"How are you feeling?" Lena asked as she entered the briefing room where Supergirl and Alex were waiting.
"I'm fine." Kara said. "All healed."
"And Lobo?" Lena asked
"Rode off onto the sunset." Kara said before Alex added.
"He left orbit before we found Kara."
"So he's no longer a threat?" Lena asked.
"I don't know." Kara said. "He may be a bigger threat than we thought."
"Yet you live." Lena pointed out.
"He doesn't want to kill me. He wants to weaponise me. And there may be a bigger issue."
"What?" Alex asked.
"What about the whole Jet Shark think these rings have going on?"
"What?" Alex asked confused.
"Mongul is in with the yellows and Lobo with the reds. Are we going to get caught in the middle of a power struggle between the yellows and reds?" Kara clarified.
"If that does happen, perhaps the greens will get off their backsides and help." Alex said. "Rather than worry about the what ifs, focus on the fact that Lobo doesn't want to kill you."
"No, instead he wants to turn me into him, and I am pretty sure he was hitting on me."
"Let's park the slightly disturbing second point for now and focus on the first. You are a good person. He isn't."
"But the ring. It unleashes rage. You've seen me like that before. I am not a good person. And he is off working out how to make me angry so wearing the ring is worthwhile."
"Can't you just take the ring off?" Lena asked.
"That would kill her." Alex said.
"Which might be preferable." Kara said. "The bigger problem is I would lose the ability to think and wouldn't want to take it off. But what worries me is what he'll do to get me angry. What if he goes after Alex? Or you or Kara or MJ?"
"He is no where near Earth." Alex reminded her. "Kara, he's gone. There is no contract on you. It's over."
"You aren't very good at groundless optimism." Kara said. "I'm going home. I'll see you later." She added dejectedly as she left.
"How bad is this ring?" Lena asked.
"Bad." Alex said. "Plus she is still carrying around a lot of guilt over what happened after she was exposed to Red K."
"But that was over twenty years ago." Lena said.
"And she still isn't over it." Alex said.
"Does it have anything to do with what Mongul made her see? I mean has she told you the details?"
"No." Alex said after a moment. "I guess I have just been filling in the gaps. But you're right, there may be more to it that I have been assuming."
"There's another option regarding Lobo and the ring." Lena said.
"What?"
"What if Kara isn't his target for the ring? What if it is Alex?"
"Why Alex?"
"Who is going to be better at controlling their emotions. An adult or a hormonal teenager?"
"But Alex isn't as powerful as Kara."
"We don't know that. We don't know the full extent of her powers." Lena said. "And if I am right it raises the question of whether or not what happened to Alex at the pool was an accident. Maybe that anklet was deliberate."
"There is no evidence of that." Alex reminded her. "At the moment it is speculation. And speculation we don't share with Kara." Alex said.
"Of course. In the meantime I will read up more on the Lantern files Kara brought back."
"Thanks." Alex said as Rose knocked on the door.
"Ma'am, Rashid has woken up."
-00-
"How are you feeling?" Alex asked as she approached Rashid in the infirmary.
"Okay, I think."
"Can you tell me what happened?" Alex asked.
"I tried reading the mind of Fraser. He blocked me, which isn't that unusual, but it hurt more than normal. Normally when someone blocks me, there is a kind of dull ache. But this time was sharper. But it wasn't so different that I worried. And afterwards I felt okay. But then I went home and I started to feel dizzy. I couldn't move properly. I hit the alarm and then nothing until today."
"Anything like this ever happen to you before?"
"No Ma'am."
"Did anything feel off before you went into the interrogation?" Alex asked.
"Not really."
"What aren't you telling me?" Alex asked.
"Before I went into the interrogation room, I had been talking to Aptil. I may have accidentally, deliberately, read his mind. Or tried to."
"Tried to?"
"He blocked me. Thinking about it, that block also felt off."
"In the same way as Fraser?"
"Yes."
"Did Aptil know you tried reading him?" Alex asked.
"Yes Ma'am. I tried covering but he knew."
"Okay, get some rest. We'll talk more later." Alex said leaving the infirmary.
"This is probably a good time to give you these." Vasquez said handing Alex a file before explaining. "Aptil's file. He's not a fed. Well he is, but he didn't used to be. He is former army, assigned to one of the units set up by Lane before his retirement. The unit specifically trained to defeat J'onn and Supergirl."
"That might explain what happened to Rashid." Alex said. "But it doesn't tell us if it was deliberate. Invite Aptil over here tomorrow."
"When you say invite do you mean at gun point or more of a coffee thing?"
"A coffee thing. Right now he is our only ally in the FBI. In the hope he isn't a snake, let's try to keep him onside."
"Okay." Vasquez said.
"What?" Alex asked noticing Vasquez was looking at her.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but you look like you haven't slept for days. You should home."
