Upon arriving back at the apartment, Lara changed out of her Supergirl outfit, and back into her normal clothes, which she found in a neatly folded pile on her bed. Apparently, they had been teleported there when she had been grabbed by Mxyzptlk, and changed into her costume.

 

Speaking of Mxyzptlk, once Lara and Clark had both changed, they gave Lois a full rundown of the afternoon’s events. Still dazed from her all-nighter, Lois had only caught the end of Myx’s attack on the news. She needed to be filled in on a few details, as there was only so much they had been able to discuss over the phone. 

 

Lara began by briefly filling Lois in on how her first morning as an official superhero had gone, as well as telling her about what she got up to on the Kent’s farm, though she left out the details of her conversation with Tim. She wouldn’t have wanted to accidentally out them as genderfluid.

 

When Lara got to the confrontation with Myx, she explained how she had played the Imp at his own game, by playing the naive, innocent role. Both her parents seemed impressed by their daughter’s quick thinking.

 

“I was wondering what all that business with the dress was about.” chuckled Clark, sounding somewhat relieved. “For a second, I thought he had you under some kind of trance. But it sounds like you had things under control!”

 

Lara laughed, and carried on with the story. She explained how she defeated Mxyzptlk, and how they’d all celebrated by going to Bibbo’s. Lara was just telling her mom about her photo for the wall of heroes, when Lois spoke up. “Oh, that reminds me! I’ve got some messages for you, sweetie.”

 

“Messages?” asked Lara, “What do you mean?”

 

“Oh, we got all sorts of phone calls and voicemails from well wishers on the special line.” Lois got up and returned moments later with what she jokingly called the spare communicator. It was a spare cell phone in a Superman case that they kept locked in the office. The number was known to most members of the superhero community for non-emergency contact. No need to tie up the JLA communication systems with personal calls.

 

Lara held the phone and looked at the screen. There were over 30 calls from the last 24 hours and at least a dozen voicemails. “Are all of these for me!” She looked up at Lois with delight.

 

“Well, some were for me and Clark, but they were all talking about you!” She pressed play on one call and put the message on speaker phone so all three of them could hear.

 

“HI LARA!!” A bunch of happy voices called out together. “We saw you on the news! You were amazing, girl!” Lara recognized the voice of Dick Grayson and knew right away who the other voices must be. 

 

“Welcome to the good fight!” Artemis called in.

 

“First day on the job and you saved the city! Way to go!” Wally shouted.

 

“You got this, Lara! You’re making us all proud!” Kor’i said with such warmth that Lara could practically hear her smiling.

 

“Hi Lara! I love your new name!” Mar’i said, her voice seeming to bubble with happy energy. 

 

“Yay Soopah Gurl!” Lara recognized Jake’s little voice getting the last word before the message cut out.

 

Lara was stunned, but smiling from ear to ear. “That’s so great! Are they all like this?”

 

In answer, Lois hit play on another message. 

 

“Lois? Oh my god! We just heard the news! Congratulations to all of you!” Lara recognized the voice of Jason Todd-Wayne-Harper, Damian’s big brother, the second Robin, and current Red Hood. She wasn’t used to hearing him sounding so cheerful. “I wasn’t watching the news yesterday! Damian sent me a text that said “Her name is Lara” and I didn’t get it until just now!”

 

“Jay! Let me say something!” Lara heard the faint voice of Jason’s step-daughter, Lian Harper. “Hi Lara! Love the new look! It’s so you! Dad’s not home, but I know he’d want to wish you luck too! We have to hang out soon! It’ll be great to have another girl in the group! See you soon Girl Scout!” 

 

Lara felt a new spark of euphoria at the name. Lian loved giving her friends nicknames, and her old nickname had been “Boy Scout”. It was so heartwarming to her that Lian had already accepted her identity enough to change her nickname!

 

She looked through the call history of the phone to see who else had left messages. “Black Canary, John Stewart, Martian Manhunter… Zatanna?” Lara was surprised to see that last name on the list. She had only met the sorceress a few times, and didn’t know her as well as some other heroes. She hesitated for a second and pressed play on Zatanna’s message. 

 

“Hey Clark! Diana just told us the news!” came the magician’s voice. “You and Lois must be so proud of Lara! I’m sure she’s gonna be a fantastic Supergirl!”

