The high pitch whine from the detonate reached its apex the moment Kara screamed her sisters name, the young woman frozen to the floor in the middle of the apartment only just realising something was amiss. The landline slipped from Kara's grip as everything slowed down to a crawl around her, her senses heightening but drowning everything out into the sea of white noise and the echoing thud of her rapid heartbeat. Her friend Barry would call this Flash-time, the point between the solitary seconds where everything stands still. Only Supergirl wasn't as fast as the Flash so as slow as everything was moving, it was still moving. She was simply moving faster.
Realising what Alex was standing on Kara lunged forward, the floorboards creaking beneath her red boots as she sprinted from her position beside the bed. She saw dust particles floating around her illuminated by the light from the hallway, the spotlights through the windows, and the lamps inside the apartment. And as she crossed the ground in the milliseconds of her heartbeat she saw them glow from a flash coming from beneath their feet. She pushed herself forward, reaching out cutting through the still air leaping for her sister as a wave of heat passed across her palm, the air shimmering upwards before her eyes. Her other foot touched down on the floor in front of Alex where she felt the floorboards sag as the floor ballooned outwards at a snail's pace. She glanced down briefly, a fraction of a second, enough to confirm the explosion erupting at their feet.
She flung her body forward, extending her arms to wrap around her sister who stood muted in confusion, her expression only just turning to surprise. Kara grabbed her tightly, supporting her head to avoid whiplash as she pivoted into a spin carrying her off her feet. She scanned the room quickly. The hallway door was open but blocked by the tall figure of Maggie Sawyer, the police captain, frozen mid step arriving to investigate the commotion, maybe report on the call they were tracing. Kara counting several more police officers blocking her path out the hallway. It wouldn't matter, the explosion was growing, so she looked in the opposite direction. The window faced out into the street. There was nothing blocking that. Halfway through her spin she kicked out with her foot, catching the table and using it to propel her towards the window, twisting her body so her back crashed through the glass pane, shards bouncing off her tough skin as she cradled the human woman in her arms shielding her from the shrapnel.
Watching the apartment she saw the concussion blast ripple through the room, throwing paper and pencils and objects outwards to smash into the walls or ceiling. Maggie was hit by the wave, which knocked her backwards in slow motion as it ripped the doorframe apart, the wooden splinters showering her and her officers as they covered their faces. Kara didn't have time to help them as she felt gravity pull her down, looking over her shoulder to the street below.
Police cars had cordoned off the road, blocking pedestrian access as swat vans sat in front of the building. More officers surrounded the block staring up at them, their faces a mix of shock and horror. Kara scanned the ground and searched for a clearing to land, her cape billowing around her and Alex gently caught in the updraft. She found a spot unoccupied and lurched for it, whipping her body into a somersault arching downwards before landing on her feet. The concrete bent downwards before cracking around her soles, dust thrown up in slow motion as she carried Alex through the momentum, spinning with her like a dance until she too was safely on her feet. She looked at the young red haired woman and watched her expression change to shock as time returned to normal, the explosion booming over their heads.
Alex gasped in surprise lurching on her feet as Kara clung to her wrists holding her steady. She felt dizzy and nauseas as she found herself outside the apartment block, her eyes whipping around frantically wondering what happened. Then they saw the fire and smoke from the building and inhaled, looking at Kara realising her sister just saved her life. "Are you okay?" Kara asked her panicked, examining her sister worriedly.
"I'm fine" she replied, her heart racing as she looked up at the building. "You need to go."
"Are you sure" she asked.
Alex nodded pushing Supergirl towards the building. "Go!" Kara nodded. She wanted to stay with Alex but she knew she was needed up there now. She leapt off the ground and raced back into the air, immediately arcing back into the apartment.
She flew in through the same hole she just made, though all the windows had blown outwards now and were raining shards to the people below. She barrelled through the smoke and went to land on the floor only for it to give way beneath her. She looked down at the burnt floorboards tumbling through the rafters into the room below, which too had now caught fire. She kept her body suspended in the air, floating on the spot as she scanned the apartment.
