Kara paced back and forth in the living room of her apartment. Her shoes fell with hushed tones on the carpeted floor as one hand hugged the tan sweater she wore. Her other arm hung loosely at her side. A white button-down shirt and dark slacks finished the outfit. "Alex, hurry up. We're going to be late."
From the bedroom, Alex replied, "Relax, we still have plenty of time."
"Sure, if I fly there. You expect me to fly there?"
Alex wandered out of the bedroom in jeans, a green t-shirt, and black leather jacket. Boots in hand, she looked oddly at her sister. "You okay?"
"You don't even have your shoes on," Kara replied.
Alex held up her boots then wandered over to the couch and sat as she pulled them on. "Kara, just relax. I'm ready, but Maggie isn't even here yet."
"Maggie's coming with us?"
Alex nodded but didn't look up as she pulled on her other boot.
"Why is Maggie coming with us? I don't even know why you're coming with me. This is a story. I don't need a babysitter."
"I'm going because a Luthor has made some new tech. That makes the DEO nervous. I'm investigating. Luthor tech usually leads to trouble, so Maggie is showing up before someone needs to call the police. She's cutting out the middle man."
"Lena isn't like the rest of her family," Kara argued for the...she'd lost count the number of times she'd made this argument.
"Then Maggie and I will be bored, and you get to write your story, no blood no foul. Anyway, you'll want to wait for Maggie."
"Why will I want to wait for—?"As the doorbell rang, Kara turned then walked over and answered the door.
Maggie stood at the door smiling. She was wearing black pants, a gray shirt, and a black leather jack, basically a slightly dressier version of Alex's outfit. Raising the white bag in her hand to shoulder level she said, "Hey, Little Danvers. You ladies ready to go?"
"Doughnuts? You brought doughnuts? Are there crullers in there?" Kara took the bag, opening it and looking inside. Her earlier expression of annoyance verging on anger melting away as she stared at the fried goodness glazed in sugar. "I love crullers."
"Geez, anyone who's known you for more than a cup of coffee knows that," Maggie said as she strolled into the room. "We going?"
"We should head out. We don't want to be late," Alex replied as she kissed Maggie. "It's good to see you, sweetie."
"You too," Maggie replied. "Hey, you coming, Little Danvers?"
"Mmmph...crullers," Kara replied as she nodded and chewed, grabbing another cruller from the bag and following, then running back to get her briefcase before heading to the door again.
"She okay?" Maggie asked Alex.
"I think she's hangry. You came just in time with the sweets."
"Hey, what are cops for?" Maggie replied with a smile.
The trio made haste over to L-Corp. The building stood tall and strong against the blue sky, its telltale L-shape iconic in National City. Kara, Alex, and Maggie weren't here to sightsee though. Lena Luthor had some new technology to unveil. It was said to be a power source, providing ready access to inexpensive energy. Lena hinted that it was related to a favor that Supergirl had done for her, something involving bringing solar panels into space. Kara knew it well but had to feign ignorance. Of course, all of this was off the record information that Kara had before the official reveal today. Kara was all amped up and ready to get everything on the record so she could put this to print.
Security checked the trio in. It was always heavy, but today it seemed even heavier. That wasn't surprising. They were shown to the roof which was devoid of other people. The only things there were a large screen about the size of a movie theater, some kind of machine that was maybe ten feet in any direction, and a railed off platform with a laptop where Lena stood.
"Hey, we're the first ones here," Maggie said.
"And you were worried we'd be late," Alex smirked at her sister as she said it.
"You're getting a sneak preview," Lena said as she walked down the stairs from the platform and approached the group. Her hair was swept up onto her head and held back neatly. She wore a form-fitting dark blue dress that hung to her tight curves. "The others should start arriving in about an hour. Friendship does have its privileges. Hello, Kara." The two women hugged.
"Hi, Lena. Thanks so much for letting us come early," Kara replied with a bit of a bounce betraying her energy level.
Lena nodded, then greeted Maggie and Alex who both greeted her in return, though all in a much more subdued fashion.
