Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Call Me Kara

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 36:

The newly formed team had split up, those with superpowers, or in Ray’s case, artificial superpowers, going to one training area to talk, and those without, to actually train. Kara walked to a room in the back she hadn’t noticed before and was a little surprised to see Ray had built an archery range inside. She picked up a bow, similar to the one Thea carried, and nocked an arrow. Pulling back, she found it was a lot harder without super strength, very hard, but she made it, using her whole body. She briefly thought of taking her bracelet off but dismissed the idea. If she was going to survive, if her baby was going to survive, Kara could not rely on powers that may work or others to save her. It was why she had asked Carter, quietly, to buy her a gun and why she carried it in the bag she kept her uniform in. While she may not be able to be Superwoman, she could defend herself and her child. Unfortunately the Vegas call girl was correct, she would probably have accidentally shot herself or someone else.

Pulling back on the string as hard as she could and trying to keep her body somewhat straight, she let loose, the arrow flying six feet above the target, and the string snapping back to bite her finger hard, drawing blood. She did her best not to scream, instead holding her hand and bending over while cursing in her head. Noticing the blood, she slipped her bracelet off and watched the cut heal.

“Damn it that hurt!” she half whispered and half whimpered. Snapping the bracelet back on, looking at the target, and seeing how badly she missed angered her. She was not weak. She nocked another arrow, making sure to drop the bow this time, as soon as she fired.

In the combat area, Oliver held court, Nyssa standing in the background, waiting for him to shut up.

“The man we faced in Siberia knows many styles of martial arts. Worse, he knows mine, and Nyssa’s and her father’s all the way down to our tells that each of us have. He can use them and switch at will and is incredibly fast and strong. I am willing to bet he knows many more styles we haven’t seen yet. So we are going to work on showing him something new. Split up and spar, then try to copy the other’s fighting style. Thea, please spar with Alex, Dig with Sara.”

“Alex and I can spar.” Sara offered, with Alex rolling her eyes.

“I said spar, not an all out assault between two teammates who want to kill each other. If none of you want to do this, do whatever you want. I’m not a leader, just offering suggestions.”

Oliver walked over to stand by Nyssa while the sparring groups took center stage and began.

“So any idea how to beat this guy?” Oliver asked her.

“Swords will be difficult since he is armor plated and apparently strong enough to move nimbly, fully suited. Breaking his neck is out, the helmet must have a back brace that prevents his neck from being twisted or lain back too far. Hand to hand, I would suggest employing his own tricks, changing styles and pacing, keeping him off balance. The strobes are very disorienting and have to go first. His hands are weaponized. He tossed a stun grenade that I didn’t see and we are lucky it was only a stun grenade. His intention was not to kill all of us. He was testing us, perhaps hoping half of our party died.”

“So you have no idea.” Oliver translated.

“Of course I have an idea! I just haven’t fleshed it out completely. I wonder if he is familiar with Tatsu’s style?”

“Leave her out of this. She has found peace and lost enough.”

Nyssa agreed, thinking of the woman, who while not a friend, was an equal in battle and one her and Oliver both respected greatly in addition to Oliver and her sharing a bond of close friendship. She would make a formidable ally and would help if Oliver asked, but after losing her son then later having to kill her husband in Nanda Parbat, she did deserve peace.

“I think perhaps you should have a chat with our missing leader, while I watch the group. Thea is not going to be able to match Alex’s style wearing her uniform. It is to confining and limits the height of her kicks. Why she insists on the hood I will never know. She would be much better without it. The leather is not flexible enough either. She fights like Samurai, bows and blades but her hands and high kicks need much work. Alex cannot fight like this. She is to free spirited in her movements. It is a strength and weakness. A strength against someone larger and bulkier like Prometheus but a weakness if he can match her speed. Her advantage is she is always the fastest. Sara is the most vicious, a strength and weakness as well. John has come far but will always rely on brute strength and guns. Martial arts are not natural to him.”

“They weren’t for me either but when you have to survive anything can become natural.” Oliver reminded her. “What is wrong with Kara and Barry that I need a chat with them for?”

“While your heterosexual life mate is with the rest of those who rely on unnatural power, his betrothed is nowhere to be found. Find her. This is not the time to be separating. She should be with the rest.”

“So you go talk to her. You apparently got through to her before.”

“Yes I did. She likes and respects me but in case you haven’t noticed she looks up to you. It is similar in the way she looks to Alex still, when she is confused. You may wish for her and Barry to lead and I have no doubt that Allen can. If Kara were not in the state she is in, she would be leading as well. However, now she is in unfamiliar territory. She cannot help and is trying to redefine herself as a protector of her child rather than others and is at her most vulnerable. Not the best timing. Have a talk with her. She listens to you and more importantly, like Alex and myself she respects you.”

Nyssa walked onto the mat, stepping in between Thea and Alex who were embarrassing themselves, trying to copy the other’s style. Oliver looked around the lair and moved to the back. The lair seemed close to the size of a football field and there was much Oliver had not seen yet. He found a back room with a familiar blonde, who had just fired an arrow into the ceiling and nearly had her nose taken off when the twine snapped back.

“Any reason you are back here abusing the ceiling and your body with that bow?” the Arrow asked her. Kara shrugged and smiled.

“I’m scared of using the gun. I keep it around if I have to use it but I actually read a baby book last night. I took off my bracelet and read it in like ten seconds but I got the gist of it. Apparently once the baby’s ears are formed they can hear sounds outside the womb, my heartbeat, muffled voices, things like that. If my baby has hearing like mine the sound of a gun going off could scare her. It would be really loud for her, especially if I am the one firing. So since I don’t want my baby to be traumatized before she is even born, I thought a bow might be better. I did hit that one guy on the docks in the head with a knockout arrow so I must have some natural ability. Unfortunately it isn’t very easy to do without my strength. I guess you were right. Without my powers I am at an extreme disadvantage.”

“Why not take the bracelet off? It is probably time, since the baby doesn’t appear to be growing faster than normal, to let some sunshine back into her life. She will probably absorb sunlight like before but it didn’t accelerate growth then. Let Caitlin keep checking you everyday.”

“How do you know how my baby is developing?” Kara asked, amused.

“I keep an eye on you. Stop wearing it all the time. Having your powers 90% of the time is better than 0%.”

“And then when I need them and they aren’t there? I’m puking my guts up today. Even now the thought of food makes me want to vomit. Mom said the deeper I get into the pregnancy, my powers will have to fade for my body to change, to grow. So I need to start learning to live without them now. I can’t rely on them, I can’t rely on Kendra and Carter. I am glad to have them but my child is my responsibility. So I need to defend myself. I can’t spar, because I can’t risk taking a shot in the abdomen. I can’t fire a gun because I’m afraid of giving my baby a heart attack in the womb, and I suck at Kali sticks and a Bo staff. My self defense skills are subpar compared to everyone else but not bad. Not nearly good enough to hang with anyone out there though. That means I can’t fight this guy and probably not fight any of his assassins and have a hope of winning. So the bow it is. But apparently I suck at this too. I may buy a silencer for my gun.”

