Chapter 149: Opportunities

Part of the treatment for Kara, one that they were now implementing for Astra as well, were daily sessions of heavy yellow solar irradiation. The idea is that the more radiation the two women were able to convert into energy, the more energy they would have in healing from their respective afflictions. They had to be careful with the amount of radiation they allowed the Kryptonians to absorb during a session; Barry wasn't foolish enough to believe that there no limit to the amount of sunlight his sister and her aunt could process. Everyone's body had limits, and he wasn't going to be responsible for accidentally poisoning either of them.

He was observing the first of these treatments for Astra when he got a call from his regular cell phone. Frowning, he looked at the Caller ID and immediately accepted it when he saw it was Iris. "Iris, did something happen?" Barry asked. He had instructed her to keep her contact with him to a minimum while he was at A.R.G.U.S. With Reign on the loose, he could be called to action at any time and didn't want to be distracted just in case.

"They finished solving Ralph's case this morning."

Barry's frown deepened. "You don't sound happy about that," he noted.

Iris sighed. "Are you near a computer? Do you think you can pull up the report?"

"Sure." He went to one of the nearby terminals and quickly entered his credentials, before navigating to their backdoor into the CCPD's database. It didn't take him long to find the case files on Ralph's murder. "Let's see… a mugging gone wrong, at the hands of a local serial mugger named Joe Chill. Murder weapon found at the crime, with Ralph's DNA, and a meta-dampener, explaining how he was able to bypass Ralph's powers. Seems rather open and shut."

"Yeah. At a glance. But look at a picture of the perp."

Barry did just that, accessing the pre-existing profile of one Joe Chill. Upon seeing the man's visage, a skinny, raggedy young male with not a lot of muscle on his body, he could now see why Iris was so full of doubt. "I find it hard to believe that a guy like this was able to get the jump on Ralph so easily. I mean, it's possible he got lucky, but…" Ralph had been an experienced cop and a trained fighter. He wasn't an assassin, but he knew how to fight. There's no way he would've been taken down by a guy like this, even by surprise, and especially not without leaving behind some heavy bruising himself. And there was something else in the report as well… "He was found dead? Isn't that suspicious in itself?"

"It is. Not to mention the meta-dampener — they're still trying to figure out how he got it. They're thinking a black market sale, which makes sense, but…"

"There's no way this guy was rolling in enough dough to buy one of those. If he was, he wouldn't have tried to mug Ralph at all." Meta-dampeners were expensive. Barry would know, he had been one of those who made the original designs and improved it before selling it to QC and other reputable businesses for mass production.

He could practically feel Iris shake her head. "No. Not to mention the case Ralph was working on — they didn't even try to work that angle, see where it led. I'm not seeing things, right Barry? Something's not adding up."

Barry sighed. "Yeah, you're right Iris. Something's off about all this. The assassin in me is already calling this a frame-up job, and if that's the case…"

"Exactly." Iris paused for a moment. "Barry, I'm going to go to Singh and request the evidence logged for Ralph's murder. If I manage to reach the same conclusion as the report, fine, but something tells me I won't. Ralph was my partner. He might've made a big mistake, but that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve justice for his own murder."

"Agreed." Ralph had been his friend too, after all. "You know you can call me in if you need any help, right?"

"I do. I'll keep you updated on what I find. And if it starts getting dangerous, I'll tell you. I'm not going to make the same mistake Ralph did and keep it all to myself."

"Good."

A few days later…

"Ba…rry…?"

Barry nearly dropped the clipboard he had been holding. Startled, he turned to the bed, where he saw the still somewhat-insensate Kara Zor-El slowly and wearily opening her eyes. "Kara?"

"What's…goin' on? Where am…I?"

"You're in the medical ward of the A.R.G.U.S. Base in Star City, Kara," the speedster answered, setting the clipboard aside to go to his sister. "Remember? You got scratched by Purity and were infected with the plague."

Kara blinked. "Right…" She started coughing violently.

