Summary:

Fourteen months ago, an older version of Kara travelled back in time, and merged her consciousness with her younger self in an effort to prevent a nightmare future. Eight weeks ago, she came out as Supergirl, catching Alex's plane as it fell from the sky. Since that time, the knowledge and skills she acquired in the future have allowed her to make a number of changes for the better, but those changes haven't been without consequences.

Now, in the aftermath of a vicious attack, the tables are turned, and Kara is scrambling desperately to play catch up, but everything seems to be aligning against her. Her allies are starting to doubt her, she can't seem to control her temper, she has to deal with a darker, more brutal version of Project Cadmus that seems hell bent on burning everything to the ground.

The pressure is mounting, and the only place she can find peace is in the presence of Cat Grant, but even that relationship might be doomed when a ghost from Kara's past walks back into her life.

This story is the sequel to "The Shape of Things to Come," and second in the Future Shock series. It does *not* stand alone.

Notes:

For now, I will be posting one chapter a week. That may change depending on how far ahead I get with the story, but please understand that I have limited time to write, and if I post faster *now* that will mean longer, irregular gaps between chapters *later*. I'd rather be slow and steady because it keeps me motivated.

As I mentioned in the notes for "The Shape of Things to Come" if you are a Supercat shipper who can not stand to see Kara or Cat with anyone else, this is not a story for you. Supercat is end game, but Kara's relationship with Sara is a very large part of this story.

For Lena and Astra fans, if you can't stand seeing Lena with anyone other than Kara, or Astra with anyone other than Alex, this is *definitely* not your fic, because Lena ends up with someone who isn't Kara and Astra ends up with someone who isn't Alex.

Thanks to ifourmindbeso for her great work as a beta. Any remaining mistakes are entirely my own.

Warnings:

Graphic depictions of violence, including gun violence, and its aftermath.

CatCo Special Broadcast of President Marsdin's Emergency Address to the Nation from The Oval Office

6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time, Friday November 27th, 2015

"Good evening. I know that it is traditional to begin addresses such as this with the words, 'My fellow Americans,' but tonight I will break with that tradition, because as recent events have reminded us, we are no longer alone in this universe, and in truth, we never have been. So, I will begin tonight with words that reflect that truth."

"My fellow citizens of planet Earth, I stand with you tonight, looking on in shock and horror at the aftermath of a vicious attack on who we are, as well as who we aspire to be."

"Just a few short hours ago, I proudly stood on stage with the young woman known to the world as Supergirl, and I proclaimed that we would heed the call she had made, the challenge she had set us, to put our best foot forward, to be our best selves, and to do better by our brothers and sisters who have arrived from beyond the stars to share this precious, beautiful world with us."

"Just moments after I finished signing the new laws that were intended to set us on that noble path, the young woman who was both my inspiration and my call to action was brutally attacked, shot in the head as she and her cousin took to the sky in celebration of her accomplishments over the last few weeks. Like many of you, I have seen the footage of her being struck by a horrible weapon forged specifically with the intent to kill her. Like many of you, I watched as this young woman, a shining beacon of hope, courage and selflessness fell to Earth. And, like many of you, I have feared the worst. That this light was taken from us before her time."

"I have spent the intervening hours in consultation with Director J'onzz of the DEO, along with my national security and homeland security advisors, trying to understand today's events. At present, the DEO is on the scene and leading the investigation in partnership with local law enforcement. I have directed that the full resources of the federal government be made available for this investigation."

"We are still learning the facts. This is an open investigation. We have reached no definitive answers on the motivations of the attackers. The DEO is appropriately investigating this as an anti-alien hate crime. We are sparing no effort to determine what, if any, association the attackers may have with known anti-alien organizations."

"At this time, I regret to say we have more questions than answers. What is clear is that whoever carried out this attack is filled with hatred and lacks even the smallest measure of compassion. The nature of the attack, an ambush from the shadows, reveals the character of the attacker to be that of a coward, too craven to even face the young woman they so brutally tried to murder."

