Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 13:05:08 -0000
From: Ann Douglas <ann_douglas@hotmail.com>
Subject: Lightning In The Night - 3

	Lightning In The Night
	by Ann Douglas
            (ann_douglas@hotmail.com)


Part  Three

	"Marvel Girl I assume," Supergirl said as
she took a step forward.
	"Not exactly," the girl in red laughed.
"but that's not a bad name when you think about
it.  I'm afraid the old Wizard, who's name I can't
say without bringing back the lightning, saddled
me with Mary Marvel instead."
	"Mary Marvel," Supergirl repeated, still a
little leery of all this.  "I supposed that makes you
Captain Marvel's girlfriend or something."
	"Not likely," came Mary's quick reply,
"since he's my brother if you really need to know."
	"I have heard of you," Supergirl said as
she recalled a few news stories she had read about
her counterpart.  Contrary to public belief, every
super powered person didn't automatically know
every other one.
	"I'm flattered," Mary smiled brightly.
"considering that I've really pretty much kept my
activities up to now confined to Fawcett City."
	"I've even seen pictures of you," Kara
went on as her total recall visualized the color
photographs that had accompanied the articles she
had read.  "I don't know why I didn't recognize
you."
	"That's easy to explain, well in a way it is,"
Mary said.  "Part of the magic the old wizard used
to give us our powers makes it impossible for
anyone to recognize Mary Marvel as Mary
Bromfield."
	 "Pretty handy."
	"Well it was either that or wear a mask, or
maybe even a wig."
	Kara smiled at the friendly barb.  She felt
herself reestablishing the sense of friendship she
had felt for Mary from the start and losing the
suspicions that had developed in the last hour.
	 "So you have the same powers as your
brother?" Supergirl asked, changing the subject.
	 "Basically the same abilities, but with
different patrons," Mary explained.  "Aside from
Minerva, who gives me wisdom, I derive grace,
strength and skill from the goddesses, Selena,
Hippolyta and Ariadne.  As well as fleetness from
Zephyrus and beauty from Aurora.  Personally, I
think the old wizard had to go far and wide to
come up with that bunch to explain my powers.  I
mean really, who ever heard of beauty and grace
as super powers."
	"I don't think that you needed that magic
lightning to have both of those," Supergirl said as
she stepped close to Mary.
	"Thank you," Mary said as she looked
into Kara's eyes, losing herself in their deep
blueness. "I could say the same about you.  That's
how I knew you know."
        "That's how you knew what?" Supergirl
inquired.
	"That you and Linda were the same
person," Mary explained.  "When I saw you at
S.T.A.R. Labs, I didn't need Minerva's wisdom to
know that no two women could ever have eyes
that beautiful."
	Of course," Kara exclaimed.  "S.T.A.R. Labs, the
broken coolant and fuel lines.  You made them safe."
	"I got there just as you went into the
reactor chamber.  I planned to leave before you
got back, but I couldn't resist the chance to
actually see Supergirl.  Now I'm so glad that I
did."
	"So what do we do now?" Kara asked.
	"How ... about ... this?" Mary suggested in
a slow, hesitant tone as she stepped close to the
girl in blue and red and kissed her, wrapping her
arms around the blond girl's neck.

