Chapter 57

  Barbara was in the kitchen making coffee when Donna wandered in wearing a bright red, bikini style bra and a pair of black boxers that hung loosely off her hips, her black hair a mess, she yawned as she stepped over to the island,

  “Coffee?” Barbara offered, Donna nodded,

  “Yes please” she said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Barbara filled a mug and slid it across the marble counter top, Donna hopped up onto 1 of the stools across from Barbara.

  “How are the hands?” Barbara asked, pulling another cup from a cupboard, Donna looked down at her bandaged hands as if though she was only now noticing that they were still wrapped up,

  “Umm, yeah, they’re fine, I guess, I haven’t actually seen them in a few days” she answered, Barbara placed a hand on her hip as she filled the second mug, she shot her a dirty look,

  “You haven’t been changing the gauze everyday?” she asked, though the answer was already clearly evident, Donna looked away,

  “Yeah, mm-hmm, of course I have been doing that, cause I’m an adult, yup” she said,

  “Do it today” Barbara instructed,

  “Yes mom” Donna rolled her eyes playfully, she took a few sips of her coffee before leaning forward on her elbows with a wide smile.

  “This morning sounded eventful” she said,

  “Yeah, Kara wasn’t feeling well” Barbara said, completely missing Donna’s tone,

  “That’s not what I was referring to, is she doing okay?” Donna asked,

  “We’re not sure, she was feeling ill this morning, then Bruce showed up out of nowhere and took her somewhere unknown” Barbara answered, then her brow furrowed and her nose scrunched up, “Wait, what were you talking about?” Donna’s smile returned, more smug than previously,

  “You and Dick, you 2 were loud as hell this morning” Barbara turned bright red, “Well, technically you were loud as hell, but I would wager he had something to do with that” Donna was clearly enjoying Barbara’s embarrassment,

  “Please tell me you’re not serious?” Barbara said, into her hands,

  “Gotham’s police commissioner actually called, he says quiet down” Barbara groaned,

  “You don’t think the others heard, do you?” she asked,

  “If they’re the deepest sleepers in the world, maybe not, but don’t worry, we might be able to convince them you 2 were playing a really exciting game of parcheesi” Barbara starred down into her coffee cup, trying to avoid looking at Donna at all costs, once she had finished laughing Donna waved the whole thing off,

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  “Come on, it’s not the end of the world, they’re teenagers, if they don’t already know about sex then they were gonna find out at some point, at least it sounded like it was good” they sat a few moments, Donna took a couple more sips of coffee, while Barbara just stared at hers, Donna filled the silence with random popping noises from her mouth.

  “So, do you guys want me to do something around here?” she asked, Barbara looked up,

  “What do you mean?” she asked, Donna shrugged,

  “I don’t know, I’ve just been kind of sitting around for the last 2 days, eating your food, sleeping in your bed” she said,

  “You helped save the world, I think that’s probably enough for 1 week, you don’t have to do anything, we’re happy to have you” Barbara answered

  “Come on, there had to be something you guys need help with”Donna leaned on the counter again, Barbara bit her lip and glanced away,

  “There is something, but you don’t have to do it, okay?” she asked,

  “Just tell me, I asked” Donna said,

  “We’re a little tight today, with Kara and Artemis out, and Kori’s going though a lot, and I don’t think she's ready to come back, Carla wants to talk with me and Dick, Dick needs to talk with Rachel, and then Wally and Dick are taking evening patrols, so we don’t really have anybody for morning patrol, except Garfield, and I don’t want to send him out by himself, do you mind bringing him out and stopping looters, there have been quite a few in the last couple days, and our presence deters them” Barbara asked,

  “Yeah, for sure, the kid seemed pretty solid so we shouldn’t have too much trouble” Donna agreed,

  “Have Garfield change your bandages before you go out” Barbara said, Donna rolled her eyes,

  “I’ll also brush my teeth and make my bed,” she joked.

  Over 4’000 miles away, in the Arctic near the north pole, Kara stared out the window of the Batwing at the massive crystal structure, about halfway through the journey the pain had become a dull discomfort and she had fallen asleep, Bruce woke her up as he was preparing to land, she immediately noticed that she wasn’t in pain, in fact she could never remember feeling better, the shrill whistle was gone and had been replaced with the sound of a steady, distant trumpet, Kara climbed from the plane and felt the cold sun, reflecting off the snow and crystal, she was still barefoot and wearing her pajamas, yet she wasn’t freezing.

  “What is it?” she asked, in awe at the sheer size of the structure,

  “He called it the Fortress of Solitude” Bruce answered, his breath frosting in the air as he spoke,

  “Are you coming too?” Kara asked, placing her right hand flat against 1 of the large solid white doors,

  “No, he left it for you” Bruce said, Kara glanced over her shoulder at him,

  “What’s it like?” she asked,

  “I don’t know, I’ve never been inside” Bruce answered,

  “Why not?” Kara asked,

  “Kal-El never invited me in, just like I never invited him into the manor, this was his place to be closer to Krypton, and I respected that, just like he respected that the manor was where I went to be closer to my family, they were places we could leave Superman and Batman behind” Bruce sounded a little regretful as he spoke, “Are you ready for this, do you need more time?” he asked,

  “I think I’m ready” Kara placed her left hand against the other door and was engulfed in a bright white light.

  Donna found Garfield’s room and knocked on the door, she had changed into the same jean shorts she had worn when she arrived in Metropolis, but hadn’t worn anything over her red bra,

  “Barbara’s pairing us up for morning patrol” she said when Garfield opened the door,

  “Ok, I’ll get dressed” he nodded,

  “Don’t bother with the uniform, it’s way too hot to wear a jumpsuit, we’re just stopping looters and shit anyway” Donna said, Garfield looked down, he was wearing tan cargo shorts and a plain white tee, with an open, short sleeved, green hawaiian style shirt, patterned with palm leaves,

  “Okay” he shrugged, Donna raised her bandaged hands,

  “Help me rewrap these?” she asked.