“That is one idea. Another is to help Barry lead this team so we can take this guy out quicker.”

“I will, I am, or I’m going to. But right now those with superpowers are playing with their powers and those that aren’t, are beating each other up. So I am doing something useful. Trying to anyway.”

“Not one, Firestorm, Ray, whoever this Zatana is, Carter, Kendra, none of them have fought the type of enemies you, Barry and J’onn have. They don’t know how to overpower someone by sheer force of will. They don’t have you and Barry’s experience. J’onn won’t be here forever. It is up to you two to guide this team. That includes you Kara. I have to work to get better, we all do, but you have saved a planet, Barry has saved an infinite number of universes and they need that. Being a leader isn’t always about who is the most powerful.”

‘Then why aren’t you leading Oliver?’ Kara challenged.

“Because I’m not you. I’m not Barry. People will follow me to a point, but they need true heroes to inspire them. People like you Kara, who despite what you think of yourself, see the best in everybody and everybody looks to you for the best. Does Ray have a kitchen in this place?”

“A kitchen? Yeah, I think I saw a room on the other side that had a small table and fridge in it.”

“Good, lead the way.”

Confused, Kara began walking, Oliver following. They both found there was a kitchen, the refrigerator stocked with Gatorade and beer. The beer did not surprise either of them. Oliver searched the cabinets and found a soup bowl. Taking the bowl to the sink he filled it with water and sat in on the small table.

“Sit.”

Still confused, Kara did as he instructed.

“Take your bracelet off your right hand and put it on your left.”

Bracelet changed, Kara sat, awaiting further directions.

“Slap the water with your right hand.”

“Excuse me?”

“Slap the water. Slap it, don’t slam your fist into it, not all the way to the bottom, slap the top of the water and pull back, it will splash and when it is finally empty, fill it back up and do it again.”

“Why?”

“Two reasons. It will help you focus and it helps build arm strength. If you can do this all day, and from what I understand of your job you have quite a bit of time on your hands, your ability to throw more force with less effort will greatly improve. While you still can, I would suggest pull ups and pushups. If your body is going to change that means even at this level you can get stronger. Right now, I doubt you have the strength to aim and control a handgun. If you don’t believe me try shaking Alex’s hand instead of hugging her. Compare her grip to yours. Your tendons are not ready for this type of weapon, any type really. You want to get better, make yourself stronger. Focus on the bowl, slap the water. When it is empty, fill it up and do it again.”

“For how long?”

“As long as it takes. One more thing, when it comes to archery, you don’t just step in and do it. Yeah you had a lucky shot at the docks…” Oliver raised his hand, heading off her argument…” it was lucky, especially for Thea, but now, with human strength, you are not strong enough for the bow you were using. That bow you were using had a draw strength of 45 pounds. Thea doesn’t use that strong of a draw. I use 60 pounds. You should be using 26 to 30. This does not diminish the effectiveness of it as a weapon. If you hit your target with that draw it is going to do damage. You have no idea about form. I can teach you the correct form, I can get you to hit a bullseye from twenty feet away and farther the better you get. But to become good enough to take an arrow, nock it, find a target and strike it in less than a second, takes years of practice. Years you can put into it. It is a discipline, it is not easy and that makes it worth doing. It will help you in everything, even when you have your powers 100% of the time. Everyday, when you aren’t covering up Ray’s stupid comments for the media, keep that bowl on your desk and practice, focus on the repetitive motion, and then at the end of the day, take the elevator in your office and come down here. I will be waiting for you and we will practice.”

“You would do that?”

“For you? Yeah, no question. But you have to do something for me. Go over to those amateur hacks and teach them how to be superheroes so they don’t get killed out there. They are yours now. Make them ready.”

Kara nodded her head and turned to leave, then turned once again, surprising Oliver by hugging him. “I love you Ollie.” He gave up after a second and with a smile, returned her hug. Without another word, she left.

Nyssa walked in a few moments after Kara walked out.

“Please tell me you aren’t having her slap water.”

“It’s a good exercise.”

“If you are stuck on an island and have nothing better to do. She needs to learn to shoot a gun. She doesn’t have time to learn archery.” Nyssa argued.

“She will learn discipline and she will learn how to use a gun. For now, lets get Sara to spar with Alex. $20 bucks on Sara.”

“I would take that bet, however I wouldn’t feel right about taking Thea’s money.”

“Oh, cheap shot Nyssa. Just remember, a broke billionaire is still a millionaire.”

The two walked over to the training mat, while Kara joined Barry. Barry and the others were watching Zatana levitating a giggling Cisco in the air.

“What is this?” she asked Barry.

“Zatana showing off her magic. Apparently whatever she says as long as she says it backwards in a language she knows, will happen. At least to an extent of her will power.”

“And how strong is her will power?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Barry told her, watching Cisco touch back down.

“Neat parlor trick.” Kara told her.

“I am full of tricks. So you are the famous Superwoman? But you are without your powers now. Don’t worry, I got you covered.”

Kara unclasped her bracelet and handed it to Barry.

“What bad guys have you fought?” she asked the magician.

“Oh quite a few. John and I have gotten into a bit of trouble together. Things you couldn’t imagine, demons, witches, poltergeists. I can handle a man with advanced armor, fairly easily. It is just a matter of learning his true name, and I can bring him here immediately.”

Kara looked at J’onn in his Hank Henshaw form, who rolled his eyes at the bravado of the woman.

“Uh huh. And you have to speak to cast these spells?” Kara asked for clarification.

“Yes, all I have to do is say whatever I wish…”

Before Zatana could finish her sentence, Kara had torn Cisco’s t shirt from his body and stuffed it in the woman’s mouth.

“So what happens when you can’t speak?”

Zatana tried to spit the material out but couldn’t, Kara’s hand holding it strong.

“Too late. You are dead. If you are lucky you got shot in the head. I’ve been shot in the chest. It feels like I would imagine a bodybuilder swinging a sledge hammer into your body.” Kara pulled the shirt out of Zatana’s mouth. “You could be a great asset to this team. You could be very powerful, but you can also get killed or worse get others killed. I don’t want that on my conscience. Those people fighting next to us? They are my brothers and sisters, the same as the people standing here are. Except Barry. He is just mine. They don’t have super powers and they do not take anything for granted. Those of us who do have superpowers do not take anything for granted. When I am fully powered I am the most powerful women in this universe and I am not bragging, it is just a fact. Despite this I have had three bullets in my body and two nearly killed me. The man we are after is playing for blood. You join up, you become a target. Now are you here to help or grandstand? I need fighters, not stage acts.”

