It's easy enough to get all six kids gathered up outside of the cars. They don't resist when Alex or another agent asks them to move, they keep their hands in the air even as they trade concerned looks with one another. The two vehicles are searched and they come up with a bunch of camping gear, recently purchased by the looks of it, and a backpack that holds the cash that they have with them as well as a set of goggles and metallic gloves.
"Careful with those," one of the boys speaks up when he sees an agent lifting the gloves up. "They're kind of broken."
"You didn't fix them yet?" The girl that had been sitting with him in the front seat questions. The boy shrugs.
"I haven't had the time or the tools to fix them!"
"Guys, maybe argue about this when we aren't surrounded by government agents?" The boy with the glasses tells them, his lips barely moving as he speaks.
"We're not arguing," the girl retorts and then looks around at the assembled agents, like she's expecting some kind of attack. The six of them had yet to notice that Supergirl is there as well as she's stayed in the shadows intentionally. She doesn't believe that any of these kids will attack but she doesn't want to give them an incentive too by revealing her presence there. "But fine."
"Thank you."
"They're just kids," Lena says softly, still standing slightly behind Kara.
"They still broke into this place," Kara reminds her, voice just as low. "We won't hurt them, but we also won't take any chances until we know what they are up to."
Lena nods her understanding, watching curiously as Alex and the other agents continue to inspect the vehicles and occupants with kind but critical eyes.
"Did they run the plates on the cars?" Lena asked softly.
"Winn's on it, he'll contact us when he has something. The light isn't good enough here for the DEO's facial recognition but we'll run that when we get them to the DEO."
"You're going to take them into custody?"
"Most likely," Kara shrugs. "Even if they haven't done anything other than break into this place, which seems more and more like an accident, they're kids. We won't leave them on the street unless we have to."
"Still, I find it hard to believe that six teenagers have stumbled across one of Lex's old storage places."
"They don't look like - do you hear that?" Kara interrupted her own statement with a question, shoulders tensing. Lena watched as her head tilted to the side slightly, listening.
"Hear what?"
Lena's question was answered a moment later when something came running at the agents with a screech. Kara was in motion before Lena could notice the movement, moving with superhuman speed towards the space where three agents were scrambling to get away from the roaring creature. Kara stepped into its path, standing firm as the creature collided with her. Its claws swiped out quickly, not sharp enough to break Kara's skin but shredding a bit of the fabric covering her abdomen.
"Is that a fucking dinosaur?" Kara wasn't sure which agent had asked the question, though she echoed the sentiment. She could feel its scales beneath her hands, angry puffs of air blowing across her neck as the dinosaur growled at her.
Behind her, the six kids seemed to be in some kind of conversation that was half argument, half observations.
"That's Supergirl!"
"Old Lace, stop!"
"No, let her do her thing."
"Alex, are you insane?! That's Supergirl!"
"Gert, call her off!"
"I'm trying! She's not responding like normal."
"You're too anxious, you need to relax."
"Thanks, Captain Obvious."
"Guys, not helping."
"C'mon Gert, just breath. We're not in any danger."
"Say that to the armed agents surrounding us!"
"Hey!" Alex's sharp voice cut further arguments. "You can control this thing?"
"I can control her," a voice responded with more than a hint of defiance. Kara released a grunt as the creature, Old Lace she guessed based on what the kids were saying, renewed her efforts to tear her stomach apart.
"Call her off, now."
"I'm trying! I just...I have this issue with anxiety and all these guns around are not helping."
"Agent Danvers," Lena, finally finding her voice and the ability to move her legs, moved to join the circle of agents around the kids. "Tell your agents to back off, preferably before the deinonychus gets in a lucky hit."
"How does she know what kind of dinosaur Old Lace is?"
"Shut up Molly."
The whispered conversation is largely ignored as Alex and Lena stare one another down, the silence between them punctuated with the sounds of Kara grunting in exertion. Eventually, Alex conceded.
"Stand down, Agents." They moved in unison to give the group a wide berth and Lena watched the purple haired girl's shoulders relax slightly. "Call her off."
"Okay, okay," the girl moved closer to where Supergirl was holding the calming dinosaur at arms length as best as she could. "Lacey girl, let the nice hero go. She won't hurt us," there was a pause, "I don't think."
