Totally Not A Date

[Supergirl]

"Don't measure up!?" Kara repeated, as if it was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard. "Wally, you know what? Maybe you're right. Maybe you're as super smart as you claim. But by all the gods of Krypton, you're also an idiot!" Kara found herself practically snapping at him. "Look around you! You're in the Fortress of Solitude! Do you have any idea how few people have ever set foot in here!? In the entire universe? Probably less than ten. And I didn't bring the jocks from school, or the Flash, or Batman, or that new Green Lantern guy, even though I've got like, the biggest crush ever on him, which, by the way, you are not to tell anybody ever. I bought you, you idiot!"

"It's me! I don't measure up! I can't teach you what you want to know! And it's great you're happy to go away and work at it, read it, that you study all that for all the important people you meet, but in this case? Where exactly do you intend to learn the basics from? They're not recorded here. The Fortress was to teach Kal his people and his culture, not tiny details. And I know you might get fed up with hearing me mention it, but Krypton is gone. You can't pop down to the local library there and rent out a book on Kryptonian technology! There's exactly one person left in the entire universe who knows anything about it, and it's me, and I don't know enough to teach you what you want to know!" She found herself ranting, still crying, still furiously upset. Every time Wally made a comment about wanting to learn it was another reminder to Kara that there was nobody to teach him, and another reminder that she was a failure as Krypton's last survivor.

"I don't see you as only human, Wally. I don't see any human as 'only' human! I've spent a year here growing up under human parents, and they're the nicest people I've ever known. There's nothing small about being human. But we're just from different cultures. There are some things I can't explain to you. I almost got laughed out class the other day because I didn't know who the Vy King was. I still don't!" She said as an example, unaware of course that 'viking' was not a person, but a race.

She sighed sadly.
"I was trying to tell you I could show you some of the robots around here. Robotics was my best subject in school, and I thought it was fairly universal, it was something I could teach, but maybe this whole thing was a mistake. I should take you home..."

[Kid Flash]

"You could've just said that. 'It's so cute when humans try to understand our technology' sorta sends out a different message, y'know?"

Wally found himself staring down at his boots, a dizzying mix of emotions swarming through his head. There was that whole put in his place thing, sure, but he wasn't a mind-reader. He only had what Kara had said to go on; if she'd said I don't understand it well enough right from the get go, he could totally have offered to like... work it out together, or something sweet like that. Not that it seemed like it would have made much of a difference: you needed to be an older, green-glowing man who could fly to secure Kara's affection, but whatever. The whole Krypton being gone thing felt like an unnecessary sucker punch, though. She'd just been bragging about how Kryptonian crystals could hold a bajillion petabytes of data and still have room to spare - how was he supposed to know that it only encompassed cultural data, and hadn't been programmed to educate her cousin in replicating the technology if he found out needing to? Was she expecting him to have read her mind?

The lack of science data seemed like a pretty dumb decision, truth be told: all that memory storage dedicated to super-realistic nostalgic holograms of cities that Superman wouldn't ever have had any memory of, and not a scrap of basic scientific principles; the kind of thing that humans had been slapping to the side of their space probes for decades. Nix the smells in those projections, and suddenly you had enough room to record a cure for cancer, or the secret to unlimited clean energy. According to the interviews with the Daily Planet, Superman had been sent to earth as a beacon of hope, a shining example; but the aid he was equipped to provide was apparently limited to what he could do alone.

Unless, of course, those holograms weren't intended for him. Superman wasn't the one who would benefit from such stunning simulations of home: the cousin sent to protect him was. Wally wondered if Kara had ever thought of it that way: that her family back home placed more value on a tiny glimmer of comfort for her than they did on saving the human race from disease or ecological disaster. They'd already proven that they valued her above any other members of her own race; but Kara clearly didn't seem to think of it that way.

"I woke up nervous this morning, because I was meeting up with Linda Danvers for lunch. She's smart, and cute, and fun, and awesome; and I really really wanted her to be friends with me. Then I find out that you're some superpowered badass from outer space, and you bring me here to show me all this stuff... it's intimidating, y'know? I don't have an alien crystal fortress to show you. I run fast, and I learn fast, and that's about it. I'm... I'm not even cool enough for someone like Linda Danvers to hang out with, let alone cool enough to be friends with Kara Zor-El. I guess I figured that... if you realised I was smart enough to understand that kind of stuff, then maybe it'd take a little longer for us to run out of things to talk about, and maybe that'd mean you wouldn't want to stop hanging out with me so soon."