Zatana looked at the blonde with more respect now. She wasn’t sure where this Superwoman had ran off to before but this was not the woman she expected. When she arrived she saw a depowered, pregnant girl with morning sickness. Now she was seeing the woman she had heard about from stories Oliver Queen had told Constantine. This was the woman who threw Vandal Savage into space.

“I’m here to fight.” Zatana told her.

“Good. Now lets be honest with each other. Have you ever fought someone who is human, strong, vicious and willing to kill an entire village just to play with your head?”

“No I haven’t. But I would really like to get my hands on a man like that.”

Kara smiled at her tone. She had the heart to fight.

“Then lets see what you got. Sara!”

Sara stopped sparring with Diggle and looked towards the training area with the super freaks.

“Yeah?”

“Could I borrow you for a minute?”

Sara shrugged her shoulders and walked towards the area, winking at Jax who gave her a grin. Jax had an idea what Kara wanted her to do and it wouldn’t be pretty.

“Zatana is ready to play for blood. Would you attack her please?”

Sara smiled and without another word swung her bo staff at the woman.

“ffats nrut ot retaw!” Zatana shouted.

Before Sara’s staff made contact it turned to water, soaking Zatana and spraying everyone close.

Everyone laughed including Zatana.

“I admit, that is cool. I need to go back to beating on Dig. Since Kara broke my last one, I’m kind of running short. Think you can give it back?”

Zatana reversed her spell, picked up the staff and tossed to Sara who gave her a nod and walked off.

“Very nice reflexes. How fast can you say a spell and how fast does it take effect? That was fast but can you be faster? If you say, make me bulletproof backwards and I wouldn’t even know how that sounds, does it work or does it cover you in armor too heavy to move in? How long does it last? If you cast a spell to make you invincible and run towards gunmen, do you have to focus on the spell to keep it strong or do you lose it if you focus on the gunmen instead of the bullets hitting you? What if you cast another spell while you are bullet proof? Do you lose the invincibility?”

“I… I don’t know. The enemies I have faced have been more of a supernatural kind. I haven’t really dealt with bullets.”

Kara smiled, glad the woman had admitted it.

“Then I guess we should work on it. Lets go over there and practice. Just don’t do anything to hurt my baby or I’ll melt your face off. Deal?”

Zatana smiled at the blonde. “I think I can manage that Kara.”

While the two walked off, Barry looked at those remaining.

“J’onn is going to be fighting as Kara. We want Prometheus to think she is still in the game. J’onn can you fly as fast as Kara?”

“Of course!… not. But I am close. I can break the sound barrier. I haven’t had a lot of practice until recently but I am faster than I thought I was.”

“Kendra, Carter, how fast?”

“With a good tale wind I have hit Mach 2 I would guess. I can only judge that by distance I have traveled in a certain amount of time since I have never had a fancy lab filled with super nerds monitoring my every breath and bowel movement.” Carter explained.

“Your jealous, aren’t you?” Barry asked.

“Big time. It would be nice to be clocked. Kendra, you are the same speed, maybe a little faster, I’m a little stronger. She has sharper claws. The weapons we have won’t break and can do quite a bit of damage to metals, including solid steel.”

“Carter’s mace can crush a car engine.” Kendra continued. “The problem is when we are flying that fast, it is defensive or for travel. We can’t turn on a dime at that speed like Kara or you when you run. Also in a city where there are tall buildings we can’t build up that kind of speed. Still, we can maneuver fairly well at slower speeds. Our wings are pretty strong too, as Oliver’s bike can attest too.”

“Yeah, don’t think I am ever giving you a chance to lift me off the ground again, Carter. That was not cool.” Barry reminded him.

“You sent a couple thousand volts of electricity into me. We are even.”

“Okay, so if he…”

“What about us?” Ray interrupted Barry. “Jax and me?”

‘I know how fast Jax can fly. I have a pretty good idea how fast you fly. As fast as those rockets on your boots, shoulders and back can take you. I also know you are constantly looking for ways to be faster Ray. Its just who you are. You’ve both worked with Cisco and we have data. Cisco how is your work going with Harry on those vibration blasts?”

“Uh, you know Barry. Why you gotta call me out in front of the crew?” the man asked, not wanting to admit he hadn’t gotten far.

“I asked you if you wanted to be down here or with the tech team. You said down here. We all need to know our progress. Not trying to call you out man, we just need to know, all of us. No holding back anymore.” Barry explained. “If he attacks another city we are going to be the first to get there. We need plans. Who can do what and when. I am hoping… I am really hoping those who can’t fly or run can be teleported by Zatana. When Kara is finished with her she can decide if it is worth the risk. Zatana teleported herself here. We can start with one of us, I nominate Oliver, and go from there. If she can’t, we may be on our own for a while. Dr. Stein where are you and Jax with matter transmutation?”

“We have been working hard and I believe we have that skill nearly perfected. We don’t even have to say anything backwards.” Dr. Stein finished proudly.

“But its more fun to blow things up or fly through them, so if we see one of those giant robot things…” Jax started.

“Turn the legs to water, sand, anything you can think of, then the main body. That one in Siberia came equipped with missiles. When I hit it, I hit it with enough force to vaporize everything on it, missiles include. If you fire a nuclear blast at it, it could conceivably set all of them off and worse, turn the exploding metal radioactive. Take out the legs. I’m going to be doing the same thing, unless I can build up the speed to vaporize it. As of yesterday I can stand in front of a target and hit with… what were the readings Cisco?”

“About the force of a tomahawk missile.” Vibe told him proudly.

“Which means I could set off the missiles too. We have to disable them. Cisco has an idea but I need to know how it is going to effect you two, Dr. Stein. He is developing arrows for Oliver and Thea that when struck will emit a short range EMP. How far do you have to be away from it so you won’t be effected or if you will be at all? Think you and Cisco can figure that out?”

“Absolutely. I will get started tonight.”

“What about Nyssa?” Ray asked. “Doesn’t she want EMP arrows?”

“Nyssa refuses to fire any arrow that does not have a hard, sharp head.” the Flash explained, all of them nodding agreement, not surprised in the least.

“That does bring up another point, Barry.” J’onn said, prepared to ask the question no one wanted to ask. “What are the rules of engagement? Are we trying to stop this man, or kill him?”

No one said a word. Kara and Zatana were still talking away from everyone, Zatana focusing on transporting bowls of water, that Barry wasn’t even sure where Kara found, but those at the sparring mats, stopped and listened.

He took a deep breath and looked around.

