Synthetica

by

Sam Lincoln

Disclaimer: All the characters contained in this story are the proper of DC Comics, and Warner Brothers. No infringement is intended.

Summary: Kara Danvers's friend from Gotham is visiting National City, and by strange coincidence Batgirl is in town as well.

Spoilers: This takes place sometime in the middle of season two of Supergirl, but it doesn't really matter.

Maggie walked up to the police tape lined entrance of the robbed jewelry store. She surveyed the damage to the exterior of the store then ducked under the tape line and walked through the broken door. Once inside a uniformed officer approached her.

"Hey detective, sorry for calling you in on your night off, but this looks right up your alley."

"No nights off when you're a cop. What have you got for me sergeant?"

The sergeant walked Maggie over to the smashed display case, "This guy walks into the store and smashes the display case, grabs the merchandise, and runs away."

"Okay, so why call me?"

"Because when the security guard tried to stop him he got tossed him across the room like a rag doll by our perp. Then when the guard used his firearm, the perp shrugged off three shots to the back like they were nothing."

"He could've just been really strong and wearing a vest," Maggie said. "Our the witnesses are exaggerating what they saw."

"I thought that might be the case too, then I saw the security footage."

"Then let's see the footage." Maggie, the sergeant, and the store's manager walked back into the store's small back office. The manager cued up the store's surveillance footage and Maggie watched the events of the robbery unfold. "Okay, I'm convinced. There's no way that's a regular human."

"This is so distressing," the manager, a short, nebbish man dressed in a well-tailored suit, said. "Why would an alien rob us?"

"It might not be an alien," Maggie said. "There's no end of enhanced humans out there." She watched the robbery again and frowned. "What's wrong with the playback?" When the robber's face was visible there was a pixelated blur over it.

The sergeant shrugged his shoulders. "Every picture and video of the robbery is like that."

"He must've had some sort of distortion field, clever." She turned to face the manager. "Sir, I'm going to need a copy of this recording."

The manager nodded his head. "Of course, of course, anything you need."

"I'll also need a list of everything that was stolen."

"We already have a preliminary list put together," the manager said. "There is one thing though. The robber left some extremely valuable pieces behind. Not to say what was stolen was costume jewelry, but the truly expensive pieces are still here."

"So either he didn't have time to grab them, or he was targeting something specific. When you've finished your full inventory send it along to the station," Maggie told the manager. "Don't worry sir. We'll do everything we can to find the person responsible for this, bring them to justice, and hopefully return your merchandise." Maggie walked out of the office and back onto the shop floor. A team of forensic specialists were combing the crime scene for evidence. "Find anything yet?" She asked the lead tech.

"There's no blood on the wreck of the case, which is impressive considering how much glass there is. The only blood seems to be the security guards. We're dusting for prints obviously, and all the other usual clues."

Maggie nodded her head as she surveyed the room. She stopped when she caught sight of something under one of the store's display cases. Maggie pulled a latex glove out of the pocket of her blazer.. She reached down and picked up the object. She held it up to the light and saw that it was a broken piece of circuitry. "Do you think this came from a display case?" she asked.

The tech took the circuitboard from Maggie and examined it. "No, it most certainly did not. In fact I have no idea what it might be."

Maggie took the circuitry back and placed it in an evidence bag. "Fortunately I know some people who might be able to figure this out. You don't mind if I take this do you?"

The tech shrugged his shoulders. "It's your case Detective Sawyers, you can do whatever you want with it. Without compromising the investigation of course." Maggie raised an eyebrow at the tech's statement. "But you don't need me to tell you that."

Maggie slid the evidence bag into the pocket of her blazer. "Let me know if you find anything else. No matter how odd or insignificant. With these enhanced cases you never know what might be important." She turned on her heels and walked out of the store. She pulled out her cellphone and dialed Alex's number. "Danvers, I need you help. Meet me at the DEO?"

The next morning Kara walked into the DEO command center wearing her Sueprgirl costume. "Maggie, what are you doing here so early?"

"Consulting about the jewelry store robbery last night," J'onn said. "Agent Schott, play the tape for Supergirl." Winn nodded and called up the security footage of the robbery. Kara winced when she saw the security guard tossed into the display case."

"So who is he, an alien, another Cadmus flunky?" Kara asked.

"My guess is enhanced human," Maggie said. "I found a chip at the crime scene, and as you can see the perp is using some sort of tech to hide his face."

"Winn is going to analyze the evidence Maggie found and see if he can clear up the interference on the video," Alex said.

"Yep, and in between that I'm going to write my memoirs, an appreciation of an overworked analyst," Winn said

"Nobody likes a whiner Winn," Alex said to Winn.

"Alex, stop being so mean to Winn," Kara said.

"He knows I don't mean it," Alex said. "Besides, I owe him some payback for what he did to my computer wallpaper last week."

