Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Call Me Kara

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 22:

“He has a point.”

Oliver looked at Thea, who was sitting on the ground propped up by a tree. His entire team and Wayne’s team had arrived at the site of the secondary location of Project Cadmus. All were in the woods surrounding the creepy two story run down Victorian home in the middle of a large forest. Oracle had reported six video cameras ahead in trees that the Bat promised he would take care of. While the Earth 3 crew, including to his great discontent, Superman, were on one side of the house, Oliver’s friends were on the other. Oliver felt certain Kal El belonged with them, Earths be damned, he was Kara’s family, but let it go. He had no doubt as soon as they moved, Kal would be here with Barry and Kara. At this moment, Kara and Barry were off together who knew where, hopefully staying quiet and Alex and Nyssa were off somewhere, hopefully keeping clothes on while staying quiet. Considering Kara was within three miles of Alex, Oliver was sure the two were behaving.

Felicity, Thea, Dig, Cisco and Caitlin were all sitting on the ground around him, waiting for the signal. No one had spoken a word until Thea broke the silence.

“Who has a point?”

“Bruce Wayne? Bat dude? He has a point about working together. We could be better at it.”

“Something wrong with the way we work together, Thea?” Diggle asked, not upset but curious.

“Not the way our team works and not the way their team works, ” she pointed to Cisco and Caitlin, “but the way we work together. We don’t. Sure we team up sometimes but its not like Central City and Star City are on the other side of the world from each other. Barry could have really been a huge help against Darhk. We could have helped Barry handle Zoom and maybe he wouldn’t have taken the beating he did. Maybe Caitlin never would have been kidnapped by the maniac. Maybe… maybe a lot of things. Darhk could stop bullets with his magic but Barry can stop them with his hands. I just wonder if we had taken time to help Barry out, how much sooner we could have taken down Zoom, then he could have helped us take out Darhk. We both fought these battles for months, at a great cost of life to those we knew, cared about, loved and ten thousand lives we never will know because of that bastard. A little more organization would be good. Maybe we can’t help each other all the time but more than we all have been.”

Oliver thought of this before as well. Still there was a large part of him that did not want to involve Barry in Star City problems for one of the same reasons he guessed Alex didn’t want Kara becoming involved in the hero business in the first place. It was a brutal game that changed people, permanently.

“Barry… Thea, our problems in Star are more of a… nastier…”

“Shove it Ollie. I’ve heard that excuse from you. You don’t want Barry to have to deal with the darkness we do because you are afraid it will blacken his soul or something. Yeah, yeah, we have all heard it. I’m not sure if you noticed but the battles he has been fighting are just as real as ours. Caitlin, Cisco, you know him best. Is he the same guy he was when he started? Are any of you?”

Cisco said nothing, playing with the visor in his hands. Caitlin met Thea’s eyes and the look on her face was all the answer Thea needed.

“I know what you mean, Thea. We have all changed.” Dig agreed. “When we first started Felicity would jump every time Oliver spoke in a harsh tone around her and now she has him rolling over and doing tricks.”

A few seconds of silence before Thea, Caitlin and Cisco began quietly laughing. Oliver even smiled a bit when Felicity bumped his shoulder.

“Very funny.”

“Ollie, you know you can’t fight darkness without some of it getting on you. Barry killed Zoom. He stuck his hand into Zoom’s chest and stopped that monster’s heart. He had no choice. Cisco didn’t you say you have a memory of Thawne killing you?” Thea asked.

“Yeah, thanks for bringing that up before we are about to raid an underground alien experimentation facility, Speedy.”

“Caitlin, you have seen, we all know…” Thea told her, not wanting to talk about Ronnie’s death or her kidnapping by Zoom. Felicity had told Thea that Cait had constant nightmares about Zoom until Kara had moved in with her.

“You can’t protect us all, Ollie. We aren’t saints. If Barry had reached out, things may have gone easier for him, maybe not but we could have helped some. Maybe gotten ourselves killed but thats what we do right? Remember all the times we searched for Darhk, trying to find a location? Barry could have literally scoured every inch of the city in an hour and taken the totem before Darhk knew what happened. Maybe we couldn’t have stopped Zoom but if Firestorm and Ray had been around, with us, yeah we could have taken him down quicker. Now we have Kara and Alex, and I think its the worst kept secret in two universes, at least to everybody but Kara, that where Alex goes, Nyssa will follow. We can keep fighting battles alone but if we didn’t, if we stopped this whole this is city my, my fight, pride thing you and Barry seem to have, things could go a lot easier. Lives could be saved.”

“She has a point, Oliver.” Dig agreed.

“Oliver, you told us about that first fight with Ra’s.” Felicity reminded him, “you had to climb that cliff and then fight him which gave him a really unfair advantage by the way. Can you imagine if he was waiting for you and Kara in all her sunny blondness just kind of floats up? The first time he tries to stab her the sword breaks on her stomach? God I would have loved to seen that bastard’s face if that had happened. We probably could have talked her into wearing a green hood!”

“I know, right?” Thea agreed, “Do you think Darhk could have used his magic on her?”

“Yes.” Oliver answered immediately. “And if he figured out what Barry could do he would have used it on him eventually as well.”

“True, if he could catch Barry. Of course telekinesis only works on solid objects so if Barry vibrated at the same frequency he uses to phase through walls he wouldn’t exactly be solid would he?” Thea continued, “but he wasn’t going to stop Kara’s heat vision. Savage’s staff couldn’t overpower her, I doubt Darhk could handle her.” Thea argued.

