Everyone gets to work in National City, Kara and James meet Tanya, James takes on the fanatics with consequences for him, and Alex works to help Ruby.

Enjoy!

***

When they entered Lena's laboratory in L-Corp, Dinah took one look at the woman inside the containment unit and sighed sadly, closing her eyes. "Yeah . . . that's Sam."

"You didn't believe us?" Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"It's not that," Dinah shook her head. "It's just . . . seeing her here in person?"

"Seeing really is believing," Curtis swallowed.

Oliver conceded the point with a nod as Lena leaned in towards Kara. "So just like that, everything's good?" she whispered, eyeing Dinah, Curtis, and Rene in concern.

"Well, not 'just like that,'" Kara sighed. "We've got a while to go, but we're working on it."

Lena nodded in acceptance, then Dig cleared his throat from where he was looking at the camera showing Lena's microscope activity. "So . . . what is this?"

"It's what I've been working on, and why I unfortunately missed the trial," Lena said, giving Oliver an apologetic look.

"Lena, don't worry about it," Oliver shook his head before she could say an apology. "Sam is who you have needed to focus your time and energy on."

Lena sighed, but nodded. "This is a biolistic delivery system," she explained to the group in the lab: Oliver, Kara, Dig, Mon-El, Winn, Dinah, Curtis, and Rene. "It's usually used for overwriting genes in crops, but Reign's cells are closer to plant cells than you'd think."

"Because plants use sunlight for food, right?" Curtis asked.

"Yeah," Kara nodded. "It's part of how Kryptonians process sunlight."

"That's pretty cool," Rene admitted. "How does it work?"

"You take particles of heavy metal, coat them in DNA, deliver the payload, and then overwrite Reign's DNA with Sam's," Lena answered. Kara nodded, and Lena tapped the controls on her tablet. In the containment unit, the robotic arm holding the syringe approached Reign, then injected the needle into Reign's arm. "Plasmid inserted," Lena took a deep breath.

Curtis started when Reign's eyes flew open, then a robotic voice announced, "Payload rejected."

Lena hung her head in defeat. "I thought this would work," she seethed, fingers curling into fists angrily. "I just need the right vectors with the right metal!" She swallowed hard, trying to calm down. "I just need more time."

"Yes," Reign sneered coldly, making everyone look at her. "Give Lena more time. She doesn't have much left. Because when I'm free, I'm gonna rip out her spine. And when that's done, I'm gonna crack this planet in half, and you'll hear every scream – "

"OK," Lena tapped her tablet, blackening out the forcefield. "We don't need to hear that."

"Well," Curtis smiled nervously. "Just a bit more threatening than Diaz."

"You should've seen what happened when she first fought Kara," Dig said grimly.

Mon-El frowned, hearing Reign scream from behind the field. "What was that?"

"It's a refractive scatter-field," Lena answered. "She can't see us now."

Winn blinked in surprise. "Even with the X-ray vision?"

"Don't try it," Lena held up a hand to stop Kara as she turned to try it curiously. "The wavelength interference of the forcefield hurts any Kryptonian that looks at it, and the shock seems to keep her in check. I only created it because of Reign."

"Guess I'm not using X-ray vision in here any time soon," Kara scratched the back of her head, wincing. "Thanks for the heads up."

"We'll let you get back to work," Oliver nodded.

Lena smiled sadly, turning back to her tablet as the group headed for the elevator. "Man," Rene shook her head. "I know you said this was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but . . . I didn't know it was almost literally that."

"None of us ever had a clue until Sam had a Reign moment in Lena's office," Kara sighed, absently pulling her phone out of her pocket when it chimed with a text. "It's been rough going from there."

"And hopefully it stops soon," Oliver added, frowning when Kara suddenly stiffened. "What is it?"

"I need to get to CatCo," Kara answered, swallowing. "James just got a visitor."

***

"Sorry I'm late," Kara hurried into the main office at CatCo, adjusting her glasses.

"It's fine, Kara, don't worry about it," James shook his head. "This is – "

"Mr. Olsen said you both know Supergirl?" the dark-skinned girl cut across him, looking at Kara with wide eyes.

"Er," Kara looked at James with wide eyes, who mouthed "sorry" to her. "Yes, we do."

The girl nodded, fumbling with her satchel and pulling out a worn book. "I need you to get this to her."

James examined the book, taking it when Kara nodded at him. "What is this?"

