He pushed a breath out of his lungs, knowing it was entirely unnecessary. The need to breath had long been stolen from him and while some might have been glad to have one less bodily function to worry about, Querl Dox was not.

He huffed in another precious breath and smiled as the coolness filled his throat. They'd turned the air on today and even in his bubble, the difference could be felt.

A current of electricity ran above his head, snaking its way around the ceiling before dropping down behind Querl. From there, it pierced the metal cage and ran straight through until it hit Querl's suspended leg. Finally, it circled his leg, twisting its way up until it composed a work of post-modern art, an electric suit that Querl wore unfortunately well.

This was not the only kind of costuming CADMUS had provided him with. Wires played like rings around his fingers, squeezing them until his teal flesh had turned dark blue, and then dropped to the ground, into hidden chambers under his own.

In his thirteen years, Querl Dox had not left this room once, but those wires, wherever they went, were his door to the outside world. When the currents rose each morning, his eyes closed and opened everywhere in National City. From the streets of Metropolis to Governor's Hill, Querl could see everything. The only place where he was mysteriously blind was in the Glades. He had heard, though, that was to be fixed soon. Permanently.

Three Months Later

Alex set her pack down against a stack of crates and began undoing her belt. The buckle took both of her hands to undo as she struggled to keep it above her waist. Her holster clattered against her thigh and she could already feel a bruise forming. Deft hands undid her boots and slipped them into her pack. Getting her vest off went much the same as the belt, with the clips so much bigger than her wiry hands.

J'onn would be displeased if he saw her like this, which was why she was hidden behind these crates and not in the makeshift locker room. She could meet everyone else at the debriefing.

"Hi, Alex."

She swirled around.

"Sorry. Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." Nia apologized.

"It's fine." Alex let out a breath. People did not sneak up on her. She snuck up on them. Anything different would have gotten her and Kara killed. Had nearly gotten them killed. "Where's Kara?"

Nia shrugged. "She might be with Winn."

"Might?" Alex felt her jaw clench.

"Yeah," Nia was giving her a look. ", She kind of roams around here during the day but I know she likes Winn."

Alex bit her lip. She didn't know quite what she thought Kara did all day, but "roaming around" was not it. Kara was delicate. Made of steel, yes, but she'd seen things no one else had seen, been through things no one else could even imagine.

She needed a hand to guide her and Alex had promised...

"She can't be left alone." Alex heard herself say. "Especially not now."

There was that look again, all bent eyebrows and sharp eyes. Like she was trying too hard to concentrate on what was right in front of her.

"She's not alone. There's a ton of people around here and like I said..."

"She's probably with Winn. Right. Where is he?"

Nia gestured towards the tunnel. "By the computers."

As it turned out, "the computers" were really just two older models placed side-by-side just inches above the dirty floor. Their wires ran down into the ground, through a hastily cut hole.

"Kara?"

A blonde head popped up from behind the screen. Kara's hair had filled in nicely in the time they'd been here and now covered her head in an overgrown buzz cut. Her eyes, however, were still ringed with shadow even though Alex knew she slept far more now than she had since landing on Earth. The blue in her eyes had also receded; where once it was bright and full, now it hardly seemed to fill the iris and circled the pupil in lazy swoops.

She didn't speak when she saw Alex, just nodded.

A cough broke the girls from their trance.

"Winn." Alex acknowledged.

"Hi, Alex." He looked at the ground, a blush on his cheeks.

A hint of a smile twisted up Kara's cheek.

"What were you two doing?"

"Oh, well, I figured out a way to reconfigure the OS's to work with some old..."

"I was asking Kara."

With her eyes on Alex's still half-undone tactical vest, Kara replied. "We were playing videogames."

Alex nodded. That was different, though with her newly lighting fast reflexes, Kara was probably pretty good.

"We're going to keep playing video games." Kara's voice was definite.

"You've got a medical..." Before Alex could finish, there was a gust of wind and Kara was standing an inch from her face.

Alex found herself looking up to Kara.

"We're going to keep playing video games." Her voice was stone cold.

Kara lifted her hand slightly and Alex flinched.

