Today has been a good day. Have a chapter and celebrate with me on a successful Friday.

Alex has a go at Purity that backfires rather miserably, we check in with Malcolm and Laurel (a profile picture change felt appropriate), and J'onn and Mon-El have a chat that really reminds me how polar opposites my two takes on Mon-El so far (here and in D4) have been. Like, seriously. I know which Mon-El I prefer.

Enjoy!

***

"OK," Mon-El finished with a few wires, then looked behind him to where Winn and J'onn were at one of the command consoles. "Try it now?"

Laurel tilted her head, hearing machinery whir, then saw something by Mon-El spark, and everything powered down again. "Guess not," she clicked her tongue, Malcolm shrugging from where he was leaning against the doorframe.

"Um, you know, is there, like, a user manual or something that we can take a look at for ideas?"

Mon-El just sighed and put his tools down, putting his face in his hand. "Sprock!"

"The 31st century has some very interesting curse words," Malcolm observed, then winced when Laurel smacked him in the shoulder.

Mon-El gave him a very unamused look as footsteps came from the other direction. "I gather it's not going too well?" Imra asked, looking around the room.

"Uh, not at presently," J'onn shook his head. "But we will get there."

"Brainy and I took a look into that Thysteria rock, but it was a dead end," Imra told Mon-El, walking up to him. "Did you get the battery working?"

"No, but I'm handling it," Mon-El shook his head, looking back down to fiddle with more wires.

"OK," Imra nodded. "Did you try recalibrating it?"

Mon-El sighed, looking like he was trying very hard not to get annoyed with her. "Yes, Imra, I'm handling it."

"OK, look," Imra raised an eyebrow at him, scowling. "I may not be a 12th-level intellect, Mon-El, but I'm sharp. And as I said last night, there's no need of telling me anything twice. Ever."

Mon-El finally looked up as Imra turned, heading back the way she came. "Imra, please don't do this."

"I'm just doing exactly what you told me when I joined the Legion," Imra held out her hands in exasperation. "I'm just speaking the truth."

Malcolm raised an eyebrow as Imra walked off, then he and Laurel exchanged looks that clearly said they should leave. "We'll go check with the others," Laurel offered an excuse for them, then both were gone.

"Uh," Winn stammered, looking at J'onn. "I'm – I've got to check on the crystal."

"Yeah," J'onn nodded, knowing that even though Max and Lucy were doing the same thing, it was probably best to have as few people around now as possible. "Yeah, I'll be right there."

"Thanks," Winn all but fled.

J'onn watched Mon-El stand up and unplug the battery, then walked over. "You still wanna carry on working?" he asked.

"There's no point," Mon-El sighed heavily, handing the battery back to him and walking off.

***

Kara had known this was a bad idea when it was suggested.

But now, standing in the room as Alex approached Purity's cell, she felt like she had underestimated how bad of an idea this really was. "Where is Reign?" her sister asked bluntly. When there was no answer from the Kryptonian lying on the metal slab, Alex carried on. "We have the Kryptonian crystal from your apartment, and we know that it's gonna lead to your headquarters. Where is Reign?" No answer again, and Alex huffed, folding her arms. "You're not so chatty now, are you? That makes sense. Because I'm not your audience. I'm just looking at a bug under glass."

Kara cringed at the wording, hearing Slade sigh from the next room over. But then Purity chuckled and sat up with a sigh, turning so she faced Alex. "To use your own words . . . you think you're smarter than me, stronger than me. You think I'm powerless to your science." She scoffed her opinion of that. "I see right through you, Alex Danvers. It's a gift I have, to see inside people, to know them." She stood up, looking closely at Alex, then grinned. "You want to hurt me because you're hurt. You want me weak because you're weak. Someone cut something out of you, and you feel the hole every day. A hole that you dug in yourself." Kara frowned uneasily as Purity tilted her head, her smirk growing wider. "And it's not getting any better now, is it?"

"OK, all right," Kara hurried forward, seeing Alex bristle. She knew where this was going, and it was not going to be pretty. "All right, we're done here – "

"Where is Reign?" Alex demanded, stepping away from Kara and towards Purity.

"Alex," Kara insisted.

"See the rage?" Purity grinned triumphantly. "That's your loneliness."

"Shut your mouth!" Alex roared angrily.

