Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kara had planned for three weeks with Nia, Alex has been against it, Lena had just smirked, Brainy had agreed to help and keep an eye on the follow up of her idea in case the whole thing backfired

Kara had hinted about an article on the water supplier of National City to Andrea who didn't seem too interested but she agreed to let her free reign to start her research

She had let William chase Supergirl and the Superfriends but everyone has been avoiding him and most of the time he ended on the opposite side of the city and nowhere near Dreamer or brainy making an appearance

xxx

Catco - Day 1

Kara winked at Nia and stood and moved to the photocopy machine, leaving her phone on her desk.

Her phone was heard while she was keeping herself busy, she heard someone gasped but didn't turn around. She started to hear whisper about her name, Supergirl and other thing

She turned around and could see in the corner of her eye Andrea staring at her but not moving (yet). she came back to her desk. had a glance at her phone, rolled her eyes turned the sound off and dived into her paperwork

Twitter: Maidofsteel: @KsunnyDanvers: thank again for last week #appreciate #rustedplumbery #favourowned

After a few minutes, Nia approached

Nia: Good thing William is out there, he would have a mental breakdown

Kara: I think he has been made aware

Nia: Andrea going to blow up, she keep checking the comments and looking your way. It's a mystery she has not come this way to get answers yet

Kara: Well if she is waiting for me to react, she gonna have to wait until lunch , probably

Nia - Oh i will let Lena know

Kara went back to her work, starting her search, went down to the archive to check an old article and was about to make a call when William arrived.

Andrea: Kara! William! My office

Kara moved

Andrea: Something you want to tell us, Kara?

Kara: uhm?

Andrea: Any reason Supergirl thanked you

William: What?

Kara: Oh that, just gave her a number of a handyman, she had issues with some appliances

William: What?

Andrea: And it was not worth mentioning it?

Kara shrugged: Not really, she didn't tell me what, when, where so there was not much to go with

Andrea: Worth enough for her to Thank you and i think one tag seem to imply water leak or close to (suspicious) Is that why you wanted to write something on the city's water supplier?

Kara shrugged: Coincidence and again she didn't describe the issue when she ask for that contact number

Andrea frowned: Fine but are you going to reply to her tweet?

William: And try to find out what was her issue?

Kara: I can try but no guarantee, I mean it is twitter, I doubt she gonna tell the whole world

Andrea: Still today would be nice

Kara went back to her seat and worked on a simple tweet

KsunnyDanvers @MaidofSteel: You are welcome, hope your place was not flooded

Andrea: Really?

Kara: That the best I thought of, now if she hint there was a flood .....

William: Right, that would give an idea where to look and we can contact the emergency numbers to find out any flooding incidents repair in the last month

Kara nodded

Andrea: Not bad, I like it, Keep me updated

Kara: Will do. However I have to finish the paperwork of my interview with some official at the City Hall in the folllowingfew days. I think William could come with me

Chapter Text

While Kara was with some senior staff at the City Hall for her interview, William went to the incident administration office a couple of floors down to see if he could get any report of the previous three months regarding any water/flooding/leak incident, the secretary and the assistants working in that office looked at him with suspicions and made thing difficult and took their time claiming it would probably take time to locate the report who might not even been archived yet. William tried to smooth things and show patience without much success. Kara didn’t have much success either as the most senior council representative tried his hardest to avoid giving straight answers on the state of the water delivery system in some part of the city. Kara felt the issue was most probably due to the incident with the sick children after Mr Edge had tried to taint the reservoir several years ago.

No one mentioned Lena Luthor but Kara sensed the reluctance of the major advisor. Kara shook her head on how the opinion on Lex and Lena had changed ever since the reset after the Crisis. The blonde was not sure what to think, she was happy Lena was no longer blamed for every incident happening in the city but she knew Lex had a hand in several pots and still have a knack at brewing trouble, but she had not been able to prove it one way or another.

Kara told William and Andrea that the handyman had given her a long list of the lastest emergency where he had been called regarding important water damage problems and needed extensive repairs but the man claimed noone had specifically said they got his contact number from Kara. Andrea tried to push for more details, but Kara argued with her about that she like the man as she had been happy with his works each time, she was planning to use his service again and didn’t want to hound him and have him block her number. Andrea scoffed but surprised the two reporters by accepting Kara explanation. She told the two reporters to check in priority any address where it was implied only a woman was living there.

Kara and William worked for two days calling their contact and checking their information by walking the streets to get a better idea of the area, Andrea was putting pressure on them to get a name or an address. On the third day, they asked Nia and Franklin to help them with the phone. The quatuar had been surprised by the numbers of issues due to a weak plumbery that have been happening in the last few months. Some of the people they talked to claimed their water bill had doubled in the last six months, had their water system checked and tried to contact and dispute their invoices, but their suppliers refused to have the water supplier system checked.

In the middle for the fourth day, Andrea was running out of patience and was seething at the lack of results by the team when a member to the media team working in the department specific to the click baits and twitter stormed into Andrea office in such an agitated state that it attracted the interest of half of the staff to the CEO office door. The man shocked Andrea by pushing her chair out of the way and taking ownership of her computer. Andrea glared at the man and was about to threaten him when he raised a hand and mumbled that it was not the time, she needed to see this. Kara and Nia shared a look but remained silent.

After a couple of manipulation, he connected himself to his own system, opened a large file and located a private link to a short video and clicked play.

The video was a recording of a live whatsapp call, they could see the face of a man in his late thirties in an office onlooking a side street with several cars parked. He looked like he was working for a small company as no known brand was visible

Man: I have checked the last report and talk to accounting and it didn't make any difference since the last I talked to you, I am not sure the team and I can handle any more delay (the man seemed to be distracted by something or someone who had appeared in the corner of his vision, he frowned, turned around and after a few seconds went wide eyed) Oh! My! God! No way

Man 2 (intrigued tone): What? What is happening? What are you seeing?

Man: You never going to believe it

The man turned his camera over the main street, and everyone saw a tall woman walking down the street, in the direction of the man's office. There were several gaps, the woman was easy recognized as Supergirl but she was not wearing her Super suit, she was wearing a kryptonian shawl (everyone had studied the hero outfit she had worn during the incident with Lockwood at the conference hall two years previously) over some civilian outfit (possibly a Levi's crop jean, a Comfy Striped grey Long Sleeve Tunics Tops Casual Sweatshirts and some brown knee high boots) with some grocery bags in her arms. She walked along the street, looked around and then stopped by a door, got a key and opened it. she entered quickly The video shook as if the man was trembling for a few seconds, and the man ran out of his office, move quickly along a hallway, walked through a reception office, exited the building and sprinted down some street, went through a fenced entrance. crossed the street without checking for traffic (There was obviously none as no horn or tires screeching were heard) and then the video stopped abruptly. The video went blank for a few seconds before turning into a black screen and the view came back with the man recording himself facing the camera, he was smirking.

Man: "Hie, I am Steve. I wonder how much you would be ready to pay for that address" He winked, and the video switched to a screen shot of a phone number with a "call before 7pm" annotation under it before the recording ended )

Xxxx

The room was silent for a long time.

William made an approval sound: he got gut.

Andrea scoffed: Maybe he does, but I am not going to let him get away so easily so I want everyone to study this video and try everything to find out where this was filmed.

Kara shrugged: He blurred street names and any signs that might give us some leads. It is going to be complicate to find anything that could give us a clue.

Andrea: If you think I am going to let that (she sneered) … ruined us.

Kara: Depend how many News agencies he contacted.

Andrea: Then what are you waiting for, get to it. I need an answer before the end of the day. I would hate to have to explain to anyone in accounting why I am going to need half a million for an address.

The team stood stunned

Andrea: You better get to work. Because If I evenr think you are not taking this seriously enough, I might have half a mind to use part of your wage to help pay that man.

The man who had rushed with the video was told to make several copy of the recording and forward one version to everyone is the office for them to study it to get as much information as possible. By the end of the afternoon, the video had probably been watched hundred of times but not many notes or really useful information were retrieved from the observation from the tired watchers to the clear disappointment of andrea. William had kicked his desk several times in frustration. Andrea stalked William, Kara, Nia and Franklin during most of the afternoon. At some pointm Kara had gone to the archive to get a map of the city. She studied the recording and the map and after watching the recording a couple more time, she crossed several areas (The business centre, the harbour, the area around Catco and several other districts ....) Andrea tried to enquire how she made her conclusion and why was her line of thought but a hard look from an annoyed Kara somehow shut her up and she retreated to her office mumbling but that didn't stop her watching everyone like a hawk.

