Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Call Me Kara

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 27:

Cisco had stayed up all night, not unusual for him, but rather than working on superhero suits, he was dissecting a drone, one that had been used in the murder of 20 people. The death toll took any coolness factor he may have usually felt. At 7 A.M him and his new friend who had taken over for Ray around midnight, had discovered no clues to lead to the operator of this death machine, only figuring out that it was once, not long ago, the property of the Russian military. His newest partner in crime, Winn, brought in coffee while Ray and Harry slept. To Cisco this was personal. Someone had set his city on fire, set a trap for his friends and killed citizens, including two kids under 18, high school kids that had their whole lives ahead of them.

“The coding is simple, the remote high grade, field artillery type, and assuming our countries are the same, its Russian, older tech but not that old. Probably five or six years behind what our Earth… or I guess our old Earth had.” Winn told him.

“I figured as much. Whoever did this is dealing with black market Russian military. I am betting if we tracked this back it would come up as stolen. Not that Russia would ever admit to it.”

“Thats good though. It means we can look for any recent arrivals from Russia.” Winn pointed out.

“Doubtful he came through Russia or has a Russian passport. It would be to obvious for a guy who puts this much planning into his work plus he had to smuggle the drones here in the first place. I can’t figure out what his motivation is. If we knew… the bomber told Ray he wanted revenge but Alex went all Lethal Weapon on him so unless he grew a new head, it can’t be that guy. He was talented, putting thermal triggers in the second attempt to counter Kara’s freeze breath but this doesn’t feel right.”

“Yeah well, whatever he was up too yesterday could have been a lot worse if Kara and Barry hadn’t shown up. And the shrink guy and the fire…”

“Atom and Firestorm.” Cisco corrected.

“Those are such cool names. Anyway they kicked serious ass out there. The whole city probably feels a lot…”

“Thats it! Winn you are a freaking genius!” Cisco told the confused man excitedly.

“Uh, thanks? But I’m not sure exactly what I did?”

“The whole city saw them. Everyone saw them working together. A couple months ago, even a couple weeks ago Barry had a tendency to run into bombs without thinking. Kara, she showed her strength, freeze breath, heat vision and speed and if anyone was paying attention you could tell she was looking that building up and down, checking it for explosives from the outside. Ray shrunk, something he doesn’t do often in public. Firestorm rushed in, showed a lot of power but not much in the way of actual thinking, ironic since he has one of the most brilliant particle physicists of all time in his head, literally. A missile was fired at a little girl, that landed twenty feet away because that was as far as Kara got before she threw that cape, that I now admit comes in handy, over the kid, probably knowing Kara would go for the little girl. Someone, whoever set this up, they were testing us Winn. This guy wanted to see what we had, he wanted to see how we worked as a team and try to identify weaknesses. The city wasn’t the target, in a way, we were.”

“Yeah but he is probably going to give up now, right? He saw our team handle his drones, he knows how powerful Kara is and how fast Barry is. He saw Firestorm and must know what he can do. If he is using weapons he probably doesn’t have any superpowers of his own. He has to give up.”

“Guys like this who go through the trouble of smuggling high grade tech into the country, don’t give up. I wish there had been a street cam or something showing the top of that building.”

“What about street views? There has to be cameras there, right?” Winn suggested.

“Yep, cameras recording hundreds of people running away in fear. I can’t pick one person out. I doubt the villain is walking around wearing some lame cape… don’t tell Kara I said that, hers is cool…”

“Yeah but what about people coming out of that building?”

“I checked, Four exits from that building and only Thompson Street has a view of the front. He scouted the building out, knew it was abandoned and had to have known where cameras were. No way this big bad doesn’t know everything about the area he is working in.”

“So if he was checking the team for weaknesses, what did he find?” Winn wondered, nervously. At least Alien convicts had simpler goals and means. This guy seemed like his father only much, much worse with bigger toys and a motive beyond what must be simple revenge.

“That Barry has gotten smarter, Ray has tech that allows him to shrink and Kara is pretty much badass. Oh and Firestorm has a lot of power but unless he listens to Dr. Stein he really has no experience when it comes to strategy. I doubt anyone knows about Dr. Stein. We have to keep that hidden. Kill one of them and you are killing Firestorm.”

“Kara should scare him off. Its not like this villain could find any weakness she has. On this universe she doesn’t have one… Cisco?” Winn asked as his cool new metahuman friend raced off to Dr. Stein’s lab. Dr. Stein of course was up, already working on some project or another.

“Good morning Cisco! Have you learned anything from the drone?”

“Dr. Stein, the research you did when developing the solar bracelet? Did you keep records on any of our servers?”

“Of course. It hasn’t been perfected yet and in the event it needs to be replaced…”

“You are going to have to rely on memory. Erase it. Erase everything to do with red solar radiation. Print out hard copies that we can keep in the pipeline if we have to but do not have it on our server.”

“Are… have we been… hacked?”

“Not yet hopefully but from this point on we operate under the assumption we could be. I am going to remove the power cells in the solar room. All schematics have to be erased on that as well. I’m calling Felicity to hack us and scrub the system.”

Cisco ran out of the room, leaving Martin baffled and a bit disturbed. He had never seen Cisco so serious. He wasn’t afraid but he was very focused. If he wanted the records of… of course. Kara’s one weakness.

Martin Stein moved quickly to do as he was told.

After removing the power cells in the red sun room, Cisco called Caitlin who answered on the first ring.

“What?”

Caitlin wasn’t in a good mood this morning.

“Where is the bracelet?” he didn’t need to specify which bracelet he was talking about.

“On Kara all night judging by what I heard… I mean… damn it! I have to stop talking to you when I first wake up. Why?”

“I need it here, now. Go in and take it from her?”

“Ha! You go in there. I’m not.”

“Why not… oh, Barry is there.” Cisco realized, enjoying the moment even in his otherwise panicked state.

“Either that or she was trying to yell for him at his house all night long. I got home at ten, left at ten thirty and came back at four. I waited thirty more minutes and have had about two hours of sleep. Anyway I will have her or Barry bring it back to the lab. Why? Whats going on?”

