Chương 37: Chapter 37
"So... I hear you're good with mechanical devices?" Kara tried to restart the conversation after they appeared under the Genomorph's base.
"I… yes? I love to mess with things on the mountain and, while there's not much to do, Mister Kent lets me tinker with things at the farm," Kon replied, doing his best to hide his embarrassment from her.
"So you like staying at the farm? Good," Kara said, giving him a small nod. "I mean, they seem to have done a good job with Kal but, if you didn't like it, you could always come live with me?"
Kon seemed to take some time to consider her words, looking into her eyes, he finally answered. "You mean that? Before, I thought you had just offered because I didn't have anywhere else to go."
"Nonsense, you're family," Kara shook her head, giving the boy's shoulders a small hug. "Besides, I'm gonna be shopping for a new house with Kori tomorrow or the day after anyways, there will be plenty of room for you."
"Thanks, but I-I like living with the Kents," Kon finally said after a few seconds, a happy look on his face. "They're great and, sometimes, when I need a break, I can just go out into the fields and enjoy the quiet. I don't think I could live in a city."
"You get used to it," Kara shrugged. The noise was really annoying at first, but she had learned to ignore it and, worst case, she could always block all sound in her room. "So, how's Krypto? Does he still like to steal shoes? Uncle always complained about his slobber even when he couldn't damage anything and everything… I can't imagine it got any easier now?"
"Ah, I don't think he really does that anymore, but he tends to leave the farm sometimes so I don't actually know… I think Superman managed to train it out of him," Kon said as the last door opened and they finally entered the facility proper.
A G-Elf gave them a wave as he passed them on the corridor, and Kara saw a G-Dwarf talking with a human man in a lab coat through the window of another room. Taking a second to look around and through the walls, she actually found several places where humans and Genomorphs were working side by side without much problem.
Damn, Dubbilex was doing a good job. Deactivating her X-Ray vision, Kara's thoughts returned to Krypto and she considered. "Well, either that or being exposed to yellow sunlight actually made him smarter, probably should check on that later."
"He does seem to understand me when we take walks or play around," Kon explained. Suddenly noticing the white walls and lab-like environment, he finally asked. "So, how's this supposed to go?"
"Dr. Spencer managed to stabilize the Genomorph's genes, at least for a while. The same treatment should allow your Kryptonian cells to stop overworking themselves trying to fix you and let them develop new powers," Kara continued by explaining what she understood of it, telling him about what equipment would be used and how long it would take.
Eventually, they reached the right lab and Kara saw the slightly tense Doctor waiting for them as well as a lot of helpers in the room with her, both human and Genomorphs. In the center of the room lay the healing pod where Kon was about to be treated, but the area was filled with many monitoring devices, and some downright scary equipment, filled with needles and surgical equipment in case anything went wrong.
Suddenly, Kara noticed that everyone was staring at her and, with a frustrated sigh; she noticed she had actually squeezed the handle until it bent and snapped off the door.
Glancing at the piece of metal, Kara managed to keep herself from blushing. Kon was giving her an odd look so, pretending that there was nothing wrong, she just stared right at the Doctor and, slowly, used her hands to straighten the thing.
For a moment, the uncomfortable cracking of metal filled the room while everyone awkwardly looked on. With it more or less acceptably restored, Kara laid the handle against the door and blasted it with heat vision, welding it back into place.
"There, nothing happened," she nodded to herself and ignored everyone's reactions.
"And you said I had anger problems," Kon whispered.
"Shut up, brat," Kara whispered back and then waved her hand to present the woman. "This is Doctor Amanda Spencer, she's the one who came up with the treatment, and she used to be Desmond's assistant."
Kon got real quiet after that so Kara glared back at the woman. For her part, Doctor Spencer gulped. Nervously ironing her clothes with a hand and with her heart beating like mad she stepped forward to approach them.
"Kon-El, I-I most sincerely apologize," Doctor Spencer said, her head bowed slightly, but her eyes no longer avoiding Kon's. "I did not think about the full implications of my actions when working under Desmond. I can't begin to express how much I regret that, or how much I wish I could take things back. All I can do now is my best to try and make up for it."
