Won't Let You Down (Book Two of The Unmatched Records)

Chapter Six

"She never told me any of that," Alex whispered.

"Did you expect her to?" Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"I shouldn't have," Alex admitted. "It didn't happen on our Earth, I had no idea who any of you were, so I probably wouldn't have understood half of it." She looked up at him. "But I can thank you for your dedication to making sure she isn't hurt again," she smiled. That smile quickly faded as she pointed at him. "And if you so much as even risk betraying the trust she has in you - "

"The I hurt her, you hurt me spiel?" Oliver couldn't help but grin. "I'm not her boyfriend, Alex."

"Aside from J'onn, I think you're the one guy she trusts the most here."

"There's Winn."

"He's like her little brother. And no offense to Slade or Malcolm, but I can't see Kara with them."

Oliver snorted loudly. "I won't tell them if you won't."

"Deal," Alex snickered.

"On the topic of hurting Kara," Oliver's face turned serious. "Why the hell do you have a room powered by Kryptonite here?"

Alex cringed. "It's to help train to fight," she answered. "When she put on the suit, she had no experience fighting. Barely knew how to throw a punch. The only strength she had at the time was just that - her strength. We knew Kryptonite existed, knew there was a chance that somewhere out there, someone could have some. And what if they used it against Kara when she was untrained?"

"OK, I see your point there," Oliver conceded.

"And we never used it to the point Cadmus did," Alex added.

"Good," Oliver sighed. "That was my concern."

"I would never forgive J'onn if he did that to her," Alex stood and started pacing. "And to be honest, I don't think the D.E.O. would survive that long if Clark knew - " She froze. "Oh, God, Clark."

"Who?" Oliver blinked in confusion.

"Clark," Alex sighed, pulling out her phone. "Kara's cousin. I don't even know if anyone's told him she's been rescued. You'll probably be high on his list of good guys when he finds out what you did," she added.

Oliver grimaced. "That had to be hard for him."

"Oh, he complained quite frequently that we weren't saving her," Alex nodded. "But he couldn't do anything."

"Because of Kryptonite," Oliver nodded, frowning at the green lights in the room. "You know, when Kara told me she had a weakness, I didn't know it could be this extreme."

Alex paused at the doorway before grinning. "You're sure you're not her boyfriend?" she teased. "You're concerned enough to be."

Oliver glared at her, making her laugh as she left. "As bad as Thea," he grumbled, walking out after her.

Slade was standing there waiting for him. "Kara got her phone back," he told him as they walked back towards the main hub of the D.E.O. "First thing she did was tell that cousin of hers she's all right." He grinned. "It was entertaining to hear him yell at J'onn when Kara gave him the phone. Martian looked like he swallowed the most sour lemon ever."

"I wouldn't want to be the wrong end of a Kryptonian's yelling," Oliver admitted.

"And another guy showed up," Slade added. "Man named Jason Olsen."

"James," Winn corrected from where he sat by his computer.

"I said that, didn't I?" Slade blinked. Winn opened his mouth, then apparently thought better of it and went back to work. "Like I said," Slade smirked smugly.

"You don't think very highly of him," Oliver stated.

"No," Slade answered bluntly.

Oliver shook his head with a sigh. "I remember hearing Barry ask Kara about Winn and a man named James back when the Dominators invaded. He's a friend of Kara's, Slade. He's probably fine."

"Yes, I think that's what Kara is currently trying to convince the Magician of," Slade snorted.

Oliver rolled his eyes and entered the medbay - sure enough, there was Kara speaking to Malcolm about her time at CatCo, Laurel watching with amusement. "I feel like putting a label on Malcolm that says 'overprotective,'" she joked to Oliver.

"Make one for Slade, too, in that case," Oliver said with a straight face.

"I swear to God, kid," Slade growled warningly.

"Oh, he's a vigilante, too?" Malcolm suddenly asked in genuine surprise.

That caught the three others' attention. "James?" Oliver asked, walking over.

"Yeah," Kara sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I spoke up against it, thank you very much. But he was insistent that it was his way to be a better person and help others."

That even had Laurel rolling her eyes at the statement. "There are more ways to help others than risking your life every night," she remarked.

"Yeah," Kara closed her eyes. "I tried telling him that, too."

"Now I'm more interested in meeting this guy," Oliver frowned. "And then when he's a vigilante."

"Green Arrow meets Guardian," Kara mused. "I'd cover that story." At three-fourths of the group's confused looks, she elaborated. "I'm a reporter where I work." She paused, eyes widening in horror. "And Snapper might actually kill me when I get there tomorrow."

"Actually, that won't be a problem," Lena's voice came from behind the others, making them turn. "Hey, guys," she added with a smile.

"Hi, Lena," Kara sat up straighter. "What's going on?"

"I told your boss," she answered, walking in. "Not that you're Supergirl," she hastened to say when Kara blanched and the four vigilantes narrowed their eyes. "I told him about your connection to Supergirl got you captured by my mother. He grumbled something along the lines of 'of course Ponytail did,' but he seemed to accept it."

"Oh, good," Kara slumped. "That's a relief."

"And Cat seemed very relieved to know you're alive," Lena added. When Kara looked at her dubiously, Lena rolled her eyes. "In her very Cat Grant way, at least."

"Well," Kara seemed much more relaxed than before, "guess I'm back to work tomorrow."

"And while you're there, we can start digging more into Cadmus," Oliver nodded.

"Thank you for what you did, Lena," Kara added with a smile.

"Of course," Lena smiled, giving her a hug. "And it's good to see people are finally starting to take my mother seriously."

"Trust me," Oliver's eyes darkened. "Your mother won't like what happens when my team gets to her."

Kara silently commended Lena for not giving Oliver a reaction to what he just said.

***

This was pretty much just a filler. I kind of started losing track of what I was doing towards the beginning of the chapter, but I think I've got worked out what I'm doing now.

But if you caught the hint, yes, James will meet at least two vigilantes out in the field, possibly all four. Something that bugged me in Season 2 was that James as Guardian just sort of came out of nowhere. No training, no real set-up, just Winn making the suit and bam! he's now a superhero? I don't blame Kara for not wanting him out there. So, I'm thinking James facing off against vigilantes with experience, some of them with decades of it, would be a good wake-up call.

Kara at CatCo will be the next chapter!