[Supergirl]

Kara looked down at the ground sheepishly when he quoted her own words back at her. She'd have to remember Wally could do that. Kara didn't usually remember what she had said, let alone remember and quote what other people would say. It was worse because she'd only been trying to be cute and funny, and instead she'd offended him. She didn't think there was much else she could say on that though, so she let it go, and listened to his heart felt speech on why he'd wanted to hang out with her.

"Wally...." Kara said softly, wanting to reach out for him, but not sure if she should, holding back. "I'm still Linda. I'm.. I'm not like my cousin. I don't really have a secret identity. Linda is me. Just... you know, if I sign up as 'Kara Zor-El' it'd make people a bit suspicious." She explained. "I didn't invite you back here because I'm Supergirl and you're Kid Flash. I invited you back because I'm Kara and you're Wally West and I wanted to show you where I came from. You're here because you're my friend." She told him earnestly. "All I know is I wanted to do was to try and show you who I was..." She explained, before glancing down at her boots, apparently nervous and a little upset. "And I wanted to impress you. I thought you were so cool. I mean look at you! You're one of the fastest people alive! And you're not like me. I didn't earn this. My powers. I just got dumped here and then I have them. You earned yours. How could I compare to that?" She asked.

"And how are we ever going to run out of things to talk about, Wally?" Kara asked. "You're my only friend, Wally, and you have an entire planet to show me! I'm not that smart, I'm nothing special, but if you're willing to be my friend... then there's an entire planet out there I don't know anything about. Even as fast as you are, I doubt we're going to run out of things to talk about."

[Kid Flash]

You thought I was cool?

Of all the things that Kara had just said, that one snagged in Wally's mind, setting fire to the insides of his cheeks, and trying to force a hard to resist grin onto his features. Of all the ways that someone as pretty as Kara could describe him, cool wasn't number one on the list of things he secretly hoped to hear, but it was definitely on the list, and pretty close to the top too. The slump that had crept into his posture reduced; not completely, but enough to stop it being noticeable. His fidgeting grew a little more intense, foot scuffing a little against the ground. Not just cool. So cool.

Wally's myriad insecurities tugged at the back of his mind, but he smacked at them to keep them quiet. He didn't want to hear the way his head found some way to diminish it, didn't want to know how this didn't prove anything, and how she still only thinks of you as a friend. So what if she did? She was a super-advanced alien space babe, and she wanted to be friends with dumb dorky Wallace West, because he was so cool, because he earned his powers; because she thought he was someone worth being friends with.

"You're wrong if you think you're not special," he blurted out, eyes suddenly growing wide as he realised what he'd said. His brain flailed around desperately for something he could say to somehow make it better. "I mean... you're pretty super."

Oh god, Wally. This is why we decided you weren't allowed to talk any more.

[Supergirl]

"Yeah, but so's any Kryptonian." Kara answered with a shrug. "You could take General Zod and dump him on this planet and he'd be super. At least powers wise. And trust me, there was nothing super about that guy." She added for his benefit, since of course she assumed naturally nobody on Earth would ever have heard of 'General Zod'. "My point is, Wally, everything that made me special, it's biological. It's because I was born on a different planet and now I live here. But you? You made yourself what you are today. If it wasn't for the weird effect of your sun, I'd just be another person. But you? You made yourself super." She explained with a gentle smile, trying to get him to see what she did, and understand why she didn't think much of herself.

"This whole.... Fortress thing. I didn't just bring you here to show off though. I mean, there was part of it, you were faster, you made yourself that way, and I didn't really feel like I measured up, so I wanted to show you something amazing... but it's more than that Wally. I can't talk about who I am. I can't talk about my home. Not to anybody. And I thought... maybe if I showed you part of it, it'd help you understand who I was, and let me talk a little about how I felt about losing it all."

She smiled sheepishly.
"I'm not sure it was a good idea..."

[Kid Flash]

"I don't..."

Wally's face conflicted into a mix of embarrassment, frustration, and frown. She wasn't getting it. He wasn't explaining it right.

"I don't mean your powers. They're not... well okay, they are pretty special, but..."

