Of All Alien Great and Small
By XavAcid
Chapter 3 : test? Why more test?
"We're going in?" The tiny alien asked from her position on the passenger side, she'd wanted to be on the console so she could see where they were going, but Alex thought it would be weird if someone happened to look in. So Kara sat on the passenger seat, until they left the city, then she'd be right on the console, that or Alex's shoulder, she couldn't decide yet.
"Yeah, there are tests I can run."
"I thought there was no residue that you can find."
"I mean tests on you." Alex kept her eyes front, but she could imagine the horrifying look that her tiny Kryptonian was probably wearing.
"Like blood test?!" Her voice pitched higher at that.
For an indestructible Kryptonian Kara was such a scardy cat when it came to needles, especially when normal needles could never hope to pierce her skin. The several times that Alex had to take her blood it was such an ordeal that she would draw extra just so she had enough to store away.
Thank God they actually had the light that replicated the radiation signature of Rao now, so they didn't need to use Kryptonite emitter so they could get the needle to piece Kara's skin.
"We did your blood test the other night, so no, but there are other tests, Kara."
"I don't like tests." The tiny alien mumbled to herself.
Even though the agent couldn't really hear her, she still knew what Kara was thinking about. They'd spent almost half their lives together, after all. And she knew the Kryptonian better than anyone else on this planet, and that included Kal El. While she was invulnerable to just about everything on Earth, Kara still didn't like being poked and prodded, it might have something to do with the fact that when she first go to the Danvers, both her parents did quite a bit of it to learn of her physiology. It was mostly so that they could be ready if something were to happen to Kara, and a little because they were both scientists.
Kara sulked at little at the thought of there being more test on her person, she had enough of that from the other day, but then a pat on her head made her look up to see sympathetic hazel eyes glanced at her.
That made it a little better.
They'd spent yesterday out of the D.E.O all day, and the agent made no mention of any more test on her person, so Kara thought there would not be anymore of it, she was wrong. Honestly, when it was Alex that conducted the tests, they weren't so bad. Alex knew her better than anyone, and never had to ask for any details since she knew everything about her.
But when something else required her attention and she couldn't run the test herself, she had to let someone else - mostly Dr. Hamilton- run the test for her.
That was when Kara hated it.
It wasn't to say that Dr. Hamilton was incompetent or anything, because she was not, but she didn't know anything about Kara. And whatever information about Kryptonian biology came from Alex. So, there were always questions about how this or that felt and if there was anything different, if she ate more, less, her sleep pattern and such, and if she got enough sun.
Standard questions she supposed, but they were questions that never needed asking if it was Alex.
So yeah, she preferred Alex above anyone else.
Not that it would surprise anyone.
"What have you got?" The agent strode into the command center, nodding at the other agents on duty in greeting.
"Agent Danvers," Vasquez turned to greet her and quickly pulled up what she found on the tablet and handed over to her second in command. "These are what we narrowed down." She had spent the last thirty-six hours compiling any and all possible suspects for what happened to their resident superhero. So, far there were quite a few promising leads.
Alex took it and started perusing, paying no mind at the way the agents in the room gave the tiny Supergirl waves and hellos.
Kara was decked out in her tiny super suit that she changed into the moment they arrived at the D.E.O. Still, she prefered to ride on the agent's shoulder as opposed to flying.
Already she received several compliments from the other agents on duty, and she beamed at them, accepting all the nice words while Alex rolled her eyes.
Vasquez had spent most of the day before and the night in front of her terminal, trying to narrow down the suspects as much as she could. They wanted to get this solved as soon as they possibly could. In the back of her mind, as well as the other agents' she was sure, they were bracing for something big to occur. There were always people that would take the opportunities to do something stupid.
And since Supergirl was not available to fly over the city for two nights in the row some idiots, be it human or aliens, might take this as a great time to commit a crime or two. Although they could possibly let tiny Supergirl out to battle the crime, she might just stop it purely because she was so damn adorable in her mini super suit.
That would be interesting.
Vasquez wasn't going to mention this to Agent Danvers, though, she didn't need the senior agent to take her to the training room for some extra session.
Internally, Vasquez shuddered as she remembered the last guy that challenged their second in command on one of their hand to hand sessions. And how she had his ass handed to him in thirty seconds flat. This happened in just about every new group of recruits that came in. They were all coming from being the best in their field in someway, a lot of them considered themselves alpha male, or female, so there was at least one out of the bunch that felt this need to challenge their trainer.
Every single time.
