Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Call Me Kara

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 50:

“What the hell happened?” a very irritated Kara asked, sitting at the head of the round table in S.T.A.R., with the rest of the JL present. “Because I wasn’t aware of Dig being a leader of an A.R.G.U.S. task force.”

Lyla was stressed, worried, tired and wondering if this was Kara Zor El or J’onn Jonzz.

“Johnny volunteered. We got a report of a meta in Thailand. A man who could control water, make it hard, make ice columns, make weapons, even freeze the moisture in the air. He wasn’t shy about showing off his gifts. The local police tried to bring him in for questioning in an ice related murder. They found him in an abandoned apartment building, along with three others. One of those people must have controlled the police officers vision because they immediately thought they were outside. When they came too and realized they were in the same spot in the building, the man, identified later as Klaus Kristen, was dead, and there had obviously been a fight. We thought there was a possibility that N.O.W.H.E.R.E. had attempted to either take him or recruit him and he turned them down. We sent in a team to investigate and of course found nothing except an albino corpse, but our RAD detector picked up a type of radiation our scientists had never seen before. We followed the trail which ended in Vietnam. Johnny volunteered to lead the team of A.R.G.U.S. strike force agents, highly trained former special ops soldiers, to track the radiation and investigate the area it ended. We lost contact with the team. Thinking it was a possible communications error we sent a black team in to check. All the agents were dead and John was… missing.”

“Why in the hell was he leading a strike force?” Kara asked, forcefully, surprising everyone at the table. “You are the head of the biggest black ops agency in the world and you really had no one but your husband to send, alone with a group of supposedly trained soldiers against a team of metahumans? He wouldn’t have been able to volunteer if you hadn’t told him about it!”

“Who else was I supposed to send?! He would have gone regardless!”

“Not if you hadn’t told him about it! He could have called us! He is one of us! He went back to Star City to be with Sara but he is still one of us, not A.R.G.U.S. !”

“Someone had to do something!”

“And again, out of all the people you had you let your husband go with backup that couldn’t possibly take down the metas we have fought! What the hell were you thinking?”

“Kara, calm down.” Alex suggested.

“I am calm. Answer the question Lyla, what were you thinking?”

“I was thinking if he had a mission he wouldn’t be patrolling the streets of Star City at night alone. Remember your lair, Oliver? Your million dollar lair that Palmer Tech paid for?”

“I did?” Ray asked, surprised, but was waved off by Felicity.

“What about it?” Oliver asked.

“It seemed a shame to leave it there unused. At least that is what John felt. I tried to get him to stop but he wouldn’t. He felt someone needed to save the city.”

“The damn city has been saved and threatened and saved a hundred times over. Since when did Oliver become its personal police force?” Kara asked. “He didn’t ask Dig to go out on his own.”

“No, he wouldn’t because he knew Oliver wouldn’t leave you!”

“If you even think of blaming Oliver for your screw up, so help me you will wish I was J’onn Jonzz.” Kara threatened. Lyla looked away from the intimidating stare of the woman before her. Motherhood had definitely changed her from the sweet, awkward bride she had last seen at the wedding.

“I’m not. Someone had to do something and he volunteered. Considering what he and Oliver have faced and defeated before he was the most qualified.”

“We were the most qualified.” the blonde countered

“And what have you done? What have any of you done? You stay around Central City and train. Train for what?”

“Exactly. Everyone in the world knows we can be anywhere instantly and because of that you haven’t had to deal with anything or anyone threatening the planet.” Kara reminded her. “We train to get better but you know that. You spy on us and don’t deny it. Our satellites are always in contact with us so we can have real time monitoring of our strengths, weaknesses and enemies. I asked Cisco to take a look around one day. An A.R.G.U.S. satellite was orbiting near ours, trying to hack into our feed. Felicity blocked it and I let it go because it was done, but that satellite hasn’t moved, it has continued to watch us, only from above instead of hacking into our feed.”

Lyla turned red quickly but shrugged it off. “What do you expect us to do?”

“Stay the hell out of our way and maybe send a Christmas card thanking us for making the rest of the bastards who want to see this world destroyed or remade too afraid to act.” Kara suggested. “You should have came to us first. I told you if you needed help getting Fairchild out we would help. Fairchild had a chance and she told us no so we backed off. Barry and I made that call.”

“I can understand with your child…”

“Never… ever… say a word about my child.” Kara warned.

“Lyla,” Barry interrupted, hoping to take over and calm the situation. Kara had been on edge since the bridge and she was close to going over the edge with the mention of their daughter, “I think what we are trying to understand is why Dig went in without a qualified back up team when he knew he could call us.”

“You said it was an A.R.G.U.S. matter, Barry. Those men were qualified. They are the…”

“They are jokes. Digger Harkness would have killed you and everyone in the A.R.G.U. if Roy and I hadn’t shown up. If Barry hadn’t arrived I doubt we would have made it.” Oliver admitted, worried about Dig but also wondering why Lyla would allow something like this to happen and not liking the conclusion he was leading to.

“Look, I need to go. I have to find my husband. I came here for help not an interrogation.”

“Sit down. Your husband will be here shortly, hopefully unharmed.” Kara told her. Lyla did as she was told and the rest of the League sat quietly, except for Zatanna who Lyla had just noticed wasn’t present. The click of her heels walking on the S.T.A.R. lab floors was distinctive. She walked in and Lyla noted the usual smile on her face the few times she had seen the woman was gone.

“Can you do it?” Kara asked, cutting to the chase.

“I’m a bit hurt that you would even ask that. I didn’t ask you if you could catch that plane this afternoon, did I?”

“I had help.” Kara told her. “If not for Barry and Donna they would be fishing bodies out of the canal right now. So I guess you can?”

“Yes… but I hit a snag. I tried but was shot back by the dark energy.”

“Dark energy?” Donna asked. The Amazon had learned of this. Hades was a being of dark energy. “There is a psychic vampire we are going to face? Because I can handle that. Totally in my house, right Thea?”

“Wheel house Donna, but not bad.” Thea admitted. Donna spoke excellent English but the slang terms were still a work in progress.

“Who are you?” Lyla asked the woman in red with damp hair, who obviously helped Kara catch a plane of all things.

“No one you need to worry about. Are you here to get Dig back or conduct surveillance?” Kara asked. Despite Lyla never having done anything to her, she felt on edge. Before she didn’t mind the woman, but she did represent the government. It seemed she allowed her husband to conduct a task surely she had employees to take care of and a large part of Kara wondered if she had done so, knowing if Dig got in trouble the Justice League would help and not counting on him actually being taken.

Barry was surprised by Kara’s reaction, but had the same thoughts. Dig had said nothing before going and knew they would help him. Was Dig trying to keep the JL out of this and Lyla hoped to use his connection to bring them in? It seemed cold and not in character with what he knew about Lyla but being the head of an agency like A.R.G.U.S. can change a person, just like being a father had fundamentally changed him and being a mother made Kara much less willing to give the benefit of the doubt when it came to A.R.G.U.S.