"Do you need my help with anything?" Kara asked J'onn.

J'onn placed his hands on his hips. "Not right now Supergirl When we do we'll let you know."

Kara nodded her head. "Good, there's a whole team meeting this morning at CatCo I don't want to miss. Snapper gets grumpy if I'm not at staff meetings."

J'onn smiled. "We don't want that. Go to your meeting. We'll still be here when you get back."

"You'll call me if this guy shows his face again?"

Alex put her hands on Kara's shoulders and spun her around. "Even on the best of days Snapper isn't your biggest fan. You don't want to antagonize him any more than is possible."

"I have," Kara glanced over at a clock. "Ten minutes until the meeting starts. That's plenty of time."

Alex folded her arms across her chest. "In that case how is your houseguest?"

"Houseguest?" J'onn asked.

'Yes sir, Kara has a friend from Gotham staying with her," Alex said.

J'onn stepped alongside Alex and also crossed his arms in front of him. "I was unaware that Kara had a friend in Gotham."

Kara scowled at the two DEO agents. "I am allowed to have friends outside the DEO, and trust me, Barbara is not a threat to anyone. She's just a librarian, in town for a conference."

Winn held up his hand. "I checked, it's legit. There is a librarian's conference this week, and Kara's friend is giving a talk about optimizing search methodology, which I have to admit sounds super interesting."

J'onn let his arms fall to his side. "Well that settles that then."

"Sir, J'onn, I don't trust her. There's something about her I don't trust."

Maggie put her hand on Alex's arm. "I know her father, he's a good man,"

"See, Maggie trusts her. Listen to your girlfriend. Now I really have to go, or I will be late. I'll check in after my meeting. Love you bye." With a rush of air Kara sped out of the DEO, sending every nearby loose piece of paper flying.

"I hate it when she does that," Alex said.

After a long day of dealing with Snapper Carr's foul moods as she tried to pitch him a story story about a high school science fair, Kara landed inside her apartment. Winn had yet to make progress tracking down the person responsible for the robbery. Which meant she had the evening to herself. Relishing the rare of moment of alone time Kara kicked off her shoes and walked into her kitchen. She poured herself a glass of red wine, took a large drink and sighed.

"Rough day?" Barbara asked from behind Kara.

Kara shrieked and dropped her wine glass. "Oh Rao Barbara, I completely forgot you might be here. How did you sneak up on me like that? Don't sneak up on me like that. I could've punched your head off."

"You entered your apartment without first checking to see if it was empty?" Barbara asked. "You have x-ray vision, you have literally no excuse for being caught by surprise." Barbara leaned against a cabinet.

"That's, but, that's, it's my apartment and I am not paranoid."

Barbara shrugged. "If you want to get jumped by a Kryptonite-wielding Cadmus thug then be my guest. If I had x-ray vision I would never be caught off guard."

Kara pulled a paper towel off of the roll to mop up the spilled wine on the counter. "I didn't realize having you stay here would turn into superhero school."

"It's not, but I'm also not going to apologize for 'sneaking up' on the alien with enhanced senses."

"Sorry, sorry, I had a rough day at work. My boss didn't think the story I want to write about a girls in STEM fair deserves more than eight hundred words. Hello, diversity in STEM is a really important issue that deserves more column space.." Kara sighed, then filled a new wine glass. She filled another glass and handed it to Barbara. "And the worst part is the DEO still hasn't figured out who was responsible for last night's jewelry store robbery."

"Wasn't there a security camera?"

"The robber did something to the camera that obscured his face," Kara said. "We think he's using tech to enhance himself."

"That sounds expensive, do you have a list of people with the resources needed to do that sort of work?"

Kara rubbed her chin. "I don't, but the DEO, or Maggie, probably does. I mostly leave the investigative stuff to them. They tell me who to punch and I do the punching." She set down her wine glass. "Or you could help me do the investigating."

Barbara took a step away from Kara. "We talked about this. Unless there's an emergency I'm not putting on the costume. There are too many people out there who could connect Barbara Gordon to Batgirl."

"But you are Batgirl, don't you feel a need to solve this crime?" Kara asked.

"Are you, the DEO, and the NCPD not up to the task of stopping a simple jewelry store robber?" Barbara replied.

"Sure we are, but wouldn't it be more fun if we had another team up?" Kara asked. "You know, like we did when I visited Gotham?" Kara took a step towards Barbara. "And who cares if Alex and Winn find out you're Batgirl. They work for a top secret government agency. They know how to keep secrets. They know mine and Superman's after all."

"It's not that I don't trust your friends Kara. It's that the majority of the people in my life do not know that I'm Batgirl, and it doesn't feel fair to them that your friends would know the truth before they do."

"That's a silly reason. We could use your help finding the robber," Kara said.

