Chapter Thirty-Eight: Long Awaited.

Lana sat in the sitting room of the Potter house, she was equal parts confused, and also a bit nervous as well. Her finger started to rap against the window. Harry said he would be back when he took care of something. If it was anything like when Claire took care of something, well Lana was concerned something was going to happen. Perhaps, she should give Harry more of the benefit of the doubt.

On the other side of the room, Hailey had been half-crashed on the couch. She decided to stay at Lana's when her mother was out of town, on assignment about something or other. The mysterious work that Charlotte Edwards did which put her out of town for long periods of time, Lana really did not know and could only begin to guess. The brunette leaned back and took in a deep breath, looking out the window.

Suddenly, Harry appeared in the driveway, next to that other girl. Lana frowned, she didn't hear a car, but then again, Harry left his car parked in the driveway. So wherever he went, he walked all the way over here. Lana thought that was very impressive, for a couple of reasons, at least as much as she could figure.

It took Lana to realize Harry had been with his friend, that Daphne, who met him at the caves. Who had been lurking around the caves for reasons which Lana had not been able to guess. She looked at the window and saw that when Harry was coming around the way, he carried a mysterious blonde woman in his arms. Lana rose up to her feet, which startled Hailey off of the couch.

"What?" Hailey asked, half-sleepy.

Lana didn't say anything, she just flung the door open, with Harry and Daphne making their way inside. The woman in Harry's arms could be heard breathing, just faintly, but still breathing. Lana looked at Harry and Daphne, and then back to the room. She had a lot of questions, and not so many answers to be honest.

"What's going on?" Lana asked.

"I found an alien ship buried in the dam," Harry said.

Lana had looked at Harry like he had grown a second head. A few seconds passed, with Harry looking from Lana to the couch. Hailey got off the couch, and her mouth hung open wildly. Words failed Hailey, in a way which they did not fail her older sister, at least back in Harry's old timeline."

"You found an alien ship in a dam?" Lana asked, slowly dragging out each of those words, as if she did not believe it. Or maybe she was trying to force herself to believe it.

"You sound shocked?" Daphne asked. "I thought Smallville was used to strange activity."

"Don't worry, I put the dam back together when I dug her out," Harry said.

"Okay, you dug her out," Lana said. "Where's the ship?"

Harry moved over towards the blanket and put her down on the couch. Without being asked, Hailey made her way into the side closet, and pulled out a blanket, and gently laid it down on the visitor, who was shivering just a slight amount.

"The ship's in my pocket," Harry said.

"Of, of course, it is," Lana said. "What do you think happened to her?"

"I'm guessing the fatigue of being put in stasis for so long and being jarred out, not to mention trace amounts of radiation poison got to her," Harry said. "She has been down there for at least fifteen years by my calculations."

Lana did the math in her head and realized the visitor had been down there since the time where the meteor shower which brought Claire to Earth happened. It always came back to the meteor shower, everything in Smallville. It changed it from a humble farming community to the hotbed of freaks.

"She's actually an alien?" Hailey asked.

"Yeah," Harry said.

"Wicked," Hailey said with a smile on her face. She then grew suddenly serious, after realizing the potential implications of the matter. "Um, she's not a dangerous alien invader, or anything, is she?"

"As far as I know, no," Harry answered a moment or so later. "Her planet's gone, I can tell right away."

Lana nodded in understanding. If she came from the same place that Claire did, her planet would have been long since destroyed. Lana felt a slight amount of sympathy for this girl as she was on the couch. Harry stepped back and put his hands on the head of the girl.

"Who is she?"

"In a past life, she was Kathryn Slytherin, but she was called Kara by her sisters and her friends," Daphne said. "Now, we don't know…you don't want to get too close when Harry's doing that."

Lana stepped back and allowed Harry to work whatever he was doing. Did he have some sort of healing hands like Chloe did? Although Chloe would be knocked out for at least twelve hours, if not more, she hadn't quite figured out her power.

"I think most of the injuries are just fatigue," Harry said. "Actually, I know that most of the injuries are fatigue, and she's going to be fine. Just needs some rest."