"We know also that this is the second attempt to murder a young woman in as many days, and that both attacks were at least in part efforts to silence a voice calling for compassion and change in our world."

"We know, also, that this day must seem especially tragic for our friends and neighbors who are alien, who are members of LGBTQ communities, who are immigrants, who are refugees, or who are people of faith, as those communities took Supergirl into their hearts over the last few weeks, looking to her as a symbol of hope as much as a champion of their rights and freedoms."

"Tonight, to those communities, to everyone who looked up to Supergirl not just as a woman who could catch a plane falling out of the sky, but as a champion of freedom, liberty and equality for all people, I say to you, have hope. This beacon, this shining voice, this clarion call of hope has only fallen silent momentarily. Your champion is safe in the care of those who know her and can help her best."

"Tonight, I say to you, Supergirl lives."

"Supergirl lives, and she will make a full recovery."

"Supergirl lives, and she will take to the skies of National City again."

"Supergirl lives, and the enemies of freedom, equality and hope have failed to silence her calls for justice and compassion."

"And finally, tonight I say to the people who perpetrated this unprovoked attack on a hero who has worked selflessly for the betterment of all, be afraid. Even now, we are hunting you. We will find out who you are, we will find out where you are, and when we do, we will come for you, and you will pay for what you've done."

"My fellow Citizens of Earth, Good Night, God Bless, and as my friend Supergirl would say, May Rao Light Your Way."

10:22 AM Pacific Standard Time, Saturday, November 28th, 2015

Astra stood on the wreckage of the CatCo helipad, shattered chunks of asphalt from when Kal-El had been blown back into the surface surrounded her feet as she stared out over National City. Wind whipped by them, and back on Krypton it would have felt cold. Here, on this world bathed in the rich power of the yellow sun, she barely felt it. Instead she focused on the rage boiling inside her.

"Why here?" she asked.

"What?" Kal-El responded.

Astra had to stop herself from turning around and striking him. He wasn't one of her soldiers, or her followers. He was family, as much as that thought might burn in that moment. She wanted to hurt him. He'd failed to protect Kara, and only the fact that she knew how much it would upset Kara kept her from killing him and being done with it.

"Why attack her here?" she asked. "They went to a great deal of trouble to arrange the attack for this place. Why?"

"It's symbolic," Clark said. "She's been associated with this place since she first went public. Cat gave her the name she uses. She gave Cat the first interview. Cat administers her social media presence. This is the place, more than anywhere else in the city, that people associate with her."

"They attacked her in what the public perceives as one of her strongholds," Astra said. It made sense. Her niece had been building a power base among the masses, using the reach afforded her by her ally, Cat Grant, to rally this world's masses to her cause. To strike back here would be a strike against the source of her power.

"Yes," Clark said, giving her confirmation she didn't need. "The same thing has happened to me. Attacks at The Daily Planet."

"They seek not only to kill her, but to make the other aliens afraid," Astra said.

"Yes," Clark said.

Astra took a deep breath and let it as she turned, taking in the entire skyline of the city. So like Argo. Vast, sprawling, bustling with activity as the people raced to and fro. Shining towers here, rankless slums there. Industrial parks, public works, libraries, markets, parks. Only the bay to the north was unfamiliar. Argo had been inland, a river city, and a hub of trade in days long past. The city of the long twilight. She ached for the long twilight of home, where she could sit and stare at the face of Rao sitting on the horizon for hours at a time.

She hated this world's short day and night cycle. Hated the yellow star above her. Hated that she'd ever let Kara make her think that she could have a life here, on this alien world.

"I almost believed her," she said, barely aware she'd spoken out loud until Kal-El answered her.

"Believed what?" he asked.

She turned to look at him. This failure who wore his father's face. Kal-El, son of Jor-El.

"Kara almost convinced me we could build a life here. That we could live among them and co-exist."

"You can," Clark said. "I have. Kara has."

