The joy that Lara felt to be wearing her original ballerina attire helped to take her mind off of these newly discovered feelings she was having about Laurence. She managed to distract herself even further when she returned to the living room to enthusiastic applause from Damian, Colin, Izzy and Lois, who was gleefully taking as many pictures as she could for the family album. When Laurence joined in with the applause, giving Lara a kind smile, Lara felt herself turning almost as pink as her tutu!

 

Once the applause had died down a little, and Lois had finished taking photos, Lara felt an explanation was owed to Izzy and Laurence. After all, they had only heard the very abbreviated version of her coming out story, and weren’t even aware that Lara had taken up ballet.

 

She told them all about how awestruck she had been by Cassandra Cain’s skill as a dancer, and how this had led to both Damian and Colin giving her an impromptu ballet lesson. How this had also been when Colin had first opened her mind to the concept of being transgender, right before Damian had also brought up the idea of dancing in a tutu. All this together had been more than enough to crack Lara’s eggshell and allow her to fully embrace her inner self.

 

Lara had hoped that telling this story might help Izzy along her journey to some degree, but instead she found that both Izzy and Laurence were more focused on a different aspect of the story…

 

“Wait…” said Laurence, turning to look at Damian. “You wore a girl’s outfit too?”

 

“Hmm? Oh yes!” Damian replied nonchalantly. “I figured that Lara would need instructions on how to dance like a proper lady, and I happen to be an expert on the styles of both male and female dancers.” He shrugged. “Plus, I look great in that outfit. What else can I say?”

 

Neither Laurence nor Izzy seemed to know how to respond. Izzy simply gaped at the fact that society's rules of gender seemed to be crumbling around her. Laurence also seemed to be trying to process what Damian was suggesting.

 

“Wait… How often have you worn girl clothes before?” Laurence said slowly. “Are you sure you’re not…?

 

“Tt! Girl clothes?” Damian repeated, rolling his eyes. “They’re just clothes, Stamp. I only sometimes wear them because they’re comfortable and I look good in them!” He turned to face Colin and Lara. “Honestly! Why do cis people get so weird about who gets to wear what clothes?!”

 

Colin blinked in response. “Damian, are you suggesting that you’re not cis?”

 

“Now’s not the time to talk about my labels, darling.” Damian replied with a coy smile.

 

Lara had hoped that Damian would elaborate on what exactly he had meant by that, and opened her mouth to question her friend. However, at that moment, she heard the sound of the apartment door unlocking.

 

“Hi kids!” came the voice of Clark Kent. “How’s the party going?”

 

“Hi Dad!” Lara called, as Clark entered the room. “Look what Damian and Colin got me!” She stood up and spun around to show off her ballet attire. “It’s the same one I wore the night I realised… y'know!”

 

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Clark smiled at his daughter. “You look amazing, sweetie!” He gave a small wave to the other kids. “Glad to see you kids could make it.”

 

“Hi Mr Kent!” said Laurence. “How’s work at the Planet? ‘You speak to Superman recently?”

Lara would never not be amused by the fact that Laurence was such a Superman fanboy. If he had only been aware that he was actually talking to Superman himself…

 

“That’s more Lois’s area of expertise.” Clark chuckled, adjusting his glasses. “Besides, I’d imagine he’s a little busy training his new partner at the moment. I take it you’re quite the fan of the big blue boyscout, Laurence. Any thoughts on the new Supergirl?”

 

“Tt! You should’ve been here earlier, Mr. Kent.” Damian chimed in, grinning evilly. “Our friend here was telling us all about how enamored he is with the new Girl of Steel!”

 

Both Lara and Laurence glared at Damian, who’s mischief earned him a small shove from Colin, but he didn’t seem to mind too much. The secret identity game was way too fun to ignore at this point.

 

“Is that so?” Clark said with a surprised chuckle. 

 

Not wanting to find out exactly how her dad would react to this unusual revelation, Lara desperately searched for a way to change the subject. It was at that point she remembered that her dad was supposed to be bringing back pizza, and yet he had seemingly arrived empty-handed.

 

“Hey dad?” Lara asked, trying to sound natural. “Did you remember the pizza?”