“Some of us have had to do some things we wouldn’t normally do or have liked to do to find out information and what we have found out really only led us into a trap. This man is a killer, a mass murderer. That said, we aren’t him. There won’t be any need to torture anyone, since we have J’onn with us and he can read minds. Even if we didn’t, we are going to find another way. We aren’t going to be that, not anymore. If we are going to call ourselves the Justice League we have to have standards. We are going to try to take him alive and bring him to justice.” Barry told the group.

“But we won’t let him take another life.” he continued, “If it comes down to him or us or especially an innocent and there is no other way, we kill him. Meeting adjourned. Let’s keep working on our skills and in three days meet back up here. Harry is going to have coms for all of us. If something happens we will be notified immediately and able to respond and communicate with each other. Mari, do you have a place to stay?”

Mari had stayed quiet this entire time, listening, watching. She had never worked with anyone besides Oliver Queen while breaking Darhk’s totem. She was not sure how she felt about all this and though she possessed the flight skills of multiple birds was fairly certain no bird could keep up with any of these individuals.

“Yeah, I’m going to get Ray’s helicopter to drop me back off in Detroit. I’ll be back in three days. I’m tracking a killer taking hookers off the street. I can’t stay here the whole time. I’ll be back.”

Barry silently understood. He knew, ironically considering Oliver was here, that Mari was the one most used to working alone and may be the toughest to convince. It was best to give her time. Pressuring her would get them nowhere.

“I’ll have it arranged. The chopper is on the roof right now actually. I just need to call the pilot.” Ray offered, the two walking away.

Barry walked over to Kara who was laughing with Zatana. The sorceress was levitating ping pong balls and trying to control them in the air while Kara zapped them with heat vision.

“Where did you two find ping pong balls?” Barry asked, happy to see Kara having fun after a tense few days.

“I told her they were in Ray’s game room on the fifth he thinks no one knows about. She just brought them here. Its pretty cool. She can’t levitate and keep them protected though. We are working on it.”

“Zatana, you got a place to stay?”

“I’ll be staying at Ray’s penthouse. He told me he is hardly there, so I should have privacy.”

“Great. Kara you ready to leave? I need some air.”

“Yeah, lets go. See you later Zatana.” she walked off with Barry quickly, sensing something was wrong.

The two reached the ground level and walked to the street before she said anything. Once away from everyone, she stopped him.

“Whats wrong?”

Barry laughed quietly, wondering why he was surprised. She always knew when something was bugging him.

“Its a lot.” he offered, with no further information. She understood.

“I know, but we can handle it. This has to happen, not just for our friends safety and ours but for people like those in that village or apartment building or the ones on the street those drones attacked.”

“I know, its just, we are having a baby and getting married, and we bought a house and your birthday is in a few days. We should be having fun. I don’t want to lose track of that. I want to be with you, not torn all over the place.”

“We are not going to be torn away from each other. Where you are, I am. Why don’t we go out tonight? We need to do something fun. Something just us?”

“You took your bracelet off. You are hungry aren’t you?”

“That would be a good start.” she smiled. “But what about that theater that is having the Kung Fu movie marathon? I bet we could watch a couple movies before I drag you to bed.”

“Drag me to bed? You mean drive me crazy all night, right? Think we can move up the wedding?”

“I think… we can move up some things. You sort of drive me crazy too and I am thinking, that since I haven’t been exactly practicing my religion in years and would pretty much be banished anyway…”

“You are serious? That was your idea.”

“And I can change my mind. I need you. We haven’t had a lot of alone time and I think we need to reconnect. Just the two of us. So horrible Chinese takeout, watch a few Kung Fu movies and then take me to bed and maybe take me?”

“Yeah, that sounds great.” he admitted, pulling her in, enjoying the feel of her body close to his. Knowing their child was between them was pretty special too.

“You’re tired. You have been working to hard. I know why Barry, but training hard is one thing. Becoming obsessed is another. I need you to be you. We both do, me and our child.”

“I’ll do anything to protect you two Kara. I have to…”

“And you will, but what you have, this power, its because of who you are. If you turn your focus completely on him, then you are going to be depressed, distracted. We are fighting to live so lets live, right? Maybe I should take some time off and come with you while you work out in the mornings.”

“No. You love your job, I know you do. I’ll be better. I’ll stop obsessing.”

“Its not that you are obsessing. You just have your reasons all wrong.” she told him.

“What are you talking about? My reason is you and our child.”

“Your reason is fear. You are letting fear push you to be better. Fear of losing us, fear of letting others down, fear of failure. I’ve had all those reasons too but Nyssa made me realize fear wasn’t why I am fighting. I fight because I love. Let your reason be love. It wasn’t fear that got you across the Bering Strait, it was love for our family. Thats the advantage we have over this guy. We love and he can’t. He may think he has his reasons but he doesn’t know what he is fighting for. If he doesn’t know how can he win? So relax and focus on love, okay?”

Barry smiled, kissed her softly and the two walked hand in hand towards the closest Chinese restaurant. The faster Barry could feed her and get through these movies, the faster he could have her in bed and Barry was all about speed.

“And I do think I am going to take a couple days off, give Kendra and Carter a break from sitting around an office all day. I’m going to relax and start looking for furniture and maybe read a few more horror novels like What to Expect When You Are Expecting. We can have breakfast and lunch together. We can just be us. You still need a tux, we have cake to taste and we are going to start having fun with it.”

“Sounds good. I might slip off early for the next few days. Maybe we can pick out some paint for our little boy’s room.” Barry offered.

Kara stopped and glared. “I told you I know what our baby is. We can pick out paint for our little girl.”

“I don’t know. I think Kid Flash is a dude. I’m thinking red with a big lightning bolt painted on the wall over his bed.”

“Want to bet?”

“Terms?” Barry snapped. He lost most bets to Kara but never minded. The terms were usually light hearted.

“When we find out she is a girl you are wearing a blue suit for a week with my family crest. I think it will look good on you. Every time you are out in public saving the day, you are going to be in my colors, so Central City and the world knows who the top dog is in our partnership.”

“Oh really? And I suppose when we see our little boy for the first time, Cisco will have the remainder of your pregnancy to get a red suit ready for you with a lightning bolt chest piece? I’m going to make Iris start calling you Mrs. Flash in the paper if this happens.”

“It won’t happen. Want to up it to a month?”

“You are on Woman of Steel. Hey, uh… I’m kinda tired and…”

“You want to eat, skip the movie and go to bed with me right?” she guessed, already thinking the same.

“Yeah…”

“And something tells me you won’t be tired in bed, will you?”

“Nope.”

Kara sighed, trying to seem put out. “I suppose but remember, I’ve only done this three, four times and they all kind of ran together in one night so you are still going to have to take it easy.”

“I promise, no vibrations.” Barry swore.

“Uh, lets not go crazy. I didn’t say I was made of glass… oh hold on.” Kara took out her phone and dialed Eliza. “Hey Mom?”