"In secret," Astra said. "Hiding who and what you are. This world has known her as she truly is for less than a single Kryptonian day, and its people have already tried to murder her."

She watched him, the way he tensed, as if preparing to fight. The way he dreaded it, as if he, too knew that such a fight would destroy the girl they both loved.

"/ .kaozhanim udolkhehdia w ,kahl,ehl,/" Astra said. "I have given my word, and I will abide by it, until the day one of them kills Kara. On that day I will end these humans. On that, also, I give my word."

General Abraham Braxton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reached over and picked up the phone, answering it on the first ring without looking up from the report he was reading.

"Braxton," he said.

"I have General Sam Lane here to see you, sir," his secretary Phillip said.

"Send him in," Braxton said, closing the report. He hung up without waiting for a reply. He sat up straight in his chair as the door opened and Lane walked into his office, coming to a stop and standing at attention in front of his desk.

"Afternoon, General," Braxton said.

"Good afternoon, sir," Lane said.

"General Lane, would you kindly explain to me what the ever-loving fuck you were thinking when you deployed a top secret anti-alien weapon prototype against Supergirl?" Braxton asked in a tone so calm he might have been asking about the weather.

"I was thinking that Supergirl represents an enormous threat to national security," Lane said.

"Really," Braxton asked.

"Yes, sir," Lane said.

"Hmmm… And tell me, General Lane, what's the nature of this threat?" Braxton asked.

"Sir?" Lane asked.

"I think the question was clear enough," Braxton said.

"She's managed to build a massive power base in a short time, in terms of money, political influence, advanced technology, and with the pardoning of the Kryptonian terrorists, raw military power. She seems to exert an enormous amount of influence over the President, and there's every possibility that someone on my staff may have warned her when we moved to take custody of the Fort Rozz prisoners, which means she's suborned members of the US Military," Lane said.

"Well, that's certainly an accurate summation of the situation," Braxton said. "However, it occurs to me, General Lane, that none of those things, with the exception of the possibility that she's suborned a member of the US military, is actually illegal."

"Sir-"

"Do you have any evidence that she's suborned a member of your staff, General Lane?" Braxton asked.

"No sir," Lane responded.

"It is not possible that someone at the DEO contacted her when you arrived to collect the prisoners," Braxton asked.

"It's possible," Lane admitted.

"Do you know what actually is illegal, General Lane?" Braxton asked.

"No, sir," Lane said.

"Withholding information vital to national security from a superior officer," Braxton said. "I believe the usual charge is Dereliction of Duty, though Treason is also a possibility."

"Sir-" Lane started.

"General Lane, I am very, very carefully not asking if you knew that the man in charge of the DEO for the past ten years was an imposter. Do you know why I'm not asking that, General Lane?" Braxton said.

"No, sir," Lane said.

"I'm not asking, because if I don't ask, I can honestly tell Congress that as far as I know, none of my subordinates knew that Director Henshaw had been replaced by one of the very aliens he was supposed to be protecting us from," Braxton said. "Which is the same reason I am very, very carefully not asking if you met the test subject for the 'Cyborg Superman' project I signed off on."

"When you and Secretary Lewis approached me about the possibility of shifting Cadmus off the books in the event that President Marsdin made the unwise decision to terminate the Project, I was more than happy to agree. I believe this country needs Cadmus. I believe that aliens are a clear and present danger to our nation, and the entire world. This is something we both agree on. However, General, I think, perhaps, you misunderstand the entire purpose of Project Cadmus. Would you explain to me what you think the purpose of Project Cadmus is?"

"Project Cadmus exists to study aliens and their technology to create a defense against hostile extra-terrestrials," Lane said.

"Very good, General Lane," Braxton said. "Now, explain to me what, exactly, Supergirl has done to place her in the 'hostile extra-terrestrial' category?"

"Sir, she's clearly got an agenda," Lane said.

"Yes," Braxton said. "Very clearly. She's been quite open about it. Something you would know had you bothered to read her interview with Cat Grant, or any of her numerous social media posts. Or even listened to what she had to say at the CatCo Gala."