“My apologies. I didn’t realize I wasn’t allowed introductions. If you cannot help get my husband back…”

“We will get Dig back, Lyla.” Oliver told her, watching her closely. She had always been adamant about Dig staying out of operations until she absolutely needed Team Arrow. Now it seemed she had no problem sending him after an unknown radiation signature leading to a band of metahumans with soldiers she knew couldn’t help.

“I need something that belonged to him, a physical link. He is not connected to the dark energy but it is interfering, clouding the area. Although not completely mystic in nature it does disrupt the natural order of things as it were. This is most likely emitting from the creature we encountered in Antarctica.”

“We?” Ray asked to make sure. Zatanna stuck out her tongue at him but let it go.

“I have his ring.” Lyla offered, pulling it out from her shirt where it hung from a necklace.

“He gave you a piece of jewelry before going on a dangerous mission he knew he may not survive. I’ve had that happen to me. Not cool…”

“Alex, we talked about this.” Kara told her, remembering that particular conversation. The two had carried on their heart to hearts, however after Kara became pregnant and couldn’t drink alcohol and Alex still could and did, the conversations became much less fun for her.

“My bad.” Alex told her with a wink. “Just remember Cait, if she ever tries to give you a necklace to hold onto until she gets back, tackle her.” Caitlin rolled her eyes in good humor and stood.

“I think I will go pry Lexie out of Eliza’a hands so she can finish getting whatever medical equipment we might need.”

Zatanna took the offered ring and placed it on the table.

“What is she doing?” a nervous Lyla asked.

“Hopefully bringing Dig here without being possessed or having a soul sucking vampire attached to him.” Kara mumbled, wanting to fly away. She loved Zatanna but the stuff she did still freaked her out. “Donna, Diana didn’t seem to think your lasso was the same as hers. Can it handle this thing?”

“One way to find out.” Donna pointed out.

“Not the reassurance I was looking for but I guess we hope for the best.”

“Stirps raeh em, gnirb eht renwo fo siht grnir, nhoj elggid otni ruo ecneserp won!” Zatanna yelled, a bright blaze of purple light engulfing her hands and reaching for the ring, levitating it in the air.

Unlike most of her spells, nothing other than the light show occurred. Dig was not instantly brought back and the strain on Zatanna’s face showed, as if she were physically pulling the man back from wherever he was. As badly as Kara wanted the man who took a bullet for her and risked his life to get Jeremiah back, they would find another way if this hurt Zatanna. She would leave her daughter for a few hours and bust down the gates of hell, let Barry run in and out and Diggle would be free, with no one harmed.

Before Kara could tell her to stop, Zatanna raised her hands, causing the the lights above to go out. Charlie ran in, took one look and ran out, his bravery only going so far. The room fell into darkness except the purple light over the table. A flare of bright yellow light lit up the room and where the ring was, it was now on the finger of a large man, they all sort of recognized as John Diggle. He had been beaten badly and his eyes were swollen.

Zatanna collapsed, Ray catching her before she hit the floor. Cisco quickly ran to the emergency lights and reset the breakers. The normal lights came on and all gasped at the sight of their friend lying on the table. Not only was his face beaten and swollen, he had gashes over his chest and a swollen wrist that appeared to be broken, plus most likely other injuries they would need Kara to find.

“Caitlin!” Kara yelled. Eliza came in, Caitlin behind her with Lexie in her arms. Barry moved quickly, taking Lexie out of Caitlin’s arms and she aided Eliza and Jeremiah who had rushed in, checking over the man. Carter wheeled a stretcher from the med bay and he and Oliver helped move Dig over. Felicity and Thea, in shock from seeing their friend beaten so badly, stood there with wide eyes, both wondering if he had been stabbed or worse if they were going to see a repeat of Laurel’s death.

The medical team moved quickly, Jeremiah calling Henry at home, Oliver and Lyla following while the rest stood still.

“It appears Caitlin Fairchild has made an enemy today, one with a long memory.” Nyssa said quietly, but all heard and understood. Kara and Alex met her eyes and agreed. One of theirs had been hit. Where before they had been content to not start fights with Fairchild because one, it appeared she did not want help and two, none wanted a battle with Kara in a vulnerable position, that stance was finished.

“We have to take them out.” Sara told the group, anger barely concealed in her voice. John Diggle was a friend of hers as well.

“Yes we do.” Alex agreed.

“We don’t know exactly what we are dealing with. We have seen certain metas, believe Fairchild wants to take them out from the inside, probably has friends or at least recruits who want the same but we really have no idea. Until Dig is able to tell us what he saw we aren’t doing anything. Right now we have no idea how many metas there are, what their powers are, who is friendly and who isn’t, how to combat dark energy that is obviously emitting a strange signature, or even who this Leash is that seems to be their personal transportation. Is Leash a meta or a magician like Zatanna? Until we have more information we aren’t going to do anything. Do we understand?” Barry asked, stressing the we to make sure everyone understood.

“If Lyla will give me the readings her team picked up I can start analyzing the dark energy, if that is what it is, immediately Barry.” Martin offered. Barry nodded his head. Lyla would give them what they needed or Felicity would take it.

“And as long as we are talking about we, we need to figure out why Dig is alive when the rest are dead. What did they want him alive for? Information about A.R.G.U.S.? He has obviously been tortured. Or information about us? Dig wouldn’t break, I know him, but it would give us a clue who they are more interested in and if its A.R.G.U.S. we could use that to our advantage.” Kara pointed out.

Nyssa said nothing, approving the new parents thought process. A year ago, Barry and Kara would have been suited up, flying and running to Vietnam to take on the world. They had grown and were getting better every day. She suspected parenthood had helped them as well. They could no longer afford to be rash and reckless and this was what kept Barry from acting out, despite becoming more powerful everyday. The two took nothing for granted.

“I need to speak to Zatanna when she is feeling well. You as well Donna. You obviously have history with these psychic vampires like the one we saw in the frozen hell Oliver dragged us to. Is Zatana okay?” Nyssa asked.

“I have experience. I have fought Hades myself. He is much the same I suspect.” Donna told the team.

“Hades? Like god of death Hades? This gets better and better.” Kara mused. At this rate she would be wearing garlic around her super neck. Holy water was also a possible item to carry in her purse.

“Sugar water.” Ray answered, walking back in. “She is resting. Whatever that is around the place he was kept is some bad mojo. Usually when she strains herself, she takes a few minutes, maybe an hour to recover. She is wiped right now though.”

“Does she need a doctor?” Superwoman asked concerned about her unlikely good friend. Despite Zatanna scaring the hell out of her she loved the woman.

“Nah, just a good nights sleep. I’ll take her home.”

“Home?” Kara asked, eyebrow raised.

“Not like that, Kara. She has been at my town home for over year. Its more her home than mine. Now Donna is going to be there. It’s not like any of my stuff is there, everything I have is at mine and Jax’s apartment.”

“Wait, you and Jax have an apartment? What… what does Jax do? Does he have a job?” Kara asked, never realizing the two lived together. She assumed Jax had a job but he never talked about it and if Ray wasn’t sleeping here in his lab he was at Palmer Tech working.