	Few things took the Girl of Steel by
surprise, but Mary's kiss turned out to be one of
them.  The shock of it only lasted a moment as she
quickly found herself responding to the softness of
Mary's mouth against her own, the sweetness of
her tongue as she felt it pass between her lips.
The truth of the matter was, as Linda, she
had spent quite a bit of time wondering just how
this might feel.  It was just that she never expected
for this to happen in her costumed guise.
	"That was nice," Kara admitted as their
lips finally parted and Mary withdrew her tongue
from the Kryptonian's mouth.
	"Just nice?" Mary asked, making an
exaggerated pout.
	"Okay, that was more than nice."
	Mary's frown grew even more
pronounced.
	"Okay, it was fantastic," Supergirl finally
admitted.
	The grimace on the brunette's face
immediately blossomed into a broad smile.  A look
that was reflected on her counterpart's face as
well.
	"I'm glad to hear to say that," Mary
beamed, "cause I thought it was pretty fantastic
as well."
	"Which leaves us once again with the
question, where do we take this?" Kara replied.
	"Well  first off, I think maybe it might be a
good idea to take this discussion and anything else
someplace with a few less prying eyes," the girl in
red and white answered.
	Kara glanced beyond Mary at the not so
distant shore.  It would only take a high-powered
camera or telescope for anyone at the water's
edge to see the two of them and people who wore
costumes as they did tended to draw just that sort
of attention.  It really wouldn't do either of them
any good to have a front page photograph of the
two of them in a Sapphic embrace showing up in
half the world's tabloids.
	"A little privacy right now would be a
good idea," Supergirl agreed.
	"Then follow me," Mary Marvel said as
she jumped into the air and kept on going.
	Kara hesitated for a moment, taking in the
sight of her new friend's grace and beauty as she
soared upward.  Then in a powerful burst of her
own abilities, the long haired blond followed the
brunette up into the afternoon sky.

	It took only a half dozen heartbeats for
Kara to catch up to Mary.  Then together they
continued to fly upward until they leveled off at an
altitude where there was still enough air for the
two of them to communicate.
	They smiled and laughed as they headed
out over the Pacific, taking the time to just enjoy
the feel of the wind in their air and the unrestricted
sunlight on their faces.  They took turns following
each other through a series of airborne gymnastics
that earthbound humans could never imagine the
joy of.
	Coming together once more, Kara reached
out and took Mary's hand in hers, the strength of
their attraction to each other reflected in the
embrace of their fingers.  The Maid of Might
pulled the girl in red close to her and this time it
was she who initiated their kiss.
	Dancing in the empty air, the two women
shared an endless embrace, losing themselves in
the passion that had been building from the
moment they had met.  They were kindred spirits,
the opposite sides of the same coin.  Together they
filled the gaps in each other's soul.
	Drifting among the clouds, the two young
women continued to explore each other's charms.
Their hands loosened each other's clothing as first
gentle hands, then gentle lips, explored the now
exposed flesh.
	The more the two heroines got into each
other, the less they became aware of their
surroundings.  Normally, that wouldn't be much
of a problem seeing that they were drifting over a
vast and empty part of the Pacific Ocean.  The
odds of them encountering another person were
astronomical.  Yet, no matter how great the odds,
there is always that one chance, especially if that
one person is looking for one of them.

	"Excuse me," said the strong masculine voice of
the powerfully built man who had suddenly appeared
behind the two women.
	"Great Krypton!" Supergirl exclaimed as
she become aware of his presence, and then even
more so of their disheveled condition.
	"Oh shit!" Mary Marvel joined in as she
turned in mid-air and saw whom the man was.

