Ben 10 : Unlimited

4

Not completely sure where Ben was going with this, Clark only nodded. Ben took a deep breath.

"So why don't you make this easy and just freaking tell her who you are!"

Clark opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out; he had nothing to counter Ben's suggestion. Ben pinched the bridge of his nose, his brow furrowed in exasperation.

"Geez, I knew you were invulnerable; I didn't know you were dense!" Ben started walking again.

Clark caught up with him after a moment. "Wait, how do you know about dealing with this sort of thing?"

Ben rolled his eyes. "I told Julie that I was a superhero after our first date. It probably saved me a lot of guilt later on." It still stung to think about Julie, but it was dulled by his frustration with Clark. Were all the superheroes in this universe like this, or was it just Superman?

They continued to Clark's apartment in silence, both lost in thought; Ben, who was questioning the intelligence of the people in this universe, and Clark, who had to think on what now seemed like a very obvious hole in his logic.

By the time they arrived at the apartment, Ben had finished fuming and Clark had finished kicking himself over being an idiot. They were, however, very surprised to find someone sitting at Clark's table, sipping a cup of coffee.

"Hey Clark, hey Ben." A very cheerful Kara Kent waved at them.

"Kara? What are you doing here?" Clark frowned. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Check your watch, cousin," Kara smirked, "it's Friday and school ended hours ago."

Clark groaned, while Ben grinned. Apparently, Clark had been so lost in thought that he'd barely been able to get home, much less know the time. When Kara got up to put away her coffee cup, Ben noticed something: she was in her costume. Ben had never seen her wear it before; sure, she was a superhero and apparently all superheroes wore costumes, but he'd never seen Kara in hers. She wore a white t-shirt with the "Super-logo" on it, as well as a short, blue skirt, red boots, white gloves and a short red cape that hung from the shoulders of her shirt.

"Not that I mind your company or anything," said Ben, "but why are you here, Kara?"

"I help out Superman whenever I'm in Metropolis." Kara explained. Then her smile grew impish. "And since you're back in the hero game, I figure I should see what you can do besides lift hay bales."

Ben grinned right back at her. "Oh, bring it!"

Clark smiled. This was certainly an improvement from the Ben he'd seen a week ago; he could tell that he was still upset about the loss of his family, but at least now he had some fire in him again.

"Why don't you two patrol Metropolis for the day; if you need me for anything, just call me."

Ben frowned, not really understanding until Clark tapped on his ear to indicate his super hearing. Supergirl smiled, then went to the window.

"You coming?" she asked.

In answer, Ben activated the Ultimatrix and slammed the dial.

"JET RAY!"

The two aliens flew out the window a moment later. Clark stared after them for a minute, then sat down at the table, his mind drifting back to Lois, and Ben's words regarding her.

Downtown Metropolis

"This is so boring!"

Jet Ray looked at Supergirl in confusion. They'd only been patrolling for fifteen minutes, and she was already bored? Maybe it was because she was still a little new to the whole hero business.