Kara sat on the sofa and stared at Dinah Lance, better known as the Black Canary. She knew it was kind of rude to be using the woman's true name instead of her heroic one but, well, Dinah didn't wear a damn mask so she couldn't blame anyone for doing an internet search.
Dinah stared back at Kara, her legs crossed in front of her and an empty notebook lying untouched on top of her lap.
Kara stared at Dinah, letting the time on her consultation freely tick by, even if she knew she should be talking.
Dinah stared at her, willing to let Kara gather her thoughts, and courage, to finally start talking.
Ugh, so awkward. Kara sighed and scratched at her itching prosthetic eye, touching its surface and moving it slightly, using the prosthetic to scratch at the back of her eye.
Dinah grimaced, shivered, then couldn't help but turn away and avoid looking at the uncomfortable image. "Ha!"
Dinah sighed. Uncrossing her legs, she leaned forwards and smiled at Kara. "Alright, you made me uncomfortable too. Are you ready to begin now?"
She wasn't, not really, even if Kara knew she should. It's not like she hadn't gone to a psychologist in her previous life. It had even worked back then, somewhat.
"Yeah, I guess. Where should I start?" Kara lay down on the sofa, her head resting against its arm.
"How about you start with the reason you decided to see me." Dinah reclined back on her chair, but her eyes never left Kara's.
"Well, Kori and Kal were about to organize an intervention, I really didn't want that, so I decided to face the music."
"Is that it? Or are you just using their insistence as a way of forcing yourself?" Dinah lifted an eyebrow at her and waited for an answer. When Kara kept quiet, Dinah continued. "It's been my experience that the mere threat of an intervention isn't enough to get someone into therapy, not if they don't think they need it."
"Fine, I know I should be talking with someone, I just… really didn't want to." Turning back towards Dinah, Kara let her see the frustration in her eyes. "With both of them pressuring me, I really don't have an excuse to avoid you anymore. I hate that I even need this… You know, Krypton didn't even have psychologists."
In her previous life, Kara hadn't been so averse to seeking help but, in this one… Well, Kryptonians weren't really very emotional beings. Or had many psychological problems.
Being genetically engineered and bred to do something, and to enjoy doing it, made psychologists mostly unnecessary. The overwhelming majority of Kryptonians actually found their jobs, and lives, very fulfilling.
"Really, what else was different on Krypton?" Dinah asked and wrote something in her notebook.
Kara stared at the woman's face for a second or two, having to make an effort not to read her notes, but decided to start talking. "Well, first, it was beautiful; the crystal buildings were unlike anything you have here on Earth. Earth is filled with those boxy skyscrapers that all look the same. It's boring, plus the pollution. Rao, I hate that here. I go outside my apartment or the Fortress and I can actually taste the smoke, and see it too, if I squint a little. I think that's the first thing I'm gonna have to fix."
Almost an hour later, Kara realized that her consultation was almost over and all she had done was talk about her home planet. "Ugh, you know I'm not actually paying you for this right, you don't need to waste time to keep me coming back."
"Did you really think this was a waste of time?" Dinah smiled at her, releasing the notebook at the side table and leaning forward, her elbows resting on her knees. "Kara, I'm not a miracle worker. I can't solve all your issues in a single consult, much less when I barely know you."
"I guess, but we didn't even talk about why I'm here." Kara sighed, getting into a sitting position on the sofa.
"And would you actually talk about it? Today?" Dinah shook her head. "Seeing as you spent the first five minutes just staring at me and trying to convince yourself to talk, I don't think so. Still, we did advance today, a lot. You opened up to me, at least a little, and when was the last time you talked about your home planet without feeling pain?"
Kara thought about it. Yes, she had mentioned Krypton, but it had always been too painful to really talk about it.
Not that it hadn't hurt today, but she had talked about the good things, she had remembered the good times instead of focusing on its destruction. It had left her feeling a nostalgic ache in her chest, instead of the overwhelming pain it usually caused as she thought about the end.
"So… same time next week?" She asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Yes, I'll be at the mountain attending to the Titans." Dinah got up and led her out of the room.
Kara walked out of the room and into the mountain, then had to lean back as Kid Flash rushed through the hallway, a chocolate cookie hanging from his mouth and a plate in his hands.