“Just get it here as soon as possible and don’t let either of them lose sight of the thing.” Cisco hung up and wiped the S.T.A.R. servers of anything Flash, Superwoman or red solar ray related. He also wiped the plans for the Tachyon device saving them all on a secure zip drive that would be placed in the Gideon room as soon as Barry was here. He next called Felicity, asking her to hack into their system and look for any clues she could find if she was an outsider to any weakness Kara and Barry could have as well as for any signs the servers had already been hacked. Winn, standing dumbfounded, wasn’t quite sure what to do until Cisco instructed him to do the same as Felicity for redundancy.

Back at Caitlin and Kara’s apartment, Barry and Kara woke up after only a few hours sleep, wrapped around each other, dopey grins on both their faces.

“Good morning.” Kara whispered and kissed him.

“Best morning ever. Are you okay?” The first couple times had been difficult for her but turning her bracelet off and on between acts and Thea’s correct assumption about Barry’s recovery time had led to a very nice night for the both of them, one neither would ever forget.

“I’m perfect. A little sore but…”

“Turn the bracelet off!” Barry practically shouted.

“It is off. I’m not a machine as you have figured out in detail. The first time I trained with Alex in the Kryptonite room she kicked my butt and even outside of the room I was pretty sore for the next couple days. I had to tell Miss Grant I took up kick boxing. I think I earned the soreness last night.”

“You told me you were fine.”

“And believe me I was. I would say we could repeat but I probably should take a break… until tonight?”

“Tonight?” Barry chuckled. “Thats all the time you need?”

“I can take a little soreness. I want to do it again. Last night was magical. It was everything I thought it could be. Thank you.”

“I’m pretty sure I should be thanking you. Now I really hate to say this but we should probably get up and get ready for the day. I’m sure I will have to follow up on what Cisco found out about the drone, collect evidence from the street and the abandoned building, go over the remote for any clues…”

“Ugh! Work. Okay, you are right. I have a hundred phone calls to make while waiting for Ray to decide what TV shows he actually wants to appear for interviews on. I also have to give direction to the PR team as to how much information they can answer in press releases about his supposed captors and what happened, all that crap. I would rather stay in bed though. Could you stay just a few more minutes? Please? I could really use one of those special back massages and maybe you could vibrate…”

“Kara! Barry!” Caitlin shouted, banging on the door. Both covered themselves with blankets.

“Yes?”

“May I come in and not see anything that brain bleach won’t take off?”

“Give us a second.” Kara answered, frowning at Barry then the both of them moving at super speed, dressed in seconds. Only once Kara stopped did she realize that a little soreness was actually quite a bit of soreness.

“We are… decent?” Kara said, not sure if she was asking or telling after the night before.

Caitlin opened the door, relieved to see them dressed.

“Sorry to bother you, I really am, but Cisco is freaking out for some reason. He really wants the bracelet locked in Kara’s room or the Gideon Room now. Like ten minutes ago.”

Barry looked at Kara with concern and without asking questions, kissed her, grabbed the bracelet off her wrist and ran, not stopping until he was in front of the Gideon Room. He moved inside and then went deeper past the false wall that had fooled Zoom once and locked it in the safe.

Once outside he bolted in front of Winn and Cisco, surprised to see Jeremiah and Eliza there this morning. Jeremiah looked like he was sick.

“Thats going to take some getting used to.” Jeremiah admitted.

“What is going on Cisco? Why did I leave Kara to race that bracelet over here?”

“Why were you with Kara this early and why was the bracelet there to begin with?” Jeremiah asked, causing Barry and Cisco to freeze.

“Because they finally had sex without Kara breaking Barry in half. Congratulations Mr. Allen.” Harry finished, walking in and clapping a grimacing Barry on the back. Harry would pick this day to wake up early.

“Yeah and I’m sure Jessie is visiting convents all over the world, Harry.” Cisco reminded him, making Wells scowl and walk out of the room.

“Cisco? Could you answer the question please?” Barry asked again, hoping Jeremiah would let it go.

“So its true? I mean Caitlin told me you two kept her up with all the noise…”

“Cisco!”

“Sorry bro. Look I think me and Spock figured out what the motive was for yesterday’s attack.”

“Why am I Spock? I have no problem with Spock but are you Bones or Captain Kirk?” Winn asked.

“Look around you Winn. This place is my Enterprise. I’m Captain Kirk.” Winn silently agreed with the fairness of this point.

“Damn it Jim, what was the motive?” Barry tried, hoping Star Trek quotes would focus Cisco.

“He was testing us, looking for strengths and weaknesses.”

Barry froze, thinking over every part of the battle. The location, high profile, high probability of casualties but no one specific place that was of importance. Why not hit the police department or Mercury Labs? The trap in the building, seeing how he would react, watching Kara’s skills…

“I rushed in. The last time at the Steak House, I rushed in and a bomb blew up in my face. He would have done it again. He thought I would rush in again.” Barry realized.

“You took a bomb in the face and lived?” Jeremiah asked, shaking his head.

“Yeah, but Alex blew that guys head off so it wasn’t that guy.” Cisco reminded him.

“Alex blew a guys head off?!” Jeremiah asked once again.

“Uh, yeah, he was about to kill me and Ray and Caitlin so Alex stole a motorcycle then came into the blast area and saved us.” Barry explained. Jeremiah shook his head.

“I’m going to get some bourbon with a bit of coffee.” the man grumbled, Eliza patting him on the back but not leaving, wanting to know everything.

“Right, anyway we all know Kara only has one weakness so we are keeping that thing locked up. I am also packing a small magnet inside linked with, for a better word, detonators. All of us will have one so in the event he ever does manage to get it on her or capture her with it on we can blow it out from anywhere. I would suggest that she not use it until this is over.”

“I agree. The risk is too great.” Eliza added, smiling at Barry. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Uh, yeah… of course its her decision.” Barry tried.

“That I am sure she will see the wisdom in, wouldn’t you say so Barry? Especially since I know, and you have proven, that you put her safety above all else.” Kara’s mother reasoned, patting the young man on his back.

“You are enjoying this, aren’t you?” Barry asked her, already knowing the answer. “Okay, I have to get to work. Have you swept the lab for…”

“Listening devices, hidden cameras, trojan horses, bugs in the security systems? Yeah, thanks Scotty, but I think I have my baby well protected.” Cisco told him indignantly. “No one is boarding this ship.”

“So you have Felicity checking it out?” Barry guessed.