"Let's go!" Kara grabbed Alex's shoulder.

"You had your chance at happiness, and you threw it away," Purity continued to chuckle.

"Alex," Kara tugged her back.

"And now you're just a broken little doll."

Alex yanked herself away from Kara and stormed off towards the door, and Kara watched her go, almost running. "Alex, wait!" she called.

Oliver quickly opened the door, letting Alex go through. "Let her get it out," he advised quietly, stopping Alex from going after her.

Kara stopped, taking a deep breath, then tensed when she heard Purity chuckle victoriously. She spun on her heel and stormed back over as Purity sat back down on the metal slab, perching on it like she was a queen. "She was right about you," she spat. "You're just a thing built to destroy, and I'm gonna make sure you don't hurt anyone else."

***

"All right," Sam grinned at Ruby, the two of them in the center of the ice rink, hands connected. "You ready for this?"

"I'm young and reckless," Ruby retorted with a grin. "I've got this in the bag."

"Three," Sam began to count down. "Two . . . "

She suddenly let go and took off, and Ruby did a double take. "OK, cheating will get you nowhere!" she shouted, skating after her mother.

Sam just laughed gleefully, enjoying her time on the ice.

***

Winn paused in the doorway of the lab, seeing Lucy almost falling asleep at her tablet, Max absently looking through his own. "That exciting?" he asked.

Max just raised an eyebrow and pointing his stylus at the crystal and its scan. "You need to work on your definition of exciting."

Winn checked for himself, sighing in annoyance. "Really? Nothing?"

"Zilch," Lucy covered her mouth to avoid yawning.

***

Alex found herself walking away from Purity's cell as fast as she could, her entire body trembling as she tried to contain her emotions. She was halfway to the labs when a strong hand gripped her arm and yanked her into the nearest office, closing the door behind them.

Alex turned, opening her mouth to yell and say something she would regret, only to falter when she saw Slade look down at her. "Why did you think that was a good idea?" he asked quietly, no judgment in his tone.

Alex let all her breath out in a rush and shook her head, unable to give an answer. She knew she had been lashing out after keeping everything locked up inside, had let it out on their most dangerous prisoner, and she had let herself get manipulated by said prisoner in just the right way. God, that really had been stupid.

Her breath hitched as she felt her eyes well up, and Slade sighed. "Alex . . . "

She just shook her head, launching forward. Slade just hugged her and offered what support he could as Alex broke down, knowing there wasn't much more he could do for her.

***

A sudden humming made all three in the lab look up from their work, and Max instinctively scooted away from the now glowing blue crystal. "Whoa," Lucy put her tablet aside.

"See, that's more like exciting," Max pointed to Winn.

Winn just nodded absently, peering closely at the crystal as Max rolled over to check the scans. "Well, who turned you on?" he murmured.

***

Purity suddenly smiled, and Kara stiffened as Kryptonese poured from the Worldkiller's lips. "The three will walk across the land, and the blood of the weak will water the new world."

Kara narrowed her eyes, stepping closer and spitting Kryptonese as well, seeing Oliver's confused look in the glass. "Rao defies you," she declared. "I defy you, and I will bring you low!"

***

"Back away."

"What?" Winn looked up from the crystal, not seeing it glow brighter.

"Winn, get away from it!" Max leapt from his seat, and Winn saw the blinking red levels on the scan.

***

"Ah!" Sam squealed as Ruby skated past her with a wide grin. "Beginner!" she tried to defend herself before freezing on the ice. When she stopped entirely, her face was blank, her eyes rapidly flashing between their normal dark brown and devilish red, finally settling on completely red.

When Ruby reached the wall and turned to brag to her mom, she was nowhere in sight. "Mom?" she asked in confusion, skating out and looking around. "Mom?" she tried to call again.

***

Lucy grabbed Winn's arm and pulled him away, they and Max diving under the closest table as the lights above them crackled and popped, sparks flying everywhere.

***

Kara blinked as the power sputtered in the cell, looking up and around. "Oliver?" she began, looking around.

"Get back!" Oliver lunged forward, grabbing her arm.

Purity screamed, her sonic blast smashing through the glass and hitting Kara in the chest. Oliver was propelled back with her, the two hitting the back wall hard and collapsing on the ground, out cold, leaving Purity to walk free.

