Kara on Monitor Duty

Kara Zor-El rapped her fingers on the edge of the console, the sound echoing in the room. Her shift of monitor duty was almost over, and she was getting antsy.

Granted, there were worse places to be stuck than the Watchtower, especially given the view of the Earth from this high up in orbit was utterly gorgeous. But it was nothing new to Kara, and one thing that the orbiting satellite didn't have that she desperately wanted right now was cell service. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, since Justice League members and their associates had access to special interstellar communicators, but the only person she wanted to talk to right now was Charlie, and he didn't have one yet.

Charlie. Just thinking about him made Kara's heart flutter and brought a smile to her face. She was the luckiest girl in the galaxy just to be able to wake up next to him every morning, and he made her his girlfriend on top of that! It was so hard to be away from him, especially now when he could really use her help packing his stuff. But he understood the importance of her work with the Justice League, and insisted she do her part today, despite her reassurances that she'd be fine with skipping monitor duty. Hell, she'd be fine quitting the Justice League entirely if that's what he wanted...

The sound of the door opening behind her snapped her out of her thoughts. Pivoting the chair, she saw the flaming head of Firestorm walking in. Which meant...

Her shift was over!

Kara rocketed out of her chair, not even acknowledging the greeting Firestorm tried to give her. She wanted nothing more than to get to the teleporter and return to Metropolis, so that she could get back to Charlie! She was so excited that she nearly flew straight into the big red 'S' on her cousin's chest.

"Oh, Kara," Superman said, "I've actually been looking for you. I wanted to talk to you about..."

"Later Kal," Kara said, trying to get around his broad chest, "I've got to go."

"It'll only take a minute," he said, "I'm sure whatever you need to do can wait just a little bit longer."

Kara groaned, able to tell from his tone that he wasn't going to drop the issue, "Ugh, fine. But make it quick. I'm really busy."

"So I've heard," Superman said, "Why don't we take this somewhere a little more private?"

Superman led her to a nearby conference room that wasn't currently in use and shut the door, isolating them from the foot traffic in the halls. He then turned to face her, crossed his arms, and asked, "So, when were you going to tell me about Charlie?"

Kara sighed, "Barbara told you about him, didn't she?"

"Actually, I heard it from Wally," Superman said, "Considering that the Flash knew, I'm surprised it took me this long to hear about it. Half the Watchtower probably knows about your new boyfriend by now."

"I don't see how it's any of their business," Kara said, "Or yours."

"It's my business when you reveal your secret identity to a guy you just met," he said sternly, "It doesn't take a huge leap of logic for someone who knows your identity to deduce that Kara Danvers' cousin Clark Kent is also Supergirl's cousin Superman. Did you even think about that before you told him?"

"...No..." Kara admitted sheepishly, "But it's not like I told him myself! And if you don't want him to know, I could just say you're the cousin of my Earth family. He'll probably believe me."

"That's not the point, Kara!" Superman snapped, "You've known this guy for what, a month?"

It was actually three weeks and two and a half days, but Kara didn't think it'd be wise to correct him.

"How do you know you can trust him with something that big?"

"Because I love him!" Kara shouted, "And he loves me! He wouldn't do anything to hurt me."

"And what happens if you two break up?" he asked.

"We're not going to break up," Kara said firmly.

"You don't know that," Superman said.

"Did you know you wouldn't break up with Lois when you told her you were Superman?" Kara asked, crossing her own arms.

"I was about to propose to her!" he countered, "And we had been dating for over a year at that point, and friends for several years before that. Do you really not see the difference here?"

Kara gritted her teeth in frustration, "See, this is why I didn't tell you about him! I knew you would be like this!"

Superman's expression softened, and he unfolded his arms, "I'm just worried about you, Kara. You just met this guy, and already you're letting him way too much into your life. Even if you weren't a superhero I'd say you were moving too fast."

Kara sighed, "Kal, I'm not a teenager anymore! It's my love life, and I should be able to decide for myself how fast is too fast!"

"...You're right, you're not a teenager anymore, hard as that is for me to accept," he admitted, putting a hand on her shoulder, "If you really love this Charlie fellow, there's nothing much I can do to stop you. But I can still be concerned about you."