“She is all over it man. I should have the detonators and magnet ready for the bracelet by tomorrow . We can pull it out of the room and install it then, for future use, after we take this guy down.”

Barry agreed, figuring he and Kara’s plans for the night were on hold indefinitely. Of course her room here was secure enough to keep the bracelet and impossible for anyone but her to enter.

And it had a couch inside.

The nights plans would be put on hold regardless as he found out later that morning. He made it to the police station to find Captain Singh in his office.

“Morning Captain. I was just going to grab my bag and head to the downtown scene.”

“No you aren’t. FBI has taken over the investigation, calling it a terrorist attack, gave us one hour to get that drone back from S.T.A.R. fifteen minutes ago. I got a team handling it with a really big trailer. We need to talk about something.”

The Captain sat down, Barry doing the same.

“So… whats up?” Barry started.

“This attack? I’m guessing it wasn’t meta human related. Any idea what might have been the motive?”

Barry sat quietly for a moment and thought. The Captain had kept his secret and helped him out. He deserved to be in the know.

“No I don’t know his exact motive but Cisco thinks, and I kind of agree with him, that whoever is behind this wanted to see me and Kara working together, to study us and find weaknesses along with our friends.”

Singh thought about this for a second and nodded agreement. “Thanks for being honest with me Barry. It means a lot. So tell me about Joe’s new former FBI partner. Is she like Kara? You know…” Singh made flying motions with his arms resembling a chicken more than an eagle.

“No, her family adopted Kara when she was young.”

“Ahh. So this Alex has a job history that kind of leads downhill. Started off in A.R.G.U.S. the worst kept secret agency in the world, then goes to work for the FBI, a bit boring compared to her previous employer but okay, I can buy it. But now she wants the calm peaceful life of working for Central City PD and Joe insists she is assigned to be his partner, pissing off every cop who has been up for promotion for the past year. So I say sure cause it is Joe and Joe doesn’t often say he needs anyone so she must be special. What’s the story? Can she handle herself?”

“She can outshoot anyone in this department, kick anyone’s ass in this department and has a Phd in biomedical engineering. She basically makes me feel like an idiot. If there is anyone on this planet qualified to beat a metahuman, besides another metahuman, it is her. She has experience fighting and winning against… the unusual.”

Singh’s eyes widened but he took it with grace.

“She is good enough for me then. Anyway, go back to the room you freeload off Joe and pack a bag. Got a report last night in all the craziness that an unusual death occurred in Star City matching the MO of our recently discovered homicide. Man screaming for eight or nine minutes, found dead of a heart attack after 15 minutes. I let them know this morning that you three are coming to compare notes and you can meet the medical examiner tonight, see if you can find any traces of your spooky gas you were talking about.”

“Star City? You want me to go to Star City? Tonight?” Barry asked, dreams of spending the night in Kara’s secure room being dashed.

“Yeah. Aren’t you tight with Robin Hood? Maybe after work you can watch him shoot people with trick arrows.” Singh told him sarcastically and left, not before telling him to say hi to Kara for him and bring her around more.

Kara had just left the lab, where Cisco had updated her on his suspicions while she did her best to walk normally. Her mother asked how she was feeling with some wicked grin Kara couldn’t quite place, but ignored it until she saw Jeremiah. Her adoptive father was looking a bit strangely at her and for some unknown, strange reason she felt… guilty? Not guilty, she was an adult, but it felt like everyone knew what she had been up to the night before. Obviously Cait knew which was embarrassing enough but she doubted Caitlin would have told Cisco but Cisco would have wanted to know where the bracelet was and he probably figured out what… but Cisco wouldn’t be such an idiot to say anything to her parents right? She was an adult but it wasn’t their business, nothing she would expect to be talked about in a lab by…

Kara made plans in her head to kill Cisco after work. She often made these plans and each was more detailed than the last.

No, he wouldn’t. Sure she was walking a bit stiffly today but Kara didn’t really do well with human pain and some, like training with Alex, didn’t go away just because her powers returned. Muscles and apparently other things stayed sore. The internet was right. At first it really did hurt worse than a stubbed toe.

After an hour of answering calls, placing people on hold and using the com in her ear that was supposed to be used for superhero business but was instead being used to ask Ray what news outlets he wanted to speak with, she received the call she had been waiting for.

“Hey there. Missing me?” she greeted him.

“Always. So did you go by the lab…”

“Yeah, Cisco explained the need to sabotage and then lock my bracelet up for the foreseeable future but I have a couch in my room there. Maybe we can just spend the night there. All I need is a hot bath and some bubbles and we can grab dinner then…”

“I would love to but I have to go with Joe and Alex to Star City today. I won’t be back until tomorrow evening probably, closer to midnight.”

“Uh… but… okay, not a problem. I can fly over after work. What hotel are you going to be at?” she asked, not being deterred. She had planned to do quite a bit of research today as soon as these pesky business calls were done.

“Kara… I don’t want you to come here. The homicide is the same MO as the guy who died from that gas that induces fear. It happened right after the attack on downtown. It seems too coincidental. I feel like this guy knew the bomber. The bomber is dead but judging by the serious tech we faced yesterday another player, maybe the main player, is here and if the gas guy is working for him like the bomber must have been then that means he is planning something there next. Alex and I can handle it. But if you are exposed to this gas then… I’m not sure what effect it would have on you. It could have no effect or it could kill you immediately.”

Kara managed not to snort, barely.

“Barry I inhaled poisonous gas once and blew it out a thousand feet in the air. I doubt some gas this guy came up with would affect me.”

“You don’t know that and is it really worth the chance of finding out?”

Kara managed to keep her temper in check, though she wanted to crush the phone. 25 years she had waited for the one, the one she would give everything too. She met him then had to wait another four months for a piece of tech to be developed by some of the smartest men on the planet all so she could have sex! Now she had to wait again?

“I will fly down. I can even stay in the hotel room if you want, while you do your CSI thing. It will take me thirty minutes to be there.”

“Kara, please, you know I want you with me every night but just have patience. Trust me and stay away from that bracelet. Keep it locked up.”

Kara gave in. She heard the quiet pleading in his voice.

“Fine. When you returned the bracelet did you see my parents? Did they seem strange to you?”

“Define strange?” Barry asked. Kara recognized his tone.

“They know, don’t they?”

“Yeah…”

“Who told them?”