"How do you know what she said at the Gala?" Lane asked.

"I know, because I've very good at my job, and because the DEO had the entire place wired for sound. There might be all of two words spoken by Supergirl that evening that haven't been transcribed and dissected by five different intelligence agencies, including your own. Tell me, General Lane, did you even bother to read those reports?"

"No, sir," Lane said.

"That, General, is because you're a close-minded bigot who imagines himself an insightful and educated man," Braxton said. "Sadly, as it happens, you are not easily replaceable, for the simple fact that if I replaced you, I would have to explain *why*, and if I do that, we'd both go to jail for treason. So, I want to be perfectly, crystal clear, General. First, if you are aware of *any* intelligence that I should have, I expect it on my desk by tomorrow morning. Second, Project Cadmus is to take no direct action against Supergirl, until and unless she takes overtly hostile action against civilians, law enforcement, the military, or the government. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," Lane said.

"Oh, and Lane," Braxton said. "You keep Lillian Luthor on a god damned leash, or I will have your balls mounted on my wall. Are we clear?"

"Crystal, sir," Lane said.

"Sara?" Jax called out.

The sound made Sara wince as it lanced through her head like a barbed arrow. She slowly forced her eyes open, the faint green glow of the temporal zone feeling like an ice pick driven into her eye socket. She closed her eyes for a moment, letting the pain recede. When she opened them again, it still hurt, but not nearly so much.

"Here," she said.

"Thank god!" Jax replied.

A beam of light found her, making her squeeze her eyes shut as she lifted the harness that held her in the captain's chair.

"Gideon," Sara said, frowning when there wasn't a response.

"Power's off line," Jax said. "No Gideon right now."

"What the hell happened?" Sara asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Jax said, taking her hand and helping her up. She got her first good look at him then. The left side of his face was covered in blood, and a long cut across his forehead was partially crusted closed but oozed a bit in places.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Hit my head on the galley table when the ship got hit by… whatever hit us."

"Time quake," Sara said.

"What?" Jax asked.

"Temporal shockwave caused by a large change to the timeline," she answered.

"How do you know that?" Jax asked.

Sara thought about it for a moment, not sure herself, before she remembered the fight on Apokolips. Sailing out of the boomtube like a bat out of hell. Her desperation when the Temporal Displacement Manifold blew out of the side of the ship before it could rip Apokolips out of the time stream. Parademons tearing their way through the hull. One driving a sword through Thea's heart while Sara plugged an Omegahedron directly into the Hyper-Temporal Delineator. The searing pain as the hyperchronoton backwash tore her apart at the subatomic level.

"Sara?"

Sara looked up at Jax, the memory already dim and distant, more a collection of disjointed images than connected events, but she knew that they needed to get Gideon back on line.

"Where's Rip?" she asked.

"Trying to restore power," Jax said. "He thinks the impact damaged the feed lines for the reaction mass."

"That's because he's an idiot," Sara sad. "I threw the feed lines into breach protocol the moment we broke through into the Vanishing Point. I was afraid the impact would split the lines and flood the ship with hydrogen."

"We're in the Vanishing Point?" Jax asked.

"Only place I could think of that would be insulated enough from the time quake to keep us from being smashed to pieces."

"Makes sense," Jax said, "except, how'd you know it was coming?"

"I don't know," Sara said. "I just had this gut feeling that something was off."

"Well, your gut feeling just saved our lives," Jax said. "Come on. Let's go find Rip."

Sara nodded, and let Jax lead the way as she did her best not to think about the moment where the boundaries between timelines had seemed to melt away, and she could see all her possible pasts and futures. Just like she tried not to think about the fact that something was horribly, unutterably wrong.

Susan stopped at the doorway to the breakroom, unable to keep herself from smiling at the sight that greeted her.

"Still working on it?" she asked.

