She'd been on edge ever since they left the lab.
How could she not when this was just another example of something, she'd intended to help people was instead used to harm them or mainly to harm the ex-fiancée of a former friend. Lena was so upset about what would end up being her role in this that she almost forgot about the last stop she'd intended to make before going to help in any way she could to find her kidnapped friend.
It was so adorable that regardless of the fear they both felt over what was going on that a simple trip to a fast-food diner could bring out one of Kara's heart-stopping bright smiles. Then again at her core, Linda was Kara so anything that involved food was a fast track to making her smile.
"I'm serious Lin. Get whatever you want." She reiterates seeing the reserved look in Linda's eyes as they waited for their turn to order. Linda blushes pink under Lena's kind gaze turning her attention back to the choices while her hand finds its way back into Lena's while they wait.
Whatever she wanted turned out to be three orders of everything on the kid's menu, but Lena just smiles at her encouraging then places an order of her own first for herself then one for everyone Linda said would be waiting for them at the DEO.
Surprisingly it only takes two trips to the car to get everything packed away. Linda insisting on doing most of the work herself, so the sun was just starting to rise by the time the car pulls up to the not so secret government agency.
"You really like chocolate huh?" Lena comments watching in awe as the cute alien sitting in the passenger seat finishes off the second of the three orders of chocolate pancakes. Linda's answer was a wide chocolate smudged grin that would soon end up becoming Lena's newest background on her phone before Linda licked it all away.
They only return Kelly's offer to help with twin friendly smiles and shakes of the head. "You go ahead. Alex could use the distraction." Linda adds she'd already warmed Lena that her super sister was grudgingly resting up under heat lamps under her birth mother's watchful gaze. J'onn was laying down as well but Linda had to admit she couldn't tell from his heartbeat if he was really asleep or not. Eliza was arguing with her own daughter while Alex and Winn continue to hunt for some way to track their detecting needle when they had no way to know where the haystack was.
Lena then had to explain what that meant while Linda was left wondering if the men dressed in black had somehow turned her friend into an actual needle.
"God, that woman sure loves her paperwork."
Both hesitate in the middle of the lobby their eyes scanning the relatively empty space for the source of the grumbling complaint.
They find her trying to rub some circulation back into her hand as she and her boss stepped out of the HR offices of the DEO. "I mean seriously we're still coming off jet lag and we have to do more paperwork than they needed to get into old Arkham? I mean hello, I get the secrecy and all but we're kind of on a major time crunch here."
"You mean you're still coming off jet lag, don't you?" Kate corrects typing away at something on her phone before tucking it into a pocket of her leather jacket. "Also, you seem to be forgetting J, that one of the reasons we had more work was because your insistence at bringing along our little supernova here." The taller woman sighs as she kneels in order to attach a third visitors pass to the collar of the first speaker's service dog or at last Lena guesses the animal was a service dog going by what she can see of the tactical looking vest it was wearing.
"I wasn't just going to leave her…"
"Rory. Jamie." Linda's happy greeting cuts off the rest of Jamie's words also mixing with Lena's teasing scold of "Come on now Katie that's no way to talk to your brightest lab tech." while Rory's happy barks filled the lobby.
"Strawberries. Didn't think we'd see you here yet." Jamie greets whipping away the yet to be shed angry tears from her eyes as Linda and Lena draw closer.
"I didn't know the DEO allowed dogs." It had been the first thing that came into her head after walking up on such a tense standoff. Three sets of eyes turned at the same instant making Lena wish she could take them back, but it was Kate who answered. "They decided to make an acceptation for her." she smiles with an affectionate ruffle of Rory's fur adding a curt "Luthor." In greeting as she stands one Lena mirrors with an equally cool "Kane."
"Need some help with all that?"
Linda nodes happily passing off most of her bags to Kate and the rest to Jamie. Once her hands were free, she was kneeling for a proper kiss filled greeting from Rory. "I miss you too little 'hello sunshine'." She says in between wet kisses.
"Hey, would you mind looking after Rory for us?" Jamie asks seeing how relaxed the dog became under Linda's touch. "I know she misses the sun and the fresh air will do her good after having to wait around while we did paperwork."
Immediately Linda nodes in consent but changes her mind once the see how big of a yawn Rory gives as she settles in against the super's chest. "When Alex comes tell her we go to the…the…. what is the word the…" Linda struggles grasping for the name she'd learned from that Seattle-based doctor show she'd watched with Eliza. She really liked it. Not only did she learn new medical terms it also had a doctor that reminded her a lot of Alex. "the on-call room?"
