A/N: I apologize for the lateness of this. Things have been a bit out of control over here and I just haven't had as much time as I thought I would. Thanks for sticking with me!
Chapter 8
"Andrea! Don't make this worse for yourself! Come in! We know you're hurt and need medical help!" J'onn shouted as he landed near the spot both he and M'gann had seen her.
"You want to send me to a special prison! You're not interested in helping me!" The voice was disembodied from the smallest shadow that could be seen.
"You've thrown your lot in with Lex! Consequences are inevitable but maybe they can be lessened if you come in nice and easy," M'gann lowered her tone, hoping that might coax the woman out of her hiding spot.
"What could possibly help me now? I've become a monster in the eyes of the people. They will never trust me again," Andrea said, still refusing to come out of her hiding spot.
"Sending Lex to prison and giving evidence at his trial will go a long way. Maybe you could even help us with Lillian. She's in a bad way and we're trying everything we can, but it isn't good," J'onn spoke up, wondering if perhaps bringing up the senior Luthor would soften Andrea's hesitance to show herself.
"What's wrong with her?" Andrea hadn't known about Lillian since she took off before the incident occurred.
"Nth metal poisoning. It's going to kill her if we cannot figure this out," M'gann explained. Suddenly, Andrea appeared in front of both of them, making them jump back, completely surprised by not only her sudden appearance but the fact that the appeal worked.
"This is because of Lex?" Andrea asked.
"You know how he gets – completely blinded by his hatred. He hasn't asked about his mother once since he's been arrested," M'gann said.
"Would this help Lena? If there is some way I can help her mother?" Andrea wanted to know. There was what the former schoolmate was really after.
"I can't see why it wouldn't. Lena would be incredibly grateful for any help she can get," J'onn smiled at her.
"All right. I'll come with you, but you have to promise that I can try and help," Andrea relented, and both the Martians were starting to see why. The usually bright color of the Argentinian's skin was dull and she appeared to be sweating profusely. J'onn called for assistance while M'gann reached for Andrea's damaged hand. The woman tried to pull away, not wanting anyone to touch it but she almost fell over. M'gann quickly caught her and that's when the White Martian realized that what she had assumed was part of Andrea's black outfit on her left arm was actually her skin. Gangrene was setting in, which could cause the woman's entire body to shut down and for her to lose more than just fingers.
"We need to get her to Brainy and Doctor Rodgers. I don't think a regular hospital will be able to help with this given her powers," she told J'onn as FBI agents came running toward them. He looked at his girlfriend and could sense through their bond what she meant.
"Good work you two," Agent Danny Ruiz was smiling at first as the group of ten agents reached them. He was the supervisory special agent in charge of them and he was glad that the op had not gone sideways.
"We need to get her to the DEO and fast. The specialists there are probably the only ones who can help save her," J'onn quickly explained.
"She'll need an FBI escort. Let's get her to the ambulance and then we can deliver her ourselves with agents to watch her around the clock. Everyone at headquarters will be glad she's off the streets," Ruiz told him before grabbing his radio and calling for the ambulance to meet them over by the south side of the building.
"I've got this. You go tell Brainy what's going on so they can be ready to receive us," M'gann said to the Green Martian. J'onn nodded and quickly took off into the skies. He only hoped that they could save Andrea's life and that she could in fact help them save Lillian.
Meanwhile, across town at L Corp, Lena heaved a sigh. She'd been experimenting with some nanites that she hoped would be able to be injected into a sick patient and then they would cure the patient. However, she'd been unable to make anything even heal the tiny papercuts on the lab rats. Never willing to admit defeat, the youngest Luthor tried to reassess what was going wrong when one of her lab assistants, Sandy Rosenblatt, suddenly spoke up.
"Look at this!" The short brunette was very excited by the news that flashed on her laptop. Her friend, Maria, who worked at L Corp's reception desk had sent her a link with a news broadcast. Lena moved over to her coworker and couldn't help but smile.
"The Maiden of Might was spotted in Gotham today helping our Caped Crusader, Batwoman, flush out more of the criminals known as Wonderland Gang. We cannot be sure why Supergirl's was here, but I think I can speak for all of Gotham when I say that we can sleep easy tonight knowing more criminals are off the streets," the reporter from Gotham City News finished speaking as footage of Kara and Kate fighting goons in rabbit masks flashed across the screen.
"I thought we were staying focused," Lena said.
"I know but news about Supergirl always makes me happy so I figured a little break or possible inspiration would help," Sandy said, closing the internet window and her e-mail.
"Not a bad idea…" the raven-haired woman trailed off as her cell phone chirped, alerting her that Andrea had been brought into the DEO in bad shape.
"I need to go and help my friends at the DEO. Can you keep working on this for me?" Lena wanted to know.
"Of course, Miss Luthor. I promise I'll stay focused," Sandy said.
"I have no doubt you will. Never apologize for using Supergirl for inspiration. I think we need to change the programming on the nanites. They need to act as antibodies so perhaps latching onto the nervous system isn't what is going to help," Lena told her.
"They need to act like white blood cells without being attacked by the bodies actual white blood cells. I think I have an idea that might work," the brunette was excited.
"Keep me posted," the raven-haired woman said before heading out of the lab.
To Be Continued…