Alex struck out with her joint interrogation of Carl Carlton. He didn't have any more answers to who was behind Kronos Ltd or why they had Axis replicate Metallo than he did when they first questioned him. Maggie was growing frustrated. Her background check into the company was coming up empty, a PO Box with an address that didn't seem to exist. Alex offered to let her people look into it, deducing it was a shell company. Maggie was reluctant but her officers weren't doing any better themselves.
If only Alex could say the same. Hank Henshaw was in the wind and they had no way to locate him or his militia. So after returning from the police station she debriefed her people and told them to focus on three things: Who was Kronos Ltd, Where did Hank get a militia and is there a way for him to use the metal army he stole? The third question she believed was vital. Right now her only relief about not finding any of them was the robots were useless without kryptonite. Fortunately the few handfuls left were under strict guard and observation.
"There is a possibility Hank will attempt to steal the kryptonite the same way he stole the robots" Brainy considered, raising a new fear for Alex to contemplate.
"I'll alert the security forces with the DOD and relevant governments" she sighed. "If he does go after them, we'll hear about it and be ready. Are there any other alternatives he go look for?" she asked.
Brainy racked his intelligent brain. "Kryptonite as a power source is often replicated" he noted. "However, Metallo was built and designed specifically to function with the mineral. For them to function without it would take significant calibrations and an almost complete retrofit of the chassis." He tapped his tablet, bringing up the schematics they took from Axis. "Hm, as I thought. Carlton replicated the design exactly. Theoretically, no other known element or power source would be compatible."
"Theoretically?"
"I cannot guarantee Henshaw hasn't found an alternative means of powering his army" he conceded.
Alex really hated it when Brainiac 5 was logical and honest. She ordered them to keep scanning with the satellites and coordinate with the police department who were patrolling the city. Their best hope was to find them before Hanks found that workaround. "What about his militia?" she asked.
Brainy nodded, bringing up names and IDs of over a dozen men and women onto their screens. "Evidence from the crime scene and facial recognition picked up all these names from the military databases. You'll notice them all share commonalities with each other."
"They all have a background in special forces, army, air force…" she read, pacing up and down the wall of screens. "Some served together in the same unit, others were given commendations for surviving dangerous encounters…they were all either discharged or left voluntarily" she noticed. When she was serving before joining the DEO, she learnt that voluntary discharges like this meant one of two things; either they were medically unfit to continue service or quietly forced out.
"The evidence leads me to conclude we are looking for a band of mercenaries hired by Hank Henshaw" Brain continued. He brought up a few more photos, stills from security cameras around Axis Environmental. "These were captured in the days leading up to the robbery. It appears they were performing reconnaissance on the facility."
"They knew what was there before we did" Alex sighed. "How?"
"I'm looking through company records to see if they had a leak" he reported.
Alex tapped her chin, thinking back to the armed robbery from the day before. "Do we know for sure the men Maggie picked up from the financial sector was from the same militia?" she asked.
Someone at one of the desks heard her and turned to answer "police ID'd them from a veterans club downtown. We're looking for a link to the list up there."
Alex nodded, slowly putting the pieces together. "so Hanks has his men scout the warehouse, sees the delivery truck realising what they're transporting and sends a team to intercept it. Then he leads the rest of his men to steal the rest of them."
"Possibly because the failed attempt on the delivery truck drew the attention of the police and the media" Brainy guessed.
She tilted her head. There was still something bothering her. "But what about the weapons?" she asked. When her comrade looked at her inquisitively she explained "in the first attempt they were using advanced technology which helped them overpower Supergirl. So where were those weapons when they attack the facility?" she inquired.
Brainy crossed his arms behind his back. "Are we to assume Hank sent his men to retrieve the weapons from the impound lot?" he asked.
"Any reason why we shouldn't?" she asked.
He gave her a thoughtful hum. "It just strikes me as odd that a militia who clearly operates on spectacle as we've seen would also reclaim weapons confiscated by the police with such subterfuge. If they were capable of stealing from the police so quietly, why not do the same with Axis?"
Alex fixed her thoughtful gaze on him. He'd raised an interesting point. "What if it wasn't Hank's men who took the weapons?"
"Then logically it would beg the question of where Henshaw's men got the technology in the first place" he replied.
