Kara walked slowly through a thick mist. She placed one foot in front of the other, as if she were walking a tightrope, afraid of falling if she deviated an inch from her course. She felt chilled as the mist touched her face and hands. Not a sound was around her, except for the faint noise generated by her own clothing and shoes.

“Hello?”

The sound of her voice, nearly a whisper, echoed as if it was projected through a mountainous valley. She turned completely around, trying to get her bearings…but all that she could see was that mist.

“Anyone…?”

She nearly leapt out of her skin as she watched a tall, dark figure approaching her through the mist, without making a sound. She backed away a little as the figure loomed larger…as well as another…and another…all approaching her slowly.

As she spun around quickly, she realized that she was surrounded by people…and they looked like her. The terror began to seep out of her as she took a look around. They seemed…sad? Why?

“What’s the matter?”

“You,” One old woman piped up. She stepped forward, and gripped Kara’s chin tightly – Kara struggled, but couldn’t get away. “You let us die….We needed you!”

“No…I don’t understand–” Kara tried to back away again, but the old woman held her still. “What did I do?”

“You’re a coward,” A man in the crowd piped up. “You ran away when we needed you most!”

“No…I didn’t, I swear!” Kara shook her head, trying to back away from the old woman as tears began to stream from her eyes. “I just woke up, and–”

Kara froze as another man appeared from the crowd, one which she recognized immediately – it was her father? “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry…”

He shook his head slowly, taking Kara from the old woman’s grip, and holding her gently. “I didn’t want you to leave…but it’s too late now. What’s done is done. Take care, my daughter. I will live on…in you.”

“No…” Kara’s eyes widened as he let go of her, and began backing away. She turned around quickly to see the other figures backing away as well. “No…please don’t leave me–”

Kara awoke to darkness, soaked in sweat, as she cast aside the covers of her bed. The glow of the television lit the room only slightly, but made it feel familiar as she tried her best to calm herself. She reached behind her and turned on a lamp.

As soon as the room was bathed in light, she remembered where she was. The previous day, Linda had decided that Kara was capable of a remarkable amount of independence. Being held like a prisoner in the Kents’ home, forcing them to look after her, was fair neither to the Kents nor to Kara. So she had been given a hotel room a short distance from Linda’s and Charlie’s rooms…and a large measure of independence.

She stood up and walked outside onto the balcony, letting the cool wind high above Metropolis whip through her hair. She thought about how wonderful it would be to fly around the city…but alas, a flying blonde teenager zipping past windows in such a place would become front-page news in a matter of hours – especially if she were still wearing a borrowed night gown.

The biggest rule of packing – always make sure you bring pajamas – had been violated…which brought Kara the embarrassing fate of having to borrow someone else’s. She was rather disappointed that Linda had developed such fancy tastes in clothing, causing Kara to end up with a rather breezy night gown made of a light fabric.

Kara tore herself from her thoughts as she noticed movement in her darkened room. That alone didn’t alarm her – because it was possible that Charlie’s dog Rupert had been left there by Linda. She took a deep, slow breath, and started to listen carefully. It was a human being…she could hear someone else breathing in the room, too slowly to be a dog.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” A soft British voice whispered from the darkness, as the movement came closer. Kara tensed a little bit, but relaxed as she realized that the voice’s sound was more curious than ominous. “You’re the reason we found the gateway.”

Kara took a step forward, closer so she could clearly see a dark-haired young woman, not much taller or older than herself, dressed in jeans and a black shirt, as well as soft leather hat – and carrying only a light beige backpack. “Who the hell are you?”

“Such language,” The woman scolded, “My mum would have washed your mouth out with soap. The name’s Sharon Holmes.”

“And should that alone impress me?” Kara gave Sharon an amused frown and folded her arms stubbornly.

Sharon shook her head in frustration as she tossed her backpack on a table in the center of the room and sat in a chair next to it. “Don’t Linda and Charlie tell you anything at all?”

“No.” Kara shook her head and paused for a moment. “I never know what’s going on. What’s this ‘gateway’?”

Sharon nodded knowingly, and placed one hand atop her backpack as it sat in the center of the table. “Get dressed, Kara. We’re taking a little midnight stroll.”

Linda awoke to the sound of a motorcycle’s engine starting up outside the hotel. It wasn’t at all unusual to hear one once in a while…but for some reason, at that late hour, the sound grated on her nerves.

