The Samaritan's retreat was so abrupt nobody at the DEO could comprehend they had left until everything fell silent. The EMP detonated in the fallen battle suit disabled ninety percent of the facility and compromised the building's power grid, knocking out every camera, light bulb and computer in the base. Most of the weapons the agents were using shorted out, anything with a microchip was fried and every lab went dark. The only piece of technology still functional was the suits, which immediately stopped firing and left the way they came in. Dreamer watched in confused shock as the four red and blue machines walked back to the broken window and flew out into the city to disappear. Moments later she collapsed from exhaustion, the strain on her powers fighting all of them finally making her pass out. Brainy caught her before she hit her head, holding her in his arms as he looked up at the chaos left in their wake.
A few floors below Kara crawled out of the server room, blood leaking between her fingers where she was pressing them to her side dripping onto the floor or her thigh. She stumbled forward leaning against the wall following the corridor, her eyes scanning the floor until they found the team of operatives sent to back her up. Three of them were on the floor dead. Two were wounded slumped nearby. The last couple standing searched the area with their rifles raised, finding her injured and rushing to her side. When she asked what happened, they told her the Reckoning attacked them after the lights went out, only injuring or killing who he needed to get past them. She followed the hall to the end and found the open elevator shaft, the lift dropping into the darkness. She knew he was gone because she could see all the way to the bottom with her powers, which were back. But even so, the kryptonite still in her system left her in no condition to chase him. She collapsed to her knees in agony, resigning to defeat and giving in to the pain until she fell unconscious.
She woke up a few hours later in a medical bed upstairs, her heavy eyelids opening to find Lena hovering worriedly over her. "Hey, welcome back" she smiled warmly, greeting her as she woke up. When Kara tried to sit up she gently held her back against the pillow suggesting "take it easy. The kryptonite hasn't cleared your body yet."
She looked up at the IV drips hanging next to her, the monitors measuring her heart rate and blood pressure bleeping on her right. She felt an ache in her side and looked down, her costumed pulled up revealing the bandage over her stab wound. She fell back to the bed feeling lightheaded. It had been a long, long while since she had to worry about being stabbed. It hurt. "Where is everyone?" she asked, feeling drowsy from the blood loss. "Alex. J'onn."
"They're fine. They've just finished getting the prison back under control and are on their way here. Olsen too" she assured her, sitting beside her on the bed checking her over. "You were half delirious downstairs. The infection in your side was spreading, your blood was contaminated. I was worried you weren't going to pull through" she said sombrely.
"The Reckoning" she said, struggling to remain conscious. "He knew…he knows" she said, opening her eyes looking at her in fear. "He knows my name."
"I know. I was there too in that factory. He called you by your kryptonian name…"
"No. he called me Danvers" she told her. "He knows who I am."
Lena's eyes widened, the implications taking root growing concern. She took a breath and stayed calm. "However they know, we will find them. We will."
Their talk was postponed when Alex came running into the room smudged with dirt. Kara saw her and felt relived as the woman rushed over to embrace her. "Thank god, I was so worried. They said you had been hurt, that you had kryptonite poisoning." She saw the faint green veins under her skin and her words stuck in her throat. She looked up at Lena questioningly, but the woman assured her she'll be fine. "I'm sorry. I should've have sent you back here."
"Don't be. I had to try" she said, ignoring her doctor's advice and sitting up in her bed even though it made her head swim. "How's the prison?" she asked, looking up as J'onn and Jimmy walked in to check on her. Guardian had removed his helmet where she saw a cut along his cheek. J'onn was in his human form but had a hand nursing his shoulder. Kara could see the grave expression on the Martian's human face. "Hank?"
His head hung in shame as he reported "he escaped. The EMP knocked out the shield around the facility. They got in, broke him out. He got away."
Kara's gut clenched as the humiliating defeat washed over her. She had hoped they could've prevented at least one of the bad guys from getting away. She looked around the room, noting the absences. "Where's Dreamer?" she asked worried.
"She's in the next room" Brainy told her, stepping in from the back tapping frantically at his tablet. Alex turned to him as she stood before her reporting "the damage to the base in significant. The electromagnetic pulse knocked out power to the building and the back-up systems are critically compromised. We've confirmed over a dozen casualties, fifteen injured, five sent to the nearest hospital for immediate care."
"And Dreamer?" Kara asked again.
