speedster.

Kara had barely gotten any sleep that evening. When she tried to fall asleep, she twisted and turned in Barry’s bed. Flashes of death coming to mind. Seeing Krypton go to dust, the news coverage after her cousin’s death. It’d all been too much for her. So she simply sat on the porch of Barry’s home, watching the sun come up. Last night felt like a stab to the chest, but yet life continued to push on and she would have to as well. She walked into the home again when she heard Barry in the kitchen, the smell of the pancakes he was cooking were enough to make her smile. “Yeah, I did.” The smile on her face growing bigger as he complimented her. Kara hadn’t even noticed that they were flash pajamas until he pointed it out, a small laugh leaving her lips. “You have merchandise.” Not many of them could say that. But Barry, the Flash… he was incredible. It didn’t shock her that the public loved him. Who couldn’t? “Thank you, for staying with me.” She said as she sat down at the table.

Barry nodded, blushing slightly, it sounded a lot more douchey hearing it back. “Hey, no problem, seriously dont mention it. Did you sleep okay? I’ve been sleeping in that bed since I was eight, I love it, but I don’t know what it feels like from the outside sleeping in you know? Are you hungry? I’ve got bacon, some eggs and the secret West family recipe pancakes.” Barry said putting a couple on a plate with the other aforementioned foods and bought it to the table for Kara. “Do you like orange juice? You look like an orange juice fan, I’ll get you some. Or you can have none of it if you’re not hungry, I don’t think I ate for weeks when my mother...you know.. I’m sorry, I just mean that you don’t have to eat for me.” 

“Power through.” She repeated, looking up at face him. Kara’s eyes trailed down his face before they met his green ones again. She was going to have to grieve him, she suddenly thought of Clark’s mother and Lois Lane, and how he planned on proposing to her. Kara looked down at the space between them, shaking her head. “No, it’s exactly what I want to hear.” She said, softly as her hands rubbed at his shoulder blades. Things, they were dark now but they always got better. Clark, he died saving not only Gotham but the world. He’d done what he’d always set out to do, it was brave and heroic.”A brave death was it’s own reward” She said softly, almost to herself. A saying she’d remember from back home. “Right now I just want this.” She said as she placed her head back on his shoulder, letting herself be held together by the only other person she knew understood what this craziness was really like.

Barry didn’t know where the saying had come from, but he didn’t comment, it was said so it seemed as something to reassure her.. “I can do this all night.” He said softly. “Here, let’s get you out of the lab,it’s no place to be right now.” Barry offered softly and in an instant they were in his room on his bed and he pulled her in again while they sat on the edge, he knew how this would go, grieving was exhausting and eventually she would go to sleep and it would be much needed, “Do you--do you want to talk about him, or not? I don’t know, whatever helps you, Kara.” 

Kara watched as the glass ascended and she was presented with two choices. She could allow herself to be rageful and hurt Barry but as she looked at him, she couldn’t find it in her to hate him. He was just looking out for her. It could have possibly been her as well. If her cousin passed taking that thing on, she stood no chance. No matter how strong she was, she wasn’t Superman. So she took the other option, she just let it go. She rested her face on his shoulder, allowing herself to cry. She nodded against his shoulder as she listened to him. Appreciating his presence then and there. Really, there was no one else she’d want to be with at that moment. “What’s going to happen now?” She asked, wiping at her eyes. A world without Superman, she couldn’t imagine it.

Barry held her tighter, though he knew it wasn’t anything to a kryptonian, she was a person and knowing someone was there wasn’t a cure, but it helped a hell of a whole lot. What now? He’d had that same question when his mom died and many times afterwards, “Now, it doesn’t sound very comforting I know but you power through. We grieve him, we celebrate him, we look out for each other and we protect the planet along with other people like us and with time it’ll get better, I know you don’t want to hear that, but it will. And I’m here for you, whatever you want to do.” 

“No.” She said, her voice weak. Devoid of it’s usual pep and cheerfulness. Kara looked back at him as he explained what it was, knowing that it must have come from those ships that appeared on Earth from the phantom zone eighteen months ago. “So it weakens me and him?” She asked, her head pressing against the glass that seperated them. While on Earth, she had yet to really encounter anything that could stop her. And that seemed to be a problem with many people, she saw the news. She knew what they thought about her cousin and herself. They wanted them to be controlled. And they finally got something to control them. Kara’s eyes swelled up as she heard him, the world was safe again but… her family had passed. Her only remaining family member, the only reason why she even on this planet was to ensure his safety and she hadn’t even manage that. Now she was alone. Stuck in some chamber. betrayed by the guy that she really liked. “Barry…” She said, threatening to fall down her face. “Can you let me out of here, please?” She asked.

