The Desert around National City
When people see that red cape, they expect to see a certain someone. Someone they know. But this isn't his story. It's mine. It's been a week since I revealed myself to National City. So far, things are going pretty well.
"Is that the fastest you can go?" Hank Henshaw, Head of the DEO, or Department of Extranormal Operations, questions Kara over the comms.
"Are these tests mandatory for everyone or just because I'm a..." Kara questioned, wondering if she was being subjected to this because the director was sexist against women.
"It is not because you're a woman, Miss Danvers", Hank said simply, realizing were she was going with that line of thought "The DEO requires rigorous physical and psychological evaluation for all its prospective field operatives."
"I was gonna say alien." Kara stated.
"A novice superhero could be a liability in a field" Hank stated, since it was the truth. He never sent untrained agents in the field until they were deemed ready. "I need to know you're in full control of your powers. Stamina, strength, speed."
Kara, deciding to show him how in control she was, poured on the speed, breaking through the sound barrier as she passed overhead, creating a sonic boom that caused the glass on a glass drawing board to crack so much that a single touch would shatter the entire thing.
"My sister just broke the sound barrier, sir." Alex, adoptive sister of Kara informed.
"Fire again." Hank ordered to the agents on the missile launcher. They fired 2 more missiles at Supergirl. She flew for a few moments until she performed an airborne maneuver to cause the two missiles to hit each other, causing an explosion.
"So, did I pass?" She asked as she landed.
"I see you share your cousin's appetite for wanton destruction, Miss Danvers." Hank simply stated.
"You know, I am starting to answer to Supergirl." She said as she stopped him from walking away only for him to not say anything, and his lack of facial expression showed how unamused he was. "It's cool, we'll... We'll find our thing." Kara said awkwardly as Hank walked away.
"Is all of this really necessary?" Kara asked Alex. "I'm ready, Alex, for all of it. I can do this."
"Believe it or not, he's just looking out for you," Alex tried to reassure Kara, "You know, we both are. I had a full year of training before he even let me in the field."
Alex sighed and then spoke. "But I'm really glad that you're here, though." She chuckles and says, "I hated keeping this whole part of my life from you."
"And growing up, I always thought you were such a bad liar," Kara teased.
"That's what a good liar makes you think," Alex teased back with a smile.
"Supergirl. Come in, Supergirl." Came Winn's voice over the earpiece in Kara's ear.
"Winn, what is it? I'm kind of busy right now." Kara told him
"Kara, there is a huge fire raging down at the National City port. It's really bad." He admitted.
"All right. I'm on my way." She said.
"Hey, you've been dodging missiles and pushing your endurance for the last two hours. Even you have your limits." Alex tried to caution her sister.
"For the last twelve years I hid who I was. I don't have to anymore. And I don't want to waste a minute of it." Kara said to Alex before she added, "Besides, this sounds like a job for Supergirl."
Suffice to say, it wouldn't go very well.
CatCo
Afternoon
"Miracle or menace? That's what the citizens of National City are asking themselves after the latest attempt at heroics by Supergirl left the bay facing an ecological disaster." the news caster said as Kara walked into her job and her friend Winn appeared
"Oh, God, is that smell you?" Winn asked
"Three showers and I still reek of burning oil. I went from superhero to eco-terrorist in a single bound." Kara groaned.
"Hey, hey. You're just, like, a week into this superhero thing, you're going to make some mistakes. Like, when you first started working here as Ms. Grant's assistant and Cat asked you to get her lunch and you went to Chipotle." Winn said
"Yeah, except now I'm making mistakes in front of the entire world." Kara sighed before she and Winn looked up to the television.
"Forget about Supergirl's lack of experience, I'm talking about the trouble she'll bring to National City. Look at Metropolis. Since Superman's arrival, a veritable super bad guy war has been waged on that city. Their maintenance budgets have quadrupled. National City does not need Metropolis' problems."
Kara frowned which Winn noticed and spoke "Who cares what that guy says?"
"You do. Isn't Maxwell Lord your personal hero?" Kara asked
"I own a couple Maxwell Lord watches and his biography." Winn admitted.
10 minutes Later
"I am not doing that interview. No. I can't... I mean, I can't." Kara said in a panic inside of James Olsen's office. Cat had just revealed that she wanted an interview with Supergirl by the end of the week. And when Cat Grant doesn't get what she wants, people tend to get fired. "Ms. Grant's not stupid. She'd recognize me in, like, one second. "
"She will look at Supergirl right in the face and she will not even see her reporter." James reassured her.
"How can you be so sure?" Kara asked, not believing him.
"Because she doesn't even see you now," James pointed out, "I watched it happen for years with your cousin. Why do you think that people can't recognize him as Clark Kent?"
"Reading glasses and a good slouch?" Kara asked sarcastically.
"No, he's able to hide because the world can't believe that there's really a hero in their midst." James smiled.
