LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 31.1
Kara sat on the sofa and stared at Dinah Lance, better known as the Black Canary. She knew it was kind of rude to be using the woman’s true name instead of her heroic one but, well, Dinah didn’t wear a damn mask so she couldn’t blame anyone for doing an internet search.
Dinah stared back at Kara, her legs crossed in front of her and an empty notebook lying untouched on top of her lap.
Kara stared at Dinah, letting the time on her consultation freely tick by, even if she knew she should be talking.
Dinah stared at her, willing to let Kara gather her thoughts, and courage, to finally start talking.
Ugh, so awkward. Kara sighed and scratched at her itching prosthetic eye, touching its surface and moving it slightly, using the prosthetic to scratch at the back of her eye.
Dinah grimaced, shivered, then couldn’t help but turn away and avoid looking at the uncomfortable image. “Ha!”
Dinah sighed. Uncrossing her legs, she leaned forwards and smiled at Kara. “Alright, you made me uncomfortable too. Are you ready to begin now?”
She wasn’t, not really, even if Kara knew she should. It’s not like she hadn’t gone to a psychologist in her previous life. It had even worked back then, somewhat.
“Yeah, I guess. Where should I start?” Kara lay down on the sofa, her head resting against its arm.
“How about you start with the reason you decided to see me.” Dinah reclined back on her chair, but her eyes never left Kara’s.
“Well, Kori and Kal were about to organize an intervention, I really didn’t want that, so I decided to face the music.”
“Is that it? Or are you just using their insistence as a way of forcing yourself?” Dinah lifted an eyebrow at her and waited for an answer. When Kara kept quiet, Dinah continued. “It’s been my experience that the mere threat of an intervention isn’t enough to get someone into therapy, not if they don’t think they need it.”
“Fine, I know I should be talking with someone, I just… really didn’t want to.” Turning back towards Dinah, Kara let her see the frustration in her eyes. “With both of them pressuring me, I really don’t have an excuse to avoid you anymore. I hate that I even need this… You know, Krypton didn’t even have psychologists.”
In her previous life, Kara hadn’t been so averse to seeking help but, in this one… Well, Kryptonians weren’t really very emotional beings. Or had many psychological problems.
Being genetically engineered and bred to do something, and to enjoy doing it, made psychologists mostly unnecessary. The overwhelming majority of Kryptonians actually found their jobs, and lives, very fulfilling.
“Really, what else was different on Krypton?” Dinah asked and wrote something in her notebook.
Kara stared at the woman’s face for a second or two, having to make an effort not to read her notes, but decided to start talking. “Well, first, it was beautiful; the crystal buildings were unlike anything you have here on Earth. Earth is filled with those boxy skyscrapers that all look the same. It's boring, plus the pollution. Rao, I hate that here. I go outside my apartment or the Fortress and I can actually taste the smoke, and see it too, if I squint a little. I think that’s the first thing I’m gonna have to fix.”
Almost an hour later, Kara realized that her consultation was almost over and all she had done was talk about her home planet. “Ugh, you know I’m not actually paying you for this right, you don’t need to waste time to keep me coming back.”
“Did you really think this was a waste of time?” Dinah smiled at her, releasing the notebook at the side table and leaning forward, her elbows resting on her knees. “Kara, I’m not a miracle worker. I can’t solve all your issues in a single consult, much less when I barely know you.”
“I guess, but we didn’t even talk about why I’m here.” Kara sighed, getting into a sitting position on the sofa.
“And would you actually talk about it? Today?” Dinah shook her head. “Seeing as you spent the first five minutes just staring at me and trying to convince yourself to talk, I don’t think so. Still, we did advance today, a lot. You opened up to me, at least a little, and when was the last time you talked about your home planet without feeling pain?”
Kara thought about it. Yes, she had mentioned Krypton, but it had always been too painful to really talk about it.
Not that it hadn’t hurt today, but she had talked about the good things, she had remembered the good times instead of focusing on its destruction. It had left her feeling a nostalgic ache in her chest, instead of the overwhelming pain it usually caused as she thought about the end.
