Alex sat down in her car releasing a deep sigh. She'd miscalculated Kara's reaction badly. She expected some push back but nothing like this. She refused to even consider what Alex was telling her. She looked up through the windscreen to the apartment building, looking at the windows on the top floor. Maybe J'onn was right, she should've stayed out of it. But Alex had a gut feeling she was right about Jake, even if Kara wasn't ready to hear it. She composed a text for Brainy, requesting he keep digging into this guy. But her thumb hesitated over the send button. If Kara was mad at her now she'd be even worse if when she found out she went behind her back again. Reluctantly she deleted the draft and put her mobile on the dashboard. She didn't want to be fighting with Kara, not at a time like this. She was right about one thing, there were threats out there that took priority. She needed to focus on them. Whatever Jake was hiding can wait.
She had just turned the key in the ignition when her mobile vibrated, the name on the caller ID reading NCPD. "This is Director Danvers" she said putting the phone on speaker.
"You have no idea the hornets' nest you kicked up down here" Captain Maggie Sawyer told her bluntly, sounding out of breath as her footsteps echoed through the microphone. Alex heard the distinct slam of her office door before the woman explained "you remember that guy we pulled in? The uncle of the teenager who robbed the convenience store? The owner of your fancy green sword?"
"I remember, what about him?"
"Well he finally gave up the name of the pawn shop he bought that sword from. We spoke to the owner, who got very cagey. One warrant later and we find out this place not only sells stolen goods but its backroom is frequently used to sell off the books merchandise. That includes an unlicensed assault rifle we confiscated from the uncle's floorboards when our technicians stumbled upon it."
"He rolled on the owner when you found the rifle" Alex laughed. "Why would a low life need an assault rifle?"
"Apparently one registered handgun wasn't enough protection in his eyes" Maggie replied. "But the reason I'm calling is because I'm going to need that sword ASAP."
Alex narrowed her eyes looking at the phone. "Why would you…is that where the guy claims he bought the sword?"
"That's right, so I need it to jog the owner's memory while our forensics team goes over it. Not that I don't trust you've already analysed it but the commissioner wants to make sure we have everything in our bull pen before the FBI swoop in."
"Since when are the FBI involved? Wouldn't major crimes get the backroom arms dealer?"
"Not when the weapons confiscated in the shop are linked to the hornets' nest I referred to" Maggie clarified. "I got a call from an Agent Schrader asking about my bust wanted to sit in on the interrogation. Apparently the Feds have out pawn shop on a list of potential pop up stalls for a guy they're looking for."
"What guy?" Alex asked, but her gut had a feeling she already knew the answer.
"They wouldn't say. But a contact of mine claims they're investigating someone they call the Blacksmith? Do you know anything about that?"
Alex grit her teeth, feeling the red tape about to strangle her in the coming days. "That name just came up in our investigation" she explained. She trusted the captain with this information, and she knew if she wasn't honest their flow of information was about to come to an abrupt halt. "We think he's some kind of weapons manufacture, develops weapons using alien technology. We're still building a case but we believe he helped Hank Henshaw launch his assault on the city, and was the one who ordered the heist of the power plant."
Maggie was stunned into silence for a moment. "Someone out there is really making super weapons?" she asked.
"It's a theory, but our evidence suggested he's been operating behind the scenes for a while."
"More than a while" she heard her mutter. Alex waited to see if she'd elaborate. Fortunately she did. "For the past few months I've been getting tips for a couple of sources about a new guy supplying advanced weapons to people on the streets. Most of it was hearsay but every once in a while one of those weapons would crop up and baffle our forensic teams. Usually that's when you or the FBI would come in to take the stuff. But after the fiasco from our evidence lock-up we've been double checking IDs of everyone. Bottom-line is if there's a new arms dealer making these weapons then their reputation has gone viral recently."
"If the FBI are looking into him then his network must expand beyond National City. I can coordinate with the FBI and keep you in the loop."
"I'd appreciate that, but first I will need that weapon back in our custody" Maggie insisted. "I don't care about jurisdiction or whatever, have one of your agents stand guard if you have to. But if we can use it to help our case it'll help you and the FBI in return."