Leslie looked up from the map she had spread out over one of the tables, the usual sneer missing, replaced with a look of concentration. "We found another repeater," she said, tapping one of the buildings on the map. "That puts the signal in range of both TychoTech and Lord Technologies."

"That's good news," Susan said, walking over to look at the map.

"It would be, if we could prove which one put the repeaters in place. Problem is, they're off-the-shelf parts. I could buy the stuff to build them off Amazon." Leslie sighed and leaned back, frustration written in every move.

"Hey, you're doing fantastic," Susan said, sitting down next to her. "Especially considering this if your first crime scene."

"What I'm doing is wasting time," Leslie growled. "I should be out there, looking for this son of a bitch."

"Leslie, I know you're angry about what happened, and we really appreciate the help, but this guy is dangerous, and you're not a soldier," Susan said.

"I know, but I don't care," she said. "I *need* a piece of this motherfucker."

Susan frowned as she thought of the 'revengy' version of Livewire from the other timeline that Kara had described. That woman had destroyed her own life out of anger and rage, but from everything Kara said, she'd ended up a hero. Susan didn't know that Leslie, and truthfully, she didn't know this one very well either, but she had seen the way Leslie had reacted when she'd found out about Kara. For some reason, it had hit her hard.

Leslie took a deep breath and leaned over the map again.

"Where did you learn all this, anyway?" Susan asked.

"College," Leslie said. "I went to school to be a broadcast engineer."

"Really?" Susan asked.

"Yeah," Leslie said. "I was the engineer for the late-night show at the college radio station. Senior year, the DJ came down with laryngitis, so I took over the show for a few weeks. The station manager liked me better than the guy who normally did the job, so she kept me on. When I graduated, this station in Nevada hired me to cohost the morning show, and the rest is history." She sat up and looked over at Susan again.

"Wanna know the fucked-up part?" Leslie asked.

"Sure," Susan said.

Leslie waved a finger in the direction of the map. "I actually like doing this more than I ever liked being a DJ," She said.

Susan smiled, and looked over at the map, which had the location of the missile launcher and the radio receiver they'd found hooked to it marked, along with the two dozen signal repeaters Batman and his crew had found, all leading out to the industrial parks where Lord Technologies and TychoTech had their headquarters. Each repeater was circled with a line indicating its effective range. There were two separate lines of repeaters, presumably to give redundant coverage, but both Lord Technologies and TychoTech were in the overlap of the two devices.

"Legally Short and Dimples both say a judge won't sign off on a warrant until we can narrow it down to one of them," Leslie said.

Susan couldn't stop herself from laughing at the nicknames, and when she glanced over, Leslie was grinning. She turned and looked at the map again.

"Try plotting the area that would have a repeater in range of one building, but not the other," Susan said. "Then, we can check those areas, and if we find a repeater, we'll be able to get a warrant."

"Damn," Leslie said. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"How long since you slept?" Susan asked.

Leslie shrugged as she reached for a piece of paper and a ruler. "Whatever time Supergirl woke me up Friday Morning," she said.

"Uh huh. Okay then. As soon as you send out the new search grid, you're going to bed."

"I don't understand how anyone gets anywhere in this town," Damian muttered.

Dick turned and looked at him, trying to keep the indulgent smile off his face. "I imagine they use cars, like normal people."

Damian gave him an annoyed look, but Dick could see the struggle to keep the corners of his mouth from turning up in a smile.

Dick turned back to the tablet he'd been working on, trying to hack into the security feeds of the building they were currently perched on. He'd been at it for about ten minutes when he heard a faint, but distinctive thump, and glanced up to see Kate walking towards him.

"Batman should have split the two of you up and paired you with Red Robin and Batgirl," she said, holding out her hand for the tablet. "Neither of you can hack worth a damn."

Dick rolled his eyes and passed over the tablet. "I'm usually pretty good," he said. "Security on this place is tighter than a duck's ass."

Kate looked down at the tablet and started entering commands. "Comments like that make me concerned about Penelope's virtue," she said in a complete deadpan.

