Chapter 26
The Present…
Miami Aquarium…
"What are you doing here?" Clark demands to know of the Kryptonian AI.
"Cir-El," Brainiac replies simply.
"I'm not going to waste my time asking if you knew about her existence because of course you did," the dark-haired hero says in accusatory tones. "Why was my daughter's existence kept hidden from me?"
"I can understand why you would be upset, Kal-El but you must put your emotions aside and focus on the very real threat Cir-El poses," Brainiac replies in a way that does not address the question of why
"Threat?" Clark questions that term.
"To the timeline. After our last meeting I returned to the 31st century only to discover that while I had been travelling Cir-El's presence in this time had begun to rewrite history. I traced down the exact moment of her arrival and attempted to intercept her before her first public appearance."
"Attempted?" Clark queries the word.
"Her actions have created a temporal storm. The timelines are in flux. Think of it like the eye of a hurricane with Cir-El at the centre. The 'winds' around the eye prevented me travelling any further back then here. At that point I decided my best course of action was to seek out your help."
"Help to?"
"Cir-El must be returned to her own time. From what I have seen she has already caused far too much damage to established events. I overheard your heated words with Ms Lane. That should not have happened. You and her…"
Before Brainiac can continue Clark interrupts. "Lois walked out on me," he points out.
"Because of Cir-El," Brainiac claims. "As long as she is here, in the past, I cannot attempt to correct the changes she has caused. She has acted selfishly and irresponsibly."
"Or like a child who lost her parents and is struggling with her grief," Clark argues.
"I am not unaware of emotions, Kal-El but it does not detract from the recklessness of Cir-El's actions."
"And does correcting these changes involve trying to erase my knowledge of my own daughter?" the young Kryptonian wonders.
"Again, I repeat my words from earlier, I understand why you are upset Kal-El but it was not a deliberate choice to hide Cir-El's existence from you. It was merely the way events played out. Her mother chose not to inform you of the child you had together."
"Kinda hard to do that when she dies…soon I'm guessing from what Mia has let slip."
"In fact Ms Rojas' death is the answer to the question you were asking about why Cir-El has been looking for Rose Wilson."
Clark starts to piece it together. "Rose Wilson…"
"…is responsible for Ms Rojas' premature demise, yes."
"Why?" Clark asks the question, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him at the idea of Andi dying. It's an unpleasant thought to say the least.
Brainiac seems to take a few moments to ponder his answer and considering he is a machine a 'few moments' in human terms us almost an eternity for him.
"You should know me enough by now, Brainiac to realise I'm not helping you unless I have all the facts."
"Very well, Kal-El but since I am discussing future events some details will be left vague."
"Fair enough," Clark accepts.
"Your upcoming confrontations with General Wilson will eventually end with him left in a comatose state for which Rose will not only blame you but her hatred will include all metahumans. She will seek to, as she sees it, finish her father's work and eliminate the metahuman species."
"So she kills Andi for no other reason than that she is a metahuman," the Kryptonian male surmises, a clear distaste in his mouth.
"You must understand that General Wilson has been filling his daughter's mind with his poisonous beliefs for her entire life. He has also been training her almost since she could walk. She is lethally dangerous, Kal-El. You must not underestimate her just because she is human."
"Mia has come back to stop Rose from killing Andi," Clark surmises.
"It is how Cir-El intends to accomplish this that should concern you Kal-El."
Clark looks at the Kryptonian AI with a querying expression.
"It is recorded in historical files that Cir-El was expelled from the Justice League for her attempted homicide of Rose Wilson."
Clark just stares at Brainiac blinking before he begins to rub his face. "I knew there was something Mia wasn't telling me about why she came back. I just didn't know what." He lets out a sad laugh. "I guess she is just like her mother. An Angel of Vengeance."
"No matter how disreputable General Wilson and his daughter may be, Cir-El has already caused more than enough disruption to historical events. You must stop her plans and send her back to her own time," Brainiac states.
"I notice there's a lot of me doing this. Where will you be?"
"My presence would only worsen the temporal disruption. Once Cir-El has returned to her time I can attempt a repair and at least minimise the disruption she has caused."
"Still have to think this would be easier with you helping," Clark reasons.
"While that is certainly an accurate assessment events must be allowed to play out as close to the original version as possible but worry not, Kal-El. Once this immediate situation has been dealt with we shall converse further."
"'We need to talk' is always a terrible thing to say," Clark says morosely.
