Not holding many cards?
This probably connected to her earlier reluctance to see Superman die, hence why she coaxed and deceived Ian into solving the problem, all to ensure Superman could evade his destined death?
Just when Ian thought of this,
The surroundings surged back with color, sound flooding his ears once more. Kara "came back to life", finally releasing the sigh that had been in suspended animation for so long.
"So~"
Kara acted as not sensing anything, her thoughts seamlessly continuing from the moment before the pause. She hummed thoughtfully while casting a slightly resentful glance at her dinner, now utterly eaten out by Ian.
"Did you awaken your abilities, and then your father shared his secret with you?" Kara showed no recollection of her headache just now or the world's suspension.
Her mind was only curious about why Ian came to see her.
"Uh... that's a bit of a long story." Ian snapped out of his philosophical state over Death's Riddler behavior, scratching his head as he tried to organize his thoughts.
"Then come upstairs to talk. I have other food at home." Seeing Ian still looked unsatiated, Kara felt her newfound aunt status demanded she show some care.
Hiss.
Suddenly becoming someone's elder seemed to be wonderful.
"Okay, Auntie, wait a sec." With that, Ian headed back into the stairwell and emerged carrying a plastic bag filled with shattered hard drives.
"What's this? Trash you picked up outside?"
Kara looked confused.
"Just some stuff happened a few hours ago." Ian clearly remained uneasy about just smashing the drives. He spoke in a pleading tone. "Could you... maybe breathe some fire on this?"
These two statements delivered another hard stun on Kara.
"Breathe fire?"
At first, Kara wondered that after leaving school, she had created a generational gap in communication. Then, remembering Ian's earlier doctor's note, she suspected the issue might not be with her.
"I don't breathe fire."
Kara sighed helplessly.
"But I have a stove at home you can borrow." She offered the normal-person solution for needing fire.
With that said,
Kara led the way towards the elevator.
"Well, you need to practice then, Auntie. Breathing fire is way cooler than breathing water." Ian followed close behind, his relentless commentary starting to chip away at Supergirl's confidence.
"Wait, I don't spray water either... Can Clark breathe fire and water now? How'd he do that?" Kara turned back to look at the boy, suspicion and confusion warring on her face.
Truly, calling her airheaded Supergirl was not wrong by the audience back on Earth.
Ian had successfully steered her into the ditch.
"Persistent training? Train every day. Fifty million push-ups, fifty million sit-ups, fifty million weighted squats. I believe you can become the Calabash Brothers... I mean, breathe fire and water." Ian might dabble in small lies occasionally, but he firmly believed this was a well-intentioned white lie for family.
One must believe in the Kryptonian power of "idealism"!
Even without the Kryptonian Life Codex within her, achieving fire-breathing didn't require Kara to idealize herself into omnipotence.
Ian genuinely believed he'd see his aunt breathe fire or water someday!
At least one spray will do!
(T/N: If Ian was 18+ in the fic, I have zero doubt about the author making Supergirl "spray" water from other parts of her body)
"Persistent training? That actually works?" There were still doubts in Kara's mind, yet seeing Ian's dead-serious expression made her consider it seriously.
Ding~
Kara pressed the button and stepped into the elevator. Ian jogged in after her. Before she could press her floor button, he reached out and pressed it himself.
"I just moved! Is your father spying on me?" Kara threw her hands up, looking at Ian with utter astonishment.
"Have you thought about the possibility that the building manager could tell me your apartment number?" Ian remained emotionally calm, spreading his hands with a hint of confusion.
He felt his aunt was being overly sensitive.
"Uh..."
Kara looked slightly embarrassed. "I recall this building has strict management. The manager usually wouldn't disclose resident information to just anyone."
"Unless you bribed her, of course." She glanced pointedly at Ian's conspicuously empty pockets, doubting he had money for bribes.
"No bribe needed. The manager's just a young lady, you see." Ian's reply deepened Kara's confusion. She frowned, trying to connect this to how Ian got her info.
"Most women are quite kind. Just smile at them, and they become helpful. Auntie, didn't your dad teach you to be wary of that?"
"My dad taught me how to use that trick." Ian was smiling now – not the fake one from before, but a grin of deep appreciation for his father's life lessons passed down from generations.
"??????"
Kara's face was instantly plastered with question marks.
She desperately wanted to understand the sheer abstract nature of Clark's parenting.
"Tell me the travel money to get here from Metropolis... you didn't sweet-talk it out of some innocent girl, did you?" Kara thought of Ian's empty pockets and the distance between cities.
Ian's previous statements were so outrageous, deep suspicion was unavoidable.
"Of course not! How could I do such a thing?" Ian looked genuinely offended, frowning. He never considered himself the type to nibble on such small portions of 'soft rice'.
(T/N: Soft Rice usually means in CN fics like having a Sugar Mommy to support you... Ian doesn't like support for small stuff, he has Death as sugar mommy🥀)
"That's a relief."
Kara exhaled.
At least no innocent girls were conned by a scumbag.
"So, did you fly here yourself?" Kara seemed unaware of Ian's "adopted" status, her curiosity shifting to the extent of his awakened abilities.
"I took a car."
Ian shook his head, tnot being able to fly was a genuine shame for him. Though unlocking the profession brought by Homelander might fix that soon.
"A car? Hitchhiked?"
Kara took a guess. Dangerous for a kid, but a kid who catches bullets with his forehead seemed exempt from such worries.
"That was the plan initially. Then I encountered a highway robber." Just as Ian finished, the elevator stopped.
Ding~
The doors slid open.
Kara led Ian towards her apartment door.
"Sounds like you played the hero."
Supergirl finally detected a familial spark in Ian.
"Hero? Maybe."
Ian's vagueness piqued Kara's interest.
"You defeated the robber, saved the innocent, and the person you rescued drove you to National City?" Kara was worried Ian might have killed the robber.
However,
Her concern proved unnecessary.
"Nope."
Ian shook his head.
He strictly adhered to his rule: ordinary NPCs shouldn't interfere in Metropolis' daily incidents.
Therefore.
"I just drove off in the robber's car while he was busy robbing someone else." Ian answered honestly, a hint of nostalgia for the driving experience in his voice.
"?????"
Key in hand, ready to unlock the door, Kara froze in shock.
This was an outcome Kara had never imagined.
She prided herself on having experienced a lot.
Yet now,
Kara felt she was too young and naive.
"The car?"
She swallowed hard, needing to ask.
"Sold it to a tattooed black brother on the street."
Ian replied.
"The money? Even selling to a gang member, you should have gotten a few hundred bucks?" Kara was currently thinking about buying a used car herself, and was vaguely aware of car values, stared wide-eyed.
Naturally,
Ian's eyes widened even further.
"No way, Auntie! What kind of person do you take me for? A thief? Of course I mailed the money from selling the car to the robber! His ID and home address were in the car!"
"I am a law-abiding citizen of the United States!"
Ian couldn't believe his aunt would view him this way.
He now gained newfound sympathy for misunderstood blonde teens during their rebellious phases – dyeing your hair blonde doesn't automatically make you a gangster, maybe you just think it looks cool. Similarly, just because he drove off in a robber's car didn't mean he was robbing anyone!
Flawless logic!
"..."
Kara sank into prolonged silence.
A moment later.
"Ian, my nephew whom I've only just met today..." Kara took several deep breaths, forcing what she hoped resembled a loving aunt's smile onto her face.
Then,
"Do you want to learn about the Arkham Asylum?"
She offered her heartfelt advice to Ian in the gentlest tone possible.
~~
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