Brainy's calm expression faltered a moment before he replied "alive. Thankfully her injuries were superficial. But the toll on her body, the excess use of her abilities during the fight, has rendered her unconscious. She's stable and predicted to awaken within the hour." He let out a shaky breath, giving away the uncommon emotion he'd been holding together why performing his duties. He looked at everyone who shared his concern. "She'll be okay" he finished uneasily. He looked at Kara, who was heaving another sigh of relief. "How are your injuries Supergirl?" he asked.
"I'll be fine" she said. But when she moved the pain in her side made her wince and rethink that statement. "How did this happen?" she wondered, looking up in confusion. "What were they doing here?"
They all looked at each other, all wondering the same thing. Lena spoke first, explaining "the Samaritan suits had a failsafe function I overlooked initially, a self-powered EMP detonated that can be triggered ever after the suit loses power. Unsurprisingly it was a function that came with Lex's designs, however the shielding built to protect the suits systems from the pulse was new. It's why the Samaritans continued to operate after the electromagnetic discharge. I'm assuming it was something Maxwell built, but…"
Alex, now satisfied her sister was going to recover, switched to director mode and turned to Brainy. "How soon can we get operations back underway? I want to start looking for Hank Henshaw as soon as possible."
"By my calculations, a couple of hours" he replied, happy to put his mind to something constructive.
"Good, but how was the Reckoning able to get in here?" Olsen asked.
The DEO agents looked at each other wondering the same thing. "He must've found a way to exploit the lockdown protocols" J'onn considered. "Have we figure out how he got out?"
"Through the main lift shaft" Brainy replied, showing the projected escape route on his tablet. "The EMP shut down all the locking mechanisms in the building. I imagine he used this shaft and took it to the bottom, escaping either through the main lobby and blending into the crowd or slipping out through the basement into the sewer tunnels."
"have anyone we can spare to double check, see if there's any trace of him he might've left behind" Alex ordered. "Was anything stolen?"
"We're running an inventory now" Lena said. "But his main target seemed to be the server room."
"He wanted the database" J'onn mutter unnerved. "Do we know if he got access?"
"The alert system I installed would only have triggered if he'd broken through the admin firewall" Brainy replied. "I'm afraid the answer is yes."
"How bad is that?" James asked.
"The DEO database has everything the government knows about the agency and its targets. That includes agent names, names and locations of alien refugees, schematics on all out technology and weapons, ship designs, scientific breakthroughs…plenty of knowledge a weapons broker might find useful."
His statement caught everyone's attention as they turned to look at him. "Weapons broker? What are you talking about?" Alex asked.
J'onn shifted uncomfortably as he explained "when Henshaw and I were engaged inside his mind, I saw his connection to the Reckoning. He wasn't his partner, he was an enforcer for another man. A human. A man who goes by the Blacksmith."
"A curious pseudonym" Brainy mused. "A craftsmen of weapons, armour and tools. An arms dealer?"
"A weapon smith of alien tech" Lena said in awe.
"He sold the weapons we confiscated during his raid for Metallo" J'onn nodded. He turned to Kara looking at her stricken body. "And he supplied the kryptonite to power them."
Kara felt like she was going to vomit as J'onn detailed as much about the Blacksmith as he gleamed from Hank's memories, explaining how the Reckoning operated as his bodyguard or enforcer, how the heists at the power plants were trade for the kryptonite. "Makes sense" Lena nodded. "The fusion cores are valuable alone, but the technology that went into containing them and harnessing the energy would be priceless to the right people. I've got ideas on my own of the potential applications so I shudder to think what a man capable of building weapons might come up with."
"Could they have taken anything from the evidence room?" Kara asked. "He must've have. He had the sword, the kryptonite forged one."
Brainy scanned his tablet screen. "We are still performing an inventory…" he said, pausing after a few scrolls. "But the weapon is missing, along with a few components from some of the confiscated technology."
"This can't all have been about a heist" James said dismissively. "They attacked the DEO base after stealing those suits. Why go to all that trouble?"
"It could've been another trade" Brainy considered, doing the math in his head. "We never ascertained how Henshaw's militia discovered the location of the L-Corp facility. Is it possible the location was given to them?" he asked Lena
"If it was, then I need to have a chat with my company's security" she huffed, walking across the room to pick up her phone.
