A Super Romance

"Fine, fine, I'll leave you alone if that's what you want!" I called to her jokingly.

"Shush you," she called back. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder, you know."

"For some reason I want to find whoever said that and hit them repeatedly." She chuckled as the shower turned on.

I made to get the morning in order. I started a pot of coffee, made toast, and grabbed some fruit from the fridge, and made my way to the television and turned on the news. The local investigative reporter was interviewing the superheroes about the damage caused by the alien attack, and was questioning some of the Justice Society members. Apparently some of the alien powers were causing continual damage than needed to be temporarily quarantined. Mr. Terrific was giving details on the recovery effort as the coffee was finishing up.

Karen came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her, another towel drying her hair. I took my eyes from the television to see her stunned expression as she watched the blonde woman in the revealing white outfit wave to the camera and fly off, red cape billowing behind her. She stared at the TV in horror, then moved lightning fast to the remote on the coffee table to turn it off.

"It's not...I mean, I'm not..." she stammered, "it looks, she looks..." She could barely form real words as she got increasingly more embarrassed.

"Karen, it's okay," I said. "I already knew."

"What?" Her expression changed quite quickly from embarrassed to infuriated.

"I've known you were Power Girl since that day on the roof," I explained with some hesitancy. "I sorta put it all together. Besides, you don't really hide yourself all that well, what with no mask or anything."

"You knew and you never said anything?" Her fists clenched.

"No! I didn't think it was what you wanted!"

"I don't want you lying to me, that's for damn sure!"

"Well I could say the same!" I yelled back, instantly regretting it.

She sighed as she put her head in her hands, and sat on the couch. "No one else recognizes me on the street. I always figured the outfit was distraction enough."

"Well it sure has its allure, I can say that much," I said with a smirk, hoping to erase my previous tone.

"Whatever," she said dismissively. "I still can't believe you didn't even ask."

I remained quiet for a time, thinking of what to say.

"That life is all very exciting and glamorous I suppose, but it isn't my life, and I wouldn't want you to feel the need to make me a part of that," I said, making sure I looked her in those beautiful blue eyes. "I met Karen Starr, I asked out Karen Starr, I went on dates with Karen Starr. You weren't Power Girl any of those times. Just because I pieced things together that day on the roof doesn't change anything. I still just wanted to be with Karen. With you. You're the one I fell in love with," I said, the last word trailing as I'd realized what I admitted and looked up. Her expression became startled to say the very least.

"L-l-l-love?" she stumbled, looking embarrassed, and sat down.

I was stunned at her reaction, but continued nonetheless. "Yeah. I think I was in love with you before I ever even talked to you, maybe. I saw you in that coffee shop one day well before I ever talked to you. I went there every day after, just hoping to see you again, and since you came in about once a week, I kept going." "That's just ridiculous, you didn't even know me!" she said, her eyes beginning to water.

I knelt in front of her, and wiped away a tear with my thumb. "Does it even matter? Ever since I got to know you it's been better than I could have imagined! Here you are, all knockout gorgeous and I come to find there's this amazing woman who is driven and compassionate and funny and just, just...so fantastic that I run out of words to describe how fantastic she is!"

"Here I go again," she sobbed and tried to smile at me, wiping away her own tears and taking a sharp breath in, composing herself. "I can't just turn off Power Girl though, she's who I am too. I have responsibilities!" She looked at me, then away, growing distant. "I never dated anyone because it doesn't seem fair to them, for one because they'd constantly be in danger if it became common knowledge, and two because there never seems to be enough time!"

I shook my head. "I'd never ask for you to not be Power Girl. I know that's who you are, too. Hell, I've watched you on the news more than once saving the day. I'd never want you to stop that unless that's what you wanted." She couldn't bring herself to look at me anymore, glancing sideways. "And I don't need to be known as Power Girl's boyfriend, but I would like to be Karen's. And time? It's been four months, we've been going out every week for four months. You made time. Do you honestly think you can't keep that up?"

She put her face in her hands. I pressed on. "Was keeping it to once a week a way to try to make me distant? Make me give up?"

