Ch 4

One week after That Interview

There are so many government cars driving around the city that they are effectively invisible to the residents. Which explains why nobody glanced at the car that left a certain airport that morning and drove downtown. It was only when it turned into a narrow street and passed the security checkpoint that it became of interest to several watchers, most on nearby roofs and one at ground level.

It had been seven days since Eliza Danvers had called out the President to his face and an immense furor had followed in her wake. Politicians, editorials, and letters to the editor had lauded or decried her tactics, but most agreed that she had a point, even if they didn't like what she had done about it. Those who thought she had overreacted were countered by others who had realized the inevitable end result of the President's prohibition.

Flocks of reporters (and not a few FBI agents) had descended on CatCo, Redwood University, and Midvale desperate for any scraps of information they could get about the Danvers family, and especially Kara. At CatCo, for all practical purposes, they met silence. The moment the interview credits played, Lena Luthor had sent an all-staff email that informed them of what had occurred and mentioned that Lena would follow her longstanding personal policy of never making public references to her friends, and since most CatCo staffers liked Kara, they were happy to follow Lena's lead.

Despite this, a composite portrait of the girl who was Supergirl had reached the public. A couple of CatCo employees had talked off the record and described an incredibly kind and remarkably efficient colleague. Noonan's waitstaff told of the friendly, cheerful customer who was always ordering extremely large orders. Fellow residents in her apartment building spoke of the quiet girl who always had friends over for dinners.

In contrast, learning about Eliza was easy. As one of the country's leading biomedical engineers, her professional community numbered in the hundreds and many of those folks, both at her university and at other places, were willing to talk. Eliza enjoyed universal professional respect for her research work, and she was recognized as one of her field's finest mentors. A number of Midvale residents who knew the family described her as a loving mother and described a strong family that had grown even closer after her husband's untimely death. They also described Kara's early days in the area with pride of place given to the local woman who recalled how the much younger Kara had saved both herself and her daughter from the crashed car that exploded seconds after Kara had freed a jammed door.

But when the journalists tried to find out about Dr. Alexandra Danvers, they hit a stone wall. Yes, Max Lord had spoken of her bravery and integrity during that infamous interview, but the tech whiz had kept his mouth entirely shut thereafter – most uncharacteristic behavior for him. Her fellow students in both high school and university described Alex as remote and driven, and if she had any law enforcement colleagues, none of them had talked to reporters. Meanwhile, the FBI kept completely silent about what they had learned about the elder Danvers daughter and the rest of her family.

Calls for the President's impeachment were strident, nationwide and ongoing. National City's Mayor, supported by City Council, had issued a statement decrying President Baker's actions in the strongest terms and repeating the city's invitation to Supergirl to work with the NCPD anytime she cared to, a statement taken up by several dozen other city and state governments. That contrasted with the attempt by some Children of Liberty members to firebomb the Danvers house in Midvale, an attempt frustrated by agents of the security firm Cat Grant had thoughtfully hired before leaving for Argo.

But all the commotion seemed far away from the quiet, narrow street as the unobtrusive government sedan pulled into a reserved parking space and the driver got out and opened the rear door for his passenger. The woman who emerged was medium height, dark-haired, and slender. She spoke a word of thanks and moved smoothly towards the nearby building.

A couple of staffers were having a smoke break by the side of the path. Like everybody else in the country, they recognized the reserved face and the air of remote abstraction that marked this woman wherever she went. None of the professional watchers except one could see the visitor's eyes. And so, their alertness level, already at "normal professional paranoia," did not change in the least.

Only the woman waiting by the door saw something more. Of Irish extraction, the talk in her family was that her great-grandmother had had "the sight" a gift the family believed that the waiting redhead had inherited in full measure. Over the years, she had shown an eerily accurate intuition when meeting new people. Now, as she saw the visitor coming towards her, the greeter kept her face impassive as her normal professional paranoia shot up the scale to "SUPREME DANGER" mode in less than an instant.

"Dr. Luthor, welcome. Please come with me," the redhead said.

"Thank you," said Lena, as she fell into step beside her guide as they walked through the entrance.

