DISCLAIMER: None of these characters are mine. This story's villian (er, villianess) was loosely based on a villian in the Animated Series called Live Wire. She is not mine, the characters are not mine - just the story idea is mine. Please don't sue! I'm just a poor college student!
- - - -
The elevator pinged before the doors opened, and Linda stepped out into the News Room. She was dressed in black, Italian leather boots, black pants, and a plum wool sweater. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, there were gold studs on her ears, and she was wearing a little makeup. She stood on the little alcove near the elevators and scanned the area, looking for Clark. She couldn’t see him out in the open, so she used her X-ray vision and scanned the other rooms.
“Hey, Linda,” Jimmy said as he walked up to her, smiling. He was holding some papers.
Linda looked startled as she focused on her regular vision again, blushing as Jimmy approached. “Hi, Jimmy,” she replied nervously, smiling shyly. “Is, um, Clark here? I need to talk with him.”
“No, he and Lois are out on assignment.” She looked a little disappointed. “You okay?”
“Well, I guess it’s no secret that Clark and I have been fighting.”
“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “He was pretty steamed at you this morning. Said you were ungrateful.”
“I am *not* ungrateful,” she said loudly, startling the young man. She sighed. “Sorry, Jimmy. I’m not mad at you.”
“I know,” Jimmy replied. He gave her a smile. “I don’t think you’re ungrateful.”
She smiled at him. “Thanks.”
Jimmy chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. “I mean, uh, I see where you’re coming from, really. You hate being treated like a little kid. I’d hate to be treated like a little kid myself.”
“Exactly!” Linda smiled brightly. “I mean, when I agreed to move in with Clark and Lois, he’d said we’d be partners, equals. And I’ve tried to understand where he’s coming from, you know, because I’m the only family he’s got, but it’s really hard to be understanding when he’s treating you like you -” She stopped and looked up at Jimmy’s odd expression. “Um . . . like you were born yesterday.”
“Yeah, I hear you,” Jimmy replied slowly. “You ever thought about moving out? Getting a place of your own?”
Linda snorted. “Believe me, I want to. But I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because . . . I don’t have any money,” Linda answered.
“Well, you could get a job.”
Linda sighed. She wanted to get a job, do something besides stay inside or go flying all day, but she knew that was impossible. She had already asked Clark and Lois if it was possible for her to have one, but not having a life on Earth made it difficult. She was different, and that would never change, but she knew she couldn’t tell Jimmy that. “Jimmy,” she said, “I can’t get a job, okay? And just, please, leave it at that.”
“Okay,” Jimmy replied. “Uh, you know, if you want to wait for Clark to return, you’re more than welcome to stay at his desk. Or Lois’, if you want.”
Linda smiled, patting Jimmy’s shoulder. “Thanks.” The two walked together down the steps toward Clark’s desk. “So, what are they working on this time?”
“The new freak of the week,” Jimmy replied. “That Traci Jones character.”
“She was the one struck by lightning last night, right?”
“Yeah. She broke out of her hospital room by frying her doctor, a nurse, and a security guard.”
Linda stopped and looked at him. “How?”
“People say they saw her shoot bolts of lightning out of her hands.”
The young woman continued walking to her cousin’s desk. She sat down in his chair, furrowing her eyebrows. “But that wouldn’t normally happen when electricity passes through a person,” she said quietly. She looked up. “Is anyone looking for Miss Jones?”
“Tons of people,” Jimmy replied. “I bet even Superman and Supergirl.” He held up some papers. “Uh, hey, I gotta run these by the Chief. I’ll be right back.” He hurried to Perry’s office, leaving Linda to ponder the physics of electricity and human beings.
“Linda?”
The young woman looked up, startled, and saw Perry standing next to her. She quickly got to her feet. “Yes, Mr. White?” she asked.
“May I see you in my office for a few moments?”
Linda looked a little nervous. “Is there a problem? Did I come at a bad time?”
“No, I just want to talk with you.” He gently pushed her towards his office and shut the door behind him. He glanced out and saw Jimmy grinning at him before walking to his desk.
- - - -
“So, what can you tell us about her blood?” Clark asked. He and Lois watched Dr. Klein looking through a microscope.
“Not much, yet,” Klein replied. “We’re still in the process of analyzing it, using every test we have. However, from what I’ve been told by the police and you two is that it seems as if Miss Jones’ body has somehow managed to harness the electricity from the lightning bolt and use it at will.”
“Any guesses as to how that happened?” Lois asked. “I mean, people who get struck by lightning don’t usually have the ability to shoot lightning bolts from their hands.”
“Miss Lane, I have no idea how that happened. I need more time to figure it out.” He noticed that Clark was looking at the star charts. “Oh, those were for Supergirl, Mr. Kent. She was here earlier.”
“What did she want?” Clark asked, turning around.
“She was checking on the status of the difference in her powers versus Superman’s. I haven’t been able to fully tell her exactly how they differ, but we both have a theory as to how it happened.” He shrugged. “Course, to be honest, I think she really wanted someone to talk to about Superman.” The reporters eyed each other.
“What about Superman?” Lois asked.
“Oh, they’re still having their disagreements. Not sure if you’ve noticed. Anyway, she wanted to know if she was really as ungrateful as she says Superman believes her to be.”
“And?” Clark pressed.
“Well, I told her the best thing she could do would be to talk with Superman about how she feels.”
“Well, believe me, I’ve tried,” Clark muttered.
“Excuse me?” Klein asked.
“Uh, nothing,” Lois answered quickly. “Dr. Klein, will you tell us more about your theory on Supergirl’s powers?”
“Sure,” Klein replied. He got up from his table and walked over to the star charts.
(End of Part 3)