 

Clark chuckled. “Don’t worry, sweetie. I didn’t forget.” As he spoke, the apartment door opened once again. “I met the delivery boy on the way up. Here he is now…”

 

A lanky young man stumbled into the apartment, carrying a stack of pizza boxes as well as two bags of sides, appetizers and sauces. Everyone watched as he clumsily set the food down on the table, giving the kids a friendly, if awkward, nod and a quick hello.

 

As much as Lara was glad to see the pizza, something about the situation felt very strange. Why hadn’t her dad just carried the boxes up himself? He was much more coordinated than his coworkers at the Daily Planet gave him credit for after all. Why had he made this poor pizza guy do all the work? That wasn’t like him at all…

 

Come to think of it, there was something odd about this pizza guy that Lara couldn’t quite work out. Almost like there was more to him than met the birthday girl’s eyes...

 

“Hey Damian… Does he look familiar to you?” Lara leaned over to whisper to the young detective, as her dad paid for the pizzas. 

 

“You mean the tall one in glasses? I thought you’d have recognized your own father by this point, Kent.” Damian said, completely straight faced. Colin covered his mouth to hide an involuntary snort of laughter.

 

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” Lara didn’t think this was a time to make jokes. She was sure she had seen this guy somewhere before… But where? He looked to be in his late teens, or possibly early 20s? Thin and lanky with scruffy black hair hidden under a baseball cap. Probably not affiliated with any supervillains, but you could never be too sure…

 

“Hey man…” The pizza guy mumbled awkwardly, holding up his phone. “Could I use your balcony to call my boss? He asked to call him when I got here.” The voice… The voice was definitely familiar too. Where had Lara heard it…?

 

“Of course!” Clark said with a wide, knowing smile. “No problem… Billy.”

 

“Billy?!” Lara repeated as the answer finally clicked into place.

 

“Billy? Billy?! You don’t mean that’s…?” Laurence had been sitting with his back to the delivery boy, but now he stood and turned to face him. He knew what this meant. Every child knew what this meant! 

 

The pizza guy was now standing on the Kents’ balcony with the sliding door wide open. He had thrown aside his baseball cap, showing clearly for the first time, the face of Billy Batson, better known to heroes, villains, and excited children around the world as…

 

“SHAZAM!!!” The teenage boy bellowed his magical word with all the drama and theatrics that came to him from years of practice. In that instant, a bolt of lightning shot out of the afternoon sky and struck the young man. In that flash of brilliant light, the skinny kid was gone, replaced by a well-built powerhouse of a man, dressed in an outfit of scarlet and gold.

 

“Happy Birthday, Lara!” Shazam called to the kids, saluting and striking a dramatic pose.

 

Having received the powers of demigods at a young age, Billy Batson and his adopted siblings had often struggled with keeping secret identities. It didn’t help that Billy ran the risk of transforming in or out of his hero persona any time he said his own hero name. In more recent years, Billy, along with the rest of the “Shazamily” had chosen to drop the secret all together and reveal their true identities to the world, becoming overnight celebrities.

 

Shazam, the head of said family and a literal child at heart, was one of the most generous, compassionate, and fun-loving heroes around, possibly even more than Clark or Diana! He would regularly stop by kids’ birthday parties or hospitals for no reason other than to make someone’s day, and occasionally earn a slice of cake.

 

“Whoa! Is that really Shazam?!” Laurence asked, his voice hushed. “Your dad managed to get Shazam for your birthday, Lara?!” He was trying not to freak out. Even if it wasn’t Superman, meeting pretty much any major superhero was exciting to the young fan boy!

 

“Well, it was my favorite reporter’s daughter’s birthday. So I thought I might drop by!” Shazam exclaimed, beaming around the room at the other guests. He had crashed other parties for less credible reasons after all. 

 

“So…” he said, striking a new dynamic pose, his hands cracking with electricity. “Who’s up for a quick fly around the city? An aerial tour with a world famous hero isn’t something you get to experience every day!”

 

Both Izzy and Laurence immediately perked up at this proposal, and Lara and Colin quickly followed suit. Even though they both could actually fly, Lara’s friends didn’t know that, and it would look odd if they didn’t show the same level of excitement at Shazam’s offer. Nevertheless, it wasn’t everyday Lara got to fly with another hero, other than her dad, so this was still pretty exciting.

