"I've pulled public stunts before, but that one had way too much heat. I needed breathing room and your friend was the only one who could provide it. The emergency contingency. I won't apologise for setting him up Supergirl, not when we're so close to finishing this."

Eliza looked up at Kara in amazement, the recording device sitting on the table between them in the older woman's rented cabin on the outskirts of the city. Kara switched the recording off and looked up at her adopted mother. "Well, what do you think?" she asked her nervously.

Eliza was gobsmacked. "You got him to confess" she said stunned. "How?"

She shrugged. "I got lucky. He didn't expect me to. I just got him talking."

The older woman looked down at the tape recorder. It had a full confession of Jake framing Olsen. "Have you shown this to Alex?"

"Not yet" she replied.

"You should" she encouraged her. "She'll know what to do with it. You should give it to Mr Olsen too. His defence attorney can use it to get him out. The police can question Jake."

"I know all that" Kara said hesitantly, rising to her feet to pace around the living room. "But there's a problem. If I make it public, if I use it to save James, it could make things worse. The confession has him talking to me as Supergirl. He drops Nia's names as well as James. It'll expose us as well as himself."

Eliza sighed, seeing the dilemma. And that's not taking into account the fact if Jake is brought into custody, there wouldn't be anything stopping him from exposing all of them for what they are or had done. "All the more reason to show this to your sister" she decided. "Together you'll think of something." Kara nodded, already planning on it. Eliza looked up at her adopted daughter, curiously asking "I'm surprised you haven't already. Instead you came to see me? I don't know what I can offer."

Kara's nerves reached a new pitch as she turned back to the older woman. She hadn't come here to discuss her options. "There was something else he said on the tape" she explained, hesitantly reaching down to pick up the tape and fast forwarding to the end of the conversation.

Eliza listened, and then stiffened as she heard the young man's voice. "I owe your family for the hit they already put on me. Assuming your dear Eliza mentioned the assassin she hired to murder Me." the woman suddenly turned pale, rising in her seat to walk up to the window overlooking the city skyline.

Kara put the tape away, watching the woman intently, her body language already asking her next question. "Is it true?"

Eliza felt the shame rise in her gut as she reluctantly explained herself. "J'onn told me how dangerous he was. I saw the pain he was causing. He wasn't even in the country and yet he had both of you terrified. I couldn't allow him to hurt you. I may not be your mother but you are my daughter! I found a man, someone I knew about back when Jerimiah worked for Henshaw. He was supposed to be the best. It was meant to be quiet, clean. But when I got the call to confirm the hit, it was that voice who answered. The next day Alex was arresting him at the airport. It was then I understood the mistake I made, and how badly I underestimated him."

Kara couldn't believe what she was hearing. She could never have imagined Eliza to be the kind of person to hire a hitman. She fell onto the armrest stunned, trying to wrap her head around it. "Did Alex know?" she asked suddenly.

Eliza shook her head. "Not until after I told her. After she was suspended."

Kara's eyes shot up to her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We didn't want to burden you" she explained. "I told Alex not to tell you. This was my mistake to bear. I brought him back. Everything he's done is my fault."

Kara didn't want to accept that. Yet a part of her wanted to blame her so she didn't have to blame herself. She clutched the armrest as her heart began to race. She realised if she used the recording now, it wouldn't just expose their identities, it would reveal Eliza had committed a crime. And she knew Jake would jump at the chance to use it against them.

Eliza read her mind and rushed over to kneel before Kara. "Listen to me. I won't apologise for trying to protect you. If I have to pay for that, I will, if it means that bastard goes down." she took Kara's hands, capturing her gaze telling her "find your sister. Show her the recording. Use it to same Olsen. Put that man behind bars! Whatever happens next will be worth it, because you'll be safe. Do you understand?"