"Hey, Jason, Duke, Stephanie and I are the ones in this chicken shit outfit who don't have fursonas," Dick said.

"Just because Nightwing is Kryptonian, doesn't mean you aren't going to furry hell with the rest of us," Kate said as she passed the tablet back to Dick. "Besides, the little creeper over there inherited his fursona from you."

"Would you two knock off the furry jokes," Damian said. "It really wasn't funny the first five hundred times."

"It's funny," Kate said, "and when you're old enough that your voice stops cracking every five minutes and half your utility belt isn't filled with spare pimple cream, you might develop a sense of humor and realize it."

Dick smiled as he accessed the now thoroughly rooted computers in the building below and dumped the last months' worth of security footage onto the tablet.

"How'd you do at the other locations?" Dick asked, watching as Damian went through about thirty different rude hand gestures directed in Kate's direction.

"We struck out," Kate said. "Cadmus had cleared all the locations on the list J'onn gave us days ago. We got some security footage of moving vans being loaded but the plates were obscured, and they all headed out of the city, so we lost them once they got beyond the traffic cams."

"I hate dealing with professionals," Dick said. "Any sign of Jeremiah Danvers?"

"Maybe," Kate said. "They took more than a few cages out of a couple of locations. It's possible he was in one. There were also stasis tanks and even a few cloning tanks."

"Wonderful," Dick said as he turned off the tablet and slipped it back into its pouch. "I hate this."

"How do you think I feel," Kate said. "I *just* found out she's gay and hadn't even had the chance to ask for a date. I'm definitely taking that shit out of someone's hide."

Dick looked over at Damian and rolled his eyes. "Stop it, you little shit. It's not like you'd have had a chance, even if she was straight."

"Asshole," Damian muttered.

"Watch it, half pint," Kate said. "I'm pretty Batman wouldn't even notice if there was one less kid running around."

"If it makes you feel better, I don't think you stood much of a chance, anyway," Dick said.

"Why not?" Kate asked.

"You're not blonde enough for her," Dick said.

"You have seen her, right? Seriously, I'd buy some bleach," Kate said.

"Can we go now?" Damian asked.

"Shut up," Dick and Kate both shouted.

"How is she doing?" Jackson asked as Winn walked into the kitchen.

"Well, she hasn't kicked us out yet, so I'd say not good," Winn replied. "I think having Carter here is helping. She's forcing herself to function for him. With a little luck, that will last until Kara's back on her feet."

"That's can't be healthy," Jackson said.

Winn shrugged as he opened the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of water. He handed one to Jackson as he sat down across the table from him. "It's not, but sometimes healthy is a bit ambitious and you just gotta get through the day."

Jackson twisted the top off his water. "Now that is something I can understand," he said. He took a pull off the water, and Winn had to look away to keep from staring at his throat as he swallowed.

"You knew how to handle her panic attack," Jackson said. "Experience?"

"Yeah," Winn said. "I spent some time in foster homes. Not something I'd recommend. One of the girls in one of the homes with me was gay. Word got around at school and things got bad for her. She started having them. Sometimes two or three a day. I learned how to take care of it. What worked for her, what didn't. It varies from person to person. You learn how to watch for their triggers and help the person avoid them. I've never seen Miss Grant have one before, so I just started with the basics. Control her breathing so she doesn't hyperventilate, provide reassurance, reduce stimulus, keep her grounded, don't leave her alone. Punch James Olsen in the face next time I see him."

"I don't think he meant any harm," Jackson said.

"I know he didn't, and it probably wouldn't have caused her to have an incident if she didn't know Supergirl was Kara," Winn said. "But it's been pretty obvious since the interview that Cat knows."

"I knew Kara had feelings for Cat," Jackson said. "That much was obvious when she recruited me. It took a while longer for me to realize that it's mutual. I don't believe James has the advantage of our perspective."

"James misses a lot of things," Winn said. "What about you, though? I mean, if you don't mind. It's pretty obvious you're not *just* an assistant."

