Well, count on me to quickly ruin how good everything was in the last chapter. And that's all I'm going to say. }:)

Kara gets to interact more with one of her saviors, and something happens that leads to something several of you have been looking forward to. Enjoy chapter seven!

***

Kara was greeted with smiles and well wishes when she made it to the top floor of CatCo the next morning. She smiled and made sure to tell everyone she was fine before she steeled herself and headed for Cat's office.

She was speaking with James about something when she made it, but she immediately looked up when she heard Kara enter. "Kiera," she straightened, making James turn. "I was beginning to wonder if you would ever show up for work."

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Grant," Kara winced, adjusting her glasses. "But Cadmus was a menace."

Cat gave her a long look. "As I am well aware." Kara winced at that, and Cat sighed. "But it is good to see you back," she said sincerely.

Kara blinked in surprise. "Thank you, Ms. Grant."

Cat nodded, then waved her off. "Now, shoo. I can't hold off Snapper forever."

Kara nodded and left her office, heading for the reporters' division. "Hey," James jogged up to her.

"Hey, James," Kara smiled wearily at him.

"Did the D.E.O. really clear you that quickly?"

"Alex did," Kara said simply.

James conceded the point. Alex usually had the last say on when Kara was free to leave after a potential Kara dying scenario. "Well, it's good to see you back," he smiled genuinely at her.

"Thank you," Kara smiled back before walking into her part of the office, bracing herself for a rant from Snapper.

***

If Snapper Carr sentencing her to desk duty for two weeks because one of her stories "nearly got one of his reporters killed" was the one bad thing that happened to her for the day, that was fine with Kara. She used her time to catch up on what had happened around National City through the eyes of CatCo.

So far, Cat had no plans on leaving on another sabbatical and was staying in National City. That was a relief to Kara. The media mogul was an inspiration not only to Kara as just Kara, but also to Supergirl. It had been a huge relief to her when Cat had returned when Rhea invaded, and the fact that she had stayed afterwards had made her get her hopes up. And now, seeing it in writing in front of her that Cat had no intentions of leaving again was the icing on the cake. Maybe when they finally brought down Lillian Luthor, Kara could give her to Cat for a scathing shut down.

As Kara moved on to learning more about L-Corp, she paused, realizing she had thought when this time, in regards to bringing Cadmus down. For so long, after learning Cadmus had supplies of Kryptonite and was perfectly capable of using fire to bring down J'onn, she had started to worry about if Cadmus could truly be destroyed.

And in less than an hour, three vigilantes and a screaming metahuman from a different universe had not only rescued her, but had also blown up part of Cadmus's stock of Kryptonite. Alone, with less than twenty-four hours to prepare, with only Lena to guide them to where they were. And when the rest of the team arrived . . . oh, Kara was going to love watching Lillian's reaction to all of Team Arrow unleashing hell.

And speaking of Team Arrow . . .

Kara pulled out her cell phone, scrolling through contacts, before finally choosing one. She put the phone to her ear, waiting patiently. A moment later, a bored voice came through. "Thea Queen speaking."

"How many times have you said that today?" Kara couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, my - " She heard a few muttered voices before Thea hissed into the phone. "You do not get to scare us like that again!"

"Sorry?" Kara offered sheepishly, hiding a smile behind her hand.

"You better be sorry! My brother worried his ass off about you!" She heard the telltale sound of a door closing. "Seriously, though, are you OK?"

"As good as I can be," Kara looked around. "Constantly looking over my shoulder now, but that's better than being caught off guard again."

"Absolutely," Thea agreed wholeheartedly. "Now you know how Ollie manages to stay alive." She paused. "And speaking of my brother . . . "

"What?" Kara blinked, straightening. "Nothing's going on back there, is there?"

"No. Well, besides the duties of mayor he's left Quentin? Because that's a villain in its own right." Kara snickered, then Thea turned more serious. "No, nothing's wrong. But do you have any idea how quick Oliver was to put everything to the side to ensure you were OK? The moment you stopped having your regular chats, he started worrying, and it showed. Is he doing OK?"

"He's fine," Kara nodded. "Although, that's partly because he's laser focused on completely destroying these guys."

"And that'll be his outlet for no doubt all the pent-up feelings he's got," Thea sighed. "Just keep telling Oliver you're fine, and make sure he waits until we're all there to drive Cadmus into the ground, all right?" Kara opened her mouth to respond when Thea spoke again. "And my dad. And Slade. And Laurel. You know what, just make sure they don't do anything stupid."