“No one, exactly. Just your Dad wanted to know why I had the bracelet and Cisco mentioned that I was with you and he asked questions. He is definitely a scientist or a cop. But I distracted him by mentioning that Alex saved me by blowing off that guys head so yeah, totally threw him off his game. I may have accidentally turned him into an alcoholic though. Look tomorrow night I will be back and maybe we can stay in your room at the lab and maybe work on controlling your strength to see what we can do without the bracelet?”

“Yeah, trust me, you don’t want to take that chance yet. Okay, I guess I will be here tonight. Alone. By myself. Probably not wearing much. You could run here in like twenty minutes you know.”

“Please Kara, lets… God you are killing me! Look I really want to, but whoever this is, even if he knew about red solar rays which he doesn’t I hope, there is only one device in existence that can weaken you. Until we catch this guy I need you strong and safe. Can’t you do that for me? Do you have any idea how hard this is for me?”

“I know how hard it can be. Its not easy for me either. We were getting really, really good before we fell asleep and I need a lot of practice. You can’t get me hooked and leave me without a fix Barry! So not cool!”

“Look if you want we can meet in the lab tonight in your room and play around, without the bracelet. I am good with that.”

“I’m not.” Kara told him quickly then let out a breath. She needed to control herself. She would not be an addict.

“Fine Barry, stay in Star City, have fun playing with Oliver tonight.”

“I’m not even going to see Oliver tonight. I am there with Joe and your sister on official police business. If I can get a lead on this guy and we catch him, if he has any connection to this drone guy and the bomber Alex killed he could break the case for us. In that case I will call Oliver for back up but not before I know something for sure.”

“You really think he or she is going to talk to the cops if you do catch them?” Kara asked doubtfully.

“Probably not, so I will ask Oliver to have a talk with whoever it is. He has a way with people. He’s really been working on scaring the crap out of people without actually torturing them. He needs as much practice as he can get. Anyway its only for one night. I’ll see you tomorrow. We are catching a train in thirty minutes. I love you.”

“I love you.” Kara responded and ended the call.

“Thats weird. You in a healthy relationship. This is some kind of bizarro world.”

Kara looked up and saw Winn in her office, dressed as usual in a nice shirt, tie and sweater. Somethings never change.

“Winn! You are here!” Kara charged her friend, wrapping him in a hug.

“Yeah, I’m supposed to meet my new boss, a Curtis Holt? Felicity said to meet him in your office at 9. So I’m in your office and… he’s not here. Wow, this is so weird right? I mean you have this huge office and this isn’t even the permanent building, I’m not taking calls from people who downloaded spam viruses on the company computers, the R&D and coding sections are amazing, Miss Grant… I kind of miss her.”

“Yeah… me too. My office is cool though. Not that I have spent a lot of time in it recently but yeah, this place is pretty neat. Are you… do you regret coming here?” Kara asked, hoping not. Having Winn with her made this place feel even more like home.

“No way. Seeing Caitlin throwing ice cubes at a guy and saying Killer Frost was going to own him, made this who trip worth it. She is deadly accurate with those ice cubes, even completely drunk. This place is amazing. Being here with you and Eliza and Alex, its what I hoped for when we started this thing. But yeah, seeing you get the recognition you deserve makes this worth it alone.”

“I completely agree.” a tall black man with a large head of hair and wire framed glasses said walking in. Kara recognized his voice as that of one Curtis Holt, the worst air traffic controller in the world. He offered his hand to Winn.

“You are the man who cracked a living alien code, stopped more nuclear weapons from being launched and spam bombed the bitch to death. A pleasure to meet you. I am so excited to see what we can do together.”

Winn took the man’s hand, assuming this would be his boss, even though he still hadn’t said his name.

“Thanks Mr…”

“No no. Curtis Holt, no mister. Just call me Curtis. And oh my God, my favorite hero in the universe! I’ve even told Oliver that. Kara Zorel, it is so good to meet you in person.”

Kara tried to take his hand but instead allowed herself to be jerked into a hug. “Winn have you seen her newest action figures?”

“No, just the one she gave Carter, how many does she have?”

“When she first came out she had what is marketed now as the evil wizard battle armor. That is sans cape, a bit bigger logo and smaller mask and blue boots. The latest one incorporates the red thigh high boots which are amazing and the cape which you pull off, Kara. The design is similar but the chest piece is smaller. Wait until the first time you use those nano solar panels in public. A bedazzled action figure is next, I guarantee you! Anyway it is so good to meet the both of you. Winn when you are done catching up with Kara come find me in R&D and I can show you to your station. The set up isn’t great since Kara accidentally destroyed the building fighting Savage…”

“That was not my fault!”

“But the new building is going to have amazing work stations. Since I’m pretty sure you are one of the top programmers we are going to have, you will probably get an office. I can do that because I’m the boss. Its pretty cool huh?”

“Yeah, cool.” Winn smiled, definitely feeling like he entered a bizzaro world but loving it.

“Yeah, I better get back to work too Boss.” Kara told him moving back behind her desk.

“Oh, I’m not your boss. Ray didn’t tell you? Since I didn’t need an EA and you have been handling PR you have been promoted to VP of PR for the Central City branch which is going to be the new headquarters for the nano tech program. Felicity is providing support as needed but also has new development lines and Oliver needs her at night. I mean working with him at night, not under him, but judging by the way the two were all over each other before I left, I imagine she is going to be having breakfast with him again as well. Oh and Ray told me to tell you because he would probably forget, that human resources is going to start sending you assistants to interview so you can stop wasting your time fielding meaningless calls and have more flexibility for your other activities.”

“I’m getting an assistant? I’ve worked here less than six months!”

“Yeah, but Ray is back and while Felicity was constantly having to fight the board because Ray basically gave her the company and they didn’t trust her, they roll over and play dead when Ray tells them too. Time hasn’t changed that it seems. He’s bigger now that he is back from the dead. Ray says he wants it, then Ray gets it. He wants your title to go from EA to VP of PR so guess what? You are VP of PR. He also doesn’t want the consulting firm we have on contract since you have pretty much turned away all the crap they have come up with so start looking for people to work under you. Ray likes young fresh talent when it comes to marketing so maybe send out some headhunters to look for recent graduates in the MBA programs around the State or even nation if you want.”

“I don’t have an MBA.” Kara reminded him.