Supergirl heard the creature she was fighting release a mewling sound and eased her hold. Standing up straight and moving her hair out of her face, Kara looked back at the dinosaur now cowering behind the purple haired girl and looking at her with an expression that almost looked apologetic.
"Sorry," the girl apologized verbally. "Still working on controlling her."
"It's fine," Kara huffed slightly and offered the clearly still frazzled teenager a comforting smile. "Are you okay?"
The girl blinked at her like she was shocked by Supergirl's question. Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to formulate an answer. Before the girl could say anything, the boy with the glasses spoke up.
"We didn't do anything wrong."
"Well, actually, breaking and entering is against the law," Supergirl pointed out. "This warehouse belongs to a friend of mine," Supergirl gestured to where Lena was standing with a sulking Agent Danvers beside her. "She called me when she got the alert that this place was broken into."
"We're sorry," the tall, blonde girl who'd been in the bed of the truck spoke up. "We were just looking for a place to sleep. We've been on the road for a while."
Taking in their haggard appearances, that wasn't too hard to believe.
"It's okay, I understand," Kara relaxed her stance, lowering her shoulders and making herself appear a bit smaller by putting her arms at her sides rather than on her hips. The effect this had on the teenagers was small, but noticeable. "But I need you to come with my friends here."
"We're not going anywhere." The words were stated with defiance but also a little bit of fear. It was a little bit worrying, honestly. Six teenagers, their apparent pet dinosaur along for the ride, accidentally breaking into an old storage unit used by one of the most notorious criminals of the age just so they could have a relatively safe, out of the way place to sleep? Kara didn't buy it. There had to be something else going on here.
"You don't really have a choice," Supergirl gestured to all of the government agents around them. "But I promise we won't hurt you. All we want is to get you guys somewhere safe and make sure you stay that way."
The kids didn't really look like they believed her, but eventually they agreed. Alex ordered for the kids to be taken back to the DEO, gently ushering them into the vehicles. Kara moved over to Lena when all the kids were loaded up and preparing to leave.
"We'll figure out how they ended up here once we get to the DEO. You can stay here and check if anything is missing if you want."
"No, I don't think there will be anything gone," Lena shook her head. "They seem scared. Runaways, I think."
"I think so too," Kara rested her hand on Lena's arm for a moment and then pulled away. "I'll get the dinosaur loaded up and then meet you back at the DEO."
"Are you okay? I've never seen your suit torn before," Lena gestured to the diagonal slashes running across Kara's abdomen.
"I'm fine. I have a spare suit at the DEO and Winn can repair this one. Don't worry about me."
Lena raised one eyebrow as if to tell Kara that of course she would worry. They were friends, weren't they? Kara smiled back at her and then stepped away to help the DEO agents warily watching the prehistoric creature just across the way. Lena watched her go with a fond look, unaware of the eyes of the eldest Danvers sibling on her. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Alex spoke up.
"Ready to go?" Alex was looking at her with an expression that Lena couldn't quite decipher.
Lena nodded her agreement and followed ALex back to the car that they'd arrived in. A moment later, their small caravan of DEO vehicles made the short drive through the almost deserted city streets back to the DEO headquarters.
When they arrived, they were let into the underground garage without hassle, a gaggle of unarmed agents waiting for them with Supergirl.
"We won't hurt you." Alex told the kids again as they climbed out of the vehicles. "Just, try to do as we say, okay?" None of the kids responded, but Alex hoped she had reassured them even if it was only a little bit. Something about these kids bugged her, not in a 'these kids are clearly bad news' way, more of 'something terrible has happened to these kids.` That didn't set well with her at all.
They unloaded the dinosaur first. She was surprisingly subdued, Alex thought, and moved with a kind of grace Alex didn't know a dinosaur could be capable of. Shaking off that thought, Alex gestured for some agents to lead the well-behaved creature to one of the larger holding cells.
"We wouldn't happen to have any whole chickens on hand, would we?" Alex raised an eyebrow as a lower agent looked at her skeptically. "I'm sorry, would you rather be handling a hungry prehistoric creature?"
"No ma'am." The agent answered. "We'll get some food for her." The creature looked to the purple haired girl who nodded while making shooing motions with her hands. The dino huffed but followed the path the agents mapped out for her.