"I was King Orin's body guard," Jackson said. "After his brother attempted to assassinate him, the elders of Atlantis would not allow him to leave the city without one, so I was chosen."

"King Orin? Like, Aquaman? You mean you were Aquaman's bodyguard?" Winn asked.

"Yes," Jackson said.

"And you gave that up to guard Cat?"

"No. The King… I found out something that made it impossible for me to remain in the King's service. When Kara found me, I was working on a small fishing boat in Alaska."

"I'm sorry," Winn said. "It sucks when you find out the people you looked up to aren't what you thought. Especially if you lose your home in the process."

"Sounds like you speak from experience," Jackson said.

"Yeah. My dad's in prison, and he really deserves to be," Winn replied.

"My father is not in prison, but he most definitely deserves to be. You have my condolences as well."

Winn held out his water bottle, tapping it against Jackson's. "Here's to us," he said.

Jackson smiled. "To us."

"Alright," James said, "we'll go with the timeline format for the Supergirl article, but I want a list of known anti-alien extremist groups with a brief as a sidebar on that page, with a link to the full article."

"What about the profiles of anti-alien politicians?" Vicki asked. "You still want to go with that?"

"Definitely," James said. "When it goes up on the website, I want each one to have a clip featuring sound bites from anti-alien speeches they've given. I want those same sound bites as pull quotes in the magazines version of the article."

Vicki nodded. "That only leaves the feature on the attack itself. Obviously, we're including the full video with a violent content disclaimer on the website, but how do you want to handle the layout for the magazine article?"

"We'll use four pictures," James said. "We'll use a large blow up of the moment just before the missile hit as the main image, then will use inline images of her falling, of her laying on the pavement, and another large blow up of the moment where Superman is holding her in his arms but hasn't taken off yet as the top half of the last page of the article."

"That's a good image," Vicki said. "Powerful. Some might even say iconic. But are you sure that's how we want to spin it?"

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"Well, it just seems more focused on Superman's reaction, than what actually happened to Supergirl. It's very 'damsel in distress'," Vicki said.

"Huh," James said. "I hadn't really thought of it that way."

"Really?" Vicki asked. "I never would have guessed."

James bristled a little at the tone in Vicki's voice. "Well, what do you suggest?"

"Go with the pre-impact shot, then her hitting the CatCo sign, then her falling, and do the half page of her laying on the ground," Vicki said. "It keeps the focus on Supergirl, rather than making it about her cousin."

James frowned. "It feels like leaving out part of the story," he said.

"Not leaving out," Vicki said. "We're already including it in the text. We're simply not choosing to highlight it in pictures. The point of the entire special section is to examine the attack and its impact. Who might be behind it, why Supergirl was targeted, how it's impacting National City, how it's impacting aliens and the alien rights movement. Yes, Superman is part of the narrative leading up to the attack but using that picture in that place is like giving a quarter of the article space over to talking about the EMT who loaded someone into an ambulance."

James wanted to argue with her, wanted to say that Clark was part of the story, but he knew she was right, and he knew it was what Cat would do. If it were his magazine, he might make a different decision, but he was just filling in until Cat came back, so he just nodded.

"You're right," he said. "We'll do it your way."

Vicki nodded. "Any word on Cat?" she asked.

"Jackson said she's doing well," James replied. "She's got her son with her."

Vicki nodded, and stood up. "I'm going to go light some fires under some asses, and see if we can get any more info on what's going on."

"Okay," James said.

"And James," Vicki said.

"Yeah?"

"Next time you talk to Clark, tell him I said I hope Kara's okay," Vicki said.

"How did you know?"

"I dated Bruce Wayne for years, James," she said. "None of them are as good at hiding it as they think they are."

James watched as she left, then looked over at the crate sitting in the corner. The one Kara had given him. The one with the Guardian armor from the other timeline. Or, a version of it, anyway. This one was lighter and more durable that the original, at least accounting to the information included. It was made of the same Kryptonian barrier fabric as Kara's suits, but included hard armor segments that could shrug off even more damage.