Alex grimaced, nodding along understanding what she was saying. Which made what she was about to say even more grating. "I can't turn over the weapon Captain. I'm sorry."
Maggie was silent for a moment, long enough to make Alex uncomfortable. "Can't or won't?" she asked. When Alex didn't reply the woman pushed. "Director Danvers, I need that sword. I don't want to hear any of your DEO bullshit right now…"
"The weapon's been stolen Maggie!" she cried, rubbing her face in humiliation. She hoped her use of her first name portrayed how serious her need for discretion was now. "The DEO was hit early this morning. They hit us at the same time they broke Hank out prison. They got into our evidence room, stole a bunch of stuff. We're still cataloguing the losses but the sword…the sword was among the missing."
Maggie was quiet for a long while as she processed Alex's admission. After a few minutes she came back. "Just so I understand this. After all the crap you put us through for losing those weapons weeks ago, you've now misplaced a key piece of evidence in our investigation?"
"I know, we screwed up" she accepted. "But Maggie, please, I just need…"
"Don't!" she snapped, her breath coming out in a heavy sigh. "Alex, I don't want to know. Just…" she sighed again and Alex could hear the frustration. When she came back, her voice was calm. "Word on the street is this new arms broker, if it is this Blacksmith, has been making waves with some new inventory for the past few months. Word on the street was he could supply weapons that use kryptonite. But until now, there hasn't been any evidence to back up at claim. That's why we needed the sword Alex. It proves this guy has access to some dangerous materials and is selling more dangerous weapons."
Alex's head fell back against the headrest, grimacing along with her. They had royally screwed up. "We'll find Hank. He met the Blacksmith. If we can get him again, then he can lead us to the man you're after."
"He'd better" she said, losing patience now. "I may just be the captain of the local police department, Director, but I'd appreciate it if I was kept in the loop."
"Understood, Captain" she replied, listening to the dial tone as the woman hung up angrily. She closed her eyes and slammed her palms against the steering wheel. "Shit!" she bellowed, angry with herself and the situation. She grabbed her phone and dialled a new number. She needed leads and she needed then now.
Lena answered Alex's phone call while sitting at her table in her apartment, her laptop open in front of her. She was reading through her updates from the company and finalising some of the details for her office repairs. She was lucky L-Corp could function mostly on its own while she was helping the DEO. She was taking a break from searching TITAN Industries employee database, feeling like she'd checked it twice but couldn't find a record of the lead engineer they were looking for. Maxwell was right when he said this guy didn't like to put his name to anything, but this felt like he'd been scrubbed from the system. She wondered if that was the case given how capable he'd been about covering his tracks so far. "How's Kara doing?" she asked when she answered the phone.
"She's fine. I left her at her place to rest" Alex told her, now driving down the street.
"We'll be lucky if she stays in that apartment for the rest of the day" Lena grumbled, knowing Kara all too well won't sit still for long. "Any luck getting a lead on Henshaw?"
"Not yet. The DEO is still in shambles. Brainy's on it. J'onn is checking his sources to see if he can find out anything about this Blacksmith."
"I still can't believe we have an arms dealer capable of creating such weapons and we never heard of him" Lena muttered.
"Actually, from what my contact at the police department said, we have" Alex told her. "Or at least, the FBI have. They're already investigating his activities and the police are now on his tail thanks to the arrest of the teenager with the sword. Apparently it's not the only kryptonite weapons he's been making. These things are quietly being sold on the streets."
"Which means there could be a dozen more like them out there?" Lena gasped turning pale. She stood up and paced in front of her window, imagining the street littered with guns that could kill Kara on every corner. "The amount of kryptonite that would be needed for this…"
"Is a lot. I've ordered the satellites to monitor the planet for any traces of the mineral. Even if they know how to hide it, the moment it comes into the open we'll know about it. I was wondering if L-Corp might have anything that could help us detect it faster."
