Ten minutes passed as, the house became too quiet. Barbara stood near the kitchen island with her arms crossed, her phone in one hand and her eyes occasionally drifting toward the open patio door Batman had used to disappear.
M'gann waited beside the living room entryway, her expression was soft, but her eyes seemed focused. A calm on the surface, but every now and then her eyes shifted toward me like she was trying to decide how much distance to give and how much concern to show me.
I stood by the front door, arms folded, jaw tight, listening.
Outside, Gotham County was peaceful as ever, almost to peaceful. It was the kind of quiet that made every little sound stand out. The distant chirp of insects, the low hum of streetlights. A car passing somewhere down the road, or the faint creak of the house settling.
That's when I heard it. Something fast. cutting through the night sky.
When I looked out the window, I saw a blue and red streak dropped from above, slowing at the last second before touching down at my front door with controlled grace.
And without a doubt it was Supergirl who now stood on my porch, and for a second, I just stared at her.
The she was, Kara Zor-El. The Supergirl. I knew almost every different version of her from my past life. But looking at her in person now. No cartoon, comic, or actress could do her justice.
She looked young, probably around my age, with fair skin, bright blue eyes, and silky blonde hair that fell around her shoulders in soft waves. I think the suit she wore was was Kryptonian armor, or smart cloth. A advanced, often bio-engineered attire worn by the inhabitants of Krypton. It's extreme durability, self-repairing technology that can adapt its appearance.
She wore a fitted blue top that hugged her body it was a long-sleeved crop top that stopped just above her belly button. Were a slightly define four pack could be seen. The House of El crest clung on her medium supple chest. A red flowing skirt that stopped just past her knee's. A red cape billowed behind her in the night wind, and red knee high boots.
The material shifted subtly under the porch light like smart armor disguised as fabric. She had a trained, athletic build. She was compact, but I knew she was beyond powerful in a way that didn't need size to be dangerous.
She looked beyond beautiful, and somewhat soft, but she was by no means harmless. Powers or not. Kryptonians from what I understood in this universe were clones, all bred engineered to be physically fit and healthy, especially after discovering what the yellow sun could do for them.
There was something in the way she carried herself. I couldn't put my finger on it, but a small feeling started to form in my being.
The moment her boots touched the porch, she looked past Barbara and M'gann and straight at me. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
It did not seem to be hatred. Probably assessing me out of suspicion. Considering she doesn't like Viltrumites and hybrids included. I wonder what the empire did to Krypton?
"Hey M'gann, I came as quickly as I could," Kara said, stepping inside after M'gann waved her in. Her voice was clear, direct, and edged with urgency.
Her eyes started to look around the house. "So I'm looking for listening devices and cameras, right?"
M'gann nodded. "Yes. Look for anything hidden. If it's in the walls, furniture, or if it can't be seen with your supervision then it doesn't belong."
Kara's gaze shifted back to me again, scanning my face with a faint frown.
M'gann stepped forward slightly. "Kara, this is Caius, one of the original founders of the Titans."
"So this is Viltrumite, I thought he be bigger." Kara said.
I wasn't bothered by her words, because I felt the same. I'm quite tall and muscular already but I be lying if I say I didn't want to pack on some more muscle. She just didn't have to be rude about it.
M'gann's voice softened. "I promise he's a good guy, so don't be so rude."
"It's fine M'gann, I'm not offended.'
Kara just looked at me. "We'll see if he doesn't change his mind later."
I ignored the comment as best I could or at least, I tried to. Something strange was happening in my body.
The moment Kara stepped closer, my heartbeat picked up. Not fear or exactly excitement. Something more physical and immediate. Like my body had noticed something before my mind could process it.
My skin felt a little warmer, and my pulse thudded once, then again. I frowned.
What the hell is this feeling?
Then M'gann noticed Kara's face before anyone else did. "Kara?" she asked. "Are you okay?"
Kara blinked and looked away from Caius too quickly. Her body felt hot to the point her face began to flush and turn slightly red. Her heart beat picked up slightly in rhythm.