“You don’t have to because you are the boss. Besides you have more corporate experience from your old job than any of these kids with MBAs. Okay, Winn come down to the 5th when you are done. I have a lot of action figures to show you. I bet we have different comics in our universe. What is your favorite from your old one?”

“Uh… Avengers?”

“Yeah we got them too. Lightweights compared to Superwoman. Ironman can’t even shrink like Ray can. We can work on your taste though. See ya later Kara.”

Kara was left with Winn trying to come to grips with the whirlwind that was Curtis Holt.

“So wow. Yeah, okay. You doing lunch with Barry today?” Winn asked.

“Even if I were, you could come along too Winn. But no I’m not so if Caitlin can get away it will be the two of us and you. I know a couple great lunch spots around here.”

“You don’t send someone out with an order?” he asked, confused.

“Why would we… oh yeah. No, lunch policies are more relaxed here. We eat and then we come back. It works for us. Most everyone here works into the night anyway. Everyone here, especially the programmers, love their jobs. I can understand why. How many programmers can one day tell their grandkids they helped cure spinal cord injuries or helped stroke victims make full recoveries, maybe even cure cancer?”

“Whoa. I knew about the spinal cord… but cure cancer?”

“Sure. Anything is possible. Its kind of the unofficial company motto. You are going to be programming thousands of microscopic robots, each working individually but all working with one direction. Attacking a malignant tumor is not out of the range of possibilities. These nano bots can attack tumors in places surgeons couldn’t even reach them. Its the fusion of talents between tech and medicine, the perfect blend we have at Palmer Tech, now that Ray is going to own S.T.A.R. as well.”

“Thats amazing. I am so glad I came. Okay, I guess I better get with Curtis. So lunch?”

“Yep, noon?”

“Sure, Caitlin is coming?”

Kara laughed recognizing that look. “Yeah I will talk her into it. Something tells me it won’t be hard.” Her laughter stopped when she remembered that she wouldn’t be seeing Barry tonight. Then a brilliant idea popped into her head. If Barry was going to do police work tonight Kara could also.

“Hey Winn, you have any plans tonight?”

“Nope. Me and Cisco were going to hang at the lab and play some new games, maybe design some advanced tech for the suits. Man I wish I had access to his toys when I made yours. The things I could have done Kara…”

“Hey you did great. I miss that outfit. I’ll show you the wall inside my room at the lab. Its framed.”

“Really? Thats… thanks Kara. So what do you want to do tonight?”

“How would you feel about catching up with Felicity while I took care of some business?”

“Uh, isn’t Star City like ten hours by train?”

“Yep, but it won’t take us that long. Hold on.”

Kara called Cisco and placed her order making sure he understood if Barry didn’t find out about this she would forget him ratting her nightly activities out to her parents.

“Do I even want to know why I need a flight suit and helmet?”

“Because I am going to be flying with you pretty fast. We have 30 minutes to make 600 miles. I could make it in less but I will go slow for you.”

“Kara you know how I feel about heights.”

“Winnnnn. We haven’t had any bonding moments in a long time. Don’t you want to see the Arrow Cave?”

“Not really. It seems like every time those guys are around someone gets shot with an arrow.”

“Its really cool.” she told him.

“You’ve been there?” he asked doubtfully. He didn’t remember hearing Cisco talk about any adventures Kara had in Star City.

“No, but Barry said its really cool, plus I have some legitimate business to take care of. I’ll find out the location from Curtis and we can talk about the details at lunch. Maybe you could bring lunch to Cait at the lab?”

“Bring lunch? For Caitlin?”

Kara shrugged her shoulders. “Couldn’t hurt. I bet she would think it was sweet.”

“Okay… yeah, we can do that.”

“Perfect.” Kara clapped her hands as Winn left nervously. Yes, she may not have the kind of fun she had in mind tonight but there were other ways to entertain herself.

On the train to Star City, Barry was already miserable, his mind running over a thousand different scenarios, linking these cases together and trying to determine what this person’s next move was. The bombs had been devastating, the drones devastating, but these two homicides felt like set ups, bait to lead them by the nose. Barry had to go with the assumption that this man or woman, this villain, knew who he was and probably knew who Kara was.

“Whats got your mind working so hard?” Alex asked, also annoyed that her second day on the job she would have to spend the night away from Nyssa.

Barry looked across his seat and saw unsurprisingly, Joe was already asleep.

“What I’m always thinking about.” he admitted.

“My little itty baby sister?” Alex guessed, having a bit of fun.

Baby sister. That wasn’t what he thought of her ever but especially last night. He had already known but to see her completely… her body was amazing.

“Yeah, she is usually first in my mind. I’m also trying to think of connections. Who is doing what and why? Sorry your introduction to this Earth has been so… strange.”

“Strange is what I deal with. It actually makes me feel at home.” Alex admitted, sounding a bit down, probably for the same reason he was. Neither would be in the beds they wanted to be tonight. There was a time Barry enjoyed these trips, seeing different cities, working with different police departments. Now leaving home was an annoyance.

“Christmas is coming up in a few months.” Barry reminded her, causing Alex to wonder why the hell he would bring that up.

“I hope so. Not having Christmas on the 25th of December would definitely be too weird. Want to know what to get Kara? Honestly, I bought her boring sweaters and DVDs of her favorite shows. I was never great at Christmas gifts.”

“I’m going to ask her to marry me. On Christmas Day I mean.” he told the woman, shocking the hell out of her. She hadn’t expected Barry to be so open with her.

“Thats… thats great Barry.”

“Yeah I think so too. For a long time, ever since I became the… you know, I never thought it would happen for me. Even before that, I wondered if I would ever be able to solve my Mom’s murder, free my Dad, put it behind me and move forward. Now I can’t imagine a life without her. I wouldn’t want one.

When Kara first told me about you, while I was on her Earth for those two weeks, it became obvious to me how protective you were of her and I kinda thought it was silly but I understand now.”

“I know you do.” Alex admitted. “I can tell it when you are around her. No matter where she is on the battlefield or in the same room relaxing you always know where she is.”

Barry laughed quietly to himself and stared out the window for a bit, day dreaming of Kara in a white gown, maybe having two ceremonies if Alex knew how to perform one of the Kryptonian bonding ceremonies. His mind drifted but came back to Alex, who had now pulled out a Guns and Ammo magazine from her backpack that apparently held all her luggage.

