Chapter 11

A/N: Thanks again for the favorites/follows/reviews so far. Now on to the next chapter!


"Any word?" Kara asked, dropping into a chair next to the desk where Maggie was currently working. Barbara's clock tower had become the official headquarters for what they'd dubbed 'Operation Phoenix.' She'd argued for the name 'Flamebird,' after the legendary Kryptonian hero, but was sadly outvoted by the humans. Not that the name really mattered. The important part was taking down Cadmus and getting Alex back.

Looking up from whatever she'd been busy with, Maggie pushed away from the desk and turned her chair towards the Kryptonian. The ex-detective had been out of the hospital for about a week, and was coping with her disability much better than anyone had expected. Sure, her legs were still healing (though she'd graduated from casts to airboots) and she was on more medication than Kara could name, but if one didn't know better they'd swear Maggie had been living with her condition for far longer than a few weeks. Kara suspected that Maggie probably wasn't as okay as she was acting, but wasn't about to say anything. Her would-be sister-in-law was currently focusing all of her energy on the search for Alex, and if that was what it took to keep her from falling into a depression like Dr. Shepherd had warned of, so be it. She'd be there when and if Maggie was ready to finally deal with whatever thoughts or feelings she's been avoiding.

"You're going to have to be a bit more specific, kiddo," Maggie grinned, seemingly oblivious to Kara's train of thought as she leaned forward in her chair. Just before the hospital discharged her, Kate Kane had shown up with a wheelchair that had to have cost thousands. Solid titanium frame (painted red), wheels slightly splayed out – supposedly better for maneuvering – and a low-backed seat with a belt to keep her from falling out. And, despite protesting the idea of Kate buying her something so pricey, Maggie had taken to it like a Kryptonian to flight. "The DEO says Sue is still out of it," she continued, "but their doctors are hopeful that things will improve once all the drugs are fully flushed from her system."

Kara nodded. "That's good." While Maggie was still in the hospital, her contacts – semi-reformed villains Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, it turned out – had called to say that they'd successfully retrieved Vasquez from Belle Reve, at which point Kara contacted the DEO to go meet them and get Sue to the Nevada facility for treatment. "But what about Teo? Did Lena's information about her family's holdings pan out?"

"Did I hear my name?" a slightly accented voice called out. Kara turned to see Lena emerge from the lab she'd claimed upon arriving in Gotham the week prior. When she'd called to inform the others that Alex was still alive – leaving out the immortal bits, of course – most of them had been skeptical. J'onn included. They'd thought it was some fantasy she'd concocted to cope with her loss, since nothing else seemed to be working. But Lena had believed her immediately and had flown out as soon as she was able to wrap up whatever she'd been working on for the DEO.

Maggie smirked, leaning back in her chair. "Hey, Sugar Mama."

"Rao," Kara grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Can you just drop that already?"

"I will when it stops being fun."

"It's alright," Lena shrugged, pulling up a chair next to Kara and leaning in to kiss her cheek. "If the worst anyone can say about me is that I spoil the people I care about, then I'm golden. Besides," she added, giving Maggie a pointed look. "You're one to talk."

"That's different. I'm not sleeping with Kate anymore, and have no intention of doing so ever again. No matter how much fancy shit she buys me."

"I-I'm not," Kara sputtered. "I mean….we're not…."

Smiling, the CEO put a hand on Kara's knee. "What I think Kara means to say is that she and I haven't had a chance to discuss anything of that nature. And even if we had, whatever may or may not be going on between us has no bearing on my generosity." Lena stared Maggie down for a moment, and the ex-detective raised her hands in surrender. Seemingly satisfied, the youngest Luthor threw her arm around Kara's shoulders and leaned back in her chair. "Now…what were you about to say about the FBI's investigation?"

"Just that last time I spoke to Teo, he said that his team had managed to identify at least a dozen possible Cadmus facilities from the information you gave them and were planning to raid those facilities today. They're probably doing it as we speak. Teo promised he'd call when they had something."

"Are you sure they don't need my help?" Kara asked. "I mean, I could be there in literally seconds."

Maggie sighed. "We've been over this, Kara. The chances that Cadmus has traps laid to hurt you are far higher than I'm comfortable with, and Alex would straight-up murder me if I let anything happen to her baby sister. Besides, your involvement would tip them off that we're onto their psychotic asses in a way that a seemingly unrelated FBI investigation wouldn't. Lord and Lane are less likely to circle the wagons or whatever if they think Lillian's own stupidity got her locked up."