"It's Thomas Coville's journal," the girl answered, swallowing hard.

Kara's eyes widened, and she looked at the cover more closely. Sure enough, there at the top was the coat of arms for the Worldkillers. "How did you get this?" she asked.

"I stole it from his cult," the girl answered, looking between them. "Can you get it to her or not? I think his followers are using it to make a bomb."

Both Kara's and James's heads shot up, their eyes widening in shock.

***

"I was a teacher," the girl, Tanya, explained as Kara flipped through the journal and James placed a glass of water on the table for her. "Linguistics and semiotics."

"You helped Coville learn Kryptonian," Kara nodded in understanding.

"He found me," Tanya confirmed. "I'd been saved by her. I – I just wanted the miracle to mean something. But when Reign came, the followers started making me translate his journal. It had everything he'd ever learned about Krypton, and I was the only one left who knew how to read it. But what I read, it was like a recipe. Explosives."

"Where's Coville now?" James narrowed his eyes.

"He just vanished," Tanya shrugged. "The others were saying that he died serving Reign, that he's a martyr. They'd become fanatics."

"And where are his disciples now?" Kara asked.

Tanya looked around, then stood up and walked to James's desk, picking up a pen and scribbling on a Post-It note pad. "This is where I ran away from," she said, taking the note off and handing it to Kara. "Look, I know I should have left earlier, but at first, it was so nice to believe in something, to connect to people. But then Reign came, and Coville got word to us that we were worshiping the wrong god, that Reign was our deliverance." She gulped, then hurried past Kara. "I – I should go. They'll be looking for me, they need this book."

"No, no, hey, hey," James shook his head instantly, standing up from the couch.

"Wait," Kara held up her hand, stopping Tanya. "Why don't you stay here?"

"I'll call security here," James agreed.

Kara nodded in agreement, walking past Tanya towards the door. "Where are you going?" Tanya frowned.

"To get this to Supergirl," Kara held up the book. "She'll find the cult, and she'll stop them." She examined the book, then looked at James. "And the Green Arrow will probably pitch in as well."

James snorted, restraining himself from making a snarky comment. As if Oliver wouldn't jump at the chance to take on the same cultists who had made Kara so uncomfortable last fall.

***

"If you thought I was a badass before, you just wait until you see what I just bought!"

Evelyn and Ruby looked up from where they were comparing superheroes and villains between their Earths when Alex walked in smugly, and even William and Zoe looked up from where Zoe was explaining one of her projects to her friend. "What is it?" William asked, hurrying over.

"I'll give you a hint," Alex smirked, holding up a key ring. "It's parked right outside."

"Are those bike keys?" Evelyn's jaw dropped, and she jumped up from the couch.

"You bet," Alex winked. "It's a 1962 Item. I have always wanted this bike!"

"Whoa," Zoe raced over from the table. "Can I have a go on it?"

"Only if I'm driving," Alex poked her in the shoulder. "And I should clear it with your dad, too. Deal?"

"Deal!" Zoe cheered.

"How about you, Ruby?" Alex asked the brunette girl who had put her phone down and was chewing her lip. "You wanna take a ride around the block?"

Ruby considered, then slowly shook her head. "No, thanks."

"Oh," Alex blinked; after she had seen Ruby's excited attitude on Earth-1, she was surprised Ruby wasn't as cheerful now. "That's OK. Um, well . . . what's something that you've always wanted to do? I mean, didn't you tell me once that you wanted to dye the ends of your hair blue?"

"No," Ruby shook her head.

Alex winced, trying to figure out how she could get Ruby involved, too. William tugged on her arm, and Alex bent down, letting him whisper in her ear. "We've been trying to talk to her, but she just wants to be left alone," he said quietly.

Alex sighed and nodded. "OK," she looked between the three teenagers: William, who looked concerned for his friend; Evelyn, who looked anxious to have something to do; and Zoe, who despite not having been on Earth-38 before, looked like she wanted to help Ruby as much as she could. "We'll figure something out, all right?"

All three nodded, and Alex watched Ruby as she headed for the kitchen to make herself a drink.

***

"So the same dumbass cultists who tried worshiping you and now worshiping Reign?" Rene asked as he and Dinah followed Kara and Mon-El through the building Tanya had told Kara about.

"Yep," Kara nodded. "That's it in a nutshell."

Rene shorted. "Dumbasses."

"Amen," Dinah agreed.

