After leaving the restaurant, the Danvers sisters headed to the DEO. The recent rover attacks had sent Winn into overdrive trying to hack the system. Forty rovers were strewn around his station in various stages of deconstruction; the tech wiz had vowed not to exit the headquarters until he could successfully break into their network. Despite protests from the group, Winn camped out at the DEO for over a week. Alex and Kara were stopping by for their nightly check in to make sure Winn was at least eating and resting periodically (and showering, but that was a whole other issue). When they arrived, they were pleasantly surprised to see him arriving at a solution. They waited patiently as Winn typed away, playing card games to pass the time. Kara was quiet as she dealt their third or fourth round of blackjack, trying to decode Lena's actions.
The brunette could be hard to read, mostly regarding the subject of her childhood, but seemed pretty direct about her feelings towards Kara. After Lena's latest text, Kara got the sense that the Luthor regretted opening up to her. There was a wistfulness in "it's good to see you" that made the Kryptonian wonder if she hadn't totally blown it. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but couldn't deny feeling a little encouraged by the encounter. On their way back from the restaurant, Alex had given her some sideways glances. Kara was grateful that the elder Danvers didn't push it and simply entertained the silence.
"Am I good or am I good?" Winn finally announced, beckoning Alex and Kara over. Both gave him a celebratory fist bump as they approached. He pulled up a map bearing over a hundred blue and gray dots scattered around National City's grid.
"See the gray ones?" he began. "They're sites of past activity. My program detects five of those so far. And the blues are the ones with the faintest signals, which probably means they're inactive, but on deck. They'll turn red on the screen once they're activated."
"Alright, so the network isn't so huge." Alex said, encouraged. "We can definitely take these down just by planting low-radious underwater explosives in each location. J'onn, Maggie, and I can execute that part, making sure the areas are clear of civilians."
"Especially since these things tend to strike in areas of high activity. Like the harbor on a sunny day," Winn began.
"Or the pier when fishing boats return at dusk." Kara finished.
"Kara could stay one step ahead of us. Station her at the next likely targeted area in case they fake us out." Alex suggested.
"Solid," Winn nodded, then examined the screen further. "Now that the locations are all laid out, time to look for any patterns. Let's try sorting them in the order they happened…" He tapped rapidly away at the keyboard. Dates and times popped up next to each of the dots.
"They've been working their way inward from the bay," Alex observed, pointing along the map's edges. National City, a peninsula with a canal system running through it, looked exceedingly vulnerable against a water-based threat. "Starting on both the east and south ends, and now the north, too. It's closing in on the tech district."
"Edge Global, Spherical Industries, they may be targets." Winn estimated.
"And L-Corp." Kara added, a chill running down her spine.
As if on cue, a cluster of five blue dots by the southern harbor turned crimson, accompanied by a small beep.
Winn threw on an earpiece and Alex and Kara promptly stood up.
"Contacting J'onn and Maggie now! Alex, take the SUV. Should have the artillery you need. Kara, my algorithm identifies the nearby canals as the next likely strike. It's also close enough if they need backup at the harbor."
"Got it."
"And Kara?" Winn called out to her, causing her to pause at the railing. "Stay out of the water. Don't let them lure you. You ca-, er, we can't manage them on their turf yet."
Kara nodded curtly and flew out the door.
Supergirl gained altitude as she watched Alex's vehicle peel out of the garage below. Zooming toward the tech district's canal system, she was brainstorming anything she could text Lena upon landing to keep her clear of the area. The CEO obviously wasn't at the office tonight, but how close did she live? If she texted the Luthor as Supergirl, saying that Kara Danvers provided her with the number, then perhaps she could recruit Lena's help in communicating the message to the rest of the tech district.
As she neared the canals, Kara heard the group before she saw them. It was a man's voice, speaking a language she didn't recognize.
"Winn, record this conversation once I get in range. I'm picking up something that sounds alien. Maybe we'll figure out where these mer-people are from."
"Good call, I'll plug it into the database."
Six figures came into view as Supergirl stealthily approached. She instantly recognized one of them from her near-drowning incident. He was wearing sunglasses, which Kara knew hid purple eyes. Flanked by two other men and two women in a semicircle, he was addressing a dark-haired woman standing opposite them. There was something menacing in his posture and the way he leered.
Lowering onto a nearby roof, Kara listened as the woman spoke. It was a familiar voice, but hard to decipher in another language.
"Yup, it's alien alright. Looks like Nod-ei?" Winn sounded out through her earpiece, typing. He then sighed frustratedly. "From the planet Nodeisi…which, according to the system, no longer exists?"
"Lena?" Kara whispered in shock as she got a better look at the woman.
"As in Lena Luthor!?" Winn's voice swelled in disbelief.
Kara's eyes widened. It was undoubtedly L-Corp's CEO, clad in the same leather jacket she wore at the restaurant hours before.
"I have to do something." Supergirl twitched, ready to jump down there and intervene.
"Don't!" Winn exclaimed. "Assess first, Kara. For all you know, this could be a trap."
"You sound like Alex." Kara remarked, a slight tremble in her voice. Adrenaline spread to her every extremity as she watched the confrontation. But the blonde was trying to work out what kind.
One of the women, clad in an expensive-looking blazer and short black hair, gestured toward Lena with a laugh. Lena did not seem to share her mirth as she replied.
"Varför skada alla dessa…dessa…" She was struggling to find the word, eventually reverting to English. "...these innocent people. Why?"
"Looks like someone's been on earth too long." The other woman, this one with long green hair, chimed in. Chuckling could be heard from the rest of the Nodeis.
Too long? The Kryptonian contemplated, then the realization clicked. It actually explained quite a bit, but also left the Kryptonian with an entirely new set of questions. Lena was an alien. A Nodei. And apparently was face-to-face with her people in a not-so-friendly reunion.
