Chapter Twenty-Five

Motel

Truth or Consequences

United States

17:12 - MDT

Galatea looked at herself in the mirror. She had changed into the white leotard and while it looked not too different, it certainly didn't feel the same.

But there was little she could do about it. It wasn't like she had access to the place that made her old costumes. She wasn't even sure where they had been made, just that they were some kind of durable advanced material.

She checked the clock before sitting down and switching on the TV. Then another sound from another room caught her attention. She switched the TV back off and stepped over to the wall. Roughly four rooms over she could hear talking and one of the voices was very familiar.

"Sunset is at around eight," she heard Question's recognisable voice say.

"Three hours," a female responded. "So, you want me to go in, send you the data then get out?"

"Correct," came the response from Question. "You need to be quick but thorough. Your best hope is to begin the transfer and then switch off the monitor and then hide. It could take thirty minutes or more."

"That's a long time to be in there."

"Which is why we don't go until midnight when there's the least chance of being caught."

"They'll never know I was there."

"They'll know someone was there, but it will be too late for them to do anything about it."

"So, what do we do until then?"

"Sit and relax," came Question's response. "We want to save our energy."

Galatea listened for a few more minutes, but they said nothing else of interest. From what she had overheard, it seemed that Question and someone else, perhaps Huntress were looking to take data from the facility, data that she herself knew she might need.

This actually worked in her favour. She might not have to even do anything, except take the data from Question, in whatever physical medium he was going to store it on.

Or perhaps she could convince him to let her take a look? He clearly wasn't here on orders from the Justice League, or at least she doubted it. Also, it wasn't like he or his girlfriend would be able to stop her.

If she didn't get what she wanted from whatever they managed to pull from their hard-drives, then she could still go in and question Flag personally and maybe melt his face off while she was at it.

In fact, she would probably go melt his face off regardless. He deserved it for the part he had played in her father, Emil's death. Then she would go after the rest and take them down one by one.

Watchtower II

Earth Orbit

20:41 – Station Time

Kara stared up at the ceiling above her. She felt tired but she couldn't sleep. The pain had long since started to subside and had now almost gone, but the boredom was becoming intolerable.

Finally, she had had enough. She sat up and gripped the tube that went into her arm and into the machine and pulled it out. Almost immediately the hole began to heal.

She pushed her legs over the side and stood up, stretching her arms and legs. She needed to get back on her feet and she was feeling well enough that she felt that a walk wouldn't do her any harm. Actually, it would likely do the opposite.

As she started for the door one of the medical staff came in a frown on his face. "You shouldn't be up yet," he said moving past her and grabbing the now loose tubing. "You've disconnected the machine that was purifying your blood of the poison," he said rather obviously.

"I'm fine," Kara said. "I need to go for a walk and get outta this room and maybe get something to eat. Actually, I think I'll do that first."

He switched the machine off. "You heroes, you never listen," he mumbled. "We won't be able to put it back in now, not unless we put you under a red-sun lamp. Your skin's too tough."

"I'm not going under anything. I'm going to the commissary to see if they have any of that pasta in tomato sauce, then I'm going home."

"Do what you want," he said leaving the room clearly not happy.

She smiled. At least he knew where he stood. She headed over to a small cabinet that lay in the corner and looked inside. There was no change of clothes, which was an annoyance. She had expected those she had been wearing down in Smallville to be there, but clearly, they weren't.

She knew Galatea had been brought up here and wondered if she had taken them? Probably, was the answer to that.

Walking around in a hospital gown wasn't her idea of fun but without anything to change into, she would have to. She quickly grew annoyed. She did not want to walk around like this.

Thankfully she didn't have to. A nurse stepped into the room with some blue clothing.

"Sorry," the nurse said before confirming what Kara had suspected. "The other you took your clothes earlier. I was informed by the doctor that you were leaving, so I brought you something to change into."

Kara took them off her and she left. Unfolding them she saw that it was the blue Watchtower Personnel uniforms, though it was lacking the gold name badge for obvious reasons.

She put it on, finding it a little large on her. Kara had never been a particularly tall person which had worked in her favour in the past. People assumed her shorter stature meant that she was weaker. She was Kryptonian, so she was still stronger than almost everything else.