 

With Lara being the birthday girl, Shazam naturally picked her to have the first flight all to herself. After a quick safety chat with Lara, and a quick permission check from Lois (both of which were merely a formality in this case), Shazam led Lara out onto the balcony and let her climb onto his back. 

 

“What’s the phrase you Metropolonians use?” Billy asked with a grin. “Oh yeah! Up, up and away!”

 

They took off into the air as Lara whooped and cheered, making sure to sell her performance and convince Izzy and Laurence that this really was her first time flying. Billy didn’t exactly fly at top speed, but he made sure to do enough fancy spirals and turns to make their flight as exciting as possible.

 

Once the two young heroes were high enough, and they were certain that they were out of sight of any prying eyes, Billy turned to Lara. “So, Supergirl… How’s the hero's life been treating you?”

 

Lara took one more quick look at the city below them, just to check that there was no way they would be seen. Once she was sure it was safe, she let go of Shazam and floated around to face him. “Hey Billy!” She giggled. “Long time, no see!”

 

Lara gave her fellow hero a quick hug. She had met Billy Batson on several occasions in the past, and had quickly become friends with the peppy kid from

Fawcett City. Even when Billy was in hero mode, and had the appearance of a tall, strong and mature adult, he never lost his sense of childish wonder. This made him easily one of the most fun JLA members to hang out with at get togethers.

 

“It’s so great to see you, Lara!” Billy said, returning the hug. “Last time I saw you, you were… Well, y’know…”

 

Lara smiled, understanding what he meant. This was the first time she had seen Shazam in person since she had come out as trans. Back then, Billy had no doubt seen her as a quiet and shy ‘fanboy’, too nervous to talk with anyone but ‘his’ family and best friend. Now, here she was floating above Metropolis, wearing a bright pink ballerina’s outfit and radiating more confidence and positivity than ever before!

 

“Yep!” Lara giggled, twirling in the air to show off her new look. “I mean, we all knew I’d become a superhero someday. But becoming a girl too?” She struck a pose. “I think it’s fair to say I’ve upgraded!”

 

Shazam nodded approvingly, before chuckling. “You’re starting to sound like Darla. She sends her love, by the way.”

 

Lara smiled, remembering the individual messages of congratulations she had received from Billy’s adoptive siblings. Darla Dudley, Freddy Freeman, Mary Bromfield, Pedro Peña and Eugene Choi had all sent their own individual pep talks, shout-outs, words of wisdom, and general praise for the newly-debuted Supergirl.

 

“Yeah, the whole fam wishes they could be here!” Billy continued. “But we felt that might be a bit much for the birthday of a totally normal civilian kid.” He gave Lara an exaggerated wink and a thumbs-up. “So instead, I volunteered to come alone as a representative of all Shaz…!” Billy’s eyes went wide as he caught himself in mid sentence. “I mean… All of us!”

 

Lara giggled. “You’ve been doing this for how long now, and you’re still making that mistake?” 

 

Shazam looked a little sheepish, as he tried to find a change of subject. “Oh hey! Check this out!” He said suddenly, reaching for his belt. He opened up a hidden compartment that Lara hadn’t noticed before, and pulled out a red smartphone. “Zatanna helped me set this up for when I transform. Saves me having to turn back into Billy whenever I need my phone.”

Lara bemusedly looked at the phone. It was bright red with gold accents, and even had the Shazam emblem on the back. “You got Zatanna to add a phone to your costume..?” Lara’s understanding of magic wasn’t exactly extensive, but she was pretty sure that this was the magical equivalent of Batman spending millions to add a pair of fuzzy bat-dice to the Batmobile.

 

“Not exactly.” Shazam replied. “This is actually the same phone I use as Billy. Zatanna just put a spell on it so that it would stay on me whenever I transformed. She gave me unlimited data too!” He held the phone up to show it off even more. “Wanna grab a quick selfie? Freddy, Mary and the others are gonna be so jealous that I got to meet the new Supergirl first!”

 

Lara giggled and flew closer. “Sure, as long as you send me a copy!” She got in close beside the exuberant hero and smiled with a peace sign for a few quick photos. “Just don’t share these online, since I’m not in uniform, y’know?”

 

“No problem! We should probably get back to your apartment anyway.” Billy said, quickly putting his phone away. “Your friends probably want their turn to fly.”