 

Lara was surprised to hear how enthusiastic Zatanna sounded. The few times she had met the magician in the past, she had been friendly, but not much more than a colleague. How come she seemed so suddenly eager for Lara? Did her coming out really mean that much to her?

 

“I was thinking about dropping in for a visit at some point. I’m sure Lara and I would have plenty to talk about, you know…?” She paused, as if she was trying to address something, without actually saying it.

 

Lara looked up, and saw that her mom and dad were exchanging a knowing look with each other. What did Zatanna mean by that? And did her parents know something she didn’t?

 

“Give me a call back at some point, and we can arrange something then. See you ‘round!” The message ended with a click.

 

Lara was about to ask her parents if they knew what Zatanna was talking about, but at that moment, the intercom buzzed loudly.

 

“Now, who could that be?” said Lois. “Don’t tell me, someone’s decided to congratulate Lara in person?”

 

“Err… Not quite.” said Clark, who was staring perplexedly at the floor. Lara quickly realised that her dad was looking in the direction of the front door of the apartment building, apparently using his x-ray vision to see who it was. “It’s Doctor October!”

 

“What?” said Lara and Lois, together. Lois stood up and rushed over to the intercom to buzz the doctor in, leaving Lara to ponder why Dr. October was making a house call.

 

Maybe the doctor had some exciting news that she needed to share right away? Could she have made a breakthrough already? Or maybe she was just coming to check up on Lara? No, she was a professional doctor! She wouldn’t simply drop in for a chat. Would she?

 

“What’s the doc doing here, dad?” Lara asked.

 

“I’m not sure.” Clark replied. “She’s always been a tricky one to figure out.” He looked at Lara. “I’m sure it’s nothing bad though.” he added, hastily, not wanting to worry the young girl.

 

They heard the sound of the elevator outside, and Lois opened the door to greet the doctor.

 

Lara was taken aback by Victoria’s appearance. She had never seen the doctor outside of S.T.A.R Labs before, and had only ever seen her wearing her usual lab coat. Now, she was wearing an elegant white faux-fur coat over a black dress, and carrying a fancy-looking handbag, which made her look like a 1940s Hollywood actress more than ever.

 

“Good evening Lois, Clark, Lara.” Victoria said politely, as she entered the apartment. “I hope you don’t mind me dropping in, but there are some things I think we should discuss.”

 

“Nothing serious, I hope.” Lois commented, closing the door behind their guest and taking her coat.

 

“Oh no, nothing bad. It’s all good actually.” She turned to Lara and smiled, “First off, I wanted to congratulate you on a great speech yesterday and a wonderful first day on the job! You are a force to be reckoned with, Lara!”

 

“Thanks doc!” Lara said, blushing a little bit at the praise.

 

“You can call me Victoria when I’m out of the office, Lara. No need to be so formal.” She opened her handbag and started digging around inside for something. “But that’s not all I wanted to say. I was watching the news at the lab, packing up for the night when I had thought. Remember when we discussed your biology being part Kryptonian and part human, and how standard puberty blockers might not be effective on you?” 

 

Lara nodded, hoping that Victoria had come with good news.

 

The doctor continued. “Well, after doing some research, I think we’re ready to begin stage one of experimentation; starting with a bioscan!”

 

Finding what she was looking for, she held up a device that reminded Lara of a ray gun or those strange scanner things from Star Trek. She knew there was a proper name for the machine, but Lara had always thought of it as “the magic wand” because the doc would wave it around, and like magic, it would tell her all kinds of things. A great tool in medicine for patients with invulnerable skin.

 

The doctor hesitated, just now realizing how strange this behavior would be coming from any other doctor. “I know I should have called, and made an appointment to run the scans and tests. Sorry, this was my one track mind at work again.”

 

Lara spoke up, “You said these scans were for puberty blockers? That’s medicine for trans people right?”

 

Victoria chuckled “In a roundabout way. It’s a first step to help you fully transition. It would… how best to put this… slow or stop a lot of the things in puberty that make boys and girls different.”

