Following the questionable actions Kara undertook over the past few hours, she was forced to endure the one thing she hated amongst all others: babysitting at her mother's insistence. It was either that be put under house arrest so she couldn't get into any more trouble. To make it worse, her chaperone was none other than J'onn, meaning she couldn't go out to do super heroics without the Martian Manhunter by her side to keep an eye on her. She groaned and complained but ultimately succumbed to Eliza's punishment because nobody gave her a choice. All her friends were on board with this, including Alex.
That wasn't going to stop her from checking in on Lena, who had been holed up in her lab almost as long as Kara had been tailing Jake. Supergirl and J'onn landed on Lena's balcony knocking on the office window. The latch was open so they let themselves in and found it empty. "Lena!" Kara called while J'onn reverted to his human form.
A panel in the wall slid open on their left as the raven haired woman stepped out wiping her eyes, jumping in surprise to find them both in her office. "Oh my god, you scared me!" she gasped, catching her breath as she put her hand on a palm reader to close the secret panel behind her. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Not long" J'onn answered, casting a curious eye to the hidden room Lena had locked away, catching glimpses of tech, lab equipment and a green mineral. "How long have you been up here?" he asked.
"I don't know. A couple of…hours" she realised, looking at her wrist watch.
"You look exhausted" Kara observed, examining Lena's drivelled hair and the bags under her eyes, he blouse unbuttoned and wrinkled. She gave her a once over with her hearing and x-ray vision and determined she hadn't eaten for a while. "J'onn, there's a vending machine down the hall" she said, guiding the woman to a chair while the large man went off to find something.
Lena tried to insist she was fine but the moment she sat down her body slackened from hunger and exhaustion. She hadn't meant to work so late. Once she got started she couldn't let herself get distracted, or worse let herself stop. She dismissed her assistant hours ago so she could work alone, how she preferred it these days. J'onn returned with a pair of sandwiches from the vending machine and a bottle of water, which Lena chugged down without thinking. "I guess I had been overdoing it" she confessed, water dribbling down her chin to her blouse.
"Over doing what?" Kara asked concerned. "Nobody had heard from you all day. What were you doing?"
Lena was hesitant to answer. J'onn tried not to read her mind but he could see the guilt clear in her face. He looked back at the hidden lab, his eyes piercing the wall to glimpse the kryptonite again. "You were experimenting with kryptonite?" he guessed.
Kara's eyes widened as Lena looked up at him sharply. "You know I don't like it when you invade my privacy like that" she growled.
"Lena?" Kara asked, turning the woman to her showing her worry.
Lena looked at Kara and averted her gaze, taking a bite out of the sandwich hungrily. "I was trying to fix it" she said.
"Fix what?"
"My mistake" she explained. "I still remember the formula to make kryptonite, so a made up a batch when I got in. I was looking for a way to naturalise it, maybe destabilise the molecular structure, something we can use on any kryptonite the Blacksmith or Jake has made."
"You were looking for a way to negate its effects?" J'onn asked impressed.
Lena nodded. "I know blue kryptonite has similar neutralising properties when dealing with red K, so I was hoping to modify it to work with green."
"That sounds promising" Kara said optimistically. "But why have you been here all day?"
"Because it doesn't work" she sighed. "Red kryptonite is a flawed version of manufacturing green K, that's why blue works. My data indicates the same results would affect natural green. But the kryptonite my formula creates is different. In a word, flawlessly synthetic. Blue doesn't have the same effect. If anything it makes it more potent. I've been trying to rewrite the molecular code of the formula to alter its effects and did managed to synthesise a blue variant that can counter my green. But then I realised if I can make a variant of blue the Blacksmith could no doubt make variants of green. I went back over the data from all the kryptonite weapons the DEO have confiscated and proved they have distinct minor variants, possibly made by accident. But these changes make it impossible, I'd have to code a specific variant of blue to neutralise that specific variant of green. If I don't know which green it is or how different it works I can't make enough blue to stop it. There's too many variants to consider and not enough time to make the calculations."
Kara stared at her before sheepishly looking up at J'onn. "I didn't get all of that, you started rambling near the end" she said awkwardly.
Lena took a deep breath and explained "my formula allows for changes I can't anticipate. I can make kryptonite in its purest form. But if I wanted to I could alter it on a fundamental level and add properties."
"And unless you know the changes any blue kryptonite you make won't effect it, or make it worse" J'onn finished.
"And I can't make a broad spectrum version that'll work across the bandwidth" she nodded. "And just to add insult to injury, my synthetic kryptonite doesn't emit the same signatures normal kryptonite does so we can't track it."
"But we detected the kryptonite in the Metallo army" Kara said.
"Large enough quantities can get detected" she said. "But if you keep it small enough no satellite or long range scanner will pick them up. Even the Giger-counters would struggle."
Kara sat back looking around the messy office. "That's what you've been doing? Trying to counteract their kryptonite supply? Brainy could've helped…"
"This is my mistake. I need to fix it" she insisted.