"I'm fine," she said. "I just need to scan the house." She lifted her chin slightly, and her eyes sharpened as she began using her X-ray vision.
Her gaze moved through the walls. Slowly at first, then faster, and her expression began to changed.
"Who did this guy piss someone off?" Kara muttered.
Barbara stiffened. "What do you see?"
Kara turned in place, scanning the ceiling, walls, furniture, light fixtures, vents, outlets, picture frames, smoke detectors, and corners.
"It's what I don't see. This entire house has mini cameras and listening devices installed everywhere." Her mouth tightened. " There very tiny and hidden deep. Some of them aren't even in obvious places."
Barbara's face went pale with anger. While M'gann looked at me.
I felt my expression shift from cold neutrality into something sharper. Focused. Still controlled, but barely.
"Can you remove them?" I asked.
Kara looked at me again. For half a second, her eyes lingered too long. Then she looked away. " I can. But there are going to be some holes in this beautiful house."
"That's fine, go ahead and do it."
Kara vanished in a instant. As a barely visibly red-and-blue blur moved through the house in a storm of controlled motion. Through the living room. Kitchen. Hallway. Ceiling corners. Bookshelves. Air vents. The stairs. A framed picture near the entry. The hallway light fixture. The smoke detector. Behind the thermostat, and under the kitchen island.
Tiny devices clicked and clattered onto the coffee table one after another. She finished in barely ten seconds.
I stared at the growing pile. Now that's fast.
Kara came to a stop near the coffee table and set down the last handful of devices. They were small, most no bigger than a Tic Tac. Black, gray, or off-white depending on where they had been hidden. Some looked like chips. Some like dust-sized camera nodes. Others were small listening devices wrapped in materials meant to fool cheap scanners.
I looked at Barbara. "Do you recognize the tech?"
She picked one up carefully, turning it between her fingers. Her eyes narrowed. "It looks close to what the GDA uses."
"The Global Defense Agency?" I asked.
She nodded, still studying it. "I can't be completely sure without opening them up. But the design is similar. They like stealth hardware and disposable nodes so this fits."
Kara leaned closer and scanned the devices again. "One of the chips inside has GDA markings," she said. "If that helps."
My hand clenched into a fist."It does," I said.
So it wasn't just Batman. Cecil Stedman had eyes in my house too. Maybe with Batman's permission. Or maybe without it. Either way, I now know Cecil was involved. then eventually I was going to speak with him directly. So now I have an excuse.
And if the GDA had been watching me this closely while holding Mark for "re-education," then I had another reason to start poking my nose around.
I looked back to Barbara. "Is this proof enough for you?"
Barbara stared at the pile of devices. Her expression was heavier now. A little angry too, but not at me. Probably at herself. At Bruce. At whoever had signed off on this.
"When do you want to do this?" she asked.
"In two days. We can let the right people know. I just need to let Diana and Dick know ahead of time."
She nodded slowly. "Consider it done. This is your show and I'll back you up anyway I can."
For a moment, neither of us spoke, then she looked up at me. "I'm sorry," she said. "For not trusting you."
The words came quietly, but they carried weight. Then I held her gaze.
"I'm sorry too."
Her expression cracked slightly. Then she stepped forward and hugged me. I froze for half a second, and then wrapped my arms around her. Barbara held on tight, like she had been afraid I would pull away. Her face pressed briefly against my chest, and I felt her breathe in, shaky but controlled.
"I'm sorry for abandoning you for so long," she whispered. The anger in me didn't disappear, but in this moment it loosened somewhat. Well at least against her.
"It's a good thing we have time to make up for what we lost," I said.
She pulled back, wiping quickly at one eye before the tear could fall properly. "Yeah. I like that."
Then M'gann stepped in for a hug as well. Her's hug was tighter and warmer. I was never angry at her, if anything I was sorry for not reaching out sooner. I wrapped my arms around her too, and she squeezed like she had been saving the hug for five years.
"How long were you holding back on this?" I asked softly.
"For five years," she said into my shoulder. "I missed you, Caius. We all did. Dick, Conner, Wally, and Donna. Things aren't the same without you."
