Alex had never felt more victorious. She and Dr. Wanabi were looking at a microscope slide they’d magnified and projected onto the wall. The slide contained red blood cells interspersed with scarlet-colored crystals of orichalcum. An hour earlier, white blood cells had been barraging the crystals, and the crystals had been twice the size.
“The white blood cells have finally stopped attacking the orichalcum,” said Dr. Wanabi. “I can feel the difference in my body.” He rubbed his arm where Alex had drawn blood.
Since Dr. Wanabi had been responsible for creating the supercitizens, he agreed to be the guinea pig for finding the antidote.
“It looks like the orichalcum in your blood is getting smaller, too,” said Alex. “Did our antidote do that?”
Dr. Wanabi shook his head. “I used my enhanced mental powers to work out this formula, which used up a large portion of the orichalcum in my system.”
“Huh.” Alex rubbed her chin. “So the orichalcum will leave people’s bodies once they’ve maxed out their powers. I mean, if it doesn’t kill them first.”
“Well, that’s what our antidote is for,” Dr. Wanabi reminded her. “To keep the supercitizens’ immune systems from overreacting to the orichalcum.”
“James will be happy to hear that,” spoke a voice from the doorway. “Kara will not.”
Alex and Dr. Wanabi turned around. Mon-El was leaning against the door frame, hands in his pockets and a troubled expression on his face.
Alex gave him a small smile. “She’ll come around. Do you know if she and James got the broadcast out?”
Mon-El nodded. “It aired twenty minutes ago, and Winn’s already been slammed with phone calls.”
Alex’s smile widened. “Even more good news!” She clapped Dr. Wanabi on the shoulder. “If you need me, I’ll be in the control room,” she said, hurrying into the hall. “Mon-El, you coming?”
“Uh . . . should someone stay with him?” asked Mon-El, hitching a thumb in Dr. Wanabi’s direction.
“We used the last of our orichalcum to make the antidote,” Alex said in a soft voice. “And I’m pretty sure his former friends would rather kill him than take him back. He’ll be fine.”
She cleared her throat as she approached Winn’s computer, where he was talking with J’onn. “We’ve found a way to stop the side effects of the orichalcum, and it looks like it dissolves with use. What’s your good news?” She pointed to Winn and J’onn.
“We don’t have any yet,” said J’onn.
Alex’s eyebrows lifted. “What? But Mon-El just told me you got a ton of calls.”
“Yeah.” Winn scoffed and handed her a stack of papers. “Lots of winners.”
Alex shuffled through the tips they’d received. “Supercitizen wants to help, supercitizen wants to help, man saw a bear with a picnic basket . . . ha ha ha.” She held up a piece of paper. “What about this one? A woman saw a little girl walk into a mirror.”
Winn blew a raspberry and made a thumbs-down gesture. “It wasn’t a mirror; it was a doorway. The little girl had a twin sister, and they were dressed alike because they have cruel parents.”
Alex snickered and kept reading the papers. “Man, there are a lot of supercitizens who want to help fight the bad guys once we find them.”
“It’s too bad none can actually lead us to them,” said J’onn.
Alex tossed the papers on Winn’s desk. “I take it your search of hospitals and clinics didn’t turn anything up?”
“I’m pretty sure the evil supercitizens have someone with healing powers,” said Winn. “There were at least two nurses living at Shady Oaks.”
Alex sighed. “Well, it’s still early. Someone’s bound to spot something.”
She felt her phone vibrate against her hip, and when she pulled it out, Maggie’s name was on the screen.
“Oh no, I was supposed to meet Maggie for coffee!” She answered the phone and walked off the control room floor. “Hey, sweetie! I am so sorry, but we’re still trying to track down those supercitizens who took the orichalcum.”
“I thought something like that might have happened,” said Maggie. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Only if you have a police dog trained to sniff out Atlantean metal,” Alex said wryly. “We have no idea where these people are hiding.”
“Hmm. Have you factored in distance decay?” Maggie asked.
“Uh . . . since I have no idea what that is, I’m going to say no,” said Alex.
Maggie laughed. “The farther you get from something, the less likely you are to interact with it,” she explained. “For cops, it means people don’t tend to commit crimes far from home—”
“They commit them closer to home,” Alex finished for her.
“Bingo,” said Maggie.
“Sweetie, you are the best. When I’m done here, I’m bringing you the biggest slice of tiramisu you’ve ever seen.” Alex hurried back to the control room.
Maggie laughed again. “Just remember this the next time NCPD needs a favor. But I will also take the tiramisu.”
Alex ended the call and gripped the back of Winn’s chair. “Can you map all the crimes committed since we quarantined Shady Oaks yesterday afternoon?”
“Absolutely,” he said, pressing each key with a flourish.
“Something on your mind, Agent Danvers?” asked J’onn.