"Yeah, and I'm sure there's a good reason why my cousin keeps his job at The Daily Planet instead of flying around as Superman all the time, which would be so much easier." Kara said with a bit of snark.
"Yeah well, one, he's able to pay his rent." James shrugged.
"She's going to keep pressuring you about that interview." Kara said.
"Oh, I can handle Cat Grant." James said, not in arrogance, but confidence.
"I don't know... I don't know. I... I... Maybe I put the "S" on too soon." Kara muttered, her lack of confidence in her own abilities showing.
"Kara, look out the window. Tell me what you see." James said.
"Buildings. Billboards. There's that bar where that guy cards me all the time. He knows how old I am." She said, though it wasn't what James was looking for.
"I see a city full of people who need help. Who need a hero." James said.
"You really think so?" Kara sighs.
"If anyone can fill Superman's boots... It's you." James said.
"Thank you, James. That was a really good pep talk." Kara said as she walked out of his office.
It was at the end of her day, about 4 O'clock, that Kara got a ring on her cellphone. She frowned when the Caller Id said it was an unknown number. Deciding to just answer it, she accepted the call and said, "Hello?"
"Hey, so I hear you're having a bad day, Karebear." Came the voice of someone she both hadn't been expecting and was excited to hear. After all, that was his pet nickname for her back when they were dating in highschool.
"Nate? Is that you?" Kara asked as she gathered her things to head out.
"Yeah it's me Kara. When I heard you had come out as Supergirl, I figured I'd come see you. But I heard on the news your day kinda went south." He said.
"Yeah, sorry. The whole superhero thing hit a bit of a snag today. And now I've got problems at work, so yeah, I'm having a bad day." Kara said as she got in the elevator and told it to go to the lobby.
"Well then," He said as the ding from the elevator let Kara know she had reached the lobby, "It's a good thing I decided to come when I did."
To her surprise and delight, there was Nathan, standing there in the middle of the lobby, his phone to his ear and he had this infectious smile on his face. He was wearing a black JF J. Ferrar Hybrid Coat, worn over a gray long-sleeved shirt that showed off his muscles. On his legs were black Levi's and black Warfield & Grand Court Boots, and a Black belt.
"Cause now I get to cheer you up, Karebear." He said from across the way, not into the phone, as he had shut that off, but she picked it up with her superhuman hearing.
"Nate!" She said with a bright smile as she rushed over to him, not fast enough to be outed as Supergirl, but fast for a human. She wrapped him in a strong hug and he returned the favor lifting her up and spinning her around for a bit. "You're here."
"Indeed, and not a moment too soon, if I do say so myself", Nathan smiled.
"How are you here though? I know Prometheus is still in Starling City, they had a report on the news that you hit someone else last night", Kara asked.
"Such a useful skill, the ability to be in two places at once." Nathan said cryptically, which Kara caught on.
"Right. The clone thing. I totally forgot." Kara said, placed her palm on her forehead.
"So, not to ruin the mood, but we should probably talk about the oil freighter…" He said getting serious for a second.
"Yeah, I guess," Kara said sadly, good mood seemly ruined.
"...But we can talk about that later." Nathan said, good mood and Kara's sunny disposition returning. "Let's go have some fun. You know anywhere that has some good karaoke?"
Later that night
Kara had offered for him stay at her place while he was here, so that's why at 9 pm, they were both in their pajama's, with Nathan wearing nothing but a simple white sleeveless shirt and black pants while Kara was dressed in her DKNY Jersey Capri Pajamas.
They were both drinking some Red's Apple Ale, not that the Kryptonian and Supersoldier could get drunk on such weak alcohol, or in Kara's case, at all.
"You know, I gotta wonder," Nathan said as he took a swig of his ale, "Why did you never go into music? If that Karaoke proved anything, you have the voice of an angel."
"I mean, sure I could have," Kara said as she drank some of her ale, "But that just wasn't me, ya know? I didn't know way back in highschool, but I always wanted to be a reporter."
They were silent for a few moments before Nathan decided he should probably address the issue. "So….about that freighter."
"Look I know that I screwed up-" Kara tried but he stopped her,
"Kara, can I finish please?" He asked, which she let him, "I wasn't gonna harp on you for the whole issue with the freighter. I was merely gonna suggest that you slow down with the hero thing."
"Slow down?" Kara asked
"Us humans have an old saying, 'You have to learn how to walk before you can run'. That applies here, you can't go fighting aliens and stopping natural disasters when you don't even have full control of your abilities."
"I have to do something to help."
"And you will. Help the people." He reassured
"How?"
"I don't know. Save a kitten from a tree, help an old lady across the street, save a person from a burning building, stuff like that." Nathan said placing his hands on Kara's shoulders and smiling "Listen, you're cousin didn't start his career as Superman by taking out big guns like Luthor and General Zod. He started small by doing the things similar to what I just mentioned. You are on a planet were men are much more sexist than on your world, I imagine. Humans have a way of judging the female gender more than they do the males, so your every action will be called into question. So like I said, start out small, build your reputation and confidence, and practice your powers."