“Yes? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m great but you told me from now on if I have a question about my physiology I ask you right?”

“Yes…”

“Okay so, just to make sure, there is no chance a Kryptonian can have twins by having sex during a pregnancy right? I mean another baby isn’t going to pop up on the next scan? Because while it sounds absurd that just seems like the kind of thing that could happen to me.”

“No Kara, you won’t have an additional baby every time you have sex. At least, I don’t think so. Everything about your pregnancy except for the solar powered Ecstasy trip seems to be the same as a humans. Thinking about your wedding night?”

“Nope, a lot sooner, love you!”

Kara ended the call and looked at a very amused Barry. “I have a surprise for you.”

“Oh yeah. No twins?”

‘Better. Feed me and I will show you.”

Thirty minutes later the two had arrived at Kara’s apartment, fried rice cartoons still in hand but nearly empty. After eating two large portions of Chow Mein, and six pot stickers for Kara, she led Barry to the bedroom and walked into her closet, leaving him on the bed.

“You are doing good right? No morning sickness right now?” he asked to be sure.

“Yeah, that was earlier. I’m good now. Close your eyes.”

Barry leaned back on the bed, and closed his eyes, imagining what sort of lingerie Kara had been saving. He heard her admonish him to keep his eyes closed, heard her walk out of the bedroom, something opening and a few minutes later, she was at the door again.

“Okay, you may open your eyes now.”

Barry saw what she was wearing was better than any lingerie.

“Wow. You… uh… wow. This is… you brought it with you?”

“Of course.”

Kara stood in the doorway, her old glasses on, wearing a very familiar yellow dress, licking an ice cream cone.

“Wow. You have any idea what you licking that cone made me think about when I first saw you?”

“I bet you weren’t thinking about finding a way back to your Earth, were you?”

Kara moved over to the bed and offered her cone.

“Want a bite?” she grinned. Barry took the cone, moved towards the kitchen and deposited it in the trash and was back before she could blink.

“Yeah, I want a bite.”

While Barry and Kara were becoming reacquainted hoping Kryptonians weren’t impregnated every time they had sex, Nyssa, Alex and Cisco were still at Ray’s lair while Alex looked over her newest toy.

“A helmet? Really Cisco? How is she supposed to fight in a helmet? Fighting is an art form. This will be like trying to ice skate wearing a hockey helmet.” Nyssa complained.

“You know what hockey is?” he asked, surprised.

“Perhaps you should remember that I was given an education that would put most Harvard graduates to shame. I also have a very in-depth knowledge of human anatomy.”

“At least Alex’s right?”

Cisco’s laugh was cut short when he saw neither women were laughing.

“Sorry, bad joke. Totally inappropriate.”

Nyssa was still glaring.

“Nyssa, I’m sorry but you are around us too much now. You just aren’t that intimidating…”

Cisco stopped talking when the woman stepped inches from his face, looking into his eyes. Cisco felt like he was looking at death.

“Okay!” he told her, throwing his hands up and backing away. “You are still scary as hell. Chill woman! Would you just try the helmet Alex? Put the suit on, load up and spar with her.”

“A helmet will get her killed!”

“That helmet is bulletproof. A mortar round isn’t going through it. Her entire suit is resistant to tears even from a bullet and her back and front torso are covered in my own body armor design, thin, effective and an improvement I made on Oliver’s body armor he got from the League of Assassins. With this suit and helmet not one single part of her body will be able to be stabbed. Her internal organs will be protected from the blunt force of a bullet by the armor. The helmet has a pressure sensitive air cushioning system, meaning the second it feels anything racing towards it at the speed of a bullet, it will protect her brain from the blunt force by increasing internal cushioning with compressed air so her skull won’t crack. I don’t send my team out there with anything less than the best Nyssa! Scare me all you want but I take this very seriously and I am very good at what I do. Alex, will you please try it on with your suit so I can convince Nyssa that this is the best battle armor you can wear that still allows you to fight effectively?”

Alex put a hand on Nyssa’s shoulder before she could blow up again and took the garment and helmet to the back. The outfit was unique, while it appeared to be one Lycra suit it was actually a top and bottom that folded seamlessly together with a lightweight black seamless belt blending the two. She looked at the helmet, black like the rest of the outfit but silver Valkyrie wings engraved on the sides. Slipping on the pants, she was glad to feel they were very flexible. Halfway between each hip and knee was a holster that was streamlined into the suit, barely noticeable. She placed both her weapons in the holster and moved, pleased to see that even with the weapons, her ability to kick wasn’t hampered. Then she slipped the top on. It had the feel of Lycra, the only difference was the barely noticeable thickness of the body armor. If someone had given this to her in the past and told her it would protect against bullets she would have laughed. It was flexible, bent, folded and twisted easily. In the center of her chest was a silver symbol she had only seen her sister wear before. The coat of arms of the House of El, exactly the same size as Kara’s. Touching the center she felt the small hidden camera lens, and knew the plate went to the very bottom of the armor. Inside this symbol was a GPS chip, nano tech bio scanners, monitoring her vital signs and a defibrillator should she ever need one. She wasn’t sure how he put all this in there but knew he had.

She slipped the boots on, basic tactical boots but light weight with better grip. Slipping her gloves on she was surprised that they had also been streamlined since Siberia, molding to her hands better. She slipped the belt on, and placed her Kali sticks into the holders on the sides and her tonfa on her back holsters, crossing each other but secure, not swinging. In each boot she had a dagger.

Looking at the helmet, her first thought had been it resembled Ray’s. While black with the wings engraved in silver, it wrapped around her neck and under her chin. Her mouth was unprotected but the visor would cover her eyes and nose. Pressing the button on the back, she nearly jumped when the helmet split, retracting into a inch thick ring. Slipping it over her neck, she pressed the button again, her head being wrapped in a light weight plastic Cisco had developed, the back and sides of her head being wrapped as well as her chin being covered. Alex was pleased to see she had enough give to be able to talk. Despite her ears being covered she could hear better than ever, even hearing Nyssa bitching at Cisco back at the training area. The helmet pressed into the grooves of the body armor over her shoulders right at the base of her neck. The visor had been dark but her eyesight was fine, no peripheral vision hampered. Turning her head to the right and left, it wasn’t as awkward as she feared, different no doubt but the weight ratio compared to her old tach helmet was much better and that one just covered the top of her skull.

Alex walked onto the mat, and both Cisco and Nyssa shut up.

“Now that is badass, Cisco style Nyssa. Tell me that isn’t the bomb!”

Alex smirked, recognizing the look in Nyssa’s eyes. Apparently her girlfriend approved of the tightness of her new garment.

“You uh… you certainly fill it out well, Alex.”

“Thank you dear.”