However by five pm, she charged again and asked for an answer. Kara shrugged, William was apologetic. Andrea started an other rant when Kara frowned as if having a thought, she turned around to the annoyance of her boss who murmured about people not respecting her anymore today. Kara started the video again and after only a seconds froze it on a specific view, she squinted at something and then snorted. she fixated at one side of the screen and grabbed her notepad, she quickly wrote something while checking the monitor a couple more time. William leaned to try to see but Kara shove him away.

Andrea raised a brow: Want to share with the class?

Kara winked aggravating her boss while retrieved her phone and called a number: David? ... Good afternoon, this is Kara Danvers .... Can you do me a favour and possibly check a rental reference sticker for me? .... No .... No .... I don't think that car was involved is anything .... I just need to know an address .... I see .... What about what part of the City the customer could be? ... No? ... I guarantee you I will not stalk and/or harrass your customer .... I am just interested in the whereabout of the car which was in a recording in the last couple of days or so .... No the car was not scratched or involved in anything.... Really? ... All right ... No .... Awesome ..... Yes, I got everything to write the information .... Yes .....I see .... Perfect. Thank you very much ... Bye.

Andrea glared at the screen and could hardly see anything on the car windscreen

Kara shrugged: Maybe you need glass

Andrea scoffed and was about to ask what was the call about but Kara turned around and circle a small area on the South east part of the map, there were nearly two dozen streets

William: Well that reduce our search area

Kara: And we can even remove half it already (at everyone confused look, she rolled her eyes and pointed to her monitor) It is clearly a side street (William looked sheepish)

Andrea clapped her hands: Why are you still here? shoo, go and find me the location of that address before time run out

Kara grabbed her coat and followed William out. The duo took a company car and went on their way. It took them forty minutes to get to the area, parked, looked around and nodded to each other before William went one way and Kara crossed the street to check an other area. William started to look for something that looked similar to the street in the recording. After five minutes, Kara had moved to couple of street away and was out of sight from William, she took the time to make a few calls while walking in the direction of the appartment building the team and herself had chosen for the next step of their plan. kara had appreciated the hard long work of Brainy to find that location.

After twenty minutes, the blonde sighed at how much time William was taking to explore the aera. She wondered if he was reading every names on the bells of every house he was walking past. she shook her head before She finally called him and told him she found the place and gave him the address in front of which she was standing. It took him an additional five minute before he finally turned a corner and locating her sprinted his way to her while looking at his surrounding nodding at several point of interest he recognized having seen them on the video recording. He approached the main entrance and checked the buzzers: Miss Cartford, Mr and Mrs Darren, Mr Hogan. William pointed to the lone female name and Kara nodded.

William pressed the bell and after several seconds, a woman voice answered asking who was it and what they wanted

William didn't recognized the voice and grimaced, he apologized to the woman and explained he was a reporter from Catco and had some question regarding her building , the woman sounded perplexe about why he had chosen her apartment. William said it would only take five minutes of her time. Somehow the lady sounded more intrigued about him than worried and buzzed them in.

xxxx

Twenty minutes later, Kara went down to the street and called Andrea

Kara: We kind of got a win

Andrea: Excellent, I am so going to call that man Steve and laugh my way out of a handout. What do you got?

Kara: Well it is not a big building, one appartment has a single lady, Miss Cartford

Andrea: Oh that's going to earn so many clicks

Kara went on: Who is blind

Andrea: Uh what?

Kara: She is in her late fifties, short, white blonde hair

Andrea: You sure you checked every appartements?

Kara: We did, a couple in their late sixties and a gentleman in his forties also live there, the top floor has been empty for the last four months because of some building issue

Andrea: How is all this even related to Supergirl?

Kara: Oh Miss Cartford mentionned a lady had been coming every other day with some grocery. She said she "met" her little helper a year or so back after she helped her after she fell and lost her cane in the middle of a crowed street.

Andrea: Supergirl has been doing good deeds?!

Kara: I guess

Andrea: Does the woman even know that her "carer" is Supergirl?

Kara: No, She seemed surprised but not really, she commented that her "friend" seemed slightly stronger but it is not like she can give a good description. We asked but no one else in the building has seen the hero

Andrea: Did Supergirl gave her name, a way to contact number, anything?

Kara: El (Andrea scoffed). Miss Cartford reported that the girl claimed she had good hearing (Andrea grumbled) and she only comes occasionally but Mrs Cartford noticed that she seemed to know when she has an issue (Andrea mumbled: I bet) like at the moment her plumbery is weak but they have not find out where the problem comes from. She is not sure what her "friend" but there was some sound like she had been making repair several time .... William checked and we think she used her heat vision at different point.

Andrea raised her fingers to her nose feeling a headache coming, sighed: Both of you come back to the office and put everything you found out on paper while it is still fresh in your mind and then you can go home. We will reconvene first thing in the morning to work on our next steps.

Kara and William thanked their host and went back to Catco to do as Andrea told them.

(TBC)

Chapter Text

The following day, Andrea summoned William, Kara and Nia to her office and asked them for a full report of what could be the reason of everything that has been happening, a possible why and the supposed role Supergirl has been playing. Nia had gone to the local housing management to do some research, she had found out that the building was in one of the oldest part of National City and the infrastructure had started to show its ages. They had found several reports sent to the City hall asking for help to get the buildings in the neighborood also checked and see they could arrange to have some work done. However after what the locals called a less than useful quick meeting, the officials took less than five to announce the creation a commission to get a team to investigate and get to the bottom and the possible source of the problem. Since then, nothing had happened as the fundings had not been released for several administration reasons, that what their councilman claimed the last time they enquire about it. William reported that he had digged further as he wanted to understand and explained to andrea that he had found out that several real estate moguls had their eyes in the area, Kara learning that rolled her eyes and mumbled that she wouldn't be surprise if the Name "Edge" appeared in that list.

Andrea and William looked at her with confusion and Kara had to explain about the event involving the businessman Morgan Edge less than savory deals after the Daxamite invasion and his several attempts against Lena Luthor business, reputation and life , not mentioning the rumour that Lex had met with Edge after the poisoning of the children. Kara remembered that change made due the Crisis wipe, a version of the event where Lex somehow appreciated Edge attempt but intervened as he couldn't let him taint the Luthor name. Kara was not completly sure what had happened during that meeting (it probably involved veiled threat and name callings) but for a long while Mister Edge and Lex had became business partners and worked hands in hands on the rebuilding the city. However Edge had little patience for results and attempted to pressure Lex however it look like his minion misunderstood his order or didn't care, resulting in the poisoning attempt on Lena and Lilian decided to act and went after the businessman. Kara shivered at she remembered the new memory where Lex and herself stood side by side between the Luthor Matriarch and Morgan Edge, Lex trying to calm his mother, Kara glaring at a nervous Edge. The photo taken by James that night ended proeminently on the wall of the best Catco covers.

Andrea was about to ask further questions but kara shook her head and explained that Mister Edge has been in prison ever since and His empire had been taken apart by Lex. Andrea asked if it could be possible Lex had his eye on the old part of National City, Kara shrugged and answered she didn't know. Kara went on claiming to have finally contacted and talked to the handyman and explained that after several "interventions" of "El" , a couple of pipes broke and flooded the apartment of the blind lady. Andrea raised a brow with a glint in her eye asking if Supergirl was at fault but Kara shook her head commenting that an expert had been called and they found out the leak had happened in an other part of the apartment, Andrea looked disappointed at that information. The CEO told Kara and Nia to go back to the area and to ask the people living in the same area about their plumbery and find out if the issue was reccurent and when did he start. She wanted also to release an article about Supergirl good deeds but William surprised her arguing that it would be better to have a proof that Supergirl had been visiting the area on a regular basis before going to print or the Superhero might just make an official deny and then probably avoid the area altogether once the article was out. Andrea asked if anyone had an idea how it would take to get a photo and a possible interview but no one was able to give her an answer. Andrea sighed before telling the team to research further to get a complete article and have a "quote" from an senior offcial at the City hall about failing their people who had voted for them.

