Chapter 31Notes:Cabin has internet and I feel like it. =P
Chapter TextAlex felt like she'd been hit by a truck. She groaned, mouthing slightly at the couch cushion under her head. There was no sudden crashing remembrance of why she'd gotten drunk, the miserable acceptance that she'd not spoken to Kara for four days! and now a Luthor knew Kara was an alien, Kara worked for said Luthor now, Kara was dating a dangerous feral cat of walking red flags, and also planning grand theft against the DEO. It was…so much. She kind of wished she was still drunk. At least then she wouldn't have to figure out how to protect Kara.
She cracked her eyes open and saw the glass of water and aspirin on the coffee table. Her head was pounding, and her mouth tasted like ass…dry, tacky ass. Sitting up made her stomach swoop with discomfort, but it wasn't an unfamiliar misery. She easily threw back the painkillers and downed the glass of water. Squeezing her eyes shut she let herself wake up a bit more. She could smell coffee and waffles and also hear Kara moving around in the kitchen. "There better be enough coffee left over there."
"Fresh pot," A very much not Kara's voice, replied.
Alex twisted, and regretted it, as her hand grabbed the back of the couch to hold herself upright. "Daisy."
"That is my name," The woman raised a brow, from where she was leaning against the counter in the kitchen. "Your sister asked me to keep an eye on you before she left for work."
Alex was too hungover to deal with that. "Of course she did." She got up and walked into the kitchen and poured herself coffee. Also, she very much didn't startle at the offered out bottle of her flavored creamer. She did glare.
"Kara talks about you, a lot." Daisy shrugged.
There was a deep well of suspicion as she took the bottle and dumped some into her coffee. Coffee first, interrogate the girlfriend second. Alex really wanted to close her eyes and just cease to exist while drinking her coffee, unfortunately, she was not taking her eyes off the other woman. Even if apparently she'd been unconscious around her for god knows how long. She would mention to Kara that leaving someone to be watched by someone they don't trust was rude.
Daisy ignored this, turning and going back to…making pancakes. And wasn't that galling, the woman just casually comfortable cooking in Kara's apartment? Not that Alex didn't already know that was a thing. But still.
"Don't you have work or something to get to?" Alex finally asked, while refilling her coffee mug.
Daisy flipped the pancakes while replying, casual as anything. "Tomorrow I do, not today. I only work three to four days a week."
"Just spying on my sister the rest of the time." It rankled Alex that Kara would trust a woman being paid to spy on her.
Daisy shrugged, "It's hard to avoid being befriended by Kara when she decides she wants to be friends."
"More than friends," Alex replied, taking a long drink from her mug.
Daisy actually reacted to that, her face did something complicated before she brushed some of her brown hair behind one ear. "She's hard not to like."
"The classified, incredibly suspicious spy moving in next door to my sister just happens to be a lesbian?" Alex couldn't keep her disbelief out of her voice.
"Bi actually, if you want to nitpick." Daisy turned the stove off, pulling the pancakes off and stacking them on a plate. "And yeah, Kara trusting me is…wild."
Alex actually paused at that. "You agree you're suspicious as hell?"
"I mean obviously?" Daisy huffed, her lips twitching. "We both know people like me don't just fall out of trees. There's a couple thousand people trained as highly as people like me on the planet at any time. If you limit that to just women it's in the hundreds."
Alex straightened, "You're admitting that you only came here because Kara is Supergirl?"
"I mean…eh?" Daisy picked up a mug off the counter, cradling it with both hands. "I ended up in National City by complete chance. Got in the car and drove. Might as well have thrown a dart at a map. Was considering staying here because I like the weather. Reaching out to Kara specifically, sure, I did that because she's Supergirl."
Alex's eyes narrowed, "Why?"
"That's private." Daisy didn't flinch under her glare. "I had some questions, got my answers, and then Kara insisted we were friends." Her lips twitched, "And super speed, super helpful when painting an apartment."