“Hey Alex, I think I owe you an apology.”

“Hah. What did you do? Deflower my sister?”

Barry looked away quickly, too quickly if anyone had been looking.

“Barry? That was a joke. I know she has that bracelet but I didn’t figure you and her had already… wow. Okay, good for her. But why the hell would you think you would need to apologize to me because of it?”

“Thats not what I owe you an apology for. It was yesterday.”

“What about yesterday?”

“I asked you to look at the gas particles I found…”

“And I appreciated it. It was interesting. Not exactly metahuman but since it is possibly related to someone trying to harm you and my sister I am glad we are going to have a look.”

“No, you don’t understand. For the longest, for the past two years it has been me, Cisco and Cailtin against the world. There was nothing we couldn’t beat together. We had survived so much and been through so much that it became natural that the ones I trusted, relied on whenever things got strange or dangerous or confusing were the two of them. Caitlin is our hero. She is a genius and has suffered so much, been through so much she doesn’t deserve, no one deserves and she is still standing, still helping, still fighting for us, she has been the glue that held us together.”

“She is amazing.” Alex admitted. She had been impressed with Caitlin since she first saw her holding Kara’s hand while watching that message from Kara’s mother.

“Yeah, but things change. We have grown, some have come, some have gone and some have betrayed us so deeply its a miracle we trust anyone outside of the three of us. Then Kara came along and I wasn’t the only one that fell in love with her. She fit in like she always belonged. Then Ray came back and Jax and Dr. Stein… and then you.”

“Kind of crashed the party huh?”

“See thats what I have to apologize for. I am used to relying on Caitlin and Cisco for everything but this? What we are investigating? I put enough on Cait with this other stuff. You asked about a cure or a vaccine and offered to make one. Instead before I even thought of you, I did what I always do when I need something. I went to Caitlin. It wasn’t fair to her and it isn’t fair to you. I know you are as brilliant as Caitlin is. The problem is, I see you kicking ass so much its easy to forget about it. But you are a cop now, one of us and this is a police issue. I don’t have to go to Caitlin with this stuff anymore, because I have you now. Its new but its good. I should have gone to you first. Caitlin hasn’t made much headway, in between everything else she has going on but she is doing her best. She just has so much on her plate. I think you should take it over. Because if anyone besides Cait can come up with a vaccine its you. You aren’t just on the team, you are a cop and from now on, I’m going to bring problems to you. You are on the metahuman task force, you are part of our secret team in every way as well and I promise I won’t forget it anymore. I’m really glad you are here, not just for Kara but for all of us. If there is one thing that has been beaten into me by this hero business is that people you can trust unconditionally are rare and you are one of them. I won’t forget again.”

Alex sat quietly, wanting to hug the man but not giving in. She tried to play it off but was cheering inside. She had begun to doubt herself being around so many geniuses and hearing Barry tell her she was needed was the confidence boost she needed.

“I’ll always be there for whatever you need Barry. You are going to be family after all, as if you aren’t already. And I would love to work on things like this poison fear gas with you. You don’t have to apologize. I know what it is like to have certain people you rely on. It is a hard habit to break but I am glad you are going to include me.”

“I’m not going to include you Alex, I am going to count on you.”

Alex nodded her head and smiled out the window, before turning back to Barry.

“So tell me, do you have a ring picked out? Kara, when we were young, we used to talk about our dream weddings. I never mentioned mine would have two brides but I can tell you quite a bit about hers.”

“Nope. I figured maybe you and Caitlin can go shopping with me. I’m not exactly an expert on this. I just know it can’t have emeralds anywhere on it.”

“That sounds great.” Alex admitted and began talking about different diamonds and patterns. Joe sat with his eyes closed, pretending to sleep and enjoying every minute of it. He wasn’t crazy about whoever was doing this or what they would find, but his little family had grown and was getting pretty damn strong.

As night fell and the trio exited the train to rent a car and travel to SCPD, Winn was screaming in Kara’s arms high above the ground.

“Can you slow down, please?!” He was wearing a helmet and flight suit Cisco had dug up from the basement and was feeling a bit claustrophobic in addition to his fear of heights. Of course Kara was holding him from behind so he could look directly at the dark blur he believed was the ground.

“The slower I go the longer we are in the air. I’m doing this for your own good Winn.” Kara explained over the loud wind shear.

“My own good?! My own good?!”

“Yep, you begged to come with me, so deal with it.”

“I did not beg! You told me I was coming with you!”

“I need my own Felicity tonight if Oliver doesn’t cooperate. That is you Winn. Relax, close your eyes and pray or something. It will be over soon. You act like you’ve never flown with me before.”

“I haven’t! I have never asked you for this exact reason! I didn’t even like meeting on the roof!”

“You want to ride on my back?” Kara offered.

“Are you going to toss me in the air so I land on your back?”

“Big time.” she admitted.

“No, I… I’m good.”

Ten minutes later the two landed in an alley next to what used to be the Oliver Queen for Mayor election headquarters.

“I don’t think anyone is home. Can I borrow some money for train fare?” he asked.

“Didn’t bring any money. Where would I keep it?” Kara asked.

“You have a million places to keep money on you! You have a backpack on!”

“This backpack is important. Lets go say hi.”

Kara walked to the back entrance and typed in the door code Curtis had given her on the promise that she would tell Oliver that Barry gave it to her.

“This is a great lair. Makes our old office look cool.” Winn sarcastically observed, wiggling out of his flight suit.

“Its underground. The elevator should be around here… there!” she pointed out when her X ray vision found the door. Finding the lever, the wall slid back and she entered another code. The elevator closed behind them and dropped on level down. When the door opened, Winn jumped behind Kara to hide from the two people pointing arrows at the door and the large man with the large gun also pointed in his general direction.

“Hey guys! I missed you!” Kara greeted them, all three letting out a sigh of relief and relaxed their weapons.

Oliver dropped his head. “Kara, you couldn’t have called?”

“You might have told me not to come over. I couldn’t take that risk Oliver. If you had said that, I would have felt unwelcome when I came over anyway.” Superwoman explained. She did have a point in a Kara sort of way Oliver admitted to himself. Felicity ran across the lair and hugged her, followed by Thea.