Especially when it was Agent Danvers, since she was slim in built, she was also essentially unknown to anyone else outside of the D.E.O, and small bio engineering world.
Vasquez was one of those cocky recruits, once upon a time, thank God she was never that stupid.
Agent Danvers was an expert in a lot of things, and these days she was also very busy with Supergirl. Since she was one of the only person who was an expert on Kryptonian biology, she was pretty much indispensable.
There was a small betting pool going on between the few of them that manned the comm on the day shift about Agent Colton, the new recruit that came in on their last batch, for how long would it be before Agent Danvers put him on his ass, or if it would be Supergirl who break him first. He seemed unable to take a hint that their second in command was not interested and he was stubborn enough that when other agents warned him about her being off limit, or maybe he was clueless that they were warning him and just went about his business with a smile.
Now, Vasquez was sure that Director Henshaw caught a whiff of it already, and he was keeping his eye on it.
Not much could get pass him, especially about the Danvers.
It was like an open secret by now that he saw them as his surrogate daughters. He was very protective of Agent Danvers, and Supergirl, despite his outward appearance to the contrary in the early days.
"I'll be in my lab." Agent Danvers said after she finished. "Let me know if there was anything else."
"Yes, ma'am."
And with that the Second in Command walked away, Supergirl perched on her shoulder like a tiny adorable blue bird.
"Agent Colton, what are you doing here?" Vasquez looked up from her coffee to see the young agent stepping into the break room with a large box of donuts in his hands. He was early, much too early for his shift, or even for his workout. He, like a lot of the other agent, would come in a couple of hours early to get their workout in, instead of staying late, especially those that worked the second or third shift.
The D.E.O had a very extensive gym for its agents after all, and there was always someone they could pair up with. But even with that in mind, he was still really really early.
"Aren't you a little early?"
"I thought I'd get in some workout time." He smiled his most charming smile at her, and Vasquez supposed that it was charming enough that it probably worked well for him in the past.
"Sure." Vasquez chucked her coffee like it was the last. She needed the caffeine badly. It had been such a long night, but at least they were making some head way in finding who was responsible, and also kept eyes out on other trouble around the city.
"Um…" He set down the box and opened it, seemingly to do something to occupy his hands. "Do you happen to know if Agent Danvers was in?"
"She's in the lab with Supergirl." She didn't know whether she should be amused or exasperated of his antics. He was harmless, there was nothing in his files that suggest he would do something foolish about his attraction. But really, how clueless could he be?
"Do you think she would be up to some sparring with me, Agent Vasquez?" He looked eager at the thought.
"Colton," Vasquez sighed, it was a good time as any to put a stop to this, all the betting be damned. "I think we need to have a chat."
He looked up at her serious tone, his eyes wide, like he was caught with both his hands in a cookie jar. Colton visibly swallowed.
"Yes, Agent Vasquez?"
"Sit." Vasquez took a seat at the table, then gestured at the seat across from her.
He quickly sat down.
"Listen, I know what you're thinking, Agent Danvers, smart, beautiful, seemingly single."
He opened his mouth, she didn't know if he was going to confirm or deny what she said, but she waved him off. "She's very attractive whichever ways you look at her, but she's off limit."
"But Agent Vasquez, if she's single…" He protested.
"Whether she's single or not is irrelevant. She's still off limit." iAnd you really don't want Supergirl on your ass,/i she thought to herself.
The new agent finally nodded, but like all the other times that the others had tried to hint to him to curve his attraction, it seemed to just went in one ear and out the other.
Vasquez felt a little bad for him, especially with him looking like a clueless puppy, but she had tried, he just didn't take. Well, he was not the first, and he certainly would not be the last.
Maybe Supergirl would put him on his ass before Agent Danvers actually did it herself.
She didn't want to imagine the carnage.
Oh well, this meant the betting pool was still on. Now she should check ledger and perhap add more to it.
Alex ran all the test she could think of, she went down to the AI room to speak with Alura AI, and got some vague ideas of who could be the culprit, now they would have to compare it to the database that they recovered from Fort Rozz, and hopefully they could begin to hunt for the one responsible.
She could not wait for this ordeal to be over.
And she was certain that Kara was, too, despite her sunny and bright outward appearance.
This morning she woke up to find her tiny alien fast asleep curled up and tucked herself tightly at the crook of her neck, and she was not surprise. Even though Kara was excited about the new tiny mattress and hand sewn quilt that she settled in quite happily before bed, Alex knew that once the excitement died down, and the quietness of the night sunk in, she would have a difficult time of it.
The night had always been the time that all worries of the day came back for Kara.