The desire to murder the woman and hide the body was real. Kara would never forgive her, but god just getting rid of the threat was appealing, even if she wouldn't do it. "And what, I should just accept that?"
"I mean, no? But also it's not like there's anything that'll make you trust me. You wouldn't be a decent agent if there was." Daisy shrugged while setting the plate of pancakes down in front of Alex.
Well, that was irritating and true. Also, fuck, those were chocolate chip pancakes. "Kara told you my favorite pancake type?"
"You have chocolate-flavored creamer, and there's an untouched carton of fudge ice cream in the freezer. It wasn't hard to guess." Daisy set her mug in the sink before pausing. "For what it's worth, I want to protect her too."
Alex scoffed, "You encouraged her to quit her job, tell a Luthor what she is, and then get a job at L-corp."
"I didn't actually," Daisy frowned. "But this means a lot to Kara, it is making her happy, it matters. I can't and even if I could, I wouldn't stop her. But I may have a program monitoring any mention of her name, alien, her department or project running on L-corp's internal servers." The woman had a faint grin. "I'm an excellent hacker, and I can be real dangerous if it turns out Lena isn't who Kara thinks she is."
And huh, that was…something. "Willing to share that information?"
"Sure," Daisy hesitated, "Look, I'll stay out of your way. And I know my opinion isn't one you care about, but I'm happy you and Kara are talking again. You're the most important person in her life, she's missed you."
Well, that was unfortunate, if the circumstances were different Alex would probably have liked the woman. At least if she wasn't lying. Why a spy?! You could never trust what they said. "Not liking you, it's not personal."
"Thanks? I think?" Daisy huffed before waving, "I'm gonna head out, see ya around Agent Danvers."
Alex groaned as the window shut behind her sister's apparent girlfriend. She needed more coffee…and she was eating those pancakes even if there was a risk of them being poisoned. And then she was going to have to talk to J'onn. Maybe he could read Daisy's mind and just tell Alex what the woman was hiding. Because she was hiding something. Probably multiple somethings…urgh.
////
Kara zipped into the control center of the city DEO base. "Winn!"
He was startled, but his smile was bright as he realized it was her. "Kara! How'd you manage to get away this time of day?"
"Lunch break at my new job is earlier." Kara beamed.
Winn jumped up out of his seat, "You finally picked what to do at Catco?"
"Um…about that-"
Kara poked at Winn, "So you're liking working for the DEO?"
"It's actually challenging! I get to do computer programming in alien languages." Winn was glowing with happiness. He poked at her, "So, science for you?"
She nodded happily, finally someone beside Daisy who was just happy for her. "It just feels right, and important."
"I understand that," He raised up his fist for a fist bump, "To new horizons?"
"Yes!" Kara gleefully tapped her own fist against his.
Winn perked up, "So Lucy told me to look for feel-good stuff for you to handle outside of car wrecks and everything. Good PR coming into alien amnesty and everything, and I think I found something."
"What'd you find?" Kara asked, and it felt like old times, back in the empty office at Catco, heads bent together listening to the police scanner.
Winn pulled up an article on his computer, "I think you should bring the bodies down from Mt Everest." He looked at her, biting his lip, "What do you think? Too dark?"
"What bodies?" Kara frowned as she looked over Winn's shoulder.
He pulled up a few different articles. "Because of the cold, and the air being too thin that high up, when people die on the mountain, they can't retrieve the bodies. So they just leave the bodies up on the side of the mountain, frozen, identifiable by the colors of their clothing. Some of them get used as landmarks. I was thinking about it, and you can fly that high, the cold doesn't bother you, and you're strong enough you could just, bring them home. To their families."
Kara laid a hand on his shoulder, "It's an idea, how do I do it right? That's not something that I can risk messing up on."
"Well, we'd need to contact the Tibetan government. They'd need to coordinate notifying families and morgue space and all of that. We'd need to talk to a mountain rescue person but we could probably have you out there and helping in a few days?"