"Well, since you're here, I assume you'd like a display?" Lena asked.
"Absolutely!" Kara said eagerly, pulling out her notebook and pen. "On the record?"
"On the record," Lena replied with a smile. "Come stand up front and watch that screen." Lena pointed to the screen on the wall as she walked back up the stairs to the platform and then started to push buttons on the device. The screen lit up, and Lena moved her hands to the keyboard near the device as she clicked away. "The sun, a source of free and renewable energy. A source of incredible power."
Kara looked up at those words. The earth's yellow sun was the source of her power. Lena wasn't looking at her though. The other woman kept clicking away at her keyboard as images formed on the screen. It showed the solar array in space, the panels that Supergirl had placed up there. They were open now, spread out and shining in the light of the sun like a sunflower collecting the light of the sun on an early, summer morning. Lena's voice pulled Kara away from the screen, and she began to write again.
"Solar energy is clean, and we like to think it's free, but it isn't. There's a cost to collect and store it, and that cost is negated by the limitations that go into how readily available access to the sun is. How many hours a day can you access sunlight? More during certain seasons than others, but some days not at all. Even the shadow of our planet gets in the way of collecting solar energy. No, solar may be clean, but it comes at a cost. The answer came in finding ways to mitigate that cost." Lena paused, smiling, waiting.
Holding up her pen, Kara asked, "And how did you mitigate that cost, Miss Luthor?"
"I'm glad you asked that, Miss Danvers. The solar collectors themselves have been repurposed from a prior Luthor Corp project that was deemed no longer appropriate for this company's goals. There was a cost in reusing them, but nowhere near as substantial as in would have been attached to creating something from scratch. Usually, a large portion of the cost of something like this is the actual launch, but Supergirl was kind enough to bring these space-bound and place them into orbit thus nulling the cost associated with the launch. This meant we were able to build and launch a full array of solar collectors for a fraction of the usual cost. Isn't that fantastic?"
"Uh..." Kara nodded, her brow furrowed over her pad of paper as she wrote furiously, then looked up. "So you're collecting solar energy in space? What are you going to do with it up there, fuel space ships?"
"No. Well, I suppose we could, but that wasn't the intention. You see, on the roof of this building we've created a receiving station." Lena paused, gesturing toward the machine on the platform. "We can literally beam microwave or solar power back here and store the energy. We're collecting low cost, limitless, clean solar energy and sending it back to earth where we can store it safely for use. The more storage stations we build around the world, the more places we can store it. We could send power to remote corners of the world that currently struggle to find sources of energy. This could be life altering, lifesaving, for some people."
Biting at her lower lip, Kara stopped taking notes and looked up at Lena. This was more than new technology. This was more than innovation. This was what Lena had said she wanted to do when she changed Luthor Corp into L-Corp. This was making a new name for herself and proving she was more than her last name. This was showing who she really was, that the word Luthor didn't have to equate to bad and it could be something to be proud of.
"Beam energy, down here?" Maggie looked around. "That doesn't sound safe. Danvers, does that sound safe to you?"
"I'm...sure it's safe. Miss Luthor, it's safe, isn't it?" Alex asked, her uncertainty showing.
"Of course it's safe," Lena replied without hesitation. "If it wasn't, I wouldn't be here. Would you care to see a demonstration?"
"Yes," Kara said without skipping a beat.
"Well, uh..." Maggie was much less eager.
"Oh come on Maggie, it will be fine. Alex, tell her it will be fine," Kara encouraged.
"Well...if Miss Luthor can be here for it, I'm sure it's safe," Alex said, though she still didn't look completely convinced herself.
"Excellent," Lena said as she pushed a few more buttons on her keyboard. "Then let's begin, shall we?"
On the screen the solar array turned, the collectors rotating and the main body shifting. In its center, a large pole extended looking a bit like a needle. Slowly it slid out, stopping and locking into place. One red light on the base of the array began to slowly flash on and off and then changed to a steady glow. Lena typed again then stopped, looking up at the screen and smiling.