"Lena's one of them? Really?" Winn caught on moments later. Kara could imagine his dumbstruck expression. "Well, fuck me!"
Supergirl shushed him as she focused on the the conversation the group had begun encroaching on Lena's space, prompting the CEO to back up until she was nearly up against the wall behind her.
"Your question is better left to the Commander, should you survive to meet him." Purple Eyes taunted, then started charging at her head-on while the green-haired woman lunged.
"Winn! They're going to hurt L-"
Before Kara could finish her sentence, a rapid sweep-and-uppercut maneuver from Lena sent the two Nodei sailing in opposite directions. The man landed in an ungraceful heap against a wall, his sunglasses shattered. The Luthor was already elbowing the two other men in their stomachs before the first woman even hit the ground. One of the men recovered quickly, but not fast enough to escape Lena's grip on his collar. She launched him into a bike rack near the water's edge, the collision producing a noisy clattering of spokes and handlebars.
"Supergirl, do you copy? What's happening?" Winn implored.
"Lena's kicking ass." Kara remarked. A faint smile crossed her lips as she looked on, impressed. A distant boom in the background pulled her attention from the spectacle.
"Disabled three rovers," Maggie's voice announced over the radio. "Civilians clear and we're on the last two. Winn, gonna need a depth reading on these before detonation."
"On it. Supergirl, keep us posted."
"Roger." Kara confirmed as she watched Lena spin around. A movement in Kara's peripherals drew her attention to the surrounding Nodeis who were slowly getting up.
The CEO was just in time for the short-haired woman's approach, catching her punch inches from her face. With a quick twist, Lena redirected the attacker's momentum, throwing the woman towards the wall and her injured companion. She rolled at the last minute, however, landing on her feet and sprinting towards the Luthor. This time the woman's fist made contact with Lena's chin, sending her stumbling back a few paces. Taking advantage of Lena's dropped guard, the woman slammed her knee into the CEO's side, then shoved her face-first towards the ground. Before Lena could make contact with the pavement, however, the Kryptonian had scooped her up and flown her bridal style to the nearby rooftop.
"Kara!" Lena gasped quietly as they landed, her arms around the blonde's shoulders as she got to her feet.
"Hey," Kara began with a small smile, then did a double take as she registered the Luthor's slipup. Lena clapped a hand over her own mouth.
"What? How did...I mean, I'm not…er-Shit." The Kryptonian knew denying it wasn't going to fool the Luthor. She was also keenly aware of the fact that Lena was still in her embrace. "And you're a Nodei!?"
"Well, I, yes."
"You saved me." Kara realized, her mouth tingling at the memory. It was Lena's turn to fumble, biting her lip as she tried to formulate an answer.
"Supergirl!" A voice below them broke them out of their mutually flustered bumbling. It was the short-haired woman. She was moving towards the water, followed closely by the other Nodeis, some of whom were still nursing the injuries inflicted by Lena. "How lovely for you to join us. I'm afraid we must cut this short, however."
The wretched green blasts to which Kara had become accustomed burst from the canal as the group jumped in. Lena was out of Kara's arms in an instant, diving fearlessly behind them. Supergirl watched fins form over the Nodei's feet mid-air. Lena Luthor was, in fact, an alien, too.
Supergirl wanted to go and help Lena against the other Nodeis, but Winn's advice, combined with past experience, told her she couldn't. Knowing that she would be more of a liability than anything, Supergirl focused on stopping the rovers. She pinpointed the first one close to the shore and jumped in. Upon submersion, Kara could barely make out the scuffle deep below. It appeared as though Lena was doing that water manipulation tactic to blast the retreating Nodeis. The Kryptonian would have to have faith that Lena could hold her own against her people. She had already proven she could with her surprising strength and speed on land. Kara could only imagine the extent of her underwater abilities.
Closing in on the rover, the blonde dodged the blasts, fried it with her heat vision, then proceeded to the next one. At this point it all seemed like a game to the Nodeis. The Kryptonian wondered how long they'd have to chase these merpeople around until they got answers, or stopped them altogether? But now she had Lena to help them figure it out.
Supergirl paced the canal after destroying the final rover, turning a golfball-sized piece of its hardware over in her hand and radioing Winn.
"Winn, rovers are neutralized over here. Lena's in pursuit of the merp- I mean, Nodeis."
"Roger that. The team finished off the rovers at the south harbor."
Suddenly Lena resurfaced, phasing out of her fins as she gracefully strode onto shore.
"Any luck?" Kara inquired.
"They scattered." The Nodei frowned and shook her head. "I have a few guesses as to where they could be. But there's got to be that Commander they mentioned, and probably a lot more of them. Believe me, Kara, they're toying with us right now. This was some sort of distraction."
"Wait, did she just call you Kara?" Winn asked worriedly. "How did sh-"
"Uhhh Winn, I'll catch up with you all later!" And with that, Supergirl switched off her earpiece.
"That's the headquarters." Kara explained, tracing the jagged outline of the rover part. "They're a bit on edge at the moment."
She received no response from the brunette. Turning to face her, the blonde noticed the anxiousness that had covered her features. She wondered if anyone had known Lena's secret. Judging by the panic in her eyes, the Kryptonian assumed not.
"Hey," Kara said softly, resting a reassuring hand on Lena's shoulder and breaking her out of her reverie. "Maybe we can just talk?"
"Yeah," Lena agreed, then sat down at the water's edge. The Kryptonian sat down next to her, taking in the clear night sky.
"Oh!" Kara exclaimed. "Should I grab my notepad before you start, or…" She trailed off, earning a playful push from Lena. For the first time all evening, the Nodei smiled at her.