"Her arrogance, more like," Lena snorted. "My mother is many things, but stupid isn't one of them. But this would hardly be the first time she allowed her hubris to blind her to reality. I doubt her partners would fail to take at least some precautions in the wake of her arrest, but Maggie's right in that those precautions probably won't be as extensive as they would be if Supergirl brought my mother in herself. So I say let the FBI do its job and take down her portion of Cadmus, and we can clean up what's left when the dust settles."

Kara nodded. "I guess. It just feels weird not being on the front lines. And even weirder not having the DEO involved."

"They made their choice," Maggie growled. "J'onn was the one who thought you needed a fucking shrink instead of backup. I mean, I'm glad they're helping to get Sue back to full health and all, but would it kill them to be a little more supportive of you trying to rescue your sister? You'd think that after all the shit Cadmus has pulled, the idea of them faking her death and holding her captive wouldn't be that fucking farfetched." The former detective shook her head, drawing in a couple of deep breaths. "Sorry. I know they're your friends."

"You're not wrong, though," Kara sighed. "But in J'onn's defense, I think that after all the loss he's endured over the past three centuries, he probably doesn't want to get his hopes up just to have his heart broken again. And I get that. As for Winn, I'm sure he's just too focused on Sue to think about much else."

"Maybe. Still doesn't change the fact that – until they pull their heads out of their asses – we're pretty much on our own with this."

"Well," Lena chimed in, "between myself, Ms. Gordon, and the occasional contribution from Ms. Kane, I'd say we have more than enough resources to handle things." She turned to Kara. "Speaking of resources…I think some food might be in order. We could be waiting awhile, after all. Take the card I gave you and go to that Chinese place you like. Bring me and Maggie our usual orders, and grab whatever you feel like eating. And maybe when you return, Maggie can fill us in on whatever it is she's been working on," Lena added, tilting her head towards the papers littering the former detective's desk.

Kara grinned, kissing Lena on the cheek. "Be right back." She sped out of the clocktower as Maggie coughed something sounding suspiciously like 'whipped.' And maybe she was, but no more so than Maggie when it came to Alex.

Twenty minutes and more than a hundred dollars later, Kara sped back into the clocktower with the food. Lena and Maggie's go-to orders, plus an assortment for herself and the maximum number of potstickers she'd been able to talk the owners into cooking up. Not to mention some food for Barbara and Helena, who would be coming back when school let out and Babs – who taught computer science at the same school her ward attended – finished her shift supervising detention. And since Helena's appetite rivaled her own, Kara had gotten double what she usually did (or as close to it as they could manage). Sticking their orders in the fridge, the Kryptonian quickly handed Lena and Maggie's over and sat down with the first portion of hers. They ate in relative silence, and when the CEO finished her food she set the carton aside and looked at Maggie. "So…care to fill us in?"

Nodding, Maggie wolfed down the last of her Vegetable Lo Mein before wheeling back over to the desk. "If you must know, I've been trying to piece together what I've been seeing in my dreams in hopes of giving us some idea of what we might be walking into when we go get Alex."

"Is this about that weird Kryptonian soulmate thing?"

"It's not weird," Kara grunted in between potstickers. "Okay, so most of my people were too logical to embrace those stories, but that doesn't make the stories wrong. The signs all fit, Lena. Alex and Maggie share the shesur ehrosh, and that's what's going to help us bring my sister home."

Lena raised her hands. "I never said I didn't believe you. It's just a little hard for me to wrap my head around a concept that's so…unscientific."