“Exactly. He would have put his pasty hands in the air to stop her and his hands would have been incinerated in less than a second.” Dig agreed. “He sure as hell wasn’t using telekinesis on a woman who can lift a million tons. After most of you retired for the evening, I made friends with Alfred. He took me into Wayne’s massive library and showed me some video of Kara, some from the news and some from Wayne’s satellite network. That speech she broadcast to break the Myriad signal, man Oliver, if your speech gave the people of Star City their hope back and countered Darhk’s magic, her speech would have made flowers grow out of his ass. And then that battle her and the Martian had against her uncle and the blue computer lady. I really didn’t have any clue what lifting an alien prison would look like but it seemed like that thing just lifted off. It was so big I couldn’t even see her until Alfred zoomed she was, lifting it up and flying off with it. That was after she took out her Uncle, forced his own beams straight back into the man’s brain. Sunshine Danvers don’t play around. She was fierce before Savage. He wasn’t her first rodeo. She may not be strategic but they are both getting better. You didn’t ask them to check out that cave, those two did it on their own.”

“So you are saying I shouldn’t try to keep Barry out of Star City business?” Oliver clarified.

“We are saying that together we could all be stronger.” Felicity told him.

“I wish she had been here against Thawne and Zoom.” Cisco mumbled.

“Why?” the Arrow asked, beginning to get annoyed at how they all seemed to be taking Kara for granted as invincible. He knew no one and nothing was invincible and he didn’t want her to ever find that out. “Are you saying either of those men couldn’t have phased a hand through her chest, Cisco?”

“No, they could have. But Kara’s reflexes are as fast as Barry’s even if her speed isn’t. The opposite of speed is cold. Its why Snart’s cold gun has worked on Barry so effectively before. We haven’t even begun to really test the limit of her freeze breath but man, its freaking cold. If Zoom or Thawne would have tried to reach into her chest she just would have frozen their hand until it stopped vibrating and broken the thing off. I know what you are getting at Oliver. She isn’t invincible and don’t think we don’t know that. You weren’t there the first time we saw her but she died for a minute in front of us. I’ve never seen someone look so… dead before. I’ve seen dead people but she was just pale and looked so small and the blood… but she doesn’t use her gifts to live a long life. She uses them to save lives, even if it means losing her own. If any of us played it safe we wouldn’t be here now. Maybe if we did work together better, then life would be easier. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.” Cisco reminded Oliver.

Oliver sat quietly for a minute watching the few remaining rays of the sun dim away into darkness.

“Until we get this done and get back home, nothing else matters. Kara!” Oliver whispered. He knew she would hear. Like magic her and Barry were in the middle of the group.

“We ready?” Kara asked. Wherever her and Barry had been they definitely had not been making out. Both looked tense and ready for battle.

“Kara, could you find Alex? I would like to talk to everybody before we go…”

“No!” Barry whispered harshly, glaring at Oliver. “Kara, let Caitlin look at your suit and make sure you are online. I can find her faster. Just look at Cait and Cisco, make sure they are doing what they do with the… computer stuff, correctly.”

Barry zipped off leaving a confused Kara behind.

“I could have just looked and pointed them out. I heard them before we came over.”

“You did?” Cait asked, relieved that the two must have just been talking.

“Yeah they were stretching. I suppose Nyssa isn’t as flexible as she seems. She kept moaning and Alex kept telling her to shut up. Its probably the tension. My muscles feel like they could… what?”

Thea, Felicity and Caitlin all looked away from her, while Dig started checking his gun, Oliver checked the tension on his bow and Cisco started playing with Caitlin’s tablet.

Barry did find Alex in only a couple of seconds. Alex was on the ground, split legged and leaning over to one side stretching, while Nyssa stood on one leg away from her, pulling her other straight leg up against her shoulder. She wasn’t even wobbling. The woman was a damn contortionist and gymnast in addition to being a ninja assassin.

“Mr. Allen…”

“For God’s sake Nyssa, since you won’t be going anywhere for a long time, meaning we will see each other daily for the foreseeable future, could you just call me Barry? I don’t walk around calling you Miss Demon, do I?”

“I apologize Barry. Is it time to attack?”

“Uh, what are you two doing?” he asked. Alex had now leaned over to the other side, touching her other knee.

“Stretching Barry. Not all of us have superhuman reflexes and are able to heal from pulled muscles immediately. It’s pretty obvious we are going to be in a fight soon. It is best to be prepared.” Alex explained. Barry let out a breath. Of course that is what they were doing. He didn’t think anything else. That would be… crazy. Relieved they were both dressed and actually stretching… not that he doubted they would be… Barry remembered the reason for his visit.

“Oliver wants to have a team meeting. The sun is almost completely down.”

“I am not a member of any team.” Nyssa told him quickly. “If I were, I would be in charge and leading the assault.”

“Okay… Oliver would like everyone who is about to take part in an assault on a black site, alien experimentation laboratory to have a chat before we do this.” Barry tried.

“Tell your heterosexual life mate we will be there in a moment.” Nyssa told the man. The mask couldn’t hide Barry’s confusion at that title so he shook it off and moved back to his friends.

“Heterosexual life mate, Nyssa?” Alex asked, eyebrow raised and a slight grin.

Nyssa dropped her leg from her shoulder and rolled her shoulders.

“If you had heard the stories I have, you would understand. I’ve never heard of two men who wanted to be the other so badly. They are each other’s biggest fans. It’s a bit sad really. If Oliver and Barry were bisexual, Felicity and Kara would have no chance. Are you ready for this, Alex?”

Alex nodded her head. “As ready as I will ever be. Look, I appreciate you coming with us.”