Kara stared at her, too overwhelmed to think. She overheard a commotion a few states away, a perfect excuse to take her leave. "I need to think about it" she said, walking out of the cabin silently. At the door she paused to glance back at the woman, trying not to see her as a liar or a monster. She was her mother, despite everything. "I understand why you did it" she said quietly before leaving the cabin and leaping into the air.

Eliza closed the door behind her daughter, privately dissolving into shame at the choices she made. But she also resolved herself to accept the consequences going forward.

With the hunt for the Reckoning officially at an end, the DEO were forced to remove the security detail watching Jake's movements. Which gave him free reign to go about his business in peace. It was exactly what he hoped for, though he suspected there was at least one person still spying on him. He kept an eye over his shoulder for either a red and blue blur or any suspicious figures. He wouldn't have put it past that shape-shifting Martian to keep tabs on him.

When he felt confident nobody was on his tail he slipped down into the workshop below ground. It felt empty without the Blacksmith there tinkering. Most of the stock that was once down here was gone, completing the order for the Peacemaker before he was arrested by the FBI. There were enough materials down here for him to mess with though, including the red Sun Belt on the desk. He fiddled with the harness and made sure the fusion device was stable. The pieces they stole from the power plant to send to the buyer helped very much. What they wanted with a fusion reactor he didn't want to speculate, nor did he care. All that mattered was it helped improve his belt and the range of the radiation. Harmless to all living things, and perfect for depowering Kryptonians.

He finished his attachment to the device, hooking the wireless transceiver to his glove. Small enough to remain obscured and not prohibit his range of motion. And with a simple flick of his thumb, the belt came to life casting a deep red glow over the workshop. Jake stared down into it, the light bathing his face like blood. "It'll all be over soon" he whispered to himself, the last man standing as the silence washed over him.

That is until something broke the silence, snapping Jake's head around to look over his shoulder. He turned around, scanning the dark workshop as shadows danced in the red light. "Hello?" he called softly. He didn't think he had missed someone following him, but he couldn't be sure. He slowly reached to a desk, hooking his arm into one of the gauntlets of the second Reckoning suit he had made to replace the first, the one he planted in Olsen's garage. He checked it was functioning before creeping slowly towards where he thought he heard something. He stepped around the shelves, his eyes darting around the shadows listening intently. His right wrist tensed, the blade in his arm ready to spring out.

He reached the power cables on a pillar and grabbed the switch with his left hand, pushing it up bringing the lights on. The workshop lit up revealing the empty space in front of him. He scanned the room until he was satisfied nobody was there. He assumed he was hearing things until he turned around and jumped in surprise as a large broad shouldered black man sat in a chair watching him. "You seem a little jumpy boy" the man said calmly.

Jake instinctively brought his gauntlet up aiming it at the intruder until he saw who it was. He lowered it releasing growl of irritation. "DuBois? What the hell are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you'd have left town by now."

"Not until we had a talk, you and I" Robert DuBois noted, leaning back in his seat fixing his cold gaze on the young man.

Jake rolled his eyes. Last he heard of Bloodsport he was somewhere in the water after getting thrown off Christopher Smith's cargo ship. "I trust the swim didn't bother you too much" he said, turning around the recompose himself while gathering some materials he needed to take with him. "There's no reason to stick around. Our business in concluded. And if things go to plan, things are going to get really hot and really chaotic in this city."

"Speaking of plans" Robert interrupted, "I don't appreciate having the people I was hired to protect getting murdered before I finish the mission."

Jake froze, silently cursing under his breath. "You did your best. I'm sorry it went down the way it did."

"Forgive me if I don't believe that bullshit" he snapped glaring at him. "If you wanted the man dead as a last resort, you could've just asked. I'm familiar with the concept."

"Killing Henry was never the plan!" Jake snapped.

Robert sneered. "It was him or you, right? Better tie up the loose end before he sinks the ship?"

"If I didn't someone else would've" he explained, whirling on him. "You know the clients he had…"

"I do" he nodded, understanding the principle of the action. "But I could've gotten him out."