“He’s Firestorm.” Ray told her, as if that explained everything.

“He’s Firestorm?” Barry repeated. “We know he is Firestorm but what does he do?”

“He’s Firestorm. I pay him to be Firestorm.” Ray explained, as if it should be obvious.

“You never paid me to be Superwoman.” Kara reminded him.

“You were hardly ever there and when you were you didn’t have much to do. What did you think I was paying you for?”

“Oh… but I was…”

“You hated that job. I diverted most of the work to Star City so you could spend most your time being Superwoman and you had a place to hang out.”

“I was good at my job!”

“You hated that job, Kara! You spent most of the time in costume hanging out with cops eating donuts. You actually went on a ride along with the tubby one. Something was said about Crullers?”

“Oh… yeah. Ted loves Crullers as much as I do. But he isn’t tubby, he is just big boned and sensitive about it! Besides that was a quiet day. Do you realize how many dumb comments I had to save you from?”

“And I appreciate it but you are better at art. I knew you didn’t love the job, so don’t act surprised. C’mon, lighten up. If it makes you feel better I’ve been paying Zatanna to be Zatanna, Carter to do absolutely nothing but hang around Kendra all day and I’ll be paying Donna to be Wonder Girl.”

“Wonder what?” Barry asked, thinking thats not going to go down well.

“Well we have seen what Wonder Woman looks like and Donna could be… I mean I wouldn’t mind if she copied the armor look but c’mon, she is what 19? 20? Its Wonder Girl. Cisco already approved it.”

Kara shook her head. “Ray, you do realize that she can rip you apart, literally, right?”

Ray shrugged his shoulders. “You’ll protect me.”

“You said I sucked at my job. You are on your own. I need to check on Dig.”

Barry and Ray stood alone, Ray’s mouth agape. “She’s kidding right?”

“She takes pride in her work, man. If it makes you feel better I’m probably going to be sleeping on the couch if I am let in at all, so relax. By the time she is done with me she won’t remember anything said here.”

Ray chuckled, not imagining what could cause the golden couple to argue. “What did you do? Make some life changing decision and not talk to her about it first? That seems more like something Oliver would do.” Ray stopped laughing when Barry paled and pulled at his collar, impressive since he was wearing a tee shirt, and walked off quickly, but not bothering to run. He thought the man was shaking if he didn’t know better.

“I need to check on Dig and get Lexie. It’s my turn to feed her… if I’m still allowed. I may be relegated to diaper duty only.” he told the Atom on his way out.

Barry walked in and found the old Team Arrow, what was left of Team Arrow he supposed, sitting around an unconscious Dig on a bed. There really were no more teams. No Team Arrow or Team Flash or Team Superflash. There was just the Justice League and that was better, larger, stronger. Barry had a bad feeling every one of them would be needed before this N.O.W.H.E.R.E business was finished. Lyla was pacing by the side of the bed, looking spent and Kara stood at the foot with Caitlin, the two talking quietly.

Barry walked up behind her and to his relief she didn’t jerk away when he slipped an arm around her. Eliza walked in holding her granddaughter and speaking baby talk, because both grandmother and mother had read an article highlighting the positives. Apparently babies are trying to communicate and by imitating sounds and gesture… Barry honestly couldn’t remember. He just knew when he saw his daughter’s face it was impossible not to coo at her.

“How is he, Caitlin?” the Flash whispered.

“Kara’s vision is better than an X ray machine. Internal organs are fine, but four ribs are broken, he has a hairline fracture of the skull, his wrist is broken and his femur is cracked, but no bleeding so the bone held. He is going to need pins until it heals and a cast to make sure no further damage happens to the bone. Henry is on his way now but I suspect it is going to be a long healing process. Unless you or Zatanna?” Caitlin whispered back.

“Lyla, tommorrow when Zatanna is feeling better…” Barry started to offer.

“No magic. I think we both had enough of that with Damian Darhk and Lazarus pits and totems, to last a life time. He will heal. I’ll make sure of it.” she told Barry, still a bit annoyed at Kara and by extension the whole League’s suspicions of her. It seemed if Kara told them the sky was pink and the ocean was red, they would slaughter anyone who disagreed with her.

“If it wasn’t for magic he would still be a prisoner, but whatever. I can heal him.” Barry offered. “I’ve done it before. Carter was shot two days ago and I got the bullet out and healed the wound in two seconds. Maybe less.” The Flash also remembered he needed to have a talk with his sister in law about not actually shooting people with real bullets in training scenarios.

“You can…” Lyla shook her head. “I appreciate you all for getting him back but… I won’t risk him again. He will heal and I will make sure of it. Thank you though for the offer. I need to call Sara’s sitter and A.R.G.U.S. to let them know he has been recovered. We had search teams combing the area. They need to back off obviously. It’s apparent that we can’t handle this.”

Lyla walked outside of S.T.A.R. calling Sara’s sitter first to make sure she was fine. Her little girl was getting big and getting to an age when she knew something was wrong. Daddy wasn’t home like he usually was and neither was Mommy. She needed reassurance. Once the two calls had been made, Lyla took a breath and tried to think and depressurize. She honestly didn’t know what to do at this point. Should she continue to go after whatever organization this was, ask Barry to take over or try once again to get the two organizations to work together. Judging by the look on Oliver’s face and Kara’s response she doubted that was possible.

“We can handle it from here. Take care of your husband. He is one of us and he was attacked. It will be dealt with. Call your dogs off.”

Lyla Diggle turned around and nearly jumped back. A fully suited Valkyrie, armed with numerous weapons, two of which she recognized as once belonging to Laurel strapped across her back, stood in front of her, the visor of her helmet covering her eyes. Lyla took in the gloves noting the raised lines going across the fingers and had an idea of what they could do.

“Any reason you are wearing your visor in the dark?”

“We just recovered a team member who was taken by an enemy force. We have no way of knowing if he can be tracked. I am searching the sky and ground with infrared, Ray is searching the other side, and Kendra and Carter are in the air. Felicity is with Martin and Harry trying to get a bead on this dark energy trail and Jax is staying by Zatanna. Donna is waiting for something or someone to beat up.”

“I see. A new member not even Dig knew about. Of course he hasn’t been around much. I suppose you are the new enforcer of the team.”

“Dig was never our enforcer. He is a teammate. One we thought was enjoying time with his daughter, not doing your job.” Alex told her.

“He wasn’t doing my job. So where is your girlfriend?”

“Fiancee actually. Knowing her, she probably has an arrow aimed at you.”

“You and your sister, you two really don’t trust the Government do you? You are both smart so I am sure you understand this is a different universe right? Or has your Martian friend convinced you we are all bad?”

“My Martian friend… no, I tend to have a bad habit of thinking for myself. I’ve been conducting a little project of my own this year. My friend Winn and I have. We have been searching for General Wade Eiling. He has been off on some wild goose chase trying to find a telepathic gorilla that he will never find. Want to know what I found out?”

“The US Government has nothing to do with him. He was dishonorably discharged.”