"Let's get these kids sorted now," Alex whispered to her fellow agents as the rest of the kids climbed out of the van. "Put them in the interrogation rooms, separately."
"Yes ma'am." Vasquez nodded at Alex and then turned to the kids. "Follow me."
The kids stayed silent, walking in pairs between the agents as they trailed after Agent Vasquez. The purple-haired girl and the girl with the pink cat hat, Molly, lead the way, followed by the shorter Asian girl and the blonde. The two boys brought up the rear of the group. They kept their heads down, Kara could see the tension in each of their shoulders, but they didn't react to anything until they were each directed into different rooms.
"We are not splitting up!" The brunette girl spoke fiercely as the blonde was gently directed to a different room. "Karolina!" The girl pushed against the agents holding her back.
"Nico, go with them." The blonde spoke. "They won't hurt us." Their eyes met, and a heavy moment passed between. Alex was considering stepping in when the brunette nodded her head and stopped fighting. "I'll see you soon."
Karolina moved into the room she was directed to, turning around quickly to try and catch a glimpse of the others before the door closed. She couldn't see anything except the black glad agents and the red of Supergirl's cape. She sighed heavily and turned back into the interior of the room. It housed only a small table with one chair on either side. All it needs is a glitchy light bulb, Karolina thought. Then, it'd be just like the interrogation rooms on those stupid cops shows she used to watch with her dad. With Frank. Who wasn't actually her dad but was the only father Karolina had ever known.
The blonde sat in the chair facing the door, wondering if things would have been better if they had kept driving.
Down the hall, Nico paced the room she had been placed in. She thought about taking a seat in one of the chairs provided but she had too much restless energy to do so. She didn't like being separated from the others, especially Karolina. Not after the last time they split up ended with Karolina severely injured and in the hands of the enemy.
Nico stopped short at the thought. The enemy. Was that really how she saw her parents now? How she saw her friend's parents? Nico remembers how things had been before. Before they knew their parents were in a cult, before they were wanted for murder. Before Amy died. They had all been so close. One big happy family, even after Molly's parents had died. Now, the family was fractured in two.
Nico had already lost one person she cared about to her parent's pride. She wasn't about to let that happen to anyone else.
In the room next to Nico's, Molly sat on the floor near the back corner. She was as far away from the door as she could get, desperately trying not to lose control. She could feel her strength crawling under the surface of her skin, begging to be released in response to her fear. She could feel the glow in her eyes and desperately tried to stop it. She didn't want to give up their secret, not again. She had already failed her friends once, when she accidently told the Wilders what they had seen. She wouldn't do that again.
Gert was placed in the room across from Molly's. She had claimed the chair facing the door, her fingertips tapping a complicated pattern on the table in an attempt to calm her nerves. It had been nearly three days since she last had her anxiety medication, and with Old Lace locked up somewhere else the panic was quickly setting in. They needed to get out of there, fast. Hopefully, before the nice ladies who found them realized who they were. Gert snorted. She didn't have high hopes of that actually happening.
Chase was guided to the room across from Karolina, his backpack confiscated. He stood in the back of the room, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He tried to keep his face centered on a neutral expression, just in case anyone was watching. They didn't need to know how scared he was. They should have kept driving.
Finally, Alex was in the room next to Chase. He had pulled the chair away from the table before sitting in it. His leg bounced with nervous energy. The people who found them had to know who they were by now. Everything was ruined. They'd be returned to L.A., charged with murder and kidnapping, and then no one would be around to stop their parents.
He should have kept driving.
In the DEO main hall, Alex and Lena surveyed the kids on the monitors.
"They're scared," Lena observed, "full of anxious energy, especially these two." She pointed at the screens showing the boy who had been driving and the girl with purple hair.
"Winn, you got anything on these kids yet?" Alex asked, turning to the agent who was busy scrolling through a feed on his tablet. He sent the feed to show on the main monitors along with the security feeds and then turned to Alex.
"Yeah, and it's not good." He handed Alex his tablet with the six kids' faces on it so she could read the information first hand while the rest of the group looked at the main monitor.
"Karolina Dean, Nico Minoru, Chase Stein, Alex Wilder, and Gertrude Yorkes," Alex read off, "suspects in the homicide of Gibborim church member Destiny Gonzalez and suspected kidnappers of Molly Hernandez. Any information is to be reported to the LAPD immediately."