“You guys remember Winn? Felicity, if it is okay, he is going to sit in with you tonight.”

“This place is sooo cool. Are those the tri poly carbonate…” Winn started.

“Don’t touch those.” three voices said at once.

“Of course.” Felicity agreed, “I love company. It gets lonely when I’m here by myself.”

“Excellent! So you guys are going out tonight?”

“No.” Oliver and Digg both said.

“Yes, you are Oliver. You were just talking about the drug shipment that was supposedly…” Felicity stopped talking, seeing the look on Oliver’s face.

“Great. Drug shipment. I’ve never done one of those before. First, business, where is my mannequin?”

“Uh… mannequin?” Oliver asked, confused, as he often was around Kara.

“Yeah. I see Barry’s extra suit over there. I need a place to put mine.” she explained, wondering why, as it should be obvious. Taking off her cape she walked over towards the glass cases.

“You can use mine Kara. I can pick up an extra tomorrow.” Thea offered.

“Sweet. I have to keep the cape, its one of a kind and I can’t exactly get another one. I will use my mask tonight though.”

“What is tonight, exactly?” The Arrow wondered, suspecting and not liking the idea.

“I’m going with you guys. We are going to… you know, shoot some arrows and stuff, beat up some drug dealers or gang guys or… something? You said a drug shipment right?”

Oliver sighed, while Digg retreated to sit this one out.

“Kara, we kind of have our own way of doing things. I’m not saying you wouldn’t be a big help but our methods can be a little…”

“I think its a great idea, Oliver.” Felicity told him.

“Me too! You can use one of my extra suits if you want to stay low.” Thea offered.

“Nope. I brought my own vigilante costume. Give me a minute and I will be right back.”

Kara walked five steps before Oliver stopped her.

“Are you wearing your bracelet? Kara there is no way in hell you are going out there without your powers. I will put you in a metal cage in the back before I let that happen.”

“I am not wearing my bracelet! Why would you think that? I’m not stupid Oliver.”

“Then why are you walking funny? You seem stiff, like you pulled a muscle or something.”

Kara froze, not sure how to answer that. She could have come up with a million lies but not one came to her at the moment.

“You are wearing your bracelet.” Oliver concluded. Instead of denying it, Kara pulled up both sleeves and showed her wrists to Oliver.

“My bracelet, which I have had no need to use yet, is safely locked away in Central City. Even if I were wearing it, I have been getting very good at fighting. Nyssa says so and she also told me about all the times she whipped your butt so I think I am more than qualified.”

“You aren’t going.” Oliver told her. “You are obviously not at one hundred percent if you look like someone punched in the… groin? Oh… you and Barry finally…”

“Yes, I am going!” Kara told him before he could finish verbalizing that thought. “I am bored tonight. You owe me. I saved you from a fiery death on the side of a mountain.”

“I followed you to another universe and fought special forces soldiers and mini Godzillas with you.” he countered. Kara admitted he had her.

“You’re right Oliver. I guess we are even… I didn’t want to have to do this.” Kara took a deep breath and prepared herself, putting her mind in the perfect emotional state.

“Do what… no! Do not do…” Oliver backed up and pointed at her.

“Oh you are so screwed dude.” Winn told the man. Kara had taken off her mask.

“Please Oliver?” she asked, using the full power of her eyes and sad face.

“Yep, she brought out the puppy dog eyes. You may as well give up now.” Winn suggested.

“Please? I want to learn how you guys do it. Everyone thinks all I can do is fly around and beat people up. I can learn so much from going out with you guys tonight.”

“Oh God…” Oliver groaned. “No… no,”

“What if I ever blow out my powers and bad guys are still around? I can learn so much. You always tell Barry he needs to learn from you. Am I not good enough? You don’t think I can take it?”

“Kara we have certain methods the three of us… no… stop it… Is that a damn tear? You can tear up on command? No, its just… damn it! Fine, go change…”

Kara was gone and back in five seconds with her new suit Cisco had made today. No solar panels, no radiation blockers, no defibrillators. Just a dark blue suit with blue boots, wrist cuffs equipped with an array of small arrows, Kali sticks on her sides and a mask over her eyes, her bright blonde hair hidden by a large dark blue hood.

“You are serious?” he asked, while Digg snickered in the back.

“I think you look badass, Kara.”

“Thank you Thea. I need to borrow a bow and some of those trick arrows.”

“Can you even shoot a bow?” a frustrated Arrow asked.

“Yes! I have superior eyesight and am very good with my hands. I’ve fired guns and bows and even thrown knives at targets before. It was part of that whole DEO training I had to undergo before they tried to kill me. I never miss.” Kara lied through her perfect white teeth.

“Fine. I have an extra but do not fire unless I tell you to.”

“No problem. I will follow your lead, I promise.” Kara lied once again.

“Whatever.” Oliver walked over to retrieve his back up bow when Kara stopped him.

“What?”

“I want the voice thingy.”

“Why do you want the voice modulator, Kara?”

“I heard about it and I think its cool.”

“Does Barry know you are here?”

“Number one, yes and number two he isn’t my owner. I can do what I want. Now can I please have a voice thingy?”

Oliver grumbled and handed the voice thingy to her. Kara waved bye to Winn and Star City’s newest vigilante followed her team to fight the evil drug dealers and other evil people on the rough streets of the city.

“By the way, while I’m an active member of Team Arrow you can all call me Predator.” she added. “Did you copy, Overwatch?”

“Loud and clear Predator. Me and Spock will be in your ear the whole time. Happy hunting.”

“So where are we going?” Kara asked, as the crew got into a black van.

“The Glades.” Dig answered.

“Thats a pretty name. I bet it’s a nice area huh?”

While Kara was beginning her career as a vigilante, Alex was trying to get through her exciting second day as a police officer. Second night would be more accurate. Barry had volunteered to meet with the medical examiner in the underbelly of the hospital which she was grateful for, since she didn’t need to hang out in an underground morgue when she could just read an autopsy report. Instead she got to listen to Joe laugh at horrible jokes from other cops who tried to be subtle about checking her ass out and failing miserably.