“Your sister is dear to me as well as you. I wouldn’t let either of you come alone.” Nyssa told her quickly. Kara Danvers Zor El has made an impact on Nyssa that she did not expect or want but could do nothing about. The woman smiled, even after being kicked in the teeth,literally. It was hard to not be affected by the brightness in her soul, especially for one like Nyssa who had grown up around so much darkness.

“I know and…”

“And this is your father. There is nowhere else I would be. I do not like these other people being involved though, especially the man with the strange fixation on bats. Stay close to me.”

“Nyssa… I don’t want you getting hurt. You don’t owe me anything. We… what we have is casual. We agreed…”

“You agreed.” Nyssa told her and walked up to Alex, kissing her gently. “I take love seriously. I don’t do casual. I have not had much love around me in my life. I let you call it this because you need time to deal with what you are feeling. I realize I can be… strange to someone who has not grown up in the manner I have. Alex, I do not do one night stands or casual sex. That is not who I am. If I am with someone it is because I want to be with that person and consider her a warrior of my fortitude and someone I hold dear to my heart and soul. I’ve only deemed one person worthy of that in my life and you are more important than that one person. The first time I saw you, I knew I had met my equal. You have my word, if your father is indeed in that place, I will get him out and kill anyone who gets in our way. Now let us go listen to the famous Green Arrow speak. I’m sure he has words of wisdom that will change our lives. With luck he will use that voice modulator he loves so much. We can only hope once inside the complex that he has the opportunity to tell someone they have failed this planet.”

Alex stood speechless for a moment before following Nyssa. She wouldn’t deal with what Nyssa had just told her, before the confusing part about Oliver’s strangeness. She had to focus.

But she was pretty sure Nyssa just told her that she was more important than Sara Lance, the woman Nyssa said herself that she once loved with all her soul. Alex had no idea how to process that, so she wouldn’t right now.

Still if she didn’t make it out alive tonight, it was nice to know one person loved her like that before she died.

When the two had reached the circle, the final rays of light were gone. Complete darkness fell on the moonless night.

“Everyone ready for this?’ Oliver asked. No one spoke, but the mood was obvious to read. They were all ready, even Felicity in her black bomber outfit, this time she had made sure the eye holes lined up correctly.

“We lose no one tonight. The men in there guarding this facility are obviously highly trained. They are most likely every bit as dangerous as we are. Our objective is to get one man out at all costs. Any other objectives can be determined onsite but we will not take any more risks than necessary. We have no idea what the cover will be or even if there will be any. Batman says he can get us through the first door. We are going through the basement. At the end of the basement is a hallway. This hallway will be triggered if any alien or metahuman DNA is detected. Until we can get Felicity to the control room, Kara, Barry, Cisco, stay out. No matter what you hear, stay out. Barry you may be able to beat the traps but once they are activated we won’t be able to go back that way out. According to Oracle this is the only entrance and exit, meaning those who are inside are not planning on letting anyone or anything leave, including themselves if things go bad for them.

These men know by now that Cadmus was shut down and they know they are operating without the governments approval. This means they are worse than special forces, they are true believers. There could be self destruct measures inside. When you see a guard take him down. If you want to shoot to incapacitate rather than kill make sure whoever it is, is knocked out or put out of commission. Keep your coms open. Oracle is certain these will work underground. I’m not. If we are in a position where someone is going to die, them or us, make sure it is them. We have no idea what is down there, only that there are thirty two moving objects and other heat signatures indicating life, not moving, probably in cells. Whatever they deemed important enough to keep must be pretty dangerous or very valuable.

Once we take control of the base, Kara, Barry, light the place up but please be careful. Kara we both know those are going to be Kryptonite bullets they are carrying. Understand?”

“I understand.”

“I’m hoping if this Bat team is as good as they seem to think they are, you won’t have anyone left standing by the time you get to us but be careful. All it takes is one guy waking up and firing a shot. Dig?”

Diggle stood up and offered a gun to Caitlin who took it with shaking hands.

“You are going to be staying out here. Keep this with you at all times. You know how to use it right?” Dig asked, wishing he had spent a little time with the doctor going over basic handgun skills.

“Flip the safety off, aim and squeeze the trigger right? So if I get in trouble just shoot in the air and someone will come, right? But how are you going to hear me when you are down there?” the woman asked, realizing shooting in the air wouldn’t do the trick.

“This is loaded with the bullets I use on the street in Star. Tranq darts. Do not hesitate to fire. Any shot anywhere will take them down but not right away so keep firing until they are down.” John explained. Oliver glanced at him but didn’t say a word. Dig wasn’t much of a liar but he understood if Caitlin knew those were real bullets she would hesitate to fire and that could cost her life. He would rather she be around so he can apologize for lying to her later.

“Thank you John.” a relieved Caitlin told him. He felt a bit of guilt about lying but it was her best chance at staying alive.

“Cisco, when Barry brings you in no matter what, you keep your head down.”

“Thanks for caring Oliver.” Vibe told him gratefully.

“You are our ride home and Dr. Danvers escape route if things go bad. You need to be at the top of your game. You feel strong today?”

“Yeah.” Cisco confirmed. He realized if he was killed they were all stuck.

“Okay, Dig and I go first with Felicity. If we come to a fork, we separate. Once Lau… Canary goes through the door and disorients whoever is on the other side, we move.”

“Attention superheroes, vigilantes, former secret agents, scientists, computer nerds and former heads of the League of Assassins. This is your Oracle. The time we have been waiting for has arrived. I have launched the drone and am receiving thermal images of the base in real time now.”

“Ten bucks says the drone is shaped like a bat, That guy has a weird fetish.” Barry whispered to Cisco.

