Seeing Green Episode IV: Close Encounters

Chapter Eleven

Kara leapt out of her bed and pushed the massive wardrobe. It was getting easier every day. It had been three days since the fire, and her shoulder had almost completely healed. Ursa had placed her in one of the upstairs bedrooms on the east side, near the nursery. She'd put the rather heavy wardrobe full of stuff in front of the window thinking Kara would be unable to move it. But she had walked in on her while she was working out like Sara Conner yesterday, and could tell she was up to something. Kara didn't hear her coming because Ursa had the habit of floating her way up the stairs like a vampire.

Aahhh yes, Kara thought as the sunlight streamed in and gave her a warm hug. Am I ready? Should I wait another day? Ollie must be worried sick. I could leave right now, probably get to him before she notices I'm gone, but then what? She will come for me again, and I have to be prepared to fight her. My shoulder is healed, but am I powerful enough?

Just then, she heard the door to the nursery open.

Shoot, she's up early! Kara quickly picked up the wardrobe and set it down gently in its place. She could hear Ursa talking silly baby-talk to Zoe, changing her diaper, ect. Zoe started fussing and crying. Kara wondered if her own babies would cry as much as Zoe. Kara was losing sleep because of the little devil-spawn.

"Don't worry Zoe. Mommy's got a bottle ready for you. You can have it in the car. Mommy's gonna go to Home Depot today. Do you want to come with me?" Ursa was saying.

Wait, what? Home Depot? What's she going to get at—oh no! She's going to replace the door to the basement! I have to leave today! It's now or never!

Kara listened as Ursa backed her SUV out of the driveway, and headed downtown.

***

"Oliver!" Kara cried, at last. She had initially checked for him at Queen Mansion, then The Arrow cave, and finally discovered him at Star Labs with Barry, Caitlyn, Cisco, H.R., Julian, Thea, Diggle and Felicity. Everyone was shocked to see her walk in the door to the main laboratory. He wrapped his arms around her like he never had before.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his words came out rough, full of emotion. "Did she hurt you?" He searched her eyes for answers.

"I'm fine, Ollie."

"And the twins?" he touched her tummy gently.

"They're doing great. I felt a little kick from one of them yesterday."

Smiles and "Awwws" broke out among the many relieved faces in the lab. Everyone was eager to hear how she'd been treated and how she managed to escape. They had been working on a way to locate Kryptonians with their unique signature, much like the way they were able to detect meta-humans. But it had proved to be much more complicated, although they did have a break-through this morning, which is why Oliver was there.

"We were preparing to rescue you," he explained. "Cisco showed me that he had picked up on three distinct Kryptonians living together in a home in Metropolis. Kara, who is she working with?"

"She has a little girl. An infant, actually," Kara went on to explain Ursa's evil plan of feminist Kryptonian world domination, how her powers were slowly returning, and her risky escape. "And when she discovers I'm gone, she'll come looking for me. So I need to find a place that's safe, wide-open and uninhabited." Kara said in earnest. "Because of the collateral damage that is bound to occur when two Kryptonians fight."

"Fight? Kara what are you talking about?" Oliver said, his eyebrows lowering. "You're not going to fight her. Not in your condition. Powers or not. We will protect you. We'll put you in one of those padded cells Barry keeps his Metas in."

"No Oliver. That won't stop her. Besides, she has the Phantom Projector. She wouldn't hesitate to pop any of you in there. I can't let that happen." Kara said sternly.

"I can take it from her," Barry offered.

"What if you're not fast enough? I can't risk that. Ursa is stronger now than she was when Superman defeated her. She's had all this time to gain power from the sun. She was fully grown and combat trained on Krypton. My only hope is in the fact that because she doesn't want to seriously hurt me, she might pull her punches a bit."

"Kara," Oliver said tenderly, running his fingers through a bit of her hair. "I don't like this."

"It's...the only way," she said shakily.

"Then we do it as a team," he said firmly. He turned to face the rest of the group. "Barry, I need you to be faster. Thea, I need your arrows to fly straighter. Caitlyn, I need your ice to be colder. Cisco, I need your vibes to be...whatever they are, just better! I want everyone performing at the top of their game! And we need a good location. Felicity, that's your job."

"On it!" she said, fingers flying over the keyboard. "There's an old football stadium in The Glades."

"Excellent," he said. "That will provide us archers with a place to hide in the bleachers as well as elevation. Let's converge on that location. But first, I need a moment with Kara."

Is he going to be upset with me? Kara remembered how upset he was when she told him she had given up her powers.

The others cleared the room. He turned to face her, his eyes soft. Nonetheless, she felt the need to apologize.

"Oliver, I'm sorry. I should've told you before I gave up my powers. I rush into things and I'm still getting used to being in a relationship with someone. I was--"

"Kara. It's okay. It doesn't matter now." He shook his head. "What matters is I love you and I don't want to lose you again because you mean the world to me. I can't live without you."

"Oh Ollie," she said, blushing and looking away.

His hands suddenly rested on her shoulders. "No Kara, listen. Look at me." She looked at his intense gaze, his blue eyes dark and deep like the ocean. They were too beautiful to be looked at directly. It was like staring into the sun.

He continued. "In a world where young people are becoming increasingly self-centered and narcissistic, you come along like a beacon of hope. A role model for young girls and boys. You make me want to be a better man, for you. And I want to be a better father, than there ever was." He smiled. She smiled back.

"And you will be, Ollie, I know you will," she said lovingly.

"Kara, I just...I guess I just want you to know....if something happens to you today, or any day...I want you to know how much I love you."

"Oh...Oliver. I do..." she said as a couple tears ran down her cheeks. "Don't worry about me..."

Oliver's gaze hardened. "Kara, did you see the news? Before she took you?"

"Yes." Kara nodded sadly. "She killed Lois and put Kal in the Phantom Zone. We have to get him out. Once we get the projector and subdue Ursa, we can use it to bust him out."

"Hal and Bruce already went on a rescue mission. But that's beside the point. My point is, Kara, she could do to you what she did to Lois. She kills. Mercilessly."

"I know," she said as she turned around to hide the haunted look on her face. "Kal must be devastated." He hugged her from behind.

After a moment, Oliver spoke. "Kara, I need you to prove to me that you're ready."

"Alright." She turned around and lifted him up as if he were a loaf of bread. "How's that?" she asked, grinning.

Oliver looked down at her, unamused. "That's a pretty good party trick, Kara. Now lift something bigger, heavier, like a car."