***

"It's a good question to know, though," Malcolm was telling Laurel as they walked back through the D.E.O. "Between the two of them, who would win?"

"My money's on the telekinetic telepath," Laurel said dryly, unable to keep herself from laughing.

"But if there was a way to block her powers?" Malcolm pointed out. "The collars the Earth-Xers used?"

Laurel closed her eyes, feeling a shiver go down her spine. "Please never remind me of that again."

"OK, yeah," Malcolm agreed at once, squeezing her shoulder. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Laurel exhaled slowly. "Just . . . please. Don't."

"I won't," he promised, rubbing her back. "I wouldn't do that to you, Siren."

Despite the mood being brought down exponentially, she smiled. "I know you wouldn't."

Malcolm smiled back, then alarms started blaring around them. Laurel winced and covered her ears, instantly on alert. "What caused that?" she yelled to be heard over the noise.

Malcolm grimaced when he felt everything around them shake with vibrations. "Purity," he ground out. "She's out."

"Shit," Laurel growled.

Malcolm experimentally curled his cybernetic hand into a fist, relieved it was still functioning. "Come on," he grabbed her wrist. "She'll go for the crystal."

Laurel nodded, staggering after him as they tried to run against the vibrations. When they suddenly stopped, both faltered. "Oh, that can't be good," Laurel whispered.

They broke into runs, taking the staircase two at a time. "Contact! Contact!" they heard a D.E.O. soldier shout before a sonic scream launched two D.E.O. soldiers in full armor over the railing and past them.

Malcolm and Laurel finally reached the balcony to see Purity in the doorway of the lab, her crystal pulsing blue in her hand . . . and her back was to them as she smirked at the soldiers she had just gotten rid of. "You can do this," Malcolm whispered supportively.

Laurel took a deep breath, then screamed at the top of her lungs. Her scream hit Purity in the back, knocking her to the ground and across the platform. Purity tried to scramble onto her knees, but Laurel inhaled quickly and screamed again, knocking Purity back down. She curled her hands into fists, seeing Slade and Alex burst from an office across the area, running towards them. She took another deep breath, screaming for a third time as Alex pulled out her gun, aiming at Purity. Laurel had to cut off again to take a breath –

Purity shot up from the ground and screamed at her, and Laurel felt it hit her like a Kryptonian punch in the gut, and she was knocked head over heels towards the lab. She felt Malcolm's arms wrap around her waist before she was flung into the glass, and she instinctively curled into him as he fell to the side, wincing when she felt glass from the windows rain over them. "Are you OK?" Malcolm asked, carefully helping her to her knees, swiping glass off his pants.

"Yeah," Laurel swallowed, picking glass out of her hair and watching Purity take off, smashing through one of the D.E.O. windows and out into the sky. "I'll live."

***

Mon-El pulled up hologram schematics of the cruiser, sighing in annoyance when he saw part of the ship blinking red. Footsteps on stairs made him turn, and he blinked, seeing J'onn descend into the room. "I thought you left."

"I did," J'onn nodded. "But, uh . . . " He grinned, holding up two bottles. "Only to get these. Come on." Mon-El couldn't help but smile, walking over to join J'onn in sitting on the steps. "It's sort of a Martian moonshine," J'onn explained, handing him a bottle. "It's kind of spicy. It has a consciousness-enhancing quality to it."

"This has a label," Mon-El pointed out, grinning as he looked over the bottle.

"Oh, yeah," J'onn nodded. "They sell it in the alien bars. Doing quite well."

Mon-El laughed. "Cheers," he told J'onn.

The Martian chuckled, clinking bottles as Mon-El sat. "You know," he began, eyeing his bottle. "It's been a couple of centuries, but I was once married. Seventy-seven years, in fact. So I'm quite familiar with the marital spat."

"Yeah, it's, uh . . . it's not what you think," Mon-El shook his head.

"It might help to talk about it," J'onn prompted.

"Yeah, thanks, but, um . . . I don't think so."

J'onn nodded as Mon-El took a swig from his bottle, then maneuvered himself so he leaned against the wall, facing Mon-El entirely. "You keep a lot of secrets, young man," he remarked. "Usually, they're to protect others, so your intentions are good, but it really might help if you share the load."