 

“Oh… Ooooh…” Lara said, shuddering as she remembered some things she had been taught in health class. “Yeah, I’d like to avoid that if I could.” She stepped forward and stood with her arms out at her sides like she did in most appointments involving the wand.

 

Victoria nodded in understanding, “I know exactly what you mean, dear.” She looked at Clark and Lois. “Do you mind if we do this here and now?”

 

They looked at each other, then to Lara, before shrugging and nodding. “If it’s alright with you, Lara, then carry on.” said Lois.

 

Victoria pressed a button, and the device came to life. Lara stood still with her arms outstretched for about 30 seconds, while the scanner did its work. Victoria examined a small screen on the back of the device, as it recorded and stored all the relevant details of Lara’s Kryptonian-Human biology.

 

Afterwards, Victoria went over the data on her phone, while Lara sat on the couch with her parents, waiting. “Hmmmm…” murmured Victoria. “Well, the good news is that Lara is in relatively normal shape for a child her age. If we can find a way to administer blockers, I see no reason why they wouldn’t work.”

 

Lara felt a wave of relief and happiness, before she realised that the doctor hadn’t finished, and stopped herself from getting too excited.

 

“That being said…” continued Victoria, “I’ll need to carry out some blood tests to be certain, which brings us to the next obstacle; the administration of said blockers.”  She looked towards Clark, who seemed to understand what the doctor was suggesting.

 

“The blockers need to be administered in injections, I’m assuming?” Clark asked for clarification.

 

“Traditionally, yes.” Victoria nodded. “There are other ways, but the shots are most effective.”

 

“Shots?” Lara repeated, with a bit of a nervous squeak in her voice. Even if her skin was mostly invulnerable, she still shared the innate fear of needles most children had. Lois put a comforting arm around her daughter’s shoulders.

 

“Yes, the shots would need to be given about once a month. Possibly more often with a Kryptonian metabolism. I won’t know that for sure until I run some tests on the blood sample.”

 

Lara shuddered again, “That’s a lot of needles…” She also knew what getting a shot would mean. To break the skin with such a fine point, the site needed exposure to a small amount of Kryptonite radiation, and she was always exhausted after the exposure. She looked at the clock, it was almost her bedtime anyway. She took a deep breath and held out her arm. “Alright then Victoria… I’m ready when you are.”

 

“What a brave girl.” The doctor smiled and pulled out a syringe, a little flashlight, and a bandaid with butterflies on it. Lara was also familiar with the flashlight from previous visits to the doctor. It gave off an energy wavelength similar to Kryptonite in a concentrated burst. She took gentle hold of Lara’s arm and rubbed the spot with an alcohol swab before shining the light on the spot.

 

Even though the light wasn’t actually Kryptonite, it was enough to soften the skin and exhaust the target. Lara looked away, focusing on her dad so she wouldn’t feel the needle prick her skin. She hoped that she didn’t flinch at the pain and snap off the tip or anything.

 

“And done!” Victoria said after a moment.

 

“What?” Lara turned her head back and saw the bandaid being put on her arm. “It’s over already?”

 

“Yep! Easy right?” She handed Lara a red lollipop from her purse. “Brought this for tradition.”

 

“Thanks!” Lara happily accepted the candy, but Lois grabbed it before she could unwrap it.

 

“No sugar this late, sweetie. I’ll put it in your lunch bag for tomorrow, ok?”

 

Lara pouted and yawned, feeling the effect of the light. “Oh yeah… tomorrow…” she looked up at Doctor Victoria, remembering that she had been through all of this before. “Victoria, I have to go back into the closet for school tomorrow. Do you have any advice?”

 

Victoria put a comforting hand on Lara’s shoulder. “Tomorrow is going to be hard. If it helps, and if you feel comfortable, take small steps to make it easier. Talk with teachers if you think they would respect you. If hearing your deadname is too hard, try using a nickname. And only come out to a friend or two if you feel safe and ready to do so. Take it steady. You’ve got this, Lara!”

 

Lara beamed up at the kind woman, and hugged her around the waist. “Thanks Victoria! You’re the best doctor ever!” The young Supergirl then yawned again; it had been a long and exciting day for her, and the doctors visit had made her feel extra sleepy.

 

“C’mon honey.” said Lois, taking Lara’s hand. “As you said, it’s a school night. Time for bed.”