He felt torn. On the one hand, he desperately wanted to be out there, doing something about what happened. On the other hand, he felt like he needed to be here, because he felt responsible for Cat not being here. An opinion that Wynn had seemed to share. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to know that Cat would have such a strong reaction to what happened though. He knew that Kara cared about Cat. That much was plain to see. He could even tell that Cat had a bit of a soft spot for Kara. But he'd know Cat for years, and she'd always been unshakeable.

Surprise or not, he'd done the damage, and someone had to keep Cat's company together while she was out of it. He might be new to CatCo, but he had more experience that pretty much anyone on staff, other than Vicki, and Vicki was too busy running the investigative reporting team, which was critical right now. That left James in charge, which he couldn't ignore. Not just because of Cat, but because he knew Kara would never forgive him if he did.

Which meant that Guardian would have to wait.

"You know, it's not too late to reconsider," Sam said as she followed Lena and two US Marshals into the Cabin of the Gulfstream 650ER, while two more Marshals followed her.

"You don't have to come with me," Lena said as she took one of the seats near the bulkhead.

"Like I'd let you walk into the middle of a war zone without me," Sam replied, rolling her eyes as she sat down facing Lena across a work table.

"I'd hardly call National City a war zone," Lena said. She reached down and buckled her seatbelt as Sam did the same.

"Did you miss the part where someone shot Supergirl in the head with a missile, right outside the same building where this woman apparently works?" Sam asked.

"No, I didn't, and if I was trying to get a meeting with Supergirl, I'd be worried. But I'm trying to get a meeting with Kara Danvers," Lena said.

"Who just so happens to run Supergirl's social media accounts," Sam replied. "You might not be jumping into the fire, but I think this is definitely frying pan territory."

"What else can I do?" Lena asked. "I've tried calling, I've tried emailing, I've tried having letters couriered over, I've even tried private messages on her facebook profile. At this point, it's either go in person and hope she'll meet with us, or take out a personal ad on Craig's List, and I don't think they have a CEO's seeking CEO's section."

"Well, if the corporate gossip is anything to go by, we could try getting ahold of Cat Grant," Sam said.

"I already tried. Jess has been calling non-stop," Lena said. "Grant's assistant is stonewalling. I'm not sure if Danvers is chucking her out along with the board, or if Grant's just hunkered down waiting for the shitstorm to pass."

"If the gossip is anything to go by, Grant might be hunkered down in Danvers' bedroom."

"You listen to too much gossip," Lena said.

"You don't listen to enough," Sam replied. "How long is this flight, away?"

"The same amount of time it was the last time you asked. Four hours and forty minutes."

"You're going to get us both killed," Sam said.

"You can still get off the plane," Lena replied.

"Ruby would never forgive me if I let her aunt Lena get killed without me," Sam shot back.

"No one is getting killed," Lena said. "We're just going to go to National City, have a nice talk with this Kara Danvers and come right back home. We won't go anywhere near this mess with Supergirl, and we'll be back by the end of the week."

"You realize you just jinxed it, right?" Sam asked.

Lena shook her head and reached for her tablet. "I really thought chartering a jet would be more peaceful than flying commercial."

"How did you talk them into letting you do this?" Sam said, pointing to the four US Marshals in the Cabin.

"I told them I was going, with or without them," Lena said. "They're here to protect me, not arrest me."

"They could protect you better in Metropolis, where it's nice and safe," Sam said.

"Yes, because we've gone a whole two weeks without a Supervillain attack," Lena said. "Completely safe."

"If you die, I'll never forgive you," Sam said.

"I'm fine with that," Lena said.

"If I die, I'm going to haunt you," Sam said.

"You do that," Lena said.

Translated from the Kryptonian:

kaozhanim udolkhehdia w ,kahl,ehl,
Do not be afraid, Kal-El