Kara was sure the woman had taken the speech from the internet, and that she had practiced it in the mirror to be able to say it with a straight face but, well, at least she made the effort.
Using all her senses, Kara could see, hear and even feel the woman's sincerity, and spontaneity was far too overrated in her opinion. Not that she was gonna be forgiving Doctor Spencer anytime soon, or forgetting her actions… no, Kara found that she couldn't do that, not yet.
What she could do was make an effort of her own and pretend the woman wasn't there. It wasn't ideal when the Doctor was the one responsible for Kon and, in the future, Match's treatment, but it was an improvement.
Kara saw Kon tensing at the woman's words, but her little cousin took it all in without reaction. Focusing on him, she saw that he was actually breathing very slowly, his mind focused entirely on Torquasm Rao to suppress his anger.
Shaking his head, Kon turned away from the woman. Instead, he looked at Dubbilex sitting close to the treatment chamber and closed his eyes, probably exchanging a few telepathic words with the older Genomorph.
Finally, he released a long, slow breath, letting his fury out until he was able to speak normally again. "It's a start," Doctor Spencer flinched when he looked at her, but Kon just shook his head. "Don't worry, I don't want to hurt you, but I'm not gonna say I forgive you. Not yet."
Kara smiled with pride, it seemed like Kon was doing much, much better than she had expected. Putting a hand at his back, she ignored the woman and helped him into the pod. Her cousin gave a dubious glance at the glass and metal tube but, seeing Kara there, he allowed himself to be sedated and submerged into the pod's liquid.
Before the procedure started, Kara was brought into a separate room with an overview. Dubbilex, sensing her conflicting emotions, just kept quiet at her side for a few minutes but, eventually, he connected with her mind. "If you didn't trust Dr. Spencer, you could have delayed the treatment, Miss Kara."
"You said the rest of the Genomorphs have already gone through this without problems, and I trust YOU," she sent back without opening her mouth. "That doesn't mean I'm willing to leave him to go through this alone. I already have too few people I really care about for that."
Kara watched the procedure like a hawk, her muscles tense and ready to intervene at the slightest sign of something going wrong. She didn't pace, but her straight posture, with her hands behind her back kept the doctors on edge the entire time… which actually made her feel a little better about the whole thing.
The entire procedure took nearly four hours and Doctor Spencer had to make adjustments the entire time to compensate for Kon's Kryptonian and human differences.
Finally, it was done and the doctor nearly collapsed in her chair as the machines stopped working. Kara herself felt her muscles relaxing, leaving her feeling kind of sore from the tension she had been holding.
Slightly turning her head towards the woman for the first time since Kon entered the chamber, Kara asked. "Have you made any progress with Match's situation?"
"I… ah, I looked at his files, but I didn't really have the time to study it in detail yet," Dr. Spencer answered uneasily, immediately avoiding Kara's eyes. "It really seems like his cells have a problem absorbing radiation so, if you can block that aspect of it… He'd still be stronger than the average human, but his body should stabilize, giving him an average lifespan, even with only the current treatments."
"Will working on his case delay the Genomorph's cure?"
"It's… well, it's hard to say right now," she swallowed again, adjusting her glasses in nervousness. "If you can get the support from Caldecott Industries as it has indicated, the increased equipment and personnel should allow me to work on Match's situation without prejudice to my other projects, but I can't say for sure."
"I understand," Kara said and turned back to Kon, seeing his body starting to stir after the treatment.
Rushing into the room, Kara was there when he woke up, helping him step out of the pod and immediately calming him down before he freaked out about being back in a closed pod. "Is it over?"
"Yes, are you feeling alright?" Kara asked while stepping away from him and letting the boy shake himself awake, splashing the remains of the treatment solution on the ground.
"I feel… lighter," he said, stepping on the ground and testing his limbs, Kara almost expected the boy to immediately start flying, but no, he just stretched his limbs and smiled at her. "It's nice, like I took off a weight I didn't know I was carrying."