She squeezed his shoulder as gently as she could. "Thank you, that's a great idea." Kara smiled at the side of his head, "Any more ones like that?"
"Well, there's a lot of areas that could use mines being recovered without blowing people up. Oh! And there are tons of things like that, or cleaning garbage off of beaches, you can do a lot of things that are dangerous or incredibly expensive for humans." Winn looked back at her, "What do you think?"
"I think you're brilliant." Kara meant it, it was what Supergirl was about, not Cadmus and alien threats.
He beamed, "I'll start getting things organized. And if you have any other ideas we can start a list!"
Kara straightened her dress as she waited nervously for her project leader to finish looking over her paperwork. This was it, she'd made it to the labs! Also, L-corp had more hiring paperwork than Catco. The orientation had taken all morning. It was a bit ridiculous. She didn't care about that though, she'd made it to the lab!
The project leader, Dr. Xie looked up at her. He was a dignified man, his black hair was edged in grey creeping in, fashionable brown glasses on his nose, neat suit underneath his lab coat. Everything about him was immaculate. He was one of three individuals working on the project. He frowned, as he straightened up the paperwork in the file and set it aside. "While your assessment test results are, exemplary, I must ask, how? You do not have any formal training in this field, no formal education. Why should I let you on my team and not send you packing back to Ms. Luthor?"
"I do have formal education in the field, and degrees, it's just they're not valid here." Kara could see the question on his face, and she hadn't survived working for Ms. Grant by not anticipating her wants. "On Earth that is. I'm an alien, the training program I graduated from isn't one you'd know, or anyone on Earth would."
Dr. Xie hummed thoughtfully, "I presume Ms. Luthor knows?"
"Yes! My job history as a PA wouldn't have gotten me anywhere near a lab." She tried to smile despite how nervous she was.
He stared at her, clearly deep in thought, "Alright then, you are to work with one of your colleagues for the next week till we can be sure your work is acceptable."
"Understood! I won't let you down!" If Kara could impress Ms. Grant, she could impress anyone given some time.
Kara was floating from pure happiness, and superpowers, as she flew a stray dog to the animal shelter. It was a very scared terrier of some kind. She floated down in front of the shelter, before stepping in and waved at Stacey. "I have another one for you."
"Oh gosh, is that the fourth one this week?" Stacey came out from behind the counter, her face softening as her eyes locked with the dog. "I think we have a run away there. He's in pretty good condition, aren't you boy?"
She nodded, "I found him over on 12th and Truman." Kara brought a few stray animals a week to the shelters around National City. Most of the dogs were just runaways, the cats…less so. But still, they deserved a chance at a good home. She paused looking through the cheap plexiglass into the cat room. "How would a person know what they needed for a pet cat if they'd never had one before?"
Stacey looked up surprised from where she'd been cooing over the dog. "Are you planning on getting a cat, Supergirl?"
"No, a friend is though." Kara was going to have to bring Daisy to a shelter without warning. She had a feeling Daisy wouldn't be able to walk out without one.
Stacey smiled, "We have some pamphlets you could take for your friend."
"That would be great! Thank you, Stacey!" Kara smiled at the volunteer.
////
Andrew Vinson had his most charming smile on his face, as he offered out a fresh coffee to his contact on the force. "How's my favorite officer on the force?"
"Tired," Officer Williams accepted the coffee. "And I don't have anything new for you. I breathe a word about what's going on with the Lord case and the Sergeant will string me up personally."
He leaned against the officer's patrol car. "There has to be something, some tidbit of where to look? You've never let me down before Williams."
"You don't understand how bad it is." Williams lowered her voice, "It's bad, the Lord train bombing. Ask questions about the family of the bomber."
Andrew knew his expression was shark-like, "See, my favorite officer."
"Yeah, yeah, you're not getting anything else." Williams rolled her eyes.
He stroked at this beard, "Well if you can't give me anything about Lord, any news on feelings in the department about the President coming to sign Alien Amnesty in National City next month?"