"You had your chance and you blew it" Jake scoffed.

Robert rose out of the chair and stormed up to him, his stern gaze looking down at him. "If the mission was compromised by anything, it was the knot tying my hands behind my back" he growled. When Jake looked at him confused he reminded him "condition one upon taking the job…do you remember? If I had taken the kryptonian down when I had her at the barrel of my gun, your mentor would still be alive."

Jake didn't say anything, turning away from him. He figured that argument would arise. He wasn't the first to voice that complaint. All these weapons to kill Supergirl and he sets the rule nobody kills her but him. The Children of Liberty found it distasteful. Hank Henshaw outright ignored it. He figured Bloodsport was professional enough to carry out the mission despite it. "What's done is done" he said regrettably. "We can't change it. You've been paid, so this shouldn't concern you."

Robert had been paid, in advance, but this wasn't about the money. It was about the principle. "It doesn't look good in my line of work when the client kills the asset I was hired to protect. Call it a matter of pride."

Jake flashed him a look over his shoulder. "So what? You here to seek compensation? A petty vendetta?"

Robert considered it, adjusting the cap on his head to examine the young man analytically. "No. this was just a curtesy call. I'll be leaving the city soon" he told him.

"Good" Jake nodded, turning back to the workbench.

"But first I have another job to finish" he added, holding up the item he had come to the workshop to collect.

Jake turned around and saw the man holding a lead box with glowing green bullets, mounded for a rifle. His chest tightened as he caught DuBois's eyes staring at him. "You know the agreement. She's off limits."

"I remember" he snarled, pocketing the cartridge in his leather jacket standing before the young man who suddenly tensed up. "But here's the thing, I'm not buying the why. Why not let me kill her?"

"Because I already have my own plans for her" he explained.

Robert laughed. "Try again boy" he interrupted. "The old man already told me why. Or at least why he thinks you changed your mind. You were all for killing her at the beginning. But then you started getting soft. How many chances have you given her? If you want her dead, why not just kill her?"

"That's my concern, not yours" Jake snapped, storming up to him glaring at him threateningly. "She wasn't a part of the contract, so leave her to me!"

Robert refused to back down, his hands resting at his sides watching the boy who once came to him to be trained intently. "I may not be contracted, but I do know your little girlfriend has at least three bounties on her head. Enough for me to retire should I chose to collect. So here's a proposal…you stay out of this and let me carry out the revenge you claim to seek. I get paid, you get your vengeance, and everybody wins."

Jake stared at him intently, his right hand clenching into a fist priming the gauntlet on his arm. "I won't let you harm her. Not until I'm done" he snarled.

Robert leaned him, his eyes cold and calculating. "I am not waiting boy. It's a matter of professional pride. She cost me a contract. Her time is up." He stepped back, turning his back on his one time student.

Jake waited until his back was turned before making his decision. He didn't want to, but he would. With a flick of his wrist the blade in his gauntlet sprung out and he thrust it up to the man's midsection. DuBois suddenly twisted and caught his wrist with his hand, spinning around to grab him with his other hand only for Jake to catch it. The two men locked eyes and accepted the challenge.

The two highly trained mercenaries duked it out across the workshop, fists flying colliding with elbows and faces as they grabbled and twisted around each other. DuBois noted he had trained Jake well as the young man matched him blow for blow and followed up with a series of combos of his own. But he was bigger and stronger, and lightning fast as he dodged his attempts to end this fight quickly. Jake stabbed and slashed with his gauntlet, cutting DuBois across the thigh at one point in effort to disable him. But he fell for a feint by his opponent which led to him thrusting forward, the blade stabbing into the shelving unit behind him. DuBois brought his elbow down on his wrist, the metal snapping removing the blade from the equation. This left the men fighting hand to hand, blows hitting their midsections and shoulders when they couldn't reach their heads. DuBois got Jake into a grapple that had his hands around his throat, the bigger man head-butting him to try and stun him. Jake took the hit and managed to keep his bearings. Unable to drag the man to the ground he lifted his feet up and thrusted out at his chest, leaping out of the grapple knocking the mercenary backwards into a desk. Jake landed on his back, calling on a move he was taught by a gymnast to coil his momentum and spring back up onto his feet. DuBois was ready for him however, backhanding him the moment his body was upright sending him spiralling across the ground.

