"CEO of TITAN Industries forced to Step Down! Due to allegations of fraud, theft, industrial espionage and possible domestic terrorism, Maxwell Davies, former CEO, has been suspended from his position pending federal investigations into the company and his activities surrounding the production and debut of his latest venture "The Samaritan". The once beloved innovator and notorious womaniser has yet to comment of what can only be described as a career freefall."
"More like train wreck" Lena gloated celebrating with a drink with the two reporters reviewing their own website. The article had only been posted for an hour and already it was trending across all social media. Lena was tempted to have the headline framed in her office, though she decided that would be too vain even for a Luthor.
Nia read the rest of the article with a powerful sense of pride, though she had misgivings about the by-line. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather take all the credit?" she asked Kara again.
"No way, you deserve just as much credit as I do" she objected.
"But I was asleep in the back seat of the car when you found that evidence" she argued humbly.
"But you started this story" Kara corrected her. "If you hadn't started this there wouldn't be a story."
"You and your source" Lena concurred. Nia blushed, uncomfortable with so much praise. But she could help break into a smile as they read it again. "I'm just glad the board of directors saw sense to fire him."
"I thought he was suspended" Nia asked.
Lena smirked, whispering quietly "unofficially, they've given him the boot on account of said personal activities conducted without their knowledge."
"At least the company will survive" Kara nodded. "I'd hate to see them all suffer because of one man's arrogance." She sighed, sensing a mirroring circumstance to Axis Environmental. This makes two companies dedicated to helping the world tarnished now. "So what will happen to the Samaritan project now?" she asked Lena.
"L-Corp has taken custody of the twelve he had in production, along with everything in their files relating to Lex's suits" she told them. "I intend to have them dismantled at the earliest convenience. That last thing we need is more weapons running around the city."
"Agreed" they replied, sitting back in their seats at the café celebrating their victory. After a few minutes re-reading the article Nia turned to Lena and asked "would it be possible to get one final exclusive from you. A statement to wrap up the article detailing how L-Corp was affected by Maxwell's actions and how you're responding?"
"Of course" Lena agreed, happy to assist the young reporter. "Maybe you both should join me in my penthouse and we can share something stronger than tea" she suggested, turning to Kara. But Kara had become distracted by her mobile, tapping away at the screen humming along pretending she was listening. Lena glanced at Nia who shrugged her shoulders, turning back to the blonde. "And then afterwards we got have a game of strip poker where the winner gets satisfied by the losers" she added, spying Nia's uncomfortable glance out the corner of her eye. But Kara just hummed, her attention still on the mobile. "Hey super hearing!" she yelled snapping her finger by her ear.
Kara's head jerked back in shock as she turned back to them stammering. "What?"
"I was inviting you to the penthouse so Nia here can get an exclusive" Lena explained pointedly. "Unless there's something else you want to share with the group?"
"Oh, um…yeah, that sounds great" Kara nodded, looking at Nia encouragingly. She glanced at her phone and replied "but I'll have to rain check. I've got a…thing."
"You mean a date" she teased, making Kara's cheeks flush red. "Don't act coy, I've seen that faraway look before."
"It's not that" she replied. "Well, we are going out tonight, but…I was hoping Alex could join us."
Nia's eyebrows raised. "Wow, meeting the family already? That's a big step."
"Well, we've been dating for a while I thought it was time" she said. "Besides, since you've met him and James has met him it's only fair my sister should get to meet him too."
"Preferably before she realises she's the last person you introduced her to" Lena added.
"She not the last" Kara objected.
"She wasn't the first."
"True" she sighed, knowing how appalled Alex will be when she finds out. "But yeah, an exclusive follow-up for Cacto, I know James will love it. I wish I could stay, but I have to go…prepare for my date" she said, rising out of her chair. She hugged Lena and then Nia, assuring the younger girl "you did great. This was a big scoop for you. Wish me luck."
"Have fun" Nia said watching her leave.
"Don't do anything we wouldn't do!" Lena called after her as the excited blonde waved back.
Kara was sitting at the small table in their usual hangout when her phone finally buzzed. She'd dressed up for the occasion. Nothing fancy like her first date, instead wearing her Sunday best pulled out of the wardrobe; a blue blouse with dark pants, comfortable heels, her cardigan draped over the back of the chair, her blonde hair recently conditioned and allowed to fall behind her ears as a slim headband adorned her head framing her elegant face and thick glasses. She had been waiting nervously for almost twenty minutes, arriving fashionably early not realising her guests would be fashionably late. She picked up her phone from the table and read the text message, let out a sigh as she put it back down.