"I'm happy to consult, and be a sounding board for you, but I repeat, unless it's an end of the world emergency I'm here to be me, not Batgirl."

Kara sighed. "If you think that's what's best for you." She picked up her wine glass and finished it off with one swallow. "I'm going to check in with Alex at the DEO and see if she has any updates. If you change your mind give me a call." She brushed past Barbara on her way out of the kitchen.

Barbara looked down at her wine glass. "Good going Babs," she said to herself. From the living room she could hear Kara fly out of the apartment. She walked into her bedroom and sat down on the bed. She stared at her luggage and drummed on her thighs with her fingers. Barbara exhaled deeply then walked over to her suitcase and opened a hidden compartment revealing her Batgirl costume. "Kara, I hate you so much."

"Tell me again why I'm here?" James asked. He stood in an alley across the street from a jewelry store dressed in his Guardian suit.

"I looked at the list of items stolen from the other store. This store you're standing outside of has the most of the types of gemstones taken. I figure that makes this store the most likely target for the next robbery," Winn said to James over the radio. He sat in the support van staring at a display showing him the police scanner and the feeds from satellites and CCTV.

"That's as good a reason as any," James said. He checked the status of his shield as he waited for something to happen.

"Guardian, Guardian, heads up somebody is coming your way," Winn said. On his monitor he saw a tall man dressed in a long trench coat and wide primed hat walk towards the store.

"I see him," James said. He tensed in anticipation as he watched the man approach the store.

The man lifted a metal trash can from a nearby alley off the ground and advanced on the storefront. James emerged from his hiding place. He raised his arm and fired a grappling hook at the trash can. The hook embedded itself inside the can and James yanked back on the line. The can jerked out of the robber's hands and clattered to the ground.

"Hey, if you want something, buy it like everyone else," James told the man. He raised his arm and triggered his shield.

The robber, whose face was obscured by his hat reached down and picked the trash can back up. "You made a mistake trying to stop me," he said in a heavily distorted voice. He threw the trashcan at James who raised his shield in time to block the can.

The force of the impact staggered James. By the time he gathered himself the robber was charging him. James was unable to get his shield up and the robber crashed into James, driving him into the ground. James gasped in pain and punched the robber in the ribs to try and force him off. Each blow felt like he was punching a brick wall.

"Hey James buddy, use your taser," Winn said over the radio. He stared at the feed from the camera built into the Guardian suit. He frowned when he saw the same interference around the robber's face as was on the security footage from the day before.

"Taser, right," James said. He jabbed his right hand in the robber's side and triggered the taser build into the gauntlet. The electrical jolt forced the robber off of James and he scrambled to his feet.

The robber's next attempt to charge at James was stymied by two batarangs exploding in his face. There was a flash of purple and Batgirl swept in front of James and kicked the robber in the head knocking off his hat. Barbara used the force of the impact to propel herself backwards. She twisted in midair and landed next to James.

"Is that Batgirl?" Winn asked over the radio.

"Good to see you Batgirl," James said. "What brings you to National City?"

"Happened to by passing by and saw that you needed a hand," Barbara said.

"Thanks for the assist, but I had this under control."

Barbara glared up at James. "Sure you did." The robber, who Barbara could now see was a man with a heavily scarred face and shaved head, raised his arm and pointed it at Barbara and James. The tips of his fingers started to glow. "Get down!" Barbara shouted. She launched herself into James and knocked him to the ground as a blast of energy shot over them and blew up a light post across the street.

When they got back to their feet the man had vanished. "Winn do you have eyes on him?" James asked.

"Negative Guardian, he's completely vanished. And also more powerful than we previously thought."

"So is this National City amateur hour or what?" Barbara's voice broke in over the radio.

Winn's eyes grew wide and he started to frantically type on his keyboard. "Wait, she can hear us? How can she do that? This is a secure connection."

Barbara cocked her head to one side as she looked up at James. "Do you want to tell him or should I?"

James heaved a sigh then toggled on his radio. "She's Batgirl, why are you at all surprised?"

In the distance Barbara could hear the sound of sirens approaching. "We need to talk in private. Have any recommendations?"

James nodded in the direction of Winn's van. "Right this way."

Winn jumped out of his seat when the back door of the van opened and he saw Batgirl follow James inside. "What is she doing here?" He asked James as he pointed at Barbara.

"She wanted to talk. This was the closet place to do that," Hames said.

"Yeah but she can see my face."

Barbara crossed her arms in front of her. "I don't need to see your face to know who you are. Your radio discipline is terrible. Piece of advice, always use codenames when on coms. Even if you're the man in the van." She smiled at Winn. "You never know who might be listening in."

"Ah right, I'll keep that in mind," Winn said.

"Relax, I don't care who you are. I just want to see the person responsible for that thing out there brought to justice."

"What do you mean by thing?" James asked. "We just fought a person."