After signing out at the front desk of the medbay, Kara headed to the elevator and took it up several decks. From there she walked into the cafeteria and grabbed a tray.

The person stood behind the counter looked over at her. "Watchtower Staff cafeteria is a few decks down."

"No, I'm Kara, go by Argo now, used to be Supergirl. Just got out of the medbay."

"Oh, right," he said. "You want anything in particular?"

"Got any of that pasta in tomato sauce."

"Sorry, no pasta today. We do have lasagne, though."

Kara thought for a moment. "I'll just grab a family pack of those tortilla chips," she said, returning her tray and moving over to the basket that was full of the big packets.

She grabbed one and turned to head for the exit when she saw the young Thanagarian John had mentioned earlier, sat alone with cold half-eaten lasagne.

Making a quick decision she made her way over and sat down opposite as she opened her large back of corn chips. The young Thanagarian looked up at her with a frown but didn't say anything.

Kara decided to introduce herself. "I'm Kara, also now known as Argo. Don't mind the outfit, just got out of the medbay."

The Thanagarian seemed confused for a few moments before answering. "I'm Zari."

"Aren't you supposed to be in training to be a Green Lantern?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Where's your ring?" There was no response which Kara found odd. "Hasn't he given you it yet?" she asked.

Zari slowly shook her head indicating he had not.

"Why not?"

"I'm not sure. I thought I was getting it today. All I did was stare at a computer screen learning rules."

"Rules? Like what?"

"Like what is expected of a Lantern and how to properly maintain the ring and battery."

"Seriously?" Kara asked. "And he didn't even let you put it on?"

"Not since it found me, no."

"When are you next training with him? Tomorrow?"

"No, the next day. Tomorrow I will be with Shayera."

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

Zari quickly shook her head. "No, he'll give me it back when I'm ready."

Kara grabbed another corn chip from the bag before offering the young Thanagarian one. "Want one?" she asked holding the bag out.

Zari looked inside the bag. "What are they?"

"Cheese flavoured corn chips."

Zari reached into the bag and took one out. She looked it over and sniffed it before finally biting the chip in half. She then quickly ate the rest of it once she got a taste.

Kara continued to share them out while they talked. Or rather Kara tried to strike up a conversation. Zari seemed reticent to say anything.

"Are you shy?" Kara asked finally.

Zari was defensive. "No."

"You're very quiet," she observed.

"I don't have much to say."

"That's fine. Can I ask you a question?"

"If you want to."

"Do you want to be here?"

Zari shrugged. "I don't know. I wanted to escape from the place I was being held and find Shayera because she's Thanagarian, like me. But the ring found me and that changed things. I still wanted to find her, but they found me instead. Now I'm just going along with it, see how it all turns out."

"I can understand that. I was unsure where I stood when I first arrived here on Earth. This is a strange and backwards little world. But I quickly realised what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a hero, use the powers that were starting to grow inside me to help people."

"So you became a hero?"

"No," Kara said with a shake of her head. "I wanted to, but Superman wouldn't let me. Maybe he was afraid I would get hurt, or maybe he was afraid I would hurt other people by accident. I don't know, but three whole years I was on that farm before he finally accepted who I wanted to be. So he signed me up to the Justice League. I was one of the first new ones to be signed on back before this new Watchtower was built. Me and Metamorpho. It was a few weeks after the Thanagarian invasion if I remember right."

Zari suddenly became defensive. "I didn't do anything, it wasn't my fault."

"I wasn't blaming you," Kara said quickly. "I don't really blame Shayera either. If a group of Kryptonians came along and said they wanted to help the Earth from some impending doom I think I'd believe them at face value too. Or at least I would have done years ago. Either way, it doesn't mean I would be guilty. You shouldn't feel guilty either."

"I don't," she said firmly. "I'm just fed up of people accusing me of something I had no part of."

"A lot of heroes here had direct interaction with the invasion force," Kara pointed out. "Even Superheroes can have prejudices. Give them time, they'll warm up to you."

"Maybe I don't want them to warm up to me. Maybe I just want to be left alone."

"Is that really what you want?" Kara questioned. "To be left alone?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you sat here in the cafeteria?"

"Eating."

"But your food is cold and looks like it has been for a while."

Zari grabbed her fork and began to stir her cold lasagne. "It's fine."

"Come on, have another chip," Kara said. "Plenty left."