"Okay, fine," Kara sighed.
"Now, which one do you want to watch?" Nathan said as he pulled out two DVD's. "Twilight or Avengers?" He was teasing her of course. He knew from their talks she hated Twilight and would never watch that.
Kara scoffed and said, "As if I would ever watch Twilight. Give me a superhero movie any day of the week." She said as she took Avengers and stuck it in her DVD player and pressed play while Nathan went and grabbed the popcorn as they sat next to each other and enjoyed the rest of their night.
Next Day
Early Morning
DEO
"It's called a Hellgrammite. Basically a large insect that can camouflage itself into any shape it wants humanoid included." Kara said to Hank, and Alex as a photo of a Hellgrammite showed up on the monitor
"Anything else?" Hank asked one of his agents.
"Not at the moment sir, until we know what all he's been taking it could be that he's just looking for food since his DNA isn't carbon base, but chlorine."
"This job never ceases to surprise me." Han said
"You guys track him down, and I'll take him out, just like we did with Vartox." Kara suggested.
"Sure thing, Miss Danvers. If you can prove to us you can handle yourself without getting killed." Hank said and he nodded to Alex.
"What are we doing in here?" Kara said as Alex led her away to another room in the facility.
"When I joined the DEO, I spent 12 hours a day for five straight months in this room", Alex explained, "We need to know that you're prepared for everything you might face out there."
"Alex, I can bend a steel I-Beam with my bare hands. And last week, I kicked Vartox's butt," Kara tried to explain, "I'm ready enough."
"You really think so?"
"Yeah. I do." Kara said, before a machine whirled to life and green light fill the room. Kara suddenly felt weak.
"How did you do that?"
"Kryptonite radiation emitters. You're only at 18%. Not enough to permanently harm you, but enough to weaken you. Make this a fair fight." Alex explained.
"I just found out last week that Kryptonite exists. Only the DEO knows it can hurt me." Kara said.
"You may have powers, Kara, but so do most of the Fort Rozz aliens. Not only do they have the element of surprise, but they've also had time to master their abilities. We may not always know who our enemies are, so we need to be prepared to face anyone. Now, come at me." Alex beckoned her sister as Alex gave Kara her first lesson in hand to hand combat.
Same Time
Café
Nathan was in a café in downtown, having a coffee while he worked tirelessly on hacking government files. Specifically, Russia's old KGB stuff. Finally, after 30 minutes of nonstop hacking to make sure he didn't make a mistake and get caught, he snuck in and created copy of everything that had to do with Natalie Rushman, or as her file suggests, Natasha Romanova. The Black Widow, the deadliest assassin Russia ever produced and the greatest female assassin the world ever saw. After the KGB collapsed, she continued to operate as a spy for Russia, until she vanished 7 years ago in 2006. The files stopped after that, since she appears to have defected from the Russians. Satisfied, he saved a copy everything on a USB, before taking the computer he had bought yesterday just for this and took it out back to trash behind the café and broke it into a 1000 pieces and dumped them in separate trashcans.
He walked back into the café to finish his meal, when he nearly bumped into somebody he had not seen 9 years.
"Samanatha?", he asked, for in front of him was Samantha Arias, his ex-girlfriend from his senior year in highschool.
"Nate?" Samantha asked. His 28 year old ex was looking good, especially since he hadn't seen her in almost 10 years.
You could literally feel the awkward tension in the air.
"How are you?" He asked, trying to break the ice and lose the awkwardness.
"I've been good. It's been a long time." She said, still feeling the awkwardness and contributing to it in her own way. There was something she didn't want him to know.
"We haven't spoken since we ended things, and I'm sorry about that." He apologized.
"No it's okay." She said, "I heard about what's happening to your mother. I'm sorry for what's happening to her."
"Listen, I'm in town on a business venture, but – do you have a few minutes? I wouldn't mind catching up." He said.
Samantha wanted to refuse but she did have a few minutes, but she was afraid of what would happen if he met Ruby.
"Yeah, I got a few minutes." She said as they both sat down.
They didn't talk long. They briefly touched on what they had been up to the last 10 years, which wasn't much in Nathan's case. He learned that Samantha had gone to college for Business after Highschool and she had moved up the ladder until she had become the CFO of Lexcorp.
"Hey, it's been good talking with you again, Nate, but I gotta go. I still have some documents to go over before Lexcorps eventual move here." Samanatha said as she got up.
"Hey it was good seeing you again." Nate said with a smile.
"You too," Samanatha said as she turned away.
"Mommy, wait for me!" Came an excited voice of a young girl. A sec later, something small hit Nathan's leg and he heard a "Ow."