	The new arrival stood six foot two and
weighted in at two hundred and fifteen pounds.
Clad in a red, white and gold outfit that mirrored
Mary's, the black haired man was know around
the globe as the World's Mightiest Mortal.  The
residents of Fawcett City knew him as simply
Captain Marvel.
	"Damn it, Billy, I told you before you have
to stop spying on me," an angry Mary Marvel
said as she adjusted her outfit, covering what had
so recently been made bare.  "What I do with my
personal life is none of your business."
	"Calm down, Sis," Captain Marvel said as
he tried not to notice Supergirl readjusting her
costume as well.  Of the two women, she had been the
most exposed.
	Marvel had met the Maid of Might a few
times before on Justice League missions.  They
even had lunch together once when Supergirl took
her cousin's place on monitor duty up in the JLA
Satellite.  That had been just prior to her affair with
Wonder Woman, at a time when she had considered
that if she couldn't have the Man
of Steel, then the World's Mightiest Mortal might
not be a bad second choice.
	It had only taken that one lunch to forever
dissuade her of that idea.  As many times as she
had jokingly referred to her cousin as the world's
oldest Boy Scout, it was very obvious that the
powerhouse across the table had been much more
deserving of that title.  It was a great pity, she had
thought at the time.  Ever curious, she had used
her x-ray vision to check out the good Captain
when he was in the shower.  While he wasn't any
J'Onn J'Onzz, he was quite nicely equipped.  From what
she observed of the exchange between Mary and her
brother, Billy hadn't changed very much.
	"All I wanted to do was make sure that
you knew that Freddie and I were going to be out
of the country for a while," the tall man said,
Freddie Freeman being Captain Marvel Junior.
"Believe me, I've given up trying to lecture you
on your behavior.  Why the Wizard hasn't taken
back the powers he gave you I'll never know."
	"Maybe he's smart enough to know that
everyone needs to get laid once and a while,"
Mary shot back.  "Even you!" she added in a
mocking tone.
	"I give up," the Big Red Cheese said,
throwing his powerful arms up in surrender and
starting to move away.  "But if you have to behave like
this, could you at least get out of that uniform and find
a room somewhere.  it's really embarrassing."
	Just before Captain Marvel moved out of
earshot, Mary managed to get in the final word.
	"If you hadn't interrupted, I would've
been out of this uniform soon enough!"

	Kara watched as Captain Marvel
disappeared from view.  She had remained silent
during the exchange, thinking it was the best thing
to do.
	"Well, that could've went better," Mary
said as she turned her attention back to her new
lover.
	"It's okay," Supergirl smiled as she considered
her own sometime acrimonious relationship with
Superman since she broke out of the 'little sister' image
he had created of her.  "I've had my own share of
problems with family."
	"Sometimes I have to keep reminding
myself that he's not even eighteen yet when he's just
Billy," Mary said.
	"He's what?" Supergirl said, sure that
she'd heard Mary wrong.
	"You didn't know?" Mary replied.
	"Mary, I almost fucked him once," a still
stunned Supergirl said.
	"Well it would've been his first," the
brunette grinned.
	Then she went on to explain how the old
Wizard who had given them all their powers had
selected a teenage boy to first have the powers of
Captain Marvel.  Unlike Mary and Freddie who
later shared those powers, Billy turned into a
fully-grown man when he transformed.
	"You're not underage or anything like that, are
you?" a cautious Kara asked.
	"Don't worry, love," Mary laughed.  "I'm
the same age before and after the lightning."
	"I just wanted to be sure," a relieved Kara
said.
	"But my stick-in the-mud brother might've
been right about one thing," Mary said as she
pointed out an airliner passing a few thousand feet
to the north of them.  "Maybe we should get a
room, or at least some place a little more private."
	Taking note of the plane, Kara considered
the idea that the way they were going at it prior to
the Captain's arrival, they might not have noticed
the aircraft if it had been three hundred feet away
rather than three thousand.  After all, they hadn't
heard Captain Marvel come up on the two of
them.
	"I guess you're right," Supergirl agreed.
"I would think there are a lot of beautiful
islands down there," Mary Marvel said as she looked
across the blue waters far beneath them.
	"I'd rather not go to one of them," Kara
said in a painful tone, remembering how she and
Susan Wienczorkowski had their own special
tropical island not all that far from where they
now floated.
	"Well I guess we could go back to the city
and try my apartment," Mary mused a little
disappointedly.  "Be just Linda Danvers and Mary
Bromfield.  Unless of course you know of some
place else, maybe some place special?  I think it
would have to be special, because I think you
really are just that."
	Supergirl took on a far away look for a
few moments, then her eyes lit up with an idea.
She again took Mary's hand in hers and began to
fly in a different direction.
	"I hope that outfit of yours is warm
enough," Kara said as they picked up speed.
	"If it's not, I'm sure you'll find a way to
keep me warm," a curious Mary replied.  "But
where are we going?"
	"North," was the Last Daughter of
Krypton's only reply.

