The following week leading up to Lara’s birthday was as exciting as always. She spent most of her time as Supergirl, trying to find things to distract herself with as she waited for the big day. She foiled robberies, gave directions to tourists, and rescued cats out of trees all over Metropolis.

 

As far as supervillain encounters went, it seemed as if they had all been scared off by the defeats of Toyman and KGBeast, and Lara couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. While she never would have wanted to encounter the likes of Brainiac or Metallo, she wouldn’t have minded a C or D-list villain or two.

 

The closest Lara came to a supervillain battle was one Thursday afternoon, when Power Girl and Wonder Girl were visiting Metropolis. Kara and Donna had been following an anonymous tip concerning an elusive magic user, who they believed could lead them to Circe. The infamous sorceress had been on the run from the Amazons for the past few months, and was almost certainly up to no good. Lara was eager to help her second cousin with the case.

 

Unfortunately, when the three superheroines had arrived at the abandoned warehouse, all they found was a rather surprised Abra Kadabra, who wasn’t even a real magic-user. Lara didn’t even get to fight him, as the villain simply ran for it when he saw that two Kryptonians and an Amazon had found his lair, only for Kara to immediately knock him to the floor and hand him over to the cops. The poor C-lister didn’t even have any information on Circe; the lead had been false.

 

Still, the young Supergirl kept her chin held high, and enjoyed the summer heat as the days rolled on. Before Lara knew it, the week was almost over, and the calendar read July 14th, the day before her birthday.

 

While Lara technically wouldn’t be 12 until the next day, her parents had arranged for Supergirl’s first party to be the day before Lara Kent’s birthday. This was the first birthday Lara had had since coming out as trans, as well as her first as an official superhero. Her parents would obviously need to throw her a pretty impressive party in order to properly celebrate!

 

Around midday, after an uneventful morning patrol, Clark and Lara flew over to a nearby teleporter. Lois had to work that day, but she had been able to get the next day off work, so she’d be able to chaperone Lara’s second party. Today’s celebration however, would be a superhero affair.

 

“You ready to go, princess?” Clark asked, honestly as excited as his daughter for the party. Him and Damian had managed to convince Batman to let them use the Batcave as a venue for the party, which was hardly a common occurrence. 

 

“Yep!” Her smile faltered and she looked back out on the city. “Hey dad, are you sure it’s ok for us to be away from the city for such a long time? What if something happens?”

 

Superman smiled with pride for his daughter’s responsible attitude. She was already thinking like a hero! “Don’t worry about it, honey. We’re gonna have plenty of other heroes watching Metropolis and Gotham during the party. Trust me, Lara, you’ve earned this break!” He gave his little girl a quick hug. “Besides, We’ll be close enough to respond to any real emergency if we need to. No one is going to catch us with our pants down.”

 

The preteen heroine giggled at Superman’s choice of words. “Alright then! Let’s go!” Lara and her father flew into the rooftop tool shed that served as the teleport’s cover. 

 

“Superman- A01. Supergirl- C01.” Clark spoke their codes and the pair were swiftly transported away.

 

Lara stepped off the platform to the familiar location of the Batcave, only to get a very unusual greeting.

 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY LARA!” A crowd of people cheered and applauded for her. She smiled at the assembled crowd of friends giving her such a warm welcome. 

 

Front and center was Damian, wearing a green and gold embroidered thobe, and Colin in a red hoodie with the Robin logo. Beside them was a delighted looking Mar'i Grayson, in a cute purple dress, cheering and clapping the loudest while hovering off the ground. Next came Lian Harper, daughter of Roy Harper, AKA Red Arrow. Lian was a close friend of Lara’s but they hadn’t had a chance to see each other in person since she had come out.

 

Lara also spotted Alfred Pennyworth clapping politely. Next to him stood Dick Grayson, holding his infant son, Jake and Lian’s step-dad, Jason Todd standing behind the kids. Lara caught sight of several other adult heroes around the room, but her main focus was on her friends her own age.

 

Lara turned and looked up at her dad, grinning from ear-to-ear. “Did you and mom plan all of this?!”