Nathan turned around to look at his leg to see a young girl, about 9 years old on the ground, rubbing her head.
"Oh Ruby," Samantha said as she knelt down, "You shouldn't run into strangers like that."
"Sorry Mom," Ruby apologized.
"Cute kid, what's her name?" Nate asked as he knelt down to have a closer look at her.
"This is Ruby, and she's my daughter," Sam said.
Nathan looked her over and looked at Samantha, metaphorical gears turning in his head, "She's not…" He asked the open question.
"No, she's not yours." Samantha said. "I met her father about 4 months after we broke up."
"Mister, do you know my mommy?" Ruby asked Nathan.
"Yeah," HE smiled at her, "We're old friends."
"Now look, Ruby," Nathan said he placed a hand on the side of her head as he looked at her, taking note that while she had her mothers hair, her blue eyes were the exact same shade as his. "Your mother loves you very much. You be good to her, alright?"
"I will, thank you, mister!" Ruby said excitedly.
"I'll see you around, Nate," Samantha said as she led her daughter.
Nathan stood up and stared after them, his hand closed as a few of Ruby's hairs stuck out of it, "You too,"
Kara's Apartment
Afternoon
Kara had a large smile on her face as she watched the news "A dazzling display of heroics by the Girl of Steel now has a grateful National City asking themselves, "What Oil Spill? What out Metropolis, looks like we're about to give you a run for your superhero money."
Kara had spent the entire day, saving snakes from trees, an ambulance stuck in traffic, and a spree of robberies, and it was paying off. Turning to her friends Winn, and James she said "I can't believe. It's working. People are really starting to believe in her."
"In you." James said
"I couldn't have done it without either of you." Kara said before her door open causing James, and Winn's eyes to widen as Kara was still in her suit
"Hey Kara hope you got something to eat, cause I am starving." Nathan said closing the door and turning ignoring the two guys and Kara completely as his eyes zeroed in on the Pizza "Pizza. Nice." he said before he grabbed a piece, while discreetly grabbing a plastic bag and putting Ruby's hairs in it, before sealing the bag and eating his slice.
"Uh Nathan. Meet Winn, and James." Kara said causing Nathan to turn and see the two looking at him in shock
"Sup." Nathan said finishing a slice before he saw the tv, "So you followed my advice, and Eliza used to say I would be a bad influence on you."
Kara couldn't help herself as she smiled.
"Uh, Mister Queen, so you're an alien too?" Winn asked. He'd normally be psyched about meeting Nathaniel Queen, but given the situation, he wasn't.
"Oh I don't know. Ask me again after I burn your hair off with my heat vision," Nathan said as he narrowed his eyes, like he was going to do it.
"AH! No, not my hair!" Winn shouted as he hid behind Kara, who was barely resisting the urge to laugh out loud.
"Hahaha!" Nathan and Kara both laughed, confusing Winn.
"I'm kidding, kid. I am completely human." Nate said, much to Winn's relief. "No, I've known for a year now that Kara was Kryptonian. Plus, we go way back."
"How far back?" Winn asked as he popped out behind of Kara.
"Went to the same highschool, were each others first girlfriend/boyfriend. Take your pick." Nathan said as he took another slice of pizza. No one in the room seemed to notice a slightly jealous look that James had. Nate and Kara looked up when Alex walked in and immediately frowned seeing Winn, Nathan, and James "Whoops. I'll give you guys sometime alone." Nathan exited the door and beckoned Winn and James to move along.
"What the hell, Kara!?" Alex asked. Bad enough that Kara's friends know, but now that ex of her's knows as well!? Unnacceptable! "Are you planning to announce who you are to the whole bloody city!?"
"Hey, calm down Alex. Winn and James can be trusted. And as for Nate, he's known for over a year now." Kara explained.
"What?" Alex asked, "when did you have time to tell your ex boyfriend?"
"Okay, you remember when I had that interview with him in Starling City about a year ago?" Alex nodded. "Well, during that time, there was this thief running around that was stealing priceless artifacts. Long story short, I ended up getting a bomb collar strapped to my neck and I was forced to reveal myself to him."
"Oh Kara, I didn't know." Alex apologized.
"Hey, look he was cool with it. The fact is, he kinda suspected it from the moment we first started dating, like when I broke his nose during our first kiss." Kara said as both she and Alex shared a laugh.
"Do you really think it was a good idea to tell your other friends who you are?" Alex asked Kara who grabbed a cup of coffee.
"Yes, because they're my friends." Kara said turning to her "I'm allowed to have friends, aren't i?"
"Yes, it's just I want you to be careful with who you trust." Alex said
"I trust Winn and Nate, and Clark trusts James which is good enough for me." Kara said sitting down "They believe in me Alex, but...I need your faith, Alex. More than that "S," more than that cape. More than anyones."
