Alex turned onto a narrow dirt track and drove for a further two miles before parking fifty feet away from the abandoned farm house. As she made her way towards the house she noticed a flash of light in her peripheral vision. She turned to face the weathered and worn red barn and waited. Two quick flashes of light appeared from within. Alex took one last look at the farmhouse before slowly walking towards the barn. The grass around the barn was tall and full of nettles; she slid the rotten door open slightly and entered. Alex looked around and noticed the fire damage walls; the floor covered with debris and rotten timber.

"Agent Danvers" a man called from somewhere inside the barn. Alex stared in the direction which the voice came from and waited for her eyes to adjust. Alex watched as a small, plump man with white hair step out from behind one of the beams "Are you alone?" he asked.

"I am and unarmed; just like you asked." Alex replied as she raised her arms and slowly turned on the spot; she glanced at her vehicle where she had left her gun before turning back to face him.

"I wasn't sure you would come" he said as he walked over the side of the barn and looked through the broken window. He looked tired and physically drained "I'm sure you have many questions." The man said as he stepped closer to Alex.

"How do you know I'm looking for Project Cadmus?" The question left her lips without thinking.

"Like I said on the phone, you are dealing with some very powerful people. You can't go around asking questions about Cadmus without drawing attention to yourself. If you didn't work for the DEO you would already be dead or worse... ...one of their subjects."

The man turned and sat on an overturned tin bucket and lowered his head into his hands. Alex hesitated before kneeling down in front of him and gently pulled his hand away from his face. "What's your name?"

"Charlie" he replied

"How do you know about Cadmus?" Alex asked softly.

Charlie looked into her eyes "I built it" He replied sadly. Alex rose to her feet and took a step back and glanced around the barn. "I'm not here to hurt you Alex." Charlie said as he looked up at her.

"You work for them?" Alex replied; her mind fully alert and wishing she had her sidearm with her.

"No..."

"You said..." Alex interrupted.

"I said I built it."Charlie interrupted. He exhaled deeply before continuing. "Before I retired I worked on building deep underground military bases; including the DEO."

"You built the DEO?"

Charlie nodded "As well as many other underground facilities. I was an expert in my field and sought after by many powerful people."

"What happened?" Alex asked as she felt her body relax a little.

Charlie inhaled deeply before continuing "Cadmus was founded by Dabney Donovan and Thomas Thompkins. It was created for genetic research; to help cure diseases and safe lives." Charlie paused and lowered his head. Alex waited for him to continue. "Two years ago I was approached by Donovan's son; Simon Donovan. Simon became a partner when his father passed away. He scares the hell out of me."

"What did he want?"

"He wanted to expand the facility into some caverns close to Cadmus. I inspected the caverns as requested but took a few wrong turns on my way out. What I saw still frightens me to this day." Alex frowned and continued to stare back at Charlie. "They're creating monsters."

The sound of timber creaking behind them made them both jump. Alex reached for her side before remembering she was unarmed. Charlie stood and retrieved his flash light from his pocket and pointed it in the direction the noise came from. Alex stepped forward and listened, nothing. "It's properly just some timber falling" Alex said as she turned to face Charlie.

"I've been on edge since trying to reveal Cadmus." Charlie said as he relaxed a little.

"You tried to reveal them?" Alex asked

"I did. They managed to squash my story and I've been on the run ever since. Like I said; you're dealing with some very powerful people."

"You know where their base is located." Alex said a little too eagerly.

Charlie reached into his pocket and pulled out a red USB stick "This will provide you with enough information to find your father and put a stop to their experiments. It contains the location and layout of Cadmus"

Alex took the USB stick. "How do you know about my father?"

"I have my resources." Charlie smiled back at Alex.

"Come back with me; we can keep you safe until..."

Charlie shook his head and smirked "I'm better off on my own." Charlie interrupted.

Suddenly Alex heard a loud thud behind her; she turned and felt something collide with the side of her head and then she saw nothing.

