"Hi." Alex said looking up from her coffee the next morning when her sister walked into the kitchen.
"Hey." Kara replied.
"Aren't you missing something?" Alex asked.
"Huh?"
"You've forgotten Alex."
"She's already gone to school." Kara said.
"If only MJ could be as dedicated." Alex commented before looking at her watch. "Why is she going so early?"
"Some pre-school chess thing. A big tournament is coming up." Kara said shrugged.
"So it's not that she is mad at you for cheating last night."
"How'd you know about that?"
"She told me when she picked Chewie up last night." Alex replied.
"Did she say anything else?" Kara asked.
"Like what?"
"What's bothering her."
"She didn't tell you last night?" Alex asked.
"She did kind of, but I was wondering if she had said anything else to you."
"No, she was only here for a couple of minutes. So what did she say was bothering her?"
"School. She's struggling with history and Spanish."
"Isn't MJ helping?" Alex asked.
"Well as Alex pointed out MJ doesn't exactly do school work." Kara said as MJ entered the kitchen muttering.
"Of course she did."
"Morning." Kara smiled at her nephew.
"Ergh." MJ grunted back.
"Shouldn't you be dressed?" Alex asked.
"Got time." He said grabbing some toast and disappearing.
"Maybe you need to give him more coffee?" Kara suggested.
"You want me to drug my son?" Alex asked.
"I wouldn't say want." Kara shrugged. "But he looks like he needs something."
"A more strict bed time and reduced social life would probably help." Alex sighed.
"So already for today?" Kara asked.
"What's today?" Alex asked.
"First day of the second meta squad."
"As ready as I can be for new recruit day." Her sister shrugged. "Why are you so excited about it?"
"Whenever there is a new squad there's always doughnuts." Kara reminded her.
-00-
"Morning." Vasquez greeted when the sisters entered the control room.
"Morning." Alex said.
"They are all set up in the briefing room." Vasquez said before looking at Supergirl and saying. "So are the doughnuts."
"Told you." Kara smiled at her sister.
"Proving ground ready?" Alex asked Vasquez.
"Yes. We are good to go."
"Good, then let's go start it off." Alex said moving to the briefing room where the six new metas were waiting. The second she walked in all six fell silent and stood up, awaiting further instruction.
"Morning." Alex said walking to the head of the table and sitting down, Supergirl and Vasquez sitting on either side of her. The new recruits following suit and sitting back down. "Welcome to the DEO. From today you will be based here and supporting, where appropriate, operations. However, what we do here requires trust and that you have to earn. There are no short cuts. So the first activity to help you prove it, is to train."
"Isn't that what we spent the last year doing?" One of them, with spikey hair asked. Seeing Alex's stare he added. "Ma'am."
"Agent Kepler, the last year has been you preparing." Alex said looking at the Meta. "Today is when the hard work starts." She paused, almost daring someone else to object. When they didn't she went on. "The exercise is simple. The six of you will go to our proving ground, where you have to defeat Supergirl. You have three hours to come up with a plan. We start at twelve." Alex said.
"When you say defeat, what do you mean?" Another Meta asked.
"It's simple Agent Dodds, at the proving ground is a cell capable of containing Supergirl. You have one hour to contain her."
"What resources do we get?" Dodds asked.
"Any you want." Alex said. "But if you fail, you will buy Supergirl lunch."
"And if we win?" The spikey hair Kepler asked.
"You won't." Alex said walking off.
00
"Sure you don't want to give them constraints?" Vasquez asked entering Alex's office a short while later.
"I want to see if they can think outside of the box." Alex replied. "Besides we will be monitoring everything. Plus Supergirl needs more training."
"Weren't you training her all of Friday and Monday and Tuesdays, oh and Wednesday?"
"Well not all of Friday." Alex said. "And while true she is getting used to the training. We need to mix things up."
"You have intel that something is coming?"
"No, just a feeling that this is the calm before a storm. I want to make sure everyone is ready when the threat does hit." Alex said sitting at her desk.
"So it's not that you are missing Kara?"
"No. Well of course I am missing her. But that isn't what is driving this."
"You sure, because since Kara left for college the training regimes have been relentless, for everyone."
"Well we have an unknown enemy with an unknown motive. There is no such thing as too prepared." Alex said.
"So I should prepare everyone for even more drills?"
"Yes."
"Okay." Vasquez said turning.
"But Vasquez-" Alex called.
"Yes?" She asked looking back.
"Make sure Ruby's team is on standby at the training ground."
"Already done." Vasquez said as Harris entered the office.
"Ma'am." Harris said.
"Yes." Alex said looking over to him.
"Agent Kepler has just signed out some Kryptonite."
"Well you wanted outside the box thinking with no constraints." Vasquez reminded Alex.
"Yeah, but with her suit it won't make any difference. Something they should know." Alex said. "Where is Kepler?"
"With the rest of Red squad, heading to the proving ground."
"Are you tracking the Kryptonite?"
"Yes Ma'am."