 

Lara nodded and was getting ready to climb back onto Shazam’s shoulders when she froze. “Do you hear that?”

 

Billy cocked his head and listened “No… but I’m pretty sure your hearing is better than mine.”

 

There it was again. A tiny voice just saying… “Help!” 

 

“Let’s go!” Lara began flying in the direction of the call. Listening closely…. “Somewhere high up… there!” She pointed to the top of a nearby high-rise building with a rooftop garden. In the garden, she could see a tree. In the tree she could just make out a small girl, no older than 5, hanging from a branch, dangerously close to the edge.

 

“I got you!” Lara rushed in to catch the young girl and lowered her back to the roof, before Shazam had even caught up with her. “Are you ok?” Lara asked her new friend in a gentle voice, checking her arms for cuts or scratches.

 

The child simply gaped at the strange flying girl in a tutu, with a mixture of gratitude and confusion. She seemed a bit star struck to see Shazam, but didn’t seem to recognize Lara. “I’m fine, but where’s Mr. Jenkins?”

 

Lara blinked “Mister who now?”

 

“Meow!”

 

“Ah, I see.” Lara looked up into the tree and saw a very fat grey cat glaring down at them from the top of the tree. “Shazam? Could you grab him please?” Lara asked. She had rescued so many cats from trees recently, and was starting to get a little sick of it. Plus, she had caught the girl, so it made sense for Billy to rescue the cat.

 

“Come on, little fella!” Billy approached, holding out his arms only for the cat to hiss and claw at him.

 

“Careful!” The girl called, more afraid for her cat than Billy. “He doesn’t like  boys!”

 

“Doesn’t like…?” Lara suddenly had the urge to try something. “Let me try!” She flew up to the feline very slowly, one hand held out. Mr. Jenkins didn’t bite or hiss. He actually moved to nuzzle against Lara’s hand, purring softly. Positively glowing with delight, she picked up the feline and returned him to his owner “There you go. Both of you run home now. And be careful in the trees, ok?”

 

“I will! Thanks Tutu Girl!” The girl waved goodbye, almost dropping the cat as she ran off towards the stairwell. 

 

Billy snorted a little as he tried not to laugh, but Lara didn’t mind at all! She had never expected that rescuing a cat could have provided so much validation and euphoria. And the fact that she had done it all while dressed in her ballet outfit had made it all the better! Maybe she could incorporate more of a ballerina look into her Supergirl costume?

 

“Come along, Tutu Girl!” Billy called, from up in the air. “We have a party to get back to!” 

 

Snapping back to reality, Lara flew up to meet Shazam and climbed back onto his back, too happy to take offense to any of his remarks. Whether she went by Lara Kent, Supergirl, or even Tutu Girl, nothing could have dampened her spirits that evening!

________________________________________________________________

 

“...and then Billy needed help getting the cat out of the tree, because apparently he doesn’t like boys, so I had to do it for him!” Lara was back in the living room regaling her story to Damian and Colin. Once they had arrived back, it had been Laurence and Izzy’s turn to head out for a fly around the city with Shazam. With her two school friends occupied, Lara was able to discuss her mini-adventure as Tutu Girl safely with her fellow heroes.

 

“Are you sure you weren’t recognized?” Damian asked. “The girl you rescued might not be a problem, but if anyone else saw you…”

 

“Relax, we didn’t run into anyone else,” Lara said reassuringly. “Plus if anyone saw me, they wouldn’t see Lara Kent, they’d see Tutu Girl; the elegant and graceful flying ballerina of Metropolis!” She spun around and gave an over-the-top curtsey to illustrate her words.

 

“Spectacular!” Colin laughed, while Damian rolled his eyes. “Maybe you should rethink this whole “Supergirl” thing you’ve got going on? Tutu Girl clearly suits you better!”

 

The three young heroes laughed, though they all knew full-well that Lara wouldn’t have been completely opposed to the idea. She did, after all, have another fancier ballet outfit from Cassandra Cain, along with the fairy wings from Mar’i. Combining those outfits together could make a fun alternate identity should she ever need one, or at least a fun Halloween costume..?

 

“Speaking of Supergirl,” Damian asked, trying to sound casual but unable to stop the small smug grin on his face. “How do you feel about those things your friend Stamp was saying?”

