Kara Wayne

She had been asleep… she had had vague dreams of her father and mother rushing in, grabbing her and then her mother injected her with something and she went back to sleep… She woke up and looked around the room.

“Oh,” she said, “I am floating again. Relax…”

The blonde woman went from looking at the top of the framed painting to the bottom as she came back down to the mattress. She looked over at the nightstand as she got up to go to the bathroom…

“Oh Christmas…” she muttered to herself looking at the family photo in her with Bruce, Alfred, Selina, Jason, and Kara in ugly Christmas sweaters… Kara stood up and turned on the light… she walked to the bathroom and stopped at a shelf. She looked over an noticed an extra Pineapple and a card…

“Ahhh Grandpa Alfie…” Kara picked up the small ceramic pineapple and the card.

When she first arrived, one of the rich old neighbors had brought her a Pineapple… That made no sense to her and wouldn’t for a while until she managed to learn English… But Alfred had explained the Pineapple as an old gift of welcome and friendship, and each year he would place a new pineapple statue on her shelf with a card reminding her that she was again welcome into this home and family…

“Seven years,” Kara muttered, “Seven years here on Earth… Seven years as Bruce Wayne’s adopted daughter…”

Kara thought back to that traumatic night when she first arrived…

*

Kara woke to the sounds of an alarm… She was in some sort of padded pod. A flashing red light was the only source of light. The light was a button next to her. Kara hit it wondering what was happening. A holographic display came up in front of her. It showed she her as being on a trajectory heading towards a large body of water outside of some sort of city… She wasn’t the best student in the science academies, but she did pay attention and her father was a rocket scientist and talked her throw the displays of simulations and his experiments on prototype designs… According to the display the rocket was going to crash… And from the shaking of her against the harness holding her in place, she was inside the rocket! From the display… she was going to have to make an escape from the rocket and swim to the shore. She looked around and saw the escape hatch levers to her sides. From the trajectory, there wouldn’t be a chance to use it and eject before she hit the water… She didn’t know if there was an ejection system even if there was a chance. Kara did something she had never done before in her thirteen years of life…

“Oh Rao,” Kara prayed… “Please protect me… and if I die, please take me to a better afterlife…”

A count down appeared before her, five seconds to impact…

“Oh Rao, please don’t let me die…” Kara prayed…

Four seconds to impact…

“Oh Rao, please don’t let me die…”

Three seconds to impact…

“Oh Rao…”

Two seconds to impact…

“I am going to die…”

One second to impact…

Kara closed her eyes…

The impact bounced Kara around inside of the rocket and she blacked out when she banged her head against the controls…

Kara opened her eyes and looked around… the display in front of her showed she was some distance under the water and sinking. Kara took a deep breath and pulled the escape hatch lever. The harness around her gave way as the hatch in front of her exploded out. The wall of cold water slammed into Kara and she lost some of the air in her lungs. Kara paddled and reached for the air above and after what seemed like eternity she broke the surface and gasped for air…

“Oh, thank you Rao!” Kara gasped as she splashed on the surface, “Thank you… Thank you…”

Kara looked around and saw a ramp leading into the water to her left. She didn’t so much swim over a flounder until she crawled up the hard rock ramp.

“Help, please someone help me,” Kara called into the dark…

Slowly Kara got to her unsteady feat and walked up the ramp. Somewhere to her left she heard voices. She couldn’t understand what they were saying, but she could hear voices.

“Please? Someone? I need help…” Kara called as she stumbled towards the voices.

She spotted a group under a light around a large canister… As Kara walked towards them, they stopped and turned to look at her.

“Please?” Kara begged, “I need help…”

The gathered men and women looked at Kara like she was a piece of food. As one turned Kara could see the glint of the long metal knife in his hand. Another pulled out what looked like a section of pipe.

“No,” Kara begged, “Please don’t hurt me.”

As much as her mind told Kara that she should turn and run, get away from those foul people, her body could only just painfully slowly back up, quarter step by quarter step. She watched in horror as the tall, greasy men stalked towards her mumbling things between each other in some alien tongue she didn’t know… Kara kept walking back a quarter step by quarter step. The two men walked closer and closer holding their weapons in their hands. Kara’s eyes were fixed on their vile grins.