Hailey, Lana, and Daphne all stepped back. They all wondered what was going to happen next. Harry decided to put the medallion away. Explaining this to a girl who lost her entire world, it was not going to be among the easiest things Harry ever did in his life. He figured it was going to be among the hardest things possible, if Harry was perfectly honest, and most of the time, he was more than honest.

"Hailey, can I have a word with you?"

While Harry waited for Kara to recover, he figured he would have a bombshell. Hailey's eyes widened, but she nodded up and down eagerly. Harry took Hailey's hand and she blushed slightly, but recovered quickly and looked a bit less put off when Harry escorted her into the kitchen to talk.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Hailey asked. "If you want to know more about the Namen, and the legends surrounding about that, maybe we can go out for coffee or something?"

"Maybe we will," Harry said. "But, it's nothing like that, it has to do with a more personal manner. It has to do with your sister."

The tension in the room could have been cut by a knife. Hailey's eyes closed tight at the mention of her sister, and a deep breath followed. Hailey turned around and the somewhat cheerful and upbeat demeanor turned rather tired very quickly.

"I wouldn't know anything about her, given I haven't seen her in twelve years," Hailey said a moment later.

"She's alive."

Hailey raised an eyebrow and gave a very soft statement.

"Oh?"

"Yes, she's alive, and….well she wants to know whether or not, you and her mother are okay," Harry said.

"We're both alive, yes," Hailey said, delicately. "Harry, I'm going, to be honest with you. I'm not sure if I can forgive my sister for running out on us when she did. There's a lot more going on than she's telling you, or even I know."

"We know about your grandparents and their connection to HIVE," Harry said.

"HIVE?" Hailey asked, sounding very confused.

The tone of her voice showed maybe Hailey didn't know about the HIVE connection her grandparents had. Harry thought that was fair enough, at least he thought it was fair enough.

"So, Mia's alive," Hailey said. "Or does she still insisting of being called by her proper name….Her-My-Own-Nay!"

"Trust me, she hates that name," Harry said.

"Good, thankfully, and I hope she stopped trying to worship the ground our grandmother walks on," Hailey said. "She wants to kill the Dragon, and everything he stands for and…..she will just end up plunging the world into chaos, out of spite."

Hailey half wanted to know where the old bat was because you kept your friends close and your enemies closer. The door opened up on the other end, and Chloe made her way inside. She and Lana had a brief conversation with each other.

"You found another one?" Lana asked.

"Seems to be so," Lana said. "Guess, Claire isn't the unique snowflake we think she is."

The locked room in ARGUS's central facility had been a source of curiosity for Rose Wilson ever since she got her. She came across the outside of the door and pushed against the door. The door refused to budge, and Rose tried to kick it in.

"What are you doing?"

Rose spun around and withdrew a blade. Mia stepped back a few feet when Rose came this close to impaling Mia halfway to death with the blade. And it would not be the first time that Rose came very close to putting a blade into the chest of this particular girl.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Rose asked.

"It looks like you're trying to break into a locked room," Mia said. "And you're not being very subtle about it either."

"Well, it's obvious Waller's hiding something," Rose said.

"Well, I find it very hard to believe that the head of a super-secret covert government operation would be hiding something at all."

That tone which Rose received caused her to frown in response and look Mia directly in the eye. Sarcasm was not really a good look on her. The two of them stared each other down for a long moment.

"I'll be honest with you," Rose said. "I really want to get into that room, because I know Waller has information on my father. And I need to find out where he's being held."

"You should just let this go," Mia said.

"Wouldn't you want to ask your father why he did some of the things he did?" Rose asked. "Your father, he willingly helped HIVE enact plans, which resulted in the deaths of millions of people."

"I don't need to know," Mia said. "And face it, Rose, you're not just wanting to ask your father questions. It's never that simple with you."

"I want closure," Rose said.

A few seconds passed with Rose taking in a deep breath and coming out with another one. Mia just looked Rose straight in the eye, as if trying to detect some amount of bullshit passing through the tone of the girl. Mia leaned in and put a hand on Rose's shoulder.

"We both know what closure means for you," Mia said. "You want nothing better than to kill your father for all that he's done to you."

"Don't you?"

Mia sighed in response.

"Yes," Mia said. "But, what I want and what you want are two different things, and that's not the point. The point is, there's going to be blood on your hands if you do this. Back on that submarine, Harry could have let me be killed by you, but he didn't. He thinks you can be a better person."