Hand snapping forward, Kara didn't quite manage to steal the plate, but she did snatch two cookies for herself.
"Hey!" Kid Flash slid to a stop at the end of the hallway, looking from his plate to Kara's hand with a dumbfounded look.
Kara ate one of the cookies whole and waved at him with a second. "Hey Kid Flash, Kori and Kon already at the mountain?" She asked, her mouth filled with the delicious treat.
Kara was feeling surprisingly… good. Not perfect, far from it, but she felt like she had made some progress, even if it was incredibly small. Now, if only she could keep it up.
"Ah, no, Connor is still in class and Kori was busy with Wonder Woman. They should be arriving soon." The boy said, his eyes following after Kara's second cookie with a conflicted look.
"So, how're you finding the new gear?" She asked and made way for Dinah to walk through the door.
"It's great actually!" He nodded eagerly. "Can't believe how much easier the surveillance drones make things."
Kara caught him looking a little too eagerly at her second cookie, so she bit into it. "Good, if you've any ideas about things to improve, make sure tell me, maybe I can come up with some more devices."
"Great!" He looked down at his wrist and grimaced. "Sorry, gotta go, I actually arrived earlier for Captain Atom's class for once!" Saying that, he turned the hallway and dashed away.
"You know, he thinks you hate him." Dinah said as she started walking towards the Zeta-Tube.
"Who? Kid Flash?" Kara gave the woman a quizzical look and, when she saw her nod, let out a long breath. "I don't hate him, I… dislike that he's fifteen. Teenagers were annoying on Krypton, much less here."
"Yes, he can be annoying, but he's a good kid." Dinah gave her a little smile and they continued walking through the Mountain at a slow pace.
"How's Green Arrow, by the way?"
"He's not taking it very well, as some of the criminals in the city found out yesterday. They went straight to the hospital instead of the jail." Dinah's shoulders sagged in a clear sign of exhaustion. "Arsenal isn't helping much; he's honestly conflicted about Red Arrow's death. Obviously, he's not happy about it, but since barely knew Red Arrow, that does simplify things for him."
Kara winced; she could imagine how that was going. "Green Arrow's not gonna attempt using a Lazarus Pit?"
"Green Arrow is taking it hard, but he knows better than to try something like that." Dinah shook her head as they arrived in front of the Zeta-Tube. The heroine motioned for Kara to go first. "Helps that you destroyed the only one we knew about, takes the temptation away."
Kara nodded solemnly, then waved goodbye and activated the Zeta-Tube, stepping out of the device and back into the Fortress. Four white androids turned towards her and bowed their heads, working under the Fortress AI's control.
"Is Dubbilex doing well?"
"Yes, Mistress Kara. Guest Dubbilex is already awake and is projected to fully recover in another two weeks." One of the androids said in Jor-El's voice.
"Rao damn it!" The odd itch at her prosthetic eye started again, it was a constant thing that just didn't want to go away. Massaging her temple, Kara squeezed her eye shut until it faded but, even then, it didn't disappear completely.
"Did you wish for the treatment to take longer?" The AI asked with some confusion. "The effectiveness of the treatment can easily be adjusted."
"No, no, it's just…" Kara opened her eye again, and smiled when the itch faded. "Damn, it would be just like me to get an infection now."
"Do you wish for me to prepare a health check?" The AI materialized a holographic image of Jor-El beside her, his face looking down at her with some concern.
"No, there's no hurry. I'll check it later today, after I'm done with everything else."
With the Fortress help, putting on her armor was fairly easy; the equipment was also fully repaired, with only a slightly different shade indicating places where the metal had to be replaced.
Fully armored, Kara walked into the med bay where Talia and Clayface were being kept. Walking to the middle of the room, Kara ordered the Fortress to grow her a chair, then sat down a few meters away from the pods.
Pulling out her portable computer, she activated her holographic projector and the room around her changed, the floor and walls became steel gray and the crystals around turned into mechanical devices modeled after the look of her own armor.
Kara had actually taken inspiration from Prof. Morrow's own laboratory for her illusion. With a button, she opened Talia's pod, deactivating its stasis and allowing the woman to fully wake up.