I looked down at her, my throat tightening in a way I didn't want to show. "I'll find a way not to be a stranger once all this is over. And if you want me to come back to the team I will,"
M'gann pulled back enough to smile.
"Good. We have several birthdays to catch up on." Her smile grew a little sadder. "And a beach trip. And we still have to find Kori and Raven, so we can finally visit each other's home planets like we promised."
I smiled faintly. "Earth is my home. But I'd love to see the stars with all of you." For a moment, the room felt less heavy.
Then Kara cleared her throat. She stood a few feet away with her arms crossed, looking very much like someone who felt like the fourth wheel in a reunion she did not understand.
" If this all you guys needed I'm going to head out," she said.
I turned toward her and extended my hand.
"Thank you for your help Kara."
She looked at my hand, then at my face. "I don't know why you dislike Viltrumites or hybrids," I said, "but I hope we can still be good friends if we ever work together in the field."
Kara glanced past me to Barbara and M'gann. Both of them gave small encouraging nods.
Kara looked back at me. Her posture relaxed slightly. She brushed a strand of blonde hair from her face and gave me a small, cautious smile. "We'll see how it goes," she said. "But if you go bad, I'm taking you down."
I smirked. "Same to you."
As the shook hands, and the moment their palms touched, something happened. It was an immediate sharp and electric sensation shot through both of their bodies.
Caius's heartbeat kicked hard in his chest. Kara's did too. he could hear and feel it.
I felt heat rushed through my body so suddenly that my breath caught. My fingers tightened around hers without meaning to. Her eyes widened, and for the first time since she entered the house, that guarded look cracked completely.
Her cheeks flushed as mine did too. A strange pressure rolled through the room, not violent, but thick and warm. Like the air itself had changed temperature.
Then my and Kara's nose's started bleeding.
Barbara straightened immediately. "Caius?"
M'gann's eyes widened. "Kara?"
But neither one answered. The room around them blurred.
Not visually. But like everything else seemed to dim. Barbara's voice sounded farther away. M'gann's concern faded into the background. The pile of surveillance devices on the coffee table stopped mattering. The house itself stopped mattering.
All Caius could see clearly was Kara, and Her blue eyes stayed fixed on his. And neither of them let go. Their bodies slowly lifted off the floor.
They floated upward a few inches, then more, drifting closer without either one moving intentionally. The warmth grew stronger, crawling through Caius's chest and down his spine. His tactile field stirred around my skin. Something deeper stirred beneath it.
Kara's breath hitched as Caius's pulse hammered harder. Barbara and M'gann both thought they were about to kiss.
That's when a woman's voice cut through the room from the front door. "What is going on here?"
The trance like state shattered halfway, but not enough, the two's eyes where glued to each other.
While Barbara and M'gann turned to see who spoke.
It was Debbie Grayson, who stood in the doorway. She wore a business suit, neat and sharp, with a purse over one shoulder. She had a tired look on her face, but was still beautiful in a young looking mature, grounded way. Her dark hair framed her face neatly, and her eyes moved across the room fast.
She noticed the girls and then Caius. The pile of surveillance devices. Then back to Caius and Kara floating in the air, still holding hands, both flushed, both bleeding from the nose.
Debbie's expression changed instantly as she smelled something in the air. Her eyes widened.
"Oh no."
She moved fast. Like a mother who knows exactly what kind of disaster was about to oocur.
Debbie rushed into the kitchen, yanked open the refrigerator, grabbed a spray bottle from inside, and came back with the kind of determination that made everyone else freeze. Then she sprayed Caius and Kara directly in their faces.
As the cold mist hit my eyes, nose, mouth, and cheeks. Kara jerked back with a sharp gasp.
I blinked hard. "What the hell?"
The warmth snapped like a cord being cut. Kara and I dropped at the same time, both landing lightly but awkwardly. Our hands separated, as my thoughts came back in a rush, tangled and confused.
I wiped my face and looked at Debbie. "Ms. Grayson? When did you get here?"
"Just now," Debbie said sharply. Her eyes moved to Kara, and her voice turned firmer. "Young lady, you and your friends should go. Now!"