Kara smiled up at him, "I know, but you don't have to be. I'm happier now than I've been in a long time, Kal, and that's all thanks to him. And I make him happy too. Isn't that enough?"

"I wish I could say it was," Superman said, "Still, it's your life, so if that's enough for you then so be it. But if you want me to be completely comfortable with the idea of you two together, I'm going to have to talk with him."

Kara rolled her eyes at this, "Ugh, are you serious?"

"Hey, is it too much to ask that I get to meet the guy that's dating my little cousin?"

"Technically I'm older than you," Kara pointed out.

"Regardless," Superman continued, "I'd like the chance to get to know him better. Maybe we could have a game night sometime?"

"Sure, but it'll have to wait," Kara said, slipping out of his grasp, "We're still in the process of getting him moved into my apartment, so things are kind of a mess right now."

Superman's eyes went wide, "He's moving in with you?!? Kara, that..." He sighed, "Right, sorry, your life, your choice. Just be careful, alright? I don't want you to get hurt."

"Kal, I'm the Girl of Steel," she said with a smile, "I'll be fine. Are we done now?"

"Yeah, we're done," Superman said, waving her off, "I'll see you..."

With a whoosh, Supergirl was out the door and already halfway down the hall.

"...later," he finished. Now alone, Superman sighed to himself and sat down at the empty table, putting his head in his hands in exasperation.

"That bad, huh?"

Superman looked up at the open doorway where Diana of Themysceria, known to most of the world as Wonder Woman, was standing.

"Could have been worse," he answered, "Were you listening in on us?"

"Not intentionally," Wonder Woman admitted, closing the door behind her, "Kara gets loud when she's upset."

"Tell me about it," Superman said, "It's like she sees nothing wrong with any of this."

"She's in love, Clark," Wonder Woman said, sitting down across from him, "And love, especially young and passionate love, can make people do crazy, stupid things."

Superman raised a brow, "Don't tell me you actually think her attitude towards him is normal."

"Of course not," she assured him, "I'm just saying when you love someone so deeply that they're all you think about, it can blind you to the things that are obvious to everyone else."

"I suppose," he admitted, "I just wish she'd get past this honeymoon period she seems stuck in and cool off a little bit. She's completely opening herself up to this guy, and we have no idea who he even is. What if he's just using her, or is only with her because she's Supergirl?"

Wonder Woman pursed her lips in thought, "You know, I could pay him a visit and interrogate him a little. He won't be able to hide anything with the Lasso of Truth around his waist."

Superman frowned, "I don't know, Diana... that seems like a pretty big breach of trust. I just finished telling Kara that this was her choice to make."

"And normally I'd agree with you. But this infatuation she has with him..." Wonder Woman frowned, "It's not natural. There's a possibility that someone or something could be influencing her to act this way, and Charlie is the only lead we have on that front so far."

Seeing his hesitance, Wonder Woman continued, "Look, I won't ask him anything too personal. Just what his intentions are with Kara and if he has anything to do with her odd behavior. And if it turns out he's innocent, I'll immediately let him go and apologize. Maybe even make it up to him with a VIP tour of the Watchtower."

"Kara could give him that anytime she wanted," Superman said.

"An autographed photo of me then," Wonder Woman said with a shrug, "I'll figure something out. And if you're really concerned that Kara will get mad, I'll take full responsibility. I think it's worth knowing for sure if this guy is trustworthy, don't you?"

Superman thought about it, then said, "Fine. But just to figure out of he's manipulating her somehow. Anything beyond that is none of our business."

Wonder Woman nodded, "Agreed. I'll drop by Metropolis sometime this week and talk to him when Kara's not around. It'll be better for everyone involved if I did this one-on-one."

"Do you know where to find him?" Superman asked.

"He works at the Metro Burger on 64th and Conway," Wonder Woman said as she stood up, "I can figure out the rest from there."

"How do you...?"

"I asked Flash earlier," she responded, turning to walk out of the room, "He's actually popped in there a couple of times, and Batgirl has been using those visits to reconstruct Charlie's schedule. I should be able to catch him as he's leaving work."

Superman's eyes narrowed in her direction, "...You were already thinking about doing this, weren't you?"

Wonder Woman paused at the door, and before stepping out into the hall looked over her shoulder and responded, "You aren't the only one worried about Kara."