"Security is going to be a bitch." Williams groaned, "Science Division is excited about it though, means they'll be able to actually talk to aliens without having them doing a runner. It's going to swamp all of us though. There's a lot of crime happening to and from the alien community. Once they can come to the police, it's going to be a can of worms once the community starts interacting with us humans."
He pulled out his wallet and thumbed through the various business cards he collected in his career as a reporter. He spotted the one he wanted and passed it over, "More life insurance, you should get it. I don't know about you, but getting in between alien fights sounds like a one-way ticket six feet down."
"Please, they can't make me get involved in that alien shit. Science Division Yahoos can have it. I'm not putting my neck out for something with tentacles or a taste for human flesh." William's clucked her tongue.
He nodded in agreement. "I won't be struggling for stories once that shit hits the fan." Downside of being a freelancer, even if he mostly sold to Global News, was that it was down to him to find his own stories. Upside, he got to find his own stories. "My life will certainly be worse if you get eaten by a tentacle monster, so bravely run away and all that."
////
Daisy stared at the instructions for the bookshelf she'd gotten for her apartment. She didn't own anything to put on said bookshelf, but she was going to have a bookshelf. Progress…? Also, whoever wrote these instructions was unhinged. Still, May's method for learning a new weapon.
Laying out all the pieces and grouping them appropriately in neat piles or stacks she got to the business of getting organized. Organization, visualization, and then make your attempt. The bookshelf probably didn't deserve this much effort, but here she was.
The apartment was really coming together. It was painted, and the kitchen was finished. She even had kitchen utensils and pans and everything. Leaving this place when it became necessary was going to be…hard. Maybe it was a good thing? It hadn't started to quite feel like home yet, and when things felt like home, bad things happened. And she'd have practice for the next time she got an apartment. Upsides and all that. At least she wouldn't look like an idiot in a Home Depot again. Just at the mechanics.
Which reminded her, she should probably get Robbie's car checked out. Cars needed their oil changed and tires rotated and stuff. Not that she'd ever had a car that wasn't a hunk of junk van, but upkeep was important. It might be better to learn how to change oil on her own? She didn't think Robbie would appreciate her letting strangers touch his car. That said, he'd probably prefer no one touching his car. He was going to have to live with it. She was going to remind him of the whole paying for his brother's college thing before he could get too upset about the car.
"Fuck," The peg did not fit into the hole it very much should go in. So the question was, did she force it?
Daisy was staring at a completed bookshelf, her arms settled on her hips. "Should I buy books?"
"Do you read books?" Kara asked curiously from where she was eating her third bowl of shredded chicken in mala sauce. Which, Daisy was kinda proud of how dinner had turned out tonight.
Daisy snapped out of thoughts on mala sauce, and back to the bookshelf, "I read…online?"
"You could put other things in it?" Kara offered.
She looked at her friend. "I came here with the contents of a car trunk. I don't really have a lot of stuff?"
"Why did you want a bookshelf?" Kara asked, her face stupidly adorable as it was scrunched in confusion.
Daisy shrugged, "I mean apartments are supposed to have them? I just kinda figured I should get one?"
Kara set her bowl down before walking over, "You'll end up with more stuff the longer you stay in one place." She wrapped her arms around Daisy's waist, letting her chin rest on Daisy's shoulder. "And you definitely have enough room for a cat tree."
"Cat tree?" Daisy asked, ignoring how she shivered at the feeling of Kara wrapped around her, and against her back.
Kara was smiling, even if Daisy couldn't see her face it was audible in her voice. "You said you wanted a pet, and you have a plant."
"I'm not sure keeping one plant alive for a few days means I can have a cat." Daisy looked at the admittedly majority of space she just wasn't using in the apartment. She could keep a pet, couldn't she?
Chapter 32Notes:Yo! Hope you'll are having a great night!
