Contributions to society extended cut edition

chapter 1: a new friend

Date: March 1 2019 11pm

“Kara Danvers?” Kara whipped around to find herself face to face with a handsome gentleman in a dark red suit.
“Ivan Thorul?” she guessed. The man smiled in return, an obvious “yes”.
“Pleased to meet you,” he said, extending a hand. Kara shook it willingly, wearing a smile to match his.
“Likewise!” she said. “Shall we take a seat?” she gestured to one of several empty tables behind them. They were currently standing in the doorway of a quiet little bar towards the edge of National City. It was a quaint, cute little place, and Kara appreciated how empty it was. It was nice and quiet!
“Of course,” Ivan bowed his head in a playful politeness. Kara laughed a little before leading him towards a table in the back corner.
Kara and Ivan had been in correspondence for a few months now and it was all thanks to their mutual friendship with Alex Danvers, Kara’s older (human) sister. Apparently, Ivan was a fellow DEO agent, though he was serving at a different base. But even though he and Alex were serving at different DEO sites, they had worked together on a mission once and been friends ever since. It was only recently that Ivan learned that Alex had a younger sister, and even more recently that said sister was also the famous Kryptonian hero named Supergirl. Kara had been a bit surprised to hear that Alex had told Ivan her secret identity, but Ivan was able to assure her that Alex had only told him, and this was because he was an old and trusted friend. No one else at his DEO site knew the truth about Supergirl’s civilian identity, only him.
Shortly after Ivan realized who Alex’s younger sister truly was, it became his biggest dream to get to meet her in person.
“Isn’t it everyone’s dream to meet the legendary Girl of Steel?” he asked playfully as he and Kara sipped on their beers. “I’m just lucky that I had a direct connection to you,” he added with a chuckle, raising his bottle.
“Well, normally I wouldn’t meet just anyone that Alex happened to know,” Kara laughed back as she raised her own bottle. “You just seemed like a nice guy and I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to finally get to meet you face to face. I’m always up for making a new friend! It’s a pity Alex couldn’t come along though…” just for a moment, Kara’s face grew sad. She had wanted this little outing to consist of three people and not just two, but the way schedules worked out, Ivan was only available during the time when Alex wasn’t.
“I can see her another time,” Ivan said casually. “I’ve met her in person several times before, actually,” he added. “We may have only worked together once, but we are not strangers. You and I, though?”
“Not anymore,” Kara replied with a smirk as she took another sip of her beer. “You can cross “meet Supergirl” off your bucket list!”
“I wonder if I can cross “get her autograph” off the list too?” Ivan asked with a laugh.
“Oh, I suppose I could do that…” Kara replied, pretending as though Ivan had asked a great burden from her.
The rest of the evening passed pleasantly, the two simply laughing and chatting over DEO life, and Alex. But somewhere into Kara’s third beer, she began to feel a bit woozy. In the minutes to come, the wooziness got stronger and stronger.
“I think I might be drunk!” she giggled, looking very uncoordinated and silly.
“Maybe it’s time we get you home then, huh?” Ivan asked warmly back. “Can’t have your sister raking me across the coals for keeping you out past your bedtime and then bringing you home White-Girl Wasted, right?”
“It is not past my bedtime!” Kara tried to whine, but when she tried to point an accusing finger at Ivan, her arm dropped to the table.
“Drunker than I thought!” Ivan laughed again, but to Kara, it sounded like he was speaking from underwater. It was strange. And why did she feel so woozy and weird?...
For just a second, Kara felt a flash of fear, and she went to shake her head to try and wake up a little bit, but it suddenly felt immensely heavy. Even that one simple gesture made her feel weak and tired. Her entire body felt as though it were melting, and no part of her body would physically respond to her. She couldn’t even shake her head, or raise her arm! She was totally paralyzed and woozy. Before she could realize that this was beyond a typical drunkenness, though, her mind followed in her body’s footsteps and it too stopped responding.