Chapter 3: "Hello, M'gann!"
Supergirl, Justice League and Young justice are properties of Warner Bros and CW. I claim credit for nothing.
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"What are you doing here? I thought you were-" J'onn started.
"Dead?" M'gann finished. "They nearly did kill me."
"The white martians," Alex said. "That one we encountered earlier was just a scout."
"She said others would be coming," Kara commented.
"They kept me prisoner," M'gann continued. "They tried to force me into revealing Uncle J'onn's location on earth."
"So how did you escape?" Kara asked.
"I was with five others who were captured," M'gann answered. "We spent weeks planning to steal a ship and take it to Earth. I…" she started to cry. "They gave their lives knowing that if I could find Uncle J'onn or Kal El…"
J'onn held her close. "Shh, it's all right. You're safe now."
J'onn's radio chimed on. "Director Henshaw? What is your status?"
J'onn morphed back into Hank. "This is Henshaw. We have one 'friendly'. I want the ship salvaged ASAP."
"We're Oscar Mike," came the reply.
"What's happening?" M'gann asked.
"This is my human identity, M'gann," Hank replied. "I work for a government agency that keeps track of aliens like us. If they were to find out that their director was really-"
M'gann's eyes lit up. "Hello, M'gann! The whole double life thing isn't it? Respectable government official by day, alien crimefighter by night?"
"That's what we're trying to encourage," Alex said.
"And let me guess," M'gann turned to Kara. "Blonde, five-foot-eight, very pretty – you must be someone famous like an actress or singer!"
Alex couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Not quite," Kara answered. "Personal assistant to the owner of a global media company-" her jaw dropped. "Oh God, my report is due! M'gann, pleasure to meet you!" With that she disappeared.
"She does that," Alex said.
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STAR CITY, 9PM
Kara flew back to the hotel where she, James and Winn stayed as fast as she could.
Beep-beep!
"Oh no," she tapped her Bluetooth earpiece. "Hello?"
"Keeeera," Cat Grant said. "I sure hope you're planning on submitting your first article to me so we can print it in the morning edition tomorrow?"
"Yes, Miss Grant!" Kara yelped. "You'll have it-"
"My inbox within the hour," Cat finished. "And Keeera, please don't use your phone while driving with the window open. How can you possibly hear a word I'm saying?"
Click.
She made it to the window of the hotel room where James and Winn were waiting.
"Trouble?" James asked calmly.
"Yes! Cat wants the articles in an hour and we have work to do!" Kara panicked.
"Firstly, I took the liberty of transcribing everything on your dictation recorder," Winn said. "Secondly, I think James was referring to your latest DEO excursion?"
"Yes," Kara said. "It was another martian."
"Like the one that attacked-" James asked.
"No, this one was green, cute and perky," Kara replied. "Now, where's the coffee?"
She sat down with her laptop and immediately started working on Winn's transcript. Her fingers were a storm of motion as she typed within seconds and put together an article.
"Please read," she asked James.
"Don't you want to use the spellchecker first?" he replied as he looked over her shoulder. "I'll be honest – Clark's writing style tends to be reserved and simple. Yours is more… snarky. I think it's exactly what Miss Grant has in mind."
"So shall we send?"
"Better late than never."
TO: editor
FROM: karadanvers
SUBJECT: Palmer Tech expose`
ATTACHMENTS: Palmertech_story,
Miss Grant,
Apologies for the lateness.
K.D.
"Whew!" Kara whisteled.
"Done and dusted," Winn said. "Well, I'm calling it a night. We got the first flight back to National at seven a.m."
"Ditto," James said.
"I might stay up a little longer," Kara said, "Will see you both in the morning."
Once James and Winn had adjourned, she went back to her laptop.
CAT-CO MEDIA SEARCH: "Bruce Wayne", "Oliver Queen", "Clark Kent"
An hour into it only revealed things that every household would have known – business initiatives by Wayne Enterprises and Queen Consolidated, appearances at charity events.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were web-stalking," James said as he emerged from the kitchen with a glass of water in hand.
"If there is any connection between these two men and my cousin, I just don't see it," Kara said, "Oliver Queen is just all over the place. Bruce Wayne… I don't know where to start. Half of the stuff on social media portrays him as the patron saint of social justice, the other half makes Charlie Sheen look like a choir boy."
"I think you're trying the wrong angle," James suggested. "Have you considered your cousin's other job?"
"Hank warned me about staying away from vigilantes," Kara replied as she tried another search:
CAT-CO MEDIA SEARCH: "Gotham", "Starling", "Superman"
"The first thing that comes up is that viral vid the 'Green Arrow' put out a few months ago. Most of the other stuff are tabloid articles about-"
"The 'Bat'?" James asked.
"You've… met him?"
"Once," James reached forward to the laptop and typed 'Batman' into image search. All that came up was a grainy photo of a masked, muscular figure dressed in a black cape and a charcoal body suit.
"You took the photo?"