"I do believe in you. I always have and I always will." Alex said causing Kara to smile before Alex' phone rung "Danvers...I'll be right there. They need me back at the DEO. I'll call you."
Alex left after giving a hug to Kara.
Midday
Desert
Nathan was leaning against his black Ford F150 he got from one of his storage units he kept in National City and waiting for Kara, his bow and arrows laying close by.
Hearing a whooshing sound he turned to see Kara land on the ground, "Your late."
"Sorry, I was busy saving people from a burning building." Kara apologized.
"It's fine, I'm not gonna criticize you for doing your job. Just understand that when we are training, I prefer promptness." Nathan said, causing Kara to nod.
"So what exactly are you planning to teach me?" Kara asked.
"Some lessons I wish I didn't have to learn the hard way." Nathan said solemnly, thinking a about Slade when he got hit with a mortar and when he missed Kovar's damn Red Death syringe.
"What lessons?" Kara wondered.
"So I hacked and reviewed the file the DEO has on your fight with umm—What was his name? Vartox?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah that's his actual name. He was tough for my first fight, but I managed to beat him." Kara smiled.
"What you did was almost get yourself killed." Nathan stated, causing Kara to frown, "Kara, you went up against someone with a weapon that could have easily killed you. That Axe of his literally negated your greatest advantage; your invulnerability to physical harm."
"I know that but I was able to use my heat vision to superheat the thing to a level that it couldn't handle and it exploded." Kara protested.
"Kara, you should have destroyed the axe first when you knocked him out of his truck, not while he was trying to split your skull in half. You could have also grabbed it and thrown it into the sea and came right back to finish Vartox off." Nathan said as he walked away some and she followed.
"There is a difference Kara, between just having powers, and having the precision and discipline to use them effectively. You're just starting out, going up against guys who have been doing this longer than you, are decent fighters, and have had time to master their abilities. You need every advantage you can get."
"Let me try to put this in perspective for you. Why do you think I was able to stop the Undertaking before it began and evade the police all this time?" He said as he turned around and looked at her.
Kara just shrugged, not really knowing the answer.
"Because I was smarter than my opponents. I outsmarted them at every turn, made them dance to my tune, per say. I put the battle on my terms, because I play smarter than my opponents. Guys like Vartox and other Kryptonians are not problems you can just outmuscle. You need to be better than them. That doesn't mean just coming up with creative ways to beat them. That also means becoming skilled in hand to hand, mastering your powers, and adopting good habits when approaching a hostile situation."
"Now I want you to fly over there. Fly back at me and try to catch this arrow." Nathan said as Kara nodded and she flew back about 30 meters.
"Are you sure? It's not like the arrow can hurt me." Kara called back.
"Just Humor me." Nathan said as he drew his arrow.
"Ready?!" Kara shouted as Nathan nocked his arrow.
"Ready." Nathan replied as Kara flew straight at him and caught the arrow that Nathan shot. But then, she felt something prick her back.
"Ow!" Kara shouted as she dropped the arrow. Nathan walked over to Kara and pulled the out what appeared to be a couple darts with Kryptonite tips. "ARGH! You said to catch your arrow."
"I did but I also said there's a difference between powers and precision. Let this be a lesson for you. Always be aware of what's around you. Learn to case your environment before you rush in." Nathan said as he placed the darts in a lead cylinder and Kara nodded and hissed as her back sting.
"Where did you even get Kryptonite?" she asked.
"8 months ago, after Superman put Lex away, I found his entire stash of Kryptonite and stole it." Nathan said.
Nathan Put his bow down, and without warning, wrapped Kara in a hug, which she hesitantly returned since he did just shoot her. Nathan gently rubbed her back where he stuck her with Kryptonite darts. "I'm sorry I shot you." He apologized and he whispered in her ear, "It's just, I had to learn these lessons the hard way and I either nearly died or people that I loved died."
"You know what my life was like during those five years. I've lost good friends, lovers, mentors, I was betrayed, and would have lost myself in despair without help. I don't want to lose anyone else that I love. If I did, I don't know what I'd do." Nathan said.
"It's okay." Kara whispered rubbing his back. "I get it now. I do. Just…please no more shooting me with Kryptonite." She pleaded.
"I promise. Unless of course, you ask me to or go on a murderous rampage," He teased and she chuckled a bit, "But otherwise, all training with me will be Kryptonite free."
"Now," Nathan said as he pulled out a clay pigeon shooter from his truck. "Let's have some fun while we work on your accuracy. Heat Vision only."
He fired one and Kara used her heat vision to make it explode. They did that for a nearly an entire hour, while they did various other things like trying to help her use her freeze breath.
