Chapter 16
"To family!" Kara exclaimed as she raised her glass of champagne, the others following suit. Hank, Astra, Eliza, Alex and Win were gathered in Leo and Kara's loft for a celebratory dinner. It had been a hectic time so far ever since Kara became Supergirl and there was a lot for all of them to be grateful for. This was also a special congratulatory dinner since Kara was getting a promotion at CatCo.
"Stronger together." Leo added, pulling Kara flush against him, his arms wrapping around her waist as she leaned back against his body.
"It's nice to have something good to look forward too despite all that's been happening. Was it really necessary for you to out yourself like that to the President?" Alex asked. Leo had convinced Hank that he should come clean and get the president's backing for him to officially take over the post as the DEO.
"I wouldn't worry about it Alex. The investigation is just a formality. Thanks to someone in this room who is more well connected than I am even as the head of the DEO, it will just be a simple inquiry to make sure that I'm not part of some hostile alien takeover of earth or something of that sort." Hank said calmly. He and Leo had already worked out a concrete case for him and Leo had even called in some favors from some pretty big people to make sure everything would go the way they wanted.
"Don't sweat the details Alex. Pretty soon Hank or rather J'onn, will become the official director of the DEO. This will really help matters along. Speaking of which, how's the move going?" Leo asked Hank.
"We're done actually. The new DEO building within National City is ready." Hank replied.
"Wait, there's a new DEO HQ? Is that why you guys haven't wanted me to come over for a while? Because you were moving?" Kara asked.
"Among other things. This was supposed to be a surprise. One of the points raised during the investigation was our involvement into non-alien cases. And since we are technically part of or considered a sister organization to the FBI, the president felt that we should have a more active hand in National City's other cases as well. Basically, the big stuff like Livewire, Silver Banshee anything else of that caliber, will soon fall to the DEO as well." Alex said. Kara looked at Hank expectantly.
"That's right. We can now formally help you in threats against National City. Within reason of course. We're still supposed to remain a secret." Hank said.
"That reminds me. How's James holding up? Last I heard he and Lucy finally decided that they weren't working out. She moved back to Metropolis didn't she?" Leo asked.
"He just needs some space and time but they both parted ways amiably. Cat was a little miffed that she lost a legal counsel that she could actually stand." Kara answered. Their time was interrupted though when they heard a loud noise coming from outside the apartment. They all rushed to the window and saw that it was a pod flying in the sky.
"That can't be good." Alex said. Kara, Leo and Hank nodded at each other, changing and rushing out of the loft to chase after the pod.
"We need to stop it or we could have massive casualties." Hank said as they flew after the pod. Leo was flying right beside them using the Rocket Fullbottle.
"I've got it." Kara said, increasing her speed to close the distance between her and the pod. Just as she was about to touch it though, she was stopped by a force field. The pod flew past some construction supports, sending two workers plummeting towards the ground.
"Me and J'onn have this. Kara, go!" Leo said, turning to look at J'onn who nodded. J'onn saved one of the workers while Leo saved the other. Kara saw that the pod was about to impact a crane and quickly pulled ahead of it so she could push the crane away. The pod finally came to a stop some distance away in a clearing as it landed.
"This looks oddly similar to your pod Kara." Leo remarked.
"It's kryptonian that's for sure." Astra remarked.
"We need to see if there is anyone inside!" Kara exclaimed Leo, feeling her excitement at the chance that there might be another survivor from Krypton.
"Careful Supergirl. We don't know if whoever is in the pod is friendly." J'onn warned. Kara ripped off the pod and they found a brown haired young man unconscious inside the pod.
"We should probably get him looked at back at the DEO." Leo said. Astra and Kara agreed, hefting the man out of the pod together and slinging his arms over their shoulders. Leo led the way towards the new headquarters. Once they landed, the unconscious alien was taken away to be examined by a few agents.
"This is a nice place. And so much nearer to work too." Kara remarked.
