Beads of cold sweat ran down Susan Wienczorkowski’s neck as she carefully navigated the long dark and empty warehouse corridor. Clad in lightweight body armor, the newest addition to the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit looked like one of the troopers from Star Wars. Close behind her followed a similarly clad associate.

“Wienczorkowski ... west corridor clear.” she said into her helmet’s comlink.

With a nod she motioned for her partner, Sergeant Mike Robinson to cover her as she dashed across the open space. The tall black man swung his high powered rifle left to right as Wienczorkowski surged forward until she flattened against the far wall.

An anonymous tip had revealed one of the last Intergang hideaways. The statement that they were about to bolt from their hideaway had sent the strike force racing to Suicide Slums to intercept them before they did. If they could take down this last group, it would complete the war against Intergang that started a year before when Clark Kent of the Daily Planet had written an series of inside articles that had blown the lid off the organization. Those and Superman’s destruction of most of their heavy equipment in earlier raids had whittled the once feared organization down to this last remnant.

“I wish Superman were here with us.” Sergeant Robinson whispered to his partner as he moved up alongside her. “Intergang has too much of a track record of coming up with unexpected surprises.”

The lower ranked officer nodded her agreement. Before leaving headquarters, a call had gone out for Superman on the radio band they always used, but no response had come. A hero with responsibilities the world over, and sometimes even beyond that, the Metropolis Police Force couldn’t always depend on his being there.

“Looks like it’s up to us.” she added as she took a step forward.

Although a newcomer to the SCU, Susan Wienczorkowski had almost ten years of training to fall back on. Eight in the United States Army and the last two on the Metropolis Police Force. Normally, an officer had to be on the force at least five years before even applying for the crack unit, but in Susan’s case they were more than happy to make an exception. She was that good.

Prior to leaving the Army, Susan was well on her way to becoming the first female member of Delta Force - the Army’s elite counter-terrorist unit. It had all come down to one final test when she’d removed her application and resigned instead. A rumor of lesbianism had surfaced and rather than deny it or hide behind the military’s rather ridiculous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, Susan had simply said it was true and let the chips fall where they may.

It was Inspector Maggie Sawyer herself, the commander of the SCU that had recruited her for the squad. The fact that Maggie, an open lesbian, was stretching the rules for another lesbian led a lot of ignorant people to wonder if the SCU was all she’d recruited her for. Of course no one who actually knew either woman would ever think such a thing.

With a skill honed though long hours of practice, Susan duplicated Jerry Robinson’s actions of a few moments before as they cleared the last corridor. Just ahead of them was an open courtyard.

Suddenly, the sound of gunfire erupted from their comlinks, followed by a series of loud, hurried commands. The echoes in the courtyard made it hard to tell from which direction the automatic weapons fire was coming from.

Susan looked at Mike Robinson for instructions and he just shook his hand. Whoever was involved in the firefight would call for help if they needed it. Meanwhile, their orders were to cut off any exit from the building.

In a flash of motion, two dark suited figured bolted from another doorway and out into the courtyard. Full speed they heading for the kid’s playground beyond. Instantly, Robinson and Wienczorkowski took off after them.

“Police Officers!” Robinson yelled at the top of his lungs. “Drop your weapons!”

As one, the two men turned and aimed two rifles the like of which neither officer had ever seen. With Intergang, there was no second warning. Both of the SCU members opened fire, dropping them where they stood. It was all over in seconds.

In their comlinks they could already hear the graveled voice of “Terrible Dan” Turpin yelling out the all clear. The battle was already over.

Securing the weapons of the two gang members, Robinson turned to say something but was cut off by a loud crack that ripped though the air. His body arched backward, bullet holes stitched across his chest. Training took over as Susan ignored her partner, praying at the same time that this body armor was all it was supposed to me, and whirled in the direction of the shots.

“Raise that weapons and you’re dead!” the woman standing twenty feet across the yard said as she aimed the small machine pistol right at Officer Wienczorkowski’s head. “Actually, you’re dead anyway.” she laughingly added as she applied pressure to the trigger.