“Yeah, but he was never charged with his involvement in the death of Bette Souci, nor the attack on Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein, both sanctioned by the US Government. You say he was discharged but do you know the man? I feel like I do because we found him. Winn found him but I kept pretty detailed records. For a disgraced Army General he is still traveling with a team of soldiers. The last hotel… hotel not motel… video we had showed him entering with 14 soldiers who facial recognition found no match to. Interesting isn’t it? What is even more interesting is how he is paying for these hotels, food and gas for his Government issued Hummers. Credit cards, which after a few false trails lead directly to slush funds set aside by the CIA for black ops projects. He is being funded by the Government. The Government you swear we can trust is paying this lunatic. The only reason he can’t come after us or any agency can for that matter is because they all know, the President, the Joint Chiefs, the CIA, all of them know that they cannot beat us. Detroit showed the world that not only can we be in two places at once, fight and win two battles at once, we can be anywhere in the world in seconds and I would bet there is a whole division of scientists trying to figure out how my sister was in two different places at the same time. Unless you told them, which you wouldn’t because we can trust you, right?”

“I’ve told them nothing. Kara and I have an agreement. The League helps me if I need it and I keep people like that off of the League.”

“Kara made an agreement to consider coming to your agency’s aide if you felt it was something you couldn’t handle as a favor to you, truthfully as a favor to Dig, so you wouldn’t be hurt. But you didn’t come to us first, making me suspicious about why? Why would you send a team of agents led by your husband after a team of very powerful metas?”

“I suppose you have a theory Agent Zorel or whatever your name was back in your universe.”

“This is my universe. Theory? Maybe. Maybe I don’t have the history the others have with you so I see more clearly. Maybe I think that you were hoping if there was trouble, John would call Oliver who would of course come and since Barry and Kara follow him and the rest of the League follows them you would have what you wanted. I don’t think you set up your husband to be hurt Lyla. I can see you love him, I know you do. But I do think that sending him, even letting him know what was happening in the first place, may have given you a hope that we would get involved. All he had to do was ask.”

“You don’t get it, you know nothing.”

“I know my sister was gunned down by people we both trusted. I know I am more paranoid than Oliver Queen when it comes to her and my niece’s safety. I know that everyone in that building will kill for them and I know that Barry Allen can take apart the whole US military in ten minutes and that may be too slow an estimate. By take apart, I mean disassemble every tank, vehicle, ship and jet in the armed forces. I don’t mind telling you how much more powerful Barry has gotten because I know you and no one else can stop him. No one can stop my sister in this universe and Donna Troy went toe to toe with her in the air and survived. Donna has some pretty powerful family members too. Don’t bother looking up her history since you know her name. You won’t find one. What you all should do, from whoever is pulling EIling’s strings to the world leaders, is get on your knees and thank whatever God you pray to that we are trying to help the world and not take it over.”

“Point taken Victory or Valkyrie, whatever pet name you have been given by Cisco. I need to get back to my husband.”

“By all means Harbinger, don’t let me stop you.” Alex stepped aside and Lyla walked past then froze.

“What did you call me?”

“Harbinger. Isn’t that the pet name A.R.G.U.S. gave you?”

“Oliver told you?”

“Nope. I told you I am more paranoid than Oliver. I trust my teammates and family. They are all I can afford to trust. I live everyday with a fear in the back of my mind. A fear that my sister and now my niece will be attacked, that someone will try to hurt them and actually succeed, someone will try and hold a loved one over her head, that someone is going to make a mistake, an arrogant mistake, and start a war they cannot win that will cost innocent soldiers their lives. I’ve made it my business to know everything about you. Next time you need help, ask, don’t try to manipulate. We aren’t stupid. Kara gives everyone the benefit of the doubt and even she knows what you did.”

Lyla shook her head and walked inside, trying to control her strides and not appear to be rushing, knowing there were winged people above her and even worse an assassin who she had an iffy working relationship with, aiming an arrow at her head. She didn’t want John to be healed by Barry or any magician, she just wanted to get them both out of here. Before that though she needed to have a talk with Oliver Queen. Oliver had enough sense to know she was different, that they had worked together and she was not Amanda Waller. She would not turn into that.

But a nagging part in the back of her mind had thought that John would find a lead and call Oliver. He always did. With Oliver would come Thea, Sara, Kara and Barry, which would bring Alex and by extension Nyssa. She never expected the team to be hit as soon as they were. John had promised he would call for help if anything looked dangerous. Instead they were ambushed before he got the chance and that was on her.

Her chance to explain the situation to Oliver was thwarted though. Like everyone else he was enraptured by the blonde he had an arm around, who golden locks lay on his shoulder while they watched John sleep. For once though it wasn’t Felicity that had him enraptured, it was his adopted sister apparently, Kara.

Kara heard Lyla near of course but paid no mind. Oliver was upset and she knew between her and Barry, she could probably make him feel better.

“He is going to be okay. I checked him over well. Nothing life threatening. He could be healed in minutes if Lyla would let Barry handle it.”

“I know. Lyla… I don’t think this went the way she expected. She wanted him to call me and he should have. I could have handled it. Instead Lyla…”

“I know.”

“I know you do. I guess what I told Shado was right.”

“What was that?” Kara asked. Her and Oliver knew all about each other’s nightmares. He had Shado and she had her mother.

“John would go out, whether I was there or not.”

Kara nodded her head, understanding. She had spent at least an hour or two with Oliver everyday during her pregnancy and while he worked to make her pretty decent with a bow, they talked a lot. They talked strategy and battles lost, heartbreak and moving on. They talked a lot about the ghosts in their own minds. They were each other’s therapists.

“Do you want to go back to Star City? You don’t have to stay here because of us.”

“I know I don’t, and no, I don’t want to go back. Too many bad memories there. I have done what I can, sometimes I won, sometimes I lost but I can’t do it anymore. I feel better here, being a part of something better. I like it here. Besides, how am I going to be a Godfather if my Goddaughter is 600 miles away?”

“Godfather?”

“Yeah protector, whatever. I prefer Godfather. I am a member of the Russian Mafia.”

“You probably aren’t. You would make a horrible organized crime leader anyway. Despite your best intentions you are way too noble. I’m just saying I know despite the memories, you do love the city.”

“And we will be there, all of us, if we are needed. We promised each other, Kara. You wouldn’t go back to Krypton when things got rough and I wouldn’t go back to the Island. Star City is just an extension of the Island. Had any bad dreams lately?”

“Nope. You?”

“No, I actually haven’t. Its been… nice. So what are you going to do about Barry? He kind of shattered the Oliver principle.”

“You are never going to let me live that down are you?”

“Probably not. You are mad he didn’t talk to you first, right?”

“Yeah, but it will be fine. I think I know why, and why he… I know him. We just need to talk and things have been stressed lately. A good stress, but we are still trying to lean everything about being parents, and Barry loves so much, I suppose I never gave it any thought about how he would feel being away from her. It would kill me if I didn’t have her with me.”