"We've actually had this facility for some time. Just never used it as a main headquarters. I think it's a nice change. A new beginning for the DEO." Leo added. Seeing as there was nothing left for them to do, the pair headed back home to get some sleep.
"How's our patient doing?" Leo asked Alex after she stepped out of the room where the unconscious alien had been brought to.
"He's stable but still out cold. We're just about to run some tests and collect some samples, see if we can ID him." Alex said. Kara and Leo followed after her while Astra said she didn't to go check something on the database. They were surprised to see Winn there. Alex tried to take a sample of blood from the alien but the needle broke when it came into contact with his skin.
"That proves his from krypton." Kara said.
"Not necessarily. There are a lot of other races that have the same hard exterior you do love." Leo explained.
"Yes. This only proves that he's not human and could be dangerous." Hank pointed out.
"Sir, I would like to have Winn help out in the investigation. he can analyze the ship's telemetry. He can read kryptonian after all." Alex suggested.
"I was bored so I thought I would pick up a new language. So, space talk." Winn said.
"You want to prove yourself Mr. Schott? Find out something my team of highly trained alien experts can't." Hank challenged.
"Challenge accepted." Winn said. Hank gave a smirk and led Winn to where they were keeping the pod.
"We'll find out what he is Kara. I just want to say that you shouldn't get your hopes up. I think your Aunt knows something about our guest and her research is just to serve as a confirmation. She recognized him. It was only for the briefest moments but it seemed like she knew him somehow. And not in a good way." Leo warned, wrapping and arm around her shoulder and drawing her close.
"I know. I noticed it too. It's just that, if he really does turn out from Krypton, even if there's like a 1 in a 1000 chance of that, it makes me really happy. To know that someone else made it out." Kara said, Leo placed a kiss on the top of her head, leading her out of the DEO building and towards his car.
"We should get ready for the venture launch. It's happening in a few hours. What do you feel like having?" Leo asked.
"I totally forgot about that. Do you think we could get potstickers and pizza?" Kara asked.
"Of course, love. Anything you want." Leo replied, giving her a kiss before they settled into the car and Leo drove off.
"Wherever they are, we can only hope that they are watching this." the news anchor said. The venture had successfully launched however while they were cruising over earth, one of the engines burned out and the ship was currently hurtling towards earth.
"Let's go. Astra's on route." Leo said, already in his Rogue form while Kara's suit materialized around her. Leo used the Rocket Fullbottle to fly next to Kara, the two reaching the venture at the same time Astra did.
"I'll try and stem the fire, see if we can give the venture some control over their descent. Kara, see if you can slow the ship down. Astra, you help her from the back of the ship, help to guide the ship to a safe landing." Leo said, coming up with a plan to make sure the Venture reached the ground safely. Kara and Astra nodded, moving to take their individual positions. Kara pushed against the front of the ship trying to slow it down while Astra pulled from the back, to help slow it down and guide it to a safe landing. Leo flew behind the damaged engine, pulling out the Nebulasteam Gun and the Fire Engine Fullbottle. Using both, he was able to successfully extinguish the engine fire and the hull breach. He then went to join Kara at the front of the plane, drawing as much power from the Jet Fullbottle as he could.
"You three look like you could use an extra set of hands." Clark said as he flew in next to Kara.
"Hey cousin. We could use some extra help here." Kara said. Clark nodded and went to join Astra at the rear of the ship. With the four heroes working together, they were able to land the Venture safely on the ground.
"I usually say hi." Kara said, gesturing to the three cyclists that happened to be on the road near to where they had grounded the venture.
"So do I." Clark said with a smile. The four heroes waved at the cyclist.
"Wow it's Supergirl and Build!" one of the cyclist exclaimed.
"And Superman and Powerwoman too!" Another one added.
"We should be heading back." Leo said, taking out the Phoenix Fullbottle and inserting into the Nebulasteam Gun. Flames burst out of his armor before he took to the skies in the form of a flaming bird.