	The deep blue of the ocean below them
began to pale as large ice formations filled the
waters.  Then the ocean disappeared completely
as frozen tundra stretched from horizon to
horizon.  Try as she could, Mary couldn't find an
identifiable landmark, or a clue as to where they
were going.  Kara, however, did seem to be
searching for something.
	"If I knew what you where looking for,
maybe I could help," Mary said.
	"We're almost there," Kara said as she
scanned the wasteland beneath her.  "in fact, it
should be just about ... there!"
	Mary looked to where Kara was pointing
and saw an immense golden key resting on the
side of a glacier.  As large as an apartment
building, someone would have to be a giant or
super-human to use something like that. Fortunately,
both of them qualified for the latter.
The appearance of the key brought forth the
question, what did the door it opened lead to?

	The answer came quickly enough with the
appearance of an equally gigantic and equally  golden
door built into the side of a glacier.  As they neared the
oversized portal, Mary could see that the keyhole itself
was large enough for them to fly through.  Kara took a
moment to mention that sophisticated sensors had
scanned the two of them as they passed into the
chamber within the icy mountain.  If those sensors
hadn't detected the presence of known Kryptonian DNA,
Mary would've now found herself in an energy field that
even she might be hard pressed to free herself from.

	"Oh my God!" Mary exclaimed as her
booted feet touched down on the highly polished
floor of the vast antechamber.  "it's like stepping
into another world."
	"That's as good a description as any,"
Kara said as she smiled at her guest.  "Welcome to
the Fortress of Solitude."
	Like many others who had read of the
exploits of the Cousins from Krypton over the
years, Mary had heard of the Fortress of Solitude.
It was a place of legend, Superman's retreat from
the pressures of being Earth's premier defender.
	"Would you like a little tour?" Kara
asked, certain of the answer.
	"Would I?"
	"Then follow me," came the reply.

	Mary's eyes opened in wonder as the two
women walked across the entryway.  The first
sight that greeted them was an oversized stature
of a young man and woman dressed in other
worldly garb.  Suspended above them between
their outstretched hands, was a large blue and
white globe that was definitely not Earth.
	"Jor-El and Lara," Kara said in response
to Mary's unasked question.  "Superman's
parents."
	"And the world between them would be
Krypton," Mary added.  "The world you were
born on."
	"I wasn't exactly born on Krypton," Kara
said.
	The statement confused Mary, until Kara told her
the tale of how a single small city had survived the
destruction of the planet Krypton.  Protected by an
environmental shield, the people of Argo City had not
only survived, they had actually prospered for a while.
Into this world, Kara had been born.
	One of the Children of the Apocalypse,
those born after the death of Krypton, the
daughter of Zor-El and Allura had grown to
young womanhood knowing only the small
remnant of her parent's world.  She had been
happy, she told Mary, as happy as any of her
generation could be.  That was until the night the
dreams died.  The night Argo City joined the
world of its origin as a world destroying meteor
shower shattered the protective shield.
	It was only the genius of her father, using
starship technology designed by his older brother,
which enabled Kara to live on past the destruction
of all she had known.  His brother's notes told him
of the world to which he had planned to send his
son.  To that distant planet, Zor-El had entrusted
his daughter as well.
	"That is such a sad story," Mary said, now
understanding much more of Kara's pain.
	"It's life," Supergirl shrugged.  "Either you
go forward, or you lay down and give up."

	They continued their tour as the Kryptonian
pointed out the communications array
as well as the massive computer system.  Both
were far more advanced than anything on Earth.
Equally impressive were the lab facilities and the
trophy room.  The three level complex lacked
either stairs or elevators, hardly an inconvenience
to either of them.  The top level were Superman's
private quarters, of which Kara told Mary that she
was sure she would understand that they weren't
part of the tour.
	"Of course that's understandable," Mary
said, although she did feel just a small bit of
disappointment.
	"I'm afraid my own apartment will have to
suffice," Supergirl smiled.  "it's not as grand, but
I think you'll find it has some amenities that you
wouldn't find in Kal's."