Lena racked her brain calling upon her experience in the material. "Lex practically obsessed over the stuff, since it was the only thing capable of hurting Superman. His research helped me crack the formula to synthesise it. I wiped all of those records months ago though when I promised never to make any more."
"But could you find a way to track it?" she asked again.
Lena thought about it, hard. "Detecting natural kryptonite should be straightforward. But if they are holding it in a shielded location… I could put together a list of conditions they might need to store it. The mineral may not be dangerous to humans but in large quantities it can still be toxic. They'd need lead to contain it, a large structure to hold the volume they'd need, an energy source to power the facility…"
"Put your list together and get back to us" Alex asked. "Hopefully we can refine our search grid to those specifications." She paused a moment before asking "Could TITAN Industries have the facilities to store it?"
"I already considered that. They work in the wrong field" she replied. But then a thought occurred to her, an idea illuminating in her head. "I'll call you back" she said, hanging up on Alex and returning to her laptop. She pulled up the browser and looked into Axis Environmental. She remembered she had to call upon their services to assist in handling volatile materials in the past. They would have most if not all of the requirements for a facility to house large quantities of Kryptonite. She dialled her office to get her assistant. "I need everything we have on our old partners at AXIS" she said. It wouldn't be much but it would be a start.
James Olsen was back at Cacto Worldwide Media when Nia came looking for him. She ran into him on his way back to his office dressed in her civilian clothes. Olsen looked at her briefly before continuing on to his office as if ignoring her. "If you're coming back to work check in with George for your next assignment" he suggested.
"I wanted to apologise" she said, following him into the glass room where more of their senior staff was waiting. She came up short waiting at the door silently while Olsen walked around his desk. When he noticed she wasn't going to leave him quietly asked the staff to give them a moment? They nodded and left, leaving him with the reports they brought giving the editor and reporter the room. She nervously closed the door and came to his desk. "I wanted to explain…"
"I thought there was nothing to explain?" he said bluntly, dropping everything on his desk to cross his arms and stare at her. "That's what you told me when you basically threw me out of that hospital room at the DEO."
"I know. I'm sorry" she said guiltily. She wasn't proud of how she reacted to Olsen's sincere questions after she woke up and freaked out. "It was just…complicated" she said weakly.
Olsen wasn't buying it. "What's complicated? You woke up terrified from a nightmare screaming Kara's name. It doesn't take much to realise you had one of your visions. But when I asked you about it, you claimed it was nothing and demanded I leave." He shook his head, leaning against the desk looking at her. She expected disappointment, but instead she got concern. "You know I want to help. But I can't unless you tell me what's going on. Was Kara in your dream? Was she I danger?"
Nia became hesitant as her throat turned dry, turning away from him reluctant to say. But the man was patient enough to wait, to see if she would open up. She walked to the couch nearby and turned back to him nervously. "I don't know" she said, falling down into the seat. He walked around the desk, leaning upon it with his arms crossed, letting her take her time to explain. She swallowed the guilt and told him "she was in my dream. She's been in most of them lately. Almost always the same. She was in the street, there are dead bodies everywhere, the buildings on fire all around us. She was… crying, covered in blood. She was covered in blood which I…I don't think is hers. And then there's the laughing, this shadow with red eyes hovering over her, with horns and a trident. I thought it was a Devil. But now I think…"
"The reckoning" Olsen finished, joining her quietly on the sofa.
"The first one was weeks ago, just before the heist at Axis Environmental. I didn't think the dream was a vison until he attacked me that day. After that I've been trying to make sense of it."
"Does anyone else know?" he asked her.
She nodded. "I told Brainy, and J'onn. They've been trying to help, looking for clues, decoding the symbolism or whatever. But the dream keeps changing, adding things. We got close once, thought I'd found the identity of the Devil in my dream. It changed to Maxwell Davies, which was why I…" she trailed off but Olsen nodded. It explained their sudden interest in the CEO, which lead to one of the biggest stories of the year. "But it wasn't him, so now I don't know what to believe. If I can't figure out my visions, what if I've been getting them wrong?"
"Wrong how?"