After about two minutes, Maggie said, "I don't get it. First I was worried, now I'm bored. When is it going to do something?"
"It's doing it, Detective," Lena replied. "As soon as that red light changed to a steady glow it began beaming energy to the receiving station. My display tells me the level of the storage unit, and we're in the green."
"That's it?" Alex asked. "I mean, it doesn't glow or anything?"
"Glow?" With a little smirk, Lena shook her head. "Agent Danvers, this isn't a science fiction movie. We don't have a special effects department. If you'd like I could talk to my marketing department, see if they could jazz this part up a bit for us though. I suppose it does seem a bit hum-drum. Ah well. No, ladies, though it may not be visually exciting the reality of what it can do for the environment and for developing nations is very exciting, and L-Corp is proud to partner in bringing about a better world."
"Can I quote you on that, Miss Luthor?" Kara asked, her pen hovering above her page once again.
"Why yes you can, Miss Danvers," Lena replied with a growing smile. "Unfortunately the demonstration doesn't get any—"
There was some yelling from the passageway they had used to access the roof followed by silence. Huge black power lines ran along the ground and electricity jumped and sparked from them. Suddenly, there was a huge flash making everyone step back. The power arched and from it, a figure appeared.
"Who the hell are you?" Lena demanded.
"Livewire!" Kara said, nearly flying right at the newcomer.
"Kara!" Alex shook her head vigorously at her sister. This might be a job for Supergirl, but right now Kara Danvers was in the room.
"Why hello, Kara, fancy seeing you here. I came for the power and find an old friend. Well, maybe 'friend' is overstating it."
"I don't remember you having friends," Kara said.
Livewire shrugged. "I barely remember you. Your personality is as monochrome and boring as your outfits."
"What do you want?" Lena called out.
"What do I want?" Disappearing into a flash of electricity, Livewire sparked in again behind Lena, making the woman jump. "What I want is what everyone wants: free energy."
"There's no such thing as free energy," Lena said as she tried to back away.
Livewire grabbed Lena's wrist, pulling the other woman back. "Sure there is. You just have to steal it. I caught sight of your last little test, the tail end of it, and I've been waiting for this thing to go live again. This was my chance. Now, all we need is maximum power." Holding her hand over the machine on the platform caused sparks to fly as Livewire's smile grew.
"No!" Pushing past Livewire, Lena tapped at the keyboard as she stared anxiously at a display. "No! You increased the output past safe levels and turned off the safety protocols. The receiving station can only contain a certain amount of power, and it's only set to collect it at a certain rate. This is catastrophic!"
"Relax. I'm going to drain your battery dry. You won't have any containment concerns," Livewire said with a smile. "The only thing catastrophic is that hairdo."
Slowly looking up from the screen, Lena narrowed her eyes at Livewire and mumbled, "You're one to talk." Turning back to the screen, Lena began to click away again, shaking her head and furrowing her brow as she went.
"Wait, is something going to blow up? Is this thing going to explode?" Maggie asked as she drew her gun and pointed it at the machine.
"Yes, it will..." Lena looked over at Maggie. "Well don't shoot the receiving station. Shoot her!" Lena flicked her head in Livewire's direction but didn't slow in her typing.
"You're under arrest!" Maggie said, the gun pointed steadily at Livewire as Alex came along her side, weapon also drawn.
"Kara," Alex looked back at her sister. "Go get help. Hurry!"
Kara nodded, recognizing a job for Supergirl when she saw it. She was most of the way to the exit when Livewire was suddenly in front of her.
"Oh, you're not going anywhere. I'm getting my energy, then you and I are going to catch up on old times. How's Cat doing?"
"None of your business. I wouldn't tell you even if...you threw me off this roof," Kara replied hoping that none too gentle suggestion would be taken to heart. Once off the roof she could do a quick change, come back as Supergirl, save the day, and then later claim to have been rescued by Supergirl. All she needed was to get thrown off the roof first. Knowing Livewire, it shouldn't take much coaxing.
"Off the roof?" Livewire replied with a grin as she stepped closer to Kara. "Sounds good to me. Do you have your pilot's license?"