"These kids are wanted for murder?" Lena asked as Kara rejoined the group. She had gone to help feed the dinosaur, as the agents were too scared to approach her, and then changed into the spare suit she kept at the DEO before she joined them. "There's got to be something missing."
"That doesn't make any sense." Kara said as she read the information on the kids over her sister's shoulder. "Those kids looked scared to death when we found them."
"Should we contact their parents? I'm sure they want to know where their kids are." Lena suggested as Alex turned to look back at the monitors, connecting faces to names. "I'm sure they're looking for them." At least, Lena hoped that the parents would be worried about their children. Assuming that the children had normal parents, anyway. It's not like all six kids came from families like the Luthors.
"Don't contact anyone yet." Alex ordered. "Not until we get some answers."
"Their names sound familiar." Kara pointed out, her nose wrinkling as she tried to connect the dots in her head, but there were too many pieces missing. "Winn, do we have any more info on them?"
"Working on it." Winn yelled over his shoulder before returning to what he was looking at on the computer. "They're not connected to it yet, but both of the cars they were in were reported stolen three days ago. I'll keep looking."
"In the meantime," Alex moved away from the monitors and headed towards the interrogation rooms. "Let's get some answers. I'm going to go talk with Alex. He was acting like he was in charge of them at the warehouse. Supergirl, Karolina seemed comfortable talking with you. See if you can get anything out of her. Agent Schott, keep us updated."
Lena's gaze remained fixed on the security feeds that showed in the kids sitting in their separate rooms. Kara was right when she said that something about their names sounded familiar. Lena felt like she had a memory buried deep in mind, but no matter how hard she thought about it she couldn't pull it up. After a few moments the sound of a chair rolling across the floor pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Have a seat Lena," Winn told her with a short smile. "And welcome to the team. I'm glad Kara finally told you."
"She didn't, actually," Lena accepts the chair and makes herself comfortable next to Winn. "I figured it out a while ago, I was just waiting for her to trust me enough."
"She does," Winn assures her. "I've known Kara for a while now and I don't think she's ever trusted anyone more than you. Except Alex, of course, but you've always been different for Kara. She's never defended anyone like she does you."
"Really?" Lena couldn't help the surprise that seeped into her voice.
"Really," Winn confirmed. "When she found out that you were on the Daxamite ship…"
"Surely she was more worried about Mon-El."
"I wouldn't count on that," Winn shrugged. "She never loved him like she loves you."
There's nothing momentous about the moment, but the way that Winn had spoken struck a chord deep within Lena. He sounded so sure, so knowing in his assessment of Kara's emotions that it left Lena reeling. She knew that Kara loved her, of course she did. Kara was a naturally loving person and she showed her love for the people around her in a thousand different ways every day. But knowing that she was loved more than Kara's own boyfriend? The man that Kara had chosen to share her heart with, however briefly? How could Lena compare to that?
In short, she didn't think that she could. Not when Kara wasn't sharing the truest parts of herself with her. Not when she had the shared history of being from another planet to bond her to Mon-El. Lena was a friend, she'd accepted that she'd never be any more than that long before she realized Kara's true identity. But, Winn had known Kara for much longer. He'd been Kara's closest friend before Lena came into the picture. Surely, he knew what he was talking about. Lena just didn't know what that meant for her, or Kara.
"Oh wow," Winn again pulled Lena from her thoughts, eyes wide as he read something off his tablet.
"What is it?"
"I figured out why the kids' names sound familiar," with a snap of his wrist, Winn sent the article he was reading up to the main screen so Lena could read as well.
Local charity owners and all around model citizens frantically search for missing children.
The Pride, a local charity run by five of the most influential families in Brentwood, recently released a statement asking that any information concerning their children be reported to L.A.P.D. The children in question, Karolina Dean, Chase Stein, Nico Minoru, Alex Wilder, Gertrude Yorkes are the primary suspects in the homicide of Gibborim Church Member Destiny Gonzalez, and the kidnapping of the sixth Pride child, Molly Hernandez.
Leslie Dean, the head of the Church of Gibborim, stated that "we do not believe that it was our children who did this horrible act, but that they were scared by the accusations thrown at them."