A single alien syllable growled from the shadows to Kara’s left and the looks on the faces of the men changed to panic and fear.

Kara looked over to her right as the men looked to their left. A shadowy outline of a man stood imposingly next to them. Kara looked at him with awe and panic. She didn’t see the faces of the other men as the arms of the shadow man reached out and pulled them into the shadowed alley between the big buildings. The three vanished into the shadows… Kara stood there in shock as the sounds of echoed off the metal walls of the buildings.

Kara looked back at the others around the canister. They looked in fear and panic. A noise made them flee in terror. Kara screamed in terror as one of the greasy men ran out of the alley with a bucket over his head. Kara watched as the man ran forward and over the end of the stone work walk way and into the water. Kara looked back to the darkened maw of the alley.

“Hello?” Kara asked.

A gloved hand slowly reached out and Kara looked at it as it turned palm side up. Kara reached out slowly and took the offered hand. The Shadowman led her into the dark of the alley. Slowly she walked following the Shadowman. The Shadowman lead her around the network of alleyways. Finally, the Shadowman led her to a door with a red-light in a special shape above it.

“What is this place?” Kara asked.

“Please, Help,” the Shadowman repeated in horribly accented Kryptonian.

His fist knocked on the door and an old woman opened the door. The old woman looked at the man and then Kara. A look of concern quickly splashed over the woman’s face and she stepped back ushering the girl in. Kara looked back up at the Shadowman…

With a gesture he ushered her into building.

“Can you help me?” Kara asked the woman.

The woman responded in the alien tongue. No one seemed to speak Kryptonian here. The woman ushered Kara to a padded medical exam table. Kara recognized it from medical history dramas her mother sometimes watched. She took a seat on the padded table with the thin paper covering. The woman put her hand to Kara’s head and turned to say something… but the Shadowman was gone. The woman went about checking Kara.

“Where am I?” Kara asked herself.

The woman turned and looked at Kara and she could tell the women was trying to figure out what Kara was saying. Just then there was a knocking at the door. The woman went to see who was at her door. Kara looked around. Her cloths were ruined, but they were at least somewhat dry now. In walked the woman followed by a man and a young girl. The Girl had red hair and was about Kara’s age from what she could tell. The man also had red hair and looked to be the girl’s father and had a demeanor like security forces back home. The girl waved and said something to Kara.

“Ah… Hi,” Kara waved back at the girl.

The man spoke and asked questions.

“I have no idea what you are saying…” Kara responded.

The man turned and looked at the woman who shrugged her shoulders. He stepped closer and kneeled in front of Kara. Kara looked at him as he held one hand to his chest and spoke. He repeated the a few words over and over again.

“Gor-Dan, James Gor-Dan,” he repeated.

The man then waved his daughter over and pointed at her and spoke again.

“Gor-Dan, Bar-brah Gor-Dan,” he said pointing at the daughter before pointing at himself again, “Gor-Dan, James Gor-Dan…”

Kara raised her hand and patted her chest.

“Kara Zor-El,” Kara said, “My name is Kara Zor-El. Kara Zor-El.”

“Kara?” the girl asked.

“Kara,” Kara nodded and pointed at the other girl, “Bar-brah?”

The girl knodded. Then Kara pointed at the man.

“James?” Kara tried to recreate the sounds of the name.

Kara looked at the woman. James looked at the doctor and then turned back to Kara.

“Tom-p-kins,” James said pointing at the woman.

Kara looked back at the doctor and noticed the Shadowman behind her passing her a piece of equipment and a slip of paper. He then disappeared back away from her. The woman held the thing for a bit before reacting. She spoke to the security member for a second before stepping forward and handing him the device. She went over to a drawer and pulled some things out of a drawer. James looked at the machine and then turned it towards Kara. Kara looked at it and realized what it was right away. She took it from James and put it on her lap and placed her hands down flat on the scanner panel of the Biometrics reader in the hand outlines. While this was a primitive version, she used this sort of thing to check into classes and at the science guild academy. A light flashed yellow and then flashed green before turning red again. Kara picked up her hands and looked at the plate like equipment. A light flashed green and yellow again. Kara put her hand down again and the light flashed yellow for bit before turning green again. Again, the green light turned red again and then went back to flashing green and yellow. Kara repeated the process, but once the light turned green, it stayed green this time. The machine wanted three samples? Of course, three samples would ensure they had good readings. It would help if they were trying to identify her. The doctor brought over a series of other items… From the looks of it, they wanted tissue samples too… Kara didn’t like needles.

