Chapter 4

 "This is a lot to process." Henderson said as he and Anissa recovered from the brain dump J'onn had given them as they stood with Jefferson, Jen, Lynn and Gambi in the Sanctum.

"Yeah, sorry about all that but we need to be on the same page and the fastest way to do that was to bring you both up to speed on what has happened." Jefferson said.

"You couldn't have waited until after my powers surfaced to do that, since I know that Jen is just bursting to rub it in my face that she has her powers but I don't have mine." Anissa complained, already annoyed by the smug look on her little sister's face.

"We'll find a way to get your powers back Anissa, but for right now, I suggest you try and focus on having a somewhat normal life while you still do." Lynn said.

"So, what's the plan now, since I don't know about you, but I for one don't want to have to become the leader of a resistance again." Henderson said.

"We'll deal with the ASA before that happens." Jefferson promised.

"There's an easy fix for that. We kill Odell." Jen said.

"Okay, slow down." Anissa said.

"Jen, even if killing Odell was on the table, which it's not, it's not that simple." Jefferson said.

"Really, how so?" Jen asked.

"Well for one thing, even if you were able to get close enough to Odell to take the shot, he's likely put plans in place to ensure that his agenda is filled out regardless of what happens to him." Gambi said.

"Not to mention the fact that killing him would paint an instant target on your back, since killing him would not take down the entire organization." Jefferson said.

"And since right now we have no proof of his or the ASA crimes, your actions would be used to the ASA's advantage, painting you as a terrorist who attacked a good man with no provocation." Lynn said, all of them making very good points against Jen's desire to kill Odell.

"However, there may be another problem in Freeland that can be solved by killing." Anissa said.

"No. I don't care what he's done, I am not going to kill Tobias Whale." Jefferson said.

"Dad, I get the moral against killing thing, but you have to be willing to draw the line somewhere. Tobias has tried to kill everyone in this room at least once before." Anissa said.

"Plus he also figured out who you are Jeff. He'll figure it out again and when he does it'll put our whole family at risk." Lynn said.

"I will not stoop to that man's methods." Jefferson insisted.

"Dad, you became Black Lightning because it's what Freeland needed. Well, right now what Freeland needs is for you to put Tobias 6 feet underground." Jen said.

"We'll discuss this later." Jefferson said, since honestly, a part of him knew that his family were right and he could tell by the look on his face that Henderson agreed with them as well, but Jefferson did not want to cross that line.

"Look Jeff, I admit I don't like the prospect of murder either, but I think that Tobias is one case where there's no other way, since the alternative is to hand him over to the ASA, which I don't think any of us want too, since at least four people in this room were committed to bringing them down." Henderson said, referring to himself, Jeff, Anissa and Gambi, since they were all members of the resistance.

"You mean five. Odell manipulated me for months, tricked me into doing his dirty work. He needs to pay." Jen said and before Jefferson could think better, he decided to tell her this himself.

"That's not the only thing Odell did." Jefferson said.

"Dad, don't." Anissa said.

"She has a right to know and it's not like it'll matter since it hasn't happened yet." Jefferson said.

"What are you talking about?" Jen demanded.

"Odell had the ASA revive Khalil. They turned him into a living weapon. He killed Tayvon and nearly killed Anissa twice." Jefferson said.

"It's not only that, they also made him kill his own mother." Gambi said.

"Wait, when did you find this out?" Jen demanded.

"Right before the crisis happened, so I didn't exactly get a chance to tell you." Jefferson said and Jen acknowledged that.

"Fair enough. Did anyone else know?" Jen asked.

"I did. I found out not that long before dad did when Khalil tried to kill me for the second time." Anissa admitted.

"That wasn't Khalil, it was Painkiller and they are two different individuals. I should know since I spent weeks trying to find a way to bring Khalil back." Lynn said.

"Wait you knew too?" Jen asked.

"And so did I. Jen, we thought it would be better for you not to know, since otherwise you'd likely get yourself heartbroken and killed." Gambi said.

"I can understand dad not telling me, simply because he didn't get the chance to before all this happened, but the rest of you?" Jen asked as she walked away.

"Give her some time to cool off. In the meantime, we need to figure out how we're going to bring down the ASA, since taking down a government organization is not something that can be done easily and honestly, they are the biggest threat. Even bigger than Tobias." Jefferson said and they all nodded in agreement.

"Quick question, how do we do that, since right now we're the only people in Freeland who even know that the ASA exists, let alone that they're criminals." Anissa said.

"I think your father is the answer to that." Gambi said.

"What do you mean?" Jefferson asked.

"Jeff, you and all those kids in the pods, which we need to find by the way, are all living proof of the ASA illegally experimenting on innocent kids to create metahumans. Not to mention child abductions." Gambi said.

"But how would we prove any of that. The ASA is good at covering their tracks." Henderson said.

"He's right, we'd need real, undeniable proof." Jefferson said as Gambi thought for a moment.

"I think I may know someone who can help with that." Gambi said.

"Who?" Lynn asked as Gambi went over to the computers and after typing something in, he turned the screen around to show them a very familiar face.

"Lady Eve." Jefferson said.

"She's our way to get both Tobias and the ASA, since she's the liaison between them." Gambi said.

"And Tobias does have her killed." Jefferson pointed out.

"Okay so we use her to take down both of Freeland's problems, but how do we convince her to do that?" Henderson asked.

"I pay her a visit with Black Lightning and threaten to release her criminal record to the police if she doesn't. She'll run the risk of losing everything." Gambi said.

"Send me a copy of her file so that if she attempts to break the deal." Henderson said.

"Done. Be sure to make a hard copy of it too in case she tries to hack in and delete it, Or more accurately, she hires someone to do it, since hacking was never really her area of expertise and the FPD's databases are more likely for her to hit, since she can't get into my system." Gambi said.

"How do you know that?" Henderson asked.

"Because I trained her and she never could get past my firewalls." Gambi said.

"But there are people out there who can." Jefferson said and Gambi nodded.

"Which is why there are some secrets that I keep on hard copy only, since they have yet to develop a computer that is completely impervious to hackings." Gambi said.

"Maybe we can use that to our advantage. You've hacked into the ASA's system before, think you can do it again?" Lynn asked.

"Actually, I think I may have a better idea, though I'm not sure how Gambi will feel about it." Jefferson said.

"What is it?" Gambi asked.

"The only way we'll truly be able to beat the ASA is if we're able to get a step ahead of them and the best way for us to do that would be if we actually had someone on the inside." Jefferson said.

"You want me to see if I can get my job with the ASA back?" Gambi asked.

"Look Gambi, I know how you feel about them, we all do, but if we want to take them down for good, we need a way to get ahead of them and this seems like the best option." Jefferson said.

"That's not a bad idea. If it weren't for the fact that you were technically dead before, I might've considered that play for the Resistance." Anissa said.

"Peter, you don't need to do this. We can find another way." Lynn said, but Gambi shook his head.

"No, they're right. It's a good plan. However, I'm not sure if Odell would take me back after the way I left things." Gambi said.

"I'm sure that they'd take you back, since before you grew a conscience and quit, you were one of their best agents." Jefferson said.

"I'll think about it." Gambi said, since while he honestly hated the idea of working for Odell again, he knew that strategically, it was their best option to get the upper hand against the ASA.

"Plus, it would also get you access to more resources to make our suits." Anissa added.

"I'll get in touch with Odell tomorrow." Gambi said, since he knew that they were right and that they all had to do things that they didn't want to in order to protect their city.

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