"All we want is for our children to return home safe and sound," continued Katherine Wilder, one of the city's top lawyers.
"If anyone has any information, please step forward," begged Janet Stein, supported by her husband Victor, a revered engineer and scientist.
"We would be happy to offer a reward for any information that helps us find our children." Tina and Robert Minoru offered, which was quickly backed by the rest of the Pride.
"Kids, if you see this, please come home. We'll never stop looking," Stacey Yorkes spoke through tears.
If you or anyone you know has any information about the six missing teenagers, please contact the Los Angeles Police Department.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of Pride and we all wish for a safe return for their children.
The article contained a link to a website with more information about Pride and the people who ran it. Lena skimmed through the information quickly. All five families seemed to be perfectly normal, even if they were more affluent than most. There was nothing outwardly untoward about them. On the contrary it seemed that every article praised the efforts of one Pride family or another for technological advancements, accepting religious viewpoints, innocents proven to be innocents, and even work on curing cancer.
"Okay, so their parents are rich," Lena stated blithely. "That doesn't explain why their names sound familiar."
"No, but this does," Winn clicked on a small icon that Lena hadn't noticed at first glance. The article that popped up after described an old business agreement between the Pride and LuthorCorp from when Lex had been CEO. "According to this, Lex partnered with them to fund some kind of advanced technology that they could use on their main project, building schools in lower income areas of L.A."
Abruptly, it clicked in Lena's mind. The children's names sounded familiar to her because she had interacted with their parents before. It had to have been at least a decade ago that Lex had dragged her to a gala in L.A., promising that what she saw would be worth the trip. Lena hadn't seen anything but Lex leaving the gala with a group of people that she didn't recognize. Once he had left, Lena had made her way to the hotel they were staying for the night on her own, an autographed photo of one Frank Dean her only memento from the night. She's pretty sure she left the photo in the hotel when they left.
"We need to let Alex and Kara know," Lena said quickly. Winn nodded.
"Already on it."
On the monitors, in the section that showed Agent Danvers talking with Alex Wilder, the Agent's tablet lit up on the table. A discreet glance and then a nod showed that Alex understood what was on the screen, though her conversation with the teen boy hardly paused. In another section, Kara was just making her to the room with Karolina Dean inside when she paused, cocking her head slightly. Lena could barely see another agent passing by handing Kara a tablet and then moving away just as quickly.
Watching Alex and Kara talk to two of the teenage runaways, Lena hoped they would get more answers soon. And maybe some coffee, too. It had already been late when she'd gotten the alert and now it was more accurate to call it morning than night. Lena didn't expect to have a chance to rest any time soon.
Alex tried not to jump when the door to the room he was in opened suddenly. One of the agents from the warehouse stepped in. Alex was relieved to see that she wasn't overly armed now, though he gulped nervously at the sight of the gun she still wore strapped to her thigh. For a moment, he regretted ditching the gun Darius had given him when they met to trade the cash.
"I'm Agent Danvers, FBI," the woman introduced herself. Her voice was even, not unkind but also not angry. Alex could tell that she was trying to be as un-intimidating as possible, though the effect was lost due to her tense shoulders and weaponry. Alex had grown up with a lawyer for a mom, he could recognize what tactics were used to get people to talk. They wouldn't work on him.
There was a short stretch of silence, the tablet that Agent Danvers had carried in lighting up briefly. Alex glanced at it, but he didn't see anything. The Agent herself had barely looked at whatever notification she had gotten before she was speaking again.
"You wanna tell me what six kids and a dinosaur were doing in two stolen vehicles in an abandoned warehouse?" Agent Danvers asked, leaning her hands on the chair in a non-threatening pose.
"Sleeping." Alex answered blandly, staring at his feet.
"That much, we figured out for ourselves thanks." Agent Danvers replied. "We were more asking about how the kids of the richest families in Los Angeles ended up in National City, wanted for kidnapping and murder."
Alex felt his heart stop for a second. They knew. He swallowed thickly.
"I have nothing to say." It was a weak defense, Alex knew, but it wasn't like he had another choice. He couldn't really ask for a lawyer. He knew if he did, his parents would probably be called, they'd come with the rest of Pride and all the running he and his friends had done in the last few days would have been for nothing.
