Chapter 14 - The Rules

A week ago Tuesday. Airfield -Cat Grant's Private Jet.

Cat Grant hadn't told Kara the extent of her issues. She didn't think it was appropriate considering Kara's condition, though she knew Kara could sense something was off. Cat didn't want to explain the changes she was going through to Kara, not yet anyway. The 'tension' is back and it's mounting Cat thinks to her self. Nothing seemed to help- who will I become if it takes over? Cat feels herself unraveling. Cynthia said to use the coat no more than once every two weeks. If only I had followed her rules! Cat thinks to herself. Everything is getting louder, the sounds hurt so much now...

Cat takes out her phone and sends Kara a text:

Sweetheart,

I'll be out of town for a week.

Kisses,

See you soon.

Her phone rings seconds later. "Were are you?" Kara's voice comes through the phone authoritatively. "Sweetheart it's just a week, I'll be fine. I'll be back before you know it." Cat can hear Kara pouting. "Okay, but send me your coordinates when you land. I know things have been hard and that you like to pretend everything is fine, but if you need to take more time, take it. I hate to say this but maybe it's best we-" "Don't. I'll be back in 7 days and we'll talk then." Cat takes a deep breath and waits for Kara's response. "Okay, I'll see you in 7 days." Kara ends the call, and with tears in her eyes, watches as Cat boards her private jet from a near by building.

A week ago Friday. The D.E.O

Kara floats over to J'onn's coffin. "How is he?" Kara asks M'gaan. "The same" she says solemnly. M'gaan excuses herself, giving Kara time alone with J'onn. Resting her hand on the coffin she can sense a storm of thoughts coming from J'onn. I wonder were you are J'onn- are you in the Kingdom of Peace, or floating down the River of Life? She says telepathically to J'onn. Suddenly Kara gets a clear image of J'onn in a forest wearing a medieval suit of armor and carrying a glowing golden sword. Beside him are James Olsen and Lucy Lane who both are dressed similarly. The image fades and Kara is left with an intense sadness.

Winn walks in holding a tablet. "Any change" Kara asks. "He just had a spike in brain activity. What ever you did keep doing it" Winn says pulling up a chair. Winn sits down wearily and looks dejectedly at the coffin. Kara floats over and rests a hand on his shoulder. "He's dreaming, which must be a good sign; but who knows how long it will take him to come back to us..." Winn nods.

Winn ask suddenly "Have you heard from James? I've been trying to get in touch with him for weeks..."

A week ago. L-Corp: Berlin

Lena Luthor walks quickly towards a large warehouse in East Berlin. She is scrolling quickly through Kara's preliminary test results. "Scheisse" she mutters. Things are not looking good she thinks to herself. The organic nano bots are adapting and I have no idea how long it's going to take them to overpower whatever is in the bracelet Cynthia gave Kara. Lena forwards the findings to Winn:

I'm at a loss, see what you can find.

L.

She gets a photo back seconds later with an analysis of the clay of the coffin in the photo. "Look familiar?" is all Winn writes back. "On it. Give me 24 hours" she writes back.

Placing her palm on the access panel to her laboratory she opens the door. Inside, the mellow brown eyes of famed archeologist Karsh Abdullah, meet hers. "Lena!" Karsh says in a breathy British voice. Lena smiles for the first time in weeks. As soon as she is within reaching distance Karsh has Lena in a warm hug. The tension, that Lena has been swimming in for months, temporarily leave her. She returns the hug whole hardheartedly, something about the hug reminds her of Kara.

Breaking the embrace, Lena asks "So what have you found?" Karsh leads her over to a large force-fielded area. "They seem to be playing some sort of game..." Inside are floating pink quarts like orbs. Ever so often they disappear and reappear inside the force-field. Lena watches with fascination. "It's trying to hack the force-field." Lena chuckles.

The sound of Lena's laughter makes the orbs gravitate towards her. The orbs cluster together and form into the shape of an eye. "Stop it. We found you so you are compelled to help us- it's part of the rules, no?" Lena says forcefully. She pulls out a pink quarts like bowl. The orbs immediately break formation. Lena smiles. "I thought you would see it my way."

Karsh looks at Lena with confusion. "These aren't Egyptian artifacts are they?" Lena puts the cup in a box with a similar force-field. "No. From what my sources tell me this is off world technology." Karsh is still looking at the orbs. "As in alien technology?" Lena nods. "Yes, but the material they're made of is from this planet. Whoever made these things, made them on earth, and probably made more..."