"No no no" Charlie shouted as he watched Alex fall to the floor unconscious; blood seeping from the side of her head. He looked up into the eyes of one of the Cadmus experiments; the figure dropped the rusty shovel to the floor before stepping over Alex. Charlie turned to run but the figure caught him and slammed him hard against the wall. The move knocked the wind from him as he fell to his knees.

"Did you really think this agent could protect you?" The figure asked as she pointed to Alex's unconscious body. The figure was dressed completely in black and wore a black balaclava. She reached around to her back, pulled a silencer gun and pointed it at Charlie's chest.

"Please" Charlie pleaded as he raised his hands in defence. Without hesitation she fired three shots into Charlie's chest and watched as he fell to the ground. She removed her balaclava before retrieving her phone.

"It's done" She said. Her tone lacked any sign of human emotion.

"You know what to do now." Simon Donovan replied.

"What about the agent?"

"Did Newman reveal anything about Cadmus?"

"He gave her a USB stick."

There was silence on the phone for a few minutes before Donovan gave his orders. "Destroy the USB and Leave her. The last thing we need is DEO agents seeking revenge and Sasha; make sure nothing can be traced back to Cadmus."

Sasha knelt down next to Alex and flipped her onto her back: for a moment Sasha had a strange flash of recognition but it was gone as quick as it came. She retrieved the USB stick from Alex's pocket and placed it in her own. Sasha than turned her attention back to Charlie; she would now dispose of his body and return to Cadmus for her next mission.

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"Are you sure it was wise to let Danvers live? We both know she won't stop searching for her father" Simon Donovan asked.

"I have my people watching her; if she gets to close we will take appropriate action." Thomas Thompkins asked as he pressed the oxygen mask against his face and took a deep breath. Thomas had been diagnosed with chest cancer and given three months to live; that was eight years ago. Simon's father had developed a serum which slowed the disease from spreading and bought Thomas more time. Unfortunately Donald died before he could find a cure for Thomas.

"I don't agree. I think we should stop her before she gets too close." Simon said

"We will continue to monitor..." Thomas began

"She has the resources to cause us more harm than you think; not to mention the aliens helping her. Let me take care of it." Simon interrupted

"And what would you suggest?" Thomas asked

"There's only one way to stop her; we have to kill her." Simon replied

"What about the Martian and Kryptonian?"

"Put them where they belong; in a lab or in the ground."

"Are you forgetting the president of the United States supports them?"

"For all we know she is being controlled by the Martian." Simon spat; his patients were running thin.

Thomas thought for a moment before replying "I won't authorise it."

Simon stood quickly and kicked his chair across the room before turning on Thomas "You are willing to jeopardize everything we've worked for..."

"Enough" Thomas shouted. He took a moment to catch his breath before continuing. "I've heard the rumours Simon; I know what type of experiments you're carrying out. If it got out the company would be finished."

"That's why we have to stop them before they get too close."

Thomas sighed and shook his head. "I and your father created Cadmus to help save lives."

"Look where it got him" Simon spat. Simon's father was killed by a man trying to escape Cadmus and his mother had been murdered by a Fort Rozz escapee when he was nine years old.

"You're hatred blinds you as it did your father after the death of your mother."

Simon clenched his fists; his nails digging into his flesh. He watched as Thomas began coughing uncontrollably. Thomas reached for the call button but accidently knocked it off the bed. His ribs began to hurt as the coughing became more violent. Simon knelt down and retrieved the call button from the floor; he looked from the device to Thomas before dropping it back down.

"I'm sorry Tom but it's time for Cadmus to move forward and you're just in the way." Simon said as he turned the oxygen cylinder off.

"I...like ...family" Thomas tried to speak but was unable to get enough oxygen in his lungs.

Simon stood over Thomas and quickly placed a pillow over his face. Thomas fought against Simon but didn't have enough strength to break free.

Simon removed the pillow and stared down at the lifeless body of the man he once called uncle.

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Alex raised her hand to shield her eyes from the morning sun. The thudding in her head made it difficult to focus as pain spread from her jawbone to her temple. For a moment Alex couldn't recall where she was or why; memories started to come back to her but it was like a collage. She remembered helping Kara pack for her trip, a phone call, driving, the barn, Charlie. Her vision started to clear and her eyes adjusted to the light. Alex shot forward; she pressed her hand against her temporal as pain seared through her head. She quickly blinked away the pain and pushed the nausea back down.