"Show off." Kara muttered before taking to the air, Clark and Astra following behind her. The four heroes landed at the new DEO facility. The agents were in awe as Superman landed in the building. Clark meanwhile was busy taking in the new facility.
"Nice place you got here." Clark commented.
"You know that offer to work with the DEO still stands." Leo said.
"I know. But I still can't bring myself to work for the government even if the DEO is a shining example of human alien cooperation." Clark said. Clark greeted agents as he walked by, coming to a stop at the main table where Hank and Alex were. Along the way Winn had entered his fan boy mode and started firing off rapid questions at Clark.
"J'onn, it's nice to see you again. I love what you've done with this place. Much nicer than that cave you used to be holed up in." Clark said exchanging greetings with J'onn.
"Nice to see you in town as well. And I'll have you know, I had that cave cleaned at least three times a week." J'onn retorted.
"Alex, it's good to see you." Clark said, giving Alex a hug.
"It's good to see you too." Alex responded.
"I brought him along to see our mystery guest." Kara said. Hank motioned for them to follow him to the room where the unconscious Alien was.
"He landed on earth last night in a kryptonian pod. We don't know who he is." Kara said.
"Did you try to use a quantum scan to determine his age?" Clark asked.
"First thing we did." Kara replied.
"And did you X-ray vision him for foreign objects like a cybernetic data core?" Clark asked.
"err... Of course." Kara said.
"You should probably go ahead and do that." Clark said. Kara agreed and scanned the alien finding, nothing foreign within his body.
"My translator just finished decrypting the pod's data log. Now, it seems sleeping beauty on his journey from krypton passed through the Sagara Bayell." Winn said, entering the room.
"The well of stars. My father took me there once. Time doesn't pass there so that's why he's still so young." Kara remarked. Astra walked in together with Alex who was holding a needle.
"I thought we already established that needles don't work on him." Kara pointed out.
"This one's special. I've seen this young man in the past before and if my hunch is correct and this needle manages to pierce through his skin then we should be able to confirm his species." Astra said, nodding to Alex who used the needle and managed to draw blood.
"So, what is he?" Leo asked.
"Daxamite from the planet Daxam. They were a sister planet to Krypton. Given that, it wouldn't be entirely impossible for them to gain similar powers as us. Since we can be harmed by Kryptonite, I researched the element that had the closest makeup to what their planet was made up of and that happened to be lead." Astra answered.
"Did you suspect that when we first found him? Also, it was just for a moment but you looked like you swallowed a sour lemon when you first saw him." Kara brought up.
"If he is a Daxamite, then I can understand why your aunt wouldn't like him. I read in the archives at the Fortress that Krypton and Daxam were involved in many wars against each other." Clark said.
"Early on we did fight wars against Daxam but eventually it became a simple loathing for each other as a species. The Kryptonians always believed in finding your place in life where you could best contribute. The Daxamites on the other hand were only interested in getting wasted and partying away. Of course, that was all a ploy by their ruling family to keep the people under their thumb." Astra said, giving a brief history of Daxam and Krypton.
"So, do we expect this guy to be hostile?" Hank asked.
"Doubtful. Daxamites who weren't warriors were useless party animals who didn't know much more than how to drink and have a good time." Astra said.
"Alright then, we'll keep the arrangements for him the same for now. Besides we have other matters to attend to right now. Namely investigating the incident with the Venture." Hank said, leading the group out of the room.
"We received information that the breach and failure occurred when the ship breached low orbit in space." Alex informed them.
"If something like that was going to happen it shouldn't have happened much earlier in the flight. You think it was a staged attack?" Clark asked.
"As of right now, I would say that's a possibility. Looking at the list of people aboard the venture, there could have been many motivators behind an attack." Leo pointed out.
"Maybe a mild-mannered reporter should make some inquiries." Clark offered.
"That would be helpful. We'll examine the craft itself and any other information we have and funnel it to you so you can have some focus on your digging." Hank said.
"Awesome. You can come with me to CatCo. Just steer clear of Ms. Grant, she's been pretty moody. I'll see you tonight love. Do you mind making arrangements for dinner?" Kara said, addressing the last part to Leo.
"Sure. I'll make sure that Alex and Astra join us too. You want to eat out or have take out?" Leo asked.
"I think take out would be nice." Kara said. Leo nodded and waved goodbye when she and Clark flew out of the DEO building towards CatCo.
"Shall we take a look at that flight info now? You might want to get Astra to compile all the information she has on Daxam. You know, just in case he isn't as alone as we think he is." Leo suggested. Alex nodded and the pair got to work on analyzing the data from the venture together with Winn while Hank went to go find Astra.
"That suit of yours is really cool." Clark said commenting on how Kara's suit could materialize over her normal clothes from the bracelet and dissolve back into normal clothes once she was done.
"Perks of having a genius for a husband." Kara said with a smirk before they go into the building and into the elevator.
"You know you really have this clumsy reporter thing down." Kara remarked as they walked out of the elevator. Clark had bumped into someone while inside the elevator causing them to drop the stack of documents they were carrying.
"That wasn't an act. That was an actual accident." Clark admitted. They walked into the office and were greeted by James.
"Clark! So good to see you again." James said, exchanging a special handshake with Clark.
"It's good to see you too. Everyone at the daily planet misses you. Lois, Mr. White." Clark said.
"I miss them too. But I really like living here." James admitted. Clark was happy to hear that his friend was happy with his new life. Kara saw Cat trying to catch her attention.
"Ms. Grant, are you okay?" Kara asked.
"You didn't tell me that you know Clark Kent." Cat said, changing her shoes. Kara could only roll her eyes at how everyone seemed to be gaga over her cousin. Cat got Kara to make sure that her appearance was in order before walking out of her office.
"Clark Kent as I live and breathe. Don't you just look all Midwestern dashing." Cat said. Clark gave a nervous laugh, adjusting his glasses before he responded.
"Ms. Grant, it's good to see you. It's been a long time." Clark said.
"No fault of mine. So, are you still seeing Lois Lane or did that fizzle out like I predicted in the office pool? No one ever sent me my twenty dollars." Cat joked.
"Lois and I are great. We're still going strong." Clark said.
"So, she's not still hung up on Superman?" Cat asked.
"You know I'd say that she has room in her life for both of us." Clark said.
"Oh, well that's modern." Cat responded as Kara started laughing when Clark realized his words.
"How would you like to go on a tour? Perry White was a fool to let you out of his sight. I might just poach you." Cat said, leading Clark away. Clark turned and gave Kara a wink, mouthing the word sway before following Cat around the building.
"Did Ms. Grant seem a little off to you?" Kara asked James.
"She's always been this way with Clark. She goes gaga over him. She sent him a drunk text once." James replied.
"That's gross. I don't even think I can ever get that image out of my head.
"Did you find anything?" Alex asked Leo who was searching around one of the seats on the Venture. They had analyzed the data and discovered that one of the passengers had pulled out at the last second. One, Lena Luthor was supposed to be aboard the plane. Leo had then asked Alex to follow him for a thorough investigation of the craft.
"The damage as well as location of her seat relative to the location of the hull breach suggests that this was the point of origin. Wait, I've got something. There's something strapped to her seat." Leo said, pulling out the remains of the device and handing it to Alex.
"Foul play? Someone targeting her? Or do you think that she was the one responsible? It seems a little to convenient doesn't it? She pulls out from her flight aboard the Venture at the last minute and the ship experiences a near fatal accident that originated from the seat that she vacated." Alex raised.
"We can't rule out the possibilities. I'll see if Clark and Kara can do some looking around maybe talk to her about her missing her flight." Leo said, taking out his phone and giving Kara a call.
"I'll have Winn see if he can find anything from this. We should probably also keep an eye on Lena Luthor. If she does turn out to be the target, whoever is gunning for her is likely to try again." Alex said once Leo ended the call.
"Kara says she and Clark will look into it. Maybe even have an interview with Lena. I think we're done here. Let's get back to the DEO." Leo said, Alex nodding in agreement and the two left the craft.
"So, she's either very good at coming up with an alibi or she's the target. Winn's findings on the device we found aboard the seat at the venture, revealed that it was designed to kill whoever was seated there. I need you both to help me keep an eye on her. If she really is the target, then the killer might try again. I'll call if we find out more. See you at Dinner. Love you too, bye." Leo said through the phone to Kara.
"Do we have any clue who might want her out of their way?" Astra asked.
"Far too many people. I can think of one person most interested in making sure she doesn't complete her intentions of changing the company legacy and he's currently behind bars." Leo said.
"You mean Lex Luthor? But I thought Superman got him locked away with several life sentences." Winn said.
"Never underestimate the power of money and connections." Alex remarked.
"We have a problem." Winn said, bringing up the feed of drones attacking the chopper where Lena was.
"Winn, see if you can find anymore drones within the city. Whoever is targeting Lena no doubt knows that we'll get involved to save her and probably has some sort of distraction planned." Leo said, transforming and flying towards the location of the helicopter. Astra close behind him.
Leo's hunch was right as the assassin had sent drones out across the whole of National City, opening fire on innocent civilians in order to distract Kara and Clark from protecting Lena. Astra and Clark were able to find all the drones around the city and destroy them before they could hurt anyone. Kara protected the helicopter while Leo shot down the drones that were attacking it. Kara checked that Lena was fine before the heroes collected whatever wreckage from the drones they could salvage and returned to the DEO.
"I've managed to find a trace on the drones. They're linked to a John Corben. An international assassin connected to intergang and various other factions. Basically, if you want someone gone, he's the guy you look for." Winn said, bringing up a file of the assassin.
"He's likely to try again and this time escalate it even further given his last two attempts were failures." Leo said.
"The renaming ceremony. He's likely to try and target her there. I have to try and convince her to call it off till we can find Corben." Kara said, flying away to find Lena.
"While Kara tries to do something which I doubt will work given what you've shared about Lena Luthor, we need to be prepared. Alex can go into the ceremony as an attendee. Try and stick close to Lena." Leo started.
"Corben's likely to carry out the job in person now that he's failed twice. I'll stick close to Lena and sound out if I get wind of Corben." Alex said.
"I assume the rest of us will be taking up positions to form a perimeter around the event?" Astra asked. Leo nodded and brought up a map of the area where the renaming ceremony was to take place. He received a text from Kara confirming that Lena was going ahead with the naming ceremony. Leo could feel her frustration through the bond, sending her feelings of calm and warmth. He texted Kara telling her that she had done her part in warning Lena and now all they could do was take the necessary precautions.
"We'll keep an eye on things here. Good luck." Hank said to Clark, Leo, Alex and Astra before they left the DEO.
"Everything's quiet. Anyone see anything?" Kara asked through the comms, hovering over one of the buildings nearby.
"No sign of Corben from here." Leo said, watching the event from his vantage point on the building opposite the LexCorp Tower. Clark and Astra confirmed that they were unable to find Corben nor any signs of what he had planned as Lena took the stage. Just as Lena was about to unveil the new L Corp logo on the building, there was a loud boom as an explosion occurred within the building and it started veering dangerously to one side.
"I have eyes on Corben! he's approaching the target!" Alex warned through the comms. Leo reacted quickly, leaping off the building he was on and using the Hawk wings to bring him to a soft landing before he rushed off to where Alex was.
"Superman, Supergirl, Powerwoman! If that building goes down, we're going to have massive casualties." Leo said.
"We're on it." Came the reply of the three kryptonians as they held up the building.
"This isn't working. We can't keep holding it up forever." Clark remarked.
"The main support of the building got blown out. If you repair it, it should be able to stand on its own." Hank informed them.
"Over there. There's some construction materials you should be able to use. Go Kara!" Astra said. Kara took off towards the spot her aunt had pointed out to her, pickup several steel girders before rushing into the basement of the building to find the damaged support column. When she found it, she used her heat vision to tack on the girders, serving as a makeshift support for the building, allowing it to stand on her own.
"Officer!" Lena said in relief as Corben dressed as a police officer approached her. Her relief quickly turned into fear as Corben admitted Lex's involvement in hiring him to kill her while he pointed a gun at her.
"No you don't Corben!" Leo shouted, cranking the wrench once, his right fist coated in purple energy. He leapt at Corben, delivering a swift uppercut to his abdomen that sent him crashing back into a tree. Corben groaned in pain before he fell to the ground unconscious.
"He should be out from the pain for a good long while." Leo said as Alex moved to detain him.
"Thank you for writing such a wonderful story about L-Corp." Lena thanked Clark when they met at a cafe the day after the attack.
"It's no problem at all. I actually want to apologize. While I've had bad experiences with your brother Lex, it was wrong of me to greet you with the same bias. I'm sure you'll bring good to the Luthor name." Clark said.
"Nonetheless, it was nice meeting you both and Kara, I hope we get to see each other again." Lena said before turning to leave the café.
"I need to head over to CatCo. I'll see you later Clark." Kara said before rushing out of the café to head to CatCo. She walked into Cat's office, giving the most confident posture she could manage as Kara Danvers before she spoke seriously.
"Ms. Grant, I've decided that I want to become a reporter for CatCo. I want to tell stories to help make the world a better place and to push myself beyond my comfort zone." Kara said. Cat didn't respond, instead pulling out a file that had Kara's original resume in it with the word reporter written on top.
"You know from the day I interviewed you, I knew you were special Kara. I see the hero inside of you and I want you to make me proud." Cat said with a smile.
"Thank you so much Ms. Grant." Kara said, getting out of the office and immediately letting out a cheer in happiness. She looked at her phone and saw that Leo had sent her a message asking her if she was so happy because Cat finally revealed her promotion to her. Kara sent her reply to him and then carried on with the rest of her day, her chipper mood making her seem to glide through the office.
"Mr. Schott it is with great pleasure that I would like to formally welcome you to the DEO as an agent." Hank said, giving Winn a handshake and a pat on the back before walking away.
"Congratulations Winn!" Kara, Alex and Leo said, giving Winn a hug or a pat on the back in Leo's case.
"Are you going back to metropolis?" Kara asked.
"I think I'll stay here for a while if you'll have me. We haven't really had much opportunity to bond. And I'd like to get to know you Aunt better as well as hear stories about my parents and Krypton." Clark said. Astra, Kara and Leo smiled at this, enjoying the chance to be able to strengthen their bonds as family.
And now we start on season 2! Again below are some queries. For some of you wanting the Sanvers Drama, there is a spoiler on that query later on below.
1) Should Kara and Leo have a surprise Baby?
I've worked out that this is possible but requires me to lengthen the gap between season 2 and 3 to about 1 year and 6 months instead of just six months. this is just a cute side of the story that I might consider adding in if enough readers feel I should.
2) Evolt or Mad Rogue and Blood
For Leo's earth X counterpart, should he be Evolt or Mad Rogue? This will have implications as if enough readers think I should do an Evolt then I'll push crisis on earth X back to post Reign.
I have come up with a new plotline that keeps Crisis on Earth X where it is right now, using Mad Rogue as Leo's counterpart. This plotline will then feature Kamen Rider Blood as the final Big Bad after the gang has dealt with Reign!
3) I'm considering secondary riders but they'll only come after Leo gets his Genius form. Below are the options for secondary riders. I would like recommendations on who they should be. Some candidates I have in mind include Alex, Maggie and James.
Cross Z Charge with eventual transition to Magma.
Grease with eventual transition to Grease Blizzard.
Rogue with potential transition to Mad Rogue.
Please do leave a review to help me with the above points! It helps when I'm so torn between which plot to use. I think somewhere down the line I'll do a compilation of alternates of where the story deviates.
Also I have decided to keep Sanvers together.