"Hey, I get it," Maggie chimed in. "Hell, I wouldn't believe it myself if it wasn't actually happening to me. And this connection – wherever it comes from – is really the only thing keeping me from losing my fucking mind over Alex's capture." Shaking her head, she pulled some papers off the desk. Some notes and a crude drawing. "I don't have much because those fuckers like to blindfold their prisoners whenever they move them through the facility. But, from what I've seen, Alex is being held in a cell block alongside about two dozen alien prisoners. Supposed to be some kind of punishment because she refuses to help Lord research how to create super soldiers to fight the so-called alien menace. The cell block is actually designed to hold three dozen, but I don't know if they haven't reached capacity yet or if they've lost some." As Maggie spoke, Kara saw Lena pull out a tablet and take notes. Maggie seemed to notice as well, but it didn't look like she minded. "Everything there is automated," the former detective continued. "They have scanners for conducting prisoner counts – which also serve to unlock or relock the cells once the prisoner in question is accounted for – and some kind of food replicator made from stolen alien tech. The block is basically a large rectangle, with the cells on three tiers along the side walls and a common area in the middle. And all the prisoners have these ankle cuffs that primarily serve as tracking devices, but also act as power inhibitors for the aliens who have extra abilities on this planet. Beyond that, all I know is that Lord and Lane have Alex and the aliens mining ore for titanium, and doing it the old-fashioned way. And that Lord still has at least some interest in using Alex as a fucking lab rat." Shaking her head, Maggie started flipping through her papers as though looking for something, only to be interrupted when her phone went off. She tossed the papers back on her desk and retrieved the phone, putting it on speaker. "Teo?"

"I'm here," he responded. "Is it safe to talk?"

"Just me, Kara, and Lena. So did you nail the bitch?"

"If you're referring to Lillian Luthor, the answer is yes. Her facilities have all been shut down, and she is in custody. Unfortunately, most of her people had cyanide pills that they took when we closed in. She had one as well, but we got to her in time. The aliens they were experimenting on are at FBI headquarters until we can figure out what to do with them, and our scientists are combing through their research."

Maggie frowned. "What the fuck is there to decide, Teo? They're people, regardless of which planet they came from. Let them go back to whatever families they might have."

There was a heavy sigh on the other end. "I wish it was that simple, Mags. But there are several factions within the government who all have their own ideas on how to handle the so-called alien issue. If it were up to me, I'd send them on their way as soon as they've been debriefed. As it is, I'm doing my best to argue for that. I just don't know if anyone's really listening."

"Right," Maggie grumbled, sharing a look with Kara and Lena. It was nice that Teo was trying, but Kara had a feeling that the aliens would once again get screwed over, regardless of which 'faction' won out. She wished they lived in a world where extraterrestrials were treated equally to humans, but it would probably be years – decades, even – before that world came to pass.

"So has Lillian said anything?" Kara chimed in, wanting to change the subject a bit.

"She did, and much of it was rather disturbing. The woman seems to believe that she's the savior of the human race and that her goal of 'rescuing' humanity excuses her crimes. She also had a few things to say about Ms. Danvers, but I'm not sure I can get into it in present company."

Maggie sighed. "If you're talking about what I think you're talking about, Kara knows."

"And Lena?"

"Hang on," the former detective grumbled, looking at Kara as she muted the phone. "What do you think? Should we?"

"I trust Lena. Not sure I feel entirely comfortable spilling Alex's secrets without her permission, but as deeply as Lena is involved with our plans, she should probably have some idea of what we're walking into."

"If you're finished talking about me like I'm not here," Lena growled, "I'd like to know what's going on. Does this have to do with how Alex miraculously survived being crushed by building debris and why Cadmus was interested in taking her as an experimental subject?"

Kara nodded. "I don't completely understand it myself, but Maggie says that Alex is somehow immortal, and that the only way she can truly die is if her head is removed. Otherwise she heals as though nothing happened. If Cadmus was experimenting on her, I'm sure it had to do with exploiting that healing ability for their own purposes. Probably related to those super soldiers Maggie mentioned."

"No doubt. I don't even want to think about what my mother would have done to her." Lena shook her head. "Put Teo back on. If nothing else, we need to know how many agents my mother has bragged to about her experiments, since I'm assuming that this immortality thing is supposed to remain a secret."

"Of course," Maggie nodded, unmuting the phone. "Still there, Teo?"

"Of course. Has Lena been read in?"

"She knows enough. May I ask how you know about this? Assuming, of course, we're talking about the same thing."

"I'm a Watcher, Mags. A woman named Amy Brennan-Thomas recruited me about five years back, when I was still a rookie agent. I'd stumbled across the tail-end of a fight and saw this guy with red and white sneakers and a tan trench coat lop off some other dude's head with a fucking katana. And then there was the lightning. Amy was the area supervisor at the time. She tracked me down and explained what I'd seen, then offered me a chance to join their organization. I just had to keep the FBI from looking into the strange beheadings. My last assignment was killed in National City a few months ago, and I've been kind of spinning my wheels ever since, waiting to be reassigned. Think this stuff with Maxwell Lord and Cadmus has my Watcher bosses thrown for a loop."