She makes a mental note to ask Alex later about the stifles giggles her suggestion caused her friends as she carries a now sleeping Rory away from the groaning sounds of the approaching elevator. For all, she knew from the parts Eliza would let her watch of that room before putting the show on mute and holding her hand over her eyes Linda assumed it was just for sleep. Something she and Rory could use at the moment.
"Where is my sister?"
Jamie visibly jumped at the barked question backing up a step or three from the fuming DEO director stepping out of the lift.
"We brought along a plus one that doesn't take to flying very well." Kate explains judging by the shake in her hand Alex was on her tenth cup of strong coffee.
"You're the one from her background."
Looking at her in person with the morning light making a halo of amber around her as it fills the lobby Alex can kind of see why Maggie would think of her new girlfriend as her sunshine.
Kate lets a small smile seep passed her brooding mask as she remembers the picture in question.
Her in the park with Rory on a rare sunny day in Gotham City. Her with a real smile on her lips pinned as she was by her on again off again girlfriend's kiss happy pup. It had been one of the few times Kate had let her guard down and allowed herself to have fun outside of breaking bones as she played with Maggie's dog.
The only warning she'd had that the moment had been captured at all was Maggie's giggling laughter as she clicked away catching the tussling pair from different angles.
"Oh yeah. Mags said she'd changed it recently." She nodes remembering Alex's talk with her vigilantly identity about how the DEO had already tried unsuccessfully to trace Maggie's phone for any kind of lead as to where she may have been taken. "Kate Kane." She introduces holding out her hand.
Rather than take it Alex glances toward Lena and Jamie. "We should get that food packed away before it cools too much."
"Project Pandora?"
Most of the core group had gathered in the conference room making an acceptation for the recovering aliens and having left Susan in charge while Alex as a little too preoccupied to properly run things that didn't involve finding her ex.
"An L-corp brainchild working in tandem with S.T.A.R. Labs in Gotham to help make a reality." Lena explains "At its core Project Pandora would give those with terminal illness ones one last taste of happiness before they pass away. Consensual probing someone's memories for a perfect day if you will and letting that person relive that better time as before they pass away."
"Repo men much." Winn wonders obviously not realizing he'd asked it aloud while he types away at this computer only to get a hard slap against the back of his head from Jamie.
"Right now, the project is in its infancy stages mainly more idea than anything." Kate jumps in also choosing to ignore Winn's jab after taking a long pull from the coffee cup she'd between batting between her hands.
"And you think that whoever kidnapped Maggie also broke into the L corp files and stole…." Eliza starts to ask her hand closing over Alex's while her daughter takes a weak steadying breath. Not for the first time the worried mother wanted to push her daughter out of the room or at the very least ask Kelly for help in preventing her children blood and adopted alike from having full-on break downs over what was going on.
"Copied more like." Winn interrupted spinning his computer around as proof.
"Yeah, whoever did this knew what they were doing." Jamie agrees with a few keystrokes on her own computer while Winn takes a little break to start in on the eggs and pancake combo Lena had thought to order for him to sooth his growling stomach.
Most of the food Lena had brought had been taken to the break room for when the more superpower members of the team were back in play. The rest had been divided up among the others sitting around the long table.
"Looks like they got in between firewall checks copied the files and got out almost undetected." Kate points out a little impressed with the skill level while looking over at Jamie's computer screen. "And they did it from the Gotham side of the project so that was why L-corp wasn't immediately notified until Lena asked for an over hall of their security files after Maggie's kidnapping." Jamie agrees going more than a little pale at the admission.
"You said they almost got out undetected. Was Pandora all they took?" Kelly chimed in sneaking a glance at her girlfriend out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't looking good but asking her to at least slowdown was a recipe for disaster.
"Working on it." Jamie and Winn say together both typing away furiously at their respective computers.
For several quick seconds, the only sounds other than the chatter of computer keys were the staggered breaths and nervous fidgeting from several members around the table.
Jamie's face goes sickly pale. "Oh, God." The lab analyst whispered praying she was reading the rough list wrong as she scrolled back to the top to look it over one more time.
"What? What is it?"
For once Alex doesn't mind that she and Maggie's new girlfriend are in enough of a sync that they ask the same questions at the same time.
Jamie doesn't answer so Winn slides his own computer away and pulls hers closer peering curiously at the screen. "Going by the timestamps it seems that the only other files accessed around the same time as Pandora were the ones related to the digitalized notes and research of a Dr. J Crane and a Dr. P Isley."
"Or as everyone in Gotham knew them. Scarecrow and Poison Ivy." Kate translates already pulling out her phone for a very important phone call.
She just hopes her cousin will answer in time.