"Will do," Kara chuckled. "I'll see if I can check in with Felicity later."

"Please do. She hasn't even gotten there yet, and she's already plotting the best way to hack into Cadmus and release all their secrets to the world."

"You should see her go at it. It's really entertaining sometimes, actually."

"And, uh . . . " Kara winced. "She's not upset that Oliver's over here?"

"Of course not," Thea sounded surprised at the very idea. "In fact, she was one of the first ones who immediately agreed to go over to your Earth when Dig suggested it."

"No, I mean . . . " Kara scratched behind her ear. "Aren't they . . . together?"

"Oh!" Thea laughed. "No, Kara, they not. They tried, for about a month or so after Lian Yu, but they broke it off. It was much less painful to be around this time, too." She stage-whispered the next line. "To be honest, most of us are rooting for you and Ollie."

"Thea!" Kara protested, eyes wide, hearing Thea laughing over the phone. "Really?"

"Believe me, with Ollie's track record, I think you would be the best girl who ever happened to him," Thea told her, sounding completely serious.

" . . . thank you?" Kara asked hesitantly.

"No, Ollie would tell you the same thing."

"That's not exactly what a girl wants to hear."

Kara heard Thea sigh. "My point, Kara, is that my brother has never had the best luck with relationships. Either they turn out to be psychopaths, or they keep getting hurt because of his ventures as a vigilante, or they didn't even know he was a vigilante, all of which ended up being relationship enders. You are not a psychopath, I doubt any criminal in Star City could even scratch you, and you definitely know my brother's night job. You're also probably the only reporter I like. All things considered, you're perfect for Ollie."

Kara was blushing by the time Thea was done. "Are you seriously trying to set me up with Oliver?"

Thea didn't even try to deny it. "Why not?"

"Oh, my God," Kara put her face in her hand, absolutely certain her face was burning red. "Thea!"

"Hey, a girl can try," Thea defended herself, Kara hearing a distant ping as the elevator doors opened. "After everything Ollie's been through, the least that can happen to him is he gets a good life - and a good girl to go with. Same with you, Kara. Honestly, if that means it's the two of you, at least I know Ollie's in good hands."

Kara tilted her head, trying to think of something to say to that. "Thanks?" she finally settled on.

"You're welcome," Thea said cheerfully, Kara unable to keep from smiling. "Now, you focus on stopping my brother from massacring Cadmus before we all get there."

"I'll try," Kara giggled. "Bye, Thea."

"Bye, Kara."

"Is she OK?"

Kara yelped and dropped her phone, spinning around in her chair, to find Malcolm standing there expectantly. "Malcolm!"

The assassin snickered, bending down to get her phone for her, dressed to the nines in a suit Kara would bet Lena had paid for. She and Winn had combined duties - Winn was the one working on identities for the quartet in their world, and Lena was covering expenses for anything they needed. Which, at the moment, seemed to be clothing. "Good to see you, too," he handed her phone over. He was wearing leather gloves, Kara noticed, hiding his cybernetic hand, and under the overcoat he wore, she bet he had some sort of weapons on him. More than likely knives, if she knew the Dark Archer. "Lena mentioned your break was coming up soon?"

"Uh . . . yeah," Kara checked the time. Was it really past noon already? "I get out in about ten minutes or so."

"Good. Lunch is on me."

"What?" Kara blinked at him.

"Yes," he nodded.

"No!" she shook her head. "You guys saved my life, I can pay for lunch - "

"Yeah, the four of us came to a mutual agreement that if you said that, we're all going out," Malcolm smirked. "And what a group the five of us would make walking around National City."

Kara blushed. "Fine," she mumbled, starting to save her work and shut down her computer. "Not that it's wonderful to see you, but - "

"Why me?" Malcolm guessed. When Kara nodded, Malcolm leaned against the wall casually and thought out loud. "Well, for starters, Slade would probably scare the hell out of people. Oliver's caught up with J'onn planning on how to take everyone out. And also Slade really wants to keep annoying that guy - " He jerked his head behind him. "For some unknown reason." Kara peered past Malcolm to see James in his office, frowning in their direction. "So he decided the best way to do that would be if I came and not Laurel." Kara guffawed and quickly put a hand over her mouth, Malcolm shrugging. "And I'd have probably fit in better around this kind of environment anyway."

"Probably," Kara conceded, still giggling a bit as she bent down to pack her purse. "What does Slade have against James?"

"I don't know, really," Malcolm turned again to consider the man, James scowling a bit, annoyed he'd been seen. "Doesn't look that threatening to me."