"Charlie" Alex called before pushing her-self to her feet. Her vision blurred and she fell against one of the beams. She looked around the barn but there was no sign of him; her eyes fell on the area Charlie's body lay hours before; it had been wiped clean.

Alex quickly searched her pockets for the USB stick. "Damn it" Alex shouted and kicked the beam in frustration. She took a few minutes to compose her-self before heading back to her vehicle.

"Great" Alex said to her-self as she glanced down at the time. It was 8:45; she powered up her phone and waited.

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"Anything?" Kara asked as she returned to the DEO.

"Nothing. What about you?" Hank replied

"Her bed hasn't been slept in; I don't think she went home last night." Kara replied as she tried to remain calm. "I'm worried; what if Cadmus..."

"We can't think like that."

"Sir" Vasquez called "We've just picked up Agent Danvers cell."

"Where" Hank replied as he and Kara hurried to her side. Kara took one look at the map displayed on the monitor before disappearing.

"Super..." Hank began as he turned to face Kara; he looked around the control room but knew Kara was already on her way to her sister's location.

Kara landed feet away from Alex and quickly closed the space between.

"Are you alright?" Kara asked as she wrapped her arms around Alex.

"I'm fine" Alex replied "I didn't mean to worry you."

"What happened?" Kara asked as she stepped back and gently moved Alex's hair to one side; she used her x-ray vision to check for any signs of bleeding or fracture and was happy to find none.

Alex turned away "It's a long story."

J'onn landed and approached Kara and Alex. "What happened? Are you hurt?" J'onn said as he looked Alex up and down; he frowned when he noticed the cut to the side of Alex's head.

"Alex is just about to tell us." Kara answered, not taken her eyes off Alex.

"Alex?" J'onn added

"I was following a lead" Alex said as she felt the tension growing.

"What sort of lead?" J'onn asked

Alex exhaled "I was contacted by a man who designed and built Cadmus" Alex paused and looked from Kara to J'onn. "I agreed to meet him"

"Alone?" J'onn said. Alex nodded and looked back at him.

"Ouch" Alex said as Kara flicked the side of her upper arm; given her a dead arm feeling. "What was that for?" Alex asked as she rubbed her arm in an attempt to dull the pain.

"What were you thinking?" Kara said

"What choice did I have? This is the only strong lead we..."

"How could you be so reckless?" J'onn almost shouted.

"Please don't shout" Alex said as she squeezed the bridge of her nose.

"So where is he? The man you came to meet." J'onn asked ignoring her request.

Alex looked to Kara before answering. "He's dead; at least I believe he is. One minute we were talking, he handed me a USB stick containing the location and layout of Cadmus and then this." Alex pointed to the cut on her head. "When I woke up, he was gone; along with the USB."

"Perhaps he got scared and decided..." Kara began

"There are clear signs of a clean up in the barn" Alex interrupted

"Do you have any idea how lucky you are?" J'onn said.

"I know you're angry..." Alex began

"I'm disappointed" J'onn interrupted "I thought I trained you better than this"

"Are you ok?" Kara asked

"I'm fine" Alex replied as she leaned against the SUV "I just need some Advil."

"Come on, let's get you checked out." Kara said

"What about the SUV." Alex asked.

"I will take care of the SUV." J'onn replied without making eye contact "Just make sure you go straight to medical bay."

"I'll be..." Alex began

"That's an order Danvers." J'onn interrupted before lifting the SUV from the ground and taken flight.

"You ready?" Kara asked as reached her hand out to Alex.

"Ready" Alex said as she took hold of Kara's hand.

"You may want to take a shower when we get" Kara joked as she pulled Alex close "You stink"

"You try spending the night on a barn floor." Alex said as she gave Kara a nudge which had no effect on her. Kara laughed before gently lifting Alex from the ground and heading back to the DEO.