Catco team called the City Hall during the week end until an assistant close to the Major told them they were aware of the situation and they would talk to the City maintenance and actions would be taken accordingly. However the following monday, the streets around the area were completly blocked for the circulation and officials made it clear that only people living and working in the area had access. Catco did some research and it was revealed that while the official explanation about ongoing repair work was possible, the residents argued they could only see patrol cars blocking the roads. Andrea was unhappy at the lack of information but told the team to look for further information. During that time, Kara got a lead from Al at the alien bar regarding a warehouse close to the area, the alien mumbled something and mumbled about the Luthor earning a furious look from the Super. Kara asked Lena if she knew about it but the brunette shook her head and explained that ever since she had left LuthorCorp, she had not kept up to date with what had been happening with the company even if Jess and Sam had sent her several emails to her after Lex had disappeared, the official story was he had been asked to work on a secret project for the governement but in reality no one really knew of his whereabout, making even Lilian uncomfortable. The older Luthor then surprised everyone by promoting Otis as acting CFO of the National City Luthor-Corp office. But according Jess he didn't seem to know anything about managing a business and the rare time the man was in his "office", she could clearly see he was not doing much and more than often just told the assistant to forward any enquiry to the department lead concerned with an enquiry claiming they had better knowledge of the subject than him. Kara looked at Lena with concern knowing how hard she had worked on the company before the Crisis and how Lex and Lena seemed to be a well-oiled team until not long ago. Kara wondered what would Lena do but the young Luthor refused to contact her mother to argue about the possibility of Otis destroying the family company. The only person to blame according her was Lex for going who knows where without making arrangement. Kara wondered what would have done Lena in the place of her brother, Lena actually took a moment to think about it before telling she would have call Sam back from Metropolis to be her CFO once again and ensure Jess finally gained more responsabilities and get her own assistant as she had shown to be more than capable to manage the business several times in the previous years and even Lex seemed to appreciate her hard work while not praising her publicly.

Kara gave a lift to Alex and the two flew to their destination before landing in dark alley close to a warehouse in the South industrial district, the building looked abandonned. The quickly two changed themselve into casual clothes and approached cautiously. They scouted the area and noticed several guards. they walked away quickly before any of the security members could notice them and found a spot to observe the building without being seen and raising the alarm. After a while, Alex Pointed to a side door, Kara nodded and they trotted to the possible entrance while keeping an eye for possible cameras. They approached the door cautiously and Kara was about to grab the handle of the door and opened it but Alex caught her sister wrist and shook her head murmuring about trying to keep a low profile. She used her alien gadget to produce a crowbar grinning at her sister who just look amused, Alex inched the door with the tool and got the door slightly opened but before they could make a move to enter the building, three men in camo armed with laser blasters revelead themselves. Alex threw a warning look at the blonde shaking her head, the raised their arm as if surrendering.

The men pushed the sisters and brought them inside taking them closer to a handful of men who were looking into several boxes, Kara noticed what look like a half deconstructed space ship and pointed it to her sister, she was not sure if is one from the Daxam fleet or from an other alien race.

One of the men looked at them, grumbled something before wondering why would two ladies trepass on a Wayne property. Kara blinked before commenting that she was not aware of Mister Wayne interest into various types of alien conduits. Alex and the men looked at her with a perplexe look but Kara shrugged innocently.

The man sneered at the blonde: You've got some nerve , lady. You think you and your friend can just waltz into a private installation and ....

Kara interrupted him: However I would love to know what you have been planning for this part of the city with your futuristic looking pipes

The man grinned: Just thinking of making a profit

Alex: I doubt the Major or the people living in that part of the City might be willing to pay a high amount for .... (she was pushed by a guard while the men giggled) What? What did I miss?

Kara titled her head: Mind to share?

The man shrugged: Fear

Kara and Alex shared a confused look and waited for the leader to explain the meaning of his answer but he just shook his head: We have better things to do (he pointed to two armed men) I have every intention to find out about what the blonde knows but it will have to wait until we are back. We are on a schedule. Lock them and do not let them escape (the guards nodded)

The man and his team left. After watching the group leave, a guard approached Alex to push her in direction of a secure side room when suddenly she gave him a kick to the chest. The other guard tried to attack her but Kara surprised him by grabbing his neck and banged his head into the nearest wall, knocking him out cold. Quickly Alex and Kara pulled the two men in the room and went to investigate the warehouse. After checking every other office and storage area, They were confident they were not going to find more boxes but Kara noticed some documents on a table with the mention of Doctor Jonathan Crane, a couple of medical report regarding rust level in the water, a blue print of National City reservoir and a handful of other reports. Alex took some screenshots of them all before the two left after making sure it was safe to do so.

Kara and Alex returned to the tower and updated the superfriend on what they have discovered, Kara made a call to Gotham. She was able to contact Kate kane and asked her if she could check on any possible connection between Gotham and National City. Lena commented they could bring Andrea up to speed. Everyone looked at her dumbfounded but Lena just grinned and said she had a plan in mind but it would probably take a few days to actually make it happen.

It took a week for Lena to able to make her scheme work. It was late in the afternoon, Lena and Andrea were having a chat through a video call (something they had kept on doing even since Lena return from Ireland), they were gossiping about one thing or other when Andrea watched in shock Supergirl with her eyes on a clipboard entering Lena office. She didn't seem to have notice Lena was chatting with someone outside the superfriends. "so much for superhearing" thought the stunned argentinian.

Supergirl: Miss Luthor, what do you know about the possible health risk of rust in the human body?

Lena thinned her lips, raised her eyes to the sky, shook her head in despair and then threw a dark look in the direction of the still oblivious caped hero while Andrea looked speechless, Lena coughed

Supergirl looked up from her clipboard: What? (she then noticed the active video call and leaned over Lena's shoulder to see andrea on the monitor) Oh hey Miss Rojas ... I .... erm ..... will come back later

The hero threw a sheepish look at lena before she turned around and exited the room abruptly, Lena brought her hands over her face and mumbled something that a clearly amused Andrea didn't catch

Andrea smirking: So dear Lena, Is there something you want to share with me?

Lena threw a look to her friend between her fingers

Andrea made a smug face before asking: So How really cozy are you with National City hero?

Lena scoffed: Oh please, like we could ever .... (she stopped herself)..... No, She contacted me because she wanted my view on ... something

Andrea: Rust?

Lena groaned, sighed and reluctantly nodded: Among other things

Andrea tried to push for more information: Would it be Something you could share? And by the way can you ask the Kryptonian about some visits to an old lady? and if you could find out when she is planning to visit her again?

Lena rolled her eyes and spoke in a dismissive tone: There is a higher chance for her to attend the Wayne gala than to bring grocery to .... (Lena caughted herself and grimaced)

Andrea exploded laughing: Oh Lena, This would have never happened if you had stayed at Luthor Corp

Lena dropped her head on the desk and banged it once

Andrea: But you know I like that new side of you

Lena : I guess the fact I no longer have to deal with old close minded white businessmen mellowed my guard

Andrea: I bet ... but really about that Wayne gala?

Lena shrugged: Supergirl and I have been working on our difference but not to the point that she would share every details of her team plans yet

Andrea: And the rust?

Lena: i might be connected to your people ongoing investigation regarding the water and electrictiy facilities in the oldest part of the City (Andrea raised a brow, Lena shrugged) Kara

Andrea titled her head : You know, I will probably never get your friendship with Danvers

Lena chuckled: Sometime I wonder about it too

Andrea got distracted by someone handing her a document : We will talk about this an other time but if you could get me a copy of .... whatever you are working on .. ... for .... you know

Lena nodded and ended the call. After a few seconds, she turned her chair around to face Kara who had entered the room again and both shared a smile.

Chapter Text

Shortly after the end of her video call with Lena, Andrea had contacted the Catco event team much to their surprise and learned as much as possible about the Wayne event. She had been surprised to learn that the Gotham business man had arranged the event In National City, even if she had the feeling he had learned the hard way that Gotham and Gala nearly always ended with a gang crashing it for fun and had the Batman or his associates saving the day (or the evening event). She wondered if there was a possibilty that Mr Wayne had some thought about Luthor-Corp, Maybe investing or becoming a partner. She had her doubt as only Lex could sign on it and he had not reappeared yet. The following day, Andrea called Kara, William, Nia and Franklin to her office, telling them they would attend the Wayne gala that would be happening in National City the following week. The group looked at her with a confused look but Andrea just smirked commenting that she also could get lead, she failed to see the shared look between Kara and Nia as Franklin panicked and argued he was not someone who could stand in a formal wear for too long, Andrea rolled her eyes and told him he needed to learn to do so quickly but if he was able to get someone from the photographer team to replace him, it would be fine. Kara and Nia commented they had nothing to wear for that kind of high-profile occasion and enquired why the Wayne and his people were even in National City. Andrea glared at the two women and commented that if anyone had read the “What New” part of the magazine, they would know Bruce Wayne and Kate Kane would attend the party as they wanted to celebrate after the presentation of their lastest successful technology (that was not part of their many military projects) release. Kara giggled and commented she highly doubted Wayne incorp would dare celebrate a military project in National City. Andrea raised a brow at the reporter statement. Kara shrugged and explained that between Maxwell Lord and Lex Luthor, the West coast market was well covered. Andrea blinked at the blonde knowledge, but Kara grimaced and mumbled “Alex”. Andrea mulled about asking the blonde for additional details when Nia suddenly yelped and went on a panic rambling about having never been to that kind of event. Kara threw her a confused look and enquired about her time with Cat Grant, the young woman flinched and commented that Miss Grant didn’t think she (as a junior assistant back then) was ready to attend any kind of formal event (especially in DC) and had her “babysat” Carter. Kara tried to keep it together but bursted laughing to the amusement of Andrea. Kara hugged Nia and told her “Welcome to the club” to the wide-eyed Nia.