“Kara I’m so sorry...” He didn’t know if it was a good idea for him to let her out, she was grieving, but he didn’t ever want to operate on fear again, especially since it seemed how whatever went down in Gotham unfolded, and on top of that Kara was his friend, “Yeah, yeah of course.” He got up and the first thing he did was wrap his arm around her knowing good and well what it felt like to lose someone, he’d lost several at this point, and he knew family stung most of all. “Kara, I’m sorry for your loss.” 

Kara looked at the face of the man that she’d learned to trust, to admire. He was one of the best people she knew. And she truly meant that. He was up there in a league that included her family, Winn and him. She was trying to remember that, despite her anger, she had to remember he was her friend. Kara nodded slowly, she couldn’t even pick herself up. What was it that he’d just exposed her to? She nuzzled against his chest as he picked her up, knowin soon she’d find herself in one of those chambers that he’d gotten for her police department. A cell. “What was that?” She asked, speaking up for the first time since he placed her in the chamber. Why couldn’t I do anything when you exposed me to that?” She asked, her anger coming through.

Barry winced at the tone in her voice, he could see why she would think he deserved that. “Nobody’s ever told you about this? It’s kryptonite? It’s the ore form of an element from your home planet, or so I’m told, Cisco might have hacked into the DOE’s databases, before we weren’t sure if they were the good gu--” Barry got word from Cisco through his ear piece, the thing was dead, but so was Kara’s cousin. Barry’s head dropped down, “Kara... I have some--Cisco just told me. It’s over, your cousin, he--he saved Gotham, the world. But...Kara I’m sorry, he didn’t make it.” 

Kara couldn’t explain what just happened. One second ago, she was well on her way to Gotham. She was fine. But with just the reveal of some glowing green mineral in Barry Allen’s hand, she felt weak. She could barely breath, let alone move. She was powerless. She looked up at him, shocked and confused. What was that? Why was he doing this? Her anger towards Barry came out in tears, her eyes welling as she looked up at him. “What i-is that?” She asked, more like croaked out. She looked away from him, forward to where she was suppose to be going. She wanted so badly to push him off of her but she couldn’t. For the first time ever, she just couldn’t. She looked back at him, wiping at her tears. “H-He’s going to die”

God, he didn’t want to hurt her, he didn’t want to weaken him, but facts were facts and the facts were that Kara could kick his ass, except when kryptonite was in the equation. He was surprised, however to find that she didn’t know what it was. “Shh, shh save your strength okay, just... Kara I need you to trust me.” He put the kryptonite away and picked her up, carrying her and whisking her off to star labs in one of the chambers they held their metas in. “I’m here, Kara, whatever happens tonight, I’m here, and we’ll deal with tomorrow, but you can’t go there.” He sat down, on the other side of the glass, Cisco keeping him updated on what was happening in Gotham. “You have no idea how sorry I am that I had to do that.” 

“Barry, you can’t tell me to stand here and do nothing.” She said, clenching her fists closed in an attempt to calm herself down when really she just wanted to push Barry out of the way and make her way to Gotham. “You say that thing. He can’t beat that alone.” Kara kicked up lightly, floating in front of him. She was fast, she could just go. But she knew for certain, he’d catch up to her. He’d even stop her in her tracks. “He’s got friends? The United States army that’s just read to nuke him and that thing if needed.” She yelled at him, knowing that Clark was strong but he was not strong even to withstand a nuclear blast. “You need to let me go.” She said, feeling her eyes start to well up. It didn’t go over her hear how much Barry cared about her and had the roles been reversed, she would have been standing in his way. “I’m sorry, Barry. But I have to try.” Kara kicked off as fast as she could before he could grab onto her, making a beeline for Gotham.

“I know, Kara, I know what it feels like to have these powers, but to not be able to do something, but Kara I’m begging you to think about this.” He knew that if the shoe were on the other foot he wouldn’t listen, but he still had to try because she was his friend and he was thinking clearly, she, however was not.”It wasn’t the Army’s best move, but look, he survived that, Kara I need you to listen to me, I need you to just come with me, and we can try and figure something out.” Barry held his hand out, but she left, which left him no choice. He pulled his mask on and in a flash he was off and tackled her to the ground, and pulled out a small lump of Kryptonite, not enough to hurt her, but enough to weaken, “I’m sorry about this, Kara. But it’s a suicide mission.”

Kara’s eyes were glued onto the monitor, the battle between her cousin and that abomination playing out before her eyes and everything in her body was telling to go. To help. She could help him somehow. After all, it’d been her mission. To protect him. Kara watched as the thing only continued to pummel him. When the camera feeds went off the air, she couldn’t sit still. Sure Alex would be upset, Kal would be furious with her but better that than sitting out a fight she could very well level out. So she raced up to the roof of her building, only to hear an all too familiar whoosh. “Barry, you can’t stop me.” She said, not turning back towards her good friend. Great friend. 