"The kryptonite out in the world isn't your fault" J'onn told her.
"I cracked the formula" she said.
"Yes you did. And sooner or later someone equally as intelligent would've done the same" he told her. "The difference is you recognise the dangers of this substance and has since done everything in your power to prevent its release. Jake stole it from you, which does not make this your responsibility."
"I feel responsible" she muttered glumly.
Kara put her arm around her friend squeezing her tight. "I know the feeling. And I'm grateful you are trying to help. But I need you more than I need this to be fixed. Lena, I don't want to see you hurt yourself because of something Jake did. You need to take care of yourself. And you need to realise you're not alone. We're here to help" she said.
Lena's head fell onto Kara's shoulder, a soft exhale escaping from her lips. Kara held her waiting for a reply, a sign she understood. After a minute however she had remained silent. Kara and J'onn looked at her worried until realising she'd actually fallen asleep on Kara's shoulder. "I think she'll feel better in the morning" J'onn chuckled.
Kara agreed. She carried Lena back to her apartment and laid her on the bed, pulling the covers over her. She left the woman to sleep, returning onto patrol with the Martian taking to the air. But even in her dreams Lena continued to fret about the dangers awaiting her best friend.
Maggie Sawyer was pulling on her shirt when she got a knock on the door to her hospital room. She took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for a passionate debate with the doctor or nurse here to convince her not to discharge herself, only to be surprised when she turned around and found Alex Danvers standing in the doorway in her black jacket and pants. The redhead looked at her getting dressed and asked "are the doctors letting you go already?"
"In a manner of speaking" she replied curtly, sitting down to pull her boots on. Alex caught on quickly what was happening and stepped inside. "Here to talk me out of it?" Maggie challenged.
"No" she laughed. "If I was in your shoes I'd probably be doing the same thing. I guess you know why I'm here then" she assumed.
"The maniac who blew me and my officers up is back in town parading his innocence" she nodded with a scowl. She'd watched it on the news. It's all anyone in the hospital could talk about. So there was no way the captain of the NCPD was going to stay in bed when she had a bomber, murderer and terrorist to catch. She picked up her jacket and pulled it on, wincing a little from where she irritated the stitches in her side. Her bruises had otherwise healed. "I hope you're here to wish me luck" she said to the woman in front of her.
"Actually I was hoping to give you a hand" she replied. Maggie hesitated. Order normal circumstances she would've welcomed the assistance from Miss Danvers. But now it was tricky. Alex saw the hesitation and made a deduction. "You've seen the news and the footage they were broadcasting" she guessed. Maggie didn't say it, but she nodded. "I take it you don't want to risk having the ex-director of the DEO hanging around the police department either" Alex sighed.
Maggie let out a deep sigh as she put her hands in her pockets. She had seen the footage. She had recognised Alex almost instantly. And it had put her in a tricky spot regarding optics. But she wasn't not sympathetic. "Look, I get it. There's been no end of times I've wanted to pummel a suspect into the dirt just for getting under my skin" she told her.
Alex leant against the wall. "Wanted to, but never did?" she assumed.
Maggie pursed her lips together. No, she had never laid hands on a suspect. "You're not the first to lose control in this job" she said comfortingly. "If it helps, I had lose my temper once on the job." Alex lifted her eyes inquisitively as Maggie sat on the edge of the bed. "During my beat-cop days, I kept having to deal with this lowlife drug dealer who liked to hassle his neighbours, torment the elderly and such. And I was sure they were grooming the kids to join their gang. I took call after call of disturbance reports, had hundreds of talks with him. We couldn't prove anything against him. So one day I just took him into an alley and kicked him in the balls. I threatened to gut him the next time I heard he caused any trouble. Unfortunately my CO saw this and brought me in."
Alex pictured her mentor J'onn and the look on his face when he found her beating up Jake. "Let me guess. He wasn't mad, just disappointed?"
Maggie smiled sadly. "Makes you wish they were mad doesn't it" she nodded. "I got reprimanded. I deserved it. It took me months but I finally managed to nail that scumbag legitimately. It was the proudest moment of my life."
Alex looked at her sceptically. "You've put away bigger fish than a drug dealer" she pointed out.
"Maybe. But that was the collar that mattered to me. Because that was when I was able to prove to my CO, and to myself, that I deserved to be here. That I can do better. Now every day I feel like I want to tear the throat out of one of our lowlife dirt bags, I think about that bust and remind myself what kind of cop I want to be."
Alex smiled. It was an inspiring story. It helped put her own feelings into perspective. She shook her head muttering "I don't think my situation is going to be that simple."
"Maybe not" she agreed. She stood up and held out her hand. "But the first step will be to put your scumbag away and do it right" she said.
Alex took her hand and shook it. "What about the department?"