	Mary followed Kara down a long empty
corridor.  The red caped girl explained that soon
after he announced her existence to the world,
Superman had extended the Fortress to include an
annex for her use.  A place where she could go if
the pressures of trying to fit in got to be too
much.  The passageway slowly tilted upward,
giving Mary the impression that Kara's rooms
where situated even higher up in the mountainside
than Superman's.
	Finally they set down at the end of the
entryway and Mary was surprised to find a simple
double door.  With an audible click, Supergirl
turned the knob and opened the unlocked door.
	"Home sweet home," the blond laughed
as she pushed open both doors.
	Kara waited at the door as Mary stepped
inside.  Totally awed by the rest of the citadel, the
girl in red and white was surprised to find the
apartment not much different than she might have
found in an average luxury studio apartment.
	There was a large platform bed near the center
of the room, as well as a small library and living area, a
dining nook and even a kitchenette.  The only thing
that really looked out of place was the height of the
ceiling.  There was enough empty
space in the apartment to have put in another two
levels.
	"I hope you like it," Kara said.
	"It's lovely," Mary replied.
	"Why don't you make yourself comfortable
while I fix us something to eat," Kara suggested.
"After all, we never did get to lunch, did we?"
	"No, I guess we didn't," Mary agreed,
realizing that she was indeed hungry.
	"I'm afraid that it's not going to be
anywhere near what we would've had at Café
Marie," the Kryptonian said as she took two
packages from a stasis unit and put them into
what looked like a microwave type device.  "But I
think you'll like these."
	"TV Dinners," Mary thought as she
watched her hostess set the controls of the device.
	"A super advanced civilization and they still have
frozen foods.  I guess some things are just universal."

	In as long as it took for Mary to think
about it, the meals were ready.  As Kara carried
them to the table, the delightful aroma caught
Mary's attention.  If those things tasted half as
good as they smelled, she thought, they could put
Café Marie out of business.
	From another storage container, Kara
produced two chilled bottles of wine that looked
old enough to have graced the table of one of
Napoleon's Marshals.
	"While alcohol doesn't have any
detrimental effects on me," Kara said as she
poured each of them a glass, "I can still
appreciate the taste.  I found these bottles at the
bottom of the ocean in a British Frigate that had
been sunk by a French Man of War.  According to
the manifest, they were meant to grace the table of
the Duke of Wellington.  Instead, they get to
grace our table."
	Mary couldn't help but be impressed.  Like
Kara, she couldn't be effected by alcohol while a
Marvel, but she did enjoy a good wine.
	 "All of this is delicious," Mary said after
she had sampled both the wine and the repast.
	"I'm glad you liked it," Kara replied.  "I
wanted our first date together to be special."
	"Well you certainly succeeded."
	"Mind if I turn on some music?" Kara
asked.
	"Of course not."
	At the touch of a button on a small hand
held control that Kara had brought with her to the
table, soft harmonious tones fill the air.  Mary
couldn't really place it, it sounded like nothing she
had ever heard before.  All she knew was that she
liked it.
	"It's Kryptonian," Kara said as she saw
Mary trying to place the music.  "It was my
mother's favorite melody, and I guess mine too
since I always play it to think of her."
	"It certainly is beautiful," Mary
commented.  "I guess they were right when they
said that music and mathematics were the
universal languages."
	"Let's not forget love as well," Kara
added, raising her glass in a toast.
	"Of course," Mary said, duplicating Kara's
action.  "Love as well."

	They spent the rest of the meal drifting
from topic to topic, sometimes stopping for a
few moments just to gaze into each other's eyes.
The evening was going so perfect, that each
seemed afraid that something might ruin it.
	But of course nothing did.  The longer they spent
with each other, the more perfect it seemed to be.
Each found it so easy to talk to the other, sharing
secrets as if they had always been the best of friends.
	Like Kara, Mary's sexual awakening had occurred
before her assumption of super-powers.  Unlike Kara,
Mary's first lovers had been older women as she found
she preferred both their maturity and experience.  Also
unlike the Kryptonian, the younger heroine had quickly
come to the realize in her teen years that she had no
interest in men whatsoever.  In the most technical
definition of the term, the twenty-four year old was still
a virgin.
	Kara herself had recently begun to also come to
the conclusion that she preferred the company of a
woman.  At the same time, she didn't regret any of her
previous relationships with men.  Some of them had
been, and would always remain, quite memorable.
	If she was going to spend her life with a woman,
she said to herself, Mary could very well be that one.