 

Clark shrugged. “Bruce and Damian helped a little. Then some other people got involved.” He gestured around at the gathered guests. “Looks like a lot of people wanted to meet the new Supergirl…”

 

Lara flew into her dad's arms and hugged him. She didn’t care that everyone was watching. She was far too overjoyed to worry about being embarrassed. She then flew back down to the ground to greet her party guests.

 

Lian ran forward to hug her friend. “Lara!” She cried out, “Look at you! You look amazing! Happy birthday, Girl Scout!”

 

Lara was delighted, if somewhat taken aback, at how Lian greeted her. Before she had come out, Lara would often hang out with Lian, Damian and the Grayson siblings at get-togethers and events. Lian was the tallest of the group and had a tendency to boss the other kids around (She mainly did this to annoy Damian, who was technically her step-uncle, and 6 months older than her.)

 

Lian was also one of those kids with a tendency to give nicknames to all her friends. Before coming out, Lara’s nickname had been “Boy Scout,” just like what people frequently called her dad, and it felt so affirming to know that Lian had immediately accepted Lara as a girl, even to the point of changing her nickname. Lara noticed that Lian was even wearing a Supergirl pin on her denim jacket, in honour of the birthday girl!

 

All the same, it felt unusual to see Lian acting so friendly and cheerful. She had greeted Lara with pure sincerity, and no playful jabs or witty put-downs. Lara felt compelled to address this.

 

“Hey Lian! Thanks. It’s good to see you too,” said Lara, grinning a little nervously at the tall girl’s enthusiasm. “You sound… excited. Are you ok?”

 

“She hasn’t shut up about you for the past month.” said Jason, walking over and ruffling his step-daughter’s hair. “You’ve been bouncing all over the place, haven’t you, sweetie?”

 

“Jay!” Lian glared at her step-dad. “Stop it! I have a reputation to uphold!”

 

Over in the crowd, Lara heard Damian snicker. Lian whipped around. “Oh zip it, Shorty!” She snapped, earning a glare from the young Robin. She had other nicknames for the youngest Wayne, but that was the one she used the most, especially when she wanted to annoy him (which was most of the time).

 

“Lian.” said Jason, trying not to smirk. “Be nice to your uncle.”

 

“Anyway!” said Alfred, before any more bickering could occur. “I believe it’s high time we commence with the festivities.”

 

“Not yet, Pennyworth.” Damian said, trying his best to regain his dignity. “The guest of honor has arrived, but we are still waiting for two more.”

 

“Two more guests?” Lara asked, looking around the room and trying to think who was missing. “Who are we waiting for, Damian? Billy Batson? Artie Curry?” She only vaguely knew Aquaman’s son, but she wouldn’t have minded a visit from Shazam! As the Justice League’s youngest full fledged hero, he was very popular with the sidekicks.

 

“Better than that! A real surprise for you!” Damian smiled but wouldn’t give away the secret just yet. “They should be here soon. Come with me Miss Kent, I have something to show you.”

 

Lara followed Damian deeper into the cave, admiring the decorations. There was something delightful to her about seeing the usually dark and cold Batcave filled with balloons and streamers in red, gold and blue, the Superman family colors.

 

As she walked, Lara then heard a meow at her feet and looked down to see Pennyworth the cat staring up at her. She couldn’t help but laugh to see he had been put in a little bow tie and a party hat. “Oh, hey little guy! Did you get all dressed up for me? That was nice of you!”

 

“Mar’i!” Damian called, catching sight of his feline friend, “I told you he doesn’t like wearing clothes!”

 

“But he looks so handsome!” Mar’i had flown over when her name was called and tried to pick up the feline, who quickly hissed and hid from the excitable child behind Lara.

 

“Honestly…” Damian grumbled. “If you must dress up my pets, do it with Titus. He actually enjoys it.”

 

“Really!?” Her eyes shone green with excitement and she flew off to find the big sweet dog before Damian could take back the offer. “Here puppy puppy!”