"Stop Cir-El. That is your immediate priority," Brainiac says before he vanishes and time resumes its normal flow.
"I think the why can wait for now when the priority must be to rescue Supergirl, Green Arrow and Aquaman," Tess is saying.
"I agree," Mera says.
"Great. Glad we're on all the same page," Lois adds. "So what are we doing?"
"You're doing nothing," Clark tells his ex-girlfriend. "Mera and I will handle this."
"Excuse me?! Without me you wouldn't know where to look," Lois reminds him.
"And I appreciate that, Lois but Mera and I can get there in minutes. You chose not to be part of my life, remember."
In the background Tess shakes her head, tutting. Clark makes a face at her. He's not forgotten the fact that she is the boss at the Daily Planet and therefore knew Lois was back in Metropolis working and chose not to tell him. They will be having words.
"Let us depart," Mera intervenes before Lois blows a gasket which she can see the brunette is close to doing.
Clark turns to leave and doesn't look back. He can't have the distraction that is Lois Lane right now. Not with how deep in this his daughter is. Stop her, Brainiac had said. Clark's going to do better than that. He's going to succeed where he failed with Mia's mother. He's going to save her.
Alaskan VRA Facility…
Mia must admit to feeling a kinda cold satisfaction in her decision to postpone her vengeance for just a little bit. When Ravager murdered her mother she had been the helpless bait. The 2nd time they met, when Ravager had attacked Titan Tower, Mia had not really been thinking much. She had been too caught up in the moment. At the chance of gaining revenge. But here and now she can savour her vengeance.
In this little sparring session Mia is deliberately holding herself back. Stringing the psycho bitch along. Lulling her into a false sense of security. This time Mia is the one in charge of this situation and it is Ravager who is the helpless pawn.
Mia admits it feels good to be the one in the position of power. She deflects a punch, then grabs hold of Ravager's leg when she attempts a kick before using her strength to flip the silver-haired woman head of heels into the air.
Rose rises to her feet and pops a few of her joints. "Nice warm up," she remarks. "Ready to get down and dirty?"
"I sure am…sweetie-pie," Mia replies, using that term Ravager had used to her when she had been a child.
The two women prepare themselves…which is of course exactly when the alarms start blazing.
Rose looks up. "Well, it looks like we're having a party," she remarks flippantly.
"Sure, seems that way," Mia says blandly as she concludes that her time is up and that she needs to act now. "Do me a favour. When you get to Hell tell the Devil that an Angel of Vengeance sent you there," she states, her hatred pouring through her voice as she throws a punch in which she holds nothing back.
Elsewhere the rescue Oliver and AC plan goes a bit array when Mera ends up being captured in the same heating apparatus containment as her husband. Oliver ends up having to save the two lovebirds by escaping his shackles and then the 3 make a break for it when the self-destruct is activated.
That leaves Clark to find his daughter and get her out of here…and she's coming whether she wants to or not. He's not failing her the way he failed Andi all those years ago.
Trouble is he runs into General Wilson who is trying to escape.
"Slade!" Clark takes the opportunity to confront the man.
"Self-destruct in 90 seconds," the computer voice announces over the internal PA.
"I'm not gonna let you continue destroying people's faith in justice," Clark informs the older man.
Wilson pulls out a gun and aims it at the red and blue clad hero. "Made of steel, or just a man? You can't be both."
"Self-destruct in 60 seconds."
Wilson fires and the bullets, inevitably, do nothing. "So it is you," Wilson says, confirming what he was thinking. He then activates a security measure…and a kryptonite cage falls down into place around Clark.
Well, that's not good.
"Self-destruct in 40 seconds."
And that is even worse.
Back with the two daughters Mia is relearning what she should have recalled from the fight at Titan Tower and that is that Rose Wilson has an uncanny, almost superhuman ability to read people and therefore, practically impossibly, dodges the blow.
"I was wondering when you'd stop sandbagging me," is the extremely casual response from the silver-haired woman.
"Self-destruct in 90 seconds."
"Think you can finish the job in 90 seconds?" Rose taunts Mia. "Or you going to leave it to chance?"
"Where you're concerned I would never leave it to chance," Mia says hatefully.
"We met?" Rose wonders from the slight tone of familiarity.
"No," is all Mia says before blurring forward right into a cloud io blinding, choking, white powder. Where on Earth was she hiding that? Almost on instinct Mia reaches round, manages to grab hold of some part of her hated foe and tosses them across the room.