DEO
1 One Hour Later
"What's the news on the Hellgrammite?" Alex asked as scientist around the base worked
"We've confirmed six similar attacks on chemical plants across the country over the past year." Hank said turning to her as she looked at the highlighted plants on the monitor
"Each of those facilities stored confiscated DDT, which is a chlorine pesticide, and given his home planet's atmospheric conditions, DDT would be the closest thing on Earth he could find to food." Alex said
"Since DDT was banned, the government has been destroying remaining stockpiles. His food source is shrinking. Well, if this thing is hungry, let's buy him some dinner." Hank said
Next Night
Speak of the devil, Kara was calling, picking up his phone Nathan answered "Kara, hey." Nathan greeted
"Nathan. The Hellgrammite took Alex. They're at a warehouse at the corner of 78th and Washington. I'm going to get her back."
"I'm on my way." Nathan frowned before he quickly pulled out his spare suit, the suit he one day intended to wear after he was done with his Prometheus persona.
With Kara
Kara after hanging up, took a sec to case her environment, trying to adopt those good habits that Nathan had talked out. She used her X-Ray to try to see the entire building. She only found one person, and she knew Alex anywhere. She dropped to the ground and walked into the warehouse and immediately saw Alex with an injured leg on the ground "Alex." Kara said about to rush to her sister.
"No! Get out of here, it's a trap." Alex yelled causing Kara to pause as she turned around only for Astra to appear and punch her.
"It's been a long time, little one. Look how you've grown. So beautiful." Astra said as Kara got up and looked at her in shock.
"But you...You died. When Krypton exploded...Everyone died. You died... Aunt Astra." Kara stammered as she walked out of the small crater she caused when she fell.
"Except I wasn't on Krypton when it perished. I was a prisoner aboard Fort Rozz." Astra said walking forward "Did your mother not tell you? How she sent me away? Banished her own blood? Imprisoned me for speaking the truth while she told only lies?"
"But why did she send you to Fort Rozz?" Kara asked
"For being a hero. For trying to save our world." Astra said standing face to face with Kara who looked at her teary eyed.
"I remember so many nights, sitting on your lap, listening as you taught me all the name of the stars." Kara reminisced.
"Then let me educate you once again, dear niece. Your alliance with the humans is misplaced. Do not stand against me. I let one planet die, I will not do so again." Asters warned.
"Funny, I was going to say the same thing." Kara frowned causing Astra to smirk before she backhanded Kara sending her flying through a wall. Standing up, Kara and Astra immediately fired their own heat vision rays at each other.
Alex crawled over to her walkie but before she could reach it she was picked up by the Hellgrammite and tossed into the fence before he picked her up and held up a hand as a stinger emerged "It's not personal. Just every species has the will to survive."
"You know what else every species has." Alex asked before she kicked the Hellgrammite in the nuts stunning him before she grabbed his arm and spun under it before she thrust the stinger into his chest, killing him. "Those."
Kara, and Astra had began to fight with Kara landing a few good blows but her Aunt was obviously the better fighter, as she was pushed back in mid air Astra rushed Kara and slammed her into the ground with her forearm at her nieces throat.
"You choose for it to end like this, instead of allying with your family. Now you can die alone." Astra said standing up and wrapping Kara's cape around her "You might wanna rethink the cape."
Astra using the cape tossed Kara toward the window, but at that moment, Nathan appeared. He dropped down from the rafters and caught the thrown Kryptonian before she flew out of the building.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Astra asked as she slowly began to make her way over to her niece.
"A friend of your niece," said Nathan in this Black Arrow costume(Think Earth-X Oliver's costume, just without the Nazi Symbols) , "That's all you need to know."
Nathan pulled out one of his special arrows at aimed it Astra's heart. "And what do you think that little toy of yours will do? You do realize on this planet, Kryptonian's are invulnerable to harm." Astra said, completely assured of her invulnerability.
"Care to take that bet?" Nathan asked, causing Astra to open her stance and gesture him to bring it.
Smirking underneath his nanotech mask, he let the arrow fly at the Kryptonian. About half way to it's target, the lead covering on the arrow broken away, revealing a smooth bright green arrowhead. Astra, in shock, moved away, just enough that instead of hitting her in the heart, it would hit her in the left shoulder. It was then that pain shot through her shoulder as she grit her teeth in pain.
Astra pulled out the green arrow to see it's tip covered in blood. Her blood. 'What is this material? Kryptonians can't be harmed under a yellow sun.'
She threw the arrow at his face, though Nate moved out of the way, letting the arrow pierce the steel wall. Using her superspeed, Astra was upon him, throwing several punches at the Nathan, though he managed to dodge each one. But he got himself into a bind as an double-handed overhead smash came down on his head. Astra smashed into the cement, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Nathan skidded away from the cloud, unharmed, though his bow had been broken in half. 'Note to self, make the next bow frame out of Graphene.' He thought.
"I don't need the bow anyway." He said tossing it aside.