James took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. James it seemed didn’t like needles either and Bar-Brah really didn’t like them. Kara took a deep breath and reached out. She knew what they would do, what they needed to do. She put her hand on James’ arm and waved for the tray of biological samplers. They were rather primitive as well. Doctor Tom-p-Kins shrugged and went right to work gathering samples from Kara. Hairs were pulled from Kara’s scalp, swabs were taken from Kara’s mouth, and blood samples were drawn from her arm.

“This sucks,” Kara muttered to herself.

Once the samples were taken, the two adults started talking to each other and the daughter chimed in from time to time. The doctor proposed something that unsettled the James and his daughter, but Bar-Brah seemed to find merit in the proposition. The Doctor asked a question and James looked at Bar-Brah and then at Kara and then said something that made the Doctor leave the room. Bar-Brah came over and asked Kara something. She then made a motion like she was putting something in her mouth.

“Eat?” Kara asked and then shrugged as she said, “I have no idea, but I am hungry.”

Bar-Brah then spoke to the others. Some minutes later Bar-Brah came back with some bread with slices of something in the middle. Kara took it and took a bite. It tasted like nothing she had eaten at home, but she realized she hadn’t eaten in a long time and scarfed down the food. James came in with a glass of water for her. Kara drank the water… it was nasty tasting compared to the water from home, but it sated her thirst. Kara sat waiting for a bit as James and Tom-p-kins walked around talking and Bar-brah sat in a chair. After some time there was a knock at the door. James went and opened the door. A new man walked in carrying a couple of bags. He spoke loudly and awkwardly as he backed into the room and spun around. He faced Bar-Brah and asked a question before Bar-Brah pointed at Kara. The odd man was a little younger than her father, with black hair and blue eyes. He was tall and strong, much to pale by the standards of the Security or Military Forces, but his skin wasn’t nearly as pale as the Science Guild like her father and uncle. The man kneeled in front of her and introduced himself. He spoke briefly before gesturing to himself and uttering a word.

“Bruce,” he smiled.

Bruce, then turned his hand towards Kara and asked something in the alien langue, Kara looked at him as he waited.

“Kara,” She responded, “Kara Zor-El.”

“Bruce Wayne,” Bruce extended a hand.

Kara took his hand and felt the warmth in it, in this man. Something told her she could trust him. Bruce turned to the bags next to him and pulled out some clothing in roughly her size. Bruce pulled some tags off of the clothing and refolded them hastily. He then handed them to Kara. Bar-Brah got up and asked something of Tom-P-Kins, then came over and took Kara’s hand. The red-haired girl lead Kara to a door and opened it for her. Inside was a sort of Toilet room. Kara shrugged and stepped in closing the door behind her. Kara unfolded the cloths, there were thick warms socks, a stiff pair of pants, a shirt and a thicker larger over shirt for her. Kara took off her ruined night cloths and started pulling on the socks. She then pulled on the shirt and the pants before pulling on the over shirt. When she came out there was another man there. Older, with white hair and much thinner than Bruce or James. Kara noted that while it looked like Bar-Brah and James had hastily gotten dressed, Bruce looked like he had been wearing his clothes for far too long, this new man’s clothes looked freshly pressed and immaculate.

The new man smiled and spoke warmly. Kara didn’t understand a word he said… and Bar-Brah seemed to take the cue. She stepped between them and poke while pointing at them in turn.

“Alfred, Kara, Kara, Alfred,” Bar-Brah said.