The explosive device had been hidden from her under lead paint, positioned directly in the centre of the room, directly in front of the bedroom wall where Jake's collage of photographs and news articles were pinned. She watched them all ignited and crumble to ash. She knew she had to save it, it was evidence of Jake's vendetta against her. But it also proved who she was; that Kara Danvers was Supergirl. not only that it gave away the secret identities of Dreamer, Guardian, Brainiac Five, Martian Manhunter, their affiliation to Lena and the DEO and the names of their families. It had everything. She floated there and watched it burn, her blonde hair whipping across her face along with the embers and smoke. This wall could prove Jake White was the Reckoning, but also unmask everyone she knew.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a strangled gasp for air from the hallway. She turned her head and found Captain Sawyer lying on the floor with a wooden beam across her chest. Kara didn't hesitate to dash to her side, lifting the beam and examining the woman. She wasn't in a good way. The concussion blast threw her to the ground and rocked her internal organs, rupturing a few blood vessels. She also had a few shards of wood impaled in her side and stomach, one in the side of her neck. Her x-ray vision also showed a lung had collapsed. She needed urgent medical attention. "Hold on captain" Supergirl said as she reached down to carefully pick her up.
As she did her ears picked out the cries for help all through the building. Officers and civilians trapped in their flats, fire surrounding them, smoke choking their airways. More were unconscious barely breathing. In the hallway Kara counted six police officers strewn across the corridor and stairway. Only four were still alive. She cradled Maggie and lifted her into her arms, floating carefully back the way she came towards the apartment. Her gaze glanced to the wall still burning as more photos disintegrated, deciding saving lives was more important.
Seconds later Supergirl was flying down to the street were paramedics were already arriving on scene. She brought the captain to them and lay her down quickly listing off her condition. "We got this" one of them assured her opening her medical bag. "How many more inside?"
"I don't know, but I'll get them out" she said, seeing Alex coordinating with the police officers to help evacuate the block before darting back into the building.
She whipped in and out of the building at lightning speed now, using her x-ray vision and hearing to locate everyone she could. She focused on the life threatening cases first, breaking through doors and walls to reach them and carry them out into the street. She knew she couldn't use her powers to extinguish the fire until everyone was out, in case it caused more structural problems as a result. So she dashed in, grabbed a man, woman or child, occasionally a pet, and dashed back out to hand them over to the emergency services. Alex took charge below directing officers and paramedics where they needed, overseeing the efforts vigilantly. She was a natural leader and exactly what the city needed in this crisis. After a few minutes Supergirl brought out the last person, a young child returning them to their family before lifting into the air. She cast a final scan of the block with her x-ray vision and found nobody else. Now she allowed herself to inhale a deep breath and released it in a cloud of ice that put out the fire engulfing three floors. The people below watched her extinguish the flames and cheered for her. But in the air the last thing Kara saw before she stopped blowing was the final remnants of the collage turn to dust.
She touched down onto the ground to the applause of cheering civilians, barely noticing them as she caught her breath and stumbled forward. The adrenaline finally wore off as she felt her heart pounding in her chest as she panted. Alex ran over to check on her, putting a hand on her shoulder, the only show of affection she could get away with in public. Kara looked up at her, her eyes examining her face relieved to find not a scratch on her. She nodded, answering the question that didn't need to be spoken.
Alex looked over to the captain, who was being carried into the back on an ambulance now, the paramedics looking frantic and worried. "Bastard" she muttered, her own adrenaline rush passing as she felt the weight of the narrow escape crash over her. She was at the epicentre of that explosion. If Kara hadn't realised it she would've been vaporised. Who plants a bomb in their own goddamn home? She thought.
"I have to find him" Kara said, thinking the same thing as she straightened up.
"We will" Alex said. "But first we need to regroup."
"He was watching us Alex" she told her, relaying her conversation on the phone. "He knew where you were standing. He was watching!"
Alex's eyes narrowed as she scanned the buildings around them. "Maggie had people searching the area. We didn't find…"
"I'll find him" Kara said, stepping away preparing to fly off.
Alex tried to stop her, calling out "no, we need you here! Kara, you're in no shape to…" but the kryptonian wasn't listening as she leapt into the air like a rocket. Alex shouted after her telling her to come back, but Supergirl was already gone, circling the city desperate to find Jake White.