Chapter TextDaisy was trying very hard not to be bored while wiping out the tiny Cadmus lab. But the security was a joke. There'd been two former military, maybe current military security guys, but she'd come around the corner and shot both of them before either could fully duck, let alone reach for their own sidearms. There were six people inside, she could feel their heartbeats, and unless they were Seal Team 6, it wasn't going to be a problem.
Professional and by the book though, getting over-confident was how you got dead.
Her movements were smooth as she moved through the halls towards the singular room where she could feel the heartbeats.
The cameras were basic, easily nudged out of the way with a flick of her powers.
It was quiet.
Cadmus really was not good at internal security.
She clocked prime locations for placing explosive material. It really wasn't a large facility, just a singular lab.
Her thoughts were absent-minded, light, barely there, her mind mostly in mission mode, listing and registering her environment and tracking the other living people in the base through vibrations. Her body moved without thought, the motions trained in by Melinda May. Neutralize the threats, clear the building, collect intel, and destroy all evidence.
The majority of this evening's work was going to be digging through the computer systems, photographing any physical paperwork that she wasn't able to take with her before blowing the place to hell and back.
It was all exactly to plan. Exactly to plan right up until she performed a textbook-perfect breech through the door into the lab.
Daisy shot the scientist in the white lab coat before he could do more than startle. She dove forward rolling to avoid the bullets any competent person with a gun would have fired only to come rolling up into an upright crouch, prepared to shoot the next threat only to freeze.
The image of the room had had time to register fully by then.
Cages.
There were no threats.
Only children.
Children in cages, children who were clearly not human, but children all the same. There was one strapped to a table, the rest in the awful, plexiglass boxes that were so clearly fucking cages. They weren't threats. Nothing had indicated this facility had living test subjects, but Cadmus wouldn't consider aliens as better than animals. It was foul.
The mission no longer applied.
Daisy rose to her feet holstering her handgun. She was to the table the sky blue-skinned child with thick black hair and slightly too sharp features was strapped down to as she clicked off the voice changer. The paleness of the blue didn't look entirely natural. The kid was sweating too. But his wide eyes were locked onto her. He didn't need the creepy voice.
She snagged a scalpel off of a tray, one hand touching the kid's chest, "I'm getting you out of here." Her hand with the scalpel sliced through the canvas restraints.
The second the restraints went slack from being sliced, she dropped the scalpel, her hand lifting off of the child's chest. She didn't step back though, if he tried to run for it, she was going to need to make sure he didn't face plant.
The kid didn't sit up, he didn't scuttle straight off the medical table like she'd half feared. He flopped slightly, a whine in his throat, eyes closing. And, not sure what the heart rate should be for his species, but it didn't feel strong.
Shit, he needed medical help, now.
Daisy turned the locks on every one of the five cages shattering into dust. "Can any of you guys understand me?"
The small, curled up kid who was green, slightly scaly, with eyes that were completely black without any whites to their eyes nodded hesitantly. A small 'meep' like sound passing through their very pointy teeth.
She walked over, opening up the cage. "I'm going to get you guys out of here, but we need to be fast. Can you help with that?" She dropped down into a crouch so she was as close to eye level with the child as she could be, her voice soft but firm.
The kid nodded, and their heart was jackrabbit fast, and very much curled in the back. The three other kids watched with laser focus.
Daisy cursed she couldn't take her mask off in this base. If it became necessary, she was doing it, but she could hopefully get them into a getaway car before that happened. "My name is Quake, do you think you can tell me your name?"
The black eyes stared at her, difficult to read on their own, and the child was too terrified to really give off much more than that. But, finally, they managed to reply, their voice a squeaky whisper. "Xal."
"It's nice to meet you Xal." Daisy kept her voice soft. "Are you going to be able to walk? Or am I going to need to carry all of you?"
The humanoid looking kid in the next cage shot out of her cage, matted and dirty blond hair, her hands scrabbling for the dropped scalpel.