James nodded. "Before that, the only ones who were able to get a clear look at Batman were thugs who are either now serving life at Blackgate or are committed to Arkham Mental Asylum. One second they would be minding their own own business, then he just shows up out of thin air. Everyone thought that Batman was some kind of monster or vampire; the police department simply said it was an urban myth crafted by the mafia to keep gangs in line. Clark and I were on assignment with Lois Lane trying to do a story on a serial killer known as 'the Joker'. That assignment was… disturbing."
"What happened?"
"A hostage situation," James took a sip of water. "The three of us were attending a function held by Harvey Dent."
"The 'Two-face killer'?" Kara asked.
"Before he went psycho, Dent was a celebrated prosecutor who managed to put the Falcone gang behind bars. He was campaigning for District Attourney, and the Joker showed up. He threatened to dowse everyone there in liquid cyanide unless Dent picked up a .45 and double-tap his wife, plus the Police Commissioner and his teenage daughter."
"That's sick!"
"But it was just a trap," James continued, "to flush out the Batman. The Joker managed to make Dent lose it and shoot his own wife. Batman showed and took both of them down. Your cousin then appeared and searched the whole building – there wasn't any cyanide anywhere."
"The Joker just wanted to see if Dent would snap," Kara said.
"When it became clear that Gotham's top criminal prosecutor didn't have his marbles, the courts fell apart from all the convicted felons making appeals. The police had to come clean and say that not only was Batman real, but that he was just a human being using a lot of gadgets – most of which is based on inventions that companies like Palmer Tech is only just starting to release on the market. When we returned to Metropolis, Perry White told us that the story wouldn't be published. The Daily Planet would never talk about Batman, the Arrow, or anyone similar again as it would be condoning the actions of a vigilante."
"And yet they'll publish anything about Superman-"
"First, Superman is a guy who doesn't wear a mask and is nice enough to smile for the camera. Secondly, he likes to work with the authorities on their terms rather than trying to manipulate anyone he can. Third, he doesn't beat up anyone within an inch of their life if they get too close."
Kara let out a long whistle. "So if Clark is involved with either Batman or the Arrow-"
She paused as her gaze focused on the Palmer Tech building which could be seen outside the window on the other side of the city – one figure was on the rooftop entering a fire exit. Four more were scaling the façade.
"Kara?" James asked.
"James, someone is trying to break into the Palmer Tech research labs."
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PALMER TECH LABS
Supergirl arrived at the lab and found that both the security system had been deactivated and the door to the vault was left open.
Not good, she thought.
She tried scanning the area – four heartbeats, yet she could only see three figures making their way to the stairwell and to the rooftop. Each was armed with an assault rifle. She raced back to the roof in time to see the thieves burst through the fire escape door.
"Going somewhere?"
"Shoot her!"
She stood there as the rooftop was lit up by automatic muzzle flashes until the magazines ran dry.
"Reload!"
Kara rolled her eyes. "Some people never learn-"
WHUMP!
The was a flash of light and a loud bang that left stars rolling in her eyes and her ears ringing. She shook her head trying to regain her bearings and looked up to see that the thieves were engaged in a vicious melee with a small figure in red hoodie carrying a compound bow.
One of the thieves produced a knife, another a baton. The other simply used his fists and feet. The one with the knife lunged forward, only for Speedy to grab the hand and snap the wrist.
CRAAAACK!
A knee to the ribs brought down the second while the third with the batton was tackled to the ground while she got on top and started to pummel him with punches.
"Why did you do it?! Who sent you?"
Kara could only watch as the red-clad archer kept punching and didn't show any signs of stopping. She reached forward and placed her hand on Speedy's shoulder.
"I think he's had enough-"
Speedy grabbed Supergirl's wrist with her own, pivoted her hips and threw the other head-first onto the concrete.
"Butt out of this, Supergirl. This isn't your turf or your concern."
She's good. Kara sprang back to her feet and blew enough breath to knock Speedy hard into the wall.
"It's funny, I always thought Red Arrow was a guy," she smirked as she used her X-ray vision to peer beneath…
"Thea Queen?!"
"You know it's rude to peek?" Thea hissed. "Duck."
"What?"
"Get down!"
ZAP!
A beam of bright green energy hit Kara hard enough to knock the wind out of her. She looked down to see that her cape and costume were burnt. She tried to get up, but felt weak, nauseas.
Some kind of Kryptonite weapon?
Thea drew an arrow and readied her bow as she aimed it at the attacker – average height, powerfully built, dressed in a tactical vest and a black-orange balaclava. In one hand was a smoking plasma-gun. In the other a katana sword.
"Hello Thea," Slade Wilson said. "Did you miss me?"
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A/N: I always felt that if Kara and Thea met face to face, it wouldn't be all smiles and hugs.
Next chapter: If Kara and Thea want to defeat Deathstroke, not only will they need to trust each other, they will need to learn how to follow orders when the cavalry arrives…
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