	"That was really great," Mary smiled as
they finished the meal.  "The food was fantastic."
	"Not as much as the company," Kara added with
an even broader smile.
	 "I've been having so much fun it seems like this
day has lasted forever," said the brunette.
	"Well..." Kara replied as she cleared the
table.  "seeing as we're only a hundred or so miles
from the North Pole, I think you have quite a long
wait until this day actually ends."
	"My oh my, what will we ever do with all
that time?" Mary laughed.
	"I'm sure we can think of something,"
Kara said as she came up behind Mary's chair and
gently put her hands on the other heroine's
shoulders.
	"That feels nice," Mary said as she felt
Supergirl's powerful hands massage her muscles.
	"You know what would feel even nicer?"
Kara asked.
	"I could think of a few things," Mary
smiled as she closed her eyes to fully enjoy the
blonde's touch.
	"Not that," the Girl of Steel laughed softly.
"I was thinking more about how nice it would be
to dance with you."
	"That would be fun too," the girl in red
and white agreed.
	In response, Supergirl pressed another
button on her small remote and a more familiar
melody filled the air.  She put the control down on
the table and held out her hand to Mary.
	Hand in hand they walked to the center of
the large room.  Then, as Kara took Mary into her
arms, they began to move to the music.
	Their bodies swayed back and forth in time
to the soft cadence as they laughed and smiled.
The rhythm of the beat began to quicken, as did
their gyrations.  The dance quickly became an
almost erotic ballet, a physical expression of the
emotions gripping them both.  Soft touches and
gentle caresses passed between them, as well as
short, sweet kisses.
	With neither bound by the forces of
gravity, the phrase "dancing on air" quickly
became a literal rather than a fanciful description.
High into the empty space of the three-story room
they glided, their bodies continuing to move to the
music as well as the beat of the other's heart.
	Their lips met once more, and this time
they didn't part as easily.  Fervent tongues
explored the other's mouth, as equally enthusiastic
hands explored the firm flesh beneath their
costumes.
	"I've never felt this right being with anyone
before," Mary said in a breathless voice as they
finally broke their kiss.
	"I was just thinking almost the same
thing," Kara smiled back.
	"I want you so much," Mary went on.
"Not as Supergirl.  Not even as Kara Zor-El,
daughter of Krypton.  I just want you as a woman
in whose beautiful eyes I was lost from the
moment I looked into them."
	Without another word, Kara guided Mary
back to the ground level, touching down aside the
large bed.  Deft fingers undid the clasp holding
Mary's cape in place, letting the short cloak fall
from her shoulders to the floor below.
	Mary returned the gesture, as a mantle of
red covered the one of white.  Kara stroked her
dark brown hair, running her hand across her
tunic, caressing the breasts beneath.  They lips met
again as Mary's arms wrapped around Kara's neck.
	Together they fell onto the bed with Kara
on top.  The Girl of Steel slid her hand down
between Mary's legs and up under the gold
trimmed skirt of her costume.  A smile filled
Kara's face at the discovery that not only had her
fellow heroine not bothered with panties under her
outfit, the brunette's pussy was shaved bare as
well.
	"Oh yes," Mary moaned softly as she felt
Kara's hand stroke her womanhood.
	With her free hand, Kara pulled
Mary's blouse out from beneath her belt, giving
her just enough room to slide her hand under the
red material and cup the younger woman's breast.
	Mary moaned even louder as she shifted to
give Kara better access to her no longer hidden
charms.  With her fingers still manipulating the
sensitive hairless mound, the blond haired girl
pushed Mary's red shirt all the way up.  The
movement exposed her large breasts, covered now
by only the smallest of restraints.