“This is an open line Flash and yes, Batman does have a weird fetish and yes the drone is shaped like a bat. We were all goth before goth was cool. The last guards from shift change have gone. J’onn just took out the roving patrol and has taken his form I guess. He looks like him I am assuming he means. Caitlin if you see a guard don’t shoot. I will warn you if anyone other than J’onn arrives or someone is around after our residential aliens and metahumans go in. Time to move everyone. Bat team, you copy?”

“We are moving.” Bruce said, his voice deeper than normal.

“Team Arrow?”

“We don’t call ourselves that.” Oliver told her quickly.

“We do.” Felicity and Thea both corrected, causing him to roll his eyes, but the gesture was lost in the darkness.

“Whatever, the time is now. Meet in the large greeting room in the middle of this creepy haunted house. I have the outside security cameras on a loop as well as the ones inside. Once you are in the basement you are on your own with the cameras. Good luck.”

On the other side of the clearing, Batman, Nightwing, Huntress and Black Canary walked slowly towards the backdoor of the house. Batman and Nightwing stepped quietly inside, their feet making no sound, even on the creaky wooden floor. Clearing the kitchen the two entered a large foyer. Just as silent, the Green Arrow, Speedy, Nyssa, Dig and Alex entered the foyer from the other side. Bruce looked to a door under the old winding staircase.

The door was not locked, and Batman pulled out a device from under his cape, the size of a cell phone, and pulled a very long antenna out. Sticking the thin antenna into the hallway under the staircase, the screen on the cell phone like device lit up.

“Infrared imager. Helps me see around corners in the dark.” Bruce whispered to Oliver who was looking with interest.

“I can’t believe its not shaped like a bat.” he muttered.

“That one is in the shop. I can have one made for you that looks like an arrow if you like.” the Dark Knight offered. “Above us are the sensors. I would love to have a look at it if we don’t have to destroy this place. The technology is incredible if it can use laser scanning to check for human DNA and trigger alarms if anything unusual comes walking in.”

Satisfied no one was in the hall, Batman and Arrow entered, Felicity behind Oliver and Dig behind her. Nightwing and Thea moved next followed by Nyssa and Alex, who already had her 9mm, silencer in place, in her hand. Canary and Huntress followed them, to Nyssa’s displeasure. She was not crazy about anyone being behind her but reasoned if her and Alex were attacked from behind those two would make good body armor. She was also grateful the Canary’s mask covered more of her face than Laurel’s had. The woman’s resemblance to her friend set them all off balance, even Oliver though he would not admit it. She was not fooled however. This Dinah Lance seemed like an exceptional warrior but she was not their Laurel. No one would ever be.

No one could see the walls of the spacious hallway but they were obviously metal and no one had any doubt the hundred foot long tunnel would be a death trap for aliens trying to get inside.

The line of heroes stopped in front of a large black wall. In the dark it was hard to make out but Alex assumed this must be the metal door. Wayne felt the wall next to it and flipped open a metal cover. He pulled some sort of device from his belt and Alex saw a dim light. Seconds later Wayne was entering a code and with a hiss, the door began to rise. It was not as quiet as any of them would like. Canary stepped up to the front between Oliver who had an arrow already nocked and Batman who was holding some sort of curved blade in his hand.

“You’re late.” someone said on the other side. As the door fully rose, exposing the well lit room, two guards were sitting, both holding rifles.

Canary screamed. The force of the sonic blast hit both men who dropped to the ground, ear drums rupturing immediately, both passing out from the pain.

“I am assuming the time for silence is over.” Oliver observed, All rushed into the room and out the other side. Three staircases were in front, announcing the different sections.

“Oracle?” Nightwing asked.

“All three will end up at the control room at the bottom level. The middle one has the least resistance, more of a straight shot, only two rooms in between the stairwells and the control room at the bottom. The other two wind down into descending hallways going past what look to be cells. We have movement. Three teams are moving up from different levels on three sides. Choose wisely.”

“NIghtwing, Huntress, Canary and I can take the right. Can your team…” Batman started.

“Alex and I will take the left. Speedy come with us.” Nyssa told her. The three women marched to the left stairwell and moved down.

Oliver, Dig and Felicity moved towards the center quickly while the Bat team moved to the right.

Nyssa, Alex and Speedy made it to the first level that curved to the left. The hallway was cramped and there were indeed cells lining one side, The doors were bare, not even a small window, just a slit for food they supposed, and number letter combinations.

As they continued moving forward, the sound of running feet caught their attention.

Alex aimed at the curve in front, as did Speedy but Nyssa lowered Alex’s gun with her hand.

“Save your bullets and arrows. We may need them later.”

Nyssa took off around the curve at a run. The sound of running boots stopped, followed by brief silence then screams which were also brief. Alex looked wide eyed at an equally wide eyed Speedy. Both ran around the curve and saw Nyssa standing, swords in both hands, looking down on the remains of four men in black uniforms. None were breathing and judging by the pools forming underneath them, none ever would again.

“Nyssa…” Speedy started, before being interrupted by the Assassin.

“This is not a field trip, Thea.” Nyssa hung her swords back on her sash, took her bow from her back and moved. Alex and Thea followed, unable to not stare at the bodies as they walked by.

Arrow and Spartan had reached the first room, what appeared to be a break room, complete with vending machines. No one was present but that quickly changed. Three men entered guns raised, but before they could take in the site of the three interlopers, Oliver fired an arrow striking the side of the doorway. All looked at the arrow, just as it exploded, slamming the three men into the ground. Felicity had been thrown to the ground by Dig when the explosion occurred but he did fire his weapon at a straggler, hitting the man in his chest. He was wearing body armor, so Arrow kicked him in his head as he walked by, knocking the man out cold.

