Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Home

Kara POV:

I don’t know what I would have done without Eve. When I had first awoken from the pod I had been confused. Then angry. Everything was so loud, and then Kal-El told me about Krypton and my parents. I almost lost it. With the strength I had now, I could cause some serious damage if I acted out in anger. But then Eve had been there.

She had given me power, then she gave me compassion. As simple as that. I still wasn’t sure how she had calmed me down so quickly, but she did. And then she stayed with me so I wouldn’t be alone. She distracted me when my thoughts started to spiral, and she pushed me when I grew apathetic. Then, finally, she pulled me out and up.

Out of the crystalline Fortress that held everything I was familiar with into a new and more exciting world. Up into the skies where the sun warmed both my body and my soul. I hadn’t stopped grieving my home, I probably never would, but I could live with the grief now.

When I saw the endless blue skies and sheets of white outside, I felt so stupid. I felt stupid for shutting myself, not only inside the Fortress, but inside my own head. And I felt thankful. Thankful that she hadn’t given up on me.

She had told me about her ‘meta-knowledge’ and how a version of me had been a great hero in her comics. She had refused to give me any details, but I could tell that she admired her. That made-up version of me. A part of me had believed that she only stayed with me because she thought of me as her. That she didn’t really care about me. Then she told me she didn’t care who I became as long as I was happy. That I didn’t have to be a hero unless I wanted to be one.

Of course, now I did want to be one. If only so I could spend more time with her.

Which led us to our current situation.

“Wutka’na getchuu?” the person behind the counter in front of me said. It sounded like a question, but apparently Kryptonian isn’t commonly spoken on Earth.

"Purr’dunn! Ey’ya no’ahblah eeng’glez!" Eve came to my rescue again and said something to the ‘b’rizzduh’, before turning to me and adding, “He wants to know what you want. Um, I’m not sure what you like, but I’m just getting a ‘cah’fuh luh’tey’. You want the same?”

“Okay,” I agreed, not knowing what a ‘cah’fuh luh’tey’ was, and she took over ordering for me. A minute later I was holding a cup filled with a nice-smelling light brown liquid.

[I didn’t know you spoke spanish, Eve,] the Martian — Me-Gan — said as we walked to the table.

This telepathic communication was a Rao-send! It let me communicate with Eve’s friends without speaking the language. I had been learning English over the past week, but it was slow going.

[I don’t?] Eve responded in a confused tone. [Wait. I was speaking Spanish?]

[Magical translation has some quirks,] the younger girl — Za Tan-Na — said while giggling.

[Mera said it seemed to create a minor empathic bond with whoever I was talking to,] Eve said. [Guess that means I automatically speak the first language of whoever I want to hear me.]

For some reason, Eve sounded much clearer in my head than the others. I wondered if that was because I was closer to her, or if she was just good at telepathy.

[Your Kryptonian is perfect,] I chimed in, actively trying to be a part of the conversation. [You sound like you were born and raised in Argo. But when you speak to someone else, I can’t understand it.]

Eve turned to the tall girl — Don-Na — and spoke out loud, “Pohzoo ah’koo’guh’meh?”

[Perfect Themysciran Greek,] Don-Na responded telepathically as we all sat down around a wooden table hidden in a secluded corner of the ‘kahv’ee’ shop.

I noted that Eve sat a little closer to me than what I had seen was normal for humans. Which was a little embarrassing, but I couldn’t deny that I appreciated it. Even if I was all but invulnerable here, I felt safer when I was close to her.

----------------------------------------

M’gann POV:

Kara was a sweetheart. After being gone for almost two weeks, Eve had just shown up one day and introduced her as ‘our new friend, Kara’. None of us had any objections of course, but we did want a bit more of an explanation. Superman had told us that they had found his cousin stuck in orbit and that Eve was helping her adjust, but that was all.

When I felt Eve’s mind as she stepped out from the mountain zeta-tube, I noticed immediately that something in her had changed. She was still Eve, cheerful, honest and open. But there was something more as well. A sort of joyful sadness. A burden — but one she wouldn’t give up on for anything.

The most interesting part though, was her budding infatuation. I didn’t think she had even noticed it herself, but she cared deeply for Kara. I could feel her emotional cocktail of joy, sadness, hope and despair when she explained Kara’s situation, and I found myself hoping they would get together. ‘Maybe I should tease her about it, like she did with me about Conner?’ No. I would let her discover her feelings on her own.

As for Kara, she didn’t want a telepathic connection like the rest, but she agreed to a link for easier communication. I didn’t even need a connection to sense her anxiety, so I could understand her hesitation. Even if I couldn’t sense her feelings, it was obvious that she was somewhat attached to Eve, and I suspected she felt the same way that Eve did.

“M’gann, how to say this?” Kara interrupted my musings and pointed to a word in the book she was using to learn English.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Oh, um… I think that one is pronounced ‘gauge’,” I answered, happy to help her out.

“Thank you,” she said. “English is… complex. Even easy reading is complex.”

‘The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time by Hawking & Ellis’ didn’t really strike me as ‘easy reading’, but according to Eve, she was ‘kinda smart’. Apparently, Kryptonians were genetically engineered to fulfill certain roles in their society, and Kara was designed to be a scientist.

“No problem!” I chirped happily. “I don’t understand any of the science in that book, but I’m pretty good at English. Just ask me if you need anything.”