She slid out of bed carefully and walked over to the window, gently shoving the heavy curtains out of the way. As she slid the glass door open and stepped onto the balcony, she could see the motorcycle below – two people riding one of those Japanese racing bikes – tearing down the street quickly.

Just as Linda was about to dismiss the bike completely, she recognized the young passenger – it was Kara! She raced back out onto the balcony, her heart beating quickly as she began to fear that the teen was being kidnapped…but another quick look confirmed that the driver of the motorcycle was Sharon Holmes.

She sighed with relief, knowing that Kara was in no danger…but she also felt anger. Why would Sharon take Kara somewhere in the middle of the night without saying anything, or even leaving a note?

“Calm down, Linda,” She told herself quietly as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Kara’s practically an adult. It’s none of your business.”

But it was! Linda promised Clark that she’d look after Kara…and practically right on the heels of that promise, Kara managed to sneak away. Linda frowned as she sighed again. She’d never be able to get to sleep anyway with so much worry on her mind…

In a blur, she raced across the room to her backpack, stored in a corner next to a desk…and changed into her costume in an instant. Without even thinking, she raced out onto the balcony, and launched herself into the air in two steps.

Just as she’d done a few nights before.

And just as before, she found herself careening through the air, feeling almost out of control until she steadied herself. She still hadn’t yet mastered takeoffs…but at least she knew she wouldn’t be plummeting back to Earth, as long as she concentrated on staying aloft.

Her heart was beating quickly, betraying the fact that she was once again an amateur in the skies. It took concentration. If she ever had to battle anything in the air…she shook her head, trying her best to discard such thoughts. Instead, she watched the motorcycle speeding along below – it seemed to be headed to…the airport?

The motorcycle finally stopped next to a small fixed-wing dual turboprop plane, parked on the edge of the airport’s lot. Linda watched as Sharon jumped off of the bike, with Kara following, and opened the left side door of the plane.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Linda descended quickly…but then realized that she did so much too quickly. She was paying too much attention to the plane, and too little to her landing. “Nuts…oh, nuts!”

Her feet slammed into a concrete taxiway, and collapsed under her, sending her tumbling a few times before she finally stopped. Linda stood quickly and tried to dust herself off…but it didn’t do much good. She now looked like she had been doing road construction all evening.

She stood quickly and raced toward the airplane, just as it began slowly moving toward the runway. If she attempted to stop the plane now, she would most likely destroy it – so she decided instead to tag along for the ride. Linda grabbed the tail of the plane as it sped down the runway, clinging to its moist, slick surface as best as she could. She’d find out where it was headed…one way or the other.

Sharon spun around in the pilot’s seat, after setting the airplane’s autopilot, turning to face Kara who sat directly behind her. She smiled, noting how amused Kara seemed, watching the clouds breeze past her window. “First time in a plane?”

Kara nodded. She was hypnotized by what was outside the window. “It’s loud in here…but it’s so warm and comfortable. No clammy air, no drops of water crawling on my skin–”

“All right, all right.” Sharon laughed as she stood and headed toward the small galley behind the cockpit. “Like a glass of water?”

“No…no thanks…I just want to watch.” Kara leaned her forehead against the inner plastic layer of the window, staring outside at the clouds whisking by.

“Suit yourself.”

Sharon had only left the cockpit for a few seconds before an alarm started beeping, accompanied by several flashing lights. She raced back to the pilot’s seat, and seemed panicked as she started making adjustments to the controls.

“Bloody hell!” She finally slammed her fist against the panel in front of her before leaping to her feet and racing to the back of the cockpit – where she tore open a small panel and removed a backpack, pausing before she could remove a second one. “I trust you can fly on your own.”

Kara nodded. “I can. Why…are we crashing?”

“Yes, Kara, we are.” Sharon nodded as she slipped the backpack on quickly. “Something’s gone wrong with the elevator control. We’re losing altitude.”

“Wait–” Kara stood up and blocked Sharon’s way. “Maybe I can just go out there and fix it?”

Sharon nearly laughed, but suppressed the chuckle to only an amused smile. “Really? How much do you know about airplane mechanics?”

“Well…we can’t do much worse. We’re already crashing.”

It only took a moment of thought to convince Sharon that Kara was right. The worst she could do would be a failure to repair the tail control…and there would still be time to bail out.