William coughed, the women turned to look at him, Andrea asked him if he needed formal wear too, but the man shook his head, Andrea nodded and turned to Kara and Nia and told them to go check if the fashion department could help them, they were amazed at her offer until she glared at them and told them any damage would be covered by their wage. They nodded and moved in the directior of the lift to go a floor down.

The days until the gala were full of further enquiries to the City Hall trying to arrange an interview with the major, with several high ranking official from several department, look the several water suppliers of the city and contacting Jess for some information on the National City Luthor Dam and the city reservoir. The team tried to get access to Morgan Edge but the man through his lawyer made it clear that he refused to meet the reporters. Andrea had arranged for a couple of photographers to cover the street of the building where supergirl had brought grocery but the hero seemed to have been busy between traffic incident, boat rescue, alien trouble and pets rescue everywhere else in the city.

Kara flew and checked the warehouse again but she found it empty. She had Brainy checked the CCTV surrounding the area and several trucks branded Wayne incorp had been recorded moving in and out of the warehouse, Brainy had only been able to trace them until the vehicules left the city. However he had been able to use facial recognation system and by the following week at least two individuals were located and reported to had been seen near the docks.

Jess called Lena to update her. She told her Samantha Arias in charge of the Metropolis/Gotham office would not be able to cover the gala, Mrs Luthor was somewhere in Europe and didn't seem interested to attend and Otis Graves was not really someone the Wayne would want to be seen anywhere near. Lena thanked her former assistant for the offer but told her it would not be a good idea for her to be there on behalf of Luthor-Corp. Somehow the information came to Andrea’s attention (no one was completely sure how) and the Catco CEO formally invited her friend as her plus one. Lena blushed when she got the formal invitation. Alex and Kelly shared a look, J'onn exited mumbling something. Kara and Nia moved aside and talked about the many possibilities of why Andrea would invit Lena as her "plus one" but Kara refused to make to talk further once Nia started making assumption about the two friends at her girls only boarding school. It didn't stop The Luthor being teased for days by the superfriends, even if Kara looked troubled. Andrea also surprised Kelly by getting her an invit to the event, the reason was not clear but she not too subtletly implied that maybe she could invit former Agent Danvers. Kelly played it as if it was a bad idea but after a few days agreed to bring her girlfriend to the event.

On the day of the Gala, The fashion department were able to report that Miss Rojas was wearing a Primavera couture dark blue dress, Kara Danvers an Edward arsouni couture blue grey dress, Nia Nal a Sydney closet beige dress, Lena Luthor a Tariz Ediz black dress, Kelly Olsen an Elizabeth K burgundy dress and her friend Alex Danvers a Karen Millen tailored tuxedo wrap jumpsuit, William Dey failed to report from what designer was his tuxedo.

That evening, everyone arrived at different time to not raise attention to them. The Catco team had arrived early to get themselves at several points around the room to be able to keep track of the invitees and to ensure they would notice the Superhero as soon as she would enter. While standing by the buffet, Kara pointed Thea Queen and Nash Wells to William telling him their companies had probably been working with the Wayne R&D to develop the new techonology, William frowned and asked how Kara knew about them. Kara shrugged and said she had her own sources after several doing some research for some possible articles, even if the Bio technology these companies were known to be working on was not something she had focused her interest, She commented half jokingly that if she had she would have been transferred to the Catco science division a long time ago.

By 9pm, Bruce Wayne who wore an Ashby blue 3 pieces Nehru suit and Kate Kane who wore a Mac Duggal black jumpsuit entered the gala in style, mingled with people for a while talking with them about different things but refusing to discuss about Gotham vigilante, before Bruce jumped on the podium for a long speech about the need to change in the business but also in Gotham, he went on that he understood his City had a long way to go but he didn't think a handful of vigilante were going to make a difference, it was the people and their hard work. He added he was well aware it would take time for any change to take effect but whatever the cost, Wayne incorp would be ready to help. The room applaused at him before he made the attendants cheered when he made a large smile, raised his glass and commented it was time for the event to finally turn into something less formal and it was time to dance.

Kara and Nia had moved away from the buffet and ended closer to the bar looking a little uncomfortable, William was chatting with several men, Alex and Kelly walked in their direction after dancing for a moment, Andrea and Lena were also seen chatting not far away. Andrea noticed Bruce Wayne had been keeping an eye on the two reporters while discussing with several investors. After a moment, he nodded to the men and moved in the direction of the two reporters making Andrea frown even if it was not usual for the Gotham CEO to sometime talk freely with a journalist to give them a lead about a future project. she pointed him to Lena who frowned and the two moved to get closer.

Bruce made a friendly smiled to Kara: Miss Danvers, How nice to see you. Would you mind dancing with me?

Kara gave him a blank stare for a moment before making a small smile and replying: Do you even know where you car is?

Bruce blinked looking confused: My car? what .... car (Kara made a half smirk) .... No ... Oh no ....No no no (he turned around and stormed out of the room to the perplexity of everyone)

Andrea was stunned by the turn of event and glared at the Blonde: What did you say to Mr Wayne? What did you do?

Kara shrugged and drank her champagne

Andrea glared at her: You better explain yourself, Miss Danvers

Kara remained silent, when Andrea was about to hound the reporters for answer, a female voice interrupted her

Kate: You enjoyed that a little too much

Kara smiled at the new arrival: Who me? I didn't even try but then ..... He ... you know

Kate giggled nodding

Andrea: This is outrageous, My employee should not make the host uncomfortable. You will apologize to Miss Kane ...

Kate titled her head eyeing Andrea with an amused look: And who is this?

Kara: My boss

Kate hummed

Kara: From Argentina

Kate titled her head with an interested spark in her eyes

Kara rolled her eyes: Friend of Lena Luthor

Kate mused about that information: Oh well

Andrea glowered: And what's that supposed to mean?

Kate waved at her as if dismissing her before turned to Kara: Can I have this dance?

Kara raised a brow with a small smile: Only a dance?

Kate chuckled: Playing hard to get, Miss Danvers? What more could you want?

Kara grinned: An interview?

Kate approached her with a small sway: Is that what they call it In National City?

Kara smiled: It would depend what you have to offer

Kate bite her lips: Brazen, I like that (she offered her arm to the blonde) Shall we?

Kara beamed, turned to a speechless Andrea who had been watching the two women teasing each other : Sorry, I got a .... I might have a report Monday

The two walked away, Andrea threw a look at Lena who was wearing an odd look on her face

Nia frowned: What just happened?

Andrea turned to Alex who was half shocked, half laughing and was trying to hide herself behind the shoulder of Kelly who herself looked dumbfounded: She better have a good explanation for her attitude tonight or she can kiss her job goodbye

Alex threw her a warning look: You wouldn't

Andrea was going to say something but Lena grabbed her arm and shook her head, Andrea stared at her friend but remained silent.

After a moment, Lucius Fox came to the microphone and told the invited that Mr Bruce Wayne had been called away due to a business matter but that the Gala was to go on.

Around one o'clock, William went home, having taken enough notes for a full report of the gala and on the invitees, Andrea was annoyed at the fact Supergirl had not appeared as her friend had mentioned but Lena just shrugged saying that maybe the hero had been called away for an Emergency, the CEO tried to take aside Alex but the older Danvers just threw her dagger at her when she tried to question her. In the end, Andrea offered to give Lena a lift home but she declined commenting she had her own driver. The CEO left on her own. Lena, kelly, Alex and Nia looked at each other and left together in silence. The drive by to the tower was uncomfortable.

Once they arrived at destination, the quatuor moved to the main conference room, Lena struggled to keep her composure and angrily turned to Alex

Lena: What was that about? Since when Kara is attracted to ....

Kara landed and entered the room via the balcony, followed by Batwoman fully geared: I am sorry, I couldn't tell you about my plane but I thought you knew me better than that

Lena turned around at the voice and look speechless at Batwoman who smirked and then removed her headpiece

Lena blinked: What?

Kelly: Oh you got to be kidding

Alex and Nia shared a smile

Kara smiled: We had place to be

Lena: you got some explaining to do

(tbc)

Outtake/unused

Kate: Hey

Kara: Hey Nightbat

Kate: What no, please

Kara: Why? Have you ever kicked anyone during the day?