 

Lara went a little pink and she looked away from her friends, “I… I don’t know what to think honestly… It’s definitely flattering, but besides that…” She fell silent, unable to find the right words. 

 

Laurence had been her friend before she had even known she was a girl, let alone become a superhero! There was a lot to unpack, to say the very least. 

 

“Just be careful, Lara.” Damian warned with a dry smile. “The last trans kid I knew to date a handsome young rich boy, ended up getting turned into a giant furry bat-monster with a taste for dog treats.”

 

Colin, who had just taken a large bite of pizza, glared at his boyfriend. Damian had evidently counted on Colin not being able to respond, and simply gave the redhead a mischievously innocent smile.

 

Lara laughed, both at her friend’s comment and Colin’s affronted look, “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. Thanks, guys.”

 

Suddenly, there was a noise from the balcony, and the kids all turned to see that Billy had returned, along with Izzy and Laurence. “Hey, we’re back!” Billy called as he set the two kids down on the balcony. The three of them together all wore an expression of excitement, but also shock, like they had been through something intense together.

 

“That was a short trip. Everything ok?” Lara asked, both out of genuine concern for her friends and because she wanted to get Colin and Damian off the topic of crushes now that Laurence was back.

 

“I almost freakin’ fell…!” Laurence said, more than a little out of breath and his eyes wild. 

 

“What!?!” Lara gasped.

 

“Only for a second!” Shazam reassured, sensing he might be in big trouble over this, “He was trying to fly like Superman, you know, with both arms out, and slipped off my back. The flight wasn’t as fun after that for any of us.”

 

“Oh I totally know that feeling,” Lois cut in, having entered the room when she heard Billy return. “Don’t worry, kid! You start to get used to it after the fourth time it happens.” 

 

Lara had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. It was a well-known fact to most people that Superman could often be seen carrying Lois Lane across the city or out of harm’s way. Most people saw this as a shining example of Lois’s journalistic talents, or Superman’s heroism, but Lara knew well enough that it was basically just another way her parents liked to flirt.

 

“I still had fun, Mr. Shazam!” Izzy said, smiling up at Billy. “I liked the thing you did with the lightning hands!”

 

“Please! Mr. S was the old wizard who gave me these powers!” Billy said with a laugh. “You can call me Billy.”

 

While Billy and Izzy continued chatting, Lara looked over at Laurence. “Are you okay?” She asked, remembering that not all of her friends were used to the whole flying-over-Metropolis experience. Even though Shazam had been there to catch him, Lara wanted to be sure that her friend hadn’t been too freaked out by his near-fall. 

 

“Yeah… I’m fine.” He replied, with a smile. “It was actually kinda fun, getting caught out of the air like that! But I think I might’ve freaked Shazam out a little. My heart is still beating a mile a minute! Feel this!” He took Lara’s hand and pulled it to his chest and she could indeed feel the muscle pounding from adrenaline. 

 

“That is fast! Maybe you’re a speedster!” Lara joked. She then remembered a line that her dad liked to use whenever he rescued someone from a fall. “Well, I hope this experience hasn’t put you off flying. Statistically speaking, it’s still the safest way to travel.”

 

Laurence actually grinned at that. Being a Superman fanboy, he was well-versed in the Man of Steel’s various catchphrases and signature moves. “Oh man! That would’ve been so cool if we’d seen Superman! Imagine if he’d caught me! Or maybe even the new Supergirl!”

 

Lara blushed nervously. Normally she would have laughed at Laurence for making such a remark about a celebrity crush. But the situation was very awkward for her when SHE was the celebrity crush, even if Laurence didn’t know it!

 

The strange feeling Lara had felt earlier was returning. The feeling of butterflies in her stomach. She couldn’t help smiling at the fact that Laurence had a crush on her without even knowing it! She remembered how validated she had felt when a cute French boy had complimented her on her first day as Supergirl. Now she felt those feelings tenfold from Laurence’s words of admiration.

 

“Well!” Billy said suddenly, snapping both preteens back to reality. “I promised all you kids a free flight, so that just leaves you two Gotham boys.” He smiled at Damian and Colin. “Wanna see how close we can fly to your hometown before Batman notices?” Everyone, except Damian, laughed at this remark. 

