Chapter Nine:

With a smile that seemed far more youthful than Jimmy had in twenty years, the redhead was completely awestruck. The figure he had been sure he'd never see again walked through his door, "Clark Kent! Where in the world have you been?!" He exclaimed.

Clambering to his feet Jimmy quickly limped around the desk and enveloped Clark in a tight embrace. Noticing Jimmy's difficulty Clark frowned for a moment before returning the hug with a smile.

"How have you been old friend?" Clark asked as they separated, he couldn't resist the toothy smile that appeared on his face.

"Ah, well pretty good actually. After the accident fifteen years ago, I had to give up fieldwork and Perry started to groom me to take over his position. So, here I am trying to live up to my predecessor and at the same time attempting to keep from taking on his personality traits... Though I've been told, it has become a fruitless endeavor at times.

Clark had to laugh at that, he had done a little research into his friends when he had arrived on earth a few weeks prior, surprisingly Clark found that Jimmy Olsen had become 'Editor in Chief' of The Daily Planet. He remembered the younger man well and he never thought he would be sitting in that chair one day. He recalled Jimmy was recognized publicly as 'Superman's Buddy' which in Clark's opinion never actually did Jimmy any favors.

He always had to keep a close eye or in this case an 'ear' out for his distress calls, in case someone threatened him. Clark would have preferred Jimmy safe, rather than popular any day of the week. Judging by the limp Jimmy was sported things took a turn for the worse after he left, Clark was already regretting not being there for his time of need. Remembering his state of mind after losing Lois, he knew he had dropped the ball, so to speak, but everything was a lot less important after her death. Internally sighing at his failure, he knew he had to move forward, there was nothing he could do about it now.

"So..." Jimmy hesitated a little before he continued to speak again, "Are you back? I mean for good?"

It had been hard on Jimmy when Clark had gone missing all those years ago, he had known about Clark's secret identity for many years and understood why he had to leave. He'd rather have Clark permanently back, not just for a day or a week, or even a few years Jimmy had learned a lesson about the people he chose to have in his life and family was very important and Clark was family.

Jimmy had married Lois's sister Lucy Lane, which also made Clark his brother in law. He had gone from 'Superman's buddy' to Superman's Brother-in-law much to his excitement. All at once, he had become extended family to a person the looked up to… to a hero. It wasn't long until the tragedy of losing Lois, that Clark suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth, literally. Even though he had his own children currently, he still longed to have Clark back in his life not just for him but for the entire world as well.

"Yeah, that's the plan..." Clark moved aside allowing Kara to enter the room behind him.

A surprised look flashed across Jimmy's features with something akin to suspicion. 'Was this Clark's new girl? She looks young.' Jimmy thought.

"Jimmy I'd like for you to meet Kara. She is... a family member of mine." Clark finished with slight hesitation.

Jimmy's aged face went through a series of emotions, surprise, confusion, back to surprise again then finally settled on a mixture of both. "Wait, on which side?" Jimmy said seeming bewildered.

"Biological." Clark smiled.

All of the time he had known Clark, it was apparent he had no relatives on either of this adoptive or biological parentage that was still alive. "So, who exactly and how..." Jimmy had been thrown through a loop.

"I found her on my travels..." Jimmy knew him well enough to understand what he meant at that moment which made his eyes widen at the implication.

"Ah! Really?! That's..." At a loss for words, Jimmy seemed like a fish choking on dry land for a second. Finding his voice, he exclaimed, "That's wonderful! How are you so young?"

Before she could answer, Clark, interjects on her behalf hoping to save her from the many questions, he knew Jimmy would have for her, "Cryogenically frozen." Clark concluded.

Impossibly Jimmy's eyes widened even further. Switching his focus back to Clark, Jimmy shook his head in exasperation, "We have a lot to talk about."

"We do Jim, how is Lucy?" Clark asked switching subjects.

A wry smile appeared on his face. Clark instantly understood why Jimmy showed that expression on the red head's face. It was because Jimmy wasn't the one that wore the pants in the family.

Many people expected Lois and Clark to have a similar relationship, but he and his late wife had a completely different dynamic that Jimmy and Lucy. But their relationship dynamic seemed to work for them. Although, it wasn't Clark's place to judge… Clark still found it funny, Jimmy's expression brought another smile to his face which was a large change to the stoic one he had been sporting recently.

"We are doing good, actually our youngest has just started interning here… You know! We should let the kids hang out while we old men catch up!" Jimmy exclaimed as if he had thought of the most amazing idea in the world.