Rose just folded her arms.

"Being a better person does not mean not leaving people unaccountable for their actions," Rose said. "Slade Wilson was at one time a good man, but I don't really know what happened. All I know is any goodness in him, it's long gone now. He's nothing, but a mercenary, cruel, and heartless. He's violent, and will kill anyone in his path, now and forever."

"Maybe," Mia said. "But, Waller has him under control."

"Does it help you if I say I don't trust Waller?" Rose asked. "If my father wants to find a way out, he will. The only way to take care of him…."

"You really want to kill your father?" Mia asked.

"He's used his own daughter as a test subject for a serum," Rose said. "Is that the act of a kind, and loving father? Your father might not have been the one to sell you to Ivo, but he never stood up to his mother either."

"I'm not mad at my father, though," Mia said.

Rose felt like she wanted to beat her head against the wall. Perhaps, mistakenly, she thought Mia would have been the one to understand the situation more than anyone else. She was wrong, and now Rose was back at square one, wondering what the hell to do next.

One of the DEO agents stepped won the hallway and stopped short, looking at Rose and Mia. Rose looked towards the DEO agent.

"Do you need anything?" Rose asked.

"Waller wishes to have a word with both of you," the agent responded.

Rose wondered if it had anything do with getting a chewing out of almost knocking the door down. Mia just turned around and shrugged in response. Both of the girls allowed this DEO agent to lead the way, as they tried to figure out what the hell was going on. With Waller, they never knew. The moment the two of them passed down the hallway, they saw Liv coming out of her quarters, with another government agent following.

"Let me guess, Waller wants to see you too?" Rose asked. Liv responded with a nod in response. "Yeah, I thought so."

The images of towers falling, and the sounds of a planet bursting apart could be heard. A girl of around sixteen or so years old had been pushed out, going to the ship, the ship which had been waiting for her. A sound of a voice came in the back of Kara's head.

"GO, YOUR COUSIN IS ON HER WAY!"

Kara's fingers started to twitch in response, but she made her way to the alien ship. The ship blasted off and left the planet of Krypton, trailing beyond a pod which contained her cousin. She would have thought that the genius which was Jor-El would have built a better vessel.

Also following the two vessels were flying chunks of rock. One of the rocks connected the edge of Kara's ship which knocked it slightly off of course. The stasis field engaged before Kara could react, and the next thing she knew, she went to sleep.

Kara's eyes flashed open and she hurled the blanket off of her. She found herself in an unfamiliar room. The intense breathing of the captive Kryptonian followed. Kara looked around from the right, and to the left, and kept heavily breathing in response.

Those weird dreams also flashed into Kara's mind. She appeared in an unfamiliar time, and an unfamiliar place, alongside a handsome young man, with the most brilliant green eyes imaginable. Kara's heart fluttered when thinking about this particular young man.

Fully awake now, Kara looked across the room, her vision slowly clouded over for a moment. It took Kara seconds to come too, and about a minute to see the young man of her dreams, surrounded by four women. All of them were offering smiles, and while they were intending to be reassuring, there was something about this situation which did not reassure Kara at all.

"Where am I?"

Kara stumbled back and almost fell onto the couch. The first rays of the morning sunlight coming in caused a small spark of energy to come through her body.

"Relax, you were poisoned," the young man responded. "Your ships shields were beginning to fail when I pulled you out of the area that it crashed in. You have been in stasis for a long time."

Kara just took a second to allow these thoughts to sink in. Her ship's shields were about ready to fail. That was all well and good for numerous reasons. She understood about that much. But, how long had she been down in wherever, with the ship's radiation coming in?"

"Sit down, my Queen," Daphne said.

Daphne did not mean to cause any more confusion. The statement about Kara being her Queen slipped out in one of the most natural ways possible. Kara's eyes flashed over to Daphne, widened in surprise. Daphne responded with a deep breath and inclined her head.

"You're in Smallville," Chloe piped up. "Meteor capital of the world."

More faded memories came back into Kara's mind. Yes, she remembered Smallville. It was the place her Aunt Lara chose to send her then unborn daughter Clara, in case something happened to Krypton. The images of the falling towers, the explosions of the planet cores, and the screams of people, of lives being snuffed out, flashed through Kara's head when she heard it.

