Welcome to National City
They’re all exhausted. Alex, driving the stolen van, the second van they’ve stolen after ditching the first one because the symbol on the side was too recognizable, blinks wearily against the never-ending stream of headlights assaulting his vision. They’ve been driving for hours, only stopping to get gas at the worst smelling gas stations Alex has ever been too. Alex himself had been behind the wheel for the last three hours after taking over for Chase at the last gas station, steadfastly ignoring the forms of Karolina and Nico curled together in the backseat every time he looked in the rearview mirror.
He can’t believe they’ve come to this point. They left L.A., wanted for murder and kidnapping, crossed state lines into Arizona and then to Nevada before ending up in California again. They’ve changed drivers seven times, argued for hours on end. It was only as the sun went down on their second day of travel that the voices finally ceased. They all retreated into themselves, to tired to keep arguing and too scared to do anything else.
“We need to stop soon,” Gert’s voice breaks the silence that had fallen over the group, twisting her fingers together anxiously. “Old Lace’s getting restless. She needs to run.”
“I think we’re far enough away to stop,” Karolina chimed in, “at least for a few hours.”
She’s right, Alex knows. LA has long since faded into the background, the last of the city lights had vanished over the horizon hours ago. Molly’s already fighting sleep, slumped against Chase’s side in between him and Gert. Chase himself is staring straight ahead, his eyes far away. He hasn’t even noticed that he’s been absently brushing his fingers along Gert’s shoulders. Gert, on the other hand, seems acutely aware of that fact and doing her best not to react to it. Karolina, on the other side of Chase, is staring at her Gibb bracelet, toying with the clasp. Her fingers and linked with Nico’s, the smaller goth leaning her head against Karolina’s shoulder. Nico’s eyes are closed but Alex can’t tell if she’s truly asleep.
“I’ll take the next exit.” Alex says, mostly to himself. “See if we can find an abandoned warehouse or something to stay the night in.” Silently, Alex moves from the interstate, taking the first exit he sees, to National City. No one answers him, not that Alex expected them too. They’re each lost in their own thoughts, replaying everything that had happened in the last two weeks over and over again, just like Alex is.
How did they get here?
They drive for another thirty minutes before finding a warehouse that Alex thinks is sufficiently out of the way for them to catch a couple hours of sleep. Molly breaks the lock on the gate for them, her shoulders slumping with the effort after she tosses the broken metal to the side, and Alex guides the van to the back of the warehouse. Chase points out that they should position the van where they can get out easily, just in case, so he takes the wheel and backs the van into a good spot in the warehouse.
“Stay unseen girl and be back soon.” Gert directs Old Lace as she opens the van’s side door to let the dinosaur out. The rest of the group climbed out after the dinosaur to stretch their legs before holing back up in the van to sleep. Only Molly stayed behind, stretched out on the first bench in the van already sound asleep.
“Where are we?” Karolina asked as she walked to the door of the warehouse, surveying the unfamiliar skyline.
“National City,” Nico answered, coming up beside her, “at least according to Alex.”
Karolina nodded absently, rubbing her hands down her arms as she crossed them over her chest.
“Hey,” Nico touched her arm softly, “are you okay?” Karolina nodded her head.
“I’m fine,” she offered Nico a small smile, “guess I’m just not at a hundred percent yet.”
“Would it help if you could,” Nico gestured to Karolina’s bracelet, “glow?”
“Probably,” Karolina shrugged, “but we both know I can’t do that here. It’s not safe.”
“I know.” Nico nodded her head. “I just want you to feel better.” Nico’s blush was uncharacteristic but nonetheless adorable to Karolina.
“Thank you,” Karolina’s smile widened just the slightest bit, a flirty glint her eye that was becoming all too familiar to Nico. “We should get some sleep. We can’t stay here long.” Karolina uncrossed her arms, tangling her fingers with Nico’s again to lead her back to the van. They climbed in through the side door, shutting it behind them, and tucked into the spot Chase and Gert had left open for them on the floor of the van.
“You sure we’re in the right place, babe?” Alex asks her fiancée as they drive up to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of National City. Maggie had gotten a call for suspicious activity in the area while she was waiting for Alex at the DEO and J’onn, after Maggie had told him the details, sent Alex to investigate with her.
“This is the place,” Maggie double checked the address on her phone and killed the engine. “You ready?” Alex nodded, and the duo climbed out of the car. Maggie pushed her door closed but halted in her trek to the gate when a glint of metal caught her eye. “Danvers, you may want to look at this.”
Alex joined Maggie, crouching down beside her next to a broken lock. She surveyed the damage with a critical eye. “I only know of a few people strong enough to do that,” Alex traced the indents of fingers along the cracked metal, “and neither of them have been anywhere near here.”
Both women looked up at the sound of a crash nearby.
“Think we should call for backup?” Maggie asked as she drew her gun.
“Not yet,” Alex did the same, “just proceed with caution.” They pushed the gate open and entered the premises, guns raised but fingers off the triggers. They approached the main warehouse entrance and Alex signaled for Maggie to keep moving while Alex herself went around to the back entrance. They held gazes for second, silently telling the other to be careful before they each nodded and headed towards their respective entrance.