Zari didn't need much persuasion as she reached in and grabbed another corn chip, stuffing it in her mouth.

Kara continued. "Listen, I'm probably not going to be doing much for a while. Recovery time and all that, so if you need a friend I'll be here on the station. Okay?"

Zari didn't sound convinced. "Sure."

"We'll have to work on that enthusiasm," Kara mused.

Zari took the comment the wrong way. "What do you want from me?" she demanded. "I didn't ask you to be my friend or anything."

"Easy, I didn't mean anything by it," Kara offered. "I'm offering an ear and a hand. You need someone to talk to, then come find me, okay?"

Zari accepted. "Okay," she said sounding a little more enthusiastic.

Kara stood up passing the bag of chips to her. "Here, finish them off if you want."

"Thank you."

As Kara turned around she saw Green Lantern, John step into the room. He looked over and made a beeline straight towards her.

"I heard you discharged yourself?" he said.

"I'm fine," she dismissed. "What's up with you?"

"What do you mean?" John asked.

"Let's go for a walk," she said as she headed out of the cafeteria John getting into step beside her.

"Something wrong?" he asked her.

"Not with me, but there's definitely something wrong with you. Ever since I got back I've heard nothing but people complaining about you."

"Who has?" he asked.

She stopped and turned to him. "What happened between you and Mari?"

His eyebrows knitted together in a frown. "That's a little personal don't you think?"

"John, you let her go."

"She's the one that turned me down."

"So you asked her to marry you?"

"Yes, and she said she wasn't ready."

"So you abandoned her?"

He folded his arms defensively. "That's not what happened."

"I think it was," Kara said. "You were waiting for an excuse to break up with her."

"That's not true at all," he refuted or at least tried to.

Kara pushed on. "If you really thought you were meant to be with Mari then you would have made it happen."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I think I do. You saw your son in the future and ever since you've been looking for a reason to break up with Mari, even if you told everyone including yourself that you wanted to make it work. She tells you she's not ready for marriage and you practically threw her to the curb."

He clenched his jaw. "Kara, what's gotten into you?"

"Take the stick out, John. You've become miserable and you're making everyone else around you miserable."

"What's this about?"

"This is about a lost girl who thinks she's not good enough to be a Green Lantern."

"You mean Zari?"

"Give her the damned ring, John. You're training her, so let her get used to wearing it. Unless you don't trust her, is that it?"

"No, it's not that."

"She feels rejected. Where is Shayera?"

"Down at the Lagos Tower, why?"

"You and Shay need to talk and before you object, you need to talk about Zari. Training is fine, but I think she needs some guidance and the two of you might be perfect."

"I'm already offering guidance."

"I mean as a confidant. She needs structure. She's aimless and you refusing to give her the ring is only making it worse. She doesn't feel like she belongs."

John looked back down the hall towards the cafeteria. "Maybe you're right. Next time we train I'll give her the ring."

Kara wasn't quite convinced he meant it. "I'm going to hold you to it, John. And talk to Shayera. She might not say it out loud, but I think she still loves you."

She turned and walked away only to bump into Superman around the next corner.

He didn't look happy. "Kara, what do you think you're doing?"

"Well, I was going to head home to get some rest."

"You shouldn't have walked out of the medbay."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Kara, you've been through a lot."

"Which is why I was heading home. I'm taking some time off."

He seemed surprised. "That's good," he accepted. "You could do with the rest."

"I'll be back in around two days to check on Zari."

Superman looked confused. "Zari?"

"The Thanagarian that John is training to be a Green Lantern."

"Right, her, I forgot."

"Understandable. A lot has happened over the last few days. Feels longer."

"Yeah it does," he agreed. "You want me to head home with you to make sure you're okay?"

"I should be fine," she told him before adding. "I have some thinking to do."

"What about?"

She glanced down at her feet. "In the future, I was the most powerful on the team. I didn't have any reason to push myself as I didn't have anyone else to compare myself to. Looking back, I can see that I got lazy."

"You're not lazy, Kara."

"When I first arrived back here in the past I got pounded by my clone."

"So did me and Diana, which she's still sore about. Hurt her pride a little. We all underestimated her and we paid the price. Diana alone should have been able to take her, but I guess we got lazy too."