"Wait," Maggie snapped. "You were in National City a few months ago? Why the fuck didn't you tell me?"

"We hadn't talked in years, Mags. I wasn't sure I'd be welcomed. And then you got hurt and I was scared of losing my chance."

Maggie sighed again. "Fine. We'll talk about that later." She shook her head. "So your last assignment was Jo, I assume. I guess you've known about Alex all this time?"

"Yes. And I've seen video of what Lillian did to her in that lab. The woman is insane, but she was also pretty thorough with the documentation. Believe me when I say that you don't want to watch that footage. I know I'll have nightmares for years. If Alex wasn't immortal, those so-called experiments would have killed her weeks ago. Don't worry…I've made sure my colleagues aren't able to access the information on those experiments. Just the ones on the aliens. And I also ensured that I was the one doing the interrogation and that anything about immortals was mysteriously erased from the video. But even without that part, there should be more than enough to put Lillian away for a very long time."

"Are you sure?" Maggie asked, glancing at Kara. "From what you said, the government doesn't seem overly interested in protecting alien rights."

"Positive. Number one, she also conducted experiments on human 'volunteers,' few of whom survived. So we have her on several counts of murder right there. But even without the human tests, Amnesty has very strict provisions regarding experimentation on extraterrestrials. What Lillian did was highly illegal any way you slice it, so she's pretty much done for."

"Good," Kara snarled, setting her food aside. The mere thought of what her sister must have suffered at Lillian's hands was enough to kill her appetite for the time being. "You didn't happen to get Lillian to give up Alex's current location, did you?"

"I'm afraid not. Lillian swears up and down that she has no idea where General Lane is keeping his prisoners. The only thing she confirmed is that Lane and Lord are both part of it. Though I doubt we'll be able to use what she said because both of them are too well-connected, and the FBI is eager to write this off as Luthor's sick project. I have a feeling that Lane's part isn't entirely unsanctioned, which will make it that much harder to go against him. Officially, that is. Unofficially, I'm happy to lend you guys whatever help I can offer."

Maggie smiled. "Glad to hear it. We've still got work to do here, but as soon as we've got a plan we'll loop you in."

"Good. In the meantime I'll keep working Lillian to see if I can get her to give up anything else. And when this is all over, maybe you and Alex can join Tom and I for dinner sometime?"

"One thing at a time, Teo. Talk to you soon." She hung up the phone, tossing it onto the desk before grabbing up some papers and turning back to her co-conspirators. "So…where were we?"

Lena glanced down at her tablet. "I believe you were filling us in on your visions of General Lane's prison facility. You said what you told us was all you knew, but are you sure you didn't miss anything? For instance, how many guards will we have to worry about?"

"Hard to say for sure," Maggie shrugged. "There are about a half a dozen assigned to Alex's cell block, but the number for the whole facility is probably much higher."

The CEO swore. "That pretty much rules out a direct approach, given our own rather limited numbers." Frowning, Lena typed something else into the tablet. "What of Alex's condition? Anything you can give us on that?"

"Physically, she's fine. A bit malnourished, but that whole healing factor deal took care of everything else." Maggie's expression darkened a bit as she said that, and Kara couldn't help but wonder what the former detective wasn't telling them, since she was clearly holding something back. Probably in an attempt to protect her from the truth of what was going on with Alex, for fear that she might do something stupid if she knew. Which was the only reason Kara wasn't calling her on it. Frankly, she didn't want to know the full extent of how Cadmus was torturing her big sister. Just the fact that they were doing it was more than enough. "Mentally," Maggie continued, once again seemingly oblivious to Kara's train of thought, "I honestly can't say. She seems to be holding it together for the most part, but the fact that she's hallucinating conversations with me doesn't really bode well. We can only hope that the hallucinations are purely an effect of her imprisonment and that they'll go away once she's out of there and back to her normal life."

Lena nodded. "Yes, let's hope. Though I do know several shrinks who are especially discreet should the need arise."