“Yeah, you can go a bit overboard on shows of affection, yourself. I couldn’t see you ever leaving her to go to work.”

“I do not go overboard.”

“You sneak your dog into restaurants so he won’t feel left out and you find the term doggy bag offensive.”

“I… may go overboard.” Kara admitted.

“I know, its one of the things I love about you. Look, neither you or Barry are going to try and destroy a poverty stricken area of the city so it can be rebuilt to your liking. You are already a hundred times better parents than mine were.”

“You are going to have to get over that one day.” Kara reminded him… again.

“Already over it. I was being funny… about mass homicide my parents were involved in. Yeah, probably not the best joke.”

Kara wrinkled her nose, Oliver recognizing it. Lexie needed her diaper changed

“You hear every heartbeat she has no matter where she is in the lab, don’t you?”

“Of course. I can even recognize the heartbeats of those around her. Eliza is holding her now, but Barry is near. She needs a diaper change. I need to get there. She has the prettiest smile after she poops. If you take longer than five minutes to change her she cries but before that she actually smiles like she knows you have to do it and is enjoying every minute of it. She has a little Aunt Alex in her, I think.”

Kara stood up and kissed Dig on the cheek. Walking out, she stopped next to Lyla. “Barry can heal him. I know you thought he would call Oliver for help and you probably didn’t expect him to be attacked as quickly as he was. It was a risky move Lyla. He is your husband and you love him. Don’t let your pride cause him to feel anymore pain than he has too. Barry and I will be back in the morning and I hope you will let him help. Henry has John on a sedative drip so he shouldn’t wake tonight. I’ll ask Cisco to bring a bed in here for you to sleep next to him. I saw Barry after an explosion one time and I thought I was going to die myself. My whole world was laid out on a table, torn to pieces. I know how you feel and I know what you were hoping would happen. Don’t make it worse and let him suffer more than he needs to.”

Kara walked out, leaving Lyla and Oliver to have a talk she would do her best not to listen to. She found her daughter, on a desk in Eliza’s lab, being changed by her Grandmother while Barry stood near. As she suspected, Lexie was smiling.

“He is asleep for the night. Want to run to the station and get the car? I can change here and the two of us can be ready to go home when you get here. I told Lyla we would be back in the morning.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

Twenty minutes later Kara and Barry lay a sleeping baby in her bed after both kissing her. Both knew they would see her in a couple hours when she woke for a one AM feeding and had that to look forward to. Luckily not needing as much sleep as normal people made the constant waking during the night less of a hassle and more time to spend with her. Not to say the couple didn’t need sleep though, especially after a day like today.

Barry was on instant alert, because as soon as Kara lay Lexie down she walked towards the bedroom without a word. He knew she would never yell in front of Lexie and half expected to be marched outside forcefully. The man followed his wife hesitantly in the bedroom. Kara began undressing, probably showing him what he would not be getting to do for a while, without a word, so Barry made the first move.

“So what a day huh? You sold your first painting on your first day open. That must have felt amazing right? Then we saved a lot of people and Zatanna pulled off a light show to get Dig back and he is alive, not in danger of dying… just amazing. But the painting, I really love that painting. I… wish I could have been there to see it.”

“Yeah, it was pretty cool. I think in some way I felt what Cat might have felt when she bought the Tribune. It was a feeling… its hard to explain. For the first time in my life I did something, sold something that I made. I wasn’t working for anyone else, or… its hard to explain. I didn’t have a lot of time for it to soak in but yeah, its unreal. She really liked it. Carter got it too her safely, he called me before the plane had trouble and that was a relief, not that I doubted him. Although I am thinking Jax needs a real job so he may be my new delivery driver. I wish you could have been there too. I can’t count the times I wished I could be with you on a scene, tracking a killer down, watching you do what you love.”

Kara didn’t bother with a nightgown, slipping under the covers and lying on her side, her back to Barry who was quickly under the covers with her.

“I guess you want to talk about the whole me quitting my job thing, huh?”

“No.” his wife told him. He was very surprised.

“You don’t?”

“Why would I? It’s your life, your job, your decision. You don’t have to work so don’t. Just because I talked to you about my idea, my dream, before we decided together that we could make it work doesn’t mean you owe me anything Barry. I won’t lie, it hurt that you hadn’t said anything. A decision like this must have been on your mind for weeks and you never brought it up. I thought that we shared things like this, but I understand. I was wrong.”

Kara reached over, flipping off her lamp, while Barry stared at her back in the little light available.

He turned his lamp on.

“Thats not fair. We should talk about this.”

“No, we should have talked about this when you first started thinking about it. But we didn’t. You quit so it’s a little late for us to talk about something that has already happened. I’m kinda tired. Would you mind turning off your lamp?”

“Seriously, we haven’t made love since a month before Lexie was born, she is asleep, we have a chance, you are naked and I know you are mad at me and you expect me to sleep?”

“Yep.” Kara answered.

“You are furious.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes you are. Admit it!”

“Lower your voice and no I am not going to admit to being mad when I’m not. I am deeply hurt because I feel you are my soul mate and I have no secrets from you. I talk to you about everything but if you don’t feel the same, I understand. It doesn’t make me love you any less. Nothing could.”

Barry leaned back, arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

“I miss her. I’m a little jealous, okay? You get to spend all day with her. You get to see every smile, you get to soothe her every time she cries, you get to feed her every meal. I want that. When I go to work all I deal with is death and violence. I’m sick of it. I want to be with you. If we weren’t in the financial situation we were in I would work two jobs to give you what you need, to make your dream happen regardless. But when I am there all I can think about is that I don’t have to be.”

“If you say so.” Kara mumbled.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Kara rolled over and looked at Barry then turned her lamp back on. The sheet fell from her top but he kept his eyes focused on her eyes… mostly. It had been a couple months.

“You told me that Lexie wouldn’t have a choice but to be a hero because it would be who she was. You are a hero too. You love your job and you took it because you wanted to help people before any of this Flash stuff started. You are brilliant. You could have studied anything, been an expert in any field but you chose forensic science.”

‘Because I wanted to help my Dad.”

“You could have helped you Dad without becoming a CSI. You did it because even then you were a hero, superpowers or not. It’s who you are. Killers don’t get away because they always leave something and you will find it. You told me that. Remember?”

“Three days after I met you, in your apartment.”

“I could see the love you had, the passion for it and it kind of blew me away. What you did with your powers was amazing but even before that, you were this caring, brilliant guy who could have done anything and instead took a thankless job because you wanted to help justice prevail. I just wonder if you really hate the job now. Because it seems like its not the job, it’s being away from Lexie. I understand that, I do. But if you had talked to me, maybe we could have worked something out. Its fine though. I suppose since you will be home now you will want Lexie all day while I am at the gallery?”

“What?! No, I want to be with both of you.”

“I can understand that. It hurts me to be away from you, especially after these past couple months when we have had a chance to be together all day. But I could take it, because I knew you were out there, you and Alex and Joe fighting crime, catching bad guys and it had nothing to do with a red suit. I think we could have found… its my fault.” Kara admitted, sighing and lying back down, her back to him once more.