Bruce, Alfred, Tom-p-kins, and James all spoke for a bit before reaching some sort of agreement. Bruce walked over to Kara and extended a hand… It was just like the Shadowman had… Kara looked up to the smiling face. She thought for a second, and took his hand. Bruce lead her to the door he had come in from. Tom-p-kins said something and Bruce picked up Kara in his arms. Bruce carried Kara to a ground transport and Alfred opened a door for them in back. Bruce put Kara down on the seat and pulled safety restraints over for Kara. She knew what to do and secured herself in the seat. Bruce then went around the other side as Alfred closed the door. On the other side, Bruce took a seat next to her while Alfred went and took his seat at the front of the vehicle. The drive was rough by Kryptonian Hover car standards, but they quickly left the center of the city and were soon out into an area on the outskirts with woods and grass. Alfred navigated them to one large building on a hill. As they passed the front gates and drove up the approach, Kara saw it was a complex of buildings around one central main resident building. The vehicle stopped in front of the building and both men got out. Bruce came around and picked up Kara. He carried her up the steps as Alfred went to the door and opened it for them. Bruce put her down once they were inside. He put his hand out for her to take again and led her up the stairs at the back of the great hall and towards a room. Alfred again opened it for her and Bruce. Kara looked into the room. It was a bed room, rendered in silver and pastel pink. Bruce ushered her into the room. Alfred followed a moment later with pink towels and went into a door to the front side of the room. Kara looked in and saw it was a toilet and hygiene room. Alfred put the towels on the counter with the sink and smiled. Kara turned back to Bruce who was sitting on the bed.

“Kara,” he said patting the bed then guestured around the room, “Kara, Kara, Kara.”

Kara realized what he was trying to tell her. This room was her’s. As if to highlight the point, Alfred gave her a metal object and pointed at a small hole below the handle of the door. Alfred stepped out and brought in the other bag Bruce had had earlier. Bruce opened it and handed the bundled contents to Kara. It was a pair of pink fluffy pants and shirt much like the pajamas she was use to wearing… Kara looked around the room.

*

Kara was brought back to the moment as she looked around her room again and put the small pineapple keepsake back on the shelf and went to the bathroom. Seven years ago tonight she had been welcomed into the Wayne home. She went to the bathroom and relieved herself before getting a drink of water and returning to bed.

*

Kara walked into the kitchen and looked around. Jason was sitting at the island eating a bowl of coco-puffs and Alfred was making Kara’s pancakes. Kara floated over behind Alfred and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you for remembering Grandpa,” Kara said with a smile as she wrapped her arms around him.

“Miss Kara,” Alfred protested, “I am at oldest an Uncle.”

“Sure thing Grandpa,” Kara smiled as she got off of Alfred.

Alfred looked at Jason.

“Don’t look at me,” Jason didn’t even look up from his bowl of cerial, “I am still trying to figure out what those psycho strippers see in Eddie.”

“If you hadn’t noticed,” Kara said, “They see him as a winning lottery ticket, just like all the other gold diggers that try to get a ring out of Bruce.”

“If that were the case, they would do better by avoiding the odious Mister Nigma and all the attention he attracts,” Alfred said.

“What time did Bruce get in last night?” Kara asked.

“Three forty,” Alfred said authoritatively.

“I’ll give you a ride Jay,” Kara said, “I am meeting Babs for coffee before class right by Gotham Academy.”

“Sure,” Jason said without looking up.

Kara went around and sat on the stool next to Jason and looked him in the face. Kara could see it without her x-ray vision.

“You got distracted by the psycho strippers and got pistolwhipped didn’t you?” Kara stated rather than asked.

“Butt stroke by her M-60,” Jason groaned.

“Hay, look on the bright side,” Kara smiled, “The guys are going to be like ‘You took down Nigma’s psycho strippers,’ and the girls are going to want to kiss it and make it all better.”

Alfred handed Kara the plate of pancakes.

“Eat up,” Alfred said, “I will check on Master Bruce…”

Kara looked over towards the master bedroom and smiled. She then reached up and rubbed the gold stud earrings.

“She is in there isn’t she?” Jason asked once Alfred left the room.

“Oh yeah,” Kara smiled.

“Meow,” Jason chuckled.

“Tell you what,” Kara said as she cut up her pancakes, “they still on the loose?”

“Just Nigma,” Jason said.

“Then tonight Batgirl and Robin will go and nail Nigma’s butt to the door of a police station,” Kara said, “And I will use all my cheats. How does that sound?”

Jason smiled. Kara reached over and ruffled his red hair. Kara smiled and thought about how much fun it would be to pull on her Batgirl suit and fly around kicking Nigma’s butt like Superman.