Alex watched the video wall as recent crimes began to appear on a map of National City. “Maggie thinks the evil supercitizens will be committing crimes close to their hideout. If we can find an area with an increase in crime since yesterday morning—”
“We can find our supercitizens,” said J’onn. He turned his attention to the video wall, too.
“Looks like we’ve got a hot zone,” said Winn. “Near the Theater District.”
Alex shook her head. “There are hundreds of places to hide there.”
Mon-El bent over Winn’s computer. “Can you check the rooftops of the buildings?”
“Uh, sure,” he said, zooming in on aerial footage. “What am I looking for?”
“Bee Breather had to keep his pets somewhere,” said Mon-El. “They must have a hive.”
“Clever.” Winn pointed at him and grinned. “And I can do one better. Every warm-blooded creature puts off a heat signature, right?”
Mon-El gave him a dubious look. “You’re going to look for a bee’s heat signature?”
“I’m going to look for a cluster of them, since bees swarm in, well, swarms,” said Winn. He tapped a few keys and gestured to the video wall. “And there we have it.”
An aerial camera focused on the roof of a building that was accented with concrete angels on each corner. At the roof’s center sat a large wooden beekeeper’s box.
“The Imperial Theater,” said J’onn.
“We’ve got ’em!” Alex shook her fist triumphantly. “Winn, assemble a—”
J’onn held up a hand. “Let’s not rush into this situation half-cocked, Agent Danvers. We don’t know what kind—or even how many—supercitizens we’re up against.”
Winn changed his view of the building. “I count at least fifteen human heat signatures.”
“And who knows if there are more roaming the streets,” pointed out Mon-El.
Alex rubbed her forehead. “You’re right. OK, what’s our plan, then?” she asked J’onn.
“That, I haven’t figured out yet,” he admitted.
There was a whooshing sound behind them, and Kara appeared, phone pressed to one ear and a scowl on her face.
“She took it the wrong way!” Kara exclaimed into the mouthpiece. “Do I look like the kind of person who threatens people?” She held the phone away from her ear and stared at it in shock. “Well, you know what you look like?” Kara asked the person on the other end. “You . . . look like a guy who’s about to be proven wrong!” She stamped her foot.
Alex shook her head. Snapper.
Kara listened to her boss speak for a moment, pressing her lips into a tighter and tighter line. “I will not apologize to Courtney Kevalier. I played her game to get the interview, and she’s just upset she lost.” Kara shook her head. “I won’t do it. No, I won’t. No, I—” Kara stared at her phone again and growled. “Yeah, you better hang up!”
“Hey, honey. How was work?” Mon-El intoned.
Alex sucked in her breath. Mon-El was already on Kara’s bad list, so it probably wasn’t a great idea to tease her.
Apparently, however, Kara was more upset at Snapper than at her boyfriend.
“Snapper is unbelievable,” she told Mon-El. “Do you know why Mayor Lowell canceled my interview? Because Snapper, who arranged that interview by the way, trash-talked him. Snapper set me up to fail!”
Mon-El frowned. “Maybe Supergirl could talk to the mayor.”
Kara shook her head. “I don’t want to play that card. Besides, I managed to get the interview.”
“That’s great!” said Alex. “So why all the yelling?”
Kara rolled her eyes. “Because I just lost the interview. Apparently, Mayor Lowell’s assistant told him I was dismissive and threatening and bullied my way into an interview.”
J’onn crossed his arms. “What? That doesn’t sound like you.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Alex put an arm around Kara. “Dismissive? My little sister would never blow someone off.”
“Exactly,” said Kara. She cleared her throat. “Except I kind of did.”
“What?” Alex glanced at her sister.
“I apologized after!” said Kara.
“So you might have been dismissive. But threatening?” Mon-El scoffed. “I’m sure you didn’t say, ‘If the mayor doesn’t talk to me, it’ll hurt his career.’” He chuckled, but stopped at the guilty expression on Kara’s face. “Did you?”
She fiddled with her glasses. “Not in those exact words . . .” She grimaced and dropped into a chair. “Aww, man! I did threaten and bully.”
Alex squeezed her shoulder. “I’m sure it’s not that bad.”
Kara gave her sister a look of disbelief. “The mayor called my boss, Alex.”
“But you didn’t get fired.” Alex smiled hopefully.
Kara slumped in the chair. “How are things going here? Did you come up with an antidote?”
“Eh,” said Alex, tilting her hand from side to side. “We can stop people’s immune systems from attacking the orichalcum, but it won’t be out of their bodies until they fully use it.”
“That’s . . .” Kara squinted. “Would that be considered good news? I mean, you get to keep your new power.” She gestured at Mon-El, who frowned.
“I told you, I wasn’t asking for myself,” he said. “Since it doesn’t really matter anymore, I might as well tell you. I was asking for James.”