Alex blinked in a concerned pause, an avenue she didn't want to contemplate opening up before her eyes. The implications were worrying. "We need to find Hank and the army. Dig into Kronos Limited and see if that gives us any answers. Someone was footing the bill for this army of Metallo and they've just lost out. I want to know who and why and if they have a clue on where."
Brainy nodded, returning to his desk to continue his investigations. Alex took a final look at the screens and the men and women who'd fallen in with Hank Henshaw. Her gut tightened as more questions got raised, making her wonder how deep this rabbit-hole would go before she found the exit.
Deciding she needed a break, Alex Danvers returned back to Kara's apartment to check on her sister. She was not surprised to find the blonde woman snoring on the bed when she let herself in. the brunette chuckled, quietly kicking her shoes off and hanging her jacket on the back of a chair to pour herself a drink. Kara woke up almost at once, her enhanced hearing registering an intruder until she realised it was her sister. She came walking out of the bedroom rubbing her eyes wearing her slacks, a loose pair of jogging bottoms and a t-shirt over her underwear. Her hair was tangled when Alex offered her a cup of coffee. "I told you that you needed to rest" Alex said as she brought her glass of wine to the couch.
Kara mumbled something about being fine but her face gave away how exhausted she was. "Any luck finding Hank?" she asked optimistically.
She wished she had better news. "Not yet, but everyone's working on it" she told her.
Kara sighed, sipping her coffee slowly returning to alertness. "It's just the idea of a whole army of Metallo somewhere out there waiting to attack" she said. "One was dangerous enough, but thirty? I don't think I can take on that many."
"You won't have to" Alex assured her. "We've all got your back. You're not alone. We'll find them before it gets to that."
"I hope so" she mumbled, cupping her coffee cup as she curled into a ball on her sofa. It felt nice to sit down without needing to race somewhere like work or the DEO or to save someone. That didn't stop her from keeping an ear out for trouble while she was chatting to her sister though. Eavesdropping on the city was becoming easier every year. "Can we talk about something else for a while" Kara asked, the stress of the last few days catching up with her. "Have you heard from Jon recently?"
"I did" she said, leaning back on the sofa taking the moment to relax. "He's been busy helping the neighbourhood and alien refugees. Apparently there's been a rise in activity with one of the local gangs he wants to keep an eye on. I gave him the heads up about Hank and Metallo, he promised to keep an eye out. How's Lena?" she countered.
"We're meeting later today at her office" Kara told her, checking her watch realising it was going to be sooner than she thought. "At least the unveiling went well. Lena's support for the hospital did a lot to regain everyone's trust in L-Corp."
Alex nodded, looking at her sister with caring eyes. "How are you doing now it's over?" she asked.
Kara rested her head on the back of the chair and exhaled. "Like a weight's been lifted. It doesn't undo the mistake but it helped seeing the community come together like that."
Alex smiled, relived to see her feeling better. "Anything else you want to talk about?" she inquired.
Kara found her mischievous smirk as she turned her head back to her. "You and Maggie looked cute."
"Oh, yeah, we're not talking about that" she protested, swivelling in her seat as Kara chuckled. "Me and her was never going to work out."
"Still, at least you're talking again" she said. "And it's not awkward."
"Oh believe me, it was plenty awkward at first" she laughed. "But now we get along and work together. It's not complicated or weird or anything. I'm happy without the drama of a relationship."
"Yeah, I wish I didn't have the drama either" Kara said with a sigh.
Alex picked up on it, her gaze turning to her sister narrowing. "What does that mean?" she asked.
Kara saw her staring and nervously shrugged. "I mean I get it. No drama. I mean, dating is over rated anyway. Who wouldn't rather be single?" she said.
Alex locked her gaze onto her, putting her glass down to turn and face her. "Okay, what's going on?"
"Nothing" she said, shaking her head taking another sip of her cup, her body curling into a ball as small as possible.
"Kara, you are amazing at many things, but you are a terrible liar" Alex told her. "What's going on?" Kara refused to say, so Alex was forced to guess. "Something at work? Co corker at work hit on you?"
"What? No!" she rebuffed. But the blush was already coming to her cheeks and she knew the agent wouldn't relent until she came clean so the girl gave in. "I kind of bumped into a guy on my way home from Cacto."