"I hope I'm not too late" Jake's voice asked as he nervously walked up to her table, greeting her disappointed expression with a warm smile. He was dressed in his leather biker jacket over a red shirt and black jeans, heavy boots on his feet placing his helmet onto a neighbouring seat. "Parking the motorcycle was a lot more difficult than I thought" he said as an apology, kissing her Kara on the cheek when she stood up to welcome him.
"No, you're right on time" she said, taking her seat and glancing back at her mobile again. "Actually I was hoping my sister would be joining us" she told him.
His face relayed his surprise as he sat on the opposite stool. "Oh. Okay, so… that's a big step" he remarked.
She nodded. "Unfortunately she just texted to say she was working late" she explained, sounding sad about the missed opportunity.
"Did you tell her what tonight was going to be?" he asked. She cocked her head. "That you wanted her here to meet me?"
She went silent as she clenched her jaw. She hadn't mentioned that. If she had Alex would've dropped everything, maybe even brought the rest of the gang over. She let out a chuckle, realising she was hesitant to mention it because she would've made a fuss. "I'm sorry" she said.
He shook his head. "No matter. I guess you're have to deal with me all on your own" he grinned. She grinned back, her smile beaming as they burst into laughter. It was better not worrying about what other people think.
Jake looked around the bar, somewhere he hadn't visited before. Along one side of the wall stood a stage where a karaoke machine stood beside the DJ, members of the crowd coming up to take part. The specials board highlighted tonight was karaoke night. Kara watched his mouth tighten as he hummed. "What?" she asked curiously.
"Hmm" he replied turning back to her. "Oh, nothing" he deflected, turning around looking for the bar staff to get them some drinks.
"No, come on. I'm interested" Kara insisted, flagging down a passing waitress asking for a usual while Jake ordered a cider. "You know this is my favourite night of the week, and my favourite place" she told him.
He looked at the signs again, nodding his head. "I see" he said cryptically.
"What do you see?" she asked.
He chuckled. "It's not…" he said, losing his train of thought deciding to admit "Karaoke and me don't really mix."
"You don't like karaoke?" she asked in bewilderment. He shook his head and she reacted with mock horror. "How can you not enjoy karaoke?"
"Because I can't sing" he laughed. "And neither can half the poor sods who go up on stage" he said.
She scoffed, turning back to the stage to witness a middle aged man butcher living on a prayer live in front of a cringing crowd. Jake held up his hands as if to prove his point, prompting Kara to scoff again. "We're not all terrible" she argued, keeping it light-hearted. He's lucky hating karaoke isn't a deal breaker she thought. "I bet you're…sorry" she said, realise she might be overstepping and catching herself.
He managed to read her guilt and replied "its okay, you can ask."
She looked at him, leaning forward to cross her arms cautiously asking "did your ex-girlfriend sing?"
"Sarah? God no" he laughed. "And she hated karaoke just as much. Didn't stop all of her friends from being fanatical about it though" he added.
"Fanatical?"
"Yeah, we had a club just like this. Karaoke every week, they'd drag us down there and then proceed to sing as many songs as they could in one night. The number of times we had to sit there with fingers in our ears while across the room we heard "WE CAN'T GO ON TOGETHER" at the top of their lungs. It didn't help that they were all tone deaf" he laughed.
Kara laughed along, their drinks arriving mid conversation. They both thanked the waitress and paused to hear the rest of the song. Kara tried not to make comparisons, realising her attitude towards the activity might be considered fanatical too. "Did they ever get you up there?" she asked him.
He grimaced. "Occasionally. I resent them each time for it."
She smirked. "I bet you know every lyric to all the songs" she teased, leaning forward on the table. "I bet I could get you to enjoy a bit of karaoke."
He leaned forward, his face inches away from hers. "It's going to take a lot more alcohol to convince me to go there and embarrass myself like that" he warned.
She took it as a challenge. "We'd better keep the drinks coming then" she said.
The interview wrapped up in time for the sun to finish setting, night falling over the city outside Lena's penthouse apartment. Nia was sitting in her living up sipping the drink Lena had offered finishing up her notes as Lena walked to her laptop and double checked her emails with a scowl. A last minute update from her lawyer meant she needed to return to her office and finalise the storage of the Samaritan units. Other than that the day was officially over. "Thank you again for talking to me" Nia said as she put her notebook back into her bag.
"The pleasure was all mine" she replied, closing her laptop and returning to her drink. She analysed the young woman again as she picked up her stuff. She appeared to be in a hurry to leave. "Care to stay for a night cap?" she asked politely.
"I can't" she replied. "I need to type this up for tomorrow. Then I have to call Brainy. We were supposed to go on a date yesterday, but with everything that happened I forgot to reschedule."
"Does he know why you stood him up?" she asked.