He felt a sinking, twisting feeling in his stomach. It was that guilty feeling he got whenever he complimented anyone, that questioning feeling of whether or not he had some kind of ulterior motive. He was saying it because he thought it was true, and because he thought it was something that the other person needed and deserved to hear... but was that the only reason? Did he want to compliment Kara this way purely for her sake, or was part of him hoping that she might react a particular way if she heard him say it? Was being honest and open the right thing to do, or should he just think the good things about her to himself, and not risk making them awkward by saying them out loud?

"I meant that Linda Danvers is pretty super."

And super pretty. He managed to stop himself from adding that out loud.

"All of this -" He waved his hand around at the Fortress. "- is awesome. You being Supergirl is awesome. But it's not the powers, it's not being bulletproof, it's not the cute skirt or the cape that makes you super. It's the fact that we were just abducted, and you busted out and came to try and rescue me. It's the fact that instead of making friends with the popular girls, you're hanging out with some scrawny dweeb. It's the fact despite being as pretty as you are... you're a nice person. Smart. Caring. Fun to hang out with. Interesting to talk to. It's the fact that for all the things you could do with your powers, you put on that S, and you go save people."

He shuffled a little, eyes flitting back to his feet.

"You don't need a Fortress of Solitude to impress me, Kara. I already was, before I even knew all the extra stuff about you."

[Supergirl]

"Are you sure it's not just because of my cute skirt?" Kara was flattered, it was obvious, and she was smiling a genuine soft smile, but at the same time, she couldn't resist a little playfulness. "I mean, it is pretty cute, and you can't underestimate the special skill that is flying down to confront your enemies in a skirt. It takes a special skill, otherwise every criminal knows what colour panties Supergirl wears." She teased, glad that things were settling now that Wally seemed less offended, and glad to be able to have some fun with her friend again.

She smiled softly again, and looked at Wally with a genuine, heartfelt look.
"That's why I brought you here. I wanted you to see who I was. I know I was showing off a bit, but it tells you who I really am as well. I'm not Linda Danvers. I don't even know who Linda Danvers is. Kal... uh, that's, Superman..." She wasn't sure if anybody knew his real name, or his hidden identity, but she wasn't going to risk it. "...he always says I should invent myself a proper secret identity, but I never.. I didn't want to hide who I am. I wanted to get to be normal without having to put up a shield, or a fake identity, or goofy glasses... So I just made up the name and tried to be myself. I don't know if it's working though. The more I do as Supergirl, the more I get photographed. The more dangerous it is to just go around looking the same in school." She surprised herself suddenly blurting it out, but it seemed a good time to talk about it. It was growing to be a concern.

"Sorry, uh, that conversation got away from me. Thank you, Wally, for what you said. It's very kind." She added, with another smile, even if she wasn't entirely sure she believed it all herself. She liked Wally and he was her friend, but Kara had wanted to be fit in with the popular girls, she had wanted to be the popular, loved girl of the school. Sometimes she worried she was the exact person Wally was proud of her for not being. But then she remembered that while she dreamed of that stuff, her decisions showed where her heart was. And her heart wasn't in being shallow and popular. It was in valuing her friends.

[Kid Flash]

Wally knew from experience - long story - that cheerleaders had ways to make sure that no one saw the colour of their underwear. They were called spanx, or spankies, or something like that: Wally was pretty sure there was a difference between the two, but he wasn't really sure what it was. He almost pointed that out to Kara. Almost. All things considered though, forcing the conversation to linger on the topic of Kara's underwear didn't seem like a smart idea. Maybe Kara wouldn't mind in the slightest, but Wally would. He'd probably burst a blood vessel in his face from blushing that hard.

As for the rest of it, though? "Maybe I can help with that," Wally offered quietly.

Wally's mind frowned at him. Where are you going with this, Wallace? A certain amount of tentative caution crept into his voice, not sure if his suggestion was the sort of thing he was even supposed to suggest; whether it was the kind of thing that would seem like a criticism, seem as if he was saying she wouldn't be able to do it on her own.

"Linda Danvers is just you if you were an Earth girl, right? But all you've got to go off is a year spent on a farm in Kansas, which..." He trailed off, careful not to say anything that might criticise the humans who'd taken her in. "Smallville sounds like a pretty sheltered place, and a year of hanging out there; it's not really gonna help you learn what your favourite Earth foods are, or your favourite songs, favourite movies, all the little things that make a person a person. So maybe -"

He shuffled a little, fidgeting as he tried to delicately word his suggestion.