"What? Like ran into an ex?" Alex asked.
"No, I mean I actually bumped into this guy on the street" she explained. "I was tired, I didn't see him and the next thing in know he's right there and I've spilt my coffee all over his shirt."
Alex couldn't stop the laugh from escaping as she saw Kara's mortified expression. "Oh my god! Was he mad?"
"No, worse. He was sweet. He kept making these jokes to trying and make it less awkward, but it just got more awkward. I couldn't stop apologising. Shut up, it's funny" she cried, throwing a cushion at her sister who was chuckling like a hyena.
"I'm sorry, I can't help it" she laughed, clutching her stomach unable to stop. Eventually Kara joined in, their laughter filling the room vanquishing the stress that had been dragging them down. After a few minutes Alex sucked in enough breath to calm down and compose herself. "So what happened to this guy?" she asked.
Now Kara's cheeks turned bright red. "I kind of invited him up here" she whispered, as if she was hoping Alex didn't hear her.
Her eyes widened. "You invited him back to your place?" She checked. She saw the blush and it made her grin. "Oh wow. Kara Danvers asking strangers up to her room. What was he like? Tall dark and handsome?"
She opened her mouth to scoff until she realised he almost was. "Okay, he was attractive. His name was Josh. No, Jack? Jake!" she stammered, covering her face before she could show the humiliation.
"Wow, that memorable was he?" Alex chuckled.
"Don't make fun of me" Kara warned. "Or I will bring up the time you first met Sara Lance."
Alex raised her hands in surrender, fully aware of the harrowing drunken one night stand with a sexy hot blonde on the eve of Barry Allen's wedding day. It was mortifying. "So when did you meet this Jake?" she asked.
"A few hours ago" she replied. She pulled her face out of her arm and reluctantly look at Alex, only to find a suddenly confused expression. "What?"
"Hang on, a few hours did you say?" she checked. Kara nodded, realising why she was suddenly concerned. "So you spilt coffee on a guy, invite him to your apartment, almost forget his name, and all of that happened today?" she nodded again, her cheeks blushing bright pink. "Kara, the two of you didn't…"
"Oh no! Absolutely not!" she answered pointedly. "No, that was not even a consideration. I mean, I just met this guy." Alex released a relieved breath before following with a chuckle. "But I think I asked him out" Kara then added.
Alex's eyes spun back on her so fast the brunette was looking to get whiplash. "You did what? Kara, that's…not like you" she said.
"I know! But I was tired and not thinking straight and he was just so sweet about me ruining his shirt, it just… it came out and I couldn't take it back. The worst part was…he said yes."
Alex was gobsmacked, staring at the young woman who was usually too sensible to so much as jaywalk outside of costume who had, for some bizarre reason neither of them could explain, had impulsively asked a total stranger out on a date. Alex didn't know whether to be worried or proud. "Wow" she said, staring at Kara's mortified face as they sat on the sofa in stunned silence. "Dare I ask when this date is meant to take place?"
"This evening" she whined. "Eight o'clock at Angelo's bar. What is wrong with me?"
Alex finally compressed what Kara had confessed and concluded it was, to her surprise, hilarious. "I don't know. I mean, asking out random guys off the street without even getting their name, sounds serious" she mocked.
She groaned, sensing she wasn't going to live this down for a while. "Seriously, what was I thinking?" she asked. "I don't do this, it's such a…" she stopped herself when she realised she was about to say it was "such a guy thing to do," the exact same words Alex used the morning after her one night stand. She groaned even louder realising she might've been close to doing the same thing this morning. Alex could've walked in and found them in bed together.
"Okay, joking aside, its fine" Alex assured her, shuffling closer to wrap her arm around her sister. "It's just a drink. You can apologise or get to know each other or whatever. At least it's nothing serious."
"I barely know this guy" she complained.
"Yeah, but you've been on blind dates before" she pointed out.
"And they all ended badly!"
"Well, it can't go any worse than when you met" she laughed. "Unless you plan on throwing the menu at him." Kara's response was another cushion to the face. "Seriously, it's just a date. What's the worst that can happen?" Alex asked her.