"I'm kind of glad I missed out on that the first time," Mon-El mused, he and Kara examining the doors as Rene and Dinah kept their weapons ready. "Cults always make me uncomfortable."

"Do they have those in the 31st century?" Dinah wondered.

"Unfortunately," Mon-El grimaced.

Kara held up her hand and pointed to the door on the end, which had the Worldkiller coat of arms painted in blood red paint. Mon-El nodded silently, and Kara reached out and opened it. She went through with first Rene, the vigilante with both guns drawn and ready to fire, Mon-El and Dinah behind them.

The room had no people inside whatsoever, even though lights were still on. "They must've figured Tanya would tell someone," Dinah said thoughtfully.

"Hey, guys," Rene gulped. "Check this out."

Mon-El turned to see Rene looking at what looked like a silhouette formed from a blast on the wall, and he cautiously walked over when he saw the pile of dust on the floor. He heard Kara gasp as he bent down and rummaged through the ashes, then picked up a chain that looked like it was worn to be around one's neck. "This was a person," he swallowed hard.

"How?" Dinah demanded.

"Didn't your source say these cultists were trying to make explosives?" Rene asked.

Kara nodded. "You see shadows like this after nuclear strikes, but this whole building's intact."

"So what kind of bomb are these idiots making?" Rene wondered.

***

It hadn't taken long to put a security detail on Tanya, who agreed to stay in his office while Supergirl investigated the cult. Once he was satisfied with the guards, James headed out of his office to check in on other workers.

A blonde girl by the elevators caught his eye, and curious, he walked over. "Excuse me?" he asked, and she turned around. James paused, recognizing the girl despite her red, teary eyes. "I know you, right?" he nodded slowly. "You're, uh . . . Olivia! We met at Coville's meeting."

"I need to know if Tanya is here," she nodded, barely able to talk through the tears in her voice. "We got separated, and I need to know that she's OK."

"She's fine," James promised. "Just calm down. Everything's good."

"It's not safe here!" Olivia insisted.

James blinked, then narrowed his eyes. "Were you followed?"

"Let her go!"

James swung around at the shout from a security guard, then ran back when he heard Eve scream. "James, help! They're taking Tanya!"

James saw Eve bend down over one of the unconscious guards, then froze when he heard a gun cock behind him. "You could say that," Olivia said coldly, aiming at James's head.

He slowly raised his hands, turning so he faced Olivia entirely. "Hey, hey, hey, come on – "

"James!" Tanya screamed, and he turned around to see two men in black manhandle her out of the office. "Help!"

"Tanya!" James made to move towards her.

Olivia fired into the air, stopping everyone in their tracks. "Let me go!" Tanya shouted as she was hauled off. "Let me go!"

"Take it easy," James warned Olivia as she backed off after the others. "Just take it easy, OK?" Olivia fired twice more into the ceiling, then turned tail and ran after the others. James narrowed his eyes, then turned to Eve and pointed at her. "Call 911," he ordered. "You OK?"

"Yeah," Eve nodded, running behind her desk to make the call.

James headed for the personal elevator, stepping inside. As the doors closed, he pressed his thumb against the button and clearly said, "Coltrane."

Voice recognition kicked in, and the back of the elevator slid open, revealing his Guardian suit ready to go.

***

When James was fully suited up, he drove out onto the road at full speed on his motorbike, able to find the car going far too fast for them to be doing anything legal. Sure enough, Olivia leaned out of the passenger's side window, aiming her gun at him and firing. James swerved to block the bullets from hitting other civilians, then the next thing he knew, a rocket was being fired at him from the rear right window. James was completely unaffected, wheeling through the flames that erupted on the road.

He accelerated enough to pull up alongside the car, tossing a device on the front left wheel that stopped it completely, making the car veer off into a construction area. He could see Olivia jump out of the passenger's side, then saw the men haul Tanya out and hustle her into the building.

James followed on their heels, tossing a zipline and nabbing one of the men, dragging him back and away from Tanya.

As the others looked around to see what happened to him, they completely missed James coming up from behind them. "Let her go," he snarled.

The man holding Tanya's arm spun around, and it only took three sharp punches from James to disarm him and knock him unconscious. When he turned around, he came face to face with the barrel of Olivia's gun. "No," she narrowed her eyes. "She needs to finish what she started."