"It'd be so much easier!" she cried. "I don't know if I can juggle my whole life and then add you into the craziness! What if I don't come back one day? What if I'm abducted and taken to a different dimension for a day but, like, here time moves faster and it's like, twenty years! What if some super villain finds out my identity and come and blasts my house and you're here and I can't protect you..."

"Hey, hey," I interjected. "You could go on what if's all day long, but it won't change how we feel. I know you're worth the risk," I added with a serious tone. I then turned it lighthearted. "Besides, you're Power Girl, you'll always come back, and you'll always protect me," I smiled.

"No," she said with tears flowing from determined sky blue eyes as she looked to me. "This was a mistake."

"What? No!" I said, shocked. My heart was racing faster by the second.

"You've been nothing but great, but this isn't something I can have happen," she explained. "It's not fair to either of us. You have no idea what I go through every day and the risks I have to take."

"But..."

"No, Thad," she said, a force coming to her voice, but the tears still falling. "Really, no. I thought I could have a play at some kind of a normal double life, but it just won't ever happen. It's not fair to us. It's just not fair."

"Karen, don't do this-"

"I think it'd be best for you to go now," she said.

"Karen please-"

"You can go or I can make you go, you know that!" she yelled at me, pointing her finger to the door.

I got up, tears now in my eyes as well, and slowly walked away. I turned at the door and looked back at her. She didn't look angry, she just looked sad as she cried on the couch. "Please just go," she said through quiet sobs.

---------

Comparing how I felt after this to what I felt after our first date and subsequent blow off would be a terribly hard thing to do. On one hand, I could recall my depression of having the faintest glimpse of something I wanted to desperately to slip through my grasp. On the other, I couldn't compare the time we'd spent, the days together, the friendship, the affection, the companionship, the trust-

Trust. I know why I held back in telling her I thought I knew, or even asking her flat out if she indeed was Power Girl. I feared that exactly what happened would have happened. I feared she might realize that if I become aware of her alter ego she'd have to drop her last barrier. It was a mighty big barrier. She was one of the most powerful beings on Earth, this or the next. I didn't know then how that might have affected our relationship mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or physically. I tried to think and consider what it meant, but I suppose I took on the same glamour she did, and I pretended that we were just two normal people getting to know one another better. So in many ways, I violated her trust simply based on good intentions. Had I never revealed that I knew, we might never have had that come between us, but I also knew that it'd never stay secret forever.

Perhaps that was her intent, to try and have some kind of adult relationship without all the strings. In fact, it made perfect sense for her to shrug off the burdens of the safety of the world and have some time to herself as a regular woman. I was glad that I was a part of that I suppose, and hoped she'd remember that we had some good times. Some very good times.

When I wasn't thinking about Karen, I was having dreamless sleep. Nights went by too quickly, because when morning came I was consumed by thoughts of her. I tried to concoct ways to bump into her again, knowing for certain she'd not come back to the coffee shop, or the theater, or any of the places we went out. They were fruitless efforts, but they needed to be made nonetheless.

Work kept me busy again, but certainly not happy. I told Max that she and I simply broke up, he needn't know the precious detail that split us apart. He was still a caring friend and he tried to get me to be more active but I wasn't having any of it. I came to work, did my job, and went home, staring at the television or internet. I'd get curious and worried checking the news for information about her, or the JSA, or JLA, or even any superhero related news just to find out what she'd been up to. I felt terrible doing it, because I figured she'd wanted me to lose her number, to forget we happened, to evacuate any remembrance of her. As if I could just erase my brain.

Sure enough, there she was in the thick of it all on the news. She never spoke or did interviews, and barely even smiled it seemed. I kept watching and searching for scraps of news so that I wouldn't forget. Maybe that's the wrong sentiment. My constant search for news of her just fulfilled a sick need. Other people burn mementos of their exes to rid them of their memories, but I kept feeding my thoughts more of this visual drug. I needed to see her. I needed to tell her how sorry I was, and how I would do anything to make things right. That would require something drastic. So I decided to go find trouble.