The superpowered time traveller than needs a second to regain her breath and her vision. As she does so she notices at her feet is what looks like an inhaler. Not bothering to give it any credence when the clock is literally ticking she moves to finish the job.
"Self-destruct in 60 seconds."
This time nothing fancy. She's just going to kill her. Mia picks Rose up and wraps her hands around her throat. She's going to watch the life fade from the bitch's eyes when she snaps her neck. Mia is so obsessed with her little revenge trip she doesn't even the little smirk on her opponent's face.
What she does notice, however, is when Rose grabs her wrists and slowly starts to pry her hands away from her neck in an impossible display of superstrength. Rose then slams her forehead into Mia's nose which makes a crunching sound before a superpowered kick is slammed into her midsection and Mia flies across and the room and slams into the wall. She falls down onto the floor.
"Self-destruct in 40 seconds."
"What are you doing?! I need to get you out of here!" Clark pleads with the man…and not just him. Dammit, why didn't he just go get his daughter. Because he has this inane desire to try and save everyone. That's why. Even people who probably don't deserve it.
Wilson laughs. "This whole place was built for the express purpose... of containing your kind."
"Self-destruct in 40 seconds."
"And your weakness was the hardest to learn. You see? You're not above the law. You're not even above me," the General gloats.
Despite his predicament Clark recalls Brainiac's story of how it ends between him and the man in front of him. If he can reach the man. Prevent that then maybe, like tugging at a loose thread, he can undo all the events that lead to Andi's death and in the here and now persuade the man to release him. "How can you be so determined in seeing us as the enemy, instead of working with us? Look… Let me save you. You'll never get out!" he tries to reason.
"I know, but it's worth it," Wilson says, truly believing it to be so. "To destroy the single greatest threat to democracy. No civilian in this country should be more powerful than the law. That's what keeps the order. That's what keeps us strong. "
"Self-destruct in 15 seconds."
"Shut it down. Let me help you."
"I'd rather die for my country than be saved by an abomination like you," Wilson says, all his prejudice coming through
"Self-destruct in 10 seconds."
Clark isn't sure what prompts him to do it but he activates his x-ray and is shocked to see, seemingly branded onto Slade Wilson's skull what looks like the Greek Letter Omega. A troubling thought enters his head in the few seconds he has left. "You asked me a question. I guess you'll get your answer. I am man... and steel," he says just as the facility explodes around them. He closes his eyes and just has to trust to faith that Mia can survive this. Still he can't help but feel like he has once again failed the Rojas family.
"You know there are some side-benefits to temporarily having your freak powers," Rose chuckles.
From her position on the floor Mia glares at her, wishing she had inherited her father's heat vision. She picks herself up just as Rose moves in to attack her and slams powerful punches into Mia's face.
Mia manages to grab an arm and throw Rose down. Tries to slam her knee down on Rose's face but her foe is too quick to get out the way and slams a kick into Mia's side.
"Self-destruct in 15 seconds."
Rose kips up. "Lights out, honey!" she gloats…prematurely as Mia brings her wrists together and the hidden wrist guards transform into the Amazonian bracers Mia had received as a 'Graduation Gift' after she completed her training on Themyscria.
Rose swears and curses as the bones in her fist audibly break on contact with the magically endowed bracers.
"Self-destruct in 10 seconds."
"Hey Rose! Guess what. I really have been sandbagging you!" Mia advises, mere moments before she brings her hands together in front of her and unleashes a powerful blast of energy that strikes Rose directly on the left-hand side of her face causing the silver-haired woman to scream in agony as she covers over her eye with her hands.
It is the last image Mia sees before the two are engulfed in fire…
The Future…
The Watchtower…
The day after the attack on Titan Tower had been repulsed and the villains defeated, Mia finds herself once more in front of the most senior members of the Justice League. Wonder Woman. Batman. Flash. Martian Manhunter. Red Tornado. Green Lantern.
Conner had just finished debriefing them on yesterday's events. He had been calm and precise. Not giving away how he felt but just reiterating the facts.
"Supergirl," Wonder Woman addresses the young superhero. "Do you have anything to add?"
"No."
"Then you do not seek to deny that you attempted to kill Ravager?"
"No. I merely regret that I was stopped," she says, glaring at her brother. She looks up to find a lot of disappointed expressions aimed at her. Mia shows nothing but defiance in return. Defiance and perhaps a little bit of contempt.