"The worst that can happen?" Kara vented. "I mean, assuming the whole thing doesn't go horribly; what if he turns out to be a jerk? Or what if I end up setting his plate on fire with my heat vision? What if Hank and his armed soldiers attack the bar?"
"Please tell me you didn't just abruptly leave your conversation with Alex to come here" Lena said, sitting on the white sofa in her office watching her best friend circle the room panicking. Luckily she gave her assistant permission to go on her lunch break so there was no one to overhear them.
"No, I left because I realised we had this lunch meeting and I wanted to get away from her teasing" Kara told her, fixing the glasses on her face and the clothes she'd whipped on in her rush out the door.
It only took her a few minutes to bring Lena up to speed about her incoming date that evening. Fortunately Lena was much more patient and compassionate. "Sounds like this Jake person caught your attention" she said. "What do you know about him?"
She shrugged, calming down now she was finished freaking out. "Not much. He's an engineer. He rides a motorcycle. He used to work for you, at L-Crop, so he says. Other than that…" she slumped back onto the seat opposite Lena. "Was I crazy to just ask him out?" she asked.
Lena thought on it, looking at Kara with kind eyes. "I don't think it's crazy to ask men out on a date if you like them."
"Who said I liked him?" she blushed.
"Please, Kara, after all this time I think I can tell when you like someone. Especially since I've seen you so freaked out about a date since Mon'El."
Kara pushed her glasses up her nose and tensed, asking herself why she was so freaked out. Damnit, she's right. I did like him. "What if it goes badly?"
"What if it goes well?" Lena countered.
That made Kara's butterflies turn into knots, forcing her to spring back to her feet. "No, I can't. I mean, Hank's still out there with an army of Metallo robots" she protested. "And the city needs supergirl to watch over it, and…"
"Kara!" Lena interrupted, her voice cutting through the arguments silencing the reporter. She rose to her feet and approached the terrified young woman, speaking warmly and comfortingly. "How many excuses is it going to take before you admit you're just looking for a reason to avoid it? You are allowed to take one night for yourself Kara. I know you've earned It." she could tell Kara was still trepid about it, assuring her "It'll be fine. I've seen you take on aliens and dictators and save the world from the likes of my brother, and me. You can do anything, including go on a date and have a good time."
"What if it does go well?" Kara asked, admitting that was what scared her the most. "What if I'm not ready for what comes after?"
"Sometimes we need to take that leap and see where we land" she said. She waited until Kara's breathing had returned to normal before stepping away. "Put it this way, at least you were lucky enough to land a date" she said wistfully.
Kara released a breath, taking the opportunity to change the topic from her frightening night out and focus on her friend. "Surely someone like you has plenty of options" she said in support.
Lena laughed. "Bureaucrats and board members? I'd rather settle for some intellectual conversation" she said. The statement made her pause, her eyes drawn to the business card still sitting on her desk.
Kara followed her gaze and picked up the card. "Maxwell Davies, CEO of TITAN Industries. Where have I heard that name?"
"Probably from every tabloid from here to the UK" she suggested, taking a seat behind her desk to sort through some papers.
Kana's brain clicked and she nodded. "Is he the one who was photographed with that supermodel a month ago? Something about a leaked video tape?"
"That's him. He was in here for a business proposal" she explained. "Unfortunately I don't think our companies will work well together."
"How come?"
"What he's proposing has too high risks, and the price for our collaboration is too steep."
Kara nodded, handing back the card. "He didn't ask you out did he?"
"He offered to buy me dinner. Not as part of the deal, just as a way to butter me up so I might change my mind."
Kara's smiled returned. "And you say you don't have men chasing after you" she smirked, recalling the last photo of him she saw in a magazine. "You could do worse."
Lena looked at her with mild annoyance. "You sound like my mother."
"I've seen you do incredible things too" Kara said after a pause, looking at her friend with kind eyes. "You've earned a night to yourself as well. Who never know, it might turn out well." she checked her watch, sighing inwardly. "I have to get back to work. Catch you tomorrow?" she said, already on her way out the door.
Lena waved her goodnight, wishing her luck on her date. Kara groaned disappearing out of the office. Lena remained at her desk holding the business card in her hand looking at the phone number below Maxwell's name. She supposed she could do worse.