It's only a short walk from the entrance – a few steps through a lobby, a left turn into a corridor, a right into another corridor a few seconds later followed by another few steps down the hall. Along the way, visitors pass through several visible and invisible metal detectors, none of which went off, even though the greeter was armed. The overwhelming majority of people who come to this place for the first time walk slowly, looking everywhere, memorizing the furnishings and the pictures on the walls, but this visitor was laser-focused on something else. She moved quickly, looking nowhere but straight ahead, something her companion did not fail to notice. When they turned into the second last office on the left, near the end of the hall, the redhead walked directly to the far wall, opened the other, oddly angled door for the guest, and the two women walked into the next room.

"Thank you for coming, Dr. Luthor," said President Baker, rising from behind his desk in the Oval Office. "I trust you had a good flight."

"I did."

"Would you like some refreshment; coffee, tea?" He saw her head shake and continued, "No, then please, sit down." He gestured to one of the couches and sat on the other one. As he did so, he noticed that his security chief had not left the room, contrary to instructions. That was a signal. Obviously, Agent McGuigan had seen something. But what? He knew he would find out later.

"You might be wondering why I asked you to stop by on your way home from that conference in Metropolis?"

"It crossed my mind. I thought you might want a progress report on the additional harun-el that you had asked me to synthesize. But you could have got that answer over the phone, the way you did when you commissioned the project. And your question suggests that you do have something else in mind."

"You're right, I do. I need to ask you some questions. And I promise you your answers will not be made public in any way. And I'm not asking these questions for my own personal or political benefit. I am asking for what you can tell me for no other reason but the country's good. You own CatCo. Have any of your employees there used the term 'deep background?'"

"Yes."

"Then you'll understand what I mean when I say that this needs to be a deep background conversation. Will you accept that?"

"Provided you don't ask me to participate in a crime, then yes," Lena replied.

"No crime, Dr. Luthor. Don't quote me, but I mishandled the situation after Lockwood's arrest and I need information about Supergirl if I'm going to have any chance of getting her back."

"Then before you go any further, I must tell you that I agree with you about the way you handled the situation. You should also know that I'm a biased source for information on Supergirl. She's saved my life too many times for it to be otherwise."

"Thank you for being frank. I can understand that you have a general bias where Supergirl is concerned, but I don't think you'll be biased on the specific question I need you to answer," the President replied,

"Here's the situation: my reading of Supergirl was that she was a straightforward type, a volunteer using her powers to help people in need without regard to any broader picture. I felt that I had no alternative but to ask for her identity to defuse the crisis Lockwood had raised. Then I find myself hit with a very effective political ambush. Before I can even try to make things right, I need to know something. As I'm sure you can understand, what I need to know is this: did I read Supergirl wrong and did she craft that ambush? Or, if she didn't design it, who did? As I see it, if it wasn't Supergirl, there are at least three possibilities, Cat Grant, Alex Danvers, and Eliza Danvers."

"You said, "at least three possibilities," Mr. President, "Who are the others?" Lena asked.

"Perhaps yourself; apparently you are a great friend of hers," the President replied.

"Those FBI agents have been thorough," Lena replied, "And while I could say thanks for the compliment, I'll have to pass. You'll have to accept my word on this, but it wasn't me who set you up. Even though Kara has been a good friend over the last few years, she never told me she was Supergirl until eight hours before your interview with Cat and she only told me because she knew that the news of her identity was about to go public and she wanted me to hear it from her. And no, she didn't tell me anything about how she expected the news to break. All she told me was that I would need to be in my office that evening and follow some instructions I would receive, which were, of course, to watch This Evening. And that's what I did."

President Baker nodded.

"Now let's look at your other options. But before I begin, let me say that when you asked for this meeting, I thought that you might ask me that question. As it happens, I've had some personal reasons for giving serious thought to a related issue which is why what I'll say next is on the tip of my tongue."

Lena paused, and again the President nodded.

"Option one is Kara, and I doubt she designed the ambush."

"And your reasons are?"