Mon-El fidgeted, then sighed. "Well, Imra and I have a . . . complicated history."

"Hmm," J'onn nodded, already having an idea about where this was going.

"We didn't exactly choose to get married to one another," he elaborated, taking another drink. "So she's from this important family on Titan, and Titan was the head of this faction of planets that were very against Earth and its allies. So in the early days of the Legion, we needed to do something symbolic. You know, to show that we represented everyone."

"You united the planets when you got married," J'onn guessed.

"There it is," Mon-El raised his bottle in acknowledgement.

"Wow," J'onn shook his head, mulling it over.

"And I was still mourning Kara," Mon-El continued. "Imra and I were friends and partners, and I was fond of her, I respected her . . . but I knew that marrying Imra would help so many, it just seemed like the logical thing to do. And then, with time, I mean, I . . . our pretend marriage became more real and our feelings deepened, and I grew to love her. I was content. But with Kara, I mean . . . there was nothing logical about falling in love with Kara. I mean, she was – she was a Kryptonian elitist, and I was this completely self-absorbed misogynist. Not anymore," he quickly reassured J'onn when the Martian raised an eyebrow, and both laughed, remembering how Mon-El used to be. "But what I felt for her," Mon-El continued, the smile fading as he reminisced. "It was . . . it was just . . . " He sighed. "Being back here is, um . . . " He trailed off, trying to figure out how to put his feelings into words. "I respect Kara," he finally said. "And I respect Oliver. He had every right to do what he did when he first heard I was back. I had chances to tell Kara about Imra, and I didn't. I hurt her in a way by doing that, and even if it wasn't physical, she was hurt. Oliver countered for her. And I respect him so much for that." He looked down at his hands. "To have a relationship like that . . . I don't want to break that up. Not after everything that Imra and I have had. I don't want to be the ex-boyfriend who reappears and makes things worse. But being back here . . . I feel I have to keep a distance from Kara because I'm afraid that if I'm ever around her . . . ever alone around her . . . that old feelings will get stirred up. And I keep worrying about that, and I have to hide it from Imra. But lately, there's just been all this friction between us 'cause of . . . " He sighed, lowering his head. "I know it's my fault, and I just . . . I don't know what to do."

J'onn nodded, then sat up straight. He was relieved to hear what Mon-El had to say and was happy that he had trusted him enough to talk to him about it. There was also the added bonus that Mon-El respected Kara had moved on with Oliver, and respected the archer as well. He was definitely happy about that. "You know," he leaned forward conspiratorially, a small smirk on his face. "If you think keeping secrets from your wife is hard . . . you should try keeping secrets from a Martian." Mon-El let out a startled laugh, and J'onn nodded, smiling as he recalled his family from Mars. "My wife and I would bond and literally share our thoughts and feelings every night. Marriage is sharing, Mon-El. Everything. You are not a criminal because you fear you may have complicated feelings. If you truly love and honor Imra, maybe you should let her in."

Mon-El nodded thoughtfully, then looked at J'onn when he heard a phone beep and buzz. J'onn straightened and pulled his phone out of his jacket, looking at the alert that popped up. Mon-El frowned worriedly when J'onn's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. "What is it?" he asked.

"Purity," J'onn spat like a curse, narrowing his eyes and standing up.

***

Ring, ring.

A dark-haired head popped over the couch, frowning when the phone went off. When the Caller ID flashed on the home phone, however, he jumped off and ran over, picking up the phone. "Hello?" he asked.

"William?" Lena's voice sounded panicked. "Is Kara there? Or Oliver?"

"No," William shook his head. "They're still at the D.E.O., I think. I've been working on homework."

"Do you still need to work on it, or can I come pick you up?"

"Is everything OK?" William asked.

A sigh came over the phone. "No," Lena admitted. "It's Ruby."

William did a double take. "It's just review for a quiz I have next week," he looked over at his open textbook. "I already know a bunch of it. Is she OK?"

"So I can come get you?"

"Yeah, I just need to text Dad and let him know," William told her. "Aunt Lena, is Ruby OK?"

"I don't know," Lena said. "I'm on my way, OK? See you soon."

"OK," William nodded, hanging up and hurrying to get his phone.

***

"Ruby!"