"I don't think that's true." Agent Danvers tried to catch the kids eye, but he refused to look up. "I think you're scared, because you got caught in something over your head and now you're in trouble."
Alex looked up sharply at that, his eyes wide. He didn't say anything.
"Struck a chord with that, didn't I?" The agent was quiet for a moment after that, letting the kid work through his thoughts. She could read from his body language that she had struck a nerve. After another short stretch of silence, the agent spoke again.
"We can help you, Alex," she started in a gentle voice, "but we can't do that if you don't tell us what happened."
Alex's mind raced. The agent was onto them, he knew, but could he betray his friends? They had so many secrets, none of them his to share. His stomach clenched when he thought of the secret he kept from Nico, how it tore them apart before they had a chance to really be anything. The Staff, Karolina and Molly's powers, Gert's link with Old Lace. All their secrets balanced on the tip of his tongue, but Alex kept himself from saying anything.
"There's nothing you can do," he said instead. He opened his mouth to continue but closed it before anything more than a breath came out. He kept his head down, so he didn't see the way that the agent's gaze flickered to concern for a moment before she schooled herself again.
"Our parents are too powerful," Alex continued lowly. "You can't do anything to help us."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," the agent moved so she was sitting across from him rather than standing. "But I definitely can't help you if I don't know what's going on."
The boy remained silent, his gaze still on the ground. Agent Danvers settled in to wait, hoping that Supergirl was having more luck that she was.
Karolina looked up at the sound of her door opening, her fingers momentarily stopping their motions in fiddling with the clasp on her bracelet. She was surprised to see Supergirl entering the room, instead of one of the black clad agents she had occasionally heard passing by the door.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Kara said after she opened the door, seeing how the girl in the chair had jumped.
"You didn't." Karolina went back to fidgeting with her bracelet, her eyes glued to the crest on Supergirl's chest. Of course, she knew aliens existed before this whole deal began. That was impossible to deny when people like Supergirl existed in the world, but before it had seemed like such an abstract concept. Like, sure there were aliens, but not like, aliens, aliens. Not the evil kind who wanted to take over the world or destroy it.
"It's not actually an 'S,' you know." Kara broke the silence, seeing where Karolina's gaze was focused.
"What?"
"This," Kara tapped a finger against her chest," it's not an 'S.' It's a symbol, from my world."
"What does it mean?" Karolina asked, her curiosity peaked. She'd never heard of the iconic gold and red letter standing for anything other than 'Super.'
"El mayarah," Kara said, "'Stronger together' in Kryptonian." Kara took a seat in the chair across from Karolina, making sure to keep her posture as relaxed and open as she could. Karolina seemed to sink back in on herself when Supergirl sat down, her hand returning to her bracelet.
"That's a Gibborim bracelet, right?" Supergirl broke the silence that Karolina seemed to want to keep. The younger blonde looked up sharply. "Your mom's the head of the church, right?"
"You know who I am?" Karolina asked, hating how shaky her voice came out.
"I know your name, Karolina Dean, and who your parents are," Supergirl paused, "I know you and your friends are in trouble, in a pretty big way." At the mention of her friends, Karolina leant forward.
"Are they okay? Can I see them?"
"They're all fine," Kara waited until Karolina released the breath she had sucked in at the news, "but I can't let you see them yet. We need to know what's going on here."
"We didn't kill that girl." Karolina said, figuring that's what Supergirl meant when she said they were in trouble. "I swear we didn't."
"I believe you." Supergirl replied truthfully. The girl before her didn't have a mean bone in her body. "But I need you to tell me who did, so I can help you."
"You wouldn't believe me." Karolina said, her gaze aimed at the table.
"Try me." Supergirl replied easily. She was more than ready to wait it out. Karolina was so close to breaking, she could feel it.
"Even if I did tell you, there's nothing you could do about it. They've already gotten away with it. Just like they've gotten away with everything else." Karolina mumbled the last bit to herself, but Kara heard her perfectly.
"What else did they get away with, Karolina?" Kara asked gently, but the girl didn't hear her.