 

Lara was sure that Billy, being an established League member, knew that Damian was Robin, and probably also knew that Colin had powers of his own. Their flight with Shazam would most likely be similar to her own; more of an excuse to catch up on hero gossip (or League intel, as Damian would’ve put it).

 

“Tt. You sure about that, Batson?” Damian said, raising an eyebrow. “My father is one of the JLA’s biggest patrons. You wouldn’t want to risk me falling, would you?” 

 

“Aw don’t worry, Dami!” Colin chuckled. “I’ll be there to hold you tight if you’re scared of heights.”

 

Lara, Izzy and Laurence each stifled a laugh as Damian glared at Colin, who grinned nervously. Before Damian could come up with a decent rebuttal, Colin led him by the hand over to the balcony, where Shazam, understanding the need to get away before things got ugly, hastily scooped the pair up onto his back and away into the darkening twilight.

 

As Billy took off into the sky, Lara’s super-hearing picked up Damian saying, “I suppose you thought that was incredibly witty, Colin! Well I’ll show you… Batson! Take us to the…” 

 

Lara turned her attention away from their conversation. She figured she’d hear all about it later from either of the boys, and she didn’t want to risk accidentally revealing her superpowers to her school friends. She turned back to Izzy and Laurence.

 

This was the first time Lara had been with her usual friend group since school had been out. They hadn’t really hung out much since her coming out to them, and the party up until this point had also had Damian and Colin to keep things lively.

“Uh, hey guys…” Lara said awkwardly. “Sorry the party’s been a little hectic so far. Wasn’t exactly expecting Shazam, y’know?”

 

“Me neither!” Laurence laughed. “I mean… I know your parents have met some superheroes, but just how many do they know!?”

 

Lara smiled, remembering a running in-joke her dad always loved to use as a cover, and decided to continue a family tradition. “Well actually, I know more heroes than they do. You see…” She leaned in conspiratorially and said in a stage whisper, “I’m secretly Supergirl in disguise, and asked Shazam to come here myself. He owed me a big favour after I single handedly helped him defeat Black Adam last week.”

 

The room was dead silent for a few seconds, before Izzy burst out laughing. “Ha! We’ve both seen you in gym class, Lara! If you’re Supergirl, I’m the Martian Manhunter”

 

“Jeez, Lara!” Laurence said with a sigh of relief when he realised it had been a joke. “Don’t say things like that!” He grinned sheepishly as he joined in the laughter. “But yeah… If you were Supergirl, you would’ve at least gotten Power Girl or Superboy to show up.”

 

“You got me there.” Lara beamed, delighted that the joke had worked. She was always worried something like this could backfire horribly. She laughed internally. Little did Laurence know that she had already had a party with Power Girl and Superboy earlier that day, and Superman, Wonder Girl, Red Robin and Wonder Woman had also been there!

 

From over in his favourite chair, Clark chuckled. “Well Laurence, Ol’ Supes actually wanted to show up here in person, but he had important hero stuff to attend to. So Lois asked him if Shazam was available instead, and he was!”

 

“Whoa…” Laurence spoke in an awed tone, quickly accepting this version as the truth over Lara’s story. “Superman actually wanted to be here? Oh man, I would’ve totally freaked out if he’d shown up…” He paused. “Oh… No offence, Mr Kent. Having Shazam turn up is still awesome…”

 

“No worries, sport.” Clark smiled. “Lara tells me you’re quite the Superman fan.” He looked over at Lara with a grin, and Lara smiled back. Both of them were amused by the fact that, unbeknownst to Laurence, Superman had actually made it to the party, and so had Supergirl, Robin and Goliath! Secret identities could be so much fun sometimes! 

 

“Hey, Laurence?” Izzy spoke up. “Now that it’s just the three of us, do you think it's time we, y’know… Gave Lara her present?”

 

“Good idea, Izzy!” said Lois, having been listening from her office. “Let me just grab a few things, and we can get started.”

Lara wondered what her mother could be grabbing. “Wait, what’s happening?” She asked, as both Izzy and Laurence exchanged a coy smile. “Did you guys plan a joint present with my mom?”

“Maaaaybe…” said Laurence slowley, with a grin.

“Just you wait, girl!” said Izzy. “You’re gonna love this…”