Barry heard her sniff and hesitantly reached for her, rubbing her back.

“Are you crying? Why are you crying? Nothing is your fault.”

“Yes it is.I used to come by the Station and have lunch with you everyday but since you have been back I haven’t.”

“You have been busy with…”

“Exactly. I should have brought her to you more, the four of us could have had lunch or just hung out. Its not like I can’t close and open when I want to. I’m a five minute walk from the Station and I haven’t even done that. Now you have quit something you love for us and you are going to resent me for it one day.”

“I would never! How can you say that? Hey look at me…”

Kara rolled over, Barry noticing the one tear falling down her cheek.

“Kara, I am so sorry I didn’t talk to you. Maybe we… I haven’t actually quit, you know? The Chief told me to take sometime and think about it. I just… maybe thats it. I miss you and our little girl.”

“Do you think it would be better if we came and saw your everyday? We could have lunch again. Or you could come to the gallery? Maybe you can run out a few times a day and visit us if there isn’t a scene for you to be at. And when you are at a scene I can tell Lexie about the work her Daddy does, catching bad guys. I just want her to see there is more to the world than being a superhero. That its important to do something you feel passionate about. I am doing something I feel passionate about and I am stopping you from doing what you love to do.”

“You aren’t stopping me. I have been in a funk, and yeah it would be great if I could see you two… three, more during the day. I can get away as much as I want. I just… yeah I should have talked to you.”

“Do you love what you do Barry? Really love it? If you don’t then stop. But if you are stopping because of us, I am going to feel horrible.”

“I do love what I do. I am sorry I didn’t talk to you.”

“Why didn’t you then? I’m not going to lie Barry, that really hurt.”

“I was afraid you would talk me out of it. I thought if I just did it that maybe you would be happy that I could be with you, helping you. I was wrong and it won’t happen again. We are partners. Partners share everything. I promise from now on I will tell you how I am feeling.”

“Thank you. For a while I thought maybe you didn’t feel as close to me as you had.”

“I didn’t… Kara, I feel closer to you than ever. I made a mistake. Please don’t ever think that.”

Kara nodded her head and wrapped her arms around Barry.

“I love you so much. Just talk to me. I only want you happy.”

“I will be. I am. You think we could start having lunch everyday again?”

“Of course. I miss you too. I just didn’t want to bother you at work.”

“You aren’t a bother, never. You two…”

“Three.”

“You three come first. Promise me though if it looks like she is going to do something like say a first word or crawl for the first time, let me know and no matter where I am, I will be there in a second to see it.”

“I promise. Are you sure you don’t want to quit? I’ll understand if you do.”

“No I don’t. I just want to see you and Lexie more. And Charlie of course.”

“And you swear to always talk to me about things like this first?”

“I swear, it will never happen again.”

“Thank you. I’m going to make sure Lexie’s monitor is working and grab my phone. I think I left it on the kitchen counter. I love you and I think you are making the right decision. You do so much good in the world. Text me what you want for lunch tomorrow and we will bring it to you. I’ll even try to talk Lexie into a late lunch so you can feed her.”

“Nah, just bring her early and I will handle it then, okay?”

“Sounds good.” Kara crawled out of bed, throwing Barry’s tee shirt on and walked to the kitchen. Picking up her phone she sent a group text to Joe, Alex, Captain Singh and the Chief.

/Situation handled. Central City’s best CSI is back on job. No shots fired report needed./

Checking the monitor, though she could hear everything in Lexie’s room regardless and petting Charlie where he lay in his bed at the foot of Lexie’s baby bed, she walked back into their bedroom. Barry was sitting up with a smile on his face.

“You know I realize you just played me right?”

“I said nothing that wasn’t true. If you want to…”

“I don’t. I am sorry, and I know you were upset. You should also know that when you cry on command, only one eye works. A single tear means you are playing me. Oliver was the first to figure that out. I appreciate it though. I needed… I will talk to you, it won’t happen again. I didn’t mean to hurt you. As usual you were right. I really appreciate you not hitting me. I know Alex is fond of spousal abuse.”

“I would never hurt you, Barry. So do you want to sleep or do you want to talk about Dig and Caitlin Fairchild?”

“Neither. I want you.”

“I kind of destroyed my last bracelet Barry and it looks like Martin and Henry are going to be busy learning about dark energy radiation for a while.”

Barry started blurring, the bed only slightly shaking.

“And I am going to prove to you that we don’t need that bracelet. Think you can keep up Woman of Steel?”

Kara smiled, considering what he pulled today at the bridge if he said he could handle it, he could handle it. Barry always found a way.

“Oh, you just watch me Scarlett Speedster.”

The next morning a sore but satisfied Flash and Superwoman were woken not by Lexie who had been fed on time two hours earlier, but a text alert on Kara’s phone. Kara checked it over and grumbled, then rose and the both were ready in five minutes. The parents took their time dressing Lexie, of course wearing yellow to match Kara, Kara placed Charlie’s yellow collar on. Tuesdays were yellow days according to Kara. To Barry, Tuesdays were Tuesdays and he wore the first thing he grabbed from his closet until Kara grabbed something else for him.

“So what is the plan?” the Flash asked his wife when they were on the road.

“First you check on Dig while I have a pointed talk with Alex. Then I will check on Dig and we will convince him how much easier it would be for everyone if he could lie still for a moment and let you heal him. Then we find out what happened and figure out what he knows, what he saw, anything he knows about possible energy fields and see if Zatanna and Donna can work together to figure out a way to defeat this shadow octopus guy that got a hold of Kal. If Dr. Stein can figure out a way to track the radiation signatures of the energy Lyla’s people picked up we can try to pinpoint a location. I’m considering sending in Ray, if he can get very, very small to scout first but it is going to depend on what we find out from Dig. If they are hiding out somewhere they are obviously in communication with the outside world. Unless they are using carrier pigeons that means they are connected to a grid somehow. If they are, Winn and Felicity can hack it. Cisco, Curtis and Harry can figure out the best weapons to use because something tells me Sara’s staff and Alex’s tonfa and Kali sticks aren’t going to cut it. Oliver is probably going to have more success with EMP arrows but I don’t want our communications shut off again. Plus if Deathstroke’s illegitimate daughter is with them, she will be gunning for him and Thea and they may have their hands full. Nyssa is going to need to know all of this. She can figure out how we attack. What do you think?”

Barry shook his head and looked back on the road. “I think you don’t really need me to co lead. You look like you got this down.”

“I always need you. I’m just brainstorming here. While this is going on we can go to work and if all goes to plan, attack, tonight or in the morning. I don’t want to be gone for more than a couple hours.”

“Okay then. And if we do find them, if there are a lot, how are we going to contain them?” Barry asked.

Kara looked at him and he met her eyes for a second then looked back at the road. In that second he knew, so he went ahead and said it out loud for the both of them. Best to get this out so they were on the same page.

“We help those that want out, detain those who can be detained and those who refuse to go down get taken down.”

