhibitor ray,” Winn explained.  

“It should protect you from her powers,” J’onn added. 

“We'll set a perimeter to secure the area,” Alex assured her.

Kara looked at the inhibitor.  “Just have to keep her out of my head long enough to get a good shot off.”

“You can do it,” Alex encouraged.  She and Maggie kissed Kara hard, hoping to remind her of their earlier talk.

XXX

Back at the crime scene, a police officer rushed up to Psi, wielding his weapon.  “Freeze!”

Psi simply cocked her head and stared at him until he fell to the ground crying like a baby.

“Is it awful?” she grinned, stroking his cheek.

Sam slammed on the brakes as she got as far down the road as she could.  She took in the scene around her and her panic grew exponentially.  “Ruby!” she screamed when she spotted her, watching her daughter walk deeper into the fray.  The people around them were still screaming and running around like chickens with their heads cut off.  Sam could hardly move forward.  As Ruby continued, the wrecking ball swung wildly, hitting the corner of a building, and the debris landed all around her, knocking her to the ground.  “Ruby!” Sam screamed again.

“Mom!” 

Sam ran to her daughter and knelt on the ground next to her.  “Baby!  I got you!  Are you okay?”  As they sat there, the wrecking ball careened toward them.  “Oh, God!”  Sam braced herself for the impact, but it never came.  Supergirl appeared just in the knick of time to swipe the ball out of the air and set it down where it wouldn’t hurt anyone. 

“What the hell are you guys doing out here?” she shouted at Sam and Ruby.  “Get out of here!”  Supergirl stalked towards her objective.  “Psi!” she called out, getting the woman’s attention.  As soon as she had it, she fired the so-called inhibitor ray.  It didn’t appear to have any effect on the criminal.  Psi still shocked her with her psionic waves, sending her to her knees.

“Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home. Your house is on fire, and your children, they will burn,” Psi spoke in her weird way.  She closed her eyes, and the next blast was so strong, it sent Kara flying backwards several blocks.

This time, Psi’s little rhyme echoed in her head, and she was transported to her brand new house, burned to the ground.  Her heart clenched in her chest, and she couldn’t breathe.  “They’re dead,” she sobbed.

“Kara, hey, it's me. It’s Alex,” her wife spoke to her on the coms.  “It's okay, you're okay.” 

“I killed them.” 

“No.” 

“I was too late, and they died.  The house burned down, and they all died because I was too weak to save them.”

“Who?”

“Everyone!” Kara sobbed.  “Everyone I’ve ever loved is dead.  They killed them to get to me.  I couldn’t fight it!  I couldn’t fight it.”

“Kara, no one is dead,” Alex tried to convince her.

She couldn’t understand her.

“I killed them,” she chanted, rocking back and forth on her knees.  “I killed them.”

“Kara!  Kara no one is dead.  Your wives, your family, your children.  We’re all alive.  I promise.  You saved us.  OK?  You saved us.”

“I saved you?” Kara whimpered, too scared to believe her.

“Yeah,” Alex encouraged..  “You will always save us.  I know you will.”

“Yeah,” Kara breathed.

“OK.” 

“Alex?” 

“Go get her.”

Kara sniffled and took a deep breath, gathering her strength and her nerve, and she caught back up to Psi.  “You're not going anywhere.” 

“Hmm,” Psi smirked.  “What did you see?  I wonder.  What brought the Girl of Steel to her knees?”  She sent another wave of energy at Supergirl, but the Kryptonian stood strong this time.

“A lie,” Kara replied.

“Fear is not a lie,” Psi attacked her again, to no avail.  “Fear cripples. Annihilates spirits.  It is the only weapon that matters.”  She attacked Supergirl again, but nothing happened.  Kara just stepped closer and closer.  “Fear made me stronger than you. No one is safe from it.”  With one last blast of her mental powers, she tried to take Kara down, but now the hero was standing toe to toe with her.  “Why aren't you scared anymore?”

“Mind over matter,” Kara growled, head-butting Psi in the face and knocking her out.