 

The cat meowed again and purred, rubbing himself against Lara’s leg in thanks. She bent down to scratch his back and gently took off the bow tie. “Here you go, kitty. Hey listen, I don’t suppose you could talk to any of your feline friends about getting stuck in trees a little less often could you?” Pennyworth tilted his head up at her, making the hat fall off before he scampered off into the cave, possibly to activate the cat-signal and send out Lara’s message.

 

“Over here, Lara!” Damian called from a table. She quickly flew over and was delighted to see a large pile of presents and an impressive stack of cards, but that wasn’t what Damian wanted her to see. In the center of the present table was a beautiful cake in the shape of the Superman shield, colored pink, white and blue as a massive edible trans pride flag!

 

“Oh my god!” She squealed and hugged her friend. “This is perfect! Damian! Thank you!”

 

She could almost feel his satisfied smile even if she couldn’t see it. “I thought you’d like the cake. I can’t take all the credit of course. Alfred and Todd did the baking, but I designed it.”

 

“I’ll have to thank them too later!” She always forgot that the second Robin was actually pretty handy to have in a kitchen. He had personally cooked at several other hero get-togethers in the past.

 

Lara let go of Damian when she heard the teleporter switching back on. “They’re here!” Damian said, grabbing Lara by the wrist and pulling her back over to the machine.

 

As the machine powered down, two teenage girls stepped out of the light. The first girl was slightly taller, with a dark complexion, shorter hair and wearing what appeared to be a black and white stealthsuit.

 

The second girl was evidently not human, as she had bright green skin and was wearing a distinct outfit that seemed to be something straight out of a sci-fi movie. She wore a pink and black jumpsuit, with a purple jacket, and a matching pair of shades on her forehead. Aside from her freckles and long blonde hair, worn in pigtails, this girl had changed a lot since Lara had last seen her.

 

Lara recognized the pair after a moment’s hesitation. “Kathy! Maya!” The birthday girl rushed forward and pulled them into a tight hug. “It’s been ages!”

 

Maya Ducard and Kathy Branden, better known in the hero community as Nobody and Beacon, had not been seen in the United States for almost a year now! The two girls, both about Damian’s age, had been traveling across Europe as freelance heroes for some time now. Maya’s stealth abilities combined with Kathy’s telekinesis and psionic powers, made the pair a force to be reckoned with.

 

“Oh my, Lara! You look so cute! The news doesn’t give you enough credit!” Kathy cried out excitedly. She pushed her friend back a little to get a better look at her. “We go away for a year and we miss all the best stuff!”

 

Lara smiled and gave her friend a little twirl to show off her outfit better. “I wouldn’t say you missed much. More like you came back in time for the best part!” She giggled but paused, “Wait, how did you know my new name already? The news didn’t say anything about that… that I know of…” 

 

Damian put a hand on Lara’s shoulder, to stop her from running off to find Lois and making sure none of the newspapers had said anything she hadn’t heard about. “Calm down, Lara. Maya and I stayed in touch as they were traveling. I figured once you came out on TV, it was best if I gave her a few details.”

 

“Oh… yeah, that makes sense.” Lara blushed a bit at her over reaction.

 

“Speaking of giving out details, Lara…” Maya said. “I don’t know if Damian has told you but…” The taller girl smiled at Kathy, who returned the smile and held Maya’s hand.

 

Lara’s shone with excitement as she looked between the girls. “You two finally got together!? That’s awesome! Congratulations!”

 

“Thanks, Kent! I… Hey! What do you mean finally?!” Kathy asked, a bit annoyed. 

 

Damian and Lara exchanged a look. “Come on Kathy. You were talking about how cute you thought Maya was for weeks before you two went off together!”

 

“Only weeks?” Damian asked with a smirk, “What about you Maya, telling me several times over months how you…” He slipped into a rather accurate impersonation of Maya’s French accent. “Couldn’t look Kathy in the face for too long without trying to draw the constellations in her adorable freckles...”

 

“OK, THAT’S ENOUGH!!” Maya, normally the quieter of the pair, yelled out, hoping to stop her friend from repeating any of the worse things she had said about her crush. She was beet red with embarrassment, but Kathy was only smiling at her, enjoying how cute she was when flustered.