---------

The day had started out like any other, at my boring job doing boring things and mulling over my inevitable solitude. Then the day changed, and I noticed the biggest opportunity right in front of me. I had watched from a rooftop as people were being snatched and brought below the earth's surface. Zydians were abducting innocents. So, instead of staying on my perfectly good roof top, I went down to the street level and got myself abducted.

In hindsight, this wasn't the best idea. They weren't the most hospitable hosts, what with their awful stench and generally surly and warlike attitudes. I was grabbed, placed into some kind of stone fabricated restraints, and taken to an underground cavern deep below the surface. The Zydians must be expert burrowers to create this kind of holding space. My view of it is limited, as I'm hauled off into a detention chamber that knocks me out cold.

The next thing I know, the ground is rumbling all around, and I'm thrown from my prison. A quick glance around me shows Mr. Terrific at some kind of panel, and other people being freed just like I am. He leads us to some kind of plane that resembles more of a spaceship. People are terrified, running with their hands covering their heads as debris from the caverns is falling around us. Suddenly there's an echoing crash of rock as two figures burst through the cavern wall.

There she is. I'm stuck, unmoving, as the crowd of newly freed innocents rush by me to get on Mr. Terrific's ship. But I look on to the battle above, Power Girl locked in combat with a very large Zydian warrior. They're exchanging hit for hit, the Zydian trying to use its larger size to win an advantage, but it doesn't account for her ability to fly. She retreats quickly and zips behind him to kick him in the head, which disorients him.

I'm quickly aware that I'm to board this T-ship, but my entire plan would be for naught if I was just saved like any other ordinary citizen. So as the last of the former prisoners were boarding, I snuck away to watch the rest of Karen's fight with this super-Zydian. It was hurling rocks at her which she dodged easily. She was ensuring the fight wasn't being taken toward the rescue ship, so I ducked away even further to get closer to her and this fight's grand finale.

When she knew the ship was clear of the cavern, she smirked at the Zydian and said "It's just you and me now, skunky, so now I can really cut loose." Good gracious, I think she is even hotter when she's determined.

Power Girl flew in and speared the Zydian into one of the stalactites that hung low from the ceiling. The rumbling grew more noticeable in the cavern, which I'm sure she couldn't tell since she was flying. She followed it up with her heat vision and seared back up into a wall. That's when I made my move.

"YEAH!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "Kick his ass, PG!" She turned to me immediately.

"Thad?" She was utterly confused. "What the hell are you doing here?"

I pointed toward the Zydian warrior with an anticipatory expression and said, "You might want to deal with him first."

She gave me a scathing look and turned her head as her opponent was leaping at her, ready to strike with arms overhead. Karen took a big breath, and exhaled violently, shooting the Zydian warrior away into the ceiling, icicles coating his entire front side. He fell to the ground, ice shattering, and unmoving.

After checking to ensure it wasn't getting back up, she landed right in front of me. "Are you okay? You look okay. You okay?" She looked me over and saw my wide smile. "Seriously, what the hell!"

"I got captured, they brought me down here, and now I'm just really glad to see you!" I must have not let the smile creep off my face, she was still eyeing me suspiciously.

"Something about this just isn't..." she trailed off as the ground thundered around us.

"This place is going to crumble any second now!" I exclaimed as she instinctively scooped me up and we started to dart off through the air. The sensation was exhilarating, the speed was unbelieveable! We were zig zagging our way through cavern after cavern, an endless network the Zydians had constructed down here, with rubble falling all around us.

"Hang on tight," she said as we were suddenly going straight upward. Her eyes looked extremely intense as she used her heat vision to cut a hole for us to fly through to the surface, with blue skies overhead.

We exited in what must have been Brooklyn, from this particular view of Manhattan. We found a small rooftop to set down on. She immediately walked away and put a finger to her ear.

"Is everyone out?" She asked. "Everything was coming down as I escaped, with one final bystander. Yes. Yes. I'll be along, but I need to run an errand first." She turned and glared at me.

"Hi Karen," was all I could muster, smile unabashedly present.

She winced at the use of her name. "Don't...don't "hi" me," she walked back over to me. "At least not while the cape is on."