"A person someone went through a lot of effort to construct," Barbara said. She walked over to the computer next to Winn, elbowed him out of the way and started to type on the keyboard.

"Hey wait, you can't do that," Winn said. "It's very sensitive equipment."

Barbara made a so-so motion with her hand. "It'll do."

"Okay, I can put up with a lot, but insulting a man's mobile crimefighting command center is downright rude." Winn walked over to the other side of the van.

"What are you doing?" James asked.

"Calling up the CCTV footage of you getting your ass kicked," Barbara said.

"I did not get my ass kicked," James said. "It was a draw."

"Whatever you say champ," Barbara said. "That's not the important part. Look at how he moves, how he fights. This is not a man in control of his own actions. It's like he's been programmed."

"Wait, what, are you sure of that?" Winn asked. He walked back over to the computer display and stared at the video.

"Trust me, I've spent enough hours looking at video of body language to know what I'm talking about," Barbara said. "Somebody cut this man open, loaded him up with tech, and set him loose on National City."

Winn looked over at James. "Do you think it's Cadmus? They have a lot of experience with cybernetics."

"It's possible, but what's the angle? Cadmus is about killing aliens, not knocking over jewelry stores," James said.

"Do they need an angle?" Winn asked. "These days if people see someone do something a human can't they think alien. Maybe Cadmus is trying to sow mistrust. Or maybe with all their recent setbacks they need quick cash or resources."

"If that were true then you would also expect to see Cadmus publicly blaming aliens for the robberies," Barbara said. "Cadmus is a political organization and these robberies are not political in the slightest."

"Do you think you could maybe turn off the voice modulator?" Winn asked. "It's really grating to listen to."

Barbara looked up at Winn and smiled. "I will when your friend Guardian does."

James looked over at Winn and shrugged. "Sorry man, looks like everyone gets to keep their secrets tonight."

"This is going to be highly aggravating," Winn said.

"We all have our crosses to bear," Barbara said.

"Look, I'm just not very comfortable with somebody else sitting in front of my computer, do you think you could maybe let me sit there?" Winn wrung his hands together and shifted his weight from foot to foot.

"Worried I might break your precious toys?" Barbara asked.

"No, I'm worried about what you might do with unfettered access to my systems," Winn said.

"If I let you sit here will you stop whining and focus on the task at hand?" Barbara asked. From where he was standing James started to chuckle.

"Yes, yes just let me sit in front of the computer." Winn wrung his hands together.

"Well, I wouldn't want to cause you any distress," Barbara said. She slipped out of the seat and Winn moved in quickly to take her place. He started to type on the keyboard. "I didn't place any backdoors into your systems if that's what you're worried about."

"You'll just have to pardon me if I don't take your word about that," Winn said. "I wouldn't be a good hacker if I did."

James leaned over to Barbara. "Did you really plant a virus in Winn's computer?" He asked in a quiet voice.

"No, but he doesn't need to know that," Barbara said. Besides, it's good OpeSec practice."

James glanced over at Winn who was muttering to himself as he typed. "That's, okay, fair enough. So how do you know so much about Cadmus?"

"I read a lot," Barbara said. "Trust me when I say that it's somebody else."

"It's not that I don't trust you, but you are a stranger coming into my city, telling me about a criminal organization I've fought, and you haven't."

"Welcome to everyday of my life," Barbara said.

"Oooh, you got superherosplained," Winn said as he kept his attention focused on his computer.

"I just mean, how do you know so certainly that this isn't Cadmus?"

"If proof is what you want have your little buddy take us to the DEO. I can give you the proof you need there."

Winn spun around in his chair. "The DEO, what do you mean the DEO? I have no idea what you could possibly be referring to. Guardian, do you have any idea what she is talking about?"

Barbara rolled her eyes. "Give it up. I hacked your comms when Supergirl was in Gotham. I know you work for the DEO."

"Is there anything you don't know?"

"The real identity of Superman," Barbara said. "How many licks it takes to the center of a Tootsie-Pop."

"The big mysteries of life then," Winn said.

"Exactly, now are we going to the DEO or not?" Barbara asked.

Winn looked over at James who shrugged. "Okay, we're off to the DEO." He pushed himself out of his seat and walked to the front of the van.

"This should be fun," Barbara said to James as the van started to rumble down the street. "I've never been to a top secret government agency before."

"You said you don't know who Superman is," James said. "Does that mean you know who Batman is?"

Barbara smiled at James. "I didn't say that did I."

"No, but the implication is there," James said. "If you didn't know who Batman is then you would've included that in the list of things you don't know."

"Or maybe since we're in Supergirl's city I mentioned the hero with a connection to her."

"Is that how it's going to be then? You're just going to play like you don't know?" James asked.

"Know what?" Barbara said.

James smirked at Barbara under her mask. "Well all right then. Let's go talk to the DEO."