"You let me worry about the optics" she said brushing her concern off, picking up the last of her stuff and walking out of the room. "First we're going to stop off at this takeout place I know, because the food here is awful. And on the way I want you to fill me in on everything about you, Jake, your super powered sister, everything. Bring me up to speed" she said. Alex nodded, following along behind her.
On their way out they bumped into another young woman visiting the hospital. The moment Alex locked eyes on Kelly Olsen she froze in her tracks. So did her when she turned around and found her standing there. "Alex. Hi" she stammered in surprise. "What are you…what are you doing here?" she asked clearing her throat.
Alex took a second to respond, the frog in her throat difficult to swallow as she stared at her. "I…was visiting a friend" she muttered glancing at Maggie, suddenly wishing she hadn't as a knot tightened in her gut.
Alex's ex-girlfriend stepped forward and shook hands with her most recent girlfriend. "Maggie Sawyer, nice to meet you" she smiled.
"Kelly Olsen" she replied, shaking her hand politely.
Alex stared at them both, feeling really awkward. "So…what are you doing here?" she asked Kelly.
"Visiting an old patient" she explained. "I'm a psychologist" she told Maggie.
"Police captain" she said. The two of them smiled while Alex grimaced. "So, how do you two know each other?" she asked politely.
The two of them fell silent as they turned red. "It's complicated" she said in unison. Maggie nodded, not as confused as she looked. "I'm sorry we didn't get to talk after the protest rally" Kelly said, looking awkwardly at Alex.
"No, yeah, it was crazy…busy. Crazy busy" she nodded, her thought trailing off as she spun in circles mentally.
Kelly shifted uncomfortably on her heels. "We should catch up sometime" she suggested after a moment.
The redhead nodded. "Yeah, that'd be good" she agreed. They both stood there, awkward silence filling the corridor. "Well, we need to get going" Alex said.
Kelly jumped on a reason to end the uncomfortable conversation. "Yeah, I should go to. It was nice talking to you" she said, hurrying past them.
"You too" Alex said, stepping aside watching her hurry of. She saw the dark skinned woman look back over her shoulder and wave at her, waving awkwardly back.
Maggie stepped up and whispered in Alex's ear "that was uncomfortable. Is she an ex too?"
"No" Alex replied. Then she corrected herself saying "I mean yes. I mean…I don't know" she said, turning around and walking briskly down the corridor wanting to escape this situation.
Maggie followed her silently, glancing back at the attractive young woman Alex was clearly head over heels for. Yeah, it's definitely complicated she agreed.
Due to the sensitive nature of their investigation Brainy made the executive decision to bring all the relevant files and records to a secure location offsite. He didn't want the guilty part, be it a mole or a plant inside the DEO, to catch wind that he was onto them. He had plenty of places he could conduct his covert operation but for the sake of privacy and convenience he brought it back to Nia's apartment.
Nia was more than happy to let her place be turned into a base of operations, clearing the table for his tablet computer and all the folders he took from the base. "Aren't you going to get in trouble for doing this?" she asked him as he organised everything.
"My first duty as the acting-director of the Department of Extra-terrestrial Operations is to safeguard against violations of protocol" he explained. "I have determined that exposing the means of which Jake White was able to plant a hidden camera inside of a top secret government facility supersedes all other priorities."
"I understand that, but bringing confidential files to a civilian apartment? Isn't that against the rules" she asked worriedly.
He remained silent. She was right of course, but the risk of the mole discovering their line of investigation and being tipped off was too great. He had to take the risk. He turned to Nia and gave her a confident smile. "Fear not, I will have this puzzle solved by morning. Nobody need know what transpired here."
She smiled, put at ease by his confidence. She had complete faith in Brainy's ability to find the person working with Jake. She didn't have any concerns about doing the work at her home either. He concern was for Brainy. He'd just got the temporary promotion and she didn't want him risking is career like Alex did. She pulled up another chair and sat down beside him, picking up a pile of folders. When he asked her what she was doing she replied "the work will got much faster if we both work at it."
He cocked her a dubious eyebrow. "I am a twelfth level intellect" he reminded her. "I can easily perform the mental tasks of a hundred average human minds."
"Well, doesn't hurt to have an hundred and one minds on the task then, does it" she replied without missing a beat.
She started working, cross referencing the details of the personal Brainy had already shortlisted, picking out the list of names recorded as being in the building and narrowing it down to those on the right floor at the time the camera was planted, making note of their details looking for anything that might link them to Jake. Brainy looked at her and allowed a small smile before turning his mind to focus on the data in front of him seeking to narrow their shortlist further.
In the Empire Hotel, Jake White sat watching Netflix with his feet up eating a sandwich. It had been a slow afternoon following his run in with Kara and visit to the memorial. He was exhausted and contemplated going to bed early. His plans were interrupted by a knock on the door. He muted the TV show and rose off the sofa to walk to the peephole. He was surprise to see a familiar face waiting outside.
He opened the door and gave them a smile. "I can't say I was expecting you" he chuckled as James Olsen stood outside his door with his hands on his hips.