Batman and Nightwing had walked into a union meeting for minions. The ten men were all armed but in such close quarters, unable to fire at will. The two vigilantes waded in, striking out at each one. As soon as one would attempt a strike from behind, Huntress would fire a bolt into the man’s shoulder. Having enough, Canary and Helena both jumped into the fray. Five more guards joined in, but none stood a chance. A particularly large man grabbed Dick by his neck, only to be hit with a couple hundred bolts of electricity when Grayson struck his jaw. All teams had cleared the first level.

The second level is where the guards had mobilized, blocking the route, guns at the ready. The first resistance down had been a rushed response. Quickly realizing the base was under attack, whoever was organizing the defense put a plan into action.

Oliver and Dig were held up by gunfire before they could reach the bottom of the staircase. Oliver crouched low, arrow at the ready, hoping to see someone at the bottom to strike. None had come up.

“They are holding us here. They have us pinned and they should be rushing. What are they waiting for?” Oliver wondered out loud.

“We have the high ground. The only way to guarantee them getting out is if we are taken out and that would most likely be from behind. They are waiting for back up from the outside.” Dig guessed.

“You are correct, Spartan. I have just intercepted a distress call but I can’t track who the intended receiver was yet. Give me time.” Oracle instructed.

The gunfire ceased and Arrow moved, not wasting time or wanting to hear Felicity yell at him to stop. Jumping to the bottom, he fired three arrows at once, stringing three in the chest then rolled, striking one man as he stood up and swinging around to slash another one’s throat with the small blade attached to his wrist. Felicity and Dig ran down, Felicity paling at what she saw. She couldn’t see Oliver’s face under the hood but would imagine the cold visage of the Hood lurked underneath. Oliver had gone through many personas over his lifetime and this was the man just back from the Island after five years away in Hell.

She found at this moment she didn’t care. She hadn’t cared that he killed Darhk, was actually proud and had told him he had too. Thea was right, they had all changed she supposed.

Alex and Thea were finding out that Nyssa’s way was probably the only option as well.

Outgunned, with only a small curve to press their bodies up against the wall and avoid the bullets being fired at them, Alex crawled on the floor and once she had a line of sight, fired three times, hitting three in the chest. Thea fired an arrow into the shoulder of the one man left standing. He aimed at the ground Alex was lying on while Nyssa hit him in the chest with an arrow, piercing his body armor and heart.

“We don’t have to…”

“Spare the lectures, little Queen. You know blood is required. If you want to volunteer yours by all means surrender. Mine and Alex’s will remain in our bodies. Let’s find her father.”

Oliver, and his two partners had reached the final room before the control room. It appeared empty, but he held Felicity and Dig back, stepping inside himself. As soon as he stepped into the middle, gunfire broke out. Arrow flipped a table over and hit the ground. Four men entered the room and spread out surrounding him. Before Diggle could run in a small black object was twisting through the air, circling the room. All four men were hit in the head, dropping immediately. Dig and Oliver watched the object land in a black glove belonging to the Batman.

“What? Your arrows can’t fly in circles? We need to move. My team has already reached the bottom. Overwatch needs to take control of the system. One man is inside the control room, locked in. We are working on negotiating his surrender.”

Oliver, Dig and Felicity moved quickly behind Batman. Once they reached the control room, ears were covered quickly, as Dinah Lance was screaming at full force into the glass walls surrounding the control room. The glass would not break and the man inside appeared very angry. Knowing his calls for help were being intercepted, he did as protocol demanded. Activating the security measures in the top floor hallway to prevent any aliens from getting in or out, he next unlocked all the cells. The experiments could have these strange interlopers, but no one would be leaving this base. The fiery entryway would alert the next shift who would follow protocol and contact the Order for immediate cover, erasing any existence of this base ever being open. All that would be left would be the ashes of experiments and the bodies of everyone here.

“Hey we just heard cells unlocking. Are you unlocking all of…”

Thea stopped speaking when she realized that it wasn’t Felicity in control of the base.

“This is Oracle, our super powered friends have not entered the base and yet I am picking up defensive measures being activated in the corridor leading to the door. What is going on?”

“We seem to have a slight issue, with the last room, Oracle. Stand by.” Batman told her.

“The cells are all unlocking. Do we know where my Dad is?” Alex asked, beginning to panic at the though of whatever was behind those doors having free access to wherever her Dad was.

“You won’t get inside.” the voice over the intercom informed them. The man inside the room was smiling. “We are all dying down here. Trust me, when you see what is coming out of those cells you may want to kill yourself. The only way out is to get inside here and that is impossible. Whatever toys you have, whatever explosives, nothing short of a nuclear blast will break this glass. Your best chance to live as long as possible is to find somewhere to hide.”

Kara, Barry, J’onn, Cisco and Kal El all listened up top. The measures were active and there was no way in and no way out for there friends. Oliver’s words about true believers were apparently prophetic.

“I have to get in there.” Kara whispered.

“You can’t. I can though. I can run through the flames. Its one hundred feet. I can vibrate that long, the speed won’t…”

“You won’t make it Barry.” Caitlin told him. “If even a trace amount of that cyanide gets into your system when you stop you will go down. You cant phase in extreme temperatures for that far a distance and still make it through the wall in one piece, and if you do it is unlikely you will be able to vibrate the cyanide out of your system. You won’t have the energy.”

“She is right, man.” Cisco agreed.

“Fine, I can’t go through the hallway, then I will go around it.” Kara told the group. “Just like the Red Tornado training session again, J’onn.”

Kara shot up into the sky without another word. All looked at J’onn.

“What is she talking about and where is she going?”