Daisy held her hand up, palm flat in surrender, it wouldn't be hard to disarm a kid, but if a scalpel made this kid feel safe, they could keep it. "Hey there, looks like you can walk, and are very brave."
The kid's eyes were narrowed, dark circles under her eyes, "If more of them," she gestured at the dead body of the scientist with her too-pointy chin, "come you'll kill 'em?"
Daisy gave a faint tip of her head. "Instantly."
"You can carry Dem-Van?" There was a faint slur to her words but she was getting them out, panic bleeding from the kid, but also a desperation that was painful to see.
Daisy didn't move, "I can carry him and protect you all at the same time. But I don't think I can carry more than two of you at a time."
"We can walk," Xal crawled out of their box, one hand with filed-down claws, gripping the fabric of Daisy's jacket.
She looked to the two other kids, "Can both of you walk?"
The little girl with pointy ears and a certain bark-like pattern to her skin, and tear tracks down her cheeks scooted to her unlocked door. "I can't, my leg." Her face was full of frustration and she was probably about to start crying.
Daisy rose up to her feet, carefully helping Xal up to their feet as well. "Think you can hang on for a piggy back ride?"
"Yess." There was a hiss to the girl's voice.
Daisy wished she could take this stupid mask off. "Alright, let's get you situated and then we can blow this place." And she meant that literally.
The only reason Daisy's heart wasn't in her throat was experience and training, as she helped get the girl with the hurt leg onto her back. She kept an eye on where Xal and the humanoid looking girl with a scalpel were helping the kid who was furry and brown with bloodshot eyes. She checked on the kid on her back, "You have a good grip?"
The girl nodded against Daisy, her arms tightening a bit around her neck.
Daisy took that as a 'yes'. She stepped over to the boy who was apparently Dem-Van. Dem-Van was…technically conscious, but it was barely. His eyes were glazed as he tried to watch her, but any time he tried to move he seemed to fade for a few seconds before he was capable of looking at her again. "We're going to get you help." Daisy scooped the kid into her arms, and god both of them were light.
She looked at the three upright and capable of walking kids. "Stay behind me, but stick close, we're not going far."
"Ok," Xal said seriously, bravely, swallowing back pain and fear. It was an expression that shouldn't be on a kid's face, but one Daisy had seen on too many kids' faces. In the mirror when she'd been a child as well.
Daisy's powers blew the door out, her steps slow and careful to allow the kids to keep up with her without struggling. She knew exactly where she was taking them. Fuck preventing Cadmus from knowing it was her. Plans changed. It was a small facility, it was only a few hundred feet down the hall, and then a second door vibrated to dust, and they were to the parking lot.
Her heart ached at the weak, wheezing breaths from Dem-Van against her neck. Now wasn't the time. Her eyes flicked across the cars belonging to the now dead staff. She needed non-descript, and big enough for all the kids. Which meant not the two shiny SUVs or the Mustang, the tan station wagon though, that'd work. She led them straight to it. Pausing she carefully set Dem-Van down on the cement, and got the little girl down off her back. "You guys sit tight for a minute."
She looked around making sure the kids understood, and then headed straight to the hood of the car. She popped the hood easily, and then quickly found the right wires and snapped them to cut off the car alarm. Closing the hood, she went to the driver's door. She didn't need to be careful. She just yanked the driver's side door open hard enough to rip it open. Unlocking the doors she swept right back to the kids.
"Ok, we're going to get you all buckled in and then we're going to get to help." Daisy picked up the girl with the bark-patterned skin and got her into the passenger seat and buckled in. She looked over her shoulder, "Xal, can you guys get in the back?"
She scooped up Dem-Van, she wasn't sticking him in the trunk or making literal children hang onto him. So she just climbed into the driver's seat, keeping him in her lap, one arm around him, and ripped her face mask and goggles off. "Buckle up, and um…don't steal cars?"
The blond girl, still holding a scalpel, had been the last one into the back and stared at her. "You can drive?" She was the slightly oldest-looking one, now that Daisy'd seen them actually stand up. But aliens, so who knew?