"To compensate for my bias, let me start with the performance evaluations for Kara's first three years at CatCo when she was Cat Grant's executive assistant. Working for someone who is widely believed to be the most demanding boss in America, Kara earned a "Beyond Excellent" rating in all three years – the only "Beyond Excellent" ratings Cat has ever given. Cat's detailed comments tell us that Kara is very, very smart, is a genius at multitasking, and has a very high EQ. So yes, Kara is smart enough to think this up, and she has the emotional intelligence to put herself in other people's shoes and figure out how they might react to her actions. That said, however, both Kara and Supergirl prefer an open, direct approach, not a subtle one. She does not do well in chess. And whoever conceived this ambush is somebody capable of subtle and sophisticated political infighting. And that's something that's totally uncharacteristic of both Kara and Supergirl."

"You seem to be taking her at face value. Could she have been playing you?" asked the President.

"That question is exactly why I've been thinking about this situation. I think that's very unlikely, for several reasons. First, as you probably know, I'm not a Luthor by birth, but by adoption."

The President nodded.

Lena continued, "But being raised a Luthor meant that I got a first-class training in spotting phonies, combined with a sharply realistic take on the human capacity for duplicity. Luthors spot most liars very quickly, Mr. President. Second, if Kara was playing me to spy on the local Luthor, there was no need for her to play dumb in chess. Do you play?"

"Not since high school and I wasn't very good at it."

"Then you might not realize that when you are playing the same person on a regular basis, as Kara and I have been doing, that it's very hard to dumb down your playing without making some smart moves from time to time. So a smart person trying to downplay their chess skills will inevitably look erratic. Kara's playing has the shortcoming of being consistently straightforward and thus thoroughly predictable, but it's never been erratic. That's why I rule out an attempt to play me in chess."

"I understand," said the President.

"Turning to why I don't think she was playing me in general: the first objection is that she believed me and believed in me on a number of occasions when the evidence seemed to establish that I was a second Lex, for example, when Lillian escaped prison. If she was playing me, that was the perfect opportunity to put me behind bars, yet several DEO staffers have told me that her advocacy on my behalf was the only thing that kept them looking at other alternatives and me from being tried and falsely convicted. Second, she didn't have to come to see me and tell me she was Supergirl when the news was about to break. She could have let me find out like everybody else. Even more to the point, she went out of her way to tell me the news in a specific order. First, she told me that some big news would be made public that would affect our friendship, then she told me why she had kept that news from me, and only then did she tell me she was Supergirl. During the first two steps in that process, she was calm and focused and showed no fear of the prospect of publicity. That tells me she knew exactly how the news would break and that she knew Alex and Eliza would be safe from any fallout. Yet from the way she told me she was Supergirl, it was obvious that she had valued her friendship with me and was terrified of losing it. So no, I don't think she has been playing me all along, and that means it's not likely that it was Kara who set you up."

"Is it possible that she's a brilliant actress? After all, she's fooled everybody into thinking she was human."

"You are confusing acting with hiding some abilities. Those are two very different things. Yes, Kara was very good at keeping her abilities to herself, but she is no good at all at hiding her feelings from those that know her. I've seen her when she is afraid of something. Why would she be terrified of losing me as a friend if she had just been playing me all along? And that gives you one bit of hope, Mr. President."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because if Kara Danvers was terrified as losing me as a friend during our meeting, then it's likely that she had not ruled out every possibility that she might return to earth. At least, that was her state of mind at that time. What it is now, I can't say, of course."

Once more the President nodded, "Go on."

"The next possibility is Alex Danvers. As you know, my consulting contracts with the DEO have meant that I've worked with her on several occasions. I've also met her socially quite often, usually at Kara's parties. She manages the DEO effectively, so she has some political skills. She must have known Kara was Supergirl, and she may have known of the agreement her mother made with Donaldson."

"But?" asked the President, seeing that Lena had stopped.