“Okay Alex, the helmet is voice operated, but all it takes is a whisper. Let me turn off the lights.”

Running over to the console on the far wall, Cisco pitched the lair into complete darkness.

“Whisper night vision!”

Alex did so and the visor came alive. She could make out everything, Nyssa, the tables, the mats, the consoles and Cisco at the far end. The lights came back on and the vision faded back to normal without any word from Alex.

“It has an auto correct. In case someone throws a flash grenade at you, it will filter the brightness but not stay on night vision until you say it again. If room lights come on it automatically goes back to regular vision. Now I’m going into that Archery room Kara nearly killed herself in earlier. When I close the door, whisper infrared.”

Alex waited and as soon as the door closed she did so. Her vision remained the same except for the form of Cisco Ramon, represented in red, walking behind the wall.

“Can you hear me?” he asked behind the door in a normal tone. Even from thirty yard away Alex made it out perfectly.

“This is amazing.” Alex whispered.

Cisco ran towards her with a huge smile. “It’s still a work in progress. I have plans to add X ray capabilities. I just have to figure out his to get it into the visor. I also have to make sure it doesn’t expose you to any radiation that can give you brain cancer. That would suck. Okay X Ray is going to take some time so you may have to rely on little sis to see cold objects through walls but you can see people. What do you think? Its freakin cool right?”

“It is cool Cisco. This whole thing feels amazing. You are a genius…”

Alex stopped her praise in time to block a high kick leveled at her head from Nyssa. She jumped back and took a casual stance, her eyes never leaving her lover.

“Leave us Cisco. I will decide if this outfit is suitable.”

“Okay then… Let me know how it turns out.”

Once Cisco had left, really wanting to watch but deciding the thrill wasn’t worth his life, the two women circled each other.

“You look so amazing, Alex. I want to throw you on this mat and take you now.” Nyssa whispered.

“So why don’t we…” Alex started before she felt a kick to the ribs followed by another to the side of her head, sending her to the mat.

“Never get distracted in a fight, even by someone as beautiful as I am. Get up Valkyrie. Let’s see what you have.” Nyssa told her, grinning. Alex smiled and stood, prepared to spar, or as they liked to call it, foreplay.

The next morning, a very relaxed and happy Kara woke up in Barry’s arms, to the smell of coffee. Despite being very comfortable the smell was too tempting. Figuring that bringing them both back a cup would give her a reason to wake Barry up, and perhaps continue where they had left off clinched the decision for her. Slipping on her panties and Barry’s shirt from the floor, she snuck out, grateful that Caitlin had made a pot. As soon as she walked to the machine she was met by a person she didn’t expect.

“Winn?”

“Kara? I didn’t think you would be up this early… wearing that. You uh… yeah…”

Kara looked at herself quickly and jumped back, grateful at least that Barry’s tee went past her waist, for the most part. Then she noticed what Winn had on.

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting to see you here… in nothing but boxers.”

The two stared at each other for a moment, mortified.

“You know, I never really thought I would have a more awkward moment with you than the time I tried to kiss you but…”

“Yeah… this is right up there. Not as bad as when I saw you having sex with Siobhan though. We should probably slowly back away and forget this ever happened. Uh… so I guess… I mean I hope and pray that Caitlin is home?”

Caitlin picked that moment to walk in, yawning, hair a mess wearing only a very small nightgown.

“Wow, I didn’t figure you would be up this early. Wild night huh? I didn’t understand half the words you were saying. Were they Kryptonian or English through severely vibrated vocal cords?” Caitlin asked, pouring a cup of coffee.

Kara ignored the question, not wanting to answer that the answer was both. “So Winn… you stayed the night? I mean wow, I knew you two liked coffee…”

Cailtin walked back to the bedroom, still half asleep. “Going back to bed. Winn, follow.”

“I guess I should probably go with her.”

“Yeah. Good idea. Uh, we need to talk, so I will put some pants on and you put… clothes on and meet me back here in five.”

“Okay…” Winn walked off a bit confused. He had planned to spend the next few days avoiding talking to Kara.

Five minutes later he emerged fully dressed, to see Kara had at least put on pajama bottoms.

“So I guess you want to talk to me about Caitlin huh? Probably wondering where that came from?”

“No not really. Uh, that is between the two of you. I mean I think its great, my best guy friend, my best girlfriend…”

“Really? Thanks Kara…”

“You hurt her and I will fly you around the globe a few times before I fry a part of your body you are really going to miss.”

Winn gulped. “Understood. Is that what you wanted to talk about?”

“No, I need a favor. I need a suit. Like my old one.”

“Uh, why? I thought you liked your high tech suit? You didn’t want anything to do with Supergirl.”

“Yeah, no I don’t. But I want a suit, just like the one I had and you have to keep it to yourself. Don’t let anyone, especially your roommate know.”

“Why? I mean sure, but do you want to hang it… your old one is already on the wall. Why would you want another one?”

“Because, last night Barry and I were remembering the first time we met, I wore the dress I had on that day and my glasses. He really liked it so I was thinking for the wedding night…”

“You want me to recreate your costume for role play.”

“No! Uh… yeah?”

“You want me to make superhero themed lingerie for you.” Winn sighed.

“If you don’t want to, just remember that time I took all those bullets for you when the FBI tried to kill you. Just keep that in mind.”

“Fine. Do I even need to bother with the leggings?”

“Nah… no yeah! Yeah, I want the leggings. I want everything the same. I can use the boots I have and of course the cape but yeah, everything else, exactly the same.”

“Okay. As long as we can forget the moment we had five minutes ago, I will make your wedding night lingerie and keep it a secret.”

“Thanks Winn.”

“Until after the wedding, then I am telling everyone. Oh by the way, are the measurements the same or have you started…” Winn stuck his stomach out.

“My measurement are exactly the same, jerk. Go back to bed. You might want to turn the TV up because I am about to wake Barry.”

“Dang, shy little Kara Danvers getting grown up. Look at you.”

Kara laughed and then her face grew serious. “I knew you two were seeing each other and I think its great. She is just one of the most amazing people I have ever known and she has been through so much. Take care of her. Someone needs to love her the way she deserves. I’m glad it’s you.” Kara wrapped Winn in a hug and walked back to the bedroom.

Barry arrived at work two hours late, but very happy, being dropped off at the door by Kara who exchanged greetings with every officer who was in the precinct, promising to bring breakfast tacos the next morning. She strolled to her office prepared to inform her boss she would be taking vacation time that she wasn’t sure if she actually had nor did she care. Of course she hadn’t made it a block away from the station when Carter and Kendra began waling by her side.

“Good morning my warriors. Guess what? We are taking some vacation days.”

“Sweet. Where are we going?” Carter asked.