“So… same time next week?” She asked, quickly changing the subject.
“Yes, I’ll be at the mountain attending to the Titans.” Dinah got up and led her out of the room.
Kara walked out of the room and into the mountain, then had to lean back as Kid Flash rushed through the hallway, a chocolate cookie hanging from his mouth and a plate in his hands.
Hand snapping forward, Kara didn’t quite manage to steal the plate, but she did snatch two cookies for herself.
“Hey!” Kid Flash slid to a stop at the end of the hallway, looking from his plate to Kara’s hand with a dumbfounded look.
Kara ate one of the cookies whole and waved at him with a second. “Hey Kid Flash, Kori and Kon already at the mountain?” She asked, her mouth filled with the delicious treat.
Kara was feeling surprisingly… good. Not perfect, far from it, but she felt like she had made some progress, even if it was incredibly small. Now, if only she could keep it up.
“Ah, no, Connor is still in class and Kori was busy with Wonder Woman. They should be arriving soon.” The boy said, his eyes following after Kara’s second cookie with a conflicted look.
“So, how’re you finding the new gear?” She asked and made way for Dinah to walk through the door.
“It’s great actually!” He nodded eagerly. “Can’t believe how much easier the surveillance drones make things.”
Kara caught him looking a little too eagerly at her second cookie, so she bit into it. “Good, if you’ve any ideas about things to improve, make sure tell me, maybe I can come up with some more devices.”
“Great!” He looked down at his wrist and grimaced. “Sorry, gotta go, I actually arrived earlier for Captain Atom’s class for once!” Saying that, he turned the hallway and dashed away.
“You know, he thinks you hate him.” Dinah said as she started walking towards the Zeta-Tube.
“Who? Kid Flash?” Kara gave the woman a quizzical look and, when she saw her nod, let out a long breath. “I don’t hate him, I… dislike that he’s fifteen. Teenagers were annoying on Krypton, much less here.”
“Yes, he can be annoying, but he’s a good kid.” Dinah gave her a little smile and they continued walking through the Mountain at a slow pace.
“How’s Green Arrow, by the way?”
“He’s not taking it very well, as some of the criminals in the city found out yesterday. They went straight to the hospital instead of the jail.” Dinah’s shoulders sagged in a clear sign of exhaustion. “Arsenal isn’t helping much; he’s honestly conflicted about Red Arrow’s death. Obviously, he’s not happy about it, but since barely knew Red Arrow, that does simplify things for him.”
Kara winced; she could imagine how that was going. “Green Arrow’s not gonna attempt using a Lazarus Pit?”
“Green Arrow is taking it hard, but he knows better than to try something like that.” Dinah shook her head as they arrived in front of the Zeta-Tube. The heroine motioned for Kara to go first. “Helps that you destroyed the only one we knew about, takes the temptation away.”
Kara nodded solemnly, then waved goodbye and activated the Zeta-Tube, stepping out of the device and back into the Fortress. Four white androids turned towards her and bowed their heads, working under the Fortress AI’s control.
“Is Dubbilex doing well?”
“Yes, Mistress Kara. Guest Dubbilex is already awake and is projected to fully recover in another two weeks.” One of the androids said in Jor-El’s voice.
“Rao damn it!” The odd itch at her prosthetic eye started again, it was a constant thing that just didn’t want to go away. Massaging her temple, Kara squeezed her eye shut until it faded but, even then, it didn’t disappear completely.
“Did you wish for the treatment to take longer?” The AI asked with some confusion. “The effectiveness of the treatment can easily be adjusted.”
“No, no, it’s just…” Kara opened her eye again, and smiled when the itch faded. “Damn, it would be just like me to get an infection now.”
“Do you wish for me to prepare a health check?” The AI materialized a holographic image of Jor-El beside her, his face looking down at her with some concern.
“No, there’s no hurry. I’ll check it later today, after I’m done with everything else.”