The police showed up and arrested the woman, putting a DEO-issued gadget on her head to keep her from using her powers.

Kara wandered over to Sam and Ruby.  “Hey, we doing okay over here?”

“She's a little shaken up,” Sam explained.

“Yeah.  You’ve had a rough week, haven’t you?  Between what happened at the waterfront and today.  Did you know that rubies are one of the toughest gemstones?” 

“Only diamonds are tougher,” Ruby replied proudly.

“She's smart and she's tough.  A deadly combo.”  Kara gave the girl a fist bump and went back to talk to the police.  “See you guys later.”

“Hey, sweetie,” Sam spoke to her daughter.  “Why is it so important to you that I have superpowers?  Hmm?  Putting yourself in danger like that, I don't... I don't even wanna think about what could have happened.” 

“I thought you would save me,” Ruby admitted. 

“Baby, if I had superpowers, I would've swept you right out of there,” Sam assured her.  “But I don't. I don't.  But superpowers or not, you are the most important thing in the world to me. Never ever forget that.” 

“Okay.” 

“You've got gravel on your hair.” 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

When Kara got home, her family was in the living room waiting for her.  They greeted her with enthusiasm, making her grin.  She took a deep breath in, getting their scents in her nose before laying across the people on the couch.

“Hi, Mama!” the twins grinned at her, patting her legs.

“Hello, Dear,” Eliza chuckled softly.  She took one of Kara’s hands in hers and kissed the back of it.

“Excuse you,” Cat complained.

“Shh,” Kara told her, picking up her old boss’s hand and putting it against her cheek.

Cat shook her head, but she stroked Kara’s cheek with her thumb.  “Alex told us you had kind of a bad day today.”

“Yeah,” Kara sighed.  “But there’s nothing better than coming home to you all tonight.  I love you all so much.”

Everyone expressed their love back to her in a chorus of voices.

“Thank you,” she sighed.

Jessie took Kara’s shoes off and started rubbing her feet.

“Wow, that feels great, thank you, baby.”

“You’re welcome.  You do it for the mommies all the time, so I think it should be your turn.”

“Why did you have such a bad day today?” Carter wanted to know.

The reporter sighed.  “I fought a metahuman whose power is to make people terrified.”

“I didn’t know you got scared,” the boy replied, wide eyed.  

“Sure I do,” she admitted.  “I get scared all the time.  I just don’t let it stop me from doing what I have to do when I need to do it.”

Carter appeared to be taking this very seriously.  “What are you scared of?” he questioned further.

She closed her eyes and felt Cat stroking her cheek again.  “What scares me the most is losing the people I love.  You guys are my reason for living.  For going on.  For making sure the world is safe.  I’d be devastated to lose any more of my family, blood or adopted or found, or whatever.  It's hard enough losing people I don’t know.”

Carter nodded with understanding.  “Well, on behalf of the world, thank you for being so brave.”

Kara beamed at him.  “Thanks, friend.”

Carter looked like he’d just won the lottery.

Kara turned her head to face her wives on the other couch, “So, Lena, I got in touch with your contact at the bank, and he would be a great source on Edge.” 

“I'm glad it was valuable,” Lena nodded. 

“Uh... I need to apologize for my behavior earlier.  You were just trying to be good to me and I bit your head off, and then…”

“It’s OK, Kara,” Lena assured her.  “Once you talked to me, I understood what was happening.  I just hope you don’t feel the need to hide things from us anymore.”

“I won’t.   Lena, today you were a really good wife and a great boss.  Honestly.” 

“Thank you.”

“Actually, all three of you were so good to me today.  I don’t deserve you.  You got me through a really hard day today, so thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” they all smiled adoringly at her.

The next thing they knew, the doorbell was ringing.

“That’ll be Sam,” Lena announced.  “I’ll get it.”  She hauled herself up off the other couch with a rather unladylike groan and waddled over to get the door.  “Hey!” she said cheerfully, opening the door for her friend.

“Hi!” Sam greeted her with a hug and a relieved smile.  “Oh!  Lena, thank you so much for being so understanding.” 