Karolina twisted her Gibb bracelet around her wrist as her mind buzzed. PRIDE had done it, they'd killed so many people over the years, they've murdered kids. They kidnapped Karolina. They turned their own kids in for murder. They sided with an alien over their family. Karolina could feel the emotions building in her throat. So much had happened, at such a fast pace. She hadn't had the time to process it before. But now she had been sitting in a windowless room for god knows how long with only her thoughts to keep her company, until Supergirl walked in.
"Karolina?" The Kryptonian asked again after the girl in question remained silent. Her bracelet slid around her wrist, moving slightly so Kara could see the slight discoloration in the girls' skin that came from years of wearing the bracelet in the same spot, leaving her with a stripe of skin that was less tan than the rest of her arm. Karolina was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize the clasp had come open until it was too late.
The silver bracelet fell to the floor with a clatter, but Kara was more concerned with the bright colors that seemed to slowly encompass the girl. Karolina felt a rush of heat through her body as her powers activated and looked at Supergirl with wide eyes. Supergirl had risen to her feet on instinct and Karolina followed, tripping over her chair as she backed away from the heroine before her. Her breaths came in sharp pants, her lights growing brighter in response to her fear.
Kara came back to her senses, relaxing her stance and putting her hands up in the universal sign of surrender when she realized Karolina was growing more terrified by the second.
"It's okay, Karolina. I won't hurt you. I promise." Kara could hear the girl's racing heartbeat. She inched around the table, making sure to move slowly and keep her hands up so Karolina could see that she wasn't going to hurt her. "I'm going to pick up your bracelet, okay?"
Karolina nodded slightly, her lights still glowing brightly as Kara knelt down and gently picked up her bracelet. "Does this suppress your powers?"
Karolina again nodded as she watched Supergirl examine the round metal. Kara took a step closer and Karolina's powers flared up in warning. She clenched her fists, afraid she would fire off a beam at the woman currently trying to help her. Kara backed away as the lights got brighter.
"Who do you trust to help you?" Kara asked softly. She knew the best thing to do when power got out of control was to be around the person who calmed you the most. She's been in this spot many times before, except in those cases she was the scared girl and Alex was the one helping her.
"Nico," Karolina answered without thinking. There wasn't anyone else she trusted more to calm her down, or at least not freak out that she was glowing so brightly.
"Okay," Kara reached for the door. "I'm going to get Nico. Everything will be okay, Karolina." Karolina nodded, her eyes falling closed as she tried to get her breathing under control while Supergirl rushed out of the room.
Kara located Nico in a second, after Winn directed her to the room down the hall. She pushed the door open and spotted the girl leaning against the back wall.
"Nico?" She asked, just to make sure she was getting the right person.
"What's it to you?" Nico asked, her usual snark coming out as a defense mechanism. Supergirl held up the hand still holding Karolina's bracelet.
"It's Karolina." She explained, watching as Nico's brow furrowed and her heart rate increased.
"What happened? Is she okay?" Nico asked rapidly, rounding the table so she was standing right inside the door.
"She needs you." Supergirl said simply, gesturing for Nico to take the bracelet from her. Nico did so quickly.
"Where is she?" Kara didn't answer the girl verbally, instead leading her to the room she had left Karolina in and pushing the door open for Nico. "Karolina?"
Karolina's lights had dimmed slightly in the time it took for Supergirl to get Nico, but they were still astoundingly bright. Nico held the hand not holding Karolina's bracelet up to shield her eyes as she made her way to the glowing girl.
"Nico?" Karolina asked softly as the girl approached her.
"It's me, Karrie. I'm right here." Nico reached up, caressing Karolina's face gently. Karolina nodded against her hand, her eyes closing again. "It's okay, Karrie. You're safe. You're not there anymore. You're here, with me. I won't let anyone hurt you." Nico continued to whisper reassuringly to Karolina, Kara pulled the door closed to keep any other agents from wandering in and stepped to the far corner of the room.
Slowly, Karolina's lights began to dim. Kara could hear her breathing and heart rate return to a normal level and heard the click of the bracelet made as Nico fastened it back on her wrist. Karolina sagged against the wall, her energy drained, and Nico wrapped an arm around her waist to help steady her.
"Karolina?" Nico asked softly. Karolina inhaled slowly, through her nose.
"I'm okay," she said, opening her eyes and looking down at Nico, "I'm okay."