"All I've wanted to do is talk to you. It's been weeks since I've seen you and I feel like there's still more to say."

"What do you want from me, Thad?" she asked pointedly. "This is exactly why I broke things off! My heart froze when I saw you down there. What if I wasn't there to save you?"

I spoke over her as she finished. "I did it on purpose!" I yelled. She stopped abruptly, wide eyed.

"What? What do you mean you did it?"

"I saw the aliens snatching people, so I went and got snatched."

Karen still had her mouth agape, unable to speak.

"I knew there was one super team in town which would assuredly save New York from this threat, and you're a part of that team," I said.

"That has got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" She turned away, livid. "Do you know how dumb that is? It's....SO dumb!

"If that's what it took to get here," I called back, "I was willing to risk it! You pushed me away so quickly, with barely any discussion!"

"YES!" She shouted back. "I didn't want you hurt!"

"I'm not hurt! I was rescued! By you!"

She took a moment, and looked back at me, clearly angry. "Goodbye, Thad."

"Stop!" I shouted as I ran to her, and embraced her in a fashion to restrain her.

She chuckled. "Are you really trying to hold me back from leaving?" She asked.

"...yes?" I replied as I began to chuckle myself. I was just happy to have changed the mood.

She turned around to face me, my arms still about her waist. "Do you need a lift back home?"

"I'm not letting you go until we talk about this some more."

"You're testing my patience, Thad," she said matter-of-factly.

"I know, but I care about you too much, I care about us too much to let this just slip away." Her eyes softened, and she let out a sigh as she rested her forehead against mine.

"Listen, we can talk, but at least let me change. It doesn't feel right talking about stuff like this with this get-up on. I'll fly you home and I'll be back tonight. I need to check in and then grab some normal clothes."

"That sounds wonderful," I said, smiling.

---------

I was home all of twenty minutes when I heard a knocking on my sliding glass door. I barely had time to make it out of the shower with nothing but a shirt and boxers on as Karen stood on my balcony, a sweater with its hood drawn up concealing her beautiful blonde bob.

"That was quick," I said.

"Yeah, it's a thing," she replied.

As she came in, all I wanted to do was to have some kind of superpower that enabled me to show her how much I care about her, how much I want to make this work. She stood there gazing around my apartment, almost expectantly.

"I'm glad you came," I said hesitantly. I was unsure of how to express myself, especially with little to no time to prepare. "Why don't we sit?"

"No, I'm okay," she said. "Listen, Thad. I'll start. I know things fell off really badly last time, but that's only because I didn't want to drag out anything that would end up just as badly or worse. I really do care about you, but I can't deal with someone I care about being in danger, particularly because of who I am and what I do."

"I understand that Karen," I said as I stepped closer to her, "but don't you already have people in your life that you care about?"

"Yes," she sighed, "but most of them are supers anyhow and can take care of themselves."

"Ouch."

"Well c'mon, it's not like just anyone is going toe to toe with a Zydian Apex Warrior."

"And all of these friends and family are just as strong and durable as you?" I asked.

"No family," she said, with downcast eyes, "just friends. And no, very few people are like me."

"Yet you let them in, and you care about them, and they care about you."

"It's different," she said, looking back up at me.

"How?"

She exhaled with a moan, and lazily plopped onto the couch. "It's different because it's you."

I eased into the couch, right next to her. "What does that mean?"

She just sat for a moment, not meeting my gaze, and spoke with her eyes closed. "You've seen more of Karen than probably anyone has. It's like you're seeing a fake version of me. I wear the costume so much that I often forget who Karen even is. I run a company, but I have many employees who do the real work. Lately all my time has been spent doing cape stuff. Sometimes I think I forget what it's like to be normal, then I think, "what exactly is my normal, anyway?" Do you realize you're the first regular guy I've ever dated? I don't even know how I'm supposed to act around you when I'm out of costume. I feel like I'm faking it all the time."

I was stunned. I thought I had her thought process pinned down. "I've never felt like you came off as fake, whatsoever."

"Trust me, I was really trying."

"Trying to do what, exactly?"

She lolled her head backward, covering her face with her hands. "I don't know, be normal!"