Heart of Steel ~ Winn Schott

The High That I Need Right Now

"And you have no idea why Astra isn't talking to me?"

The hologram of Alura stared back at Kara, as mockingly as ever. As if Kara hadn't been having a hard enough time watching Astra in the cell downstairs, now she had to watch her own mother, Astra's mirror image, do the exact same. She had to admit, whoever had made the hologram had done an incredible job of capturing her likeness, right down to her cocked eyebrow that had no business being the picture's default expression.

"I am not programmed to give you that information."

"Come on, is there anything you can tell me?"

"Try asking a specific question, that way I know how to answer," Alura said with a smile so condescending it was getting difficult for Kara to believe her real mother wasn't stood in a media room somewhere, just perpetually in front of a camera and ready to torment her at a moment's notice.

Before she could really start to get angry, the door behind her opened and Kara turned around to see Frankie hovering in the entrance.

"I need to talk to you."

Kara spun around so that she was fully facing Frankie and the hologram of her mother faded a little now that she wasn't paying attention to it. She was surprised to see Frankie here, especially since Alex hadn't texted her or anything which meant that she must have convinced the security guys to let her in on her own.

Something nagged in the back of her mind, she was forgetting something important. But Frankie was standing there expectantly, still waiting for Kara to invite her in even after coercing her way into a government-stronghold. Then, it hit her.

"Frankie, I promise I didn't forget, I didn't want to send it over text, but..." She trailed off, wanting to say that she was planning on going over to Frankie's but realising just in time that Frankie's wasn't a place she could go anymore.

"No, that's not-" Frankie shook her head vigorously, but she was still rooted to the spot, so Kara wasn't convinced she was alright with her lapse in memory. "That's not what I need to talk about."

Kara held out her hand and when Frankie took it, pulled her into a carefully controlled tight hug. Frankie was cold, colder than she would've expected even for a rainy March day, and she took extra care to wrap her up a little more than she normally would.

"Happy birthday, kid."

Frankie was silent for a few moments but eventually buried her head deep into Kara's shoulder. "I love you, Kara."

After a while, Kara pulled back, but held Frankie's shoulders fast, looking carefully into her eyes. She looked tired, but Kara wasn't shocked. With everything that she'd had to deal with, she was surprised Frankie had even come back at all.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."

Dropping her hands to her sides, Kara took a step back, giving Frankie the space to talk without being suffocated.

"With Brad or in general?"

"I need to end things," Frankie said, so suddenly that she was almost interrupting Kara and so unexpectedly that Kara wasn't entirely sure which part of the question she was replying to. Something must have become apparent on her face because Frankie took another step back to put even more distance between them. "With Brad."

"Well, I think that's probably a good idea."

Frankie pulled her lips tight and rocked back on her heels. It was then that Kara noticed she was still wearing the same clothes she had been when she'd left Alex's apartment a few nights before.