Her brother reached over and quickly drew a cup of water from the pitcher sitting on Kara's bedside. He helped his sister sit up a bit so she could drink the water slowly and properly. "Rest, Kara," Barry told her once she was done, laying her back down into her medical cot. "The more you rest, the faster you'll heal."

She didn't protest. She just closed her eyes, and went back to sleep.

The rest of the day and into the night saw Kara wake up periodically from her sleep. At first she couldn't stay awake for longer than a minute or so before falling back to sleep, but gradually her periods of wakefulness began to increase in both frequency and length. Despite that, her body was still constantly wracked with coughs from her illness, so it was clear that while she was better, she was still a long way from full health.

As the sun began to set and bled into the night, Kara woke up and had her longest period of consciousness yet. She had several cups of water for her dried throat and had even managed to eat a small bit of hospital food. It wouldn't be long before she would start returning to the gargantuan portions she usually ate.

"How were things while I was out?" she asked Barry, who had opted to share his dinner with her rather than in the mess hall.

Barry winced, and hesitated to answer. Kara sighed. "That bad, huh?"

"A lot happened while you were out," he finally admitted. "We'll discuss it when you get better."

The unhappy scowl the Kryptonian shot him made it clear his sister wasn't happy with that answer. "Fine," she finally said. No matter unhappy she was, Barry's word was law when they were under his medical care. She knew better than to argue.

Before the conversation could continue, however, a massive alarm sounded out throughout the base. A piercing ring, accompanied by flashing red lights filtered throughout the hall. "What's going on?" Kara demanded, as loudly as her weaken, unused voice would allow her.

"The intruder alarms!" Barry answered as much he could over the rising din, watching as countless agents ran through the halls. "I'll see what's going on—" He suddenly stopped.

"Barry?" Kara asked.

Barry turned to her, face grim. "Someone turned on the meta-dampeners. I can't access my powers!"

As if that were some kind of signal, a massive explosion sounded off in the hall. Barry popped his out of the door to see what it was, and saw to his horror that a hole had been blown into the ceiling. As the debris fell and the smoke cleared, a rope was dropped through the new opening. Several men in black tactical gear, carrying rifles slid down and began to take a formation. Barry bit down a curse as he popped his head out of the hall and shut the door to Kara's room closed, careful to do so as quietly as possible.

"Barry?" Kara asked weakly, as her brother moved to the keypad next to the door. He punched in a few codes, and suddenly all the windows were covered in metal coverings, and the door was shuttered with several steel bars.

"I'm locking the medical ward down," he told her, taking off the doctor's coat he had been wearing and throwing it onto his chair, before drawing out one of his knives. Barry picked up the remote next to Kara's bedside and popped in a few more codes, and suddenly the television mounted on the wall parted open, revealing a hidden computer terminal. "Now let's see what's going on."

"You're going to hack into the security cameras?"

Barry nodded. "Those that are still functional, at least."

He headed to the terminal and quickly put in his credentials, before accessing the camera network. As expected, the ones in the medical ward were down, as were those in the armory, the front office area, and the mess hall. Barry flickered through the rest of the feeds, before stilling when he finally saw a face he recognized.

"Joe Wilson?" He had seen a photo of his adoptive father's biological son several times, including when Joe had been apprehended in Kasnia by Kara a few years ago. "What's he doing here? How did he even get out of prison?"

Behind him, Kara blinked. "Wait a minute—Joe Wilson's here?"

"And apparently leading the mercenaries assaulting the base," Barry added, frowning at the feed of the other man. "But why come here?"

"…Barry. Is Amanda Waller currently at this base?"

"…Shit."

Elsewhere…

"I'm going to ask for the evidence logged for Ralph's case."

It took Eddie all of his self-control not to spit out his coffee. Next to him, Patty blinked in surprise. "Iris? Are you sure?"