"Karolina, maybe you should sit down." Supergirl suggested, reminding the two teenage girls that she was still in the room with them. She had been content to let them work it out on their own, until she noticed Karolina becoming paler by the second the longer she stood on her feet.
"I'm fine," Karolina insisted, though she made no attempt to move from the wall or stand up straight.
"She's right, Karo," Nico spoke up after surveying the girl, "you're really pale." Nico placed her hand against Karolina's arm. "And cold. Karolina?"
Before the girl could respond to Nico's statement, Karolina's eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed in exhaustion. Kara dashed to her side, catching Karolina before she could hit the ground.
"Karolina?!" Nico called, worry written all over her face.
"She's okay," Supergirl said in an attempt to calm the distraught girl. "Nico, we can help her. It's probably just a side effect of using her powers like that." Kara prayed she was right, and her words wouldn't come back to bite her in the ass later. Nico nodded slowly, calmed for the moment.
"We'll take her to Agent Danvers, the agent who found you guys. She's a doctor." Supergirl explained, adjusting Karolina in her arms so she would be easier to carry. "Open the door and follow me."
Kara carried the unconscious girl to her sister's lab, Nico trailing behind, while ordering Winn to contact Alex over the comms and have her join them right away. Her sister walked in moments after Supergirl set Karolina down on one of the gurney's.
"What happened?" Alex asked, pulling on gloves and moving to examine the unconscious girl.
"I'm not sure," Kara replied. "She accidently took her bracelet off and then she just started glowing. The light was blinding, and it only got worse the more worked up she got. I tried to calm her down, but nothing was working. I went to get Nico and she helped calm Karolina down and put her bracelet back on. She was fine for a couple seconds and then she just collapsed." Kara explained rapidly as Alex drew a bit of blood from Karolina and quickly ran some tests on it.
"There's traces of solar radiation in her system." Alex turned to Nico. "Do you know if her powers are powered by the sun?"
"I don't know." Nico stuttered out. "We only just learned about all this."
"Okay, it's okay. We can help." Alex did her best to reassure the girl, who looked upset that she didn't have any useful information. "Supergirl, take her to the sun room."
"On it." Kara picked the girl back up again, gesturing for Nico to follow her out. They moved a short way down the hall, entering the room Alex had moved their two yellow-sun immolator beds too, and placed Karolina on the one closest to the door. "These simulate the radiation from the sun," Kara explained as she turned the device on. "If her powers are sun based, this should help her recharge."
"Would it help if you took her bracelet off?" Nico asked, feeling uncharacteristically timid.
"It couldn't hurt," Alex entered the room. "Why don't you take it off for her, Nico? She'd probably be more comfortable with that."
Nico did as directed, unclasping the bracelet from Karolina's wrist and then clasping it through her belt loop so she wouldn't lose track of it. That seemed to make a difference, as Karolina's color immediately improved. Nico remained by Karolina's bedside, holding her hand, while Kara and Alex moved a little ways away to speak privately for a moment. Lena joined them a few minutes later.
"Someone wanna fill me in?" She asked the Danvers sisters.
"Karolina's an alien of some kind, with powers that are charged through solar radiation, at least it seems that way." Alex explained.
"We were talking, and her powers kicked in by accident. She got scared and over exerted herself." Kara filled in the rest. Lena nodded her understanding. She had seen that much on the monitors in the main hall and heard Winn's request that Alex meet Supergirl in the Med Bay. He was still monitoring the others.
"And the other girl?" Lena looked back at Nico and Karolina.
"Nico's the only one who could calm Karolina enough for me to get her here." Kara replied. "Do you think we should let the rest of the kids know what happened?"
"Yes," Lena replied quickly. "You both saw the information that Winn found. I don't know what Karolina said but it's fairly obvious that there's more going on here. This is just the tip of the iceberg."
"Agreed. We'll pull the other kids in," Alex moved back towards the door to the sun room. "Supergirl, keep an eye on them?"
"Got it," Supergirl nodded, pulling Lena with her to the back corner of the room to give the teenagers a sense of privacy. "Are you sure their parents worked with Lex?"
"Yes, but I don't know what they did together. This could still be one of his elaborate plans."
"But you don't think it is." It was a statement not a question. Kara could read the doubt written on Lena's face.
"No, I think this is something else entirely."
Somehow, that was even more scary.