Only a minute later, Kara noticed Talia's breathing changing. Still, the villainess didn't move. "You may drop the act Talia al Ghul, I know you're awake."
The woman lifted her head from the pod and looked around herself, fully awake and glancing all around the room. Seeing the small door to her right and the window to her left, Talia's eyes finally focused back to Kara's armored form.
"Nice place you have here." The woman spoke with a seductive tone in her voice, with deliberate slowness; she lifted her legs out of the pod and stepped down on the floor before stretching her arms up.
"You seem surprisingly comfortable for a prisoner." Kara commented with some amusement.
"I'm feeling surprisingly comfortable for a prisoner." Talia agreed. Testing her limbs, she grimaced as she saw the still missing hand, but recovered quickly. "I expected far more chains and bruises, maybe a little torture and interrogation. Instead, I'm actually feeling better than before."
With the Fortress tech, Kara could have easily cloned the hand and reattached it, but she didn't know if she wanted to waste that kind of effort on a villain. No, Talia could live with only one hand for a while.
"I find torture to be highly distasteful, and wasteful." Getting up from her chair, Kara made sure the woman noticed how much taller her armor made her. "I have far better ways of obtaining information."
Despite being utterly outclassed, Talia looked perfectly comfortable with the only sign of Kara's intimidation working being her slightly accelerated heartbeat.
Talia took that in, tracing a hand through her hair to buy herself some time to think. Eventually, she caught sight of Clayface on the pod at her side. "I see you've also kept my… former subordinate."
"Indeed, he's a very interesting case; I have some associates that are gonna love studying him." Kara told her and walked closer, her hands behind her back and her posture straight in a good imitation of how she had seen Darkseid act in the animations. "As for you, well, your connections are far more interesting than your body."
"I see." Talia studied Kara's armor, trying to read her intentions, but being covered entirely in metal and having a voice filter did wonders for hiding it. "Well, despite the damage you caused, I'm sure my father would be willing to agree to a working relationship."
"I'm afraid you're mistaken. Your father doesn't have any capabilities that interest me." Kara answered in an amused tone.
"If you think you've seen the limit of our influence or ability, you truly underestimate the League of Shadows." Talia answered, maintaining her composure.
With a command, Kara changed the voice filter on her armor, next time she spoke; it was with Ra's al Ghul's own voice, taken from a recording on the Justice League's database.
Kara said a single word with Ra's voice, smiling when she saw Talia's eyes widen for a second, before her entire body relaxed and she kept staring forwards, unable to even move.
"You knew every agent of your League of Shadows is programmed with a hypnotic failsafe. Did you think yourself the exception?" Kara stepped away from Talia's immobile form. "My employee was capable of finding out your particular keyword while going through your mind so, no; I don't think I'm underestimating your pathetic little League."
"You see, I only woke you up because I wished to meet you, Ra's al Ghul's daughter, and Batman's former lover." Kara lifted Talia into a princess carry and laid her back in the pod. "Unfortunately, it seems like you're disappointingly mundane, what a waste of time."
Closing the lid over the pod, Kara stared at Talia as the woman started to recover her movements. "At least I was able to reach an agreement with Batman because of you…" With the click of a button, Kara reactivated the stasis pod, causing the woman to fall unconscious again.
Stepping away from the pod, Kara deactivated the holographic display, causing the room to return to normal and revealing Dubbilex waiting at the door.
The Genomorph was sitting on a crystal wheelchair, easily moved with a touchpad or the use of his powers, his chest was still wrapped in bandages, but he was otherwise looking very good.
"Greetings, Miss Zor-El." Dubbilex's chair drifted inside the room, moved with minimal effort from his telekinesis. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"No, I was already done. No sense in letting Talia out for longer than necessary, it would only give her more chances to figure me out." Kara sat back down on her chair and considered her next step. She'd be handing Talia off to Batman tomorrow.
"Was that entirely wise? Revealing so many of your capabilities to them?"
"I'm hoping that discovering she too was under hypnotic suggestion will cause her to start rethinking some of her life choices." Kara told him, taking off her helmet and laying it on top of the desk. "Besides, I didn't reveal anything they didn't already know we had. They already know I exist, they already know I'm working against them and they already know I have a team with me which includes the Genomorphs."