 

“So, who finally asked out who?” Lara asked excitedly, putting her money on Kathy.

 

“Yeah you never told me that either.” Damian said, sure that Maya would have taken the initiative.

 

The girls both blushed and exchanged a look, thinking how best to explain it “Well… you see…” Maya began.

 

“We were dealing with a crime boss in Brussels. We were helping get said boss’s ex-girlfriend to a safehouse to give evidence.” Kathy picked up. “Things got pretty tense on the way there. At one point Maya and I were fighting over who would take the lead. Both of us wanted to lead to keep the other safe. At that point, the lady lost her patience.” The alien girl started laughing to herself. “She just screamed “Oh, will you two just kiss already!”.”

 

“And well... we took her advice.” Maya blushed, turning to kiss her green girlfriend on the cheek.

 

“That’s wonderful!” Lara said beaming.

 

“What happened with the mission though?” Damian asked, happy for his friends but professionally curious.

 

“Oh, it was pretty smooth sailing from there… except… well her yelling gave away our position. Kinda had to fight the rest of the way out, but the goons weren’t that tough.” The four young heroes shared a laugh at that part.

 

“Hey, by the way...” said Maya, “Is Colin around here? I’ve been wanting to catch up with him for ages…”

 

Lara floated a few feet off the floor to look around, trying to spot Damian’s boyfriend. She noticed him over by the petting zoo, where he appeared to be in conversation with the eldest of the Bat siblings.

 

“Looks like he’s talking to Dick.” said Lara.

 

“Ah, pardon me, girls.” said Damian, making a beeline for Colin “Sounds like I need to avert a disaster...”

 

Lara wondered what Damian meant by this, but when she noticed Kathy and Maya eagerly following the Boy Wonder, she decided that she wanted in on whatever was going on.

 

“Habibi! Richard!” Damian called, as he approached his boyfriend and his eldest brother. “What are you two up to?”

 

The young heroes all noticed Dick suddenly trying to hide his hand behind his back. “Not much, little bro.” He said, lying badly. “Just sharing some embarrassing stories with Colin, as is my right as your big brother.”

 

“Ooo! Anything good?” Maya asked with a devious sideways smile at Damian who was already frowning.

 

Colin was fighting not to laugh at the face his boyfriend was making. “Nothing I haven’t heard before. Just stuff like Dami talking to the animals. That time he was babysitting Jake and Mar’i. The usual stuff.”

 

“That I don’t mind,” Damian said with a hard look at the eldest Robin, “But Grayson, you better give Colin back his phone or I will go get my sword and take it back!”

 

“What, this?” Dick asked, pulling the phone from behind his back. “I’m not doing anything with it. Colin just wanted me to see a few pictures of you.” 

 

“Not the pictures!” Damian cried out without meaning to, earning a laugh from all the young onlookers. “Colin, how could you! You promised!”

 

The redhead gave a smile and an apologetic shrug. “Can I help it if my boyfriend is adorable, and I want to share proof of it with people?”

 

“You’ve got embarrassing photos of Damian?” said Lara, excitedly floating between Dick and Colin. “Can I see?”

 

Dick gave his little brother an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Dames. I can’t say no to the birthday girl.” He turned the phone around so that the girls could all see what Damian was so worked up about.

 

The phone screen displayed a selfie, which Colin had evidently taken, of the young redhead relaxing on a sofa with Damian snuggled up next to him. In the photo, Damian was fast asleep and wrapped in a warm blanket, while Colin was grinning mischievously at the camera. The photo was accompanied with a caption reading, “Shhh… The baby bird’s sleeping.”

 

Lara, Maya and Kathy all squealed and awed at the image, while Damian let out a frustrated noise, halfway between a sigh and a growl. 

 

“I gotta say, Colin…” Dick said, trying not to chuckle too much. “You’re pretty brave to embarrass Damian like this. If me, Tim or Jason did anything like that, we’d need to run for the hills.” He paused. “Maybe Cass could get away with it, a little…?”

 

“That’s because…” said Damian, through gritted teeth. “I allow my boyfriend certain liberties that I do not extend to my siblings.” He turned his gaze to Colin, who grinned smugly. “Though, you do have a tendency to exploit those liberties to an annoying degree!”