"Good, now go take another bath and, Rao forgive me but, if you try to hug me again with that goo, I swear I'm gonna freeze it and you. And I'll pass the vid of you shaking everything off like a dog to the rest of the Titans," Kara patted his back, pushing him towards the adjacent room.
After he'd washed up and changed into a new set of clothes, the pair walked back towards the teleportation room, Kon still moving his limbs with newfound wonder. Finally, when they reached it, Kara paused and asked with some hesitation. "Say, what do you think about helping me out with something?"
"Sure, what do you need?" Kon quickly answered and asked back.
"You know I've got a contract with WayneTech, right?" Kara waited until Kon nodded in agreement. "Well, do you think that, if I send you some study material and blueprints, you could help me fine tune what I designed?"
"… You sure about that?" Kon asked after a second. "I'm… not exactly an expert, Kara."
"Well, I might have been making small-talk before, but I really did hear that you have a talent for this," Kara was quick to explain. "I'm not asking you to solve the problems or anything but, oftentimes, it helps to have a different set of eyes to look at things, and really, if you can point out even a single problem it would save a lot of time when building a prototype."
"I guess I can look at it?" Kon shrugged and, hesitantly, accepted her request.
"Thanks, I'll send you the latest project tonight. Don't worry if you don't find anything, I mean, I designed and went over things myself so I don't expect any mistakes, but, sometimes, you can miss some pretty obvious things when going over your own work."
Saying goodbye, Kara watched Kon teleporting directly to Smallville, then took her own teleport back to Fawcett City. The sun was still out so Kara decided to just… take a walk around the city.
Fawcett City was actually great. Smaller than Metropolis, but still a large city, extremely clean and very friendly; it could almost be called idyllic. Captain Marvel had been a hero here for more than a year now and Kara couldn't help but compliment him, the city felt… safe.
People walked the streets without fear and, everywhere she looked, Kara could see and hear them cheerfully talking, interacting and helping each other out. It had been more than a month since she had come to this Earth and, now that she thought about it, Kara realized that the city had become home.
It wasn't anything like Krypton, but it did remind her of her previous life and Kara took a moment to just… enjoy it without thinking about superheroes, supervillains or plots.
Reaching a public park, she got herself an ice cream cone and found a spot between the trees where the sun still hit her skin. Sitting with her legs crossed, relaxing and watching the kids playing around her she enjoyed her frosty treat.
It was nice, unlike anything she had experienced on Krypton, but still nice. It brought to mind her older memories of living a normal, everyday life as a human. She allowed herself to drift within her mind a little bit until she felt herself being watched. Kara opened her eyes to see a little girl looking at her from a few steps away. Taking another lick of her cone, she greeted the rugrat. "Hi."
"Hi," The little girl said back, lifting a tiny hand and waving at her. "Are you a homewrecker?"
Kara choked on her ice cream, almost dropping her cone and getting some melting cream on her chin. Quickly cleaning it with a hand, she chuckled. "What?"
"Mommy said you're a little homewrecker. But I don't understand, you're not little, you're, like, really tall, as tall as Papa." The girl nodded with a serious face, hugging a little Wonder Woman doll to her chest. "Hey, I like your braid,"
"Thank you, my friend braids it for me. You're Anna, right?" Kara snickered, finally recognizing the girl as the one she had, oddly enough, shared an ice cream queue before fighting Mr. Mind.
"Uhum, I like doing Wonder Woman's hair, but I can't do braids." Anna commented, showing Kara her doll, complete with brushable hair and armor ornaments.
"Really? Want me to show you how?"
"No, silly. I know how to do that, but Wonder Woman doesn't have braids so I can't." Anna gave her a look as if she was stupid.
"Honey, there you are," suddenly, her father came running, lifting her up in his lap and releasing a relieved breath when he saw she wasn't hurt. "Honey, how many times do I have to say to not leave my side?"
"But Papa, look, I found the pretty ice cream lady!" Anna pointed her way and Kara gave the disgruntled man a little amused wave. "See, I told you she was just like Wonder Woman."