"Maybe I help with that. Maybe I help you learn what Linda's favourite things are, and along the way I get to find out what Kara's favourites from Krypton are. Wouldn't be hiding who you are, wouldn't be pretending to be someone you'd not: you'd just be discovering who Earth you is."

[Supergirl]

"What? The skirt thing? 'cause I really don't wanna-" Kara was saying when Wally offered to help, before realising half way through speaking that actually he was referring to helping her with her alter-ego, and not so much helping her with seeing up her skirt while she flew. "Ohhhh, wait, nevermind, I get it." She smiled, waving off her own stupidity for a moment. She listened to his suggestion though, and let herself smile again, because she could see he was trying to help. And it wasn't that bad of a suggestion really. Only...

"Thanks, Wally. I'd really like that." She told him. "But I still don't know if it'd help. My secret identity is meant to hide who I am. And if I go around being too samey to the real me, people are going to know I'm Supergirl. I mean, I'm already getting photographed a lot. I need to work on a disguise. More than just glasses and a hunch like Kal. Something... else..." She said, before slapping her hand over her mouth and realising she was talking about Kal's secret identity. "Uh, forget I said that! Any hints towards his secret identity, forget I say!"

[Kid Flash]

Wally was smart, but come on Kara; how many people in the world do you think there are with poor eyesight and bad posture? Hell, in Metropolis alone there must have been hundreds; thousands maybe. And okay, so that list became a little narrower once you factored in a possible connection to Smallville, Kansas; maybe if Wally could get his hands on some census data, cross-reference between residents of Smallville prior to Superman's first appearance, versus residents of Metropolis after his first appearance -

He brought his mind to a screeching halt, remembering the time when Barry had told him off for trying to speculate on the identity of the Green Arrow. Wally had all these theories, about the colour of his suit, about the archery skills, about who in Star City it could possibly be - Barry had shot it all down with one indisputably valid point. If he wants you to know, he'll tell you. That was the crux of it, after all. With so many detectives, so many scientists, so many intelligent and discerning individuals, the concept of a secret identity was a fallacy. You could hide who you were from the authorities perhaps, if you were careful enough, but the people you were close to, the ones you worked with? A domino mask wasn't going to fool anyone if you ever met them in real life; but the unspoken code of superheroism was that you didn't try to figure it out. it was a respect thing. A boundaries thing.

Wally focused on the rest of what Kara had said instead. "How's that any different from any other superhero, though? You think that Kid Flash is different from Wally West? Sure, I dress different. Sure, I don't use my speed as part of my daily life... but I'm still me. Kid Flash and Wally West still like all the same food, all the same movies, all the same music. I bet it's the same with your cousin, too. Superman is who he is because of the person that his Earth parents raised him to be. And okay so sure, maybe his secret identity is hiding a little bit, but that doesn't change who he is underneath. Maybe he lies about his favourites every once in a while, maybe he even has a whole different set of favourites that he pretends his alter ego likes... but he still knows what they are. And I bet that his musical preferences, his favourite movies, the chilli dog vendor on the corner of the street near where he works - I bet all of that stuff is part of what makes him feel like a proper person. I bet that's what makes him feel like he's part of this world, and why it feels like a world worth saving."

He shrugged, as if he were trying to brush off everything he had just said as casual and unimportant. "And if you think glasses, body language, and a bit of a switch in hair style can't fool people into believing you're a completely different person, clearly you've never seen a movie starting Gary Oldman."

[Supergirl]

"Yeah, but Kid Flash wears a mask and moves so fast he's just a blur to most people. Kal kinda sets a standard for me. I have to be unmasked, public, happy to be photographed..." Kara explained, trying to express her worry. "It's a little different when the girl in your class looks exactly like the girl in costume on all the newspapers, right?" She mentioned. Maybe she should go back to the old wig and glasses trick. At least that helped a little. That and the fact nobody expected Supergirl to be sitting in shcool with you.

"Uh, actually, I haven't." She answered when he mentioned some Gary Oldman guy. "Grew up on another planet, remember?" She told him with a smile. "Why do I have a feeling this whole 'teaching me stuff I like' relationship is going to be you showing me a lot of movies?" She teased.