Whether it was her newfound height or the fact that her short hair demolished her cherubic image, Kara could tell that Alex was seeing her for the very first time. Not as a little sister or as a charge, but as an alien. One who could turn her to ash in the blink of an eye.

"Fine." Alex finally said. "But no violent games."

"Ha! I wish..." Winn started, but Alex was already gone. "Oh. She's fun."

Kara had turned back to the game. "No, she's not."

"Where have you been?" J'onn crossed his arms as Alex approached.

"Checking on Kara." Alex grunted.

J'onn raised an eyebrow. Alex sighed. She hadn't meant to be snippy. She was just frustrated. For over a year, she and Kara had been inseparable, and through all of that time Alex had been in charge. She'd been the leader, the bodyguard, and Kara her charge.

But now they were safe. Now they weren't alone. And suddenly Alex was a soldier returned home. Restless. Uncertain of her place. She'd joined the resistance immediately.

Three months of working under J'onn, who was a leader in a way that Alex could only dream of. She ran missions across the city, helping alien after alien find their way to the Underground. Sometimes she worked with James, the Guardian, and sometimes it was just her and the grunts. It didn't matter to Alex; as long as she was helping all was good.

Well, not all. There was still Kara.

Kara and the chip still lodged somewhere in her head; deemed too dangerous to be removed, it sat hopefully inert. But even if it was there was still Kara, who now had way too much time on her hands for Alex's taste. Way too much time and way too many powers.

"And how is Kara?" J'onn asked, quite literally reading Alex's mind.

"She's the same. Playing videogames with Winn."

"We could enroll her in school, you know. Isabel Nal is a wonderful woman. I'm sure she would take good care of Kara."

Alex bristled at the thought of Kara in school. The girl had learned calculus at the age of four. She'd be bored out of her mind learning math or science. And she showed zero patience for the humanities. Besides, Alex wasn't sure she could make Kara do anything anymore.

"It's fine."

Now it was J'onn's turn to sigh. "Alex, maybe you want to take some time off."

"What?"

J'onn nodded to a nearby chair. And when Alex didn't move, took a seat himself.

"You are fifteen years old, Alex."

"So? Nia's twelve and she gets to go on missions."

J'onn shook his head. "But not all the time. And even then it's only because of her powers that I allow her to go on any sort of mission."

"So this is because I don't have powers?" Alex crossed her arms.

"Of course not, but…"

"Send Kara then, if you want someone with powers." Alex's voice rose. "If I'm not good enough. She might as well do something besides sit around and play videogames."

"Alex…"

"No, I get it. Why get a human to do a Kryptonian's job?" Alex was on a roll. Yet even as she spoke, as her voice rose higher and higher, the pit in her chest grew deeper. But still she couldn't stop herself.

"Oh that's right, because the Kryptonian can't do anything without supervision." She should stop. "She can't do anything by herself. She always needs a babysitter. She can't even control her powers. She could never save anyone!"

"Alex!" Alex froze. J'onn's voice was louder than she'd ever heard it, but more than that it was tinged with something. It was deeper. Throatier. Inhuman.

She turned to face him once again and saw that same flash of red across his eyes she'd seen in the convoy.

J'onn was standing again before Alex could react.

"You're suspended from missions. Indefinitely." He turned.

"What? You can't do that!" But J'onn was already far away. He hadn't even heard her.

But Kara had. Her fists clenched around the small controller in her hand and soon enough there was a crack.

Winn looked over. "Whoa. Are you okay?"

Kara's speech had departed her. She nodded but sure enough there was another crack and the controller had all but disintegrated in her hands.

She opened her mouth to say something, to say anything, but before she could there was a crackle, like a broadcast had been left on. She turned wide-eyed to Winn, but he was still looking at her with a worried frown.

He hadn't heard the crackle.

Then there was only one place it could be coming from. Her own head.

Querl Dox waited patiently as the drilling went on and on. His eyes had not yet been turned on and so he was still blind. His ears, however, were in perfect condition and caught the words of one of his caretakers just before the drilling began.

"Only a few hours more and the chips will be fully online."