Maggie took a deep breath as Alex disappeared from her line of sight and turned towards the door. Turning on her flashlight and positioning her hands correctly, Maggie kicked the door open and stepped through. She pointed her gun and light first to the right and then to the left. Seeing no immediate threat, she stepped further into the warehouse. Out of the corner of her eye she spied Alex entering from the side door and Maggie released a sharp breath at the sight of her. Turning back to the task at hand, Maggie spotted the van towards the back of large room.
Whoever had parked the van had done a good job of making it blend in. The van was shrouded in shadow, Maggie probably would have missed it if she didn’t know there was something to look for. It was positioned in such a way that the driver could easily make a break for the large double doors, but also so that anyone else in the car could escape through the side door and make a break for the entrance Alex had come through.
Alex caught Maggie’s eye and gave one sharp nod. They moved to the van as one, each taking a side.
“NCPD, hands up!” Maggie said as she pulled open the side door at the same time Alex opened the driver’s door. “Put your hands where I can see them.” Maggie was stunned at the sight that greeted her.
It was a bunch of kids.
“Don’t even think about it.” She heard Alex’s voice and turned just enough to see a hand that had been reaching for the keys, still in the ignition, still.
One kid up front. Five in the back. They all rushed to put their hands up, a muscular boy and blonde girl taking protective stances in front of the others in the back of the van. Their eyes were wide, scared.
“Guys, what do we do?” One of them, a girl who looked to be the youngest of the group asked. The blonde girl’s hand twitched towards the silver bracelet on her wrist.
“Don’t move another inch.” Maggie ordered, her voice firm, her finger still away from the trigger of her gun. The girl froze, looking at the boy at the corner of her eye.
“Come on, get with the others.” Alex ordered the boy who had been in the front seat after walking him around to the side door. “Anyone feel like telling us what’s going on here?”
The kids stayed silent, the only sound their harsh breathing. Alex and Maggie shared a look and began to lower their weapons. They didn’t think a group of six kids, all of whom seemed scared out of their minds as a big threat. Before the could complete the motion, a low rumble sounded from behind them. Alex turned around, her eyes widening comically as she pulled her gun back into position. “Now may be a good time to call in that back up.”
“They’re just kids, Danvers.” Maggie argued, she had yet to see the monster Alex was now aiming her gun at.
“It’s not them I’m worried about, Sawyer.” At her words, Maggie turned around. She was met with the face of an angry, snarling, dinosaur.
Only her years of training kept her from screaming.
“Easy there,” Alex said as she lowered her gun again, positioning her body so she could see both the kids and dinosaur at the same time. “Supergirl, we could use a hand.” She said into her comm, missing the looks the kids shared with one another.
“This city keeps getting weirder,” Maggie muttered under her breath as she too put away her gun.
“We aren’t going to hurt you,” Alex addressed the kids, “any of you.”
“And we won’t let this guy hurt you either.” Maggie nodded towards the somewhat placated dinosaur, who seemed to be looking intently at the purple-haired girl in the back of the van. The girl rolled her eyes but before Maggie could say anything Supergirl appeared in the warehouse.
Flying in through the double doors, Kara hovered slightly above the floor before touching down gently. She took in the scene, scanning the six kids in the back of the van for any weapons, finding only what looked like a metal gloves with wires protruding from them, before turning to the two women outside the van. Seeing all unharmed, Kara began to wonder why her sister called her until she laid eyes on the last figure of the group.
“That’s,” Kara swallowed, “that’s definitely a dinosaur.” She scanned the creature with her x-ray vision just to be sure. “Anyone want to tell me what’s going on here?”
“Oh my gosh, it’s Supergirl.” A voice sounded from the back of the van.
“Shut up, Molly!” Several voices layered the order and the youngest girl, Molly, wearing a pink cat hat looked down, chastised.
“She won’t hurt you.” The purple-haired girl spoke up. “As long as you don’t hurt us.”
“Sounds like a good deal to me.” Alex let out a puff of air.
“We won’t hurt you.” Kara promised as she approached the van. “But we need you to come with us.”
Alex drove the van with the six teenagers, and the freaking dinosaur, to the DEO, Maggie following behind in her car and Kara flying ahead of them to let J’onn know. When they arrived, they were let into the underground garage with hassle, a gaggle of unarmed agents waiting for them with Supergirl.
“We won’t hurt you.” Alex told the kids again as she pulled the van into a parking spot and killed the engines. “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, the first of the kids to climb out of the van, 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 hands 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 down a different hall. “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 too, 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. They 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 Maggie surveyed the kids on the monitors.
“They’re scared,” Maggie 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 tech guy.
“Yeah, and it’s not good.” He handed Alex his tablet with the six kids faces on it.
“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?” Maggie asked as Kara rejoined the group. She had gone to help feed the dinosaur, as the agents were too scared to approach her. “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 you guys found them.”
“Should we contact their parents? I’m sure they want to know where their kids are.” Maggie suggested as Alex turned to look back at the monitors, connecting faces to names.
“Agent Danvers, we found these in the glove box of the van.” Vasquez walked up, holing a Ziploc bag containing a roll of cash in one hand and now unloaded pistol in the other.
“Don’t contact anyone yet.” Alex ordered as she took the items from Vasquez. “Not until we get some answers.”
“Their names sound familiar.” Kara pointed out, her nose crinkling 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.
“In the meantime,” Alex moved away from the monitors and headed towards the interrogation rooms. “Let’s get some answers.”