Chapter 47
“I thought you claimed that you had been hacking into L-Corp’s sever’s,” a voice growled out, causing the nervous technician to shake even harder than he already was. Derrik Travis had been working for L-Corp for several months when he was approached by a goon from Cadmus, one offering him money to act as a mole for the organization. With his student loans and the crushing weight of his mother’s gambling addiction, he didn’t have any other choice but to say yes and agree to help the group. But now, as he was attempting to hack into L-Corp’s sever’s after hours with two glowing cyborgs looming over his shoulder, Derrik wishes he had been able to say no.
“I ha-have,” Derrik stuttered out, trying to control his shaking. “But it takes time, you have me looking for something and you haven’t even told me what I’m looking for.”
“That’s a need to know basis chum,” one of the cyborgs replied, leaning in close to him. Derrik could feel the hot, rancid breath on his ear as the cyborg breathed out. “And you don’t need to know.”
“Leave him alone Metallo, let him work before I put you back in that grave we dug you out of,” the other cyborg growled, pulling the glowing metallic man away from the frightened technician.
“Fear is a good motivator Henshaw,” Metallo bit back. “If it wasn’t, we would be out of a job and aliens would be running havoc all over the planet.”
“Ah, Mr… Cyborgs? I found the section you wanted me to look for,” Derrik said, drawing their attention back to him. He pointed at the screen and Henshaw clanked over to him and leaned down to better look at the computer, his metallic eye quickly scanning over the text to locate the object he was sent to retrieve. “That one,” he said, pointing to the row. “Where is that item located?”
“In Research and Development,” the technician said quickly. “They’re still working on it, it’s not stable yet.”
“It’s stable enough for what we need,” Henshaw growled out. “Metallo, stay with him, I’m going to get the device. Try not to break anything.”
“Does that include the nerd here,” Metallo grumbled, prodding the technician’s back lightly with his metallic fingers.
“Don’t break him,” Henshaw hissed out, “We might still need him.”
Metallo rolled his eyes and Henshaw knocked into him on his way out of the room up towards the R&D department. The enhanced cyborg thumped his way up to the labs from the basement server room, his heavy metallic limbs heavily striking the floors as he walked. L-Corp had been heavily monitored since Lena had taken over LexCorp and constructed the tower in National City, and nearly every inch of the facility had been mapped by their spies. When he reached Research and Development, it looked as if the entire lab had been redesigned since the last mole managed to infiltrate the company several months ago. He let out a growl and lashed out at the closest object to him, smashing his hand through one of the desktop computers. His fingers twisted through wire and metal, yanking them out with him as he pulled out his hand. The cyborg had standing orders to not cause much damage to the company, not when Lillian thought that her daughter could be brought to heel. However his orders to find the device were much more urgent, and his started ransacking the lab, dumping items and projects out of crates as he searched for what he needed.
As soon as Henshaw located the device, he grabbed it, just as a loud explosion came from downstairs where he had left Metallo and the boy. “Can’t trust him not to break anything,” Henshaw grumbled as the fire alarm started sounding throughout the building. He smashed through several floors until he landed in the wreckage of the server room. “What did you do?” Henshaw growled out as he located Metallo crawling out from under a broken section of wall.
“Kid kept twitching, fidgeting, it was getting on my nerves so I blasted the wall to encourage him to stop,” Metallo retorted, bouncing to his feet. “How was I supposed to know that it would trigger an explosion?”
“You are an idiot,” Henshaw growled, “Remember who is in charge here Corbin.”
“Right, just point me in her direction when she gets here,” the cyborg bit back, his voice more robot than man, much like the rest of his body.
Before Henshaw could reply, a blast of heat vision knocked him and Metallo down and sent them skidding across the floor. “How many times have you died?” Supergirl questioned as she stared at Metallo in exasperation before turning her attention to Henshaw. “You look… familiar…”
“If you’re talking about that thing parading around in my face, then you are mistaken,” Henshaw growled. “I am Cyborg Superman.”