In that split second, a half dozen options raced through Susan’s minds. They all ended the same way, with her bloodied corpse laying next to her partner.

With resignation she closed her eyes and hoped the end would be instantaneous. The short deafening sound as the machine pistol’s magazine emptied filled the air as the Intergang member sent a stream of copper jacketed death through the air.

A second passed, then two and Susan opened her eyes, amazed to still be alive. The sight in front of her caused them to open even wider.

The figure that now stood between her and the Intergang Assassin stood 5’7” and weighed about 120 lbs. She had long straight blonde hair that ran down behind a bright red cape. A tight form fitting blue shirt topped a red skirt and matching red boots. Situated across her rounded breasts was an irregular red and yellow pentagon with a stylized “S” in it.

“Supergirl.” Susan mouthed wordlessly in relief as she saw the small mashed slugs lying at the Krytonian’s feet.

“I suggest you drop the weapon and surrender.” the costumed woman said in a quiet voice that concealed the awesome power behind it.

“Fuck you, bitch!” the Interganger yelled as she slammed a second clip into her pistol and brought it up and pulled the trigger.

Faster that the eye could follow, Supergirl surged forward and disarmed the killer. She grabbed the weapon and effortlessly crushed it in her bare hand. Dropping the now twisted and useless metal to the ground, she grabber the Interganger by her blouse and lifted her off the ground.

“That ... was a mistake.” the blonde haired girl said in a slow, powerful tone.

Whatever might have followed was interrupted by the appearance of the rest of the SCU, led by Maggie Sawyer herself. They fanned out and covered the yard. Turpin instantly moved to Susan who was now kneeling by Robinson’s side and trying to undo his body armor.

“It’s my fault, Inspector.” she said, “I should’ve seen her come up behind us.”

“No one expects you to see everything.” Dan Turpin said in a reassuring tone. “It’s just as much our fault for letting her get past us.”

A low moan from the unconscious Sergeant brought a smile to Susan’s face as she realized that he was alive.

“His chest armor took most of the impacts.” Supergirl said as appeared behind the two kneeling officers. “The only two bullets that hit him seem to have done only superficial damage.” she added as she did a quick x-ray scan.

“Thank God.” Susan said as paramedics appeared from the direction of the playground and immediately went to work on the fallen officer.

Susan stood and watched the paramedics until they gave her a thumbs up indicating that Supergirl’s prognosis was right on the money. Then they loaded him onto a stretcher for the quick trip to Metropolis General. As the ambulance disappeared in the distance, she wished she could’ve gone with him but duty required her to be here. It would be different if he were still in danger. First she had to take a second look at what had happened and how she could’ve prevented it.

As her body finally came down from her combat high, Susan had the time to take a second, better look at the Girl of Steel who was engaged in conversation with Inspectors Sawyer and Turpin.

Age wise, she looked to be about 20 years old. She had blue eyes and was pretty in that all American girl way. Only she wasn’t the girl next store, unless the girl next store came from another solar system. Her body had the physique of a moderately athletic young woman, not what you really expected from someone who could bench press a diesel locomotive.

Supergirl finished her discussion with the senior officers and was about to leave when Susan asked if she could talk to her for a moment.

“Oh course.” she cheerfully replied.

“I just wanted to thank you for saving my life.” Susan said as she realized that she was still wearing her helmet and visor and reached up to take it off.

“You don’t have to thank me.” Supergirl said as she looked into Susan’s dark green eyes. “You and the other officers are the real heroes here. Body armor not withstanding, you’re the ones risking your lives.”

“Be that as it may, I still want to say it.” Susan said as she ran her hand through her short red hair, restoring a little of the body that the helmet had flattened out. “And I was wondering if I could maybe buy you lunch or something in appreciation, I mean you do eat, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.” Supergirl answered with a smile. “But I’m afraid my schedule doesn’t allow me too many luxuries like that. I do appreciate the offer though. Now of you’ll excuse me.”

“Shit, that was stupid!” Susan said to herself as she watched the blue and red clad woman take to the sky. “Asking to take her out to lunch. I bet she thought I was making a pass at her.”