She would usually ask Eve whenever she had a question, but since said ‘sorceress’ was currently passed out and resting her head in her lap, that wasn’t an option at the moment. Eve had attempted a ‘4th-level’ spell earlier. She had succeeded, but promptly passed out after teleporting across the room. According to Zatanna, she had just passed out from ‘her mana burn’ and would be fine after some sleep.

“Thank you, M’gann,” Kara said with a genuine smile before she became hesitant. I noticed that she absentmindedly stroked her hand through Eve’s hair as she searched for the words to continue.

“Talking is… hard,” she finally said. “Not just the words, but the speaking. Planet dying broke something, I think. Thank you for patience. Thank you for being friend. I try to be better.”

I could only stare at her for a moment as my heart felt like it was being wrapped in a warm blanket. That was the most I had heard her say to anyone except for Eve; telepathically or verbally. She wanted to be my friend. Not just because Eve said so, but because she wanted to.

Kara really was a sweetheart.

----------------------------------------

Conner POV:

Superman had told me about his cousin while Eve was looking after her at the Fortress. Kara was a full-blooded Kryptonian. As strong, fast and tough as Superman, and with all the same abilities. She was everything I wanted to be.

I knew that I was flawed, and when Superman was the only other Kryptonian in the world, I had been able to deal with it. Now, though? I knew it wasn’t her fault, but the jealousy still raged within me. I had spent most of my time at the Kent’s lately, hoping to avoid her. But I couldn’t do that forever.

I exited the zeta-tube and stepped through the zeta-hub before entering the living room. There I found her, sitting on the couch reading a book with Eve resting her sleeping head in her lap. She looked up when I entered.

“Superboy,” she said, and I was surprised by the friendly smile on her face. “Eve has tell me of you.” She then glanced down at the girl resting in her lap before adding, “She try another big spell and pass out.”

She had an accent, and seemed to struggle with conjugations. A Kryptonian accent. Didn’t Kryptonian use conjugations? I felt another sting of jealousy as she displayed another skill that further cemented me as other. Not a Kryptonian.

“Conner,” I said, determined to treat her politely. It wasn’t her fault that I was lesser. “Eve insists on using codenames unless given explicit permission, so she probably didn’t tell you my name.”

“Ah, Kon-El, then,” she responded with a raised eyebrow, casually turning my human name into a Kryptonian one. “A strange choice for name, but maybe human custom different.”

“Ah, sure,” I said, deciding not to correct her as I sat down on the couch opposite her. “Kara, right? Superman told me about you.”

“Yes,” she answered. “Kara Zor-El. Your aunt, I suppose. But Kal-El say you are more like brother, so we are cousin as well.”

That surprised me. Being polite to me was one thing, but she was basically calling me family without any sign of resentment. Did she not know what I was?

“Um, do you know what I am?” I asked, deciding it was better to be honest from the start. A trait I probably picked up from Eve, now that I thought about it.

“Yes,” she said without missing a beat. “You are born of Kal-El and a human man.”

“I am a clone,” I admitted, a little confused. Did she think human men could give birth?

“Ah, yes,” she said with a small frown. “Human call all synthetic birth clone.” Then she muttered almost to herself, “Should I call self clone?”

What?

“What?” I asked, taken completely off guard. “You’re a clone too?!”

“Huh?” She looked back at me before answering, “Ah, with human perspective, yes. All Kryptonians are synthetic birth. Except Kal-El. Uncle Jor-El and aunt Lara eccentric. Kal-El first natural birth in many century.”

I was stunned. Kryptonians were all clones, and Superman was the odd one out? I had thought myself an abomination because of my creation, but if it was the common way for Kryptonians to be born then…

“Monogenic clone is crime,” Kara kept explaining. “Forbidden after Clone Wars. But binary clone in synthetic womb much safer than natural birth. Not same thing. But to human, is same thing. Confusing.

“But you are Kryptonian. Not clone. Just synthetic birth. Like me.”

“I’m only half Kryptonian,” I blurted out. “I’m not as strong as you, and I can’t fly or use heat vision.”

I had been practicing with M’gann, and we had managed to unlock my telekinesis. It only worked on myself and things I touched, just like Eve had said, but it had made me stronger. Not nearly as strong as a full Kryptonian though, and I still couldn’t fly, so I kept feeling flawed. Kara was rapidly battering away my self-doubts, though.

“Yes,” she said with a frown as she looked at her hands, and I blanched when she continued, “You lucky. Fly is good, but strength is too much. I keep break things. Eve fix, but embarrassing.”

Then her brows evened out and she looked at me again and said, “And you not first Kryptonian hybrid. Not common, but before isolation it happen sometimes. Part Kryptonian is still Kryptonian. Old law, never changed. First in long time, but not first in history. Kal-El has girlfriend, so happen again soon, I hope.”

My whole life, short as it was, I had felt like I shouldn’t exist. Like I was unnatural. Like I was incomplete. But now? In one short conversation with a true Kryptonian, one who had actually grown up on Krypton, all my doubts and feelings of inferiority had been cast aside.

Binary cloning was just how Kryptonians were born. Hybrids happened when they weren’t isolated, and according to Kryptonian law I was a Kryptonian. Not half Kryptonian, or a hybrid or an abomination. Just Kryptonian.

My heart felt lighter than I had ever felt, and I gave her a smile more genuine than I thought I was capable of.

“Thank you,” I said. “I didn’t know.”

“Knowledge must be learned,” she said with a sage nod. “Is why I read book. English hard.”

“How about I help you with that?” I suggested. “And maybe you could teach me some Kryptonian too?”

She gave me a happy smile and accepted my offer.