Iris held up a hand. "Look, I know what you're going to say. I'm still grieving, I'm feeling guilty, the whole shebang. But listen — something about Ralph's case is nagging at me, and I can't just let it go until I investigate it myself. If I get the same results, fine, all I did was just waste my time, but if I don't…"

She let her words hang, but the implication was clear. If her investigation contrasted from the original conclusions, and it was proven her deductions were correct, then heads were going to roll. Not least of which was because that meant Ralph's killer still had to be out there somewhere. An idea that none of them could countenance.

(Well, almost none of them.)

Joe pursed her lips. Iris turned to him, nervous. "Dad?"

"I'm not gonna lie, honey — I think something's off about all this too," the oldest detective admitted, and Iris's shoulders sagged in relief upon hearing that. "But something else is telling me this isn't going to be easy. If you really feel you need to investigate this yourself, I'll support you, but you need to keep us all in the loop in case you do stumble upon something. The last thing we need is to lose you too."

Patty nodded. "Joe's right, Iris. I'm your partner now. I stick with you."

Eddie smiled. Nobody noticed how pensive or shaky it was. "I'm still not sure about this, but you know I've always got your back, Iris."

Iris smiled. "Thanks, guys."

Amanda Waller snarled as she continued to bark out orders to the various agents with her in the command center. "Somebody get the cameras back online! And have we managed to get in contact with any of our other bases? What of the Justice League?"

"No, ma'am! The intruders have a signal jammer, we can't get to anyone!"

Figures. "Put the base on lockdown! Nobody gets out!"

Before someone could respond to the order, the door to the main command center was suddenly blasted open. Immediately, the darkly-colored intruders swarmed in and began gunning down the agents. Some tried to draw their own weapons and fire back, while others ducked for cover and tried to escape. A massive fire fight broke out as the sounds of gunshots reverberated in Amanda's ears.

The Director of A.R.G.U.S. herself was taking something of a hybrid approach, taking cover behind her command chair while drawing her gun and trying to shoot down the men invading her sanctuary. She managed to kill a few, but was beginning to run out of bullets when the true leader of the attack made his appearance.

"Oh, Amanda!" Joe Wilson practically sang as he barged into the room and began gunning down agents. "We need to have a little talk!"

Amanda didn't even allow herself to be surprised at the younger Wilson's appearance. She fired the rest of her bullets and then knocked down a nearby mercenary, stabbing him in the neck with one of her heels as she stole his rifle. She used it to deliver cover fire as she opened up the secret passageway behind her command chair, before fleeing through it. Unfortunately she didn't have time to close it, allowing Joe to follow her.

The sounds of the fight faded away the further and further they ran down the corridor. Soon, all they could hear were the sounds of their footsteps—and their voices. "You know, I've always wanted to know something, Amanda!" Joe yelled across the hallway. "How can you live with yourself, knowing the countless innocent lives you constantly destroy with your actions? I guess you can do just about anything in the name of the greater good."

Amanda responded by turning around and delivering another spray of bullets. Joe pressed himself against the wall, moving expertly to dodge the assault.

"But your biggest mistake was ruining my life," Joe continued, drawing his own rifle and shooting true. Amanda reached a corner and hid behind it, delivering some return fire. "If it hadn't been for that, you wouldn't be here right now."

Despite herself, Amanda couldn't help but give a bitter laugh. "Ruin your life, Wilson?" She shook her head. "I'll admit you're not wrong, but I didn't ruin your life. You ruined your own life when you refused to accept your father's sacrifice. When you chose to become a mercenary and a terrorist, all in the name of revenge."

"Shut up, you bitch!" The young mercenary screamed. "Don't you dare try to deflect the blame!"

"I'm not deflecting anything! I took away your father from you, I won't deny that, but you made your own choices in regards to your own life, Joseph." Amanda began breathing heavily; the confrontation was beginning to take its toll on her. "I am not so arrogant to ignore my own crimes, and I own up to them. But I am not going to take the blame for yours."

There wasn't any response. Amanda narrowed her eyes.

