Family Name 2

“What are you thinking?”Alex asked Kara after the Kryptonian used her portal watch to enter the main room of the Tower. The official head quarters of the Super Friends. Kara was unsurprised that her adopted sister was there with Nia, Winn and J’onn waiting for her. She had expected each of them to listen in on the meeting with Lena. That was the reason she came back to the Tower once she was done with the meeting. Kara wanted to get the conversation over with. Plus she wanted to speak to Winn about what was expected of him when he went to L-Corp the next day. She didn’t need him to go rogue and do something to jeopardize the relationship she was trying to create with Lena.

“I think that Lena is desperate and coming to me hurt her pride.”Kara said.

“You could hear the pain in her voice when she was speaking about her company. She is at rock bottom.”Nia could hear the way Lena’s voice wobbled a few times talking about the state of L-Corp.

“Do you think she is trustworthy?”Winn asked.

“Yes I do.”Kara could tell Lena wasn’t anything like the rest of her family.

“I know I’m the most reluctant to trust anyone but I agree with Kara. Lena can be trusted.”Alex had done a lot of research on the Luthers and found nothing that connected Lena to their wrongdoings.

“I think the question is will she be able to get rid of the people who were loyal to her father and brother. Some of them are the only ones keeping the company from going bankrupt.”J’onn was on the fence with Lena. He felt she was trustworthy he just didn’t know if she had what it took to be an effective CEO.

“You offering to team up on a project with her should be enough incentive to do it.”Nia didn’t think anyone would turn down the chance to work with Kara.

“That was very nice of you.”Alex had been surprised when her sister made the offer. Kara was known to stay away from others and rarely worked with anyone. The only friends she had were the people in the room and her adopted parents.

“You all know my history. What my family did. I was given a second chance to make my house respectable Lena deserves one as well. What she does with that chance is up to her.”Kara saw a lot of herself in Lena. Her own family was Krypton royalty whose ignorance doomed a planet. Kara had worked hard with her aunt Astra to fix the problem but they were too late. In an act of desperation Kara’s aunt sent her away to give her chance to live. Kara didn’t know about it until she woke up in a pod in the middle of space. Astra had drugged her so she wouldn’t fight her about leaving. Something Kara definitely would have done.

Alex put her hand on Kara’s shoulder to comfort her. She knew it was hard for Kara to talk about her home world.”Let’s just hope that like you she uses this chance for good.”

“I think she will. I mean what other choice does she have. Her company’s stocks are at an all time low and even then no-one is buying them. If you really wanted to you could buy the company with the interest you make with just one of your many accounts.”Winn said.

“That’s not really saying much. Kara has more money than half the world combined.”Nia was just grateful that Kara was so generous with her wealth. When Nia was kicked out of her family for being transgender she hitchhiked to National City because of its known acceptance of aliens. Stumbling on Amnesty Nia had inquired about a job and housing. That led to a meeting with Kara who offered her a place to stay and a job at the bar paying way more than it should. Not only that but the job offered health insurance that covered her sex change operation. During that time Kara had become a fixture in her life and was by Nia’s side though every step of the transition and recovery never asking anything in return for her help. Nia thought of Kara as her guardian angel and looked to her as a mother figure even though they were so close in age

“My aunt wanted to make sure I didn’t struggle once I landed.”Kara’s aunt Astra had come to earth before her to set up not only the Fortress of Solitude but had invested in the stock market and transported many jewels and metals that were valuable on earth. Along with other materials from different planets. As it was Kara was still sitting on rooms full of the various materials. Only using most of them for her inventions. She lived off of the investments her aunt made and the profits from her many patents.

“I’m just thankful that you had the resources to protect yourself.”J’onn had been one of the lucky ones when he came to earth because he could change his appearance. Most others before the amnesty act had no way to fight the government when they came for them. Kara not only had the wealth to protect herself but she had used it to sue the government on behalf of a lot of other aliens who had been detained. Her fighting the legal way changed a lot of people’s minds on aliens because even though Kara had the power to break everyone out of the detainment centers she used human laws instead. It showed that aliens had restraint and were willing to follow the rules set out for them.

“It’s literally in my DNA to protect others anyway I can.”Kara said.

“I still have trouble wrapping my head around the fact that your people were all the product of genetic manipulation. I mean to think that you being a royal were given all the tools to be the perfect leader is crazy to think about.”After finding out about how Kara was conceived Winn had done his own research on genetic engineering and just the theories on it were mind blowing.

“Your aunt making her modifications were definitely a bonus.”Alex would be forever thankful that Kara’s aunt not only made sure she had advanced intelligence but that her body was as perfect as it could be. It made it so Kara could outsmart anyone and that she was fit enough to defend herself and anyone else she chose to.

“It was only because of my aunt I even exist.”Kara’s parents weren’t keen on having children. Astra had lost her husband during a war before they had a chance to have one of their own. She hadn’t wanted to be matched with anyone else so her only choice for a child was to have a niece or a nephew. In reality Astra was more of a mother than her own was.

“So what are we going to do about Lena?”Winn asked changing the subject to something less upsetting to Kara. He had his own family issues but knew that Kara’s were much more traumatic than his own.

Kara smiled at Winn appreciating his interference.”I want you to help her uncover any kind of digital trail the perpetrators left behind. We know enough about what technology the company has so it should be no problem to find anything.”