"But we can worry about that after she's free," Kara chimed in, rising from her chair and pacing the room. "First order of business is figuring out where the hell the General is hiding her. Obviously, the facilities connected to Lillian are out. Does Lord have any holdings outside National City that could fit what Maggie described?" She stopped pacing for a moment to look at Lena, who shook her head.

"Not that I've found. But I do know a way we can narrow things down." She turned back to her tablet and typed something into it. "Maggie, you said they were mining ore for titanium, correct?"

Maggie nodded. "Assuming those dreams are accurate, yeah. Why?"

"L Corp uses titanium quite frequently, and I've managed to purchase quite a few mining operations in order to save my company from having to go through a middleman to get it. But there were a couple of deposits that I couldn't purchase rights to because they had already been purchased by the government. I didn't think much of it at the time, but if Lane is still using government resources then it's likely that the facility we're looking for is situated over one of those deposits." She turned the tablet so that Kara and Maggie could see. "One is in Alaska and the other is in the middle of Montana. Problem is, the satellite scans I ran showed large facilities over both deposits. For all we know, they could both be active prisons. Or one could be a decoy in case we started digging into it."

Kara let loose a string of rather vile Kryptonese curses. Lena's eyebrow shot up, making the Kryptonian wonder how much Lex had taught his sister, but Maggie just seemed confused. Clearly, Alex hadn't gotten around to sharing any language lessons with her girlfriend. "So we've narrowed it down to two possible locations, but there's no way to tell which one they have her at. I'm sure they've shielded both of them somehow so I can't just fly over and x-ray them. And if I bust into one and she's not there, Lane and his cronies will know we're on to them and move her from the other location. Or worse." She swore again, resuming her pacing. "Anyone have any ideas on how to figure out which facility is the right one? Preferably without alerting Cadmus that we're coming?"

Maggie shook her head. "Sorry. I'd ask Teo, but with Lane's connections, he probably has people in the FBI who'd tip him off if any agents started an investigation against him."

"And my company's technology is amazing," Lena chimed in, "but if I can't get anything from my satellites, I'm not sure who can." She fell silent for a moment. "Perhaps we should reconsider bringing the DEO in on this. I'm sure they've gotten word on my mother's capture by now."

"Doesn't mean they'll suddenly believe that Alex is alive," Kara grumbled. "We're still on our own." Feeling the rage build up inside her, the Kryptonian stalked over to Barbara's gym and took a swing at the heavy bag, sending it clear across the room, where it exploded on impact. A moment later, she heard Maggie roll up behind her.

"Easy on the equipment, kiddo. Babs may be Bruce's friend, but she doesn't have his bank account."

"I'll put it on Lena's card," she muttered, trying to remember if the fight club was meeting that night. 'Marley' hadn't been there since the night Maggie explained about immortals, and right now Kara was itching to slug someone. And since Lane was out of reach for the moment….

A hand touched her arm, and she turned to face Maggie. "You okay, Little Danvers?"

"Let's just say this situation isn't helping my anger issues."

"I know," Maggie sighed. "We'll figure this out. I promise. In the meantime, if you need to go get your rage on, Lena and I can hold down the fort. Paul is supposed to be here in an hour for my PT, anyway, and he'll more than likely bring that genius husband of his along. Between Curtis, Lena, and Babs, I'm positive we can find some sort of technological solution to our problem."

Kara nodded. It turned out that Barbara's regular physical therapist was the same one Maggie had referred to as her 'guy.' And though the ex-detective was currently rather limited in what she could do, thanks to her still-healing legs, she didn't view that as an excuse to slack off on the PT she was capable of working on. The fact that they were all practically living in the clocktower at this point just made it more convenient for Paul. And Paul's husband, Curtis, was easily a match for Lena, Barbara, and Winn when it came to computers and science. He wasn't in on everything (nor was Barbara, for that matter), but that didn't make him less capable of helping. She wondered if the Curtis she'd met on Earth-1 – also a genius – was likewise married to a physical therapist named Paul. They hadn't gotten close enough during her brief stay to share those kinds of details. Kara made a mental note to ask when and if she ever went back there. Not to mention finding out if this Earth's Curtis was secretly moonlighting as a vigilante like his Earth-1 counterpart. But those were all issues for another day. "I might just take you up on that," she finally shrugged. "Right now, it's taking everything I have not to rip this place apart in frustration."