“Nowhere. I just want some time, you guys need some time to yourselves, Barry kind of needs extra attention right now. I think he is really over stressing and trying to hold it in. So the two of you can do whatever you want! Have fun!”

“We go where you go.” Carter told her.

“I’m… thats not necessary though. I won’t be at work so…”

“We go where you go. We are your body guards. Maybe you don’t like that, but it is what we are and we take what we are seriously.”

“But… I’m going to be with Barry a lot…”

“And when you aren’t with Barry, we will be with you.” Kendra explained.

“Fine. Carter you can help me shop for colors for the baby’s room, and furniture, I want to get an idea at least. We can head to the house, I’m going to need to figure out what sort of living room furniture a bed, oh a baby bed, a bassinet, it is probably going to have to be a really strong bassinet. This is going to be fun!”

Carter groaned.

“But first, business. Was the operation carried out successfully?” she asked.

“The operative came through, the information was good and the execution was clean. I am certain you will approve of the results, my Queen.”

“You are so cool, Carter. Kendra were you there?”

“Like I was going to miss that. I actually taped some parts, so only the red was changed. I think he is going to like the results.”

Kara high fived Kendra and the three walked into Palmer Tech. Once upstairs Kara walked in and found an irate Ray Palmer leaning against her desk, arms crossed.

“How did you do it?” he asked.

“He has broken security protocols. Shall I forcibly remove him my Queen?” Carter asked.

“Of course not Prince Khufu. This is his building. He can stay in my office for a few moments.”

“Cut the crap Kara. How did you do it?”

“Do…”

“You painted my suit pink!. Maybe not you but one of your goons. But how? How did you get into the case? It is protected by a palm reader and I know that no one cut off my hand!”

“He is a genius.” Carter admitted.

“You say your whole suit is pink?”

“You know it isn’t Kara. It is silver and pink. How did you do it? I know that neanderthal isn’t smart enough to get passed my security system.”

“Watch how you speak of Prince Khufu! As far as how though, you are correct. It would take a hacker of amazing skill to break any security measures you have in place, being the genius that you are. Of course everyone I know of that caliber is already on your team. I mean no one would betray you, right Ray? Its not like my best friend for years, Winn would ever turn against you, just because I have saved his life a few times and we have always been there for each other in good times and bad. Or Felicity either, the woman you tricked into taking on your responsibilities and I then saved her life, and have lunch with her and Caitlin twice a week at least. Maybe… no it couldn’t be Curtis, just because I am his favorite superhero and he knows even if he turned against you, there wouldn’t be much you could do about it. I mean his brain is where the best ideas for your company have come from lately. He is adorable too, always asking me to sign his action figures. Of course he wouldn’t turn on you. Who else could do it? Oh what about Cisco? No, Cisco would never do anything like that, even though we are like siblings and on the same team. He is obviously loyal to you. Its not like he and my fiancé are closer than blood. I can see your dilemma. If I were in your pink metal boots, I would be paranoid about everyone I felt I could count on. Who knows who is truly on your side and who is a spy? Probably shouldn’t trust anyone Ray. I just came in to let the PR staff know I will be taking some time off and calling the Star City office, so all calls for interview requests can be routed through them. Then I will be gone for a while.”

“A while? What do you mean a while? How long?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I wasn’t feeling great last night. My birthday is tomorrow, Barry has been stressing and needs me around more. Maybe a week or two.”

“Kara you don’t just get to take a week or two off. You know this.”

“Uh… thats funny, because it seems like I just did. You could fire me?”

“You are not getting fired. I don’t care how much you want to be. You want to take time off? Go for it. Take as much as you need, but I know that you will get bored watching Barry zip all over the place. You will be back and I promise you when you return…”

“You are going to have something that shocks me, a pregnant woman, so much that I could fall over, or pass out, and probably require medical assistance from my mother, my sister and her pacifist girlfriend Nyssa, Caitlin, my father… yeah my father, he would probably be so worried about me. I’m sure when you tell him it is a prank war he will understand. It’s not like he is way overprotective of me. But Barry… Ray, he is so on edge lately I swear I think he would phase a hand through anyone who bumped into me. I suppose I could talk to Oliver and tell him I am worried about you playing a horribly frightening joke on me. He probably knows how to keep calm no matter the circumstances. When I explain to him that I think you may attempt something to shock me, I have no doubt he will have a perfect way to help me deal with the trauma. So do what you have to do Ray. I understand and I am ready to take whatever prank you have waiting. Balls in your court genius billionaire.”

“Thats… that’s not fair, Kara.”

“You told me never to start a prank war with a childish billionaire who has too much time and money on his hands? A little advice Ray, never continue a prank war with an adorable alien who has very loyal and very powerful friends and family. Now you be good and don’t say or do anything stupid that I am going to have to cover up in the media while I am off. We wouldn’t want me to be stressed, would we?”

“No… this isn’t…”

“It’s over.” Carter finished. “Take your pink suit to a body shop and have it redecorated if you want. I think I did a rather stylish job but I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

Ray stood for a moment and looked at all three, speechless. Drawing himself up, he straightened his tie and walked out, completely terrified that due to violent friends, over protective family and possible turncoats in his own camp he could be on the verge of losing a prank war for the first time in his life. It was fine, he just needed a bit of time. This was not the end.

“Well, thats over.” Kendra commented, seeing the defeated look on Ray Palmer’s face.

“Well done, my Queen. That is why you have mine and my Priestess’s undying loyalty.” Carter told her, exchanging fist bumps with the her teammate.

“You two pulled it off.” Kara reminded him.

“And it was your genius idea, plus using his own people against him? You would have been a marvelous Pharaoh. I would have just flown him into the stratosphere and dropped him. So are we going to steal his credit card to go furniture shopping?”

“No we aren’t stealing any credit cards. That’s been done. I am thinking of having some baby furniture put in the office though and since it is for my office, Palmer Tech can pay for that. I can get some POs from accounting. Nothing much, just a bed, a play pen, maybe one of those swings… oh a giant mobile! I love birds, you know I told you that, we could have a giant mobile with different colored birds hanging from the office wall. That would be so cool. Oh plus a diaper genie and changing table for Ray’s office. I can’t keep dirty diapers in here. That just isn’t happening.”

“Sweet, lets go find some office baby furniture.” Kendra agreed and led the way.

Three hours later Kara and her posse met Barry, Alex and Nyssa for lunch. Barry looked much more relaxed and admitted he had a better day than any recent days. He had given a lot of thought to his motivations and admitted that while he was making great progress, he could probably make better progress with the right mental approach. The group was scheduled to meet back together tomorrow and would have to decide on many things, chief on Barry’s mind was how much the group should use and work with A.R.G.U.S. Barry trusted Lyla but also recognized that Lyla may not always be at the top. He also knew Kara would be very opposed to having anything to do with any Government agency, even knowing how much she loved Diggle. Kara would know that things could change quickly when dealing with agencies like that one.