The offer had been both genuine and made on such a spur of the moment, Susan hadn’t taken the time to considered the implications. Her self-incrimination might’ve been much less severe if she could’ve seen the Girl of Steel pause in flight some thousand feet up and use her telescopic vision to take a second longer look at the red-haired officer.

The afternoon passed quickly for Supergirl as over the next few hours she twice assisted the Metropolis Fire Department, located a lost child in Centennial Park and apprehended four members of the Police Departments most wanted list. All in all, it hadn’t been a bad day.

“I guess I’ll have something to show cousin Kal when he gets back from his Justice League mission.” Supergirl thought as she flew low over the city, her long hair blowing in the wind. “Another day of this, then it’s back to the west coast.”

Coming in low over the East River Bridge, Supergirl came to a landing on the north tower. Far below her, the evening rush hour was just beginning as the bridge filled with an endless stream of cars heading out of the city. Sitting on the edge, her long slender legs dangling in the air, Supergirl envied the normal people as they began the journey home. At least they had someone to go home to. Where did she have to go? At best, she had the keys to her cousin’s apartment if she wanted a place to sleep.

Glancing upward, she could see the first stars appearing in the early evening sky. It would be a few hours before it was dark enough for the rest of the city to see them. The stars were beautiful, but they weren’t the stars of home. Those stars existed only in memory. If she closed her eyes and concentrated, she could still see them filling the night sky of her youth.

“I love you, Kara.” Jan-La whispered to the young blonde girl as he kissed her once more.

“I love you too, Jan.” Kara said as she returned the kiss.

“Then why wait?” the young 16 year old asked. “Who knows what tomorrow will bring?”

Their conversation was a familiar one. One which young men and woman had been having since the dawn of civilization. They’d reached the point in their lives where the lust and impatience of youth battled with the responsibilities of impending adulthood.

“My day of ascension is only two months away. After that we’ll be adults.” Kara stated. “Can’t you wait until then?”

“Two months can be a lifetime.” Jan said. “We should live every day as if it’s our last.” he insisted.

When her mother was her age, Kara thought, Jan’s words would just be the same argument that men had always used. But for her generation, they held a far different meaning. They were the Children of the Apocalypse - the generation born after the end of the world. Every day could be their last.

It’d been over ten years since that cataclysmic night that the planet Krypton had died in thermonuclear fury. The core of the planet had always been unstable and a population that prided itself on its intelligence had turned its back on the words of warning. One of the most prominent had been that of Jor-El. He had been Kara’s uncle.

One of the rising young stars of the Science Council, he had tried to rally people to a space ark project to save at least some of the populous. But space flight had never been a popular endeavor on Krypton. The official space program had been all but abandoned after a missile test had gone so totally wrong and destroyed the small moon Wegthor.

Wegthor had been the site of an ambitious attempt to colonize one of Krypton’s natural satellites, and 1500 astronauts had died with it. Because of this, too few believed Jor-El and billions had met the same fate as those 1500.

Argo City, Kara’s home, had been the prototype for the Wegthor Colony. A planet bound space station, it had continued as the most advanced research and development center on the planet. Even the air that filled their lungs was filtered and reprocessed under a clear plasti-steel dome that covered the small community. One of the members of the Board of Directors of Argo City was Jor-El’s younger brother, Zor-El. Convinced that his brother was right, Zor had kept up to date on his brother’s star drive research and hoped to incorporate those designs into Argo City itself.

Time had run out however and on a warm summer’s night - Krypton and the dreams of nine billion souls had died. In a hundred billion to one accident of fate, the land that Argo City had been built on had been blasted whole into space. A third of the population had been killed during that rapid launch into the void, but more importantly, the city had survived relatively intact.

A space station with no means of propulsion, Argo City became a lifeboat for the last of the Kryptonian race. Actually, the last save one. The automatic systems in Zor-El’s lab had recorded the launch of one of Jor-El’s prototype starcraft an hour before the planet’s last gasp. Zor remembered his older brother telling him that if it came down to the end, he would send his infant son into space on the last test ship. Better a chance at life than certain death. Examining the flight path which his own computers had recorded as part of their link with his brother’s, Zor wished his nephew godspeed.