She fired, and James recoiled when his helmet was shot completely off his face. He doubled over, panting for breath; when he recovered enough, he swung sharply and flung Olivia back. He went hand to hand with the last man in black, his armor protecting him from most hits, and he nailed the guy in the face, prepared to deliver another knockout blow.

"Freeze!" a voice shouted, and James quickly collapsed his shield as four cops arrived on the scene. "Show me your hands!" the one in the lead barked at James.

He swallowed hard, but lifted his arms. "I am not armed," he said clearly.

"I said freeze!" the cop snapped.

"No, no, don't, please!" Tanya shook her head wildly, stepping forward. "He's protecting me!"

"Down on your knees!" the officer ignored her.

"No, it's not him!" Tanya insisted, pointing at Olivia and her lackeys. "It's them!"

Olivia grabbed her men and ran off, and when none of the cops moved to follow, James gritted his teeth. Before any of the cops could move, he threw a smoke bomb down on the ground, then grabbed Tanya to leave.

***

"Wait, hold up," Tanya gasped as James led her through the parking garage at CatCo. "You're Guardian?"

"Yep," James sighed. "Just try not to put that on social media. I'm trying to keep it on the low."

"OK," Tanya nodded, smiling widely. "Sorry. I just – that is so awesome! I had no idea! I thought you were just friends with Supergirl, but you're super . . . well, not man, uh, because that's already taken. But you're super!"

"They're super," James shook his head, walking off. "I'm just Guardian."

"Oh, no, come on!" Tanya protested, jogging after him. "Don't downplay it! You're Guardian! You're a superhero!" Her glee faded, and she sighed, walking beside her. "And they still would've shot you."

"You forget, they did shoot me," James reminded her, clanging the two pieces of his helmet together. "In the face, with armor-piercing bullets."

"No, not the acolytes," Tanya shook her head. "The police. I've seen it happen to my father, my brothers. I just never thought it would happen to Guardian."

James considered, then sighed. "I should get changed," he gestured to his suit. "Come on."

Tanya nodded, following him back to CatCo.

***

Alex worked on putting her gear into her locker, then heard a soft snort behind her. "Interesting definition of 'light reading,' Danvers."

"Shut up," Alex turned and smacked Slade in the shoulder.

The Aussie snickered and looked at the books she had on the bench. "What's it for?"

Alex sighed, closing her locker. "Ever since we came back to National City, it's like . . . I don't know, Ruby just switched off. She's completely different than who she was in Star City. I'm just trying to figure out how to reach her. And I thought . . . well, we're back home where she's lost her mom, and I lost my dad as a teenager, so I figured 'hey, I should be a natural at helping her get through this whole ordeal with her mom.' But nothing I have tried is working." She cleared her throat, gesturing to the books. "So I bought every book that I could find on helping kids deal with trauma."

"Hmm," Slade tilted his head. "Just a thought, but . . . I doubt any of those books have chapters on what to do when your mother's a Worldkiller who tried to murder you."

Alex blushed. "Yeah, they left that one out."

Slade chuckled, then turned when J'onn entered the room, surveying his men. "I'm sure she'll get better," he told Alex. "She has William, Evelyn, and now Zoe to help her out."

"Yeah, I know," Alex sighed, sitting down on the bench; when Slade raised an eyebrow and nodded at the bench pointedly, Alex nodded, and he sat down next to her. "It's just . . . since we've been back, she's been in her pajamas on the couch, and she hasn't even left the apartment."

"Ruby?" J'onn guessed, walking over.

"Ruby," Alex nodded.

"Ah," J'onn sighed. "I know all about that." He sat on the bench across from them. "All about that. My father is growing more and more withdrawn, and intransigent. I mean, he still has his good days, you know. Unfortunately, those days are few and far between."

Slade grimaced as Alex sighed. "I'm sorry, J'onn."

"I just wish there was some way I could slow down the illness," J'onn mused. "I mean, now that he's wearing that psychic inhibitor, his brain is almost identical to that of a human. I've been doing some research on the plasticity of the brain. You know, studies apparently show that playing three-dimensional video games actually could reverse the decline."

Alex giggled. "Sounds like you should take him to the arcade."

J'onn tilted his head, considering, then Slade looked at Alex. "Sounds like you might have a way to get Ruby out of the apartment, too."

Alex's eyes lit up, and she grinned at him. "This is why I keep you around."

Slade laughed loudly, patting her shoulder and standing up. "Is that the only reason, Danvers?"