“Well that’s…” Kara’s voice trailed off as she stared at the cyborg. “I don’t really know what to say other than that’s really, really stupid, couldn’t you have come up with something better? I mean, I didn’t really get to pick my own name, I would’ve gone with something cooler, like Superwoman or Warbird, ooh, Titania would’ve been fun, but you don’t really have that excuse.”
Henshaw let out another growl and fired a blast at the heroine, pushing her backwards but the masked blonde held her ground. “I’ve been waiting for another chance to have a go at you blondie,” Corbin grinned as he got back to his feet. “Too bad I don’t have any more of that special kryptonite, I’ll just have to settle with killing you the old fashioned way.” Kara barely managed to dodge out of the way of the first shot but the second blast of kryptonite from the cyborg collided and sent the heroine flying out of the room.
“We need to get out of here Corbin,” Henshaw bit out. “We already have what we came for.”
“I’m not giving up this opportunity to have a go at that creature,” Metallo pushed Henshaw away and raced after Supergirl, a maniacal gleam in his eyes. Before he could locate the downed hero, a staff briefly flashed in his vision and collided with his face, sending him reeling backwards. “What the…” he stuttered out, his eyes whirling around until he spotted a short blonde woman clad in leather holding a staff.
“Well you look like the bad end of a toaster,” Sara smirked, flicking her staff around. “And I’ve never been fond of green.” She let out a loud screech that rattled the cyborg’s metallic eardrums, and her bo staff struck the side of his face again, sending him whirling back into the room.
“White Canary,” Kara greeted, slowly pushing herself off the ground. She wavered on her feet, her stomach rolling violently from the exposure to green kryptonite.
“Easy there Supergirl,” Sara said, easing Kara back down to the floor. “Why don’t you sit this one out Supes, let us take care of this.”
“Us?” Kara repeated, tilting her head in confusion. The shorter blonde tilted her head to the side and Kara saw two bat-a-rangs fly out and strike the two cyborgs, sending volts of electricity through their circuits. Kara’s eyes widened and her head whirled around around as she looked for the source when a soft hand landed on her shoulder. Her head turned to the right, and her eyes filled with tears, “Kate…”
“Hey Lil’ Sis,” Batwoman cooed, pushing blonde hair away from Kara’s face. “Why don’t you sit here for a minute, recover from that awful junk, and then pitch in when you feel better?” She pressed a kiss to Supergirl’s forehead before turning her attention to the woman in white leather. “White Canary, looks like we have two pieces of junk that need to go to the scrap heap.”
“It’s an honor to take out the trash with you Batwoman,” Sara bowed her head slightly, and the two immediately leapt into action. They quickly forced the two cyborgs out of the remnants of the server room and away from the building and the woosy kryptonian. Kara staggered to her feet once the kryptonite was out of her presence and quickly scanned the room, looking for any other signs of life. Her enhanced hearing picked up the faint sound of a heartbeat among the rubble and she pulled out the body of a young man from under some crumbled plaster.
“Hey, hey,” Kara said, patting his face trying to wake him up. He didn’t appear to have any threatening injuries other than a few scrapes from the plaster, but the large bump on his head was concerning. “Hey, wake up, come on.” Derrik's eyes blinked open minutely and he stared up at the heroine with lidded eyes, not fully processing what he was seeing. “There you are, I’m going to get you to the hospital,” Kara told him, “I think you have a concussion, which is bad but not as bad as it could have been.” She carefully scooped him up and bolted out of the building, flying directly to the hospital. Leaving the man in the care of the emergency room staff, Kara left and flew back to L-Corp, wincing slightly at the gaping hole in the lobby of the building. Lena was not going to be happy about that one.
“Need any help?” Kara questioned as she launched a kick at Cyborg Superman’s head, touching down next to Sara.
“Any help would be greatly appreciated with these losers Supergirl,” Sara replied, smirk still present on her face. “Miss Martian showed up and is helping Batwoman dealing with creepy greeny over there while we have this guy.”