Kate: Not really

Kara: There you go

Kate: Right but I didn't call to get a new nickname, I heard rumor and I think you might need a bit of help

Kara: Depend, where are you? I could meet you and talk about it

Kate: Sweet but i think Your sister would need to be with us

Kara: Alex? Why?

Kate: Do you know a detective Maggie Sawyer? her file said she was transfered from National City

Kara: Yes

Kate: Can she be trusted?

Kara: Definitly

Kate: Does she know?

Kara: She is a detective, she found out all by herself

Kate: What was it? the sunny smile or the glass?

Kara: What? (she huffed) Fine it was the glass

Kate laughed

kara: So you want the Danvers to visit

kate: I could bat Noonans later on

kara: Just to warn you it might be awkward for Alex

kate: What?

kara: They were engaged

kate: Oh, Somehow I am not surprised, such a Danvers things

Kara: Woot ... I mean

Kate: Sure you only saw the tattoos

Kara remained silent

Kate made a small laughing sound: Right

Kara: I will tell Alex

Kate: All right, I see you two soon

Chapter Text

Lena sighed and rubbed her face, threw a disbelieving look at the people standing in the middle of the communication center of the tower

Lena crossed her arms, glaring at the two Superheroes: Really, you couldn't share what you were going to do?

Kara shrugged: I needed you to react and make Andrea think it was real. I needed a reason to leave without making her suspect fool play

Lena scoffed: Please, I am a Luthor, we are a blank page most of the time

Nia snorted and tried to cover it with a cough earning a hard look from Lena

Lena: So anyway, you couldn't share that Kate Kane is Batwoman ( she pointed to the smirking woman and then she blinked) Wait! does that mean Bruce Wayne is .....

Kara made a half smile: You will have to talk to him .... It is the same than for Kal, It is not my secret

Lena shook her head: Bruce Wayne with whom Luthor-Corp is a competitor over several markets (she threw a suspiscious look at Kate) How many time You or your uncle used Batman as a cover to "steal" from our company ?

Kate: I can not comment on anything that may or may not have happened before the Crisis. Earth Prime and Earth 38 had a different approach to .... well everything.

Lena scoffed and turned to Kara: And what was that with Bruce?

Kara shared a look with Kate: Some stuff that happened while we were visiting Earth 99, I may still working on it but it is not something I want to discuss

Alex looking unconvinced and it was clear the subject was not closed for her : Right, so you left and?

Kara: Well during the week, I made a few calls to Kate, we were able to list of a handful of warehouse by the docks that earned our interests and we had planned to check them out (she snorted) Of course, After a slight mistake, we wasted some time checking one of them by mistake due to a confusion between Warehouse 19 and 61 (kate made a small giggling sound) but we went to raid the other ones, took down several goons and retrieved a few interesting things: documents, raw materials and a laptop

Brainy: I was able to test one of your sample of the mixture you brought back and it look like it contains a kind of fear pathogen. Not the usual mixture, something more potents.

Kate: That's explain why Crane had been mentioned but I have checked with my source and I have been told he is still locked in Arkham

Kara: Yeah well if the Asylum is as secure as Stryker prison

Kate nodded : That's why Bruce is on his way back to Gotham to check on that himself. He also told me about a previous attempt of someone trying to use the product to raise a panic in the city. Crane created the mixture from a compound from an assassin league Bruce encountered a long time ago (not this Earth or Earth one version) and introduced the drug into the city water supply. From what I understand the drug only take effect if it is airborne but people need to have been injected some already (she frowned) this is very confusing

Lena looked worried: The dispenser

Alex raised her hands dismissing the Luthor worry: I can guarantee you it has been crushed under the DEO

Kate shook her head: Bruce said they tried to use a powerful microwave emitter against the main water supplies infranstructure to vaporize the water and it would have started a mass hysteria. Bruce said the he shut it down at last minute but several people had already been infected and still have trauma at what they saw or thought they saw during that time

Lena: We don't have that kind of .... (she interrupted herself before tilting her head and turned to Kara who noticed and looked offended)

Kara: I am NOT going to use my heat vision to vaporize the water reservoir

Kelly: Could there be ....

Alex: The man mentioned fear

Kara turned to J'onn: Can you Call Lucy and ask her to check on Psi .... and Scorcher (she added as an afterthought)

Kara grabbed Alex and the both left flying in the direction of the desert facility, Kate moved to the balcony and watched them diseappear through a cloud in wonder. She felt someone take their stand by her side and made a half smile. She turned around and was not surprised to find Lena who was looking at her

Kate: There is nothing between Kara and I

Lena stared at her, turned around watching at the sky and leaned against the rail: Am I ....

Kate smiled: Obvious? (Lena nodded) A little bit but she spent our time at the end of time talking about you and then having to listen to Lex making snark comments. I get it

Lena: But the flirt at the gala, she seemed to be into it

Kate smirked: She look innocent but behind the facade, she is a complexe woman but again she is an alien so ... (she shrugged)

Lena: I would love to hear about how you two

Kate: I was more Oliver, Barry and her.

Lena: Oh

Brainy interrupted them asking Lena to help him work on the antitode. Lena made a small nod at Kate who watched the Luthor walk away before she noticed Kelly looking in her direction with an intense look. kelly threw her a look before pointing to a side room and exited. Kate followed and found herself in a sparring room. Kate looked around and checked the training material for a little while Kelly watched.

Kate: You wonder about the whole vigilante thing (it was not a question)

Kelly made a face while chewing her cheek: A little bit. for a long while, I have been watching (she waved at the room outside) this team work and In the end all I can do is worrying about their wellbeing

Kate shook her head: I .... put the suit on because Bruce disappeared on my Earth ... (at Kelly questioning Look) He just left Gotham without telling anyone one day, no one knows why or where he went. I asked this Earth Bruce and he was as perplexe as myself, he has no idea. Anyway, somehow while i was looking for clues about his disappearnce, I discovered the Batcave and decided to .... (she struggled for a moment) cover for him until his return. I thought it would only be for a short while but then Alice decided to start trouble so here I am deep in the family legacy.

Kelly bowed her head: I am not even sure Alex would want me to ....

Kate: Your girlfriend is protective but you have to show her you can handle yourself (Kelly looked unsure, Kate moved in the middle of the sparring area and raise her arms away from her body) Punch me (Kelly looked at her in alarm) Punch me. Show me what you got

Kelly shuffled but moved to stand accross Kate, she threw a punch but Kate just stepped aside, Kelly tried again, this time Kate caught her fist easily and shook her head

Kate: Now try like you mean it

Kelly growled and tried to punch again, Kate took a step away starting to smirk but was surprised by a kick to the knee, she recovered quickly nodding at her opposant and then their actions turned serious: She backhanded Kelly who took flight and was unbalanced stumbled backward in surprise and landed on her back. Kelly get up and rushed at Kate, Kate rolled her eyes, ducked and grabbed Kelly's shirt and threw her against the opposite wall. Kelly slided accross the floor and came to a stop by the stairs leading to the changing room. Kelly layed on the floor a few seconds looking stunned. She grunted and was about to stand when Kate approached her and kneeled close to her.

Kate smiled: You have to forget the Army training (at Kelly's look, Kate shrugged), Kara (Kelly sighed) None of our foes think or act like whoever you fought before, it's all blunt force. You have to be smarter than them.

Kelly: Will you teach me?

Kate: Why not ask Alex?

kelly shrugged: I don't even know if she would ....

Kate: Is she the boss of you? Show her you want to help and not just stand on the side worrying about her when she is out there helping her sister

Kelly looked pensive and then thanked her, Kate nodded and left the room.

xxx

A few hours later, Kara and Alex were back and landed softly on the balcony, everyone quickly recovened in the main room of the tower, Alex explained that the villians were still secure and there were little risk of them escaping but after talking to Scorcher, the sisters explained that the fire alien implied she was not the only one from her planet who ended on Earth. Brainy and Lena said they had studied the formula of the antitode that Bruce had but it seemed not as efficient against the compound found at the warehouse. Kara wondered how it was possible and Brainy commented that it seemed that something alien had tainted it ... or maybe had been added to the sample. J'onn and Kara shared a look and the Martian commented that whoever was behind this had obviously taken into account National City alien population and changed the formula accordingly.