Barry was seeing what was happening in Gotham along with the rest of the world while he himself was in central city, some thing pummeling Superman. Of course, Barry wanted to help, but it was a suicide mission, and getting killed wouldn’t be helping, no, if anything he would have to be the second line of defense if anything, but his time as a superhero taught him not to jump to conclusions and count someone out. His next thought was Kara, knowing that because she wasn’t removed from the situation (this was her cousin) that she wouldn’t be thinking straight, so in a Flash he was where he knew she’d go, and he wasn’t wrong, “Kara, you can’t, and yeah I probably can’t, so you have to stop yourself. Your cousin, he’s got friends on the ground and you don’t know anything about that thing, you can’t just charge in.”

Kara furrowed her eyebrows as he begun to spoke, wondering what it was that he was trying to get out. He brought up Cisco and then herself and while Kara wasn’t a genius, it wasn’t hard to figure out what it was that he was trying to say. He was giving her the okay to make a move on one of his friends. She instantly shook her head, well not with too much eagerness because Cisco was still a friend. “Uh-Uhm, thank you so much for that compliment. I-I th-think Cisco is an ama-amazing guy b-but I’m n-not into him l-like that. He’s just a r-really great friend…. And you’re gone.” Kara sighed as she watched him blur away. “Like I was s-saying, no. I don’t like him, like him.” She looked down at her bowl of ice cream, thanking him. “As am I, who wants to fight evil doers in basically nothing?” She said with a small laugh, knowing the fanboys wouldn’t mind it but she was more than her looks. She was a savior.

“Oh... yeah, yeah I was just-- I wasn’t pushing I just thought maybe you were thinking about it and, I know what harboring a crush is like so I guess I jumped the gun, sorry about that.Of course you’re not thinking about dating, this is an exciting time, so many other things happening right now.” After moving on from the subject, Barry raised his hand playfully, “I know I wouldn’t, super embarrassment wouldn’t be something that stopped captain cold. It does, right? We’re living in the age of something that’s going to be in the history books, Kara. It’s really cool when you think about it.” He shrugged, “Yeah, I’m not great at it, “Yeah I do, well did. I’m getting better with my speed and harnessing the speedforce all the time I’m pretty good at controlling it these days, but the first month or so...yikes.” He shot, “Pretty much whenever Iris says, “We need to go shopping, Barry, somehow it’s always long overdue. So your family, they know what you are? They must be cool.” 

“Probably.” She said, taking a big bite out of the uneaten slice. She gave him a small thanks as she grabbed the napkins he’d held out towards her, wondering just how dorky she looked in that moment. “Oh no, no. You were going to say something, so say it.” She said, wondering what it was that he’d wanted to say. “At least I have one vote for the cape. You too? Okay, we went through a ton of choices. One of them-” She remembered the cropped t-shirt and boy shorts ensemble, shaking her head. “One of them was just obscene, I looked like I was going to pose for those male magazines rather than saving people.” Despite what he said, Kara reached over and squeezed his shoulder. That might be true but losing a parent was never easy on someone. But if he was right, he definitely made the best of a horrible situation. “Yeah, the urban legend from Metropolis. That’s… that’s my cousin. Oh, I assure you, he’s real.” Her smile only grew, happy that not everyone thought of them as a curse or a danger. Some people, they enjoyed knowing they were around. It made her hopeful that one day, she wouldn’t have to hide in the shadows. That one day, people would embrace her and know that she was one of them. “Oh man, hugs. That’s the downside for sure.” She nodded slowly. “Sometimes I forget that I could crush a car if I wanted to.”

"No, I was just wondering if maybe you're...it sounds so stupid to say, don't make me." Barry said ducking his head, a blush creeping up his neck, this was for sure a foot in the mouth moment for him, "Just we've talked about Cisco a few times and if you maybe wanted to get to know him more I just dont think it would be out of the realm of posibility because you're--you and you are pretty great, and so is he. I can stop, in fact I'm going to stop because I'm rambling and--Barry was gone in a flash and back with two bowls of ice cream and held one out to Kara, "I didn't know what you liked so I got a little of everything. "Barry choked on his outfit slightly when she mentioned something that would be in Maxim or something, not that he read Maxim, or checked it out on the news racks..."Glad you found something you're comfortable working in." Barry gave the blonde a small smile, used to the sympathy from people, and on the sympathy scale that wasn't a whole lot which Barry was greatful for.