'So, it's over.'

They were warned for years. The Council refused to listen to any reason. They only listened to their supposed perfect computer, Brainiac, who had claimed that there was nothing wrong. All of the instabilities found by Kara's mother, and her uncle, Jor-El, they were nothing to be concerned about.

Kara's head started to throb when these memories came to her. The young man with the brilliant green eyes reached over and cupped the top of Kara's head. Kara allowed one ragged breath to come out of her and let another ragged breath.

"My friends, my family, all gone," Kara said. "I have to find her…."

"Find who?" Harry asked.

Harry received some questions. Kara had been too distracted to question Daphne's slip of the tongue, fortunately at least. He knew this could change in a blink of an eye, if Kara started to think about things, or start putting two and two together.

"My cousin, Clara."

Chloe and Lana both tensed up a moment. Could it be possible? Kara did not notice their motions. She tried to move out of the door, but Kara staggered. Harry held onto her.

"I was supposed to get powers beyond the wildest imaginings of human beings," Kara said. "Why am I so weak?"

"Poisoning and fatigue," Harry reminded her. "You're not weak, you're just recovering. You were asleep for fifteen years."

"Fifteen…fifteen years?" Kara asked.

That tone of voice resulted in Kara's voice cracking. She leaned against the shoulder of the man who held her up, for lack of anything else better to do. Kara could not really do anything else other than think about what might have happened to her cousin.

"It will be fine," he said.

"Yes…"

"My name is Harry."

For some reason, there was something familiar about that name. Kara could not put her finger on what was familiar about it, it just gave Kara a sense of warmth and security, the likes of which she had never felt before in her entire life.

"Why don't you stick around, and we can all figure this out?" Daphne asked.

Kara nodded, until she got better, the Kryptonian survivor really did not have too much of a choice other than to stick around. So stick around, she did, at least for right now.

Olivia Queen's fragile patience was at the point of being pushed over the edge. She understood going on a few missions for Waller. It reached the point where Waller took advantage of Liv.

There were times where Liv strongly considered taking up Harry on his offer to get out of here. Something held Liv back, and she could not figure out. Perhaps, Liv felt she deserved being just one step above of the collared crooks on Waller's Suicide Squad for all of the tension she had. Mia and Rose joined her, and Gwen stepped into the room as well.

"They're not letting you go home, either?" Liv asked.

"Well, to be fair, I don't have a home anymore, and this isn't my universe," Gwen said.

"What about the spider cult place?" Liv asked.

Gwen knew Liv meant well by talking about that particular location, but it still made her shudder to even consider such an arrangement. The spider cult location had some devoted followers. The Black Widow, or Natasha as they were calling her these days, she had been among one of the most devoted followers possible, and Gwen knew she was not the only one.

The fact she had this spider medallion, still weirded Gwen out a tiny bit. There was a whisper in her ear to put it on and see what might happen. Gwen felt the compulsion strengthen with each moment in time. Something held Gwen back. Something, something, and Gwen did not know what, but it certainly was something which held her back. Gwen's breathing increased when thinking about being surrounded by spiders.

"Maybe someday, but I'm not quite ready to go there."

Liv pulled away, and it was fair enough. The quarter of girls turned around and looked towards Amanda Waller who stepped in front of them. Waller held the briefing sheet in her hand, and Gwen felt like she had been called to the principal's office to get reprimanded. Not she would know anything about that, okay, maybe a little bit.

"The four of you have been called here because I have a mission which requires your special skills," Waller said.

"Oh, you don't say?" Liv asked.

The very obvious sarcasm burned through Liv's voice. Waller just smiled, and Liv did not like the smile passing over Waller's face. There was something overtly calculating about the look. Even Mia, Rose, and Gwen looked at Waller, a bit uneasy, and a little bit nervous as well.

"It should be right up your ally, Ms. Queen," Waller said. "You'll find that this operation is in the heart of Starling City…right on your home turf. Although the old hometown has changed a little bit. There are drug operations which have popped up, and this gentleman has been building up an empire deep in the heart of Starling City."

Liv could not help, but think Waller tested her for reasons unknown.