Kara was still recovering, one hand against her forehead, cheeks flushed, her body tense like she didn't fully understand what had just happened either. "Yes, I think you're right, ma'am." Kara said, voice unsteady.
Barbara looked between us, alarmed and confused. "What happened?"
M'gann touched her own forehead, her face flushed too. "I… I felt something warm. Like a wave."
Debbie pointed toward the door. "You shouldn't worry about it right now. But if I were you, all of you should take a cold shower and clear your heads."
Kara wiped blood from under her nose with the back of her hand and moved toward the door quickly. "Yeah. I think I should." She looked at M'gann. "I'll see you back at the Tower ."
Then she was gone as a blue-and-red blur shot into the night sky so fast the curtains moved in her wake.
Debbie looked at Barbara and M'gann next. "Barbara. M'gann. You need to go home."
Barbara clearly didn't like being ordered out, but something in Debbie's tone made her hesitate instead of argue. "All right," Barbara said slowly. She looked at me. "Caius, call me tomorrow. We'll make a plan."
I nodded, still foggy. "Yeah."
M'gann looked concerned, but Debbie's expression gave no room for debate. The two of them left, closing the door behind them.
And the house went quiet again, almost too quiet. I looked at Debbie, confused, embarrassed, and still uncomfortably warm.
"What's going on?" I asked. "Why did you tell them to leave?"
Debbie walked over, set the spray bottle on the coffee table beside the pile of cameras, and looked at me with the kind of serious expression only a mother could wear without making it feel like a threat.
"Caius," she said, "I need you to trust me."
"You know I do, but."
"Go upstairs. Take a cold shower and try to calm down."
"What do you calm down?" I asked. Confused out of my mind.
She paused and sighed before pointing down. I followed her gesture and froze. There was a very obvious huge bulge in my pants.
It was very obvious, very embarrassing, very impossible-to-ignore problem. I grabbed a couch pillow and held it in front of myself so fast it would have been funny if I didn't want to crawl into the floor.
Debbie sighed.
"I thought you were probably going to be a normal human with a meta-gene," she said. "Maybe mostly Amazonian. But I guess you are a Viltrumite after all."
I stared at her. "What are you talking about?"
Debbie stepped closer and gently began pushing me toward the stairs. "Caius, I believe you just awakened your Viltrumite powers."
I nearly tripped.
"Wait, what?" The surprise in my voice was obvious. "How does me having a hard-on tell you that?"
Debbie gave me a look. The kind of look that made me regret the words immediately.
"I went through this with Mark when his powers awakened," she said. " Exactly the same, maybe even worse. I'll explain everything in the morning, but right now, just take a cold shower." She then opened her purse, pulled out a small bottle, and pushed it into my hand.
"This is Extra strength melatonin. Take a few after your shower. I'll bring you chamomile tea."
I stood there, still stunned. Debbie's face had softened slightly, and for just a moment, the hard edges of the night gave way to something gentler. Something more maternal.
"Go," she said.
So I went.
The cold shower barely helped. The water ran over my head, shoulders, chest, and back in icy sheets, but my body still felt overheated. Not sick or feverish. More like something had switched on inside me and refused to shut off. I tried to focus on breathing. On the cold tile. On the sound of water hitting the drain.
But the thought of Kara wouldn't leave my mind. Her blue eyes. The heat when our hands touched. Her supple lips and chest. If the shower wasn't cold I probably would have handled this feeling in the shower.
I shut off the shower after what felt like forever and dried off quickly, keeping my eyes away from the mirror because I already knew I looked rattled and how hard I was. When I reached my room, a steaming mug of tea sat on the nightstand.
Beside it was a note from Debbie.
I picked it up.
Forgot to tell you: don't try to handle it yourself. Masturbating will only make it worse. You have to let it pass. Drink the tea and sleep. We'll talk in the morning.
My face heated all over again. "This is crazy," I muttered.
I took a few melatonin, drank the tea, and lay down in bed. Sleep came faster than I expected, but it wasn't peaceful. That night like almost every other night before, I dreamt of what happened that day.