"But if Alex Danvers had designed the ambush, Max Lord would have played no part in it. I've seen my brother's feelings about Superman up close and personal, so it's fair to say that I know something about the extent to which it is possible for one person to distrust and despise another. Yet, Lex on Superman doesn't even begin to compare with the way Alex Danvers distrusts and despises Maxwell Lord. I've wanted to bring him in on a couple of projects I've worked for the DEO and Alex wouldn't consider the possibility for a second. A second point: we tend to see Supergirl as this mythic hero with no weaknesses except Kryptonite. And that's a view shared by most of the DEO staffers. Not Alex: watch her with an injured Supergirl, as I have, and you'll see that she knows that her sister has the heart of a child. And for Alex Danvers that heart is the most precious thing in the universe: she will not let it be hurt if she can do anything to stop it. I've seen that Kryptonian pod that Alex used to rescue her sister that night. She had to fly it right next to her sister, open the hatch to space, stuff her sister into the same seat she was in and shut the hatch again within fifteen seconds or she would have been dead herself. So no, I don't think Alex was the planner of the reveal. It's more likely one of the other two."

Once more the President nodded, "That leaves Cat Grant and Eliza Danvers."

"Actually, for all practical purposes, it leaves Eliza," Lena countered, "Yes, Supergirl could have gone to Cat, who might or might not have known her civilian identity, and told her about the agreement Donaldson had made with her mother. But even if Kara bought into Cat's plan, the crucial detail is this: they would have had to persuade Eliza Danvers to go along with them. And the timetable tells against that."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it all happened too quickly, it was less than thirty-six hours from prohibition to ambush." The President nodded as Lena continued, "I'm familiar with Eliza's work. She is a very careful scientist, and I know careful scientists: my record says that I'm one myself. Our training mitigates against making major decisions on the fly. If this landed on Eliza out of the blue from Cat, even with Kara's backing, I doubt that Eliza would have come on board in the less than the day that the timetable allows for. And I don't think that Kara would have bought into any suggestion that would have outed Eliza and Alex if it hadn't been signed off on by one of those two. She is as committed to them as they are to her. The only reason Kara came out as Supergirl was to save Alex, who was a passenger on that plane she saved. And we also have to remember that Kara blames herself for what happened to her adoptive father."

"Why do you say that?"

"As you know, Jeremiah Danvers is believed to have died in a plane crash over a decade ago. When Kara told me who she was, she also said that what happened to him was one of the reasons why she kept her secret from me for so long. According to her, she had made a childish mistake one night: despite her parents' instructions not to use her powers, she took Alex flying. And it was that flight that brought the DEO invasion to their house and ultimately led to Jeremiah entering government service, which in turn led to his disappearance or death."

"I understand," said the President, "But you also said Dr. Jeremiah Danvers is 'believed to have died' and 'disappearance or death.' Are you telling me he's alive?"

"What Kara told me that day was the family had thought he was dead for most of the last twelve years, but something has happened that indicates that he might be still alive. That said, the family is not certain one way or the other. She didn't say any more than that."

"Thank you. But to get back to the main issue: you think Eliza Danvers is the likeliest candidate?"

"Yes, for several reasons. First: she knew her daughter was Supergirl, second, she made the deal with Donaldson, a deal that demonstrates her capacity to anticipate trouble. Third, she has the political infighting skills of the department chair who has kept her department entirely focused on science despite working in a university that is known to be strongly "woke" and, fourth, she pulled off what many columnists and politicians have called the sharpest political ambush they've ever seen. Finally, even though the relationship came about through adoption, Eliza is every inch Kara's mother as shown by her willingness to out herself and her family if the government moved against her daughter. And since Kara loves her back with that same level of intensity, the real challenge you face will be getting Eliza to sign on to whatever option you propose to bring Kara back."

"Would it surprise you to learn that the FBI agents investigating this matter came to remarkably similar conclusions?" asked the President.

"Not really," Lena replied, "If you know the people involved, the analysis is simple. But if the FBI has already come to similar conclusions, why ask me for my opinion?"

"Because, Dr. Luthor, I've got an idea on how to get Supergirl back in harness and I'll need your help to execute it. And part of that plan is that harun-el you have been working on."

"Part of the plan?" Lena asked, "What's the rest, if I may ask?"

"You may," replied the President with a smile, "And since you'll have to know it anyway, I'll tell you."

"And why will I have to know your plan?" Lena asked.

"Because another part of the plan is that I want you to become the first United States Ambassador to Argo."