Kara surprised everyone by asking Brainy to show them the new formula but caught herself, frowned before turning to Nia asking the young woman which reporter Andrea has been hounding the most in the last few weeks , Nia blinked but quickly gave the name of "Tucker", Kara made a face before throwing an USB Stick to Dreamer and told her to find a way to have it land on his desk. Nia asked what was in it, Kara smirked and explained it was an unclear video of Supergirl and Batwoman surrounded by half of dozen knocked out masked men smiling and shaking hands. Nia laughed quietly and said she would make sure Tucker recieved the token. However before she was about to leave the tower, she mentioned to Kara that Andrea had sent several message regarding the reporter whereabout, Kara shrugged and said she had blocked Andrea, Lena looked worry and said Her friend hated that and that there would be consequences. Kara shrugged looking relaxed and she approached a desk, retrieved two pieces of paper and handed them to Nia, Nia looked at the documents and went wide eyed at the contents. One was a photo of Kate and Bruce looking at a view of Gotham from a Balcony from what looked a high skyscraper, the other was the first page (out of twelve) of an interview with Kate Kane. Nia looked up with confusion. Kara and Kate chuckled at Dreamer's reaction. Kate explained that while Kara was in Gotham working on the "Batwoman coming out" Article, she had also started to interview her "civilian" personality. And during the several phone calls to the batcave the following months, Kara had threw in one or two questions each time. This was the end result. Alex rolled her eyes and reminded her sister that she needed sleep. Kara shrugged and replied one hour under the sun was nearly as good as 4 hours sleep. Lena frowned at the hero's comment and looked pensive, she turned to Brainy and wondered outloud if the sun could have an effect on the water reaction. kara titled her head at the enquiry and asked if the copper in the old water delivery system could tamper with the result and also mentioned that she could froze the dam and the reservoir. Brainy made a blank face. Kate frowned but Alex explained he was just calculating the possibility and to give him a minute. Kate nodded and turned to Kara mumbling that she had an odd team, the blonded just laughed but agreed.

Brainy moved and said he would need more data, Kara said they could visit the Fortress to do more research but reminded the team that since the raid during the night, whoever was behind it was now aware that the team was on his tail and was probably working on making change in their scheme and they needed to work fast.

Kara pointed to Alex and J'onn asking them to check Al bar, Nia was to go back to Catco and distract Andrea, Kelly was about to say something but Kate interrupted and said she needed Kelly to help with something winking at Kelly to the confusion of Alex but Kara grabbed her sister's arm and shook her head, Brainy and Kara were to go to the fortress while Lena was to check her spell's book in case there was a potion to counter the effect of the pathogen.

The team was to meet again at a later time.

Chapter Text

Kara and Brainy flew up North and after moving over frozen land for a few minutes, they finally arrived at the fortress, entered and went to look for Kelex. They found him working on some machinery. Brainy was about to say something but a cough and hard look from Kara kept him silent. However he frowned when Kara keep staring at him.

Brainy: What?

Kara: You know I always wondered about the fact you are from the future and probably uploaded every bit of history about this time (not just everything related to Nia) but you act like everything is new when you probably have a good idea of what is going to happen

Brainy: I did but you changed the future when we dealt with Pestilence and after Crisis, there have been several more changes due to Lex's alterations and then after J'onn revealed what happened, the merging of the two versions have been confusing. I have two possible future and the possibility of one happening over the other is balanced.

Kara looked unconvinved: Really? A man of logic like yourself

Brainy shrugged and after a few more seconds of watching him, Kara shook her head looked disappointed. The two moved further into the fortress and to the direction of the lab area. It took them a couple of hours to prep several tests and arranged to secure several containment area in case of dangerous results. In the meantime, Kara got a call from Nia who informed her that an anxious and impatient Andrea wanted to hear from her before the end of the day to discuss Kate Kane's interview. Nia informed the blonde that Tucker had been promoted to her team and William Dey had been demoted to the archive floor to the shock of the british and then Andrea had praised Nia on her article on the outfit that everyone had wore during the gala and asked her to visit several tailor's office to ask them their opinion of the future of the business. Kara congratulated Nia and asked for Tucker contact number saying she would try to contact the man and see how they could make it work as a team.

Kara and Brainy started to test several mixture and raw materials with the fear pathogen and rust:

They added some aldernaan sand: there was no reaction

they added some melted sand, they had to contain the smoke that raised from the vial

They brought a vial to the sun eater cell and it exploded, they had to secure the area, hoover the fog and contain it

They added different kind of alien blood and each time the mixture started to boil after a few seconds, they had to contain the vials

Kara asked Kelex to get some herbs from the fortress's garden and made several test, without results

After several attempts, Kara successfully superdried some of the mixture and went to study it under a Microscope when Lena portalled to the fortress and was surprised to see Kara working in the lab while Brainy was typing on a tablet. Brainy nodded at her and noticed her confusion, he was about to say something but mumbled it was not up to him and needed to be somewhere else, Brainy pointed to the other room and walked away, leaving Lena to observe the blonde. Kara attention was on her work and didn't notice her friend and Lena could see that Kara seemed to know a lot more about research that she ever let on. Kara stood up and looked around for Brainy but ended up face to face with Lena with her brows raised high. Kara blinked.

Kara: What?

Lena had an intrigued look: I don't know. You seem comfy in a lab

Kara titled her head before shrugging as it was not a big deal: You met my dad, right? (Lena nodded) You didn't talk ? (Lena shook her head to Kara's surprise) The top scientist of Krypton and you didn't even asked him question about his field, his researchs, his success, the science guild and anything related to his legacy.

Lena made a face: It was too soon after (she waved at everything and nothing in particular) and then after the half disaster with the .... trash (Kara grimaced) I didn't want to .... make it more awkward before he left for Argo City

Kara sighed: Yeah, anyway I was more interested about Science than what mother was doing at the tribunal. I was probably eight when I really started to spent some time in his lab with him watching him, helping him, asking questions and I did learn some bit and pieces

Lena looked at her suspisciously: Are you telling me you understood more than you let on when you had that confused look each time I was talking about L-Corps research and anything idea I had about advanced science possibilities

Kara blushed and looked away with a guilty look

Lena: Oh you! There is so many things we have to talk about.

Kara made a small smile and nodded then waved the Luthor to approach the work desk and started to show her friend the work and the trials run Brainy and she has been working on, commenting theyy didn't have the much luck until now. Kara was about to say something when Kelex and Brainy entered the room interrupting them and Kelez asked if there was any more vials to add to the drone, Lena threw a look to Kara who explained that several tests gave dangerous results and after securing them, they were going to sent them in direction of the sun to ensure their total destruction, Kelex also mentioned he had programmed the main computer for a deeper thorough look into the rust and they noticed there were some minor trace of kryptonite, Kara looked up in alarm but kelex said the amount was less than a picogram so the risk for the blonde was mininum. Kara sighed but her posture was still tense. Lena asked Brainy how it could be possible, Brainy said the nanobytes from a couple of years above could only do so much but he was confident there the atmosphere was safe for Supergirl. Kara frowned and asked if it could affect the result of their tests, Lena and Brainy shared a look. Lena asked Kara to lend her anti kryptonite outfit as they needed to check on something, Kara blinked, snorted and half joked they were lucky she had civilian clothes with her, Lena stammered and slightly blished, Kara shook her head at her friend reaction before she went on about the fact she actually had some old version of the supergirl suit in one of the many storage room of the fortress. she left Lena and Brainy alone to discuss several possibilities while she went to retrieve the spare clothe and change. Brainy mumbled something about the ladies needed to face their feeling, Lena acted as she didn't hear and went on to ask several questions about any possible similar compound who could have the same reactions or acted the same as the rust. Brainy offered several possibilities but commented he was confident none would have any effect of someone like the original sample. Lena seemed troubled but nodded

Kara finished to change in one of the large dressing room and started to walk back to the research area when she got a call from Alex who informed her that J'onn and herself had been to AL bar and the owner had confirmed that he had seen a couple more infernians in the last few months and he remembered that at least one had been approached by two men, he was not sure of the accent but it was possible it could have been East European, Kara grumbled, Alex said she understood the feeling and told her sister they were going to try locating him. Kara thanked her, told Alex to be careful and went back to the lab. She was about to enter through a secure path when Lena raised her hand stopping her and told her to stay where she was as Brainy and herself were working with a small amount of kryptonite, not enough to really weaken her but to be safe, it was better for her to watch from afar. Kara acknowledged her friend advice before turning around and went to an other secure lab to work and test several more vials.

She added some sand rust remover, the result was interesting but she was confident it didn't give a high success rate for a larger scale attack

She used her freeze breathe, the vial broke into multiple pieces, Kara stared at the broken glass for a moment and sighed

She added acid, she quickly had to contain the smoke that result of the mixture.