"I will. But first I am going to talk to Mongul."
-00-
"I hear you are trying to bribe Krej." Mongul said.
"No. A bribe is something you offer before an action is performed. A reward is something you do after." Alex replied.
"And what are you rewarding him for?"
"That is of no concern to you. Well actually it is. But I'm not telling you." Alex said.
"I will find out anyway." Mongul shrugged. "My guess is, it is a bluff. You merely want us to think he turned. If he had you would not put him in danger."
"Unless we have everything we need from him." Alex said. "You see my government won't order your deaths. Politically it would be a bad move. But if you all end up killing each other, although it might look bad, people will get over it and it solves our problem of what to do with you."
"An interesting tactic." He conceded. "But Supergirl wouldn't let you."
"I don't work for Supergirl." Alex shrugged.
"Where is Supergirl?" Mongul asked. "I have not seen her recently. Maybe she does not like your tactics or maybe she is afraid of me."
"She kicked your ass." Alex pointed out. "She has better things to do and hasn't been ordered to talk to you."
"Have you? Is that why you are here?" Mongul asked.
"Yes I have been ordered to talk to you once a week." Alex said. "I think I upset the President and this is my punishment. Trust me, I have better things to do than be here. But orders are orders. I am sure you appreciate that."
"Yet you do not obey yours. I am sure the order was to extract information from me. You have not done that. If you were my prisoner you would have been tortured into submission."
"Physical torture rarely provides useful intel." Alex said before adding. "Although it is satisfying."
"Was that a threat?"
"No. An observation." Alex said.
"Seeing I will tell you nothing and you will do nothing perhaps we can end this session." Mongul said.
"I imagine you want to figure out what Krej gave us." Alex commented. "But today I do have a question for you. One which you probably won't answer, but I was curious so thought I would ask. Why the yellows?"
"Yellows?"
"Why side with the Sinestro Corps? Aren't the Red Lanterns more powerful?"
"Where did you hear that?"
"The Reds are famous or rather infamous." Alex said. "Even on Earth we have heard of them and what they have done. But the yellows and Sinestro, their reputation is lacking."
"Do not mistake your ignorance with your perception of our power."
"You keep saying you are all powerful, but it is hard to take that seriously when you are locked away." Alex said.
"Seeing someone's deepest fear and magnifying it, nothing is more powerful than that. I may be in this cell but I won't be forever and when I am out I know exactly what to do to beat Supergirl."
"I doubt that, I mean she beat you with hope." Alex pointed out. "But from all accounts not even Supergirl could overcome the power of the red ring."
"By wearing the red ring you give everything. You aren't in control. The yellow ring, you make others lose control. Hence it is the yellow ring that makes you powerful." Mongol said.
"So it's not that you were rejected by the reds?"
"Rejected? Me?"
"So you are saying Lobo is lying?" Alex asked.
"Lobo?"
"He was on Earth briefly. He had a contract, not on Supergirl as it turns out. But Supergirl was able to talk to him before he left. And they got talking about the Lanterns and he said you had been rejected by the reds and then sided with the yellows. While is was on Earth he taught himself some human phrases. On Earth yellow has another meaning. To be weak or cowardly. When Lobo heard that he couldn't stop laughing. He said no colour suited you more." Alex said as Mongul lashed out at the cell force field.
"Was that anger? Maybe you do have some red in you?" Alex suggested before leaving.
-00-
"I bring doughnuts." Alex said as she entered Kara's apartment.
"Not that I am not grateful. But why?"
"I thought you needed the comfort food." Alex said sitting on the couch.
"Thanks." Kara said sitting next to her. As she started to eat a doughnut she asked. "Did you and Lena figure anything out?"
"Not exactly. But Lena pointed something out earlier." Alex said.
"What?"
"You have never specifically told us what Mongul made you see. We have all just been filling in the gaps. Maybe it would help to talk about it."
"It was me." Kara said after a long pause. "I saw everyone I care about die and I was the killer. I lost myself to rage and killed everyone. After the fight I had so many nightmares relieving it, but after a while I started to believe it could never happen as you'd find a way to stop me. And Red-K, well you could just shoot me with the antidote. But when Lobo threatened to make me wear the ring I realised how possible what I saw really was. Now every time I try to sleep I relive what I saw with Mongul. I'm scared."
"I don't care how powerful those rings are meant to be, there is no way you'd hurt Alex."
"I broke your arm." Kara reminded her sister.
"I spoke to John again and it turned out Lobo lied. There is another way to overcome the effects of the red ring." Alex said. "The blue ring can be used to return the wearer to their original state. It can do that because hope can extinguish anger. You may not have a blue ring, but you are the Paragon of Hope. That hope allowed you to beat the yellow ring and it will allow you to beat the red ring too." Alex said.