"Still, it was not necessary to reveal that capability. Most of the G-gnomes never revealed the capability to invade a mind so deeply." Dubbilex pushed his chair towards Talia and Clayface. "More than that, the hypnotic suggestions I found on the surface layer of their mind was already intrusive enough. You know I'm not willing to go deeper without consent."
"Well, it explains a lot of our knowledge and, if they think they know how we acquired it, they aren't going to go looking for other reasons." Pushing herself away from the desk, Kara scratched at her prosthetic eye once again. "Besides, it's exactly because you're not willing to go that far that I revealed it. Let them waste their time coming up with countermeasures to a villainous telepath; we were never going to go that far anyway. Also, do you know how terrifying it is to think there's a telepath working against you and willing to cross some lines?"
"The Light is already freaking out about people working against them. Thinking that there's someone like Psimon out there working against them will only cause them to make more mistakes. Let them become paranoid." Smiling a bright smile, Kara walked out of the room and towards a more comfortable location. "Rao, if they don't think the G-Gnomes are capable of it, they may even think it was Psimon himself who betrayed them! Felix Faust did it, why couldn't that creepy fucker do it too?"
"Will you be handing off the second prisoner as well?" Dubbilex asked, following behind her.
"No, he's going to prison." Kara told him. "Since you found his actual name, the Fortress was able to find three murder charges filed against him in England. I was still thinking about having some of CADMUS scientists try to reverse his condition but, frankly, they have more important things to do than helping him, maybe if he's found innocent."
"Miss Zor-El, you do know you're supposed to be taking a break?" Dubbilex gave her an unamused stare. "You're certainly forcing me to take one, keeping me here on the Fortress."
"I will, I just had to deal with Talia and Matthew today." Kara waved his concern away. "Besides, now that I'm done with that, I think I'm gonna spend the afternoon choosing what part of Luthor's data I'm gonna release to the public. It should be incredibly relaxing… and amusing. Is he even out of police custody yet?"
"Yes Mistress Kara, Lex Luthor was released yesterday evening while you were accompanying Master Kal." The AI said while bringing her lunch using one of the androids. "And speaking of Luthors, Miss Lena Luthor finally answered your call; she has agreed to meet you in two weeks."
"Huh, those Luthor leaks just became even more interesting." Kara said, a glint in her eyes that caused Dubbilex to give her a wary look. "I thought it was gonna be a long shot but, with those leaks, what do you want to bet I can poach Lena away from LexCorp?"
Kara did spend the evening going through the Luthor data and, by the end of the day, she was only halfway done with it. The vast majority of the data had been easily decoded and separated into neat little folders, but the information on the second raid had been so encrypted even the Fortress was having trouble decoding it.
Kara was hoping for information about The Light or maybe even some recording of their meetings, but she knew Luthor probably kept something like that in independent storage devices and away from any servers.
There was still a chance the Fog had consumed some of those devices and the information was amongst the encrypted data, but that would really depend on how lucky she was.
Still, just the amount of white collar crimes she had already obtained evidence for was impressive, and would give Luthor decades of legal troubles. Plus, there were all the political scandals, those may be even better.
Pushing herself away from the desk, Kara looked at the time and decided to call it a day. The Fortress would start leaking some of the juiciest scandals tomorrow, and Kara planned to enjoy it from her apartment's sofa, preferably with Dexter on her lap and Kori keeping her company.
Still, the irritating itch on her eye made her remember to have a health check before going home. If she was getting an infection or needed to replace her prosthetic, it was better to know it sooner than later.
Stepping out of the healing pod, Kara put her clothes back on and asked. "Alright, what's the problem with my eye now?"
"I apologize, Mistress Kara. It seems that some of the Fortress's information was faulty." Jor-El's hologram materialized at her side, his head bowed.
Kara's breath caught and she stared at the hologram for a few seconds. "What is it?"
"Krypton never experimented extensively with the use of Nth metal, much less under the effects of a yellow sun." The AI explained, lifting his head and returning to his usual position. "Am I to understand that you have carried at least some of the material with you for nearly a month now?"
"Yes…"
"Well, it seems like my previous diagnosis was wrong. While your leg shows no signs of change, your damaged cells are recovering much faster than predicted, and your missing eye has started to regenerate."
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