After an other failed attempt, She groaned, rubbed her face before sighed and decided to take a break. she went to get herself a mug of coffee and located a couple of sweets. she looked pensive for a moment and then called Eliza who knew a little more than herself about odd compound and aliens biology. Eliza was happy to hear from Kara, a little offended that it was only because of work, Kara felt guilty that no one (ie Alex) didn't tell about what happened with Lex and the weeks she spent in the Phantom zone, Eliza mentioned the phantom incident in National City but Kara dodged the question claiming it was due to a faulty prototype but that everything was back in order. Eliza felt a half truth but decided to not push the subject. Kara was thankful before explaining the reasons of her call: the possible issue with a fear pathogen that could affect human and aliens. After several directed question, Eliza commented that there was a handful of alien drugs that acted like Earth sedative and maybe one could help neutralized the compound. Kara asked if she meant something like Magnesium and Eliza confirmed. Kara thanked Eliza and promised that Alex, Kelly, Lena, Nia and herself would find a way to free a week end and would travel and visit her in Midvale.

Kara stormed to the lab room with Lena and Brainy and explained to them what Eliza told her, Lena blinked and then facepalmed, Brainy froze for about five seconds and then confirmed that it was possible. Lena and Kara chuckled about how the way to resolve their issue could be that simple. Kara went to one of the storage room and retrived the material needed. the three made several tests and all came back positive. Kara, Lena and Brainy giggled and hugged before starting to work on how to get the solution in the Mainstream water service. Having a thought, Lena quickly contacted Jess and explained what she needed. Jess remained silent for a while before said she undersood what Lena wanted and that she would work on something.

Kara, lena and Brainy then portalled back to the tower. Kara called Nia and asked her if there was still anyone from Catco stalking the address of the blind lady. After a few seconds, Nia came back to the phone and confirmed, Kara thanked her and told her Supergirl would probably visit the place soon. Nia then mentioned that ever since his promotion, Tucker had been acting like a peacock and had been badmouthing Kara. The kryptonian frowned, made an annoyed sound before asking what was the mood of the office, Nia told her that Tucker had recieved several dirty look from his colleagues and Andrea had looked disappointed at him but he didn't seem to care as he seemed too busy hounding the IT team to gain access to several files. Kara asked if Nia knew what they were but Nia had no idea.

Kara said she understood and told Nia to not clash with Tucker. She sent several messages to the superfriends and told them to meet at the tower as they had several things to work on and to arrange for a few things to be put in place for the following day(s).

Chapter Text

The team convened at the tower late in that afternoon, Nia seemed annoyed about something. Kara spent that time answering several questions from Lena who looked in awe and mumbled the two could have been partners with Kara extensive science knowledge. Kara just reminded her that she already had two jobs back then. Alex and J'onn were back from their hunt, they said they were getting closer to locate the infernian, she was about to say something else when Kate and kelly entered the room, Alex gasped at Kelly face, she had a black eye, Alex turned to Kate in anger and rushed her not hearing Kelly yelling at her to stop, Kate threw a sorry look at Kara, ducked and threw Alex over her shoulder, Alex landed heavily on her back, She was about to stand up and attack again when Kelly landed on her chest telling her to calm down.

Alex: She was supposed to protect you

Kelly: I made the choice to go with her, you have to stop

Alex stared at her girlfriend and then sighed, she threw a look at Kate who just nodded: So what happened?

Kate: Well we went to check several real estate agencies around the area

Alex: Thinking to invest?

Kate snorted: I was working on that on Earth One when (pointing to Kara) that one and her friends make themselves known, words goes around fast when the name Oliver Queen is mentionned, especially in Gotham (Alex and Lena noticed Kara's half smile) but anyway Gotham and National City are miles away when it comes to the market. But there was not many sell or renting offered so after a few visit, we actually entered an office but the staff seemed reluctant to talk to us but with a little of push, we got a name and we went to visit, the place (who looked to be recently opened) was actually half a wine tasting bar/half an estate agency. But we noticed the bar had mostly traditional russian drinks and rare wines. It was enough to give me a warning. We talked with a man who felt awkward and looked uncomfortable and then we heard the clear sound of the lock being turned. We turned around and six gentlemen were standing there, telling us to mind our business ... or you know ... else (kate smirked). They were stunned when I knocked out two of them and then there was a brawl, she (pointed at Kelly) took a hit sure but she can fight, her style is still a little .... (Kelly looked offended) but it does the job (Alex looked at Kelly half surprised/Half proud) . Once the gentlemen were all lying on the floor, we turned to the man who hadn't moved and asked further questions. From what we understand, Someone .... bald (The group groaned) is a shadow partner of a Kaznia investment group and they have plan to build something. But City hall (apart a couple of people) had made thing complicated and also they don't have a lot of patience so .... they contacted some people In Gotham

Kara: That sound like something Edge would have done

Lena: Actually Lex was working on a deal with some investors from Kaznia when we ... had our difference and I finally quit Luthor-Corp. I should have known

Kara shrugged: It could have been anything, no need to dwell on the past. But even the area need a little (ok a lot of) work, what are the chance they are going to stop, I mean they have probably enough to poison the reservoir and more.

Alex: Well let put a stop to their scheme quickly

Kara: I guess Supergirl is finally going to visit Miss Cartford again

The group worked on a plan for a few hours and left for the night

xxxx

Kara and Nia arrived at Catco, they saw William looking dejected in one corner of the office, Nia pointed to a man and said "Tucker" but before Kara could walk to him, Andrea noticed her and yelled her name. Kara nodded to Nia and moved to Andrea office.

Andrea sneered: How was your time with Miss Kane?

Kara shrugged: You jumped to conclusion, didn't you?

Andrea looked taken aback: You mean you didn't ...

Kara snorted, retrieved a file from her bag and handed to Andrea, she glanced through it and stared at a few photos of Kate sitting at a desk, Kate and Barbara Gordon standing in front of a lab, Kate and Bruce in front of a half blue print of something huge (Andrea looked up at Kara who shrugged and said: Work in progress)

Andrea shook her head: Sometime I wonder how you seemed to know some people, you are not running in the same circle

Kara half smirked: Secret of the trade

Andrea scoffed but before she could say further, Tucker entered the office, threw a look of disdain at Kara.

Tucker: What the issue ....

Andrea: Kara Danvers is in charge unless you are showing me something worth

Tucker scoffed: Just because she got a Pulitzer

Kara shrugged: You can get the next Supergirl interview

Tucker: You bet I will

Kara: You got a week to write something that will take my breathe away

Tucker: Or what?

Kara smiled but said nothing, Tucker frowned, grunted and left the office

Andrea raised a brow: Do I want to know?

Kara chuckled and shook her head. Andrea studied her for a moment before waving her out of her office

xxxxxxxxxxx

That afternoon, Supergirl wearing casual clothe landed in the side street with a handful of grocery bags, threw a few look around but didn't notice anything and entered the building of Miss Cartford, she knocked at the door and was about to enter when two reporters exited the side apartment and rushed at her. Supergirl glared at them but after a few seconds just smiled and faced them surprising the one taking photos. She waved them inside the apartement, kissed the woman on the cheek and started to put the groceries in the cupboard. she pointed the duo to the living room. The reported showed his phone to the hero as if asking if her could record, the hero nodded

Brown: I am sorry to jump on you like that but ...

Supergirl shrugged: I was bound to happen sooner or later

Brown: You help a lot of people ... why this one

Supergirl: She told you how we ... (the man nodded) I ... somehow crashed a few street away from her and damaged some infracstruture, While I was dealing with the annoyed repair team, I noticed her walking around, I got in touch again and once thing followed an other, we talked and she mentioned the poor quality of the maintenance around this area and the cost of getting professional help, I decided to help a little.

Brown: Why not more

Supergirl bite her lips: I am not going to do the job of the social service or of city Hall or whoever managed this building, I made some enquiries and clashed with a handful of High ranking officials.

Brown: Any reason?

Supergirl shrugged: I am trying to stay out of National City politic especially when family are involved (Brown raised a brow, Supergirl threw a meaningful look at the recorder, the man turned if off) You should check who is in charge of managing the aera and who at the city hall is dealing with complains and requests for infracstruture check .... (Brown showed he understood and turned the recorder back on)

The interview went for a little longer about the hero work with Charity agency before Supergirl com was heard, she excused herself but the man just smiled and nodded.

Brown: One of my colleague who is working with Kara Danvers is chasing for an exclusive, a gentleman named Tucker

Supergirl titled her head: What happened to Mr Dey?

Brown shrugged: I am not one to discuss Miss Rojas decision

Supergirl nodded and left. Brown and the photographer watched her fly away with awe, the other man said Tucker was going to be annoyed that they didn't call him, Brown shrugged not showing any guilt.

XXX

That evening, Supergirl and Alex were scouting some side street and warehouse, Alex frowned and looked at a building, Supergirl looked at her and she grumbled about Scorcher, the blonde blinked, looked around and snorted, mumbling about some alien have similar taste. They entered the warehouse with caution, they heard a buzzing noise and Supergirl grabbed Alex and both ended on the floor while a ball of fire flew above their head. they looked up and a large and muscular alien walked out of the shadow smirking.

