Heart of a Hero

The woman relented and took her arm. "Evelyn." The elderly looked up at her since Kara was much taller. "Where did you come from? Surely, you're an alien. No one in this city ever offers to help."

Kara stammered and blushed. "Well, I—" She sighed in relief. "My mom always taught me the importance of helping one another, Evelyn. It saddens me that people find that so hard to do."

The woman looked up at her and grinned. "Definitely an alien."

Kara laughed and helped her cross the street. Eventually, she found out Evelyn lived close by and helped her home, even earning a large piece of chocolate cake and a hug for her troubles.

"You're my favorite kind of alien, Kara," Evelyn patted her cheek in a very grandmotherly way. "I may even like you better than Supergirl."

Kara laughed and left, her large piece of cake safely hidden from prying eyes in her bag.

##

She was about halfway to CatCo when she heard a screech of tires followed by a piercing scream. Seeing a little boy in the middle of the street, rooted to the ground and gaping at the approaching car, Kara dropped her back and sprinted to the boy, tackling him out of the way, just inches from getting hit by the car.

They rolled on the asphalt a few times, but Kara kept him close until she finally managed to stop. "Hey, you're safe, you're safe!" Kara kissed the blond head so close to her, feeling the boy's tears soaking her dark shirt, his hands clenching on her jacket. "You're safe..."

There were voices and hands as people rushed to help them up. She could hear running from nearby and frantic voice, and suddenly the boy was yanked from her arms and enveloped in a bear hug by a woman she could only assume was his mother.

She tried to get up but felt a bit dizzy and a hand on her shoulder forced her down. "You're bleeding, ma'am."

Kara blinked, glancing up at the man forcing her down. "I am?"

The worried looking man nodded. "Your cheek and chin are scraped really badly."

Kara's heart sank. There was no way Lena was not going to notice that. Somewhere in the distance, she heard a siren. "It's fine." She tried to smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I should go—"

"No, you can't. Someone already called an ambulance and the Police. You need to give a statement and they need to make sure you're all right."

Her heart sank. Great, now she would be late too. Could this day get any worse? She managed to sit on the asphalt and reached for her phone, only to find the screen cracked. "Bugger..." Alex was going to kill her because she managed to ruin another DEO issued phone and Lena was going to kill her for being careless, if she didn't file for divorce first. Great, just great. "I need my bag..."

She tried to get up again, but then her arms were full of a sobbing woman whispering 'thank you' nonstop. Kara's eyes softened and she hugged the woman, whispering quiet words of reassurance, her own troubles forgotten for the moment. She spotted a crying man by a car parked sideways in the middle of the street and guessed it was the driver. Maybe she should talk to him, to make sure he was all right and—

"Damn, lady, I've never seen anyone run that fast ever!" Someone said.

"Yeah, like Supergirl!" Someone else exclaimed.

"You're a real-life hero, lady!"

The people around her started clapping and Kara felt the sting of tears. Even powerless, she was still their hero. Kara gave them all a watery smile, still holding onto the distraught woman.