Joe’s bonding with the other detectives did yield results though. The victim had been connected to the mob in Star City. He had been arrested for many things but the most interesting one was A child racketeering charge, he served twenty years on. The man had been released last May. A foster father of all things in addition to being a mafia hit man, Edward Gallo would take in foster children, as many as ten on some occasions and force them to make deliveries to drug dealers, money launderers, accompany muscle to collect from local business and even selling drugs on the street. If any of them failed that kid would be beaten severely. He had even been suspected of loaning out kids to other mob friends but the arresting officer could never make those charges stick. Eddie wouldn’t give out names. So Alex found herself with Joe, visiting the lead investigator at the time, a man who was no longer on the police force, named Quentin Lance.

“And this is the Laurel Lance’s dad?” Alex asked, not liking where this was going.

“Yep. He would still be on the force but he had to sign an affidavit saying he didn’t know Laurel was the Black Canary. He refused. He lives with Felicity’s mom now. I have no idea what he does for a living but… he has had a rough past few years. He helped me and Cisco once, a good guy from what I could tell. Losing his daughter like that, I couldn’t imagine. Of course he thought Sara was dead for six years and then she did die is what Barry says but then she didn’t and it had something to do with some sort of zombie pit? I don’t know Alex, I really stopped trying to think to hard about these things after Barry time traveled the first time.”

“So this is Sara Lance’s Dad? I should probably stay in the car Joe.” Alex suggested.

“No you shouldn’t. He is a good guy. I doubt Sara is the type of daughter who tells her Dad anything about her personal life. I doubt he would care. He isn’t a fool. The man has suffered and he is a realist. All we need to know is if he can remember any names of the suspected mob buddies Gallo loaned the kids out to. If one of those names is our Central City victim and even better if one or two of the names were victims of the bomber at the Steak House and apartment complex before that we have that link we are looking for. At least we would know why the two would have a connection.”

“Okay, that makes sense. We would still need to find the gas guy and take him alive, so he can talk. Obviously there is another guy organizing the two, sponsoring them I suppose, if he had the tech to pull off the drone attack yesterday. I’m with Barry, all this happening at the same time… what?” Alex stopped at the confused look Joe was giving her.

“You said we needed to take him alive. You do realize that is generally how police work goes, right? We take them alive?”

“Of course. It was just a figure of speech.” Alex lied. Joe started laughing.

“Thank God. You had me worried for a minute. I was going to ask if your middle name was Oliver.”

Alex joined in, laughing nervously.

“Come on Joe, its not like at my old job I just found the biggest gun around and killed whatever I was after.” she egged on.

Joe stopped laughing.

“You used to find the biggest gun around and kill whatever you were after, didn’t you?”

“Yep.” Alex admitted, since Joe was grinning. “But I did bring in a lot of aliens alive. Most of them. Over half of them… okay there were a few I knew had it out for Kara, hardcore. They may have resisted arrest a bit too much but I am very cool here. No evil aliens, just bad guys, read them their rights… I don’t have one of those cards. You are probably going to have to do the rights thing. I’m not sure I really remember them from TV.”

“I got you covered, Queen… I mean Detective Zorel.” Joe told her with a big smile as the two pulled into the parking garage of the high end apartment complex.

A confused Quentin Lance opened the door, not expecting company. He did recognize Joe however from the strange encounter, discovering Well’s body together a long time ago. It seemed like a long time to Quentin anyway.

“Uh… Joe West, right?”

“Yes sir. Its good to see you again Quentin. This is my partner Alex Zorel. We need some information about a case you worked twenty years ago, a guy who was killed last night, Eddie Gallo? Mind if we come in?”

“Yeah, come on in. Donna is making some…”

“Who is here?” A bright blonde haired woman in very tight shorts and a very low cut top asked, walking out of what Alex guessed was the kitchen.

“Hey Hun. This is Joe West. He is an old friend and this is Alex Zorel.”

“Hi, Donna Smoak.” she offered her hand to Alex.

“Smoak? Like Felicity…” Alex thought, not quite believing it was possible.

“Yes, I’m her mother! You know my baby girl?”

Wow, it is possible, Alex thought.

“Yes, we are good friends.”

“Come inside, I just baked some home made pizza. Okay I just heated up a couple of those frozen pizzas. I wanted take out but Quentin is addicted to these things.”

The four walked into the living room, and before they could sit, the front door was kicked in. Eight men, all dressed in jeans, casual tee shirts of varying designs and colors and leather jackets all large enough to conceal holsters rushed in. Alex pulled her gun immediately but was outgunned by the automatic weapons in the men’s hands.

“Now, now. Lets put that gun away officer. No need for anyone to get hurt. Actually there is a need for one person to be hurt.” a thin, dark haired man, early thirties, in a black suit, walked between the men, grinning. He carried a walking stick in his hand, though it was obvious he didn’t need one.

Alex dropped her gun, stepping in front of Joe and backed against him, so he would have easy access to the weapon she kept in her back holster.

“Now which one of you is Quentin Lance?”

“I am. What the hell do you want?”

“Nothing. This is just a business transaction I am afraid, one I find very distasteful. I actually admire you greatly. You saved me once from hell. But in order to get what I want, I have to provide a friend with something he wants.”

“Yeah? He wants me? You brought all these guys to kill me?”

“No, actually I have to kill you. These men are going to keep your lady friend here after she calls her daughter. For lack of a better word she is going to be bait. Do you think Oliver Queen will come alone or will he bring the whole band of Merry Men? Now you two are a complication. What shall I do with you? Central City’s finest, a long way from home. I suppose your department isn’t as slow as I suspected them to be. Condolences Mr. Lance on your daughter’s untimely death. The Black Canary was a beautiful woman and will be missed.”

“Who are you?” Alex asked, Joe slowly reaching for the gun on her back holster.

“Doesn’t really matter does it? You two are a complication but I honestly can’t have you aiding Queen when he shows up, so unfortunately you have to go. I’ll have one of these men make it quick. Much better than what I have to do to poor Quentin, believe me.”

Alex locked eyes with the masked black leather clad woman who had silently entered through the door and then slowly raised her hands to cover her ears. Joe, Quentin and Donna did the same.

“I think you should all be more concerned about holding your breath.” Crane, told them politely.

Alex nodded and Sara Lance unleashed the power of her sister’s reprogrammed Canary cry into the room. All the glass in the apartment shattered, all the men dropped to the ground, Joe and Quentin fell on top of Donna while Alex Danvers bent over then rose and along with Sara Lance, attacked nine armed men in Quentin Lance’s living room.