"Good. Let me know if that Kryptonite goes anywhere other than the training ground." Alex said.
"Yes Ma'am." He said leaving.
"I take it you will be observing in person?" Vasquez asked.
"Yes. I'm interested to see what they do." Alex said as she stood.
"You know it doesn't start for nearly three hours?"
"Yes, but I want Lena to check over Kara's suit. Let's not take any chances."
00
"Okay, here are the rules." Alex said as she paced in front of the new squad at the training ground a few hours later. "If I or any of my team call a stop. You stop dead. No questioning. Just stop." Seeing everyone nod she added. "Okay, get into positions we start in five minutes."
"Aren't there more rules?" The female meta of the group asked.
"No. Today anything goes." Alex said walking off to the command tent. Once there she asked.
"Where's the Kryptonite?"Alex asked.
"One click to the south. Dodds and Keane are heading there now."
"So they are splitting?"
"Yes. Three groups. One by the cell, one heading south to the Kryptonite and one has left the area at speed."
"For where?"
"I don't know. But they are really moving fast … wait they have stopped."
"Do we have cameras out there?"
"No. They are in a black spot." Rose said.
"At least they have thought this through." Vasquez said.
"Figure out what they are up to." Alex said worrying about if she should have given a few more rules. She then watched the clock tick down before announcing the start.
00
"Normally the new guys stock up with enough arms to start a war." Supergirl said landing in front of the first group of Dodds and Keane.
"Wouldn't do any good." Dodds pointed out.
"But this may." Keane said taking a green rock from a box.
"Is that Kryptonite?" Supergirl asked.
"Yes."
"You know it can't hurt me in this suit?" Supergirl asked.
"Unless, we have found a way round it." The meta said, his words causing Supergirl to pause momentarily and look for other threats. "I mean as rock, this is probably pretty harmless, while you are in that suit. But as a gas the suit will only protect you for so long, then you run out of oxygen."
"Yes, but even if you released it, I could fly off and then there are no time constraints. Well apart from for you." Supergirl pointed out.
"True. So maybe gas isn't what we are going for."
"What are they doing?" Alex asked watching the exchange.
"Looks like they are trying to buy time or negotiate. While novel, not sure it is working. It does kind of remind me of that group who just put sticky buns in the cell."
"Well this group took out Kryptonite which makes me nervous. Plus there are only two of them there. Where are the others?" Alex asked looking at the screens.
"They are all at the cell." Harris said before adding. "We may have a problem."
"What?" Alex asked.
"That." He said pointing to the screen showing a child getting out of the car.
"Why is there a child here?" Alex asked. "Who is the child?"
"No idea." Harris said.
"What do you want to do?" Vasquez asked Alex.
"That kid is clearly with them. Lets see what happens, but I want Ruby's team no further than one hundred yards from that kid at all times. Her priority is the kid's safety."
"On it." Vasquez said as Alex went back to looking at the screens where Supergirl was still talking to Dodds.
"Is that a kid?" Supergirl asked the group as she suddenly heard a distant cry for help.
"It is." Dodds said.
"What's going on?" Supergirl asked confused.
"We needed an advantage."
"What have you done?" Supergirl asked flying off towards the cry.
00
"That was quick." Cork commented when Supergirl landed in front of him.
"What's going on?" Supergirl asked.
"We need you in the cell. We can't beat you physically. So we came up with another plan." Cork smiled. "Inside the cell is an innocent kid. But there is also a small explosive device. And Kepler has the trigger. Kepler is all the way over there. You twitch the wrong way and they'll detonate. So we are going to give you a choice. Go in the cell and we won't use the detonator. You won't risk harming a child. Now you probably think we are bluffing. But you won't risk it."
"You're right. I won't." Supergirl said. "But doesn't mean things will go your way." She warned.
"Not sure how they can go anything but our way." Cork replied. "So in the cell you go." He said as Supergirl looked at Kepler.
"Now now. Do you really think you can use your heat vision before the trigger is pressed?" He asked causing Supergirl to back towards the cell, all the while looking into the distance where Kepler was sitting.
"There is a flaw to your plan." Supergirl said when she got to the cell entrance.
"What?" Cork asked.
"You believe Kepler is safe because any glowing of my eyes will cause Kepler to hit the trigger."
"Yes."
"The thing is, my heat vision is powerful. But it doesn't need to be. In fact something I have worked on recently is dialling it back. And the thing is when I do that my eyes don't glow. But what I'm looking at still gets hot. But it is more of a slow warming." She explained before pointing at Kepler.
Turning Cork saw his team mate in the distance shaking their hand in the air., the detonator long since dropped. As Cork looked Supergirl grabbed the child from the cell with Superspeed and flew her to the DEO HQ tent.
"What is going on?" Supergirl asked Alex as she entered the tent.
"No idea." Alex said. "Harris, look after the kid."
"Yes ma'am." Harris replied looking unsure. Alex then grabbed her radio and said over the link to the new squad.
"My office one hour." With that she left the proving ground.