Infernian: Took you long enough

Alex: Oh boy

Infernian: You are going to tell me where Scorcher is and then you might not suffer too long

Alex blinked: And you will leave the city without vaporizing the reservoir? (The alien snickered) Yeah that what I thought

Supergirl went to stand in front of her sister, hand on hip glaring at the alien who smiling brightly hold his fists and smacked his forearms together, Both his hands bursted into flame. Alex looked in alarm. The alien punched Supergirl in the head, she went down. Another punch. Supergirl winced in pain, scrambled backward on her butt and hands but she watched at an other flaming fist swinged her way. But Alex blocked his attack with a heavy swing of her baton on his forearm, he grunted, threw a dirty look at the human, threw casually a ball of flame at her, watched her jump behind a wall, loudly implyied that her death was not going to be slow and he might enjoy it more than her. He was turning around when he got stunned by a super uppercut thrown by a pissed off looking superhero, the alien flew against a wall and cracked it. He shook his head and laughed seemingly enjoying himself. He stood up and rushed at the hero, they exchanged a flurry of punchs, jabs and kicks when he twisted and grabbed the arm of the caped hero and twisted. Supergirl winced a little. The alien sneered and his flaming fists grew brighter, Supergirl threw her elbow backward and she heard the sound of some bones breaking, the alien yelped and released her. Supergirl took several steps backward and got ready for whatever was next. The alien roared and was about to charge her when he got covered with foam form a fire extinguisher. Kara expected to see Alex but it was Kate who smirked. The alien spitted foam out of his mouth when Alex rushed to him and tased him. he froze and his muscle looked to contract, he kneeled heavily and then fainted.

Kate was about to say something but kara raised a hand shaking her head, Kate just nodded and smiled.

Alex: Let hope your uncle, J'onn and Brainy were successful with retrieving the stock of tainted bags

Kate nodded: I would love to invit Dreamer to Gotham

Kara smiled: I can understand that

Chapter Text

Batman, J'onn and Brainy had been successfull in retrieving some ingredients, several bags of tainted mixture and several documents from a nearly empty (apart for the five half sleeping guards) house via a side street

Brainy: That was too easy

Batman grunted

J'onn: Isn't that a good thing?

Batman: No, that usually mean ...

Brainy suddenly ducked, avoiding a crowbar swung to his head. The trio froze and found themselves confronted by a large group of men

Batman: Typical

The leader smiled: Bat

Batman: Cohen, How is Crane?

Cohen: Oh no, He asked me to help Poison Ivy while he is resting in Arkham, kind of .... officially not guilty of whatever happening somewhere else due to being locked. And she was nice enough to give us a little boost (he flexed) You are not Supergirl but you will do

J'onn: Taking a page from Lex Luthor?

Cohen: What if?

Batman tossed the bags he had aside and stood ready

J'onn grabbed him and wishpered: We could fly away

Batman threw him a look as if thinking about it but he moved to his left, Brainy reacted and moved to the right. J'onn rolled his eyes and threw his bag to the nearest man, catching him off guard and did a front snap kick to the gut, He felt immediatly. A man rushed Batman and the Bat did a full spinning wheel kick to his face, knocking him back. An other swang again at Brainy with the crowbar but he ducked it again and punched him in the gut. J'onn turned around and backhand punched an other man in the face followed up an elbow to his gut. Cohen front snap kicked Batman, sending him flying on the hood of a car and landed hard on his back. an other man rushed at him wielding a length of pipe and swang it down at Batman but he rolled out of the way and onto his hands and feet and hopped on the top of the car. A man lunged at J'onn but he grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder into a trio of men who were getting ready to enter the fray. Cohen jumped on the car to attack Batman but the Bat threw an uppercut to the face and Cohen flew backward onto the windshield of the car.

Brainy threw a flurry of punch, jab and kick and was taking on four men at the same time, he threw a hard kick to one knee, snapping it. threw a hard punch to the solar plexus to an other making him fall to the knee out of breathe, he caught the crowbar from the third and swang hard, breaking the nose of one making him yelp in pain, swang in the other direction and caught his forth opponent at the back of his head and knocking him cold. He turned around and ran to help Batman who was still on the car. Batman caught a man by both arms and twisted him around, making him fall in a spin onto Cohen who was slowly recovering. The both men got the wind knocked out of them and stayed lying but slowly sliding from the hood of the car onto the ground. Brainy stopped and titled his head in appreciation, shook himself and turned to check on J'onn

A man ran straight for J'onn. he sidestepped him and sticked his arm straight out, which the man ran straight right into, causing him to flip underneath the arm, landed heavily on his back. He spinned around and knocked an other cold, he grabbed the pipe on the ground and smacked an other man hard in the face and knocked him to the floor. An other foe rushed at him but he swang the pipe and got him in the stomach making stumbling backward against a wall where he stayed blinking at the turn of event.

Batman approached Cohen and kneeled by him, Lightly slapped him while glaring at him. Cohen raised his hands to his face

Batman: Nice Boost you got there but I wonder how your liver gonna be

Cohen blinked in confusion behind his fingers, Batman made a shadow of what could be a smile and stood up without saying anything else. The trio retrieved the loot and walked away from the street filled with fallen men knocked out, some hissing in pain and some crying at some broken bones.

XXXX

The following days, several articles appeared in different newspaper (including Catco) implying that the entitled son of a high ranking official at the City hall was using his father influence to delay repair of the water and Electric infractrusture in one part of the city, some mention of Kaznia trying to buy off several building in the area, the discovery of several products that were about to be dropped in the reservoir but a mention was made that there was an easy fix and that several hospital were working on a product to neutralize the effect, Waybe incorp and Luthor-Corp Metropolis were praised as they donated their stock of Magnesium and other needed medication within half a day. Quote were requested but Otis growled at the reporters, Samantha Arias excused herself claiming, Mister Fox did a quick Q&A but didn't give much to the media.

Andrea looked annoyed and called Kara and asked her how much she knew about the whole thing. Kara shrugged and said she had heard things and that's why she had started to look into the plumbery's issue but she didn't know much more.

The following weeks, at least two City Hall officials resigned, the son disappeared but there were rumors he had left to Kaznia with the staff from the Estate agency who avoided being arrested. The city Hall offered to move the residents from the affected area to a neighborood building while repairs was being made, the owner of the building where Miss Cartford lived was fine heavily and was behind investigated by more than one agency.

XXXX

Catco, conference room

Kara had invided Tucker to discuss

Kara: I am disappointed

Tucker sneered at her

Kara: I asked you to get me an interview of any of the superfriends

Tucker: You make it sound easy to find them

Kara smiled: Actually Dreamer is at the purple circle every Thursday (Tucker gaped), J'onn is at the alien bar every friday, the Sentinel is at the NCPD office every monday

Tucker: You could have told me

Kara: You could have ask me, I am not hiding things as you do

Tucker turned slightly pale: What's that supposed to mean?

Kara shook her head: I looked at what you were trying to get from the IT and HR: Siobhan. That's explain why Andrea seemed annoyed at you because you were not doing your work and you were the target of several of her rants, people noticed, How you got the video of Supergirl and Batwoman intrigue me.

Tucker said nothing

Kara: She is family

Tucker: It is your fault

Kara took a remote and turned on a TV and the recording of Siobhan entered Catco and screaming at Kara sending her through the window to her death, Tucker looked at it in horror

Kara: Good for me The Flash was in the area and saved me. But again I am not sure how it is my fault

Tucker: She disappeared

Kara: You are looking at the wrong place

Tucker blinked

Kara: There is still a huge pile of debris where the place with all the records were , you should check there

Tucker: The DEO had her?

Kara: She was arrested. I would ask the man in charge but (she grimaced)

Tucker growled: Lex Luthor

Kara: Are you going to start working as a reporter now. I have better things to do than to give excuse to Andrea about your lack of article

Tucker looked away and stared at her: What about Lena?

Kara: Yes, Lex shared his thoughts with his sister (heavy sarcasm filtered through that comment)

Tucker shook his head: I understand, I will explain to Andrea I need some time off and that William should get his job back

Kara: I would ask for Nia

Tucker threw her a dark look: You think because you cleared things with me, you are going to get what you want (he scoffed)

Kara raised her hands: It was worth the try

XXXX

In the end of the week, Alex and Kelly were talking in the sparring room, Nia thought she heard the name of James, the guardian and the possibility of training

Brainy found Kara and Lena in the lab surrounded by several chemical vials, of blue prints of several suit, lexosuit and other plans. There were also sharing many smiles.