Alex squawked indignantly, but Slade just kept laughing as he left the locker room.

"Do you think you can help us figure out what kind of bomb did this?" Mon-El asked as Winn examined the tube of ashes they recovered.

"Yeah," Winn nodded. "Well, Lena's spectra analysis equipment is sort of running on overdrive, so we're gonna have to go back to the D.E.O."

"Sure," Kara nodded.

"Yeah, we'll go with you," Mon-El agreed. "And we can go over Coville's journal while we work."

"Good idea," Kara agreed.

Winn's phone suddenly chirped as Lena walked back into the lab, nose buried in her tablet. When Winn read the message he received, his eyes widened. "Oh, my God!" he yelped.

Lena nearly tripped over her heels, she was so startled. "What is it?" Rene asked, Dinah tilting her head curiously.

"You need to get to CatCo," Winn showed Kara the text he just received that had been sent to Kara as well.

Her eyes widened, and she was gone in a blur of blue and red. "Bangarang!" Mon-El managed to call supportively before she was completely gone.

***

"Where is the arcade?" M'yrnn wondered as he and J'onn joined Alex, Oliver, Ruby, William, Evelyn, and Zoe after work.

"It's right there, Father," J'onn pointed ahead of them.

"Whoa!" Zoe's eyes lit up. "Wizard!"

"That's Malcolm," Evelyn snickered.

"Magician!" William mocked.

Oliver snorted loudly, and as the two kids burst out laughing and earned looks of confusion from Zoe and Ruby, M'yrnn scoffed. "Do you think I'm a fool? The arcade is a high form of architecture of ancient Rome. Archways resting on columns. Where are the shops? The marketplace?"

"This is a different kind of arcade, Dad," J'onn smiled.

"OK," Alex clapped her hands, looking at the kids. "Let's go, team, huh?"

"I'm with Ruby!" William immediately declared.

"Come on, Will!" Zoe complained.

"Hey, we'll kick his ass," Evelyn promised.

Zoe whooped and raced after Evelyn to the arcade, and Alex swore she saw a small smile on Ruby's face as William dragged her after them. "Well, at least some of them are having a good time," Oliver shook his head fondly.

"We'll catch you inside," Alex smiled at J'onn.

He nodded, and Alex joined Oliver to hurry after the kids.

***

Kara swooped in through the windows, eyes wide as she ran into James's office. "What happened?" she demanded, seeing James with an icepack to his head. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, yeah," James nodded, wincing.

"They came for me," Tanya explained.

"You'll never believe who the heavy was," James sighed. "Olivia."

"Olivia?" Kara parroted in disbelief, narrowing her eyes. "But she was the first one to turn on Coville at the stadium!"

"Yeah, you're right," Tanya nodded. "She was lost after that. More than the rest, but she kept visiting him in prison."

Kara sighed, looking at James. "You should've called one of us."

James raised an eyebrow, but Tanya laughed. "Oh, Guardian had it handled." She mimed a karate chop, then shook her head when Kara gave James an incredulous look. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna start a church or anything."

James cleared his throat, looking at Kara. "About that, um . . . so, any luck finding the cult?"

"We went back to where you escaped from," Kara nodded. "They weren't there, but we did find evidence that they were trying to build the bomb you told James and Kara Danvers about . . . but they failed." Tanya's face fell, and Kara fidgeted. "Um . . . we think someone might have died there."

She held up the chain Mon-El had recovered and Tanya gasped, reaching for it. Kara handed it over, and the girl swallowed hard. "This was Liza's," she whispered. "She was my friend."

Kara closed her eyes, feeling Tanya's pain, then James's phone chimed. Kara watched him pick it up, then saw his face freeze. "What is it?" he asked, and James looked up at her, fear in his eyes. "James?" He tossed his phone to her, and Kara read the text he got. "Give us Tanya and the journal, or the world will see your true face."

She turned the phone sideways, and she blanched when she saw the video of Guardian rescuing Tanya, including when James's face was revealed after his helmet broke. "They're gonna tell National City I'm Guardian," James nodded, swallowing hard.

***

It gets so much harder to balance so many characters in each episode the further I get . . . I mean, I haven't even accounted for Malcolm, Laurel, Felicity, Lucy, and Max yet . . . granted, there wasn't much D.E.O. here, either, so hopefully I'll remember to put them in here soon.

Not sure when part 2 will be out, but keep an eye out!