Without another word, Sharon pulled a lever on the airplane’s exit door and pushed outward, forcing it open against the outside air pressure. She stepped back quickly, trying to balance herself against the sudden rush of wind, as she watched Kara slowly approach the opening.

“Good luck, Kara,” Sharon shouted over the sound of the engines and buffeting wind noise.

Before Kara stepped through the opening, she turned around and smiled, giving Sharon a silent ‘thumbs-up’ gesture. In another instant, she leapt into the wind…and vanished into the clouds.

Linda was so shocked to see what looked like a human being whisk by above her, she nearly lost her grip on the left tail wing. She looked up quickly to see a small hand gripping the upper tail section, and two legs wearing jeans extending from behind the steel structure. She felt confused for a moment…it would be impossible for an ordinary human to survive such an encounter with an airplane, let alone be able to grab the tail.

She watched as another small hand gripped the edge of the tail as well…and then the owner’s head popped out from the other side. A teenager with blonde hair and bright blue eyes was staring back at her…a teen she recognized. “Kara! What are you doing out here?”

“I could ask you the same question.” Kara looked down at the tail wing Linda held onto tightly, noting that the corner of it – where the fixed part of the small wing met the mechanical part – was bent, jamming the mechanism. “You broke the plane, didn’t you?”

“No, I didn’t break–” Linda moved the edge of the mechanical part of the wing, shaking it up and down a bit to see if it still was working. She cringed when she heard metal squeaking against metal. She did indeed break it by accident. “Okay, maybe I did. I’ll fix it, if you tell me where we’re going.”

“Kansas, of course. Sharon wants me to see some gateway she found with you.”

There was a short lull in the conversation as Kara waited for Linda to bend the wing section enough to free it, so it could operate as it was supposed to. She launched herself toward the still open door, waving for Linda to follow.

As soon as Linda was inside, Kara planted her feet firmly inside the airplane and grabbed the door’s handle, pulling against the resistance of air moving past at two hundred and fifty miles per hour…and slammed it shut as if it were no more difficult than closing the barn door back on the Kents’ farm.

She latched the door and turned to face Linda. “Now tell me why you followed me.”

Linda smiled weakly, trying to dismiss her question with a light chuckle…but Kara stared at her with an almost threatening seriousness. “I was worried. I didn’t want Sharon to take you somewhere unfamiliar, or–”

A short silence filled the space between them as Linda’s smile turned to a frown, and she bit her lip. “Wait a minute. The gateway? Now I’m glad I followed you, Kara! You could have ended up stranded on some strange planet light years from here!”

Kara folded her arms and smiled, seemingly amused at the anger Linda displayed. “Yeah, right. I’m not completely brain-dead you know. I can think for myself.”

“Are you amused by this?” Linda glanced at Sharon, who stood leaning against the doorway to the cockpit, a big smile on her face.

“As her about the dreams, Linda.”

Linda’s eyes switched back to Kara again, waiting for the teen to fill in the blanks of what Sharon had just started.

“Something’s calling me, Linda,” Kara said as she walked past her and sat down in one of the rear seats of the cockpit. “It’s like this…mystery that’s tearing at my heart. These dreams were depressing me, and I didn’t know why…until Sharon mentioned the gateway.”

“She told me that she had a dream of being thrown from a platform, and falling into the middle of a city.”

Linda looked at Sharon again, and then back to Kara. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“Because…you were kind of a mess, too.” Kara looked down and began fidgeting with her watch, an obvious attempt to avoid eye contact with Linda. “And…I’ve already been enough trouble to you and Clark.”

“No, no no.” Linda sat down in the seat across from Kara, ignoring Sharon as she walked past to sit in the pilot’s seat. “Kara, you’re like the sister I never had.”

“Then why did you leave me with the Kents, and then with Clark and Lois…when you knew they couldn’t deal with me? Do you have any idea what if feels like to be unwanted?”

Linda’s mouth hung open as she watched Kara look down, eyes closed tightly as if her own honest words stung her. She began to understand why the teen had always been so silent, so introverted – because she was afraid of hurting and shaming those who had taken care of her.

“I had no idea you felt that way, Kara,” Linda whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry is for losers, Linda.”

Kara sat, arms folded, without speaking a word as Linda tried her best to respond – but Linda was coming up empty. Luckily, she found a small interruption which would ultimately end the conversation.

“We’re here,” Sharon announced, before putting on a headset meant to contact the nearest tower and make sure she could land in a nearby field safely without hitting any other planes.

