Chapter 23 - Recovery

In a medical lab, Lillian Luthor stood at John Corbin's bedside and sighed, once again, as an assistant handed her another needle. She eyed her unconscious operative and shook her head in disappointment as she injected another serum into his arm to aid in his recovery. The DEO somehow obtained an energy weapon capable of bypassing his shielding and disrupting his kryptonite system. She needed to have a word with General Lane about this unacceptable surprise as well as the loss of another one of her agents after Williams' botched assassination attempt.

She briefly glanced back to Hank Henshaw, shaking her head again in disappointment.

"I didn't anticipate Superman showing up," Hank ground out, tired of Dr. Luthor's silent treatment.

"No, you didn't. But Superman wasn't the problem; he was easily incapacitated. Not even a not-so-super girl was the problem," Lillian said conversationally, pulling off her surgical gloves in precise, well-practiced motions. "Corbin lost focus," she said pointedly, eyeing him as she placed her gloves onto a tray a second assistant held.

Hank grunted, unable to argue.

"You told Lex that Corbin was the best assassin out there. So he used him and Corbin gets himself killed," she said, shrugging. "Not exactly the outcome your ringing endorsement would have suggested."

"Your daughter anticipated an attack," Hank ground out with frustration.

"Which a seasoned professional should have accounted for. But, as much as Lena tries to distance herself, she is still, very much a Luthor," Lillian acknowledged, knowing she would have been terribly disappointed if Lena allowed a lone assassin to kill her. "Which is why I gave him a second chance with our metallo project. But I am starting to question that decision."

"He is the right choice and will prove it," Hank said confidently. "Supergirl has not yet fully recovered and Superman won't be full strength for a while, considering the amount of radiation he received," Hank said, buoyed by the favorable circumstances. "With a coordinated attack, Corbin and I can easily wipe them both out . . . if we attack soon," he added, clearly enthusiastic about that prospect.

Lillian looked at him a long moment. "Do I need to adjust your visual cortex?" she asked curiously, causing him to look at her in confusion. "Can you not see he is in no condition to get out of bed, let alone fight?" Lillian scoffed, motioning to an unconscious Corbin.

"You've repaired his systems. He'll be conscious soon. I thought . . . ," Hank said in confusion.

"No, you are most definitely not thinking," she said dismissively, making him angry. "And what, pray tell, would be the plan be this time?"

"We would cause another disturbance and draw them out again," Hank said. "The Kryptonians are predictable. They are compelled to help people, even if they are not fully powered. Supergirl has proven that."

"Oh," she said flatly, adding flippantly, "well that worked out so well the first time."

Hank bristled at the sarcasm.

"The only thing Supergirl has 'proven' is that she would save her cousin. And even with limited powers, she managed to make a fool of Corbin, who was too focused on toying with Superman to see another threat," Lillian said sharply. "His attack was barbaric and sloppy. Far too sloppy," she said distastefully, knowing there were three deaths serving no purpose.

"You wanted to strike while she was weakened and Corbin did!" Hank argued heatedly.

"The strategy is sound," she responded coolly. "The tactical implementation was not. This is not the first time one of your plans and its execution went awry. You still haven't explained how a Kryptonian in a coma, or presumably recovering from a coma, could have managed to overpower your trusted Agent Williams, who was armed with a kryptonite weapon," she said, looking at him with disappointment.

When he took an angry breath, she quickly held up a hand and added, "and please spare me the trite 'no one could have anticipated' excuse," she said wearily and released a belabored sigh.

Hank stood there, nearly vibrating with outrage. "Who the hell could have predicted she would manage to . . . !" he spat, his bionic eye glowing as he took a menacing step towards Lillian, who sighed and discreetly pressed her bracelet.

Hank collapsed onto the floor, gasping.

"You would do well to keep your temper in check, Hank," she lectured calmly, curiously watching him squirm in pain. "Both you and Corbin allow your emotions to rule your actions, resulting in costly mistakes," she offered, shaking her head.

"Unfortunately, Lex suffered the same affliction," she admitted with a resigned sigh. "If only he had Lena's temperament, he wouldn't be in jail and the world would be rid of two unwelcome Kryptonians," she said wistfully, then looked down to the struggling man a long moment.

"When you catch your breath, I want you to rethink your tactics. We need surgical precision, not brute force," Lillian scolded and stood, tapping her bracelet again, causing Hank to gasp for needed air as the pain receded.