"Well, don't tell him that," Kara snorted, standing up and slinging her purse onto her arm. "Let's go, shall we?"

Malcolm offered his arm, with Kara took with a smile. They were passing Cat's office when she looked over her laptop, saw Kara leaving, and frowned. "Kiera!"

Kara stopped, closing her eyes, and Malcolm smirked in amusement. "Boss?" he guessed.

"Yes," Kara sighed, turning around. "Yes, Ms. Grant?" she asked with a smile.

"I thought you would want to know, I just received a curious e-mail from your friend," Cat stood up, walking around her desk to a printer nearby. She took the flyer that finished printing and walked over, handing it to her. "I thought you might want to see it before the news demolishes it."

Kara took the flyer and looked it over, her eyes widening immediately when she saw L-Corp -which meant Lena - was hosting a charity event to put aliens in a better light, and specifically to send a positive message to Supergirl that they hoped for her return soon. "Oh, my God," Kara put a hand over her mouth, Malcolm moving to her side instantly to see what it was.

"Good to know Miss Luthor isn't like her mother," Malcolm remarked.

"You, Mr. Olsen, and I were the only ones from CatCo invited to attend," Cat told Kara. "As such, if there is . . . someone," she eyed Malcolm, "you would like to bring with you, I doubt Lena Luthor would protest."

"Oh, no," Kara shook her head, even Malcolm's eyebrows shooting up at the subtle hint. "No, we're not together."

"No," Malcolm agreed.

"We, uh . . . " She took a look around before taking a deep breath. "He was one of the people who helped me escape Cadmus."

Cat blinked, then gave Malcolm a small smile. "Thank you for that, Mr. . . . ?"

"Merlyn," Malcolm answered, holding out his hand. "Malcolm Merlyn."

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Merlyn," Cat nodded, Kara looking over her shoulder to see James had come back out of his office, and by the look on his face, he had just filed away that name to do a cross check. Kara just barely refrained from rolling her eyes. Overprotective much? "It would have been devastating to lose Kiera just after Snapper just started tolerating her."

Kara snorted, quickly clapping a hand over her mouth. "Yes, she does make things difficult sometimes, doesn't she?" Malcolm snarked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I hate you," she grumbled.

"No, you don't," Malcolm smirked.

"Well, I won't keep you any longer, Kiera," Cat waved a hand dismissively, turning back to go to her desk. "Go and chat with whatever other heroes helped save you or whatever you're doing."

"Thank you, Ms. Grant," Kara smiled, folding the flyer up and slipping it into her purse, she and Malcolm walking out of the office.

"Kiera?" Malcolm couldn't help but grin.

"Yeah," Kara sighed. "I've gotten used to it."

"I thought I heard Ms. Grant say my name?" James asked as they approached.

"Um, yeah," Kara nodded, shifting slightly. "Lena's hosting an event to support aliens, specifically Supergirl. She's invited you, me, and Ms. Grant to come."

"Oh, good," James nodded before his gaze slid to Malcolm. "New friend, Kara?"

"Got a problem with that?" Malcolm raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, my - " Kara groaned slightly and gestured between the two of them. "James Olsen, Malcolm Merlyn."

"Pleasure to meet you," Malcolm extended a hand.

James nodded curtly and shook it. "Likewise."

Kara watched them both squeeze, saw James give first with a slight wince. Malcolm had barely flinched. "It's my break, James, we're heading out," Kara told him as Malcolm released James's hand, a small smirk on the assassin's face. "If you have any questions, I'm sure Winn wouldn't object to sharing more."

James could only watch as Kara led Malcolm to the elevators.

***

Malcolm raised an eyebrow as Kara led him right to the alien bar she and her team frequently visited. "Not bad."

"Thanks," Kara smiled as she sat down in one of the booths against the wall, Malcolm sitting across from her. "My friends and I are here often." She giggled. "It was actually where we hid for a while when - "

She cut off, her face twisting slightly, and Malcolm nodded slowly. "Daxamites?" he guessed softly.

"Yeah," she sighed, putting her chin in her hand.

Malcolm shook his head. "I wish I could tell you it gets easier as time goes on," he told her. "But I can't."

Kara frowned at him. "You're cheery."

"I'm being realistic," Malcolm corrected. "Wouldn't you rather that than false hope?"

Kara pouted at him. "You're no fun."

Malcolm raised an eyebrow. "I could ditch you."

"Nah," Kara shook her head, Malcolm narrowing his eyes when he saw she looked slightly paler than she had a few minutes ago. "That would be worse."