“She will be back down in a minute.” the Martian told the Flash. A second later, a diving Kara Zor El crashed into the roof of the house straight into the ground. Using incredible speed and strength, aided by her heat vision hardening the moist soil she held her breath and dug, straight down and then to the right., going under the death trap hallway. Not being able to lose momentum, she hit hard rock under the ground and began digging,dousing her heat vision and using her X ray vision to guide her towards the light.

The entire underground structure inhabitants, guards who were still alive and heroes alike heard the rumbling. The walls and floors were vibrating from the shock.

“I hope thats an earthquake and not one of these experiments.” Helena told the group.

Canary turned towards the wall to the right where the rumbling grew louder. Prepared to sonic blast anything that was coming, she was stopped by a grinning Oliver Queen.

“Everyone back up.”

None needed encouragement as the group crowded back. Even the mad man in the control room looked nervous as the floors shook more.

Everyone hit the ground, Oliver over Felicity and Dig over Thea, while Batman covered Huntress and Canary with his cape and body. Alex, Nyssa and Nightwing stood, Dick grabbing for a boomerang until he was stopped by Alex.

“Thats not an experiment, thats my sister. She is pretty good at tunneling.” the brunette told him with a huge grin.

On cue the concrete wall cracked open, a pile of dirt rushing inside, with a caped blonde on top of it. Kara Zor El stood up, blonde hair and face covered in dirt and her mask torn off, spit dirt out of her mouth and took in her surroundings. She was surrounded by wide eyed heroes and a proud sister.

“Rao, that dirt tasted awful. So what is going on?” she asked.

“I can’t believe you did that. Thanks for clearing the way. I really didn’t want to eat all that dirt.” Kal El told her, sliding out of the tunnel she had created.

“One of us needed a good plan. Thanks or joining me Cuz. So why… oh hey, what is he doing in there?” she asked, pointing to the man in the control room.

“He apparently believes it will take a nuclear blast to breach the room.” Batman told her. Kara looked at Kal who smirked.

“Same time?” he asked.

“You just want to share the credit.” Kara countered. The two looked at the wide eyed man behind the clear wall and swing, both fists hitting at the same time and shattering the wall, the force throwing the man across the control room and knocking him out.

“Hey Boss? Doors open. Think you can let my boyfriend and his wingman inside?” Superwoman asked Felicity, who was already moving.

“He let the experiments out of the cells. We have no idea what is up there.” Oliver told the two.

“Find Jeremiah, get that fire put out so Barry and J’onn can come in and we will handle the rest.” Superwoman instructed.

Kara and Kal took off, flying low to the floor but still gliding to gain as much speed as possible. Kara went left, Kal splitting off as the two traveled the circular hallways on either side. Kara was the first to stop, or be stopped by a large green humanoid, bent down to avoid hitting his head on the ten foot ceiling.

“Whoa. Hey there big guy… or girl? I don’t want to be sexist and I really can’t tell because… I don’t suppose we could be friends? I’m looking for…”

The creature swung with enough speed to surprise her, knocking her to the ground. Kara rolled over and wiped her gloved hand over her mouth. Blood was mixed with the dirt on her glove when she looked.

Kara Zor El smiled.

“Okay… so we are going to fight about it.”

On the ground above, the coms were cutting in and out but all assumed Kara and Kal arrived safely by the constant rumblings below the Earth. Barry was not patient though.

“Oracle I need a way in. Kara’s tunnel is closing behind Kal El.”

“Have patience. Overwatch is on the job.”

Felicity was in control finally. The job was proving more difficult than she would have liked. Nightwing and Speedy followed the Canary and Huntress out of the control room. Dig stayed by Felicity’s side.

“Go Oliver. I won’t let her get hurt.” The Arrow trusted his brother and ran in the direction Kara had flown off.

“Wait for me.” Alex told him. “you can watch my back.”

“Stay here. When Felicity finds your fathers exact location go to him.” Oliver countered and took off.

“This ass locked the system. Thought you were clever? You may have super space glass but this encryption system has been around since I was in really cute diapers. Give me a second, Dig…”

A loud groan echoed from above.

“You have the really big gun with you, right Dig? The one with the bomb thingy…”

“Grenade launcher and no I don’t. I didn’t want an automatic rifle in an enclosed space. Figured .45s would be more precise.”

“I guess I better hurry so Barry can get me out of here quickly while you fight monsters with your precise weapons… and done! Oracle, Overwatch is in control and outer defenses are down. Send in the Flash and J’onn. Might want to leave Cisco outside… unless he has a grenade launcher.”

“On my way, Felicity.” Barry told her immediately.

“Alex, level 3, cell 4 A, go!”

Alex and Nyssa took off, while Felicity opened all coms and gave access to the mainframe to a Wayne Industries satellite. Oracle downloaded every secret Cadmus had kept and forwarded it using a secure email server to Cat Grant, waiting in National City with instructions to use this information if Oracle lost contact with the team.

When Alex and Nyssa had made it to level three they saw a nightmare. Batman and Nightwing were fighting some sort of grayish humanoids with large black eyes and fangs. Huntress and Canary were ahead, the Huntress firing bolt after bolt while Canary, fought with her Kali sticks, afraid a sonic cry would harm friends as well as enemies. A loud explosion ahead caught all of their attention and two four legged hell hounds were knocked to the side by Superman’s body. He slowly stood up and all were concerned that he was bleeding from his mouth.

“We have a problem.” he told the group. The alien mutants heard a roar and ran past the heroes into a cell and closed the door, even the hell hounds.