Astra appeared next to him throwing a haymaker to take his head off, though he ducked and jabbed her in the stomach, his strength and the fact she actually felt the blow surprising her. She swung at him again only for him to redirect the blow and punch her in the ribs twice. Astra tried to kick him with two roundhouse kicks, both of which missed and then tried to head butt him, but Nathan socked her hard in the face, causing her to fly back 30 feet.
Nathan looked at his shaking hands. He was pretty sure that if he had X-Ray vision, he'd be able to see the stress fractures all over his hands. Growling Astra fired beams of heat vision at him. Nathan moved toward her hopping and weaving around her attacks as he maneuvered closer to her. Once he did, he punched her so hard she flew upwards and into the rafters, bending them around the shape of her body.
"Fuck!" Nathan ground out as he held his now broken wrist, which broke from the impact on his punch. He moved his arm some and watched as his hand flopped around aimlessly. "That's not good."
"No, I imagine it's not." Astra said behind him. Prompting Nathan to perform a spinning roundhouse kick, though as his foot met Astra's face, she was sent flying again and he broke his ankle, falling to the ground in pain.
Astra flew at him and Nathan pushed down the pain and quickly reset his wrist. He jumped up and performed an overhead kick with his bad leg, which Astra blocked and grabbed his ankle. He made to punch her with his left hand, which was blocked by her other hand. Nathan attempted to kick her with his other leg, but this was blocked.
Nathan smirked beneath his mask and pulled out another lead cased arrow, which broke away and revealed another Kryptonite arrow. 'He has another one!?' Astra shouted in her head. He stabbed towards her eye, but she moved her head to move of the way, causing to the Kryptonite arrow to slice through her cheek.
As he pulled the arrow back stab again, Astra let go of his limbs and used her Super Breath to send him flying through two walls. His body crashed into the ground, breaking it apart. Nathan reset his ankle as it healed. He made to get up, only to be pinned down Astra who was holding both of the Kryptonite Arrows in her hands.
"You fought valiantly and with honor," Astra acknowledged, "Now die." She plunged both arrows into Nathan's heart, causing him to seemingly die.
Astra made to tear off the mask but she was then attacked by Supergirl, her assault on her aunt renewed by the death of her ex-boyfriend/ really great friend.
All the while, Nate was thinking, 'I fucking hate using magic.' A black miasma covered his body as he stood up.
Kara had just thrown Astra across the room, after remembering her lesson from Alex. Kara looked behind her as she saw Alex staggering toward her. "Hey," She said, as she was still injured from the stinger that had been in her leg.
Kara hugged her sister and asked, "Are you okay?" They were interrupted when they were knocked off their feet by a gust of wind from Astra.
"I saw on the news you haven't quite mastered that one yet." Astra spoke.
Astra would have said more or done more but at that exact moment, a mass of black ethereal gas slammed into her, knocking her to the ground, creating a crater. Kara and Alex turned to see Black Arrow with his hand outstretched shooting the black ethereal gas from his hands, both Kryptonite Arrows still in his chest.
"Thank God," Kara whispered.
Astra grit her teeth as she held her now broken arm. It was as if the attack had somehow bypassed her invulnerability. She got up and looked at her attacker to find the same man she had stabbed in the heart still standing with two arrows in his heart. 'What is he?'
Astra rushed him with a wide arc kick trying to take his head off. He ducked and she followed up with a downward punch with her one good arm. Nathan side stepped Astra and socked her in the jaw, though this time, his hand was covered in dark shadows, bypassing her invulnerability, letting her feel the full brunt of his attack. He punched her in the gut several more times, each blowing delivering her pain she had not felt in a long time. He then kicked her legs out of from under her, then pulled one of the arrows out of his chest and stabbed in through her stomach, causing her to scream in pain.
"That was for stabbing me in the heart." He growled.
He pulled the other arrow out and made to stab her through the heart but paused as he looked up when DEO agents entered and it cost him as Astra gave a full strength uppercut to send Nathan flying through the ceiling before she flew out, making her escape.
Nathan was falling through the sky but Kara managed to catch him before he hit the pavement. "Well, this is embarrassing."He said.
Kara set him down on his feet. They stared at each other before she wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug. "I'm glad you're not dead."
"Me too, Karebear" He said. Kara pulled away and noticed something. "Nate, your mask…", She said.
Nathan touched his hand to his face, not feeling his mask there. The blow Astra gave him must have destroyed his mask. And now Alex and Hank has seen his face.
"Shit, I gotta run. I'll meet up with you later." Nathan said as he jumped up into the rafters and out the hole Astra made.
"Miss Danvers," Hank said, with a look that said he was definitely not amused, "I believe you have some explaining to do."
Kara groaned while she figured out how she was gonna explain this.
Later
"Director Henshaw, thank you for helping me set up that room." Alex thanked Hank as she just came back from showing Kara her mother's AI.
"It's the least I can do for Supergirl." Hank said, with Alex noticing the fact he called Kara by her superhero name.
