Stronger Together chapter 74 (Patreon)

Meeting the spirit shook us all up, but despite searching for a good  hour we couldn't find a single trace of her again. We figured the  Skinwalker would have the same problem even if it came back so we  reluctantly decided to head into town to get our room and board settled.  Luckily the Way had been chosen specifically because it was so close to  town, so our trip to Aspen, Colorado didn't take long at all. Well,  relative to heading somewhere else, because we still had to track  through miles of fucking snow. Apparently Aspen was a ski town.

Since  it was still the end of fucking February we were all freezing. It  didn't escape anyone's notice that the clearing with all the Kryptonian  plants was green and lush and not at all snowy, but Kara quickly  explained that one. "Krypton was an ice planet mostly, so all the plant  life generated their own warmth to keep the now and ice at bay. Jungles  on Krypton were some of the warmest parts of the planet, and many people  had country homes in the deeper parts of them. I had to do report on  the temperature shifts between eco systems and how it affected weather  patterns when I was a child, it's fascinating stuff." She had a soft  smile on her face as she remembered her childhood, and I liked seeing  her like that.

So  it only took us four hours to make the grueling slog through ass deep  mountain snow and get to the town of Aspen, Colorado. We were staying at  the Tyrolean Lodge with Ebenezar and the others, and I had to admit the  place was pretty. Small and pretty homey, with white walls and redwood  trim, the rooms were small but comfortable and the outside was ringed in  a red stone wall. It looked exactly like you expected a motel in a ski  resort town to look to the point that I was pretty sure they'd conformed  to the stereotypes on purpose. Still it was a beautiful place and I  could imagine being very comfortable here while we looked around.

The  woman behind the counter was an older lady named Millie, with a  friendly smile that got a bit friendlier when she was talking to  Ebenezar. She was happy to supply us rooms and Listens-to-Wind insisted  on paying, citing that since he was Senior Council he would be  reimbursed for the expense anyway. I had to admit having the extra money  would be useful, since Cinder's thigh baring dress was going to be a  bit chilly for this weather, even with fire dust sewn into the cloth.  She apparently only had the one dust dress and no way to replenish it so  she just used the passive heat generation effects and kept the attack  stuff for emergencies.

Barb  and I were sharing a room, while Kara and Cinder got their own. Harry  had his own room too and River didn't get one at all. He also didn't get  stared at by Millie, which made me think he might be employing some  kind of presence muting magic. I knew high quality veils could do things  like that, plus River wasn't mortal so he might be able to employ  psychomancy to divert attention without the same dangers as a mortal  wizard. Whatever he was doing didn't affect us at all and we could all  see and hear him fine, though he was keeping quiet anyway so maybe  talking would disrupt the spell.

After  we all headed for our respective rooms I left Barb in ours to head over  to talk to Kara.I didn't even have to say anything, she saw my face as I  walked her up to my door and smiled. "Oh don't bother you big goof, go  talk to her. I'm a bit worried too. She tried to hide it but I could  tell all the Krypton stuff hitting her all at once plus being where the  got hurt is shaking her up. Check in on her and let me know how she's  doing when you get back." She leaned up and kissed me softly "She's  lucky to have you in her life."

I  smiled down at her and returned the kiss. "She isn't the only lucky  one. I don't know what I did to deserve a woman like you but whatever it  is I'm damn glad I managed to pull it off." Barb shot me a heartfelt  smile and turned to head into the room, though the softness of the  moment wasn't enough to stop her from wiggling her butt at me a little  before she closed the door. I grinned, thinking of both my girlfriends, I  was a lucky son of a bitch to have girls like that in my life. Luck to  have all the girls really, including Kara, and now it was time to go see  her.

I  wanted to check in on her after everything that had happened. It was  easy to forget with her force of personality and her powers that she was  the youngest of us, and in some ways the most innocent. Despite that  she'd also been through the most loss without a doubt and being here was  bound to bring up traumatic memories since this was the site of her  attack. I found the room easily enough, since I'd been there when they  gave her the key and knew the number, and knocked quietly on the door,  knowing she would hear it anyway. It was always polite to give someone  the chance to refuse when you wanted to talk to them. Knocking was good  for that.