While she made her calls Brainy continued to hypothesise. "In theory, the Blacksmith could've assisted them in the theft of the suits. Maybe even given them the computer virus that helped override our control."
"And in return he gets what?" James asked. "He gives the militia a way to hijack the suits in return for…"
"Their help in break in here" Alex said. "The DEO is amongst the most fortified facilities in the city. You don't just walk up here without jumping through hoops. That's why the forces were diverted. The wanted help breaking their boss out of prison and in return they assist his enforcer in gaining access to our base."
"And none of us were able to stop any of it" Kara muttered grimly.
Alex turned to her pointing out "we stopped some of them. Those militia members are in custody and they will talk. I'll make sure they do" she promised. She looked back to Brainy suggesting "in the meantime, see what you can find on this Blacksmith once the computers are up and running. If he is the mastermind behind this then maybe he is the one with all the answers."
"And the vendetta" J'onn whispered under his breath. James caught his eye overhearing him, but J'onn ignored the black man and walked away. "I'll start patrolling the city and see if I can get a lead on where Hank might've been taken."
"I'll come with you" Kara said, about to climb out of bed.
"Out of the question" everyone said as they pushed her back onto the mattress. "Not until the last of that kryptonite is out of your bloodstream" Lena said sternly. "And even then you need to rest and get your strength back."
"Agreed" Alex echoed, telling Kara "the moment you're able I'm taking you back home where you are confined to bed until further notice."
"You're not seriously trying to ground me are you" Kara dismissed as her older sister glared at her. "Come on Alex, you need me out here helping you."
"No, I need you rested" she insisted. She fixed her gaze on her, lowering her voice saying "I don't want to see you getting hurt again. Not until we know who we're up against." Kara tried to resist but with her muscles weakened it wasn't hard for Alex to hold her down. She glanced at the others who shared her sisters concern and reluctantly sat back on the bed. "I promise you'll be kept in the loop" she said. "Just get better."
"Fine" she whined, laying down and closing her eyes. Though she didn't want to admit it, she was so tired she actually fell asleep the moment her eyelids shut.
Alex happened to notice and released an amused chuckle while sighing in relief. She looked to Lena, who promised to keep an eye on her. "I'd better update the secretary of state. No doubt the white house will want to know how the Department of Extra-terrestrial Operations lost not only a dangerous threat to the planet but also a large chunk of our wall" she complained marching out of the medical room.
"If its okay, I'd like to check on Nia" Olsen said as they left the room leaving Lena with Kara. Alex gave him the okay so he walked off to check on her.
Brainy followed her as she made her way through the rubble and carnage of the ruined facility, cataloguing the damage as they went. "How should we prioritise the repairs?" he asked her.
Alex looked around the main floor, too many objectives spinning around her periphery. "What do you recommend?" she asked, trusting his logical judgement.
Brainy analysed the damage and the situation and approached this clinically. "With the facility compromised the security should be our first priority. Our computer systems are vulnerable so we should re-establish firewalls as soon as possible before attempting any further operations."
Alex nodded. After such an attack they were all at risk. No matter how much she wanted to find Cyborg Superman or the Blacksmith she'd be neglecting her duties as a director not putting the DEO first. "Co-ordinated with the repair teams. Get our systems back online and help secure the facility. And when you get a chance, I'd like you to personally go over the database. See if you can find out whatever it was this blacksmith wanted access to."
"It's most likely files have been stolen, copied or deleted" he acknowledged.
"I know. But to cover our basis make sure nothings been changed or added" she suggested. She'd been in the job long enough to understand the kind of risks such an intrusion could warrant. "When you're done report to me and we'll figure out our next options about finding Hank and the Blacksmith."
"Might I suggest we start with cracking the transponder signal from the Samaritan suits" he advised. Alex looked at him suspiciously until he explained "our analysis of the virus infecting and rewriting the suits determined they all shared a transponder, a private network linking the suits. I deduce that's how they are remaining in contact, and possibly how the Reckoning was able to coordinate their assault. It that's true, then it's a network I might be able to hack into to pinpoint their locations."
"Why them and not the Blacksmith?" she asked curiously.
Brainy paused composing a less logical answer. "The Samaritans are the most prominent threat to us. And they've already hurt people we care about." He caught Alex's eye dropping the professionalism a moment. "I don't want to give them the chance to hurt Nia again. Nor Kara."
