Lena analysed the costume with her machines and scanners while examining the material under her microscope. The fabric was a synthetic weave lived with threads with similar properties to the gauntlets that channelled dream energy. She looked at the results to the scans and consolidating the results as she ran diagnostics on the equipment. She sat back in her chair, attempting to supress the feeling of awe she was experiencing. "Hmm" she mused to herself.
"So…what's the verdict?" her costumed friend asked as she waited nervously behind her.
Lena turned to look back at Dreamer, the young woman glancing nervously at the costume she'd brought in for Lena to look over. The Luthor heiress stood up and examined the upgraded costume confirming "the equipment is an improved version of your old gauntlets. By my calculations the projected output has been enhanced to improve its efficiency by 90%, at minimum. The material is composited with nanowire that mimics the properties of your gloves so you can channel the energy across the whole suit. The boots follow the same function now. And the mask…form fitting latex lined with the same nanofibers." She paused to let out a reluctant sigh. "I hate to say it, but Henry Irons was a genius. Losing talent like this feels like a waste."
Nia tried not to think about the fact she had somehow inspired the Blacksmith into making her a new suit. "But is there anything wrong with it?" she asked. "Any tracking devices, microphones, anything that Jake could've implanted to make it a trap?"
On the bed Brainy was flicking through the results on a tablet running his own diagnostics. "As unlikely as it seems, there doesn't appear to be any form of trickery in the costume" he replied. "There are minimal electronic components, the principle being to harness what you already generate. According to my tests, the suit is completely clean."
"If you were to wear this, your power output would almost double in its effectiveness" Lena told her. "And you wouldn't be limited to just your hands, you could channel that energy all across your body. The possibilities are…I can't even speculate."
Their little conversation was interrupted when the two people Nia had also called finally arrived at the facility. Alex and J'onn walked in to join the three of them, Alex a little more briskly than J'onn who was still nursing the injuries from his last confrontation with Bloodsport. "Are you okay?" he asked Dreamer.
She had a split-second to nod before Alex was in her face asking "what happened? What did Jake want? Where did he go?"
"I'm fine. He just wanted to talk and I didn't see where he went" she replied apologetically.
J'onn intervened before Alex could go into interrogation mode, gently pulling her back to give Nia the space to explain what happened. She gave them a detailed account of the conversation, omitting that she was in the car park getting into Lena's car to keep her identity from the heiress. The details she gave were enough to worry her friends nonetheless. "How did he find you?" J'onn asked.
"I don't know" she shrugged.
"He's probably been keeping tabs on all of us" Lena grumbled.
"That may be, but why show his face at all?" Alex wondered. "Why approach Dreamer and warn us about DuBois?"
"Because it's not a part of his plan" Brainy answered. "Jake's scheme has been planned, coordinated, plotted to the finest detail. The involvement of Robert DuBois wasn't a factor."
"But if he wants Kara dead, why not just let DuBois go after her?" J'onn wondered.
Lena released a low chuckle, picturing the parallels with her brother again. "Because it's not just about killing her" she realised. When everyone looked at her she asked them "how many times has Jake almost killed Supergirl? He's had all these chances, all the kryptonite, but he constantly lets her live. He doesn't want her dead, not yet."
"Kara said he wanted to destroy her first" Dreamer nodded. "Whatever that means."
"I will make you understand how much I hate you" Alex muttered. "That's what Kara told me he said."
Lena nodded. "Lex liked to do the same thing to his enemies. It wasn't enough to just defeat them. He wanted them to understand the scope of their defeat. Ironically that became his undoing" she added.
"Assuming Jake is telling the truth" Alex warned.
"Does it matter?" Dreamer asked. "If Bloodsport is out there hunting Kara, we need to warn her."
"Even if it means playing into Jake's scheme" she asked. She regretted it immediately, turning away to silently vent. Her eyes fell onto the costume Lena was analysing. "Did Lena make you a new costume?" she asked.
"No, that was made by the Blacksmith" Brainy relied, distracted by some thoughts he was mulling over while they talked.
Nia turned and met Alex's alarmed gaze as she nervous explained "Jake kind of…left it for me."
"This is from him!" she snapped.
"It's clean, I've already checked" Lena interceded before the redhead could explode into paranoia. "It's quite an ingenious design actually."
"I don't care! We're not accepting gifts from the Reckoning!" Alex screamed.