“Oh, God, please, no, I am no stranger to family drama,” Lena laughed.  “Come in!  Hi, Ruby!”

“Hi, Lena!” Ruby chirped, wrapping her arms around Lena’s belly.  She gasped.  “Hey!  The baby kicked me!”

Lena giggled.  “Yes, they like to do that.”

“Hi, babies!” Ruby cooed at her belly.

Lena put Ruby’s hand on her belly where the babies were kicking again.  “They say hello.”

Ruby grinned beatifically.

“Mom, can we go upstairs?” Jessie asked.

Alex nodded.  “As long as Jamie and Carter go with you.”

“But I need to talk to Ruby alone!” Jessie whined.

“Talk to her in the kitchen, then,” Alex replied firmly.

“Fine!”  Jessie snatched her girlfriend up by the hand and tugged her a bit roughly into the other room.  “Ruby!  Please, talk to me!” she exclaimed as calmly as she could.

Ruby frowned sadly.  She took a moment, but then she explained what had happened at school that day.

“Oh, Ruby, please don’t fight anymore.  Why do you need your mom to have powers?  Is it because you want powers too?”

Ruby hung her head.  “Maybe.”

Jessie took both of her hands in hers.  “Ruby, do you think I won’t love you if you don’t have powers?”

“I don’t know,” the brunette replied meekly, a tear sliding down her cheek.

“Ruby, I will always love you,” Jessie said earnestly.  “You don’t have to have powers.  You’re already so amazing.  I never thought I’d ever have a friend like you, let alone have someone who loves me.”

Ruby’s lip trembled, and she hugged Jessie close, letting her tears fall.

“It’s OK, honey,” Jessie soothed her, stroking her hair.  “It’s OK.”

The pair just stood there holding one another until Sam called Ruby from the other room, telling her it was time to go.

“I’ll talk to you later, OK, sweetie pie?” Jessie checked, sneaking in a quick kiss.

“OK.  Thank you, Jessie.”

“You’re very welcome, Ruby.  And please, don’t get into anymore fights.”  

“I won’t,” Ruby promised.

Jessie went back into the living room when her girlfriend left.

“Everything OK?” Alex wanted to know.

Jessie nodded.  “Yeah.”

“Good.  It’s time to go wash up.  We’ll be in the bedroom when you’re ready to say goodnight.”

“OK, mom.”  The twins padded upstairs obediently.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

After Ruby was asleep, Sam snuck by and peeked her head in, just watching her daughter in peaceful slumber.  She had been so scared today.  She didn’t want to think about what could have happened if Supergirl hadn’t shown up.  The crazy notion that Ruby would think she had superpowers was just beyond her imagination.  

When she had satisfied her mother’s urge, she headed downstairs to have a glass of wine and read a little bit before going to bed.  She sat down in her living room and turned the switch on the lamp beside her, but the bulb died on her.  She went into the garage to find a new bulb, and while she was there, she spotted a crowbar sitting on the table.  A sense of morbid curiosity came over her, and she picked it up and tried with all her might to bend it, even the slightest bit.  

Nothing.  

The bar remained just as strong and straight as it always had been.  She blinked and shook her head at herself.  She was just being silly, of course.  She knew she didn’t have powers.  She threw the stupid thing back on the table and went back into the living room.  Of course, in her distraction, she’d forgotten the light bulb.  She stomped back into the garage to get the bulb and stomped back to the living room.  

After she changed the light, she downed her glass of wine and got up to get another.  This day had been just too much for her.  By the time she got to her book, she didn’t even want to read anymore.  She wanted to text Douglas, but she knew he was asleep already.  She just sat there, in the end, sipping the rest of her wine until she felt relaxed enough to go to bed.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The Danvers family, minus Eliza, was piled on top of the foursome’s bed watching ‘The Wizard of Oz’ for Kara.  It was her favorite movie, and it helped to soothe her, so everyone agreed to it.

“Hey,” Kara suddenly remembered.  “Did you guys ever decide on what music to play at the baby shower?”

“No,” Alex and Maggie said at the same time.