“The sub par technology just proves how stupid Lex and Lionel were. I mean if you are going to kidnap someone and force them to do a job you should at least confirm they know how to do that job.”Nia had always thought the way the Luthers went about picking aliens was stupid. They just grabbed anyone they could find. Once their deeds were exposed it came out that only a hand full of the ones they had kidnapped had any type of technological training and their training was remedial compared to the ones who worked for Kara. Let alone Kara herself who was the most intelligent person on the planet. Especially with her eidetic memory.

“I don’t think either of them would like to be called stupid.”Alex said.

“I bet Lex doesn’t really have that high of an IQ. It’s well known that the Luthers had paid off people to cheat their way through life. The fact that after the trial many came forward proves it.”J’onn had been very unimpressed when it was found out that Lex had never earned the many achievements he claimed. J’onn’s people celebrated intelligence. Cheating was one of the worst discretions on his planet. Depending on what the cheating was it could end with a death sentence.

“I do believe that Lena has earned her titles. I have studied some of her work and read a few of the papers she has published. It is definitely the work of the same mind and I doubt with the way her family treated her they would go out of their way to do anything to get her positive attention.”Kara had taken a keen interest in Lena early on as she seemed to be the least talked about Luther.

“I’m surprised they didn’t come out and say that she was plagiarizing everything. I mean look at the way she was treated. Lionel and Lex ignored her but Lillian terrorized the poor girl.”Nia had always felt bad for Lena. Her parents may have kicked her out but up until that point they had been very loving.

“Speaking of Lillian has there been any new information on what she is up to?”Alex asked.

“One of our informants mentioned that she had a meeting with Maxwell Lord but was unsure what the meeting was about.”Winn told her.

Nia groaned.”Please tell me we don’t have to deal with Maxwell Lord again.”

“Maybe this time we can actually put him in prison.”Alex and the rest of the Super Friends hated Maxwell Lord with a passion. The man funded many anti alien hate groups but was smart enough not to get to involved so he couldn’t be blamed for their actions.

“I wonder what Lillian could offer Maxwell. She doesn’t have that much money and she isn’t known for her intelligence.”J’onn said.

“When was the last time we looked into her assets?”Kara asked.

“Not for a while. We have been mostly passive in our surveillance.”Winn told her.

“Maybe it’s time to focus on her again. She has contacts that Maxwell could benefit from. Dangerous contacts.”Kara wouldn’t put it past Lillian to try and rebuild her influence.

“I can get on that. Things have been kind of slow as of late so it would be nice to have a project.”Alex hated not being busy. It was one of the reasons she asked Kara if she could help out with her Supergirl role. She knew that there would never be a dull moment. Alex had been right of course. Plus all the cool gadgets and training Kara gave her were nice perks.

“I’ll check in with some of the anti aliens groups to see if there is any rumblings.”J’onn didn’t like going undercover as an alien hating human but it helped the team gain valuable information on threats to the alien community.

“I’ll look into Maxwell Lord.”Nia wasn’t pleased about having to deal with the dirtbag but she would happily do it if it gave them the chance to put him behind bars.

“I have an appearance scheduled tomorrow at the National City Children’s hospital in the morning but after that I will see what I can come up with.”Kara didn’t mind making public appearances as long as it was for a good cause.

“I’ll be with Lena for a least a day maybe more depending on what we find but if you guys need my help I will find time.”Winn offered.

“Good it looks like we have a plan. As always if anything happens use your watches.”Kara told them.

“We will.”From the moment Nia put the watch on she had never taken it off. It gave her a direct line to Supergirl and she didn’t want to chance something happening and not being able to get Kara’s help.

“Are you going home?”Alex asked Kara.

Kara nodded.”I haven’t slept for a couple days. So I’m going to take advantage of the calm to catch up.”

“Good idea.”Alex always envied the fact that Kara didn’t need as much sleep as humans. It would have helped Alex a lot during college exams.

“How about you?”Kara asked.

“Yeah Kelly is coming back from visiting with her family today.”Alex told her.

“It will good for you to have her back.”Kara was very happy that Alex had found Kelly. After her disastrous relationship with Maggie Alex deserved to be with someone who treated her well.

“Actually she wanted me to ask you if you would free up some time to talk to her about the virtual reality device you spoke to her about. She is very interested in using it with some of PTSD patients.”Alex’s girlfriend Kelly was a psychologist that specialized in trauma patients and was always looking for ways to help more.

“I will make an appointment to meet her at her office. That way we not only can talk about it it will give them some good publicity.”Kara said.

Alex smiled fondly at her sister.”The clinic would appreciate that.”

“With that being said. Everyone have a good night.”Kara gave a wave over her shoulder as she used her portal watch to go home. Once in her living room she was greeted by her orange cat Citrus. After giving the cat some attention Kara made her way to large bathroom in her penthouse. She had personally done the remodel to the penthouse when she bought the apartment building wanting to have a space that was completely her own. Looking at the large pool of water with a small waterfall surrounded by different colored rocks that were native to Krypton she thought she had done a good job. Her whole home was decorated with the Krypton palace in mind. Astra had made sure that Kara had all the comforts of home waiting for her when she arrived. Thinking of Astra Kara felt her eyes fill with tears. She could never understand why her aunt didn’t leave the planet with her. She had done everything she could to save Kara but hadn’t done anything to save herself. Kara didn’t try and stop the sobs that came with the memories of her time on Krypton. She never let anyone see how effected she was by the loss of her home world but when in private that loss always overwhelmed her. Kneeling on the floor Kara reached out and pulled Citrus close hugging the cat as tightly as she could without hurting it. Citrus was all to happy with the attention and Kara took comfort in having another living thing so close. The cat may not be able to speak to her but Kara knew that it cared for her and that made things a little easier to handle.