"Alex, try to stay calm" J'onn said, taking her shoulders looking at her. "I understand this is stressful, but you need to calm down. None of us are comfortable about where this information came from. But think about this, Jake must be desperate to feel the need to come to us."
"Or this is part of his twisted game" she snapped. "Why wouldn't he just take out DuBois himself?"
"Because doing so would expose his frame of Olsen, who he wants to keep in prison" Lena deduced.
Nia, however, came up with an additional theory. "Because he can't. He looked banged up when he spoke to me" she told them. She had assumed it was from their previous fights. But now she speculated something else. "I think he already tried, and failed. I don't think he can stop him."
Alex narrowed her eyes sceptically. "Bloodsport is stronger than the Reckoning? Would that be possible?"
"It is if DuBois trained Jake White to begin with" Brainy remarked. That caught everyone's attention as Brainy calmly explained his theorised account. "I've been going back over the data we've collected on the Reckoning since his initial arrival. One of the questions I had been asking myself was how the young man acquired the skills he has utilised and have since been conducting my own investigations. His background in engineering solved the technical aspects to his gear and weapons, as with his collusion with the Blacksmith. His martial skills, however, have alluded me. They had the sophistication of Special Forces, similar to that from the DEO, but less refined. Comparing his fighting styles to that of Robert DuBois, however, have highlighted several similarities in their techniques. I summarise Mr White had to have sought out a mentor figure to learn these techniques. And since DuBois was trained in the army, it stood to reason the only way his methods could've been passed to Jake was if the man trained him himself."
"But not enough to be able to overpower him" J'onn nodded. The theory was sound.
Alex wasn't so convinced. "Assuming that might to true, so what?"
"It highlights a risk in Jake's plan" Brainy told her. "He took a risk in approaching Dreamer with his warning. He couldn't engage the mercenary again without his suit, which would conflict with the plot he'd engaged with James Olsen framing him for his crimes. But that gives us an opportunity. He won't be in a position to interfere while we capture Robert DuBois ourselves."
"DuBois has worked with Jake, and trained him" J'onn told her. "If we can get him to testify against him, we can start building a case against the Reckoning. We know he's still in the city. He hasn't gone to ground. We may not get a better chance."
As enticing as that sounds, Alex wasn't that naive. "DuBois is too much of a professional to talk to us. Why would he give Jake up if we catch him?"
"He might if he found out Jake was the one who tipped us off."
"Either way, we can't ignore this" Dreamer reiterated. "Kara's life is in danger. We need to find him.
Alex looked at the assembled group before cursing under her breath. They were right, of course. She didn't trust Jake or his word, but she couldn't leave her sister out of the loop if there was a dangerous mercenary out there after her. This man already put Superman in the ICU once. It wouldn't be difficult to step it up to murder. She pulled out her phone and dialled Kara's number.
Kara had remained on patrol all evening to avoid agonising over the recording in her pocket. She flew from continent to continent solving one crisis after another, saving people and fixing problems she could actually handle. For the next few hours her job felt simple and uncomplicated. She returned to National City and attended to three more situations, including a car crash, a hold up at a convenience store and a fire in an office complex. She put out the flames with her frost breath and made sure there were no casualties before drifting up in the air to oversee the arrival of the emergency services.
Now that she allowed herself a moment to think she pulled out the tape with Jake's confession. She'd been going over the pros and cons in her head about exposing him and clearing Olsen's name, even though it'll threaten the secret identities of her, Nia and James. But after fixing a faction of the world's problems she came to the conclusion Eliza was right. She needed to share this with Alex. She needed to share this with everyone. Together they could find a solution to best help everyone and put Jake behind bars for good.
Her mobile buzzed as she made her decision, putting the tape back into the hidden pocket of her skirt where she also had her phone. She silently thanked Wynn for adding pockets to her costume three years ago. She looked at the screen and saw Alex's caller ID. Amused at the convenience she hit the answer button with her thumb and brought it to her ears.
She felt a sharp pain rip through her body five seconds before a thunderclap rang across the rooftops. Kara froze in mid-air, the phone slipping out of her palm as she gasped suddenly. The feeling was unfamiliar to her. She looked down and ran her fingers over her stomach, her costume suddenly feeling damp as she felt a hole in the fabric. She brought her hand up and was stunned to see blood coating her fingertips.
The shock faded and she was suddenly assaulted with a pain in her gut, her insides feeling like they were on fire as she floated unsteadily in the air before tumbling out of the sky, fear suddenly filling her chest as she realised she had just been shot.