“Thats not good.” Alex muttered, wondering what could make those fearsome creatures hide. “I need to get to…”

“Everyone back off and retreat, use the middle exit. No one is stopping this thing. I’ll hold it off and draw it down. Alex go up the middle and then back down. Your Dad’s cell should be accessible from the other end of the hall.” Superman instructed. As soon as he finished a large beast, nearly 8 foot tall and covered with a hard, rock like exterior walked around the curve. The most alarming features were the large Kryptonite spikes that covered its back and shoulders.

“I’ll stay.” Batman told Kal El.

“Your funeral.” he replied and used his heat vision on the monster, hoping it would follow him down. Batman threw a small pack of plastique, that stuck the the monsters head. Detonating it, he expected to cause some damage. Instead the monster seemed annoyed.

“That Kryptonite is starting to bother me a bit. Forget what I said about your toys earlier. Got anything under your cape for dealing with this?” Kal El asked.

Bruce gritted his teeth and shook his head. “Running may be a good tactical move at the moment.”

Superman struck the beast again with his heat vision, trying to keep him from charging. The closer the thing got to him, the weaker he became. It was obvious whatever alien this was, it was now simply a weapon designed to kill Kryptonians and anything else it came into contact with.

The middle passageway was clear, not being lined with cells. Nightwing led the group, running up the middle, Alex and Nyssa behind him, Thea, Canary and Huntress watching the back. Once they reached a level up and prepared to go back down and to the left, to Jeremiah’s cell. Barry Allen nearly ran into Thea.

“Where is Kara?”

“With my brother, right hall. Supercousin and Bat dude need a hand. Some huge monster is blocking them from getting to Jeremiah. We are going up so we can take the path back down tot he left and circle whatever that thing is.”

“I’ll help Kara. Can you help…” J’onn started.

“Don’t let her get hurt, J’onn.” Barry told him.

“I’m fine.” Kara’s voice cut into the com.

“Kara you are taking some extremely powerful hits.” Can you try dodging?” Cait asked, scanning Kara’s vital signs from up top.

“You try dodging a giant monster in a small hallway. I have a plan. I’m about to throw Oliver at him. While big greeny eats little greeny I am going to make my getaway. Barry help Kal El. That hall way has to be clear!”

“Go.” Barry whispered to the Martian who moved. Turning to Alex and Nyssa he asked for a situation report.

“There is some sort of monster Kal El and Batman are fighting. He has an impenetrable outer layer with Kryptonite projections coming from his body. He is scary enough that the other aliens locked themselves in a cell to avoid him.

“Of course they did. Caitlin, Cisco? Any ideas?”

“If he is alive that means he has internal organs Barry.” Caitlin reminded him.

“Thea, I need a couple of your exploding arrows.”

“They won’t work, Barry!”

“I need the arrows quickly.” he stressed. Thea not wanting to waste time but having no confidence in Barry’s plan handed him two arrows.

“All of you get out. We have no idea what is going to happen, so move.”

“I’m getting my father!” Alex shouted.

“Fine but wait until you hear the explosion before you come into the hall.” he told the crew and zipped off.

Kara Zor El and Oliver Queen were still trying to fight the muscular creature trying to squeeze its way after them. Kara and the creature had exchanged numerous blows and the Kryptonian was beginning to feel she was not getting the best of those exchanges. Oliver had hit one of the monster’s eyes with an exploding arrow, and while the creature was blinded on one side, he was not dead as the Arrow had hoped. Backing up, Queen slipped. The green alien tried to step on him, only to have Kara grab it’s foot and lift it in the air enough to send it sprawling back.

“Oliver?”

“Yes?”

“I’m going to have to kill this thing, aren’t I?”

“I would do it if I could, believe me.”

“Fine.” Kara jumped over the creature before it rose, standing behind it. Once it stood, Oliver tossed a small arrow from his wrist at the creatures forehead, striking flesh but not penetrating the bone. It was all the distraction Kara needed to jump on its back and snap its neck in one motion. J’onn arrived at that moment, looking at the creature and then Kara who was bloodied but not seriously injured, as was Mr. Queen behind her.

All three were standing over the large beast when it’s neck snapped back into place and it swung a long arm, sending Kara and Oliver sprawling down the hallway. Both hit their heads hard, Kara on the ground and Oliver on Kara’s shoulder. J’onn wasted no time, phasing his hand into the creature from behind, feeling it’s beating heart and squeezing, then with a pull, the organ was outside of its body and it dropped once again. Rushing over to the two fallen heroes, he was relieved to see both only momentarily dazed.

Oliver sat up, hands over his knees and laughed.

“Why didn’t I think of reaching into its chest and pulling out its heart? Now I really am sorry I shot and stabbed you J’onn. Kara you okay?”

Kara lifted her head and shook it. Sitting up she stared off into the distance, frowning.

“Kara?” J’onn asked, looking into her eyes and wondering if it was possible for Kryptonians to have concussions. Suddenly her eyes lit up and her mouth opened wide.

“Oh Rao. Of course.” she whispered.

“Kara, look at me. What’s wrong? Is it your head?” J’onn asked.

“No… I think I just realized something about Alex… and Nyssa. It doesn’t matter now, lets move.”

While the three were finishing off their enemy, Kal El and Batman were slowly backing their way back to the bottom level, Superman feeling weaker as the monster drew near. Both barely saw the flash of light that darted under the rock creatures legs and slid to a stop in front of them.

“Run.” Barry instructed. Kal El decided like with Kara he would trust the man again. Superman grabbed the Dark Knight and moved down the hallway, Barry right behind reaching the bottom level, before the control room door they stopped.

“Protect the control room and then get those two out of here. The hall will be clear in a second but there will still be Kryptonite. The middle is clear, so take the other hall and find Kara and Oliver. J’onn should be with them.”