A think, depressing silence filled the cabin of the airplane as it slowly headed back to Earth. Linda kept giving Kara sad looks, wishing she could say something to brighten her word. But Kara didn’t see any of them – she stared out the window, once again lost in her own world.

“Excuse me…Have you seen Kara?”

Charlie looked up from his newspaper slowly to see Clark Kent standing in front of his desk in his office. He laughed as Clark pushed his glasses up from the end of his nose, amused at how the man could become so deeply immersed in his civilian persona when the world knew his alter ego as Superman.

“I haven’t seen her, but I know where she is.” Charlie dug in the pocket of his jacket, hanging on the back of his chair, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. “Sharon’s taken her to Kansas to see the Gateway. I assume Linda’s gone, too.”

Clark frowned. “She just up and left in the middle of the night?”

“I guess she’s a night owl.” Charlie shrugged. “And Sharon…well, I have no idea what kind of hours she keeps–”

They both turned abruptly as a soft tap at the window sounded through the nearly silent office. Charlie frowned as he noticed who it was – Power Girl.

“Oh, bloody hell.” Charlie pulled the window open abruptly, allowing Power Girl to enter the room before closing it. “You know, if you super hero types keep dropping by, my rent will go up.”

Power Girl smiled and gave Charlie a quick laugh before approaching Clark – who had a confused look on his face. He’d never seen her laugh so easily before. “I just talked to Kyle this morning, Clark. He says the Guardians know about the Gateway, and–”

“Wait, wait–” Charlie suddenly stepped between Power Girl and Clark, raising both of his hands. “This isn’t the JLA headquarters, you two. Must you hold these kinds of meetings here?”

“As I was saying–” Power Girl frowned at Charlie and stepped around him, ignoring him as she continued. “They want it destroyed, and Kyle is on his way to do their dirty work. I figured since Kara and Linda are on her way there–”

She turned and looked directly at Charlie, giving him and ‘I told you so’ look, raising her voice a little. “–At least one of you might be interested in knowing.”

“Um–” Charlie smiled weakly. “And you’re planning to fly over there?”

“What do you think?” In a blinding blur, Power Girl grabbed Charlie’s left upper arm quickly, pulling him quickly enough to the window that both of his feet left the carpeted floor. Before he could even open his mouth to object, he was airborne alongside her, being held only by one arm…yet he didn’t feel like he was being pulled.

“Wait a minute. Linda has always had to hold me aloft by–”

“I’m not Linda. My flight power’s a mystery.” She gripped Charlie’s arm tighter and made a gut-wrenching turn, heading toward the west. “Now shut up, or I might lose my concentration and drop you.”

Charlie swallowed hard, obeying her request. He hoped it wouldn’t be long before they landed.

Once the plane had stopped completely, Sharon opened the exit door and extended the small stairway to allow everyone to exit. She stood in the doorway like a flight attendant, waiting for Linda and Kara to leave first. As soon as they did, she returned to the inside to get some equipment.

“Linda, I’m sorry.” Kara turned around to face Linda, but then looked down at the ground. “You’ve been nothing but notice to me…I shouldn’t have lashed out and insulted you.”

“You call that lashing out?” Linda smiled. “Kara, when I was your age…God, that makes me sound old…your ‘lashing out’ would have been what I did on a good day.”

Kara smiled mischievously, walking backwards for a few steps before turning and walking, ahead of Sharon, toward the entrance of an underground cavern only partially hidden in the a field about a quarter mile away. Linda shook her head and followed.

For Linda, the walk through the field in Kansas was nothing new – she had gone through the same journey with Sharon and Charlie once before. But she was amazed at how Kara had spotted the entrance and headed straight for it. It was almost as if she too somehow remembered where it was located.

Linda suddenly found herself bathed in green light. She froze, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end, for a moment unsure of what it was. But then, her mind finally connected the color with her memory…Green Lantern?

She looked straight up, nearly giving herself a neck cramp as she searched the skies for the familiar green and black costume of Kyle Rayner. It didn’t take her long to find him – he was descending quickly from just below the clouds, surrounded by a green halo.

“I should have known you’d be here,” Kyle joked as he slowly settled to his feet, “Every time there’s trouble, you’re nearby.”

“Chaos, actually,” Linda pointed out as she smiled. “Every time there’s chaos, I’m nearby.”

Linda suddenly ducked as she noticed something flying toward her. It was a loose rock made of sand – it pelted Kyle, breaking into dozens of small pieces. She turned quickly – Kara stood a short distance away, dusting off her hands and smiling.

“If you two are done with the so-called witty conversation, can we follow Sharon inside?”

Kyle looked at Linda and rolled his eyes. She laughed and followed Kara down the slight hill toward the hidden entrance to the Gateway. “Is this the place I’m supposed to destroy?”

Sharon and Kara wheeled around at the same time. Neither seemed happy as they gave Kyle a threatening stare. Sharon decided to speak first. “You’re planning to do what?”

“Didn’t you know?” Kyle looked at Sharon, and then at Linda. “Nuts…I thought Power Girl would have told one of you by now. I met with the Guardians, they think this…Gateway…is dangerous.”

“Dangerous? Of course it’s dangerous!” Sharon laughed as she removed a crystal from her backpack, waving it in front of a hidden door. It slid open silently, as if by remote control. “So are nuclear weapons. Why don’t the Guardians destroy those?”

“You don’t understand.” Kyle shook his head slowly as he attempted to block Sharon from entering the underground cavern. “This Gateway doesn’t only work one direction, Sharon. If we can open it, so can beings on the other side. Earth isn’t ready for that.”

Sharon frowned, glancing into the cavern around Kyle. “Then find a way to secure it. What bloody use are you super-types if you can’t even do that?”

“I can.”

Kyle and Sharon both gave Kara a look which told her they either thought she was lying or crazy. Kara responded by smiling.

“Really, I can,” Kara continued as she walked between Sharon and Kyle into the cavern. “I…remember this. It’s so clear to me now. I know how to use it, and…”

She wheeled around quickly to face Kyle, deliberately looking at him. “…and how to disable it. It has two keys…one opens the gateway, the other locks it.”

Sharon held the crystal in her hand at her own eye level. “This is obviously the key to open it.”

Kara nodded as she walked toward the wall of solid crystal in the back of the room. She paused for a moment, looking over the surface of it. It seemed to be giving off a light of its own. “See that light? That means it’s activated. There is another crystal inside here somewhere.”

Linda and Sharon looked at each other as Linda passed through the doorway. Neither had any idea what Kara was doing – but Linda watched without speaking a word. She somehow knew that this place was helping Kara recover some of her lost memory.

Kara walked slowly around the perimeter of the room, looking from floor to ceiling – as if she knew something was there. Yet she had no idea what she was searching for. She knew only that she would know when she found it. And just as she had hoped…

“There it is!” Kara pointed high above the glowing crystal wall, where a small, faintly glowing crystal was embedded in a slot near the ceiling of the cavern. Sharon shook her head, wondering how she could have missed it the last time she visited.

But just when she prepared herself to perform a quick leap and snatch that crystal, Kara turned suddenly at the sound of a muffled groan, and a struggle just outside the doorway. Linda turned too, heading immediately outside – but Kara wasn’t far behind.

Power Girl stood outside on the tall grass, one hand over Kyle’s mouth, and her other arm gripping him in an inescapable headlock. Charlie stood a few feet behind her, trying his best not to be injured by accident as Kyle swung his arms wildly, trying to free himself from his captor.

“Let him go!” Kara ordered, trying her best to sound as impressive as possible. She was surprised when Power Girl actually did so, allowing Kyle to collapse to the ground.

Kyle stood quickly, and frowned at Power Girl as he dusted himself off. “What did you do that for?”

“I came here to stop you from destroying this place…with Kara in it.”

“Do I look that stupid?” Kyle immediately realized that his response practically demanded an insult from Power Girl – he waved her off before she had a chance to respond. “Look, Peegee, we had this whole thing worked out before you even showed up.”

Power Girl pointed a finger at Kyle angrily, and frowned. “First of all, don’t call me that, you Nightwing wannabe. Second…how in hell was I supposed to know that?”

“Nightwing wannabe?” Linda whispered to Charlie, trying her best not to laugh. Charlie shrugged, and then pointed to Sharon – she had the second crystal in her hand, tossing it up in the air slightly to emphasize the fact that she spent her time much more wisely than anyone else.

“It no longer matters,” Sharon interrupted as she walked past Linda and Charlie, waving the crystal at Kyle and Power Girl. “The gateway is disabled now.”

“Good. Then maybe certain destructive people can go home…” Power Girl purposely looked at Kyle again, ignoring his frown. “…And tell their puppet masters to mind their own business.”