“Well, we could always listen to my music,” Kara suggested with a smirk.

“No!” all three of her wives answered at once.

She giggled.  “Or, you could just mix it up and do both.”

Alex and Maggie nodded.  “I think that’s what we’re going to have to do,” Alex admitted.

“Shh!” Jamie told them.  “She’s about to sing!”

Alex rolled her eyes and pulled Kara’s arm more tightly around her.

“She’s so cute,” Kara said of Dorothy.  “But not as cute as my girls.”

Now it was Lena’s turn to think of something.  “By the way, Kara, what the hell did you do to my elevator?”

XXXXXXXXXXXX

J’onn was sitting in the alien bar minding his own business, drinking a beer in a booth of his own, when he heard a voice call his name.  He looked around to see who it was, but there was no one near him, nor anyone in the room looking at him.  He turned back and reached for his beer glass, and suddenly there was someone sitting across from him, reaching out for his hand.

“J'onn?” 

“M'gann?” he gasped. 

“You must come to Mars, now.”  She said nothing else, and just as suddenly, she was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Carter paced his room back and forth, over and over, trying to psyche himself up for the thing he needed to do.  Supergirl said she didn’t let her fear get in the way of doing what she needed to do when she needed to do it. She was his hero, and it was time to make her proud.  He had something he needed to do, but he’d been too terrified to do it yet.  He took some deep breaths and let them out slowly.  He counted to ten.  Twenty.  Fifty.  He smacked himself in the cheeks.  He talked to himself.  Finally, he just couldn’t hold back anymore.  He was going to do it.  He snuck across the hallway and knocked softly on the twins bedroom door.  “Jamie?” he whispered.

He waited a few seconds, and sure enough, Jamie answered the door looking confused.  “Is everything OK?”

“Yeah,” he replied automatically.  “I mean, no.  I mean-  Yes and no.  I mean, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure, but we should go downstairs where no one will hear us,” she suggested.

The pair went downstairs, but as soon as one of the stairs squeaked, Jamie picked Carter up by the waist and floated him the rest of the way down.  Carter blushed furiously.  “Thanks,” he stammered.  “I- I mean, sorry!”

“It’s OK,” she motioned for him to calm down.  “What did you need to talk to me about?”

“Oh uh, I-  It’s not-  I mean- I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Are you alright?” she asked worriedly.

“Yeah!” he said a bit too loudly.  “I mean…  Sorry.”  He quieted his voice, “Yeah.  I’m fine.”

“OK, are you gonna ask me your question?” she pressed.

“Yeah.  Yeah.  I’m going to ask you right now.  OK?  Ready?”

“Come on!” she urged.  “You’re going to get us in trouble.”

“OK!  Here goes.  Willyoubemygirlfriend?” he asked in a rush.

Luckily for him, Jamie was able to understand quite quickly, and she grinned, eyes wide.  “Finally!” she exclaimed.  She grabbed him by the cheeks and planted a kiss right on his lips.

When she pulled away, Carter’s jaw dropped.  “Hey!  I wasn’t ready!  I didn’t even know you were coming!  I didn’t get a chance to kiss you back!”

Jamie giggled and came in slowly this time.  “OK.  Get ready.”

Carter shook with nerves and excitement and all sorts of adrenaline, but he planted his feet, licked his lips and went for it.  He did it!  He actually did it!  He was kissing Jamie!  And Jamie was kissing him back!  Before he knew it, the kiss was over.  “Wow!” he exclaimed, raking his hand through his hair.  “Wow!”

“We should probably go back to bed now,” Jamie suggested.

“Yeah,” Carter replied dreamily.  “Yeah.”

Jamie floated them back to their doorways and waved goodnight to her new boyfriend.  “Goodnight, Carter,” she mouthed.

“Goodnight,” he mouthed with a huge grin on his face.

Jamie shut the bedroom door, so Carter shut his.  He pumped his fist in victory, but didn’t say anything, just in case Jamie was listening.  He did it!  Jamie was officially his girlfriend, and they’d officially kissed.  Kara and his mother were going to be so proud of him.