"Do you understand the weight of your words? Of the consequences that will follow?" Wonder Woman seeks to make sure the young woman in front of her truly understands the consequences of her words.
"What? That I finally proved what you all think anyway?" Mia says back in what is definitely contempt.
"To what do you refer?" Green Lantern asks.
"I have superhearing. I know what you all say behind my back. That I'm not worthy of my father. That I'm an embarrassment. Lets face it half of you wish I didn't exist because my mere existence sully's Superman's name. I'm the product of a one-night stand. A fact that many of you think dents the image…the memory of my father."
"No-one thinks that," Wonder Woman argues.
Mia looks at Batman. "Don't they?" she asks the bat-themed hero.
Wonder Woman looks at him. "Batman?"
"I have never said such a thing."
"I wasn't accusing you personally but from what Conner and Flash tell me there's almost nothing that goes on around here that escapes your attention. Go ahead and tell her what they all say about me," Mia challenges him.
"That is not what this meeting is about," Batman refuses to play that game with her.
Wonder Woman looks at him intensely as his words do confirm that Supergirl is speaking truthfully. That is something that will have to be addressed but not here or now.
Red Tornado speaks. "For the record; Supergirl, did you attempt to kill Rose Wilson, the individual also known as Ravager?"
"Yes. Because she deserved to die for killing my mother."
"And if given the chance it can be assumed from your own words that you would attempt to end Ravager's life if you encounter her again?"
"I will not stop until my mother is avenged," Mia vows, the callousness in her tone almost disconcerting.
"You realise you are leaving us with no options as to what we must do next?" Martian Manhunter asks of her, his tone sombre and sad. He had had such high hopes for the young woman after seeing so much of Kal-El in her but even he, with all his telepathic prowess, had missed the deep-seated grief and desire for revenge within her.
"Go ahead. Kick me out," she dares them. "At least I won't have to listen to you bunch of hypocritical frauds any longer saying one thing to my face while saying another behind my back," she sneers.
"You think it ends at merely kicking you out?" Red Tornado asks of her. "You have threatened to kill someone. We cannot allow that."
"Are you saying we lock her up?" Flash asks in disbelief. Moreso because he had seen the side of Mia that wants to do good. That side of her that reminds him of Clark. Enough to know that she's hardly a lost cause.
"She has admitted she won't stop," the android superhero reminds the speedster.
Flash wants to smack his head on the table. It's clear to even him that Mia is just hurt and angry and doesn't know how to let it go so it has twisted itself into this desire for revenge. He's literally seen this in several other people. People he's helped…hell people they've all helped turn away from the wrong path and channel their pain into something positive. "No. Absolutely not," he refuses to go along with this. "Suspend her I'll agree to but what she requires is help dealing with her grief even though she'll stand there and deny that."
Emotions flicker across Mia's features. Confused ones. She's caught between being touched Flash wants to help her to being annoyed that he thinks she needs any sort of help.
"Flash's proposal has merit but it will require someone to guarantee Supergirl's behaviour and she must agree to counselling," Martian Manhunter says.
Mia scoffs loudly.
"I'll guarantee her behaviour," Conner announces. "Plus I'll make sure she attends whatever counselling this tribunal sees fit to assign her."
Wonder Woman takes charge. "I'll put the proposal to a vote but it requires Supergirl to agree to these conditions. Cir-El. What say you?"
Mia is tempted to tell them all to go shove it up their overly-tight rectums but a modicum of common sense prevails. "Yeah, sure, whatever," she says before murmuring under her breath, "Bunch of twips."
Conner shakes his head, scarcely able to believe the turn this has all taken just in the last 24 hours.
"Then we shall vote and discuss the details. Kon-El, in the meantime, please escort Supergirl out and we shall contact you when we have reached a full agreement," the leader of the Justice League requests.
"No problem," Conner agrees before gesturing towards the door. "After you," he says to his sister.
Mia turns on her heels, her blue cape swishing around her as she does and the movement of her cape seems to give off in waves just what anger is swirling beneath the surface of the young woman.
Despite what has been said and the well-intentioned idea on reforming Mia this will be, in fact, the last time she ever sets foot inside the Watchtower and the very last time she is ever considered a member of the Justice League.
Author's Note: The thing with the inhaler and Rose gaining superstrength, if you know you know. If not it'll get explained eventually in a later chapter. Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews.