Adventure Of A Lifetime

Chapter 7 - Hit Me With Your Flashbulb Eyes

***KARA***

Cat's probably disappointed that I'm not in the office in person to deliver the photos she asked for. But she'll take what she can get, and if I do say so myself, I did a reasonably good job capturing Maxwell Lord going into court. Though it's not up to James' usual standards, I don't think. There's a certain je ne sais quoi this set of pictures lacks.

Naturally, Cat's quick to respond. "These pictures aren't tight enough, Kara." At least she knows how to spell my name, if not pronounce it properly. "I can barely even spot our friend in that crowd. You captured more of that alien landing than you did of Maxwell." There's a long pause, as if she knows I'm reading the message, then she adds, "Of course, Maxwell gets too much attention as it is. I'll focus on the alien, and as for Max, I'll bury him as a footnote." In my head, I imagine her adding something to the effect of, "I love to piss him off, that little prick." But I've noticed that Cat tends to reserve the offensive remarks for when she's in her office. When she's safe in the knowledge that while her written communications could be intercepted and picked through by her competitors, they have no way of recording things she says. Even when they do, like when she's on the phone, she makes insults most would consider acceptable. For instance, that dig about Bieber's nudes I overheard this morning. Too easy a target - it's almost unsporting. But it still gives me a chuckle even two or three hours after I first heard it.

After I send one last message, a quick thank-you, I put on the radio next to my bed and scan through the AM stations, listening for some kind of news report on Kon's landing. Nothing but a bunch of political bullshit, and it's not even election season anymore. I swear, the Republicans are out to get anyone who isn't a middle-aged WASP gentleman. Where would space aliens like me fit into their platform, I wonder?

So I skip over to the FM stations instead, but at this time, mid-morning, it's nothing but music. Mostly boring pop songs of the kind that get played to death on the CW - although a few of them aren't quite so boring. For instance, that one that goes "Superman got nothing on me, I'm only one call away." I wish I could have seen Clark's face when I told him that song existed - he thought it was so funny. And when I find another station playing my own favorite, "Adventure Of A Lifetime," I stop to take a listen for a minute - but only a minute, because the song's already that close to being over when I turn it on.

Even so, that song never fails to cheer me up. It's made of pure joy, so it reminds me of Barry. Even though I don't need to be reminded of him, per se, not when he's in the next room. But one day, I want to bring him in when that song is playing and dance to it with him.

I leave my room and stop dead in my tracks for a second when I see that the living room is empty. Then I spot Barry and Kon standing on the fire escape, and I breathe a huge sigh of relief.

"Hey, boys," I say as I join them. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah," Kon says. "Better."

Barry nods along with him, then he says, "Kara, could we, uh, go inside for a sec? I wanted to talk to you about something..."

I'm guessing that this isn't something to do with our relationship, and when I lead Barry back into the living room, it turns out my guess is right. "He said he's been shut up in Lex Luthor's basement," Barry says without preamble.

I gasp. "Locked up? How long? Did he say? What did...no. You said Lex Luthor? That can't be right-"

"If this is another Earth we're talking about here," Barry says, "then we're definitely dealing with another Lex Luthor. And in my experience, our counterparts from other Earths are...pretty malevolent."

"You talking about that time you had to team up with all the other heroes to seal up the holes in the universe in Central City?" I ask.

"If you were there," Barry says, "you wouldn't talk about it with that look on your face."