"So, this drug empire is in Starling City?" Liv asked. "And you're going to send me there, along with Rose, Gwen…and Mia I guess."

"I'm not the field type," Mia corrected.

"Yes, ARGUS has found your field combat skills to be quite lacking," Waller said. It wasn't done out of malice, just making a statement of fact. "Therefore, you will be heading to Starling City on this mission. And I will willingly release you from your obligations. You do not have to be indebted to Mr. Potter to allow you to sneak away because you will be free and clear."

There was a catch, and Liv knew there was a catch. Liv knew she was a good asset to ARGUS and their operations. Holly pretty much told her point blank, if she was inept, Waller would have found different ways to extract the debt. Now, Liv had to go on these progressively more dangerous missions, for reasons unknown.

"What's the deal here?" Liv asked.

"I want you to head into Starling City," Waller responded. "And do what you can to shut this drug trade operation. If you succeed in this operation, I will release you from your obligations, and you can go home if you really want to."

"Why wouldn't I want to?"

"Only you can answer that question, Ms. Queen," Waller said. "But, there's one thing you must remember. Until the mission is done, you can't allow any of your friends, or family to see that you're alive. The element of surprise is important in taking down this particular drug dealer."

Liv looked at Waller and set her jaw. Okay, fine, she can play this game, Liv suppose. What was the problem anyway? The temptation to see Thea again had been great,

"Ravager and Spider-Girl….."

"Spider-Woman," Gwen corrected.

"Ravager and Spider-Girl," Waller repeated, this time in a more firm tone of voice which left no room for argument. "Will be joining you on this particular mission. Remember, do not be seen. The Bookworm will be handling the specifications on mission support and any relevant information she receives, it will be passed onto you. Is that understood?"

"Don't I get a cool codename?" Liv asked. "How about Artemis…you know like the goddess who could do Archery?"

"Your name is the Green Arrow," Waller responded.

Liv pulled a face in response. Why did Waller have to stick a color in front of the codename? It didn't really make any sense.

"Are Holly and Nym going to be joining me?" Liv asked.

"Agent Granger and Agent Tonks are currently on a classified mission halfway across the world," Waller said. "So, you are the senior agent on this mission, and I hope you will lead things with the maturity I expect from one of my ARGUS agents."

Liv just responded with a nod. Waller put out the package of paper and showed a picture of the drug dealer. He was a man of about four foot tall and wore a fedora covering his face. Did his hands look, green in the certain light in the picture? Liv could not be completely certain, but she imagined them to be.

"His name is Mr. Toad, and that's the man you need to take down."

Mr. Toad? Now, Live felt a little bit better about the entire Green Arrow codename now she had to fight someone who called themselves Mr. Toad. He didn't look too threatening, at least in the picture, but looks could be deceiving, to be honest.

"So, are the Weasels going to be involved as well?" Mia piped in. Waller gave her a very reprimanding look. "Come on, you call me the Bookworm, and don't expect a literary reference?"

"I suggest all of you prepare to leave at once," Waller said. "Our most reliable intelligence coming in from Starling City indicates a shipment has been moved on the pipeline between Starling City and Gotham City. You're going to have to move and get there as soon as possible."

Liv, Rose, and Gwen had their mission and were ready to go, at a moment's notice. It seemed almost too good to be true in Liv's mind, mostly because she did not believe it was something which was going to go on without a hitch. Perhaps she could be wrong, but there was something about the entire situation which put Liv on edge, at least for a few seconds.

"So, are you ready to leave?" Gwen asked.

"I'm about as ready as I'm going to be," Liv said.

Rose just nodded, understanding where she was coming from. The trio of girls made their way out. Waller sent them on this mission for a reason. The reasons of why Liv had been sent on the mission, a blind person could see why she had been sent. The reasons of why Gwen and Rose had been sent on the other hand. Those were less transparent and less obvious. Rose suspected they would find out sooner rather than later.

'Way too many questions. Not enough answers. That's my life in a nutshell.'

Kara took in a deep breath and enjoyed the soup which had been made for her. It had been a while since she ate anything. The stasis field of the ship kept her alert and alive, but still, eating something gave Kara a piece of mind. She took a long drink from the glass of juice which she had been given.