________________________________________________________________

 

Yes, Lara had brushed her teeth and said goodnight. Yes, she had gotten into her pajamas and climbed into bed, but she wasn’t ready to sleep just yet. Once again she lay awake in the dark thinking about the day to come. She was never really the sort of child who looked forward to school in the first place, and now she couldn’t help but dread it.

 

She tried to take her mind off it with something, anything. It was then that she realized that Dr. October hadn’t left…She and her parents were still talking in the living room… but about what?

 

Feeling very mischievous, Lara once again focused her super hearing to pick up the conversation past her closed door. She could hear Victoria talking in a low voice. 

 

“-been meaning to pull you two aside for a word since I last saw you.” Victoria said, apparently to Lois and Clark. “I know this has all been happening very fast, how have you been holding up”

 

Lara bit her lip and gripped her blankets just a little tighter as she braced herself for the answer. What would Lois say about her behind closed doors?

 

“We’re doing pretty good…” said Lois, after a brief pause. “I mean… it was definitely a surprise when she first told us, but seeing how happy Lara is, any stress was more than worth it.”

 

“Very true. And everyone has been so supportive!” Clark added, “It’s been really positive to see! It did feel a little strange at first; I mean… we thought we had a son for 11 years, but then we found out we have a daughter! I thought it would be hard, but she’s still our child! We still love her, and she’s happier than ever!”

 

Lara wanted to rush outside and give her dad a massive hug, but she stopped herself, not wanting to blow her cover. This was exactly what she needed to hear, and it felt wonderful. She was about to roll over and go to sleep, but then she heard Victoria speak.

 

“That’s amazing to hear from you two.” said the doctor, an obvious smile in her voice. “You’ll need to hold on to that mindset for a while. I’m speaking from experience, not everyone is going to be nice to her, or you about this. You must be prepared to take as much bad as good.”

 

Lara’s smile faded a little. She knew that she had been incredibly lucky to have such a warm reception when she came out. But she knew that she was going to encounter plenty of idiots and bigots along the way. 

 

She remembered seeing her name all over Twitter, the night before. Harper had been careful to only show Lara the positive comments, but she could tell that there had definitely been some mean things said that day. She remembered what Colin had told her about the bigot in charge of the orphanage; how she had refused to see Colin as a boy, and forced him to wear dresses. Heck, even people like Alexander Knox could make Lara feel uncomfortable, without even meaning to, by asking inappropriate questions.

 

Victoria continued. “But I will also tell you this; it will get better! Lara is such an amazing girl, and she’s so lucky to have family and friends who love and support her.”

 

Lara turned down the strength of her hearing after another moment, hearing the adults say goodnight to each other and the door to the apartment opening and closing as Victoria left. However, Lara still heard the last few comments from her parents, just outside her bedroom door.

 

“We should probably get to bed too.” Lois was saying, “It’ll be a long day for all of us, I’m sure.”

 

“Does she really have to go back to school?” Clark asked, sounding oddly tense for a bulletproof man. “Between us, the League, and the data crystals in the fortress, I’m sure we could home school her! Just keep her away from that whole hornets nest!”

 

“And keep her away from her friends, social development and life as a normal kid? No, Clark.” Lois sighed. “It’s hard, but she needs this… besides I don’t trust glowing space rocks to teach Lara. Kara was educated by them, and she struggles with life outside the cape.” She clearly meant it as a joke, but she did make a valid point.

 

“Lara’s strong, Farmboy.” Lois continued. “And not because she’s Supergirl. If we are there to help her, she can get through anything.”

 

“She gets her real strength from you, Lo.” Clark said, “I just want her to be safe and happy.” There was a pause in the conversation, Lara guessed they must have been kissing. She rolled over in bed to face the wall, trying to block out that image. 

 

With her back to the door, she pretended to be asleep as it opened softly and she heard both her parents sneak into the room. She laid perfectly still with her eyes closed as first her mom, then her dad gently kissed her forehead. After a brief pause, both left as quietly as they came.

 

Lara smiled to herself in the darkness and finally drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow would be a new mission for Supergirl. And the start of her next adventure. It would be difficult, but with her family and friends behind her, and the future looking bright before her, she felt ready for anything.