Kara nodded her head in agreement. That was exactly what she had been thinking. The two arrived at the lab, Charlie running towards the door, knowing the place as well as anyone of the regular inhabitants. He knew Cisco would have his breakfast taco ready this morning, if the man didn’t want his workspace marked. Barry moved inside but Kara held back, seeing Nyssa and Alex pulling up. Handing Lexie to Barry she told him she would be inside in a minute. Kara smiled at Nyssa, who grinned back and walked inside. Alex moved to follow but Kara’s hand on her shoulder stopped the woman.

“Uh, good morning, I love you but I want to see my niece. She is like a cute version of you and has grown on me so…”

“We need to talk now. Nyssa texted me more instructions this morning.”

“Okay… if its too much, I can find someone else. You said as Maid of Honor you wanted to organize the whole thing. I warned you the ceremony may not be… traditional. At least any tradition we know.”

“Too much Alex? Is this a wedding or some ritual sacrifice? Four King Cobras?! Two katanas from the 14th century, used in battle and spilt blood?” Fourteen camels to take the wedding party and guests to the site?”

“She said you could use six elephants with those large tent things on top instead. It’s a long walk up the mountain and we didn’t want the guests to be sweating by the time the ceremony is going to start.”

“Six wild boar for dinner to be killed the night before the ceremony and roasted over an open fire? Really Alex? I don’t want to know why a Bengal Tiger is needed and I refuse to get one. They are endangered and will make the guests endangered if he gets loose. She is playing around with me. I am trying to raise a baby and puppy and keep a husband in line while running my new business and catch planes and she is screwing with me while I am trying to help. This is important to me. I want to do this for you, not go on a scavenger hunt for whatever she thinks of next.”

“Don’t forget Oliver’s sock.” Alex reminded her.

“Oh I haven’t. Why exactly do I have to ask Oliver for a single sock?”

“She has to burn something of his to symbolize the ending of their marriage. It was the sock or him.”

“She isn’t married to him. She never was! League disassembled, all vows released, I heard the story. I am not asking him for a sock! He will laugh at me.”

“I understand. I can ask Zatanna…”

“No! I am doing this! If I have to steal a sock, I guess I will steal a sock. I’m not going to ask him for it and as far as the deadly and endangered wildlife, if anyone gets killed over this wedding that’s on you. I am drawing the line at elephants though. We can take a few large helicopters and I can carry people up and down two at a time but no elephants and certainly no camels. Also the Bengal Tiger goes right back to the wild where I get him from. He will not be hurt by the cobras. They really are endangered. Promise?”

“Yes, I promise the tiger will be safe from the cobras.”

Kara walked off trying to figure out how to track a tiger, where to keep him before the wedding and what to feed him. The snakes should be easy to find.

Alex watched her little sister walk off and once safely inside finally let out the laugh she had been holding in.

“Do you think she will really try and capture a Bengal Tiger?” Nyssa asked, walking silently behind Alex, who did her best not to act surprised.

“Yeah, she would. You really have got to stop screwing with her.”

“I wonder how she will be able to determine if the katana actually had blood on them? Can her vision truly see that? Remarkable. I was looking forward to a caravan of camels or at least elephants but I can see that isn’t happening. A pity. She would look so adorable on the back of a camel.”

“One more week then you call it off. I don’t want her actually catching a Bengal. If she has to leave Lexie for more than two hours to hunt game in Africa and finds out it was for your amusement I’m the one who will have to pay the price.”

“Not until she steals Oliver’s socks. She is lucky I didn’t ask for Felicity’s tablet.”

“I told you that you couldn’t place her in danger. Stealing Felicity’s tablet would endanger her financially and I have a feeling the way she spoils her daughter and puppy they are going to need that money. Diamond necklaces and diamond collars are in Barry’s future whether he likes it or not.”

“A shame he quit his job.”

“No, Kara took care of that last night.”

“Did she hurt him?”

“Nope, he is still walking if a bit stiff. Come to think of it both seem a little stiff today. I guess even superheroes can pull muscles. I’m sure she will tell me about it later. Kara’s pouting and I would guess her ability to make herself cry by thinking of dead puppies coupled with an amazing ability to make someone feel guilty goes a long way for her.”

“I really do think she could have gotten my father to hug her. Astounding. I suppose we should go inside and find out about these people we have to destroy. Remember, if the shadow creature looks like he is going to attack you…”

“Throw Oliver in front of him. Got it. Lets go check on Dig.”

Kara had already reached Dig, and saw his blurry form, Barry’s matching form standing over him. She supposed Lyla had thought about it an agreed, probably from guilt over asking her husband to lead this suicide mission. Once the blur stopped, despite knowing what to expect, she was still surprised to see a fully healed Diggle sit up. He then promptly bent over from the table and vomited on the floor.

“I will never… what the hell was that? Wait, how the hell did I get here? Is this some…”

“Johnny, calm down. I came here to Central City asking for help. You were brought back last night.” Lyla explained. Dig shook his head and then took in his surroundings seeing Oliver walk in. He smiled at his friend, for a while expecting to never see him or Felicity again. Kara was here as well, but that didn’t surprise him. They had a habit of saving each other.

“Do I even want to know how I got here?” he asked, still trying to wrap his head around no longer feeling in pain as he had the last 24 hours.

“Do you feel possessed?” Kara asked him.

“No,” Dig told her, confused.

“Then yeah, its probably best you don’t know. Just thank Zatanna the next time you see her. Dig, what happened? We need to know so we can take care of this and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Did Fairchild and her team do this to you?” Superwoman asked.

“Caitlin Fairchild saved my life. We were following that strange energy signature when this man appeared, at least we thought he was a man. I found out later he was called Warblade. He came out of nowhere. The land was fairly flat, only a few hills and calderas. He seemed normal but when we asked for ID, his hand shot out, his arm turned into some sort of metal. He stabbed Johnson through. We opened fire and his whole body was metal. He slaughtered the whole team. I was last and thought I was done for. Then a woman came from somewhere and stopped him. She told him I was obviously the leader and needed for interrogation and possibly could make a good subject for some guy named Harvest to experiment on. The metal guy knocked me out. When I woke up I was in a cell somewhere, I don’t know where but I am pretty sure it was underground. I heard a lot of voices around, above, below, but I couldn’t see anyone.”

“What were the walls like?” Oliver asked.

“Wet rock but sound carried. It must have been some cave but we were in the volcano fields in Vietnam near Toroeng Prong when I was taken so it could have been any of the three vents. Some woman, a girl really, called herself Rose Wilson was in the cell with me. She’s the one you suspect being Slade Wilson’s daughter, right Oliver?”

“Yeah.”

“She knew I worked with you. Wanted me to call you. Said she would let me go if I did. I refused and she kicked the crap out of me. Even used a hammer on my leg. Caitlin Fairchild stopped her.”

Barry took that in. On the surface it seemed Fairchild was trying to help but it could have been a ploy to get information. “So Fairchild was trying to keep you alive. Do you think it was because she really did want this Harvest to experiment on you or maybe just information?”