My  knuckles barely tapped the wood before the door opened, which made me  smile to myself. Knocking on Kara's door was something of a formality.  She knew you were there before you finished walking up. As I had  expected though she looked...drawn. Not tired, I didn't even know if she  could get tired, but pale and shaken, as if she had been holding up a  strong front for the walk and let it collapse completely when she walked  through the door. Her bright blue eyes were wide and shining with fear  and guilt and without a word I stepped forward and pulled her into a  hug. I shut the door and picked her up carrying her over to sit down on  the bed.

There  wasn't an ounce of romantic subtext in the action, just raw pain, and I  hugged her tight like that for a minute or two as she just clung to me.  After a bit of time to gather her thoughts she spoke, and her voice was  rough with emotion. "I hate it here. I feel afraid, and on edge  everywhere we've stepped since arriving. Like that thing will  just leap out and attack me at any moment. My blood is soaked into this  ground, the most I've ever shed I think, and I went through so much  physical pain in this place. But now there's this spirit, and it feels  like home, and these plants are here, and maybe even Flamebird. So I  want to leave, but I want to stay."

I  sighed as I pulled her tighter against me, unworried about hurting the  girl who was unbreakable, at least physically. "Being conflicted isn't  wrong Kara. I know you're used to simple solutions and going at things  head on but some things are going to make you falter. Being Supergirl  when it matters doesn't mean it's not ok to be Kara sometimes. Kara is  allowed to be unsure or confused. You can stay, or you can go, whatever  you need. We can do this without you, or we can do it slowly, this isn't  all on you." I kept my voice even and soft, but not cajoling, making  sure she knew she had her choices here.

She  shook her head sadly "But it is on me. It was my blood that caused all  this. I showed up here and went rampaging off like an idiot with no idea  where we were or what was waiting for me and got myself hurt. And now  this monster is running around even stronger than it was and hurting  people and it wants to eat my goddess, or what might be a part of her.  And she was talking to me like I knew better than her? Like I'm supposed  to tell her what to do and keep her safe. She called me mother. I'm  sixteen for Rao's sake, I'm not ready to be a normal parent much less  try to parent a nascent deity. But what else can I do? I can't leave her  to be eaten. Even if it wouldn't potentially give some horrifying thing  godlike powers I wouldn't."

I  shrugged "Well then that's your answer. You won't let her get hurt. I  can't tell you anything about being a parent, I'm only two years older  than you, but I can paraphrase a particularly wise man from a story back  on my world. 'What you do not need in battle is fear. If you dodge, you  don't let them hit you, if you protect someone, you don't let them die.  If you attack, you kill.' Ignoring the last part which isn't your cup  of tea my point is that just like it's ok to be Kara and feel uncertain,  sometimes Supergirl is necessary too. You don't have to decide on being  a parent or a worshiper or whatever today. Just protect someone, and  don't let them die."

She  just laughed "So that's it. The big questions are future Kara's problem  and just do what needs doing?" She smirked at me "I like that. You  would have made a pretty good Kryptonian Cameron." She laid her head on  my shoulder, staring out at the room. "I think we need that, the way you  look at things sometimes. You can see the big picture while we all  ignore the forest for the trees." She looked up at me, a firm frown on  her face "I know you feel like you don't contribute sometimes. Like you  don't fit because you weren't living some crazy life before this. But  you do. You're the one that holds us together, you're the one that  steers the ship."

I  smiled softly down at the deceptively tiny blonde "Wasn't this supposed  to be me comforting you? I came in here to make you feel better, not  dump more crap on your head." She wrinkled her nose at the imagery and I  laughed "So to speak. I do appreciate the reassurance, and honestly I  won't say it doesn't help. Odin said some similar stuff I think. Though  he was all cryptic and inscrutable about it so it's kind of hard to  tell. But I love that I came in here to help you feel better and you're  looking out for me. You have the heart of a hero Kara, no matter where  you are. As long as you don't lose that, no mistakes or enemies or  disasters will be able to take you down, and we'll be right here with  you to weather them."

She  giggled at the cheesy line. "You sound like Kal now, which is sweet,  but doesn't fit you." She poked me in the chest lightly giving me the  same soft smile I'd given her "I'm not the only one with a strong heart.  Make sure yours stays how it is too. We need it the way it as and we  would all hate to lose it. I've seen people get lost in power before,  and I don't think that's you but if you ever feel like you don't know  where to go you can always come home to us. Me, Raven, Barb, Yang, hell  even Cinder now. We can show you your way back if you ever get lost."  She gave me a soft peck on the cheek and I set her down on the bed,  ruffling her hair before I left, much to her consternation. Even when I  was trying to help her, that girl always managed to save me.