"Thanks," Kara said. "I was a bit upset when I came out of the ship. And I must have been very confused. It's just, it's been fifteen years."

Krypton long since had become a memory in the universe for as long as Kara had been down in the ship. She took a deep breath and looked towards Harry.

"So, where's my ship?"

"As I told Lana, it's in my pocket."

Harry figured he would have to show Kara what he meant. He pulled the ship out of his pocket and set it gently down on the table in front of Kara. Kara's eyes followed the progress of the ship, and a momentary surprise had been surprised. It was her ship, shrank, a miniaturized version in front of her.

"I can restore it," Harry said. "But, I think it's a lot less conspicuous right now to keep shrunk."

"I agree."

"I have to ask you a couple of questions. That is if you don't mind?"

"Ask me, please," Kara said. "You saved my life. If that radiation seeped through the ship, it could have killed me. Especially if it was parts of the radioactive core of my planet….someone was conducting mining experiments down there and thought they could grab a rare element from down there. They thought wrong."

Harry put a hand on Kara's shoulder and she relaxed. Hailey, Daphne, Lana, and Chloe all had gone elsewhere to allow Harry and Kara some time alone. They were in the kitchen, having coffee if they were needed.

"So, what did you want to know?"

"Before you passed out, you called me Har-Zod."

Kara frowned and racked her brain for the memory of that statement. It was not if she did not believe what Harry said. It was just that she did not remember calling Harry that particular name. Her mind went a million miles a minute, deep in thought.

"I did, didn't I?" Kara asked. "I don't know why I called you that. You….look like him a little bit, I guess. General Zod, I mean. He was one of the fiercest army leaders Krypton ever know….but you can't be his son. I'm not even sure if he had a son."

There were rumors he might have.

"The Dragon used Har-Zod as one of the aliases."

Daphne stepped into the room.

"I actually have a question for you now," Kara said. "when I woke up, you called me your Queen. Why did you call me your Queen?"

"You are the reincarnation of Kathryn Slytherin," Daphne said. "She preferred to be called Kara, though. And that's who you are….."

"Kara Zor-El of Krypton," Kara said. "You think I'm reincarnated from this ancient Queen on Earth?"

"She wasn't entirely human either," Daphne said. "You look just like her. You'll know when you put on the medallion."

Harry pulled out the medallion a second later. Kara looked at it. She recognized the image on the medallion as some kind of Earth serpent. She frowned and took a deep look at the medallion.

"It found you and lead me to your ship," Harry said. "This is a lot to take in. Especially given you lost fifteen years of your life."

"If I'm reincarnated, I've lost a lot more," Kara said. "I don't...I don't know what to say."

Kara allowed the medallion to slip between her fingers. It felt warm, almost right if Kara slipped the piece of jewelry around her neck. She held it up and looked over it. Kara felt a pull to put it on.

"When the time is right," Harry said. "No one is forcing you to put it on."

Harry gave Daphne a warning look. Daphne responded by nodding in response, understanding why Harry did not want to pressure Kara. She lived a very interesting life in the present and went through some tragedies. Yet, given how Kara had been reincarnated from their Queen, Daphne was confident she would bounce back.

"Kara?"

"Chloe, isn't it?" Kara asked.

"I know where you cousin is," Chloe said. "And I'd think she would appreciate seeing someone from her blood family, who doesn't want to manipulate her."

Kara didn't really know what to say about it. The last time she saw Clara, the girl was only a few months old, and Krypton was dying. Now, if Kara's math was correct, between the three-year travel and the fifteen years on Earth, Clara would be legally a woman.

"She actually might want to meet both of you," Chloe said.

"Kara, if you want to go on your own first, I understand."

"I don't want to embarrass myself on this new world," Kara said. She gave him a nervous smile, which was less self-assured than normal. "And I trust you to make sure I don't make an idiot out of myself."

Kara instinctively grabbed Harry's hand and Harry reinforced said grip. Something familiar, and very pleasant about his touch occurred to her. Kara drew in another breath and decided it was now time to do this. It was time to see her cousin. Chloe's words made Kara very worried what was going on regarding Clara.

"Where is she?" Kara asked.

"Right down the street."

To Be Continued on July 6th, 2017.