"Oh, I didn't stand him up. I texted him, so…"
"Then you have nothing to worry about. He knows the type of woman he's dating." Nia nodded, forgetting she didn't have anything to prove with Brainy. Lena cocked her head, posing Nia a curious question. "Out of interest, who was it who pointed up in Maxwell's direction?"
Nia kept her cool as she flashed Lena a coy smirk. "You know I can't reveal my sources."
"Not even to me?" she asked, flashing a big flashy eyelashes at her. Nia remained silent and stoic in her principles. "Kara's right. You're becoming quite the reporter" she smiled proudly.
"I hope so" Nia muttered, putting her glass on the table beside some files leftover from their investigation. Nia found herself glancing at them reading minutes from a dozen meetings. "Are these from TITAN Industries?"
Lena walked over and examined them, scowling before gathering they back up. "Yes. I'm glad that man is facing the consequences of his actions" she said bringing them to her desk with the rest of the paperwork she needed to organise. Her eyes fell on the bedroom, the site of their tryst that gave him access to her company's files. She made sure her private security was updated and impenetrable since then, even vowing to choose her lovers more carefully. She composed herself and spun back to her guest. "I should thank you again for your help exposing him."
Nia brushed a strand of hair behind her ear as she blushed again. "It was nothing. I'm glad we could've helped. I'm also glad you didn't punish the company for what Maxwell did too" she added supportively. "I know you must've been tempted to take it out on them."
Lena sighed shamefully. "It's the sort of thing my family would've done in a heartbeat" she confessed. "And I am my mother's daughter so I was tempted. But you and Kara were right, it wouldn't have been fair. I hate how that man exploited me, used me like one of his conquests, but TITAN needn't suffer for that when his head will do. The board have been calling be all afternoon to offer their apologies" she told her, laughing at the hypocrisy. "Makes you wonder" she mused. "This morning they were praising his achievements and his endeavours, and with one setback they hang him out to dry. Christ, he chairmen even told how they were toasting to him just last night."
Lena's face suddenly fell as a thought dawned on her, driving her back to the paperwork she'd just put away. Nia saw the shift and raced over to join her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just…" Lena stammered. The wheels in her mind were turning, racing even. It hadn't registered until now, all the pieces of information she'd dismissed. She found the paper detailing the minutes of one of TITAN Industries business meetings and she growled in frustration. "I can't believe I missed that" she hissed.
"Missed what?" Nia asked, taking Lena's arm pulling her out of her own head. "What's wrong?"
Lena turned to her, pulling out her phone bringing up social media. "Something the chairmen said that I overlooked" she said, finding the mayors social feed showing it to Nia. "Look through there" she said after finding the posts from last night. "The mayor was holding a social gathering in honour of Maxwell and his Samaritan" she explained. "I declined the invitation so it slipped my mind while we were investigating his holdings. He was the guest of honour."
Nia scrolled through the photos detailing Maxwell's fame and pride as he shook hands with a who's who of National City. She looked at the timestamps of the photos. "These were taken the same night? This one's five minutes before we got to the factory!"
"We were only there half an hour" Lena seethed. "Meanwhile Maxwell was across town at a party with the mayor, district attorney and a hundred witnesses and photographers. I checked, the times match with our encounter with the man in the suit" she added just as Nia found the next photo ten minutes later, the exact same time Kara and Lena fought with the man calling himself the Reckoning.
She shook her head. "No, this can't be right" she said, refusing to believe the evidence. "We know it was him."
"Not that night" Lena said, handing her the paper. Nor the night he first appeared at Axis Environmental. I remember Kara mentioning it to me. According to this, Maxwell was present at a business meeting while the heist was happening."
Nia snatched the paper, reading the typeface detailing how he was arguing for a client the same day at the same time Dreamer was ambushed by the stranger. Again she shook her head. "What about the time he fought Hank Henshaw?" She asked. "Or when he attacked Supergirl at the power plant and tried to kill her?"
"Maxwell was in his Samaritan suit during the Metallo attack" Lena reminded her, cursing herself for not seeing the timeline before. "And as for the assault on Supergirl…damn it! I know for a fact he was nowhere near her that night."
"How?"
"Because that was the night he was with me" she growled. "Supergirl fought him close to midnight. I happen to know we were both very much awake and active until 3am the next morning. I'm his alibi."
Nia kept shaking her head. She couldn't fathom what she was learning. It was all there in black and white how wrong she'd been. "No, it has to be him" she muttered, his chest tightening as the vision that set her on this path laughed back at her. How could she have been so wrong? "It has to be! It's him! He's the…he the…"
She collapsed to her knees feeling queasy, the image of Maxwell in her dream sneering back at her in her mind. She thought she'd uncovered the identity of the man in armour, but it looked like she'd made a huge mistake instead.