"Here you go." Vasquez said holding out a box of doughnuts to Supergirl who paced the control room.
"What are these for?"
"I'm hoping they will calm you down and you will stop pacing." Vasquez said. "You are unnerving everyone."
"Sorry. I just hate waiting." Supergirl said, taking a sugary treat. "And after what they did to Alex I really don't want them to get away."
"The same is true for all of us. But it shouldn't be long now."
"If Aptil is on the level."
"Like he said earlier, even if he was a rat, he'd need to cover his own tracks. That's why we left giving him the intel to the last minute."
"Anything from our mutual friend?"
"Not so far. But I'm not expecting anything until after the raids."
"Which should be happening now. Why aren't they calling?"
"Maybe there aren't any portals." Vasquez said. "Or ... no never mind."
"Or what?" Supergirl asked.
"Aptil used to work for Lane right. I imagine that squad would love to have a portal."
"You think they'll steal it?" Supergirl asked.
"No chance." Rose said.
"Something to add Rose?" Vasquez asked.
"Sorry ma'am, didn't meant to eaves drop. But there is no chance they could steal a portal without us knowing."
"Why?" Supergirl asked.
"I'm maybe, unofficially, watching the live feeds from the raid, including body cams and several aerial drones located above the power plants."
"Whose cameras are those?" Supergirl asked looking over their shoulder.
"Please don't answer that." Vasquez said. "But put the feeds on the screen in the conference room. We'll watch in there."
"Yes ma'am." Rose said typing away as Supergirl and Vasquez walked to the conference room.
"Not that I am complaining, but does anyone here follow the rules?" Supergirl asked Vasquez.
"They were all trained by Alex." Vasquez reminded her.
"So no." Supergirl said as she looked at the screens.
-00-
"Agent Aptil." Vasquez greeted as he was shown into the briefing room a few hours later.
"Agent Vasquez, Supergirl." He replied.
"How did it go?" Vasquez asked.
"I have a suspicion you know all of this already. But I will pretend you don't as if you did it would open up a whole can of worms." Aptil said as he passed them some files. "We raided all the locations you gave us and you were right, the power plants were hiding large factories that were generating arms and electronics. Including those contact lenses that are controlling teenagers. The good news, I guess, is there weren't any portals. Or at least, none we could find. You are welcome to send some teams in and look."
"Thanks, I'll send some teams over after this." Vasquez said.
"What about linking Sloane Syndicate to Kai?" Supergirl asked.
"That's where it gets tricky. They have been set up in a very clever way so Sloane Syndicate is effectively acting like a bank. They are legally separate from the companies they finance which means we can't, with the evidence we have, go after Sloane Syndicate. But rest assured we are looking at every company connected to Sloane Syndicate. Even if we have to take them out one by one, we will get to the truth"
"And Kai?" Vasquez asked.
"For now we can't be sure we got all of Kai, but we got a lot of it and we will be conducting thorough investigations. We also raided the transport hub and have seized over a hundred vehicles. We will be trying to figure out their normal routes from CCTV and then raid the premises they are connected to. But something tells me they will have scattered by then. I will share what we find, but on the understanding you don't interfere."
"Of course." Vasquez said.
"Any idea who ordered the Director's kidnapping?" Supergirl asked.
"No. The men you detained aren't saying anything. After what happened before I don't want to risk a telepath. So for now we are assuming the best route to the truth comes from the people we arrested today or the computers we took. They are all being cloned and we will give you copies."
-00-
"How did it go?" Alex asked when Kara entered her room.
"Good news bad news. They raided over twenty locations in the city and uncovered huge numbers of weapons and electronics, including hundreds of those contact lenses. They also raided the power plants and found they had been turned into factories. But no portals were found." Kara explained as she noticed Chewie lying on the bed next to Alex.
"So what's the bad news?"
"Sloane Syndicate. Although the power plants are owned by them, Joiner was right they are allegedly run independently, technically they are separate legal entities so we can't go after Sloane Syndicate."
"Like that is going to stop me." Alex said darkly.
"Or the DEO as it turns out. They are all looking for a link." Kara said. "How are you doing?"
"I'm okay." Alex said.
"Really? Because you look terrible." Kara pointed out.
"Well I hate sitting round doing nothing."
"You aren't doing nothing. You are recovering, which is what the kids need more than anything."
"That's the other problem, I am pretty sure the kids are avoiding me."
"They don't want to disturb you. They just want you to get better." Kara said. "They naively believe you are here sleeping, not plotting revenge."
"Well if it weren't for Chewie I would have died of boredom." Alex said.
"What is Chewie doing up here?" Kara asked.
"Alex thought I might want company."
"Well why don't I stay with you until you fall to sleep?" Kara asked.
"Because I am not five."
"You are really grouchy." Kara pointed out as she sat down on Alex's bed. "But that isn't going to deter me."
-00-
"Why are you still awake?" Alex asked her daughter as she looked into her room in the early hours of the morning.
"Why aren't you in bed?" Kara countered.
"No one specified which bed." Alex sad stiffly walking to her daughter's bed and sitting down. So why aren't you asleep?"
"Not tired."
"Your eyes say different. How are you doing?"
"I'm not the one who was tortured."
"I'm okay."
"They could have killed you."
"You and your brother will always be my priority." Alex said. "I will do anything to protect you two."
"I know. But we need you." The teenager reminded her.
"I got out of there because you did what I asked and that allowed Kara to find you and me." Alex reminded her.
"Leaving you didn't feel like the right thing to do." The teenager said looking upset.
"Well it was. You got your brother to safety. I'm proud of you." Alex said hugging her. "But I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"It wasn't your fault. Alex told me they took us to make uncle James do things for them."
"That's true. But when I was there they figured out who I was and told me they would have come after me anyway." Alex said as the door opened.
"MJ? What's wrong?" Alex asked.
"I wanted to talk to Kara. Why are you in here?"
"I was just talking to your sister." Alex said before repeating her earlier question. "What's wrong?"
"I had a nightmare." MJ confessed.
"Come here." Alex said. As MJ walked towards the pair Alex said. "You are both safe now."
Seeing them nod she added. "You both need to sleep."
"There's something else I need." MJ said.
"What?" Alex asked.
"I need some new shoes." MJ said.
"You are such a girl." His sister replied.
"You're the one who made me rip the laces out."
"To stop the vent from falling." Kara said. "But you did need new shoes. Those stank." She added causing her brother to grab a cushion off her desk chair and throw it at her.
"What's going on in here?" Eliza asked entering the room. "Alex why aren't you in bed?"
"Technically I am." Alex pointed out, but on seeing her mother's expression she decided retreat was the best choice. Carefully she hugged her daughter once more and said. "Get some sleep." She then carefully got to her feet and hugged her son.
"You going to be able to sleep?" She asked. When he nodded she kissed his head and said. "I love you."
"Love you too." He said before leaving the room.