And fell unto her back as Joe charged her, trying to cut her down with his katana. The director rolled with the fall, getting back to her feet and leveling a new volley of bullets, one that forced Joe to backtrack — only for the volley to end with the depletion of ammo. Amanda clicked the trigger a few times, cursing, before lifting the rifle to block the blows from Joe.

She struggled to deflect the swipes and slices, until eventually it all became too much. The rifle flung away from her hands, her grip loosened. Before Amanda could even react, Joe was tugging her arm forward.

The katana was stabbed right through her stomach. Amanda, to her credit, didn't make a sound at the pain, but tears began to gather in her eyes, and blood flooded her mouth. Joe smiled, and slowly slid her body off the blade.

And barely dodged the knife thrown at his head in the process. The Australian scowled at the new cut on his cheek, while the weapon buried itself in one of the walls. He turned around to see his new agressor, his eyes narrowed.

Barry Allen was twirling one of the knives in his hand, the other gripped tightly by his side. He returned Joe's glare with one of his own. "Barry Allen," Joe mused, turning his back to Amanda's corpse. "One of my dear old father's charity cases."

"You killed my boss," Barry responded neutrally.

Joe smirked. "I take it you're mad about that?"

The speedster shrugged. "Actually, I hated her. All of our family did." Joe scowled at that. "But you know, she was still my boss, and the director of a major American intelligence agency. I just can't let her murderer go."

"Besides," and here Barry stepped forward, preparing himself battle. "Something tells me you're not gonna stop with her, Joe Wilson."

Instead of answering, Joe simply tilted his head, his smirk turning into a full-blown grin. He drew his own bladed weapon into a stance, and charged. Barry met him halfway, and sparks flew as they clashed.

Meanwhile, back in Star City…

"Your own mall, Ollie?" Tommy asked in awe as he stepped through the entrance to his best friend's secret base. "Seriously?"

Oliver shrugged, smiling. "What can I say? It's the perfect place to hide it." He turned on the lights, and spread his arms outward. "Welcome to the Foundry, Tommy."

The other man glanced around area appreciatively. He had to admit, Oliver, Laurel, and Kara had a nice setup here. A massive computer apparatus, a designated sparring area, several vestibules for their suits (and spare suits for Barry, whenever he was in town) and a weapons rack that would make the most elite assassin salivate. They really were prepared for just about anything.

"Barry regularly keeps our gear and equipment updated with the latest advancements," the archer explained as he gave his best friend a tour of the base. "That includes any new improvements he thinks up himself. We also a do regular sweep for bugs."

Tommy blinked, and glanced at his (secret) half-brother in confusion. "Isn't this place supposed to be secure?"

"It is, but we don't really trust our boss to respect our privacy."

"Huh."

The tour continued for a few more minutes, and then Oliver had Tommy sit at their computer terminal. "We're going to do retinal and voice scan, and give you your own personal code," Oliver explained. "That way, you'll be able to bypass the security here and access the Foundry at any time. Even use some of its functions. It'll be a good place to hide in case you're in any major danger."

"You really trust me that much?" Tommy asked, a hidden gleam in his eye.

Oliver shrugged, smiling. He gave a friendly clap to Tommy's shoulder. "You're my best friend. Why wouldn't I?"

Oh, Oliver. If only you knew.

And sorry Eddie, but it's not over yet. You're not getting off that easily. Now just how are you going to weasel yourself out of this? (Chuckles)

As for the major development of this arc — yup, Amanda's dead. I always planned to kill her off here in order to up the stakes and make it clear that no one except the main cast (Oliver, Barry, Kara, Kal, Laurel, Iris, and Nyssa) is truly safe. And I always planned on having Joe to be the one to do it — I figured I needed to tie up that little plot thread, plus it helps kickstart Slade's part in this arc. As for what happens next — well, you'll see.

As always, feel free to make comments, flames will be ignored and deleted, and don't forget to update the TV Tropes page!