"Go on, then," Maggie grinned. "Just try to leave the other aliens in one piece."

"No promises." She handed Maggie her glasses, then threw on her leather jacket and sped down to the garage to grab her bike. The ride from the clocktower to the old boxing gym helped clear her head some, but it wasn't enough to soothe her rage and frustration at hitting yet another roadblock in the quest to bring Alex back home. When she arrived, the gym was lit up, meaning that the fight club was in full swing. Kara could hear a match going on, so she slipped into the locker room and changed, making sure to wrap her hands before heading out to the gym. In the ring, a male Graxian was taking on a female Tamaranian, who seemed to have the upper hand.

"Long time, no see," a male voice whispered. She turned to see Lyra's brother Bastian standing next to her. Though he was technically supposed to be the referee for the matches, most of the time he stayed out of the way until it was over, at which point he made the win official.

Kara shrugged. "Been busy."

"Fair enough. You here to fight or just watch?"

"I have an intense need to punch someone right about now."

Bastian smiled. "I'll see what I can set up." He glanced up at the ring, where the Tamaranian had her opponent sprawled out on the mat. "Duty calls. Just hang tight." He slid into the ring to make the count, and in minutes the ring was cleared and Kara heard her alias being called. She climbed into the ring and found herself opposite a female Rigelian calling herself Tasha. Kara didn't know much about Rigelians. Only that they were a reptilian species that could somehow pass for human while retaining all the benefits of their reptile nature. Including super strength and tougher-than-normal skin. She glanced over at Bastian, who shrugged. Kara shook her head. 'Never let it be said that Kara Zor-El backs down from a challenge,' she thought as her opponent stepped forward and swung for her head. She ducked the attempted blow and answered with one of her own, connecting squarely with Tasha's nose. The Rigelian howled in pain, and Kara managed to land a few more punches to her sides and abdomen before she recovered and caught 'Marley' in the throat. Tasha followed up with a blow to Kara's temple as the Kryptonian sputtered and gagged. Hitting the mat, Kara fought through the disorientation and kicked out at Tasha's knee, knocking her down as well. As she climbed back to her feet, Kara spotted a pair of cat eyes watching her from the rafters. And there was only one possible explanation…one that would no doubt lead to her getting killed by Barbara. She returned her attention to Tasha just in time to eat a sucker punch to the jaw that loosened a few teeth and sent her right back to the mat.

"So much for the legend," she heard Tasha mutter. Spitting out the blood that had welled up in her mouth, Kara shot back to her feet and drove her shoulder into the Rigelian's midsection, forcing her into the corner. She launched a few hard blows into Tasha's torso, followed by an uppercut to the jaw that left her hanging onto the ropes. Kara moved in to finish the fight, only to get a stiff elbow to the nose. Biting back a cry of pain, the Kryptonian wiped the blood from her nostrils and dodged the attempted follow-up. She wrapped an arm around Tasha's throat and squeezed, putting pressure on where the carotid should be. Kara wasn't sure if it would work, given the reptilian nature of her opponent, but – to her surprise – Tasha quickly lost consciousness and Bastian declared 'Marley' the winner yet again. Her rage at least somewhat sated, Kara left the ring and returned to the locker room, subtly gesturing for her silent observer to follow. Normally, she would've stuck around for at least a few more bouts, but she had to deal with this situation before Oracle decided to dip into Batman's Kryptonite supply. She sat down on the bench and unwrapped her hands as she waited, the pain in her nose and jaw fading to nothing in the meantime. Soon, she heard cat-like footsteps approach and turned to see Barbara's 15-year-old ward walk in.

"Explain. Now."

Helena sighed, shoving her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket. "I saw you leaving the clocktower and followed you."

"That tells me how you got here. Not why you thought it was a good idea. Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?"

"No more dangerous than it is for you," the teenager shot back.

Kara shook her head. "It's different. Number one, I'm an adult. Number two, I'm an alien like everyone else here."

"And I'm a human with enhanced abilities. I can take care of myself."

"Enhanced abilities or not, you're still young. The aliens who come here…not all of them are as nice as I am. And many have good reasons not to trust humans. If they found you here, I doubt they'd care how different you are."

"But you'd protect me, right?"