"I won't tell her you called her that." She teased and his lips formed something of a smile.
"I'd appreciate it." Hank said.
All of a sudden, the lights went out for a brief moment. They turned back on, only to find everyone except Alex and Hank unconscious.
"Hank, what just happened?" Alex asked.
"I happened" came the voice of Black Arrow. Pulling out her gun and whirling around, she pointed it at him, as he was wearing his repaired mask.
"What do you want, Mr. Queen?" Hank calmly asked.
"To talk," he looked at Alex and said as he pulled his hood back and his mask receded, "And for fucks sake, put your gun down, Alex. We're old friends, aren't we?"
"What did you do to my men?" Hank asked as Alex reluctantly holstered her gun.
"Nothing harmful, just a little something to keep them asleep. They'll wake up when I leave."
Nathan leaned on a table and crossed his arms. "I just wanted to talk with you, about keeping my identity a secret. Suffice to say, you two seeing my face was not part of the plan. I just want to make sure you two weren't planning on revealing my identity".
"And why we do that? Aside from the fact you are the Arrow and Prometheus." Hank said, causing Alex to look at him in shock.
"hmm," He hummed as he examined Henshaw with a critical eye, "You're more than you appear to be, Mr. Henshaw. But anyways, if you need a reason, then here's one." Nathan merely threw a card at Hank, who caught it, and both he and Alex looked at it.
It was an ARGUS Shadow Operative badge.
"Is this supposed to be a joke?" Alex asked in disbelief.
"It's no joke Alex. Amanda Waller's Shadow Operative program is a very real thing." Hank said, causing her to look at him. "Waller's a shrewd and pretty immoral woman. Technically, Shadow Operative's are not employed by ARGUS, no money changes hands and no reports need to be filed. This allows them to slip into the underworld of a city far better. The rules of conduct state that as long as the Operative is acting in accordance with their mission, any and all illegal activity is deemed legal, up to and including murder." He explained.
"Instead of releasing me from ARGUS employ, Waller classified me as this, which is why I still have to do odd jobs for her here and there, like capturing someone she wants for her Task Force X." Nathan explained.
Hank continued reading, "Mission is as follows: the death of Constantine Kovar in Russia, dealing with corruption in Starling City according to the Tempest notebook recovered from Robert Queen's corpse and most recently the general defense of Starling city from 2013 until the present day. As such, any of his actions as a member of the Bratva, the Triad, the Arrow, Prometheus and Black Arrow are all authorized and legal."
"Which basically means for you, that attempting to reveal my identity is tantamount to committing high treason." Nathan said as he took the card back.
"I'm guessing you don't trust us then." Alex said.
"I don't know you as well as I know Kara, Alex. And I don't know Henshaw here at all. I had to be sure you didn't harbor any foolish thought of exposing me, since it would be mutually assured destruction for the both of us." Nathan said as the he stepped back. "It's nothing personal." He said, his voice echoing through the room as the light's flickered back of and then back on and everyone started to wake up.
Kryptonian base
A little bit later
Astra was a on a medical table as the doctor pulled out the arrow and set her arm in cast while it healed. "Kryptonians are nearly indestructible on Earth. How could that arrow hurt me?" Astra demanded.
"Unclear. I've never seen anything like it." The doctor said, ignoring her groaning.
"It's definitely not from this planet.", He put it on the table and the computer brought up a screen. "It seems to be emitting a specific radioactivity that's damaging to the Kryptonian cellular structure."
"It's still making me sick. Get it away from me." Astra demanded and when he didn't, he said it more forcefully. "Get it out of here."
" The humans are more canny than we predicted." Came Non's voice from the shadows.
"Until we learn to neutralize this weapon they possess, we might have to rethink our timetable for taking National City." Astra said.
"And what of Kara Zor El?" Non asked his wife/ commander.
"My niece, she is stronger than I thought. She's not just a little girl from Krypton anymore." Astra said in recognition while she was determined to find out more about whoever it was that tried to kill her earlier.
Outside Kara's apartment
Nathan was getting on his bike and getting ready to leave. Kara was seeing him off.
"Are you sure you have to leave, Nate?" Kara asked.
"Yeah, I've been away long enough. The others have probably noticed the real me's absence."
"But hey, if you ever need help, don't hesitate to call me….Even though against a Kryptonian, I am very outmatched." Nathan said.
Kara gave a him a big hug. "I promise, I will. And hey, are you planning to stay as Black Arrow?"
"Not yet, Prometheus still has a job to do. A job that persona is uniquely qualified for.
Back in Star City
One day later
Nathan stopped by the post office to deliver a package to the person at the mailing office, "I need this sent right away."
"We'll get right on it, Mr. Queen." The desk lady said.
Nathan pulled out his phone and dialed a number. A few seconds later, the person he was calling picked up. "This is Allen." Came the voice.
"Hey Barry, it's me. I need a favor."