"No."
"Too bad for you," Livewire said grabbing Kara by the arm. "You're going to need to learn how to fly."
"Got it!" Lena said as she stopped hitting the keys. "Everyone get down. I'm going to disperse the energy!"
"No!" Livewire shouted.
Lena hit one key before anyone could move, even Livewire. Energy surged across the roof and through Kara, Livewire, Maggie, and Alex. It pushed at them like a wave in the ocean, slowing as it hit them but then moving through them. It felt like the whole world shifted around them as wave after wave of vertigo rode them. They were all rocked to their knees and then flat to the ground. Within seconds, consciousness slipped away, and darkness slid in.
Blinking, Kara cleared her eyes feeling the light of the sun on her face as she stared up at it from the roof of the building. She sat up and looked around. To her left, Livewire lay unconscious. Behind her, Maggie and Alex were in much the same situation. On the platform, Lena lay crumpled against the metal rails that marked off the back of the platform.
"Alex, Maggie," Kara said, going to them and checking on her sister and friend both of whom were unconscious but seemed unhurt. When she checked on Lena, she couldn't say the same. Lena was bleeding profusely from the head, blood running freely down and across the woman's face. "Oh no. Lena? Lena, can you hear me?"
There was a flash of power and Kara looked up, but it was Livewire disappearing from view. She didn't matter now though. What mattered was that Lena needed help, a doctor.
"Ugh, what happened?" Alex said as she struggled to her feet. "Maggie!"
"Don't yell," Maggie replied opening her eyes. "My head hurts."
"Mine too," Alex replied. "Where's Livewire?"
"Gone," Kara said. "Lena is hurt."
Maggie and Alex both rushed up onto the platform.
"What happened to her?" Alex asked.
"I'm not sure. I found her like this when I woke up. Livewire was still unconscious next to me, so I don't think she did it. Lena said something about the energy, about dispersing it. That was the last thing I remember," Kara said.
"More than I do," Maggie admitted.
"Me too," Alex agreed.
"Look, I've got to get Lena to a hospital. You two figure out why Livewire is running around loose. I'll catch up with you once I know Lena's okay." Kara stood up, opening her shirt to reveal her costume underneath.
"Sounds like a plan," Alex said.
"Sure, and let's go get some aspirin too. My head hurts like a bitch."
Lena in her arms, Kara flew to National City Hospital and landed in the emergency room. She strode in, causing the admitting nurse to do a double take.
"Supergirl?"
Supergirl nodded. "My friend's been hurt. She needs medical attention."
"Is that...? Oh, my God, that's Lena Luthor! Quick, bring her this way!"
Supergirl was led to a stretcher where she placed Lena. Within moments there was a contingent of doctors and nurses all buzzing around her friend, all offering aid and asking questions. Lena's vitals had been taken, her pupils checked, and Supergirl soon found herself on the sidelines watching professionals at work. All she could really say is she didn't know what happened. She just found Lena like that.
"Well, thank you for your help Supergirl, for bringing her in so quickly. We'll call her next of kin," the nurse said with a gentle smile.
"Well, can I—?"
"Immediate family only." The nurse shook her head when Supergirl tried to follow past the double doors. "I'm sure if you come by later, or check in with the company, someone will tell you more. I know you're a good friend of the family."
Supergirl nodded. "A very good friend. I'm worried about Lena."
"We'll take good care of her. You can rest assured," the nurse promised her as she turned away, but then turned back, giving Supergirl an odd up and down look. "What is it, retro week or something?"
Head shaking, Supergirl said, "What?"
"Your costume, it's old school. It looks like Superman's. It's kind of like when football teams wear their throwback jerseys. This costume is...cute. I like it, but I like your normal costume better. If you're taking a poll, go back to the blue and silver."
As the nurse left, Kara looked down at her costume with confusion. This was her normal costume. She shook her head at the odd interaction, not being able to spend any more time on this. She had to catch up to her sister and Maggie and help track down Livewire before the villain could cause any more damage.