"Of course I would. Doesn't mean I'm not pissed about you putting yourself in danger. What the hell were you thinking?" Helena dropped her gaze, and Kara sighed. She patted the bench next to her, and the younger girl automatically took a seat. "What's going on, Helena?" Kara asked softly. "Why aren't you home with Barbara and the others?"

"I got in trouble at school today. Bunch of jocks were picking on this kid, Gideon. He has abilities, too…some sort of super-eidetic memory. I think he's pretty cool, but most kids see him as a weirdo. Anyway…the jocks were pushing him around, so I stepped in and pushed back. Only…."

"The kid you pushed ended up in the hospital," Kara finished, and Helena nodded. "What did Barbara say?"

Helena shook her head. "I took off before she could say anything. Doesn't take a genius to know I'm probably gonna be grounded for the rest of my freaking life."

"I doubt it's going to be that bad," Kara assured her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "But there are valid concerns here." She sighed. "I know what you're going through. Maybe not exactly, since my powers are a bit different, but I remember what it's like to go to high school and have to walk on eggshells because of what I could do to the other kids if I lost control, even for a moment. Something I eventually found out the hard way. My first year or so on Earth, Alex – my sister – was always around, so I never had to worry about bullies or anything. Even when she still wasn't exactly thrilled with my presence, she'd step in before I could even be tempted. Though she didn't actually punch anyone out on my behalf until just after her dad disappeared. But then, middle of my freshman year, she caught the chicken pox and was out sick for a week. I tried my best to keep to myself, but one day the school bullies were picking on this other freshman – I think he was in chess club or something – and the way they were going at it was more than I could stand. So I stepped in, and shoved the ringleader into the lockers so hard that he busted his head open. Ended up with a concussion and needing stitches. And for once, Eliza couldn't blame anything on Alex because she wasn't there. It was the only time in my whole childhood on Earth that I got grounded. No TV for two weeks, and a month of doing both mine and Alex's chores at human speed. I was angry about it at the time, but I know now that she was just worried about me exposing myself, and about the damage I could do if I couldn't control my strength. People like us…we have to be careful around normal humans. No matter how much they piss us off. Yes, our abilities allow us to protect people. But they don't give us license to go full tilt against every single bad guy. I can lay into other aliens all I want, but when dealing with human criminals I have to hold myself back…only use just enough to disable them without inflicting serious damage. It's not easy, but I can't be judge, jury, and executioner. And neither can you. Even if you don't join the family business someday, you'll have to be careful around normal humans. Too much pressure on a handshake could break fingers. An over-enthusiastic hug can lead to fractured ribs. Control…it's the price we have to pay for being what we are. Understand what I'm saying?"

Helena nodded. "I think so. Is that why you come here?"

"Sort of," Kara shrugged. "Ever since I thought my sister died, I've been having issues controlling my anger. This is a safe place for me to vent without hurting any humans. But there's no way I'm letting you start coming here. Even if it wasn't aliens only, you're still too young for this sort of thing." Helena opened her mouth to argue, and Kara held up a hand. "That being said, I'd be happy to train you myself. Barbara means well, I'm sure, but she doesn't know what it's like to have powers. I'm in a much better position to give you what you need…assuming she agrees, of course. She's still your guardian."

"Do you think she'll say yes?"

Kara smiled. "I'm sure I can talk her into it." She would've said more, but her ears picked up sirens in the distance. And from Helena's expression, the younger girl heard them as well. "We have to go. The cops usually don't care what we aliens get up to in this place, but if they find a human – a teenager, at that – they'll probably shut the whole thing down and haul us all off to jail." With a burst of super speed that left Helena gaping, Kara changed back into her street clothes and grabbed her helmet, tossing it to the young metahuman. "Put that on. We're taking my bike back to the clocktower." She ran over to where she'd left the Ducati and climbed on, Helena taking the spot behind her and wrapping her arms around the older woman's waist. Kara hit the gas and sped off. If she got busted for riding without a helmet, so be it, but it was better than getting caught with an underage human at a semi-legal alien fight club. As she drove, a thought occurred to her…a plan for finding out where Alex was being held. It was completely insane, and she knew her compatriots would try to talk her out of it, but it was really the only way. And with the right technology, and competent backup, Kara knew they could pull off the jailbreak of the century. She just had to figure out the right way to present her crazy idea….

TBC (See you Wednesday with Alex's next chapter!)