Eventually, life settled down to the closest they would ever come to normal. In the shielded sky, the glow of the radioactive rubble that was once their homeworld joined the gigantic red star to give the night an eternal twilight glow. Life went forward, and Zor-El continued his brother’s experiments on the star-drive. Work was agonizingly slow for he lacked the data on Jor-El’s final breakthrough, but one had to have a dream to keep yourself going. Then, a year and a half into their odyssey, Zor-El’s wife Allura presented him with another reason for living - a daughter.

“Kara?” Jan asked as he looked into her blue eyes.

Kara pulled back from the young man she loved. She reached up to the zipper of her green jumpsuit and pulled it all the way down, exposing her firm young breasts - the envy of many of her friends. Jan buried his face between her mounds and covered them with kisses.

The rest of the jumpsuit followed and Jan ran his hands up and down the length of her body. Again and again he returned to the bright pink nipples that capped each breast, tickling each with his tongue. From her playful encounters with a few of her girlfriends, Kara knew how enjoyable that particular action could be.

“One of us is overdressed.” Kara noted as she shifted on the carpeted floor.

Jan stood up for a moment and divested himself of his own red jumpsuit. Kara watched in fascinated as his hard cock popped into view, the first she’d ever seen outside of a medical textbook. Hesitantly, the young woman reached out and ran her fingers across it, bringing a loud sigh from his lips.

“Rao, that feels nice.” Jan gasped.

She cupped his balls with her other hand and rubbed up and down. Jan leaned back and closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation. She’d come this far, she told herself, she wasn’t going to turn back now.

The naked blonde bent over and took his erection into her mouth as she had seen in one of the underground texts her friends had circulated. The effect on Jan was immediate and pronounced. A sudden pressure swelled up from his balls and he thought he was about to explode at her touch. Thankfully he regained enough control as to not embarrass himself.

“Mmmm.” Kara murmured as her lips slid up and down her lovers cock. She was surprised she liked the feel of it in her mouth. Listening to her friend Zara describe the sensation she thought she would hate it.

Up and down she went, playing with his balls at the same time. Jan had shifted his position enough to run his fingers across the small blonde bush between her legs. With a practiced skill that made Kara wondered where he acquired it, Jan found her stubby clit and began to stroke it in time with the movement of her head.

As he continued to rub her sexual center, Jan slid two fingers inside of her, continuing the rhythm he’d established. Letting his hard cock slip from her mouth, Kara let out a series of quiet moans that were music to Jan’s ears.

Now it was Kara’s turn to lean back and enjoy the attention. By this time Jan had three fingers inside of her and had replaced the finger on her nub with his tongue. Round and round he swirled, causing tiny sparks to shoot through Kara. Then he extended his radius and began to slide his tongue up and down the length of her now wet pussy.

“That is so nice.” Kara said, meaning every word of it. Neither her own hand or Zara’s attempts during sex play had been as enjoyable.

“Jan, I want you inside me.” Kara said passionately. “I want to love you.”

Jan paused and looked up into her blue eyes. Up until this point, everything they’d done could be explained away as youthful liberties. Now that they were there, he had the slightest bit of hesitation.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes, more than I’ve ever been sure of anything.”

Jan moved up and kissed her softly, easing Kara down to the floor as he did. He parted her legs with his free hand and pressed his cock against her moist hole.

Kara helped guide him into her, not that he needed it. She let out a small gasp as she felt his cockhead push aside the outer walls of her pussy. Jan echoed the soft moans as he felt those walls wrap around his hard flesh. It was such a tight fit that he was almost hesitant to push forward, afraid that he would hurt her.

“I’m not afraid.” Kara said as she kissed his ear.

She lifted her ass off the floor as he pushed and seemed to pull him even deeper. Kara felt a sudden pressure against her maidenhood and in a flash of pain surrendered her childhood forever.