"Then don't call me a killjoy," Malcolm said dryly, taking another look around where they were. Two obvious exits, except one was behind the bar, which they couldn't reach without making a scene. That only left the front door.

Which had shut after they entered.

Slowly, Malcolm turned back around. "I'm gonna go get a drink," he told her. "Stay here."

Something in his voice must have tipped Kara off, as she froze, her eyes flicking about. Finally, she nodded, and Malcolm headed towards the bar. As he did, he took notice of who was around. There was a dark-skinned woman working at the bar now, in an off-the-shoulder top. He caught sight of another woman in black - no, alien, he realized when he saw the markings on her face, her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. There were a few other aliens he could see, along with humans.

And if he tilted his head just right, he could see flashes of green underneath the jackets they wore.

Malcolm turned back around to the bar, the woman behind it stopping in front of him. "What can I get you?" she smiled.

"Not a drink," Malcolm answered, tilting his head towards the group of humans crowding by the pool tables . . . which, now that he took another look, were both with a clear path to the door . . . and to Kara.

"Never seen them before," the woman behind the bar answered, frowning at him. "Why?"

Malcolm looked behind him to see Kara now looking clammy. "Because they're not here to be nice," he answered, checking towards the humans again, some of them starting to walk towards Kara. He was walking back that way immediately, Kara's head raising when she saw him.

That was when the first human drew something from under his jacket. "Down!" he snapped, reaching under his own suit jacket. "Kara, get down!"

Kara flung herself under the booth, the human who had approached her spinning to Malcolm. Before he even saw the glowing green blade emerge, Malcolm had thrown two of his own knives. Both landed in the man's chest with meaty thwack, the force of the hits making him stagger back into his comrades before he collapsed.

That gave Malcolm all the time he needed to launch himself over one of the tables in the center of the bar and propel himself into the Cadmus group, landing himself among them. The guns that had come out were now wavering, in fear of hitting their comrades.

Some of the stronger aliens, recognizing they were Cadmus, started fighting them as Malcolm tossed every Kryptonite blade he saw away, over the bar, as far away from Kara as possible. The blonde alien, he noted, had catapulted into the fray, snarling wildly and attacking with inhuman strength. The woman behind the bar was also gone.

And then through the roof came what could only be a Martian, clad in red and black armor, her eyes glaring at the Cadmus agents. "You are not welcome here," she snarled.

Apparently, the Cadmus agents thought the Martian was now a greater threat. Malcolm took advantage of that, spinning around and neatly slicing one's throat, stepping away from the blood gushing from cut arteries, looking around for Kara at the same time. She was huddled under the booth, looking drained, barely able to keep her eyes open. Malcolm seethed, closing his eyes.

In the next moment, he whirled into action, a knife in each hand, not hesitating to kill the Cadmus agents he could. The blonde alien, he noticed, took his lead, growling and snapping necks. The Martian was mainly aiming to incapacitate. Malcolm by far was shedding the most blood, alternating between jabs in the throat and the heart.

When the last body hit the ground, Malcolm didn't check to see if he was dead or not. He just ran right to Kara's side, seeing the girl limp on the ground, breathing shallowly. "Kara," he pulled her into his lap, checking her pulse, feeling it stronger than it had been when they had rescued her from Cadmus, but it was still much fainter than it should have been. "Come on," he ground his teeth, holding her close as the two female aliens moved to see what happened.

The door to the bar banged open, and Malcolm snarled, twisting so his body guarded Kara from view. The blonde alien hissed and moved to a crouch, the Martian narrowing her eyes.

But it was another Martian that led the way in, his eyes immediately locking on the fallen agents. Alex and Maggie were behind him, guns at the ready. Behind them came Oliver, Slade, and Laurel in full vigilante attire.

"Oh, my God," Maggie whispered.

"M'gann?" J'onn asked, shifting back to human form.

"J'onn," the female Martian relaxed, shifting back into the woman that had been behind the bar. "If I had known - "

"Oh, my God," Alex nearly dropped her gun when she saw M'gann shift away, Malcolm standing and pulling Kara into his arms bridal style. "Not again!"

"Again," Malcolm said darkly as Alex sprinted to his side to check Kara's vitals, Laurel running over as well. He looked past them to see Slade growling at the downed Cadmus agents, checking them for any more Kryptonite. His ice blue eyes met Oliver's furious green ones, and his next words were said in such a snarl, even J'onn recoiled slightly.

"Get the others here. Now."

***

Cue one pissed off Malcolm Merlyn, and cue Team Arrow's arrival soon! :)