Her father gave Kara an exasperated look. "Sorry about her, did she bother you?"
"Nope, she's a cute kid," Kara said, enjoying their little mundane interactions, it really made her feel human again. No, more than that. It made her feel connected.
"Really? I dare you to say that after you've had to search the entire park for the third time, she's a menace," all the while, Anna had been pulling on her father's shirt and furiously pointing at Kara. With an apologetic face, the young father turned towards his daughter and sighed. "Yes, honey, she does have muscles like Wonder Woman, you were right."
The young girl gave him a satisfied smile, and the man finally released her back into the ground, quickly grabbing her by the wrist so she couldn't run away again. "Well, thanks for keeping her occupied, the name's Jonathan Fortune."
"Kara Danvers and don't worry about it," Kara quickly said and took a huge bite out of her melting ice cream. "Nice meeting you."
"Well, honey, say goodbye to the nice lady, we've gotta get home soon," Jonathan told his daughter and waved at Kara, having little Anna wave too.
Kara waved back and watched the pair leave for a few seconds with a large smile on her face. Rao, Kal-El was right, she really did need to relax a little. It was nice to get out, meet new people, to think about why she was doing things instead of just how she was gonna do it.
In the distance, Kara still heard the little girl turn to her father and couldn't help snickering at the poor man. "Papa, I wanna be a homewrecker when I grow up!"
"Somehow, I don't doubt that," Jonathan said with a tired voice. "Honey, just do Papa a favor and don't mention it to your mother. Papa doesn't want to be your first victim."
Finishing her ice cream, Kara watched the sunset in the park before finally making her way back home. Suddenly, she realized she had just had a good day.
Rao, how long had it been since she last had one of those? She really couldn't remember. After getting back to Earth, she had moments where she was having fun, and had even been able to smile and laugh, but this was the first time she had spent an entire day in a good mood. Even meeting Doctor Spencer had been more of an annoyance than something truly bothersome with Kon by her side.
Pausing in the middle of the street, Kara looked up for nearly a full minute, just waiting for the sky to open up and spew out a cataclysmic meteor, alien invasion, a demonic army or evil Justice League… But nothing happened. Well, two cars had to swirl aside to avoid her, loudly honking in complaint, but Kara was still close to the park so they weren't going very fast.
Arriving home, she found Dexter sleeping on top of her cleaning drone; the cat lifted his head and gave her a loud meow as a greeting. Slowly getting up, he stretched his back, digging his claws into the robot's padded back and giving a huge yawn.
Grabbing him by the middle, Kara lifted him in front of her face and touched his cold nose with her own. The cat tolerated this degradation for a second before starting to squirm in her arms so she released him on top of the table and decided to settle in for the evening.
Getting her computer out, she quickly sent a copy of one of her projects to Kon and then spent some time checking once again how to integrate the wind manipulation device into Danny's chest.
As night arrived, she decided to take another bath before going to bed. Kara had only rinsed herself at Mount Justice and she didn't want to lie down without really washing herself.
Entering the bath, she pulled out her phone and gave it a command, causing her outfit to dissolve into a cloud of micro robots. A second later, it moved away from her and reformed on top of the sink in the shape of a cube, leaving her in only her underwear.
Turning on the water, Kara quickly undid her small braids and stepped under the shower, letting the hot water run down her face for a solid minute. Out in the apartment, she heard the main door opening and quickly glanced at it with X-Ray vision, seeing that it was just Kori finally getting home.
Dismissing it from her mind, Kara closed her eye and continued to enjoy the water, letting it run down her body before getting the soap. Suddenly, she heard the bathroom door opening, her hand tightening on instinct and squeezing soap into a mess that squished out between her fingers.
Opening the shower door a little, Kara poked her head through. "Rao, Kori, wait your turn will… you…" Kara trailed off, words escaping her as she stared at the Tamaranean princess.
Dropping her panties into the ground, Kori stepped out of them, revealing her fully nude body. A seductive smile on her face as her bare feet brought her closer to Kara. "No, I have waited enough."
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