"Given your impressive DEO résumé, I had expected you to understand that. But from the blundering so far, I suppose I'll need to get more involved in the tactical planning . . . ," she said with a troubled sigh. " . . . which is rather unfortunate since my projects also require more of my attention now that my daughter decided to dabble in business and disrupt my resources," she added distastefully with pursed lips. "But Luthors are resilient," she said with a fortifying breath, and looked at him with narrow eyes. "I will just have to compensate for your . . . limitations."

Hank looked at her angrily, but finally exercised the wisdom of silence.

"Never forget, you are alive today because of the Luthors. Fortunately for you, I still believe you are of use. But Cyborg Superman or not, I will not tolerate incompetence or insubordination," Lillian said crisply and left the lab.

SGSG

Kara stared at her cousin neutrally, though Cat and Alex knew she was disappointed.

"Are you really sure, Clark?" Cat asked again as he returned her phone. "I have plenty of couches. Or I can get some beds for my yoga room with a simple phone call . . . ," she quickly suggested.

"I'll be fine with Jimmy," Clark said, though appreciated her offer. "He's helped me before when my powers blew out. And Lois will be here in the morning so . . . using his spare room is probably best," he said with a shrug.

Cat frowned.

Alex briefly looked at him with disgust before wrapping an arm around Kara and giving her a one-armed hug. Kara looked to her with a weak, thankful smile.

Hearing the sound of boots crunching over broken glass and the soft, deep "wow," they turned towards shop entrance to see James come in with a duffle bag over his shoulder.

"Hi everyone," James smiled, entering the office. The tall, muscular man turned to Kara with a brighter smile, happily blurting "Kara!" before dropping the duffle bag and quickly moving to engulf her in a big hug, displacing Alex. "You had us all pretty scared," he said, oblivious to Kara's stiffness at the unexpected contact.

"James!" Alex growled with annoyance as Clark uncomfortably blurted "Jimmy."

"You idiot! She doesn't know who you are!" Cat snapped heatedly, causing him to quickly step back from Kara with wide eyes, suddenly remembering.

"Oh! Right! Right! I'm sorry. Just seeing you . . . I forgot . . . I'm really sorry, Kara," James sputtered apologetically to Kara, clearly embarrassed.

Kara nodded in acceptance and looked at him curiously. "What should I call you? James, Jimmy, or . . . ?" she asked vaguely, briefly glancing at Cat, whose lips twitched with amusement.

"Ah, I prefer James," he smiled with relief. "The big guy," James said, motioning to Clark, "is the only one who gets away with calling me Jimmy."

"Well, you did go by 'Jimmy' for the longest time," Clark countered good-naturedly.

"Clark's my best friend and you are . . . a very good friend," James said with confident smile, prompting Cat to roll her eyes.

Alex's phone rang. "Hey, J'onn. What's up?" Alex answered, stepping away for some privacy.

"We identified the attacker as John Corbin," he said.

"Good!" Alex said, happy for a break.

"Not so good. He's reported as dead. He was a British Special Forces officer, who was dishonorably discharged and became a freelance mercenary. He was reportedly killed by Lena Luthor when he attempted to assassinate her. Miss Luthor suspected he was hired by her mother in retaliation for her hostile take-over of Luthor Corp. But there's no proof."

"Seriously?" Alex blurted in amazement.

Kara joined her sister's side while James gave Clark the duffle bag of civilian clothes and chatted with Cat.

"This mercenary was physically altered by Dr. Luthor?" Kara asked, having listened in.

Slightly annoyed with her sister eavesdropping, Alex said to J'onn "Kara asked . . . ."

"I heard," J'onn said gruffly. "There is no proof of that either. But the circumstantial evidence would strongly support that theory."

SGSG

"Did you run the video with the comments?" Cat asked James after Clark left to change the old-fashioned way.

"Winn posted it on the website. Given the deadline, editing was not as smooth as I'd like, but it's good. And it will be the lead story at the 10 o'clock news," he said, absently checking his watch. "Which is almost . . . now."

"Excellent," Cat said, making him smile. Getting a boss's approval was always good, but gaining Cat Grant's approval felt like a huge accomplished . . . because it was.

James spotted a TV in the corner of the office. "Are you close to finishing your Myriad article?" he asked curiously as he turned the TV on, absently glancing over to Kara, who was with Alex.

"Not as close as I'd like. And there are some . . . nuances that will need to be worked out with the DEO before publication," she admitted.

"You signed an NDA?" he asked with surprise.

"Several. After I edited them, of course," Cat said, adding unnecessarily, "Lucy wasn't happy."

James took a breath and nodded. "Explains the spin on the video and story."

"Partially," Cat allowed.

They turned to the TV when the news started.

"This is CATCO news, Tawny Bradley reporting."

The picture of the red-headed anchor shifted to a full-screen view of Cat's video of a ranting man with a green disk on his chest. The anchor continued in a voice-over.

"At approximately 8:30 PM this evening, the man shown in this video began a deadly rampage that terrorized downtown National City, killing three people, injuring several others including NCPD's finest, and caused significant property damage that will have Main Street closed for the foreseeable future," Tawny said as her picture returned with the video running in a small frame in the upper corner of the screen.

"This video footage was taken by CATCO's CEO, Cat Grant, who arrived on scene just before a federal response team that engaged the terrorist, who managed to escape and is still at large."

Cat smiled slightly when Kara stepped up behind her. Her smile grew when Kara placed a hand at Cat's back and leaned into her side as they watched the broadcast together.

The anchor continued. "CATCO's James Olsen interviewed her by phone," she said as the looping video filled the screen again as the audio between James and Cat played.

"Miss Grant, are you all right?"

"I'm fine James, but National City is not. There is still a violent terrorist on the loose. The police quickly responded but were unable to get past the terrorist's shielding. It appears he was using some sort of technology that protected him and gave him incredible strength and speed. The two Black Hawk helicopters that subsequently arrived on scene to help, managed to get past the terrorist's shielding with what appeared to be advanced, energy-based weapons, stopping his murderous rampage down town. But unfortunately, he still managed to escape."

"Black Hawks? Were they a federal response team?"

"That is my understanding. Once source said it was the FBI, but I don't have confirmation. If anyone sees this terrorist, I would strongly advise staying clear and notifying the authorities. Even injured, I would still consider him a highly dangerous threat."

"Do you have any idea what prompted this attack?"

"From his emotional ranting, it appears he was trying to draw out aliens to kill. If he is part of that disturbing anti-alien faction, one has to wonder if they actually believe their trite motto, Humans First, because three humans were indiscriminately killed and many others were injured because of this terrorist's tantrum . . . not to mention the massive damage that will likely cost millions of dollars in repairs and lost business. All-in-all, it was a horrible day for humans, and especially tragic for the families of the three dead."

The anchor looked into the camera somberly. "The names of the dead will not be released by the police until the next of kin are notified," she said and sighed sadly before shifting gears and looking to another camera. "On to other, thankfully happier news . . . the annual Waterfront Festival benefiting the Children's Hospital will begin tomorrow. Several notable guests will be entertaining us throughout the week. Brian Harris has a report on what we can expect to see this year. Brian?" Tawny turned to the younger anchor, who smiled brightly.

SGSG

With a slight twitch in her eye, Lillian stared at her large TV monitor in her study before lifting a glass of 1990 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti pinot noir to her lips and taking a sip. She sighed and frowned in displeasure.

SGSG

James smiled with satisfaction as he turned off the TV, looking to see if Cat was pleased. He received an approving nod, which he almost missed being distracted by Kara, who was standing unusually close to her.

"Effective, factual . . . and not a single 'super' or 'DEO' in the report. Impressive," Alex offered with honest admiration, glancing to Cat. "Lucy will be relieved."

"Yes, well, I can only take one perpetually disgruntled Lane in my life so . . . ," Cat trailed off with a nonchalant shrug, though very pleased with the broadcast.

"You highlighted my enemy's hypocrisy and undermined their credibility. Shrewd," Kara offered with appreciation.

Cat looked at Kara with a very satisfied smile. "I am the Queen of all Media, darling."

Kara looked at her fondly. "It is truly impressive to see why."

Cat couldn't help but preen a little.

James looked between them oddly as Clark came out from the washroom with a smile, donning glasses and wearing civilian clothes that Cat noticed fit him perfectly.

"You just happened to have a spare . . . Clark Kent ensemble?" Cat asked James, her hand motioning over Clark.

"You never know," James said vaguely with a shrug and turned to Clark. "Ready to hit the road?"

"Sure thing. Kara? I'll see you and Alex tomorrow and we can talk more about your training. Okay?" Clark asked with an expectant smile.

"Zhi," Kara said, making him look at her uncertainly.

"Ee rosh :bem," Clark offered a Kryptonian goodbye with a polite nod, causing both Kara and Alex to slightly wince.

"Ehrosh :bem," Kara corrected gently, causing him to pause, then repeat it back properly.