The barrier gone, Jan began to slide in and out of her, sending oscillating waves of pleasure radiating outward from her sexual core. Waves that became more frequent and intensive with each additional thrust.

It wasn’t long before the two were matched in a perfect rhythm. Each thrust being met by that of the other. Tiny droplets of sweat covered the warm flesh of each of them as they lost themselves more and more in their sexual joining. Eventually, they weren’t even aware of the rapid beating of their hearts or the short shallow breaths that accompanied it.

The room that surrounded them quickly became a blur, no longer part of their existence. For a brief moment in time, they had transcended their place in reality. They were among the stars, constellations in the heavens.

A sudden fear filled Kara’s heart. Not the fear that childhood was gone, but a sudden terrifying premonition that she’d never know this moment again. That somehow, her very reality was about to forever change.

Wrapping her legs around him, she pulled him deeper inside her, afraid to let him go. Every stroke of his body was met with an even more frenzied thrust of her own. She couldn’t catch her breath, couldn’t even tell if her heart was still beating. Yet still she drove on and on. If this was to be the last moment of her life, she wanted it to be the moment that she should’ve had so long ago.

Kara wasn’t even aware that she had screamed, only that her body was quaking with abandon and her mind was filled with a longing she’s never known.

Past and present collided with an uncertain future, ripping her body apart from deep within. It was like she was floating, every nerve of her body alive with euphoric joy. As if every day of her brief life up to now were but a prelude to this one perfect moment.

It took a few moments for the two lovers to refocus their attentions to the world around them. When they finally did, they became abruptly aware of the sirens piercing the night air. Kara jumped up and looked out the window to see people running in the streets and lights coming on all over the city.

“Something’s happened!” she exclaimed as she grabbed her coveralls off the floor and quickly put them on.

“Kara ... I ... I love you.” Jan said as he dressed as well.

“I love you too, Jan.” she responded as she gave him a quick kiss. “I have to get home, let my father know I’m OK.”

“I understand.” Jan said as he gave her a second kiss. “Meet me tomorrow morning?” he asked.

“Of course!” she said as she ran out the door.

As Kara raced through the streets across the five blocks to her parent’s home, she saw a look of fear and horror on every face she passed. The peaceful acceptance of life among the void had been suddenly torn asunder.

“Father!” Kara had called as she ran into their quarters.

“Kara, thank Rao you’re home.” Zor-El said, a look of pain on his face that Kara hadn’t seen since the night her mother had died.

“What’s happened?” she asked.

“Our time has run out, my child.” he said with a tone of defeat. “Krypton’s long shadow has caught up to us.”

It took her father a few minutes to explain that Krypton’s destruction had sent hundreds of thousands of asteroid fragments across the solar system. It was on one such fragment that Argo City rested. What had happened was that the city’s long range sensors had discovered a shower of such fragments on a collision course with the city. Projected impact was in less than ten hours.

“What can we do?” Kara asked as the enormity of it all sank in.

“There’s nothing we can do.” the city’s leading scientist said in resignation. “I can’t change the laws of matter and motion.”

“The star drive.” Kara said, trying to keep hope alive in her heart.

“It’s nowhere near ready.” her father said. “I’ve only run trials with the...”

A light of inspiration suddenly filled his eyes. A chance to snatch life from death as his brother had done years before.

“The prototype, the drive is already installed on the test ship.” he exclaimed. “It can carry one passenger ... you Kara.” “No, I won’t leave.” Kara protested.

“There’s no time to argue.” Zor-El said in a final tone. “It’ll have to launch in the next three hours, before the smaller fragments enter Argo’s orbital sphere. They’re too small to damage the city but any one of them could be disastrous to the starcraft.”

Kara’s mind began to spin, too much was happening too fast. To many changes to her life. She needed time to sort it all out - time she didn’t have.

Before she knew it, her father had finished programming the navigational computers on the prototype with the flight plan he’d recorded so many years before. With it, his daughter would follow Jor-El’s son to Earth.