She hesitated, shame appearing on her face. "You and Kara taught me that a journalist needs to be open to all possibilities in order to find the truth" she said quietly. "I'm worried, because what if…one interpretation of these dreams isn't that Kara's in danger. What if she's…?"
She buried her head in her hands out of guilt, and Olsen shared it understanding all too well. "You're worried she might be the one who kills those people surrounding her" he finished, voicing the one thing she could bring herself to admit. Nia inhaled shaking, tears in her eyes as she glumly nodded. "There's nothing a good reporter fears more than uncovering a truth they don't want to see" Olsen acknowledged. "I know it hurt, but you must remember one thing; we know Kara. We know she would never do something like this. And as long as there's a shred of doubt to her culpability, we owe it to her to investigate."
"I know, and I'm trying" she replied. "But it feels like every time we get close to the truth it turns out to be wrong. And every time I dream… I don't want to think like this, I hate myself for doubting Kara, and I know she wouldn't do this. But I'm scared. I'm scared to go to sleep because I'm afraid of what I might see next. What if I dream the rest of it and it reveals she did…she does…" Olsen pulled the young woman into his thick arms giving her a hug to comfort her. She wept into his shoulder releasing everything she'd been holding onto for weeks. Not even Brainy had seen how much this had been affecting her. Olsen consoled her gently, patting her back ignoring the suspicious looks from their colleagues peering through the glass office. He didn't care what the rumour mill would spit out right now. Nia needed his help and he was willing to give it. She pried herself out of his arms wiping her cheeks, remembering she was at work and this was inappropriate. "I'm sorry" she said embarrassed.
"Don't be" he said, squeezing her shoulder encouragingly. When she was composed her asked her "so what are you going to do?"
"I don't know" she admitted, rubbing her eyes with her palms feeling worse than when she came in.
Olsen leaned forward and delicately suggested "maybe you should talk to Kara."
She looked at him with wide eyes, her skin turning even paler. "I can't. I wouldn't how too…"
"She deserves to know" he said, leaning forward as she hesitantly shook her head. "Maybe she can help. And it's clear, even with Brainy and J'onn in your corner, you're not coping with keeping this from her are you?" she stared down at the floor, an expression of dismay as she shook her head in admission. "She can help you. We can all help you if we know everything that's going on."
"I've been lying to her for weeks" she whispered ashamed.
"She'll understand" he said. "She'll want to help. You know she will." She looked at him, at his sincerity. He was right, she wasn't coping. Lying to Kara about her dreams were worse than believing they might be true. She couldn't keep going on like this, living in fear about what's to come. She needed her friend and mentor's support. She nodded slowly, the closest she could manage to commit to the promise. Olsen put a hand on her knee. "You're not in this alone. Remember that" he told her. She nodded again, smiling weakly back at him. "This nightmare you had earlier, was it the same as the others?" he asked cautiously.
"No" she said, still hesitant to talk about it. It was one of the more intense visions she'd had recently. "No, it was different. There was still fire, I could feel the smoke clogging my lungs. Bodies along the ground, the soil soaked in blood turning it red. Everything was burning, I could hear screaming. And then I looked up and…she was there" she said, reluctant to continue. Olsen sat patiently letting her fill the silence. "She was hovering over me. I couldn't see her face, the sun was behind her glaring in my eyes. I saw her cape, the symbol on their chest. Then I felt the heat from their eyes and everything burned."
"Are you sure if was Kara?" Olsen asked her.
"I don't know anymore, but I felt the fear in my dream. The terror from the people around me. I felt the anger from her when she cut them down with her heat vision. I saw the glow in her eye when she looked at me."
"Eye? How many eyes?" Olsen asked curiously.
Nia looked at him with confusion. "How many? Two. They had two eye… but only one glowed" she recalled suddenly, her body freezing in place. She turned back to Olsen, realising falling over her expression. "I didn't see Kara's face. I thought it was because… the cape, the symbol, but…"
"Keep an open mind" Olsen suggested slowly. "How else might you interpret this dream?"
Nia looked at him with shock. "It wasn't Kara. It wasn't National City. It wasn't the same dream!"