“I don’t think so. She told me in two days there would be something called a Culling. Said it was a death fight between 16 metahuman kids and only one would survive. She claimed to have a team of those loyal to her and would be leading a revolt when it started. I have no idea how many she had on her team, or how many this Harvest had.”

Kara cringed, thinking that was exactly what they needed but not deterred. “No information on any metas besides this Warblade? Was Rose Wilson a meta?”

“No, she was just crazy.” Dig told them. “I would love to get some payback. I know what to expect this time. With more people and some flame throwers for Warblade…”

“You aren’t going back with an A.R.G.U.S. team. Why didn’t you call me?” Oliver demanded.

“Because the League decided to stay out of this and I think it was the right call at the time.” Dig admitted. :I knew if you came so would these two and everyone else would have come.

“You promised me you would call Oliver if you found signs of metas!” Lyla practically shouted.

“I didn’t find a sign until one started slicing my men to pieces! We knew we were going after a meta, probably more than one considering what happened to the dead body that started all this. I thought I could handle it. I made a bad call but they don’t work for you Lyla.”

“You don’t either anymore. I won’t risk you. Sara needs her father.” Lyla told him. Kara wondered why she didn’t feel this way before but knew. Lyla used Dig to try to get them all there, not thinking he would actually be hurt or even captured.

“She told you this Culling is in two days?” Oliver asked, “Meaning its tomorrow if she told you yesterday. We have to find this place and help. She could be outnumbered or making a suicide bid to try and release some of these kids. We know there are dangerous people there. Did you hear anything about something or someone called Leash?”

“Nah, didn’t hear much expect Rose Wilson using a hammer on me and what Fairchild told me. She promised to help me escape before she left.”

Oliver looked at Barry and Kara. It was their call.

The two didn’t need a long discussion or one at all.

“This is no longer an A.R.G.U.S. matter. We will take it from here. We have one day to find where they are and get there. If she is going to lead a revolt we are going to help.” Kara told the group.

“Lyla was immediately angry, not used to being told what was an A.R.G.U.S. matter and what wasn’t. “We can help…”

“You had your chance, Lyla.” Barry told her softly. “I know you didn’t expect this to happen but it is obvious we are dealing with metahumans who are very dangerous. We don’t know what exactly we are going to be facing. All we know is the members we have already faced are very dangerous and some may be on our side and most won’t be. We can’t look out for your men, hope they don’t kill the wrong meta, or get killed by Warblade or that damn shadow creature. We have this. Take Dig home…”

‘No way. A.R.G.U.S. may not be involved but the last time I checked I was still a member of this club you have going on. I owe them payback.”

Kara and Barry looked towards Oliver who nodded.

“Fine but we are going to have a talk about you patrolling Star City alone.” The Arrow made clear. Dig looked at Lyla who shrugged her shoulders.

‘Get some rest. Martin and Harry are going to figure this out. Once we find the location, you can come with us, I promise. For now let Caitlin check you out so she can make sure Barry put all your cells back in the right place and everything is healed.”

“Sounds good Kara… wait, my cells? Put back in the right place? What the gel does that mean?”

Barry patted the man on the shoulder. “Relax Dig, I’m 90 percent certain I got it right… actually more like a strong 75 percent.”

Barry walked off to inform the League of the situation. When they walked into the room, Kara saw Alex had wasted no time taking Lexie from Eliza who did not look happy. Kara was pretty sure her daughter would need a diaper change soon and had no doubt Lexie would be back in her Grandmother’s arms soon.

She left Barry in the meeting room and continued to Martin’s lab where he and Harry were writing equations on the clear board.

“Hello Kara. We think we have a clear understanding of Dark Energy in a hypothetical sense but its existence has never been proven and while it may leave a distinctive signature we aren’t sure of the exact type of radiation we are dealing with. Give me three days though and I am certain Harry and I can come up…”

“Dr. Stein, Martin, I love the both of you and I would normally never do this. I don’t like to ruin anyone’s fun but kids lives are on the line, tomorrow. We are going to have to move.”

Kara walked to the board and erased what was there.

“We can’t be dealing with Dark Energy. Dark Energy causes the rapid expansion of the Universe. A being like the one who attacked the team in Antarctica has a solid form and obviously is sentient. What we need to look for is Dark Matter. It is dense enough for a meta to hold and would emit a signature similar to Dark Radiation. That is probably where these weird radioactive signatures are coming from.”

‘But there is no notable evidence for the existence of such radiation.” Harry told her, his mind running wild.

“Maybe not any evidence that Earth has discovered but trust me, it exists. It mediates interactions between dark matter in the same way the baryonic matter scale interacts with the photons of electromagnetic radiation. Look for neutrinos in the range of 3.046. Use this equation and get it to Felicity or Winn and they can develop an algorithm then using our satellite we can focus it over the volcanic fields in Southwest Vietnam.”

Kara walked to the board and began writing, Stein and Well’s eyes growing larger by the second.

“The only way to defeat him is to disperse his matter or in essence destroy him. I’m not sure what if anything is underneath but that isn’t our problem. He obviously has very good control over his body if he can send tendrils towards enemies harming them. I would guess and this is only a guess that the Dark Matter is radiating from him and infecting the victim with some type of interstellar gas or even the effects of a small controlled black hole. If that is the case, it could be simple for Barry to steal the Kinetic energy of his body which must be in constant state of flux due to the random and incredibly fast interactions of protons and neutrinos in his make up. Diana’s lasso hurt him. She said it channeled the power of the Earth, which while is magical in nature, the fact that a rope can do that, I am guessing the that polar opposite of the energy would counteract him. His body can’t compete with the Earth’s magnetic field. We are going to need you and Jax to figure out if you can hit him with a radiation blast full of protons and electrons to blow a hole in his physical makeup. If you can’t then Harry, you and Cisco need to develop a weapon that can emit those signatures quickly. Tonight even. If both are impossible to accomplish Barry is going to have to try and steal his kinetic energy and as a last resort Zatanna is going to charge Donna’s lasso in a similar manner as Diana’s. Nyssa is going to have a lot of metas to plan for. If we can take out the most dangerous one first, it will give her more time to focus on the others. We have no idea who is going to be on our side so we go in assuming they all will want to kill us except Fairchild.”

“Uh… okay… what about the living metal guy?” Harry asked, staring between the board and Kara, trying to come to grips with what he was hearing and seeing.

“He’s metal. I’m going to melt him.” she told the men with a shrug.

“I don’t exactly understand how… Kara why are you not working in science? This formula…”

“Science is boring. I prefer art.” the blonde told the genius.

“But, where did you learn… this?”

“Martin, if I told you I learned it when I was four Earth years old, would it hurt your feelings?”

“Yes, I think it would.” he admitted.

“Then I’m not going to tell you. Trust me, it will work. We have less than 24 hours, actually depending on what time this death match starts it could be as little as twelve. I have to collect my daughter and open my gallery. Then I promised I would have lunch with Barry. If you need any help call or text and I can close and come over. A lot of kids are depending on us tomorrow. Whoever or whatever Harvest, N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and the rest are, they have to go down before anyone else dies.”