“Ready.” he announced. “We should launch as soon as we can. I’d like to think better of our fellows, but the end will do strange things to people.”

“Father, I...”

“I love you too.” Zor-El said, an eerie calm passing across his face. “And your mother loved you so much. May her spirit guide you to your new home.”

Kara stepped into the ship, unable to think that all she knew was fading with each passing second. Images flashed across her eyes ... friends who would never see the morning dawn. Jil, Zara, Jan...

“Oh Jan, I don’t want to leave you.” she said to herself as tears ran down her face. “Father, I can’t...”

The words were never finished as Zor-El took a deep breath and hit the launch button. Kara’s tears were reflected in his own eyes.

“Noooo!” Kara screamed as she hurdled up and into the endless night.

“Damn, I promised I was going to stop doing that.” Supergirl said to herself as she opened her eyes and looked into the setting golden orb. “I can’t keep living in the past.”

She pushed herself off the stone edge and dropped a hundred feet before she arched her flight path and glided over the mile long string of automobiles.

“Might as well give them something to tell the wife and kids about when they get home tonight.” Supergirl said to herself as she waved to a few of the motorists.

For a moment, the waves and cheers she got back made her feel a little better. At least some people appreciated the difference she tried to make.

“What I need is to wind down a little.” she said to herself “To take the cape off for a while.”

With that in mind, she flew high into the sky in search of distraction.

“Phone call for you Wienczorkowski.” Officer Murphy called from across the room. “Line four.”

Susan Wienczorkowski sighed as she reached for the receiver. She was never going to get out of here tonight. After spending two hours at the shooting scene with an incident team, she’d gone to the hospital to check on Robinson.

He was still under anesthesia from the surgery when she was there, but the doctors assured her that they’d gotten out both bullets clean and he was expected to make a good recovery. She’d spent a few minutes with his wife who also wouldn’t accept her statement that it was all her fault. Mrs. Robinson had been a cop’s wife far too long and had already been told exactly what happened by Dan Turpin.

Back at the station house waited the usual mountain of paperwork, the last of which she’d only just finished. Doubtless this was some clerk upstairs calling who would take a certain perverse pleasure in telling her she’d filled out a report wrong and would have to resubmit it in triplicate before heading home.

“Officer Wienczorkowski.” she said in a tired voice as she put the phone to her ear. “What can I do for you?”

“This is Supergirl.” said a soft voice over the receiver. “I was wondering if that dinner offer still stands.”

“Yeah, right, and I’m Sharon Stone.” the redhead replied. “Who put you up to this? ... Myers, Zukowski ... I know, Martinez, this is her kind of joke.”

“This isn’t a joke.” the voice on the other end of the phone said reassuringly.

“Look, it’s been a real long day and I’m tired.” Susan replied. “If this is really you then you won’t mind proving it.”

“All right, wait a second...” said the voice. Leaning back in her chair, Susan expected the phone line to go dead at that point, the joke gone sour. Instead she came back on the line.

“Would it help convince you if I pointed out that today you’re wearing red panties with a white trim.” she said.

“That was pretty evident to everyone in the woman’s locker room when I changed this afternoon.” Susan replied. “I’m afraid you’ll have to do better than that.”

“Go to the window on the left side of the room and look across the street.” the soft voice said.

Surprised that there hadn’t been another attempt to describe some other object of her apparel, Susan put the phone down and walked to the window. She looked out across the street and almost fell back in surprise. Standing on the roof of the bank was a familiar red and blue figure holding a cellular phone in her hand.

Susan’s first thought was that Martinez had really gone the distance on this practical joke. That bubble burst when she realized that the woman in blue wasn’t standing on the roof of the bank, she was standing two feet to the right of it - in open air.

“Oh shit!” she exclaimed as she practically raced back to her desk and grabbed the phone.

“It’s really you!” she blurted out. “I’m sorry I thought someone had overheard that stupid invitation I’d made and was using it to play some sort of joke on me and...”

“Oh, then you really didn’t mean the invitation.” Supergirl said, her voice reflecting just a slight hint of disappointment.