Henshaw glared viciously at the two heroes, he hated aliens but he hated humans that knowingly sided with them much more. He knew that if it was just Corbin and him against the kryptonian that they would be able to easily take her down, but he has no idea where these other heroes came from. Pulling a handful of explosive powder out of his pocket, Henshaw tossed it at the ground, causing a large flash followed by an explosion. It had just a bare minimum of kryptonite laced in it to render Supergirl useless long enough for him to grab Corbin and escape down the sewer system.
“Where-” Kara coughed out as she fought to get the kryptonite particles out of her lungs. “Where did they go?”
“They’re gone,” Sara replied while Kate and M’gann walked up to them.
“We should get you to Lena,” Kate said, setting her arm on Kara’s shoulder. “She can run some oxygen through your lungs to get the rest of that dust out.”
“Yeah, go Kara, we’ll stay here and do some recon and clean up a bit,” Sara told her, shooing the other blonde away.
Kara nodded and shakily launched into the air, wavering only slightly before banking away from L-Corp towards her best friend’s apartment. She flew through the open balcony door and landed on the couch with a heap, and spotted her best friend pacing around the living room with her phone pressed to her ear.
“I don’t care what you have to do,” Lena bit out, “I want those repairs started tonight as soon as the police clear everything. I have a business to run and employees counting on me for their paychecks. I can’t run a tech company very well if one of my server rooms is smashed to bits.” She stopped and listened for a few minutes to the person on the other side of the phone before starting up again, “No, I pay for the premium service for a reason, get to L-Corp headquarters and do your job.” Roughly pushing the ‘end call’ button on her phone didn’t fully translate her irritation to the person on the other end of the call, but it made Lena feel better. She turned around and her eyes landed on her best friend, still in her suit, wheezing slightly on the couch. “Shit, Kara?”
“Powdered kryptonite,” Kara explained between gasps. “Oxygen please.”
“Right,” Lena hustled to where she kept the spare oxygen tanks and quickly strapped a mask to Kara’s face and flooded her lungs with pure oxygen. Kryptonians could handle more pure oxygen in their systems than humans could, most likely due to the higher concentration of oxygen in the Kryptonian atmosphere and the presence of Earth’s yellow sun. With high blasts of oxygen, it made it easier to flush gases and particles out of lungs and Lena had Kara’s airways clear in no time.
“Thanks,” Kara breathed out, her lungs already feeling much better once they were clear. “I hate that stuff.”
“I really need to work on a way to counteract it,” Lena murmured. “I’ve been hitting a brick wall though, and I’ve been trying to undo the effects of gold kryptonite on your aunt.”
“You know you’re the best friend a superhero could ask for,” Kara sighed, shucking off her boots and curling up on the couch.
“Obviously,” Lena replied, sitting down next to the blonde and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “We could totally take over the world if we wanted to.”
“Too much paperwork,” Kara sighed, slipping the mask off her face and fluffing her hair out a bit. “I mean, we’d have to get everyone to agree to equal rights, equal pay, and figure out how to provide healthcare for everyone, and jobs, food, shelter, just all too much trouble.”
“Right? Who decided taking over the world was what villains wanted to do, it is just far too much to deal with, unless they have a proper army of underlings.”
“We could get underlings,” the blonde murmured. “How hard could it be? Your mother has managed to find some.”
“My mother is crazy, so obviously we need to be crazy.” Lena sighed a bit before biting the bullet and asking the question she’s been avoiding. “What’s the damage?”
“Metallo was back and more metallic than ever,” Kara replied, leaning against her friend. “And some creepy guy who called himself Cyborg Superman, which is completely stupid by the way. If Cadmus is supposed to hate aliens, why do they keep making creepy people that look like aliens from horror movies?”
Lena shrugged, “My mother isn’t very creative and probably stole most of her lackies from Hollywood blockbusters. So what were the two creepies after?”
“I have no idea, I found them in the server room with one of your employees, looks like Metallo tried to blow something up but the other guy, Cyborg Stupid was just getting back and pocketed something, something small and silver, it looked like a cylinder, almost like a thermos. I’m not sure what it was and where he got it though.”
“Research and development,” Sara commented strolling in through the balcony door. “Batty and I poked around and your R&D lab was kind of trashed, but he stopped when he reached this box.” She gave Lena the label for the box before taking in her and Kara’s pose on the couch. “I leave in the middle of our fun recreational activities, and I come back to find another blonde in your arms, I’m hurt.”
“Wait, you guys weren’t doing ‘it’ on this couch were you?” Kara asked, pushing away from Lena to scan the couch. “If you were, I’ll never be able to look at this couch again, let alone sit on it, might have to burn it.” Her eyes lit up as she contemplated incinerating something, but a sharp tap to the back of her head broke her concentration.
“Don’t even think about it,” Kate said, wrapping her arm around Kara’s shoulder as she strolled up behind her. “Let them have their fun, besides they seem more like the kitchen counter type than the couch.”
“Kate!” Kara cried, whirling around to embrace the older woman. “Wait, what do you mean by kitchen counter?”
“You need to focus on something else Kara sweetie,” Kate told her scratching at her scalp softly.
Kara rolled her eyes, “Fine, what are you doing here? When did you get here? Last I checked, you were sailing around the world hunting criminals.”
“And I have been, but it was time I was stateside again. With Bats and his crew in Gotham, I’m not needed there right away, so I figured I would visit with you for a while, check in on the west branch of Kane Industries and see how it’s doing.”
The blonde nodded and leaned her head against the redhead’s neck for a moment. “Have you talked to Maggie?” She mumbled out so that only the woman could hear her.
“If you mean I’ve talked to her recently, then no, but I have talked to her since she dumped me at the aisle, when you and Danvers were trying to figure things out.”
“So you haven’t really talked to her since she’s been newly single these past few months?” Kara clarified, “I know you told me once she was the love of your life.”
“She still is,” Kate murmured. “That wouldn't bother you? Sawyer and I dating again?”
“I like Maggie, and she's good for you, now that she knows everything and has a bit more experience dealing with weird stuff, superheroes, aliens and all that.”
“I don't want to take her away from National City if she's settled down here,” Kate replied. “My home is in Gotham City, though I work other places on occasion.”
“Don't think that far ahead right now,” Kara shushed her. “Just, I don't know, ask her on a date? See how that goes?”
“When did you get so smart?”
“You have met my mother right?” The blonde retorted.
“You guys,” Lena interrupted and the two turned to look at the woman who was still on the couch but with her tablet in hand. “I think I know what the two creepies were after, what they took, but the thing is, I don’t know why they took it.”
“What was it?” Kara asked, sitting down next to her friend.
“It’s a type of isotope along with a dispersal system, aerosol dispersal,” Lena replied, a puzzled look on her face. “I don’t know why they bothered to take it though, it doesn’t work.”
“What was it supposed to do?” Kate questioned.
“The isotope was being tested as a stabilizing and synthesizing agent to disperse a cure for those affected by toxic gas. I couldn’t ever get this particular isotope to stabilize though, it actually nullifies whatever it is mixed with so it works more like a counter agent. I had scrapped the project but then I was going to see if I could refurbish it to sell secretly as like a counter weapon for countries that plan to use gas in warfare, make it so the gas is rendered harmless.”
“My baby is doing so well in her role as the anti-hero and slightly evil genius,” Sara murmured, pressing a kiss to Lena’s temple.
Lena smirked at her girlfriend then gave her a confused look before fully looking at the other two women in the room with her. “I think I’ve stepped into like every straight guy and lesbian’s ultimate fantasy,” she muttered. “Three insanely hot superheroines in my apartment.” The three heroes looked at each other and finally realized that they were still in their suits. “Seriously you guys, there are far too many of you in here right now, and I have to get to work in the morning, there’s a hole in my building, perhaps you’ve seen it?”
Kate smirked and disappeared out the window, the soft clang of a grappling hook catching on the roof ledge following in her wake. The White Canary pulled the CEO into a fierce kiss before disappearing out of the window as well. Kara didn’t register any sounds until she heard Sara’s feet hit the ground, and she detected the light sounds of the woman walking away towards her bike. “How did she get down?” Lena asked and Kara shrugged.
“I stopped asking how Sara does anything,” the blonde shrugged. “Do you want me to bring coffee and breakfast by your office for you and Jess tomorrow morning?”
“That would be great,” Lena replied. “Something healthy, not all of us have your alien genetics.”
“Bacon is healthy Lena,” Kara retorted, floating out the window and taking off for her own apartment. Krypto greeted her when she landed, and Kara quickly changed into her pajamas, falling soundless into bed. As she fell asleep, her mind mulled over the problem of what Cadmus would want with an isotope that doesn’t work.
Alex watched as Supergirl, Batwoman, White Canary, and Miss Martian dealt with two cyborgs that had broken into L-Corp headquarters. The two were known agents of Cadmus and the DEO had been monitoring for movements of the terrorist group. They had been too slow in the response and missed their infiltration of the corporate building. She was slightly grateful that they had missed it, if only so she could witness four heroines working together to wipe the floor with the Cadmus goons.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Alex turned towards the voice and found the Black Canary standing in the shadows only a few feet from her. “Four strong, remarkable women coming together to right wrongs, battle unspeakable foes, it’s amazing really, the times we live in.”
“Why aren’t you out there with them?” The agent asked after watching the battle a few more minutes. The two tensed when the self-named Cyborg Superman tossed a fistfull of explosive powder at the ground, and caused Supergirl to start heaving from the recognizable green particles. The tension in their bodies eased when the downed heroine flew away, the other three soon following after her. Signaling the clean-up crew to move in, Alex hung back with the Black Canary while the sweeper agents moved in to collect evidence. “You didn’t answer my question,” she said after a few minutes. “Why weren’t you out there with the other heroes?”
“I was going to,” Laurel replied, a slight smile on her face. “I suited up and everything, as you could tell, but when I got here, I realized that there really isn’t a place for me.”
“It’s not like they have a limit on who can join their group,” Alex told her. “As far as I know they haven’t organized anything official, and even then, you know you’re being stupid.”
Laurel shook her head, “It’s not that, it’s… I don’t belong here, in more ways than one and I’m starting to realize that.”
“If this is about Kara and I…”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” the Black Canary rolled her eyes. “I messed up with Kara years ago, I’m big enough to admit that, I missed my chance and nothing I do will get her to trust me again enough to be lovers. That’s my fault and I’m admitting it, which has nothing to do with you.” She smirked slightly at the irritated expression on the agent’s face and continued, “My sister doesn’t need me as well, she has a job, a girlfriend, friends, a life, she doesn’t need her older sister hovering and meddling. Sara has agreed to pop home at some point for a visit, and that’s really what I came for. No, Kara doesn’t need me, Sara doesn’t need me, and with that bunch working together, National City doesn’t need the Black Canary. It’s time for me to go back to Star City, the people of that city need me just as National City needs the White Canary.”
“Well I can’t say that I’m sorry to see you go.”
Laurel let out a chuckle, “I will miss you Alexandra Danvers, you have been an interesting person to meet and I have learned a few things from you.”
“Such as?”
“Don’t get drunk and marry a random person in Vegas for starters.” The glare on Alex’s face could strip paint off walls but Laurel merely brushed it off. “What? It’s a pretty valuable lesson.” The vigilante could practically feel the electricity crackling with the agent’s thunderous expression. “Look, Alex, we don’t like each other, we haven’t liked each other. I saw you as an obstacle for Kara’s affections, and whether you’d admit it or not, you were jealous of me.”
“I was not jealous,” Alex bit out, “I was irritated and confused. I had literally just found out that Kara and I had met before and gotten married, and then you showed up and started flirting with her.”
“Whatever you tell yourself to make you feel better.” Laurel stopped and took a deep breath, the conversation was getting away from the point she wanted to make. “I fucked up,” she said finally, “I truly, colossally fucked up my relationship with Kara. I have no one to blame but myself for that. You though, for some reason or another, Kara loves you, she might not admit it yet, but when you’ve seen love in Kara’s eyes directed at you, then you can recognize when it’s directed at others as well. And you love her as well, I know because I’ve been there before, but you keep digging your heels in the ground about doing something about it.” Her eyes hardened and she turned a glare on the other woman, “Stop being so damn stubborn and grow a pair and tell her how you feel, or I will come back and try my hardest to win her affections again.”
“Like hell you will,” Alex snarled out before fully registering what she was saying. Brown eyes widened for a fraction of a moment before narrowing again, her brow furrowing as she thought about what she said, what she was feeling. “I…” she said after a few moments, “I’m going to talk to Kara.”
Laurel watched as the agent walked away in a haze though her steps were clear and determined. “You’ve surprised me,” a voice came and Laurel turned, finding Miss Martian standing not too far away from her.
“How have I surprised the famous psychic Miss Martian?” The Black Canary asked, her arms crossed in front of her chest.
The alien rolled her eyes and the green skin faded away to leave Megan Morse standing behind Laurel in the alley. “Megan?” Laurel’s brow rose before shaking her head, “I should’ve known.”
M’gann rolled her eyes, “Just remember that I was there during your and Kara’s relationship, and I was there for the aftermath that left Kara in a mess. I can’t read her mind, but I can damn sure read yours, I know exactly how long you were cheating on her with that douchebag, and I know what your heart was like. You were selfish then and didn’t deserve Kara, now though… I am truly surprised by how much you’ve changed.”
“Well I guess that’s a good thing then, that I can surprise a psychic.”
“Sara surprises me all the time, so don’t get ahead of yourself,” M’gann replied. “With the way you came back here though, coming back to National City, barging into Kara’s life again, and when you found out about her and Danvers’s… complicated relationship, I thought for sure that you two were going to get into it. Agent Danvers is… very aggressive, and you’ve never been one to shy away from a fight, so for you to encourage her, basically goad her into admitting her feelings for Kara and talk to her, it’s very progressive for you.”
“Don’t think too highly of me,” Laurel admitted, “I would have taken Danvers down to the ground without any hesitation but… but that would be the type of person I was when I cheated on Kara years ago, only thinking about myself. I still love her, always will, but I want her to be happy. And if a grumpy, red-haired, trigger happy Agent makes her happy then who am I to stand in her way?”
“Who indeed,” M’gann replied, a slight smile on her face. “Well then, I wish you well on your return to Star City, Black Canary.”
“You as well Miss Martian.”
Alex went through possibly the fastest debrief in her life, answering every question J’onn tossed at her about the incident at L-Corp. She wondered if her boss could tell she was distracted, but he didn’t say anything and she quickly left the office before anyone could stop her. Her body moved on autopilot as she unlocked her helmet and swung her leg over the seat to straddle her motorcycle. She revved the engine and sped out of the garage, zooming through the streets until she made it to Kara’s apartment building. Parking haphazardly on the street, Alex hopped off and raced into the building, taking the stairs two at a time. It was a familiar route, one she had taken weeks before but with hopefully a different outcome this time.
Stopping in front of Kara’s door, the auburn haired woman raised her hand to knock on the door when she froze, halting her action with her hand only an inch from the wood. She couldn’t do this, she didn’t know if she should do this, the terrible things she said to Kara, the way she treated her. Before she could turn away from the door, it opened, revealing a sleep tousled Kara. “Alex?” The blonde murmured, rubbing her eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“I…” Alex started. “We need to talk.”