"But I caught her off-guard," Kara pointed out. "I should have had her, but she easily beat me. I need to make a decision. I need to be my best or not bother. People could get hurt."

"Kara, I don't know what's brought this on, but you are a valued member of the team. You are not lazy, you've always worked hard to be the best you can be."

"Because I wanted you to be proud of me," she explained wistfully. "In the future, I didn't have to worry about that. The woman that went to the future was not the same woman that returned."

"A person changes a lot in ten years. It's not a bad thing."

Kara rubbed her eyes. "I don't know. I just feel tired. Maybe with some rest and a clearer head I'll be able to make more sense of these thoughts I'm having."

"Before you go I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"You were really missed, even if for us it was only one year. I'm glad you're back."

"Thanks," she said gratefully. "That means a lot. I'm heading home to get some rest."

"I think I'll join you. I want to see the folks anyway."

"Okay, let's go."

The two of them headed off down the corridor together.

Project Ultima

Truth or Consequences

United States

19:20 – MDT

August 22, 2007

Sivana wasn't a tall man at five-foot-six and his stooped posture made him look even shorter. His thick lensed glasses and long hooked nose made him appear more like a caricature than an actual man. The only way that Flag could describe him was that he looked like a goblin.

A very cunning, devious and dangerous goblin.

As for his project, it walked into the building of its own volition escorted under guard. Flag didn't want it here, but he wasn't ultimately in charge. He was of Task Force X, the Suicide Squad, but ever since it had been merged under Project Cadmus things had taken a turn for the worse.

He liked to do things his own way, but here he was constantly being overturned and overruled. He preferred the days back when he had more autonomy.

He hoped for the day again when he was free of this conniving agency and could run his squad as he saw fit. He wasn't interested in doing Cadmus or Ultima's bidding and he certainly didn't want to give the criminals and degenerates he worked with the leeway they had given Sivana.

No, they were expendable tools, not co-workers and definitely not equals. Sivana was scum and he was hoping for the time he could do away with him as he had with Hugo Strange. He had the unfortunate feeling that the so-called "doctor" was going to betray them long before he got that chance.

Flag decided to make it clear where the goblin man stood on the hierarchy. "Sivanis," he called out.

"Sivana," the man corrected.

"I'm going to tell you this once. You work for us. You do exactly what we say, or there will be consequences, do you understand?"

Sivana looked at him with his beady eyes that looked even smaller due to his glasses and short-sighted impairment. "I have heard it before, so save your breath. Your and my goals are similar, at least for now, so I will work with you until our goals no longer align."

Flag didn't like the way he said that. It wasn't threatening, not at all, but it gave the air that somehow Sivana was in control of his current "employment" when he certainly was not.

Flag made that fact clear. "You will work with us as long as we say so and you had better hope that it is for a long long time because when we have no more use for you, you might just find yourself strapped to a chair with a lot of volts going through that shiny cranium of yours."

Sivana smirked at him. "Did I tell you that my little dark-haired project is entirely loyal to me? I am here because it suits me, not the other way around."

"Is that a threat?" Flag questioned.

"No, I am just informing you of the circumstance that I am here. We will defeat your little defective Kryptonian agent, something I might add you yourself are incapable of accomplishing. You need me and here I am to fulfil that need."

"I did not ask for you," Flag told him firmly. "I do not want you or your little pet here."

"It is a good thing that you are not ultimately in charge then, isn't it?"

"Neither is Cannon."

"No, but he thinks he is. The new director of Cadmus has no real control. A figurehead if you will, trying to steer this organisation on a more honest path. A pity for him the ship is full of; as I'm sure you would say "undesirables", all gripping the rudder hard and forcing it in the right direction."

"You mean the wrong direction?"

"I said what I meant. I like results, as I'm sure you do. No matter what path we take to get there, all that matters is the end-result. People like Cannon let their morals get in the way not realising that they are holding the rest of us back."

Flag at that moment realised that he had been right. Things were going to repeat themselves and they were going to end up with another mess on their hands and they were going to want him to try and clean it up without the proper resources to do so.

Sivana eyed him. "Is that everything? I had a long trip and I'm feeling rather fatigued."

"Do what you want," Flag said moving past him and heading back into the building. He had to prepare himself for the inevitable and the worst thing about it was that it seemed that he was the only one in this entire organisation that could see it coming.