“What do you plan to do?” Bruce asked.

“I’m going to end this.”

Barry, two arrows in hand, ran back towards the Kryptonite laden monster. Seeing it rushing down the hall rapidly, Barry felt the vibrations in the air, the electricity, the speed force, everything that connected him with the universe. He had never tried this before but felt he could do it, if timed just right. Caitlin was right. To destroy the organs underneath an impenetrable shell all you had to do was go underneath the shell.

The creature barely saw the flash of red as it streaked through it. It did feel the two shape objects that materialized inside its body. Two seconds after becoming solid once more, two seconds after Barry was gone, passing through the monster and leaving Thea Queen’s arrows inside it, the weapons exploded, shredding every internal organ the creature had. The massive alien weapon hit the floor hard and did not move. Racing towards the cell, he found Alex and Nyssa had reached the cell her father was being kept. Alex threw open the door and saw him.

“Dad?”

Jeremiah Danvers, sitting on his bare cot wearing hospital scrubs, took in his daughter. He recognized her from the photos his captors had showed him over the years. At least of her head in a scope. He had lost weight, the muscular form she remembered gone and his hair was almost completely grey but his eyes were the same. Alex began shaking.

“Daddy? It’s me. It’s…”

“Alex.” Jeremiah finished, then jumped from his cot, wrapping his arms around his girl, making sure she was real, that she wasn’t a dream he often had. Then reality hit him.

“We have to go! The experiments…”

“Two are dead.” Barry told the four women, Nyssa, Canary and Huntress standing behind Alex. Nigthwing ran up as well. Kal El and Bruce Wayne reached the cell.

“Clark? Where is… no, please don’t tell me they killed Kara. They swore they wouldn’t touch my girls…”

“I’m right here.” Kara told him, walking through the crowd. She smiled at Jeremiah and then looked down. She wouldn’t admit it but Kara didn’t feel she had the right to hug the man. She was the reason he had been here, the reason he had lost over a decade of his life. Jeremiah didn’t seem to agree, launching himself into Kara’s arms, dragging Alex with him. The three cried together, all of them breaking down, Alex and Jeremiah crying tears of joy along with Kara who while joyful still felt a massive amount of guilt.

“Oh my God, we have to get out of here. Clark there is a monster here with Kryptonite under its skin. The creature is indestructible. I helped genetically engineer it. I had to or they…”

“Its okay, Jeremiah. You did what you had to do.”

“Yeah and that thing is dead.” Barry added. Jeremiah took in the man in the red suit and the other strangers around. Then he saw J’onn and smiled. The man had kept his promise. After all these years he was still protecting his daughters.

“We have to blow this place. There is a self destruct code that can be entered in the main console but the problem is, once it charges it will blow and it only takes about five seconds to charge. Whoever is at the bottom would be caught. Maybe we could bury the base from the top?”

“What is the code?” Barry asked.

“I got it.” Felicity answered over the com.

“Kara, can you come with me? You need to get Felicity and Dig out of here. When everyone is clear let me know and I am blowing this place.”

“Barry…” Oliver started.

“Go. Five seconds is an eternity for me.”

“There are still experiments roaming around.” Oliver reminded him.

“Exactly so don’t let them get out. Head to the surface and turn back everything you see. Now go!”

Barry left, Kara right behind him. The two arrived in front of the control room, just as Dig shot one of the grey humanoids with fangs.

“Barry take them out. I can handle this.” Kara told him.

“I can’t carry Dig and Felicity. You know I got this Kara. Trust me okay? Get them out of here. Felicity what is the code?”

“I… I have it set up. All you have to do is press enter. But Barry…”

“Go Kara!”

“Damn it!” she screamed in frustration at him. How many bombs would he try his luck on?

“Go!”

With tears still in her eyes from Jeremiah, the joy and the guilt mixed, fear was added to her emotional distress. She had to trust him.

She had to trust him.

Kara kissed Barry. “If you don’t make it out I will kill you. I love you. Run fast.”

“Thats what I do babe.” Barry told her, hoping the pet name that annoyed her the most would lighten her mood. It didn’t work. With one last look, Kara grabbed Felicity and Dig and ran, reaching the others in seconds. J’onn and Kal El were crushing alien hybrids in front of them while the rest followed, with Jeremiah in the middle, Alex still in his arms.

Once the group had entered the foyer of the house, Barry was alerted. He gave them ten seconds to clear the house, took a deep breath and pressed enter. Moving as fast as possible he counted down in his head. He was nearly to the top at two seconds when a body on the floor caused him to trip, hitting the ground and back up running. At one the blast deafened him, he made it to the long hall as the flames rose up, out the basement when the ground shook and flames licked his feet.

As he made it ten feet from the house, the pressure wave knocked him down. Preparing to feel the flames, he felt the weight of two bodies landing on him.

Five seconds after the shockwave and wall of fire had passed, Barry rolled over, the area around him charred but he was unharmed, covered by two red capes and the bodies of Kal El and Kara Zor El. Kara was grinning on top of him.

“Five seconds is an eternity huh?”

Barry grinned at the blonde whose hair was completely darkened by dirt and ash. he kissed her gently, trying not to wince at the sore bones he had from being covered by two very strong aliens.

” I tripped on the way out.” he tried.

Kara shook her head.

“Always an excuse for being late.” she told him, shaking her head and kissing her love.

“I hate to break up the moment, but now might be a great time to leave. Maybe the two of you could continue this at Wayne Manor?” Kal El suggested. Barry silently agreed and Kara stood helping him up.

“I think thats a great idea.” she told her cousin. “We need to get Jeremiah to Eliza. Then we are getting them the hell off this Earth.”