“Hey! The Guardians don’t control me, Peegee! I’m my own man!”

Power Girl rolled her eyes. “A one hundred percent fictional sentence if I ever heard one.”

Before Kyle had a chance to respond, Power Girl launched herself skyward in a blur. He was still fuming over her attitude…but it would be worthless to follow her and argue with her further.

Instead, he was surprised to see that Kara raced skyward behind Power Girl…and she was fast! Kara caught up with her in only a matter of seconds.

“Words hurt, you know.”

Power Girl suddenly stopped, seeming surprised to hear a voice so close to her. She hovered, looking at Kara for a moment before speaking. “Do they now?”

Kara nodded. “What if after right now, you never saw Kyle again? The last thing he’d remember was you treating him like garbage.”

By the time Power Girl had taken a deep breath and thought of a harsh response, the picture Kara had drawn in her mind had already taken form. She sighed, her eyes turning sad. As super heroes, there was always a possibility that one may never see another again. It was a very risky job.

“You’re right, Kara. Tell him I meant well…okay?”

“Why can’t you tell him?”

Power Girl sighed again. “Because, Kara…when you know Kyle as long as I have, you’ll learn that he can be as grating as myself sometimes. I don’t want that to be the last thing I remember, either.”

Kara frowned as she watched Power Girl fly away quickly. She had initially been used to seeing simple, cooperative relationships. Clark and Lois, a typical married couple…and Linda and Charlie, two friends who regularly behaved as if they could be a couple as well.

The relationship between Clark and Lois, however, deepened in complexity the longer she knew them. Kara even understood things that even they themselves didn’t, or refused to admit. She knew the hurt Clark felt every time Lois went on an ambitious assignment, leaving him alone…and the deep fear that Lois felt every time she watched Clark put on that costume, knowing that this time he might not come home.

She knew that the distance Linda and Charlie kept from each other was for that very reason – but neither one would admit to it. They each feared investing too much in each other…because they feared losing each other. The friendship they had was more comfortable than any other kind of relationship…because it was safe.

Kara wondered still how two heroes like Power Girl and Kyle can work together in spite of their bickering. She guessed that it meant some sort of level of comfort was between them, one where they each knew they weren’t hurting the other that deeply. Kind of a warped type of reassurance.

She shook off her thoughts as she returned to the ground and headed back to the underground cavern, smiling to herself as she noticed Kyle, back to his cheerful self. Maybe that guess wasn’t far off after all.

“I guess we should get everyone home, then.” Linda took a quick count of everyone present at the entrance to the underground Gateway cavern. “I don’t think I can carry all of you, and Kara’s not strong enough. So it’s up to you, Kyle.”

“What about Sharon’s airplane?” Kara’s interruption drew stares from Charlie and Linda. They two of them looked a little sad – it was easy to tell that Sharon wasn’t planning on coming back with them.

Sharon smiled weakly, dangling the crystal in front of Kara. “It’s quite simple, really. As long as I hold this crystal, it’s my responsibility to send it to a place where it’s difficult to recover…for the safety of humanity.”

“I understand.” Kara nodded and smiled half-heartedly.

“Unless–” Sharon walked closer to Kara. She kneeled down to look up into Kara’s eyes, and lowered her voice to a whisper. “You know you’ve come through that gateway, don’t you? Wouldn’t you like to discover your origins?”

Kara smiled, looking at the crystal in Sharon’s hand. “I will…one day. But for now, I’m satisfied.”

“Are you now?” Sharon asked.

“Yes.” Kara nodded. “I now know my place in the world. I know what I’m supposed to do here.”

Linda and Charlie looked at each other, to confirm silently that they were both confused by what Kara was saying. It gave Kara a warm feeling to see that – whenever Charlie and Linda began communicating non-verbally, it meant that everything was right with the world.

And Sharon…Kara wondered if she had some sort of latent psychic ability…or maybe she was just extremely perceptive. Sharon managed to follow Kara’s eyes…and then her laugh told Kara that she knew. She saw the same thing Kara did.

But what Kara remembered about that empty, lonely field somewhere in nowhere, Kansas was one thing – for the second time since her arrival on Earth, among confusion, she had managed to cause every hero in Metropolis to gather, and work together. Not because of danger…but because they all cared about her safety. She had managed once again to do what she believed she was intended to…

…Bring people together.