The girl's dark-haired head shot up when she heard her friend call her name, and she quickly stood up as William peeled away from Lena's side to hurry forward. "William!" she managed a smile for him, hugging him.

"Honey, are you OK?" Lena joined them next, eyes wide and full of worry.

"I'm fine," Ruby nodded, sniffing.

"Sweetheart, what happened?" Lena asked, leading the two of them over to a nearby table.

"I turned around, and she was gone," Ruby answered miserably, sitting down on one side.

William plopped down right next to her, Lena sliding in across from them. "Honey, I'm so sorry," Lena whispered. "Your mom's just . . . she's going through a lot. You'll see, OK?"

"This is not OK," Ruby shook her head. "She was so excited to hang out today, and then she just disappeared! It's like a few months ago. She was planning on going on this big trip, and something wonderful was gonna happen. And when she got back, she acted like she hadn't been anywhere."

"She didn't remember?" Lena frowned, thinking of what Sam said about her blackouts.

Ruby shook her head miserably. "There's something wrong," she sniffed, voice breaking. "I don't know what, but there's something. It's like sometimes she's a completely different person."

William hugged her again, and Ruby leaned her head on his shoulder, grateful for the comfort. "Ruby," Lena leaned forward, placing her hand on top of Ruby's. "I know it's scary, OK? But something you've got to know about me is that, when there's a problem, I always find an answer. OK?"

Ruby nodded after a moment, and Lena smiled encouragingly.

***

"You found her?" Kara asked as she and Oliver walked into the main area of the D.E.O., Oliver now in his suit, though both were still wincing in slight pain.

"Yes indeed," Winn confirmed, grinning when he saw J'onn and Mon-El come from the other direction, Mon-El suited up as well. "Hey, perfect timing!"

"Where is she?" J'onn asked as the others trickled in.

"She is in the subway, though there have been no reports of any attacks yet," Winn answered.

"Yeah, yet," Max emphasized, rubbing the back of his head, wincing as he recalled when Purity had knocked the three of them out.

"There will be soon, though," Laurel muttered, eyes narrowed to slits.

"Then let's head out," Oliver nodded.

"Same team as before, right?" Mon-El looked over at them.

"Well, you were the one who stopped me from having a missing eye or dying because of a fire poker through my brain," Oliver looked over at him.

Slade snorted loudly. "I do just fine, kid."

"I don't have a super serum that can stop me from dying if something like that happens," Oliver countered.

Kara shook her head fondly at their banter, smiling at Mon-El. "We could definitely use you."

"Then absolutely," Mon-El nodded back, he and J'onn sharing small smiles for some reason.

Kara looked at Alex, who was right by Slade's side. "I'm not underestimating her again," she promised.

"Ever," Alex agreed firmly.

"Speaking of," Winn brightened. "Presents!"

"What holiday is it?" Malcolm raised an eyebrow as one case was slid towards him, Laurel, Mon-El, and J'onn, and another was slid to Oliver, Kara, Slade, and Alex.

"Uh, the one where we celebrate cutting out the frequency that Purity hit you with before," Winn answered as Kara opened the case. "Just some old sonic technology."

"Will they work?" Mon-El asked.

Winn scoffed. "Wait, you really asked me that? Uh, it's like . . . " He trailed off, thinking. "95% sure?"

He grimaced, but J'onn nodded. "Good work, Agent Schott."

"Any time," he beamed as the others put on the devices. "Now, go do super heroic stuff."

"Let's go," Kara nodded determinedly.

***

Reign strode towards the main console in her fortress, then stuck her crystal inside its slot. The crystal sank into the console, booting the electronics up.

"Someone else has found one of your partners."

Reign turned, coming face to face with the hologram that had guided her before. "How do you know?" she asked.

"She possesses a crystal like yours that has been activated," the hologram answered. "She's awakening, and you must guide her. But be wise in your tactics. She's a newborn: delicate, malleable. You must bring her here, home, before they take her away."

Reign nodded, a small smirk on her lips. "I understand."

***

Are my Dark Siren shippers happy? :)

So since I'm feeling super productive tonight after the awesome day I've had, I'll see if I can get another one of these puppies out for all of you tonight and finish up this episode before returning to Arrow. And if not, then I will definitely try to have one out before the end of the weekend.

Keep an eye out, and I hope everyone enjoyed!