“James?” Kara bowed her head and chuckled ruefully. “Mon-El, I’m sorry. I misunderstood.” She glanced up at him, her eyebrows slanted in sadness. “I’m really . . .” The rest of the sentence caught in her throat, and she got up without another word.
“Kara.” Alex reached for her, but Kara raised her hands defensively and wriggled past.
“I’m gonna check on Pryll,” she said.
She ducked her head again and made a beeline for the prison cells.
“Kara, wait.” Mon-El chased after her, leaving Alex to exchange awkward glances with Winn and J’onn.
“How about that plan?” she asked, rubbing her palms together.
Kara could hear Mon-El calling her name, but she could also feel tears building in her eyes.
“Just give me a couple minutes, OK?” she said, taking off her glasses.
A burst of air hit her, and Mon-El was by her side.
“Crap, I forgot you could move so fast.” She wiped at her eyes and pasted on a smile. “What’s up?”
“Don’t give me that.” Mon-El took her hand. “Something’s going on, and it’s not just about you and me. What is it?”
Kara pocketed her glasses and glanced at the fading red mark on her hand —the hand that had absorbed the orichalcum. “I can speak Atlantean.” She looked up at Mon-El. “I can read Japanese. I can hear the truth in people’s words, even if they say something different.”
Mon-El’s forehead wrinkled. “Yeah, and that’s been really helpful.”
Kara exhaled sharply and leaned back against the wall. “But it hasn’t. Pryll’s upset even though I told him we’ll find his treasure, the supercitizens hate Supergirl, my boss doesn’t appreciate me, I couldn’t get through to the security guard before the museum heist, I made Alex feel bad after the museum heist, I bullied two people at the mayor’s office, and you and I started fighting about the orichalcum antidote.” She paused for a breath. “I even accused you of making it about yourself when you weren’t!”
Mon-El gave her a sympathetic smile. “Kara, we’re going to argue. It’s part of being a couple.” He squinted. “I think. This is all new territory.”
She rubbed her hand. “I thought this new power would help me communicate better, but everything still goes wrong.” She shook her head. “I am really bad at understanding people.”
“No.” Mon-El gripped her shoulders. “Kara Zor-El, you are one of the most understanding creatures I know.”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “Then why am I having so much trouble getting through to people?”
He shrugged. “Maybe you’re not giving them what they want.”
Kara’s forehead wrinkled. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s say I ask you for . . . ice cream,” said Mon-El. “You understand that I want ice cream, but instead of bringing me mint chocolate chip, which is my favorite, you bring me Rocky Road, which is yours.”
“But you never told me what you wanted,” she argued. Then a thought struck her. “And I never asked. I chose for you.” Kara bumped her head against the wall. “That’s what I’ve been doing, isn’t it? I’m giving people what I think they should have.”
“It kinda sounds like it. Your ideas are here, and theirs are here.” Mon-El held his hands a few inches apart. “As soon as you figure out what they really want . . .” He brought his hands together.
Kara nodded. It made perfect sense. She’d convinced Dr. Wanabi to create the antidote because he wanted to save lives. And she’d gotten through to the information clerk because Ms. Binder wanted to be noticed at work, just like Kara did.
Mon-El tugged Kara to a standing position and wrapped his arms around her. “You are more than just your powers, Kara. You have a kind heart and a determined spirit and a clever mind. Even if you were human, you would still be a super girl.”
Kara rolled her eyes but smiled. “You know, you can be pretty smart sometimes.”
“So can you,” he said. “That hotline idea was pretty clever.”
“Oh yeah!” Kara backed away. “I forgot to ask. How’s it working out?”
Mon-El made a face. “There are a lot of supercitizens who want to help, but none who can give us any leads. Luckily, we found the bad guys on our own.”
Kara’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t you say something earlier? Let’s go!”
She grabbed his hand, but he didn’t move.
“J’onn wants us to have a plan first.”
Kara scoffed. “A plan?” She paused. “Oh, wait. No, that’s a good idea. Do we know what we’re up against?”
Footsteps padded around the corner, and a moment later Alex appeared. “We’ll find out soon enough. How do you feel about a recon mission after dark?”
“Perfect! That’ll give me just enough time to write my superdrug article.” Kara entwined her arms around one of Alex’s and gave her sister an adoring look. “If you can call Maggie and ask her to be my credible NCPD source?”
Alex took her phone out of her pocket. “I’m going to have to take her to Italy for tiramisu,” she muttered, dialing Maggie’s number.
Kara smiled and kissed Alex’s cheek and then Mon-El’s. “Thank you! Let me know when Maggie gets here.”
“What? Where are you going?” asked Mon-El.
“To talk to Winn and then Pryll,” she said with a firm nod. “It’s time I give him what he wants.”