 

Colin couldn’t help but give a mischievous smile that he definitely picked up from Harley. “What can I say, Dami? My parents are antiheroes. You learn all the best ways to game the system!”

 

“He’s not wrong.” Lian had joined the group and offered Colin a fist bump approving his comment.

 

Damian glared at his niece for a moment, fearing the chaos that would result from her and Colin becoming friends. “If you ladies will excuse us, I need to have a few words with my boyfriend.” The young diva grabbed Colin by the hand and pulled the smirking redhead deeper into the cave. 

 

Lara gave a giggle, smiling at her friend’s retreating back. If she had been looking anywhere else, she would have noticed the look exchanged between all the other girls around her.

 

“The time has come!” Lian said suddenly as a signal. In a moment, Kathy had used her telekinetic powers to lift Lara up off the ground.

 

“Hey! What the-!” Lara cried out as she was carried through the air. “Girls! What are you doing!”

 

“Don’t worry, Girl Scout.” Lian said as she followed the other girls towards the stairs out of the cave. “Just a little surprise we had planned.”

 

“Oh! Is it time?” Mar’i called from across the room where she and her little brother had been riding on Titus, Damian’s pet great dane, like a horse. The dog had been dressed up in star shaped sunglasses and a feather boa, and looked happy being so fabulous. Lara didn’t want to think where in the cave the small girl had found those items.

 

“Wait for me!” Mar’i called excitedly, hopping off the dog and flying Jake over to a befuddled Damian before joining the parade of girls. 

 

As they left the room Lara heard Damian talking to the toddler. “Probably good you’re here with us, Grayson-spawn. I trust no idea where Lian and your sister are on the same page.”

________________________________________________________________

 

Feeling rather indignant at being levitated up the stairs without any explanation, Lara felt the need to address her friends’ behaviour. “You know I’m pretty sure I’d have gone along with this surprise if you guys had just asked in the first place!” She cried out as she was carried up the stairs, and out into Bruce Wayne’s study. 

 

Realizing that Lara had a point, and somewhat surprised to find adults in the room, Kathy let her go. Lara floated gently down to the ground and grinned at the room's occupants. Clark and Bruce were standing either side of a buff red-haired woman with glasses, who was typing on a fancy looking laptop on Bruce’s desk.

 

“We have noticed strange signals coming from the Phantom Zone in the last few months. Very weak. Maybe just an audio signal, but it…” The woman looked up and noticed the younger heroines entering the study. “Oh, hey kids!” She smiled and waved. 

 

Lara recognized the woman’s voice from dozens of conversations over JLA communicators and phone calls. She then noticed that the woman was sitting in a wheelchair, which further confirmed her identity.

 

“Oh! So you’re Oracle! Nice to finally meet you!” Lara flew over and shook hands with the redhead, surprised by the strength of the grip from someone without powers. 

 

“Likewise Supergirl! Happy birthday! But please, you can call me Barbara.” Barbara Gordon, the original Batgirl, had made herself indispensable as Oracle, being the chief director of operations for the Batfamily, as well as most of the Justice League! She wheeled her chair back from the desk. “We can take this talk to another room if you want?”

 

“Thanks Babs! But we’re just passing through!” Lian said grabbing Lara to pull her along. “It’s time for Lara’s induction into the Girl Squad!”

 

“Girl Squad?” asked Clark, but Lian didn’t seem to hear him. Lara gave her dad an apologetic smile, before following the young archer out into the hallway. Clark turned to look at Bruce and Barbara, wondering if they had any answers. 

 

Bruce gave a small shrug as he turned his attention back to the laptop, and Barbara merely grinned at the Man of Steel’s perplexed look. “I take it this wasn’t in your party plans, Clark?”

 

Superman looked back at the door, where his daughter had just been marched through by the gaggle of mini superheroines, before turning back to Oracle and sighing. “At this point, Barbara… I’ve learned to expect most plans to go off the rails, whenever these kids are involved.”

 

“Hm, welcome to my world.” Bruce muttered, under his breath.