Alex was the sole witness of those nights.
As a teenager she was irritated that she was woken up every night to the sobbing and crying. At first she just put the pillow over her head and tried to ignore it, so she could go to sleep. That did not work, she didn't get anymore sleep with the pillow over her head. And her better nature won out after a few nights.
After that, she reluctantly offered comfort by talking to her at first, then sharing her bed.
The two of them would huddle together under the cover, with Alex tried her best to talk to Kara, to teach her things, to distract her from the noises that only her super hearing could detect. She didn't think she was doing a good job of it, and had once confessed to the Kryptonian that years later.
Kara, the ever loving and kind person that she was, assured her that it was the best thing anyone had ever done for her.
But she couldn't really help feeling that lingering guilt even now.
Once the sun was up and shining bright into the room through the open curtains- something she only did when Kara was sleeping over - her tiny alien was once again all sunshine and puppy. Alex didn't have the heart to ask about her abandoning her new mattress in the middle of the night. She would just wait for Kara to come to her about it.
So, they went through their morning routine together, with Alex took a quick shower and Kara just bath in the bathroom sink this time.
Then there was grumbling about not being able to brush her teeth.
The agent just rolled her eyes at that, and handed her a smallest shot glass with a bit of mouthwash for her. It wasn't like the Kryptonian could get a cavity.
"Alex."
Kara's voice pulled her right out of her head, the agent looked up from the monitor that she wasn't seeing.
"Can we go outside?" Her tiny alien asked in a small voice.
She'd been very patient, Kara thought, letting Alex run several test on her. Only because it was Alex, had it been other doctors, she would've left by now. Or at least complained, very loudly, of her boredom.
She did complain a few times, but then, the agent simply handed her a candy bar, Kara had to admit, it was a good way to occupy her for a while. It was almost a dream come true, to be able to eat a chocolate bar the size of her body.
It was certainly a bright side.
But now she's bored again, and was getting pretty full, not something she'd ever said often since she landed on this planet. She was also not going to admit it to Alex, she didn't want the agent to tease her about it at the later time. Or worse, not giving her anymore snacks at all today.
"Give me a few minutes and I think we can run some tests out in the desert."
"More tests?" The tiny alien pouted, she was getting tired of tests already, and it wasn't even lunch yet.
But there was a glint of something mischievous in Alex's eyes that told her it wasn't going to be boring anymore.
"Ok." She said slowly, "what kind of test are we talking about?"
"Something to work off all the chocolate you ate." Alex keyed in a few more things and pulled her lap coat off, a que for Kara to fly up and took her spot on her black cladded shoulder once more.
"I didn't eat that much!" Instead of sitting, she hopped up and stood on the agent's shoulder, one hand holding on her ear.
"Kara, you ate two candy bars, and they are like your size."
"I needed the sugar." The tiny blonde pouted, she leaned forward, with only one hand to hold onto to Alex's ear, so that she could use her pout to convince the brunette.
"No, you really don't need that much sugar." Alex teased, and gave her a little push back with one finger. "That was way too much sugar for your tiny self."
"No, it's not." Kara didn't let the push deter her, she just leaned against the finger and pouted harder.
"It is, and we need to get you to work it all off." Alex felt herself going cross eyed trying look at at the tiny alien.
"What do you mean?" Kara went even closer, the pout turned into a grin at Alex crossed eyes, eventually she was close enough to feel long lashes brushed against her and she allowed herself to be pushed back.
"Brat." The agent grumbled.
Supergirl floated up, laughing, her boredom forgotten.
It took them thirty minutes to set up the target and hi-speed camera and target, something for the bullets to hit.
"Do you wanna try that old saying? You know faster than a speeding bullet." The agent slipped on her sunglasses, it was bright out in the desert, especially when they just come from the cave.
"I thought we proved that I'm faster than the speed of sound?" The Kryptonian grabbed a hold of her ear as she leaned forward.
Supergirl watched in fascination as her agent deftly and speedily adjusted and loaded her favorite gun. "You have to teach me how to do that!"
"That was when you're normal size, and we established that you got better, but you're not your normal size, so it might be a good thing if we can actually record the speed you can go. And yes, I will teach you how to handle a gun, although I don't think you'd ever need it."
"It's better to know how, though."
Alex hummed in agreement.
This was entirely an unnecessary test, they would never let tiny Supergirl out in the field, unless they absolutely have to. But the agent knew that her tiny charge needed to let out some steam, Supergirl was used to constantly doing something, whether it was the work at CatCo, or out saving the day, for her to spend the entire day perching on one thing or another just wasn't a good idea.