Despite this, Barry also knew that even with all the talent they had on the team, Felicity, Winn, Curtis, Cisco, they were not as good at digging up intel as A.R.G.U.S. Amanda Waller had a file on Deadshot before the rest of the world had ever heard of him. Barry knew enough about what happened to the man who tried to kill his future mother in law to know that man was still alive and not happy about it. He didn’t want the League to become that, but would it be right to push the dirty parts off on others? By asking A.R.G.U.S. to torture someone for information, weren’t they guilty of the same thing? Did it matter? If that man was tortured but gave up information that could save thousands of lives did that make it right?

Seeing Kara glowing right now, let him take his mind off those things. The memory of her under him last night, knowing she would be with him tonight, every night, seeing her dressed casually in her blue jeans and red turtleneck and the brown leather coat he had bought her, smiling and laughing, made his heart a little lighter. None of them had any worries at the moment.

Until everyone’s phones alerted at once. Taking a look at the text, Barry and the others slipped coms in their ears.

“Overwatch?”

“It’s war everybody. Machines like we saw in Siberia, drones all over the place. The National guard is trying to respond but they have came out of nowhere. I’m tracking six of those damn tank things and at least ten drones in the air. They are firing at will.”

All stood up and looked toward the sky, listening for explosions. The day was cloudy but quiet, even for Central City.

“Where Felicity?”

“Detroit. He is hitting Detroit. Get everybody at S.T.A.R. The only way we can get there in time is if this magic girl can figure out a way to transport there. Detroit is 1100 miles away.”

“Get Mari on the com.” Kara told her.

“I’m trying, she isn’t answering. Her GPS chip isn’t picking up. I’m not sure if she ever turned it on.”

“Don’t you dare.” Kara told her fiancé before he could take off. He agreed and picked her up, zipping to the lab, Both arrived while the entire staff of S.T.A.R, were gathered around Felicity and Cisco.

“This is bad. All hell is breaking loose man.” Cisco told him.

“Zatana is on her way.” Ray informed the team, running in, followed by Kendra and Carter who must have suited up and flow there after Barry and Kara disappeared.

“This doesn’t make sense.” Kara whispered.

“It doesn’t have to. The man is a maniac.” Ray reminded her. “He obviously watched Mari leave for Detroit, he knows who we all are. He is going after her.”

“No, he may be a maniac but he is also a very smart one. He could have taken her down at any point and not used the tech he is exposing now. He knows we will come and he knows we can destroy it. He wants to find out how fast we can get there, and…”

“And what?” Oliver asked, walking in to hear Kara’s thoughts and liking where she was going.

“He doesn’t need this much tech to take out Mari, he needs this much to draw us there.” Kara finished.

“Because he doesn’t want us here. But we don’t have a choice. We can’t just ignore this.” Barry reminded the group.

“I’ll get us there. I need a door. I can enchant it to open into Detroit. How soon can everyone be ready?” Zatana asked, hurrying in on her stiletto boots.

“Cisco stay here and lock down S.T.A.R.” Barry told him. “Stay,” he pointed at Kara, “if anything happens, get everyone to your room. No one can get in there but you.”

“And if he attacks the police station, or a school?”

“Then we will come back.”

“If she has the strength to bring you all back.” Kara countered.

“We have to go. I can go by myself…”

“No you can’t. All of you go. I got this. We will lock the place down and if anything happens, we will handle it.” Kara told him confidently, not feeling very confident.

“You sure? I can leave…”

“No. Everybody suit up and get to Detroit before more lives are lost.” the blonde ordered.

Prometheus watched the news from an abandoned warehouse, three miles from S.T.A.R. labs. The destruction was impressive. He may actually retain some of his drones. He knew the Mechs would be lost but really didn’t mind. He could care less about Mari McCabe, the so called Vixen, and he could care less about the city of Detroit. This was simply an exercise and an opportunity.

Prometheus placed his Helmet on, feeling the link surging into his skull.

“Have there been any departures from S.T.A.R. yet?”

“No sir.” His lieutenant told the man. Before he could ask for a visual confirmation, the Detroit news reported something very interesting.

“How did they get there so quickly? They must have developed a teleportation machine! Genius. Run facial recognition from the drones. I want to know who is there.”

“There is a red streak running around, evacuating people, cant make out a face, obviously Allen. Two bird people in the sky we haven’t classified yet, the Firestorm Matrix, a guy in a pink… pink? Yes, its definitely Palmer. On the ground, we have… there, the Queens. I can’t see Nyssa or Lance. Drone four just sighted John Diggle. Still looking for…”

“Nyssa is too smart to be seen and Lance is no doubt near her as is her new girlfriend. Is Superwoman in the sky?”

“No sir.”

“Thermal scan on the lab?”

“The new roof is resistant to thermal scan.”

“It doesn’t matter. Allen and Queen’s new friends are in Detroit and Superwoman is vulnerable. She would not have stayed behind if she wasn’t. They have technology I want. Send the strike team in. I want one of their technical support staff taken alive and murder the rest, including Superwoman. I can drop her body from a chopper in front of the police station. I suppose the Flash won’t have his wedding after all. Strike now. We have no way of knowing if they can teleport back until we have that machine.”

“Ordering strike now. Teams go!”

Four large moving vans pulled up in front of S.T.A.R. dozens of black clad men jumping out the back. Three ran to the large front door and helped mount a rocket launcher on a tripod. Five seconds later the secure front door of the giant lab was now a smoking hole.

Twenty men rushed into the hallways, winding around until the rooms appeared, spreading out and controlling them. In front of a semicircle of monitors a frightened group of men and women looked up, including a blonde all recognized as Kara Zorel, as ten men ran in.

Not wasting time, the men in the front opened fire, automatic weapons spraying thousands of rounds into the mass of bodies.

The black clad raiders were not certain why the bodies were still standing. Stepping closer, one moved to touch Kara Zorel, his hand going through the incredibly life like hologram. The hologram smiled and lifted her middle finger.

“You could have just knocked. We’ve been expecting you.” the blonde told the confused group.

The holograms faded, distracting the men, so they did not have time to react to the scalding rays of heat from the back that crossed the room, burning each severely, injuring but not killing. Kara wanted them alive, as many would let them anyway.

The Arrow, Valkyrie, Canary and Nyssa stepped into the room of men rolling on the ground, groaning from the burns across their arms and torsos. Kara nodded to the four and ran out, going back to her room to protect her family and friends with Cisco and Harry who was armed. As the men began to recover, the four attacked, while their teammates were fighting a war in Detroit, including the Martian Manhunter who shifted his form from the Green Arrow to Superwoman in an alley and resumed fighting.