Kara smiled warmly with an approving nod, making Clark beam. Alex rolled her eyes.

SGSG

As they walked to the SUV, Alex's phone rang. "Danvers," she answered.

"Damn, Danvers! Cat Grant doesn't mess around!" Maggie blurted with amazement.

"Not when it's her job. With people? That's a whole 'nother story," Alex said wearily, motioning for Kara and Cat to get into the SUV as she stood by her car. Of course they'd get into the back seat so they could sit together, she noted.

"I believe it," Maggie chuckled. "What I can't believe is how she managed to upload her edited video with an interview on the CatCo website, then have it the lead story for the 10 o'clock news."

"Well, she did say she needed her phone," Alex wryly.

"Actually, you said it. She just glared," Maggie said with amusement.

"She glares a lot," Alex offered.

"Sounds about right. Interesting spin on the report, though. No mention of the Supers. I wonder why that is," Maggie probed.

"You could ask her," Alex said simply, with well-practiced deflection.

"Hmm. Anyway, we got a name on the asshole. John Corbin. But apparently he's dead. Neat trick, huh?"

Alex hesitated a moment. "Yeah. Ex-British secret service turned mercenary, killed by his target, Lena Luthor. She suspects her mother was behind the attempted hit."

Maggie paused at the dump of information, then asked bluntly, "If I hadn't called and told you we knew about Corbin, were you going to share any of that?"

"I . . . I'm not sure," Alex said, surprising Sawyer with her honesty. "Fuck it," she exhaled heavily, something telling her she could trust the detective. "We believe Lillian Luthor altered Corbin into what we saw on the street. We also believe that she is actively targeting Supergirl. There was a separate attempt on her life recently."

"Was she injured? Shit, is that why she's not flying?" Sawyer asked with concern.

"No. She was injured flying a device into space that was going to kill us all," Alex explained.

"The headaches!"

"Yeah. She got stuck out there for a while and suffered a coma, but she is recovering. We believe Dr. Luthor thought it would be a good opportunity to get rid of her while in the coma or recovering."

"Jesus Christ! So Supergirl saved us all, including those xenophobic assholes, and she gets attacked as her reward? That's just fucked up," Sawyer blurted.

"Y . . . Yeah," Alex said uncomfortably as guilt bubbled up at memory of Kara falling out of the sky from kryptonite darts, one of which she shot.

"That does sort of explain why the Supers were left out of the CATCO report. No need to advertise weaknesses. Like Corbin almost killing Superman, and Supergirl is still reco . . . hold on, Cat Grant is working WITH you!"

"When she feels like it," Alex said flatly.

Maggie chuckled. "Any thoughts of where Lillian Luthor might be?"

"Not yet."

"Well, she might be in National City," Maggie suggested off-handedly.

"Why do you say that?"

"If Lena was right about the assassination attempt, two of Dr. Luthor's targets will be in National City . . . well, three, if you include Superman," Maggie offered.

"Lena Luthor is coming to National City?" Alex asked with concern, not exactly thrilled about having another Luthor to worry about.

"Yeah, she's scheduled to attend the Waterfront Festival on Monday and present a big fat check to the Children's Hospital. The appearance has been on a need-to-know basis because of security concerns," Maggie offered, then added unhappily, "I've been placed on the security detail."

"You think Lillian might try something?" Alex asked.

"I have no clue, just a hunch," Maggie admitted with a sigh.

"But if it's need-to-know . . . ," Alex asked curiously, causing a unamused laugh.

"Look, Danvers. In my experience, 'need-to-know' usually means that those who probably should know, don't," Maggie said wearily. "And I don't think Police Department security measures have ever been any more than a minor inconvenience for the Luthors, if that."

"I really wish that wasn't true," Alex frowned.

"Don't tell me you're an optimist!" Maggie gasped in feigned shock.

Alex snorted. "On bad days," she admitted, making Maggie chuckle. "In any event, be careful, Sawyer. Especially with Luthor out there."

"Aw Danvers, you do care!" Maggie teased, making Alex happy she was on the phone because she was sure she was blushing. "Does this mean you might show up with your Fed buddies on Monday too?"

"That's another pretty good hunch, Detective," Alex offered, smiling at the prospect.

"See you Monday, Danvers," Maggie said, buoyed by the thought.

"See you Monday . . . barring another catastrophe, of course," Alex hedged.

"Of course. Oh, and Danvers? FBI, my ass," Maggie chuckled and hung up.