Heroes Join Forces

Broken Trust

It had been nearly two weeks since the Red Kryptonite incident, and Kara had exiled herself to the Fortress of Solitude in an attempt to protect National City from the powers she seemed unworthy of wielding. She knew no one at the D.E.O. had access to the Fortress, and her insistent refusal of visiting in the years she spent living with the Danvers, Kal-El wouldn't even think to look for her there. She was practically alone, barring Kelex but he wasn't much in the way of company. She'd ordered Kelex to immediately warn her if anyone showed up. She was dangerous and didn't deserve these powers. At least in the Fortress of Solitude she couldn't hurt anyone or anything. It was better this way for everyone.

The D.E.O. had been scanning every satellite at their disposal to hopefully track down Kara. Barry had searched the entire Earth multiple times for even a single clue as to her whereabouts but the Girl of Steel was flying under the radar. The people of National City were starting to grow restless without Supergirl and as such, J'onn took up the mantle of Supergirl to keep up appearances but it wasn't a viable solution. People were starting to catch on that Supergirl wasn't using the plethora of abilities Kryptonians had in their arsenal. It wasn't hard to notice the distinct skill gap between the real Supergirl and J'onn's emulation. Crime was exponentially increasing at an alarming rate and even the Blur wasn't enough to save everyone. National City needed Supergirl now more then ever.

On a whim, J'onn had contacted Kal-El to search the Fortress of Solitude. They'd exhausted all other possibilities and despite the fact it was highly unlikely, Kal-El agreed. Metropolis was rather quiet which meant Superman didn't have enough on his plate to warrant abandoning Kara. Truth be told, Kal-El would have abandoned Metropolis in their darkest hour for Kara. The House of El stood stronger together. Family outweighed everything else in life to the Man of Steel and Kara was his blood. He wasn't about to let her down. He immediately explained the situation to Lois. She promised to keep Perry White off his scent until he could safely return. Despite having never met her, Lois was always very understanding when it came to Clark's insistence on protecting his family above all else. It was one of the things he loved most about having her in his life and he never once, nor ever would, take it for granted.

Despite her better judgment, Kara knew she couldn't hide forever. Eventually she'd have to face the consequences of her action, Kal-El was probably going to banish her to the Phantom Zone alongside General Zod. She was a threat to Earth and she deserved no less. Wincing as the light from the outside world poured in through the open doors, Kara waited for the inevitable physical beat down Superman was going to inflict upon her. Instead she saw Kal-El standing in the doorway, features obscured in a silhouette due to the light of the arctic pouring in behind him. She covered her eyes slightly with her hands, hissing as if she were a vampire.

Taking one look at Kara, Kal-El felt his heart break. Her hair was knotted, with her makeup smudged, and severe bags underneath her eyes. She looked as if she hasn't slept a single second since exiling herself away to the Fortress of Solitude. He couldn't bare to see in this state and flew forward, wrapping his arms around his cousin in a comforting embrace. She was shaking horrendously and he could hear her trying to stifle her sobs in his shoulder.

"Y-Yo-You're not... gonna hurt me?" Kara whimpered as tears streamed down her cheeks. She sounded genuinely surprised with a hint of disappointment seeping into her tone. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Clark didn't immediately want to strangle her for grossly misusing her powers. He'd been on Earth for nearly three and a half decades and he'd never fallen prey to such a pathetic trap that'd caused him to create fear, panic, and discourse amongst mankind. Not once had Kara fallen prey to Red Kryptonite, but twice. She pulled away from his grasp, hands shaking violently.

"Kara," Clark whispered softly. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to give you a message from J'onn and the D.E.O." With that sentence, Kara visibly shuddered as if she were about to collapse. "Your friends miss you, Kara. They're worried sick about you, I came here to find you and bring you home-" He gasped as Kara yanked herself away and prepared to take off into flight. He raised his hands to get her attention quickly before he'd have to give chase. "I know you're scared Kara, I understand. How about this? I take you back to Metropolis. You can have a shower, something to eat, and get a goodnight sleep. That's all I'm asking, I won't tell J'onn or Alex where you are, I promise. Just you and me." He tried to bargain with her and it was luckily working. She was hesitantly warming to the idea very slowly, but warming none the less.