Jake had a few seconds to catch his breath while DuBois circled behind him. He climbed up over a case Henry had stashed under a work table and reached into a drawer. He found a cylinder and brought it around, the baton springing out humming with electricity. He stood up and swung it at the jab DuBois tried to surprise him with, the current shocking him knocking him back. The man drew his combat knife in his other hand, adjusting the grip as he fixed his predatory gaze on the boy. Jake twirled the baton in his hand, circling his opponent slowly, their footsteps mirroring waiting to strike. It felt like their sparing practice, their thoughts silent trained only on the next move.

The next move came when Jake jabbed at DuBois with his shock stick. He knew the smart play was to wait and react, because that's how DuBois trained him. Which meant they could be circling for all eternity, and DuBois had all the time in the world. Jake needed this fight to end. He jab, waiting for DuBois to slap it away so he could react accordingly. But DuBois stepped forward instead, slipping under his jab cutting at his stomach with the knife. Jake felt the cut as he leapt back, retreating and cursing. DuBois followed him, slashing at his wrist next. Jake swatted it, keeping him back and impulsively rushing him. They got locked into another grabble which had DuBois bringing his knife down towards Jake's throat. He blocked it with his arm, the blade cutting deep into his flesh making his grit his teeth. That left his other hand free, however, to twirl the baton to a reverse hold and slam the pointed end into the man's stomach. DuBois hissed as electricity buzzed through his muscles, letting go of the knife reflexively. He lashed out, knocking the baton out of Jake's hand. He retreated back, stepping around a table pulling the knife out of his arm before leaping onto it to dive at the stunned mercenary. He collided with him driving his broad shoulders down to the ground.

Now on top of the man he brought the knife down to his neck, but DuBois caught his wrist and wrestled him for the knife. Jake pummelled his head as the man grappled with him, rolling along the floor fighting for the blade. He hit Jake with a knee to the side which made his grip loosen enough to slam the wrist against the wall and send it clattering away. He didn't lunge for it, keeping his focus on Jake, who in turn remained focused on him as he wrapped his thighs around his skull and twisted them to the floor. DuBois used his momentum to throw him into a stack of shelves instead, materials and objects tumbling to the floor rattling noisily. A swift elbow and a palm to the chin dislodged the persistent boy and knocked him against a table. Jake tried to retaliate with a haymaker but DuBois ducked under it and grabbed his jacket flinging him over the table sending him crashing over the side and into another shelf. The stack toppled on top of him raining heavy materials on top of him, ending the fight with an ear-splitting clatter.

DuBois exhaled slowly as he walked around the table, nursing his jaw tasting blood leading to him spitting out a chip from a tooth onto the floor. He retrieved his cap and knife as Jake groaned under the shelves, pushing it off him with a painful wince. DuBois stepped around the mess watching him as he clutched his dislocated shoulder, wincing in pain as he tried to drag himself to his feet. "I'll give you credit, I trained you well White" he remarked as he brushed himself off, making sure he had everything he came for before walking to the door.

"I won't let you kill her" Jake warned, wincing in pain as he pushed up against a cabinet.

"You're welcome to try and stop me" DuBois laughed. "But it'll take more than grit. So unless you're willing to put on your suit, which might give away your patsy is innocent, you're better off waiting down here. I'll let you know when the job is done. Call it a professional curtesy."

Bloodsport walked out of the workshop confidently, leaving Jake on the floor to relocate his shoulder and scream in fury and frustration realising he had very little options on how to stop him from killing Supergirl himself.