"Hmm, I don't know. Kara is new here…" But before Clark finished speaking, he was interrupted by Kara.

"Oh, please Clark! It would be really nice. I would like a chance to look around I won't do anything… not normal. It can be just for a little while?" Looking at the blonde's baby blues made him give in instantly.

"Alright…" Clark started again but was instantly interrupted by Jimmy this time.

"Great!" Pushing buttons on a device on his wrist Jimmy spoke, "Danny, come in my office for a second. I'd like you to meet someone." Jimmy was almost as excited as Kara was, which seemed normal in Clark's eyes, but as the young redhead 'Danny' walked into the room the scene seemed to be so startling that he froze mid-step.

"Danny meet your uncle Clark Kent, and his… cousin, Kara? I'm sorry I didn't catch your last name." Jimmy said with the same smile he had since Clark walked into the door.

"Oh, its Zor-El…" Kara started to say while Clark spoke at the same time, "Kent…" Looking at each other in surprise, they both smiled lightly in response.

"Ah, Okay no worries. Come and say Hi, boy." Jimmy acted a little differently with his son than with Clark, Kara observed. It seemed like Jimmy acted a certain way around his son for some reason.

"Hello..." Danny said sounding unsure.

Danny was about as tall as Kara, (five' nine or ten) with flaming red hair which was similar to his fathers had a smaller build but seemed to have a serious expression on his face.

Being the gentlemen that he was, Clark stepped forward and shook Danny's hand with a firm grip, "Nice to meet you, son. I've known your father for a very long time. This is my family member, Kara. I'd like to catch up with Jimmy here, do you think you can show her around?"

Feeling a little frustrated at how Clark was approaching this Kara said, "Hey, don't make it sound like a chore or something! I'm not a pariah!" Much to her dismay, she sounded like she was sulking!

"Uh, sure," Danny said quickly looking at the two skeptically but the light in Danny's eyes told a different story. 'This was helping him in some way.' She decided.

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Stepping back into the elevator Kara watched Danny with an appraising eye. His hair was red with a light mar of freckles across his nose, he wasn't tall he seemed sturdy and reliable though contractually standoffish.

He was the first boy she had met since she woke up again and she was interested in what people their age did on this planet. But the more she watched him the more it seemed like his face looked like he tasted something sour.

Sighing Danny said, "Kara, was your name, right?"

Raising her eyebrows at his tone she nodded in response. 'How have I offended this guy?' She wondered.

"I plan on being an investigative reporter, like Lois Lane. She was an aunt of mine that died when I was just a small child, but growing up and reading about some of the things she accomplished in her time as a reporter... I've learned that if you want a story, it will never just fall into your lap." Danny paused for a second giving Kara to ask her question.

"Okay, so what are you trying to say... you don't want to hang out or..."

Scowling, Danny shook his head, "No what I mean is, if you can't keep up then stay to the side. because I'm going to investigate the conflict between 'Intergang and Jokerz'. I want to write a story on what's really going on between these two rivals. Whatever is happening it's something big and I want to break it wide open."

"...Alright, but how. I heard that there are no current leads on this case." She wasn't really telling the truth. Kara guessed if Jimmy had an actual clue to this case, then he wouldn't have an intern working on it.

Danny gave her a smirk that piqued her interest a little, "Well that's true, but the other reports don't have this!" Pulling out a round coin, Danny showed it to Kara proudly as if the small piece of metal explained everything.

It didn't. In fact, Kara was even more disappointed than when she thought she was going to walk around the city for a bit doing nothing.

Sensing her lack of excitement Danny explained, "Okay, I get you don't understand so just listen. This coin is a game token, it was dropped at a recent robbery at Star Labs. After the investigation, it turns out it was Intergang that were the culprits of the theft. I happened across the coin after he arrived on the scene when I brought it to the detective… he dismissed the coin altogether! But what I know that apparently, no one else is working on this angle. Meaning, this little unimpressive coin is actually the lead to breaking open the whole case!"

Thankfully the elevator doors opened at that moment giving Kara a period of time before responding. Weighing the options, she came to a conclusion. It wouldn't really hurt to go on the investigation with him. If Danny was wrong then they would spend their day at a few game rooms. Kara wouldn't miss out on anything, but if he was right, then she would be able to shut down a gang saving people.

It was all a win to her.

Smiling widely, Kara turned around to face Danny as they turned around a corner from 'The Daily Planet' Once she felt she was far enough away she replied, "Okay! So how do we begin?"