"Neither do me" she agreed, stepping up to him putting a hand on her shoulder. "If you need an hour to be with her…"
"No" he said quickly. "I'll be of more use her, at my post."
She nodded, understanding perfectly. "I'll ask my contact at the police department to look into this Blacksmith while we focus on finding the Samaritans. You're right, they need to be the priority. Hank has a small army of men as strong as him now. We'll need to find them. But first we should make sure our people are okay" she said, leading him back through the base.
Before they could re-join the others Brainy pulled her aside into a secluded hallway. "Before we gone, I thought you'd like to know I saved this."
He pulled out a USB drive and held it out to her. She took it to examine. It was a standard thumb drive, the type the DEO uses on a daily basis. "What is this?" she asked.
Brainy glanced around making sure they weren't being observed. "Become the attack I was able to begin my investigation into the name you gave me" he told her. When she realised what he was talking about she checked their privacy herself ducking further into the hallway. "It was a rudimentary background scan, something to run whilst I was waiting for results on the computer virus. I had only just begun a more comprehensive delve when the base was attacked, but I found the drive intact in the aftermath. I've scanned it, the information I'd gathered until now hasn't been corrupted. We were lucky" he mused.
She nodded, quickly pocketing the USB into her pants before anyone saw her. "Anything so far?" she asked.
"The name and address checks out, no criminal convictions, and his visa is current and up to date" he reported. "May I ask what his significance to this case is?"
"It's unrelated" he told him. He trusted her enough to drop it. "So nothing to worry about so far" she said, almost disappointed.
"I didn't say that" he whispered
Meanwhile James Olsen trudged through the base to the second medical room beside the first, his armour chaffing from the battle. He put his helmet on a table as he walked in, the room empty except for a doctor and her patient. Dreamer lay on the bed unconscious still dressed in her costume. It was standard practice these days to treat patients without the need to take their masks off. He nodded to the doctor who stepped out carrying a clipboard, giving him a moment to stand beside the young woman's side. "I heard you gave them a hell of a fight" he laughed, putting his hand on her arm examine her sleeping form. "Kara was asking after you. We're all worried, but we know you're going to be fine." He smiled proudly, telling her "you know, when I started out as Guardian, I wondered if I'd be able to do as much good as Superman. I know you wondered the same when you started doing this. But I wouldn't worry. You're doing a much better job at this than I am. We're all really proud of you." He hoped she could hear his praise, afraid she might be beating herself up for losing the fight again. Setbacks were part of the job, a lesson he too struggled to learn. He hoped she knew it wasn't her fault.
The machine monitoring her heartrate started a bleep faster as her eyelids moved, her breath escaping her nose. James smiled. It looked like she was waking up. But then her heartrate picked up and raised from a steady sixty-five to eighty-seven, her breathing coming quicker as her eyes started moving rapidly behind her eyelids. "Nia?" he said, watching her begin to toss and turn on the bed, moaning and whimpering in her sleep. "Nia!" he called, shaking her as her heartrate picked up again. He looked out the room shouting "I need some help!" before turning back to keep shaking her. She wasn't have a seizure, or a cardiac arrest he realise. Those he could identify. This was something simpler: she was having a nightmare. "Nia, wake up!" he shouted as she began talking, calling out to her dream, her body sweating in terror.
"No, no, don't please..." she mumbled between pants. He shook and shouted, looking around the room for anything that could help. After a few seconds her heartrate jumped to 100 and he finally resorted to slapping her across the cheek. She awoke in a panic, screaming in horror shouting "Kara!" as she shot up in her bed, her eyes snapping open as a pulse of astral energy shook the room. She gasped in shock, her heartrate dropping as she regained her breath, blinking rapidly looking around the room nursing her cheek. She found James standing next to her, staring at her with concern. Her face went pale when she saw him. "What happened?"
"It's alright, you were having a nightmare" he told her calmly. "You're at the DEO. Everyone's fine." It took Nia a few deep breaths to calm down, her heartrate slowly returning to normal as she regained her senses, determining she wasn't dreaming anymore. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief. "What was it?" he asked her worriedly. "In your dream? What was it that had you so terrified?" Nia went a whiter shade of pale as she glanced at him nervously. He looked even more concerned. "You were shouting Kara's name. Is she in danger?" But when she remained silent and averted her gaze, his concern grew. "Nia? What was in your dream?"