"We're ready Agent Danvers." One of the lower rank agents informed her.
"Alright," the brunette acknowledged. "Are you ready?"
"Anytime." Supergirl puffed her tiny form up, all eight inches of her, then got into position as she watched her agent signaled for anyone nearby to take cover. She aimed, and at the first click of the firing pin, Supergirl was off, at the exact moment the bullet left.
Alex watched through the scope and saw tiny Supergirl hit the target before the bullet could get there. The agent felt her heart in her throat when the alien actually caught the bullet, even though she knew that nothing was going to happen. Kara was just as indestructible as always, a little bullet wasn't going to hurt her.
But she worried.
"I won!" Supergirl zoomed over, and deposit the bullet in front of the agent.
"Yeah, that was a good one." Alex praised, trying not to show how nervous she was at watching her tiny alien caught the bullet.
"Let's do that again!"
Two hours, and hundreds of bullets later, they were ready to get back inside.
Kara was still buzzing with adrenaline, and she was zipping about as the agents packed up all the gears and Alex collecting the data they gathered. While they were doing this mostly to alleviate Supergirl's boredom and access energy, it was good to gather any and all data they could from it as well.
How else would she explain the expenditure to J'onn.
"Are we getting lunch from the mess?" Supergirl floated along her agent, instead of perching on her shoulder this time. Only because Alex was carrying her gun case, and a laptop. "Do you want me to carry that for you?"
"Yeah, we're getting something from the mess, and if you want you can carry the gun."
"Yay!" She'd never actually eat at the mess hall, because she usually only visit during the evening, if Alex was working late, or came in for briefing when there was some big bad, there weren't time to grab anything to eat. She'd heard there were lots of food to choose from.
She couldn't wait!
All other agents were trying very hard not to gawk at the way their tiny resident Kryptonian picked up and carried along a large gun case by the handle and floated along their Second in Command as they moved through the compound.
They liked having Supergirl around for other than the obvious reasons, their lead agent lightened up so much around her. She was even spotted smiling a time or two last week. It was much much better than her usual scowl, and barking orders.
And much more attractive, too.
In the time that Supergirl was out testing with her agent, Vasquez and a couple of other agents finally generated several leads that they could perhaps follow. They couldn't wait to tell Supergirl and Agent Danvers.
As cute as she was at this size, not that any of them got the chance to actually interact with her tiny self much, since had pretty much been with Agent Danvers the entire time she was at the base, Vasquez knew that their second in command was more than ready to get to the bottom of this attack.
Vasquez was not a part of the team that went to Supergirl's apartment, but she knew every agents that went personally, and she trusted that they were thorough in their search. They didn't find much, and whatever they found weren't of much help. Vasquez made sure that everything they found were also sent to Agent Danvers.
Now, they narrowed all the escapees that could possible made the device that could shrink thing, there were surprisingly many scientists that were locked up in Fort Rozz. But as they had proven that not all prisoners were there for violent offenses. They compiled the list and sent it off.
"Vasquez."
The entire room nearly jump as their commander snuck up to them. Where did Agent Danvers learn to be that stealthy?
"Ma'am."
Agent Danvers sure could be silent when she wanted. Normally, she could at least hear her footsteps once she entered the room, her heavy boot threads, like all other agents', usually thudding and squeaking a little on their floor.
"Anything?"
"Yes, ma'am. I sent everything we found to you and Director Henshaw now." Vasquez nodded quickly, her back straight. She handed over a tablet quickly, screen already on to show the information she was talking about.
"I'll take a look."
"We're getting lunch." Supergirl spoke up from her current, favorite perch. "Would you like to join us Agent Vasquez?" The tiny hero offered with a big smile.
"Oh no ma'am." Susan Vasquez declined politely, but she was touched at the offer nonetheless. "But thank you for asking."
"You can join us," Danvers titled her head slightly.
"Oh no, ma'am, thank you. Enjoy your lunch."
With a small nod, Agent Danvers walked away, eyes already on the tablet in her hand. Vasquez gave a small wave to their tiny resident Kryptonian, who was waving back at her.
a/n : This took me a while, I'm sorry. On the bright side, I got a new keyboard! Yay! The old one was sticking and generally such a pain to type on, the new one is a joy. So, I'll be nice to write more with a better keyboard.
Thank you guys for hanging in there with me. This is just fluff. There'll be some development in the next one... tiny!Kara is still adorable, though. :D Any mistakes here are all mine, all comments are welcomed!