"Drive, sure, have a license no." Daisy winced as she used a knife to pop the plastic cover off of the steering wheel and yanked the wires down. It was a bit hard to hotwire the car with only one hand, but she was a spy; she got it done.
Xal's weaker voice came from the backseat. "What if they follow us?"
Daisy felt a pleased hum as the engine started. She lowered the window in her door. "They won't." She raised her arm, toward the small laboratory and let her powers lash out.
It was hard to not let more than a faint tremor vibrate the car. But the lab? The lab she turned to rubble and dust, the ground shattering underneath it. Before the serum, it would have shattered her arm. Now it was fine.
The furry kid in the middle of the backseat spoke up in a low mumble. "Oh."
Blowing out a breath, Daisy pulled her arm back in, looking at the kids. "I'm getting you kids somewhere safe." And that wasn't Kara. Daisy stamped down on the gas.
Daisy was out of the station wagon the second she nearly crashed it in the alley outside the bar. She kept a strong hold on Dem-Van with one arm, as she swiftly went around the station wagon to pick up the little girl who'd been panting from pain for the last ten minutes with her eyes squeezed shut. She carefully balanced Dem-Van with one arm and scooped up the other kid with her other arm. She just shattered the seatbelt buckle so she didn't have to bother with the time to unbuckle it.
She was grimly relieved the other kids had spilled out of the back, Xal had the furry kid's arm pulled over their shoulders. "Stick close ok?"
"You're crazy," The blondie mumbled while grabbing Daisy's belt and Xal's hand.
It was going to have to do, and her driving wasn't that bad. She used her foot to hook the door and open it, and then dove straight into the bar. Her eyes landed on M'gann who was serving beers to one of the tables. "M'gann! I need help! NOW!"
"Wha-" M'gann's eyes widened as she took in the situation and whether it was mind reading working on the kids, or just well, the obviously weakening kids, but she acted. "Here." She waved them toward an empty table. "Set him down."
Daisy felt a wave of relief, M'gann could help.
"Darla, settle everyone's tabs." M'gann put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly making sure what few people weren't rubber-necking shut up and paid attention. "We're closing the bar early, settle your bills at the till and get out." She looked to one of the patrons. "Brian go call Markus and tell him to get here with his kit, now."
Daisy could let M'gann handle that, and set Dem-Van on the table, with the little girl in her other arm. She ripped her gauntlets off and yanked her jacket off to get it over the girl's shoulders. She was shivering and just, fuck.
Turning she helped get the other kids settled into chairs, her eyes running over them for injuries, a thing she hadn't really had a chance to do until now. And none of them looked good. "You're safe, we're going to get you looked at and taken care of."
////
Markus had been alarmed at the call from Brian. He didn't get calls to book it to the bar for emergency medical care. He only lived a couple blocks away, he like many aliens in the city lived in the same couple of neighborhoods. Usually the ill or injured were brought to him. And whatever was going on was enough to freak Brian off enough the man hadn't run his mouth. That hadn't happened before.
He rode his bike as fast as he could peddle it for the bar. The first sign, that it was going to be a nightmare inside was the car with open doors parked in the alleyway, scrapes from where it'd dinged the dumpster on the way in. The second was that as he walked into the bar, despite it barely being eleven, the lights were all on, and the bar had clearly been closed.
The patrons hadn't all left. It was quiet, but the whole place was humming with something. And there were grim-looking silent patrons hovering near every possible entrance or exit from the bar. His eyes found M'gann in a far corner that was brightly lit for once. And those were children. The feeling of dread that had been building settled. It was going to be bad.
"M'gann, what seems to be the problem?" He forced himself to pay attention to the bartender. If Al wasn't here, M'gann ran things. And everyone knew she could handle most clients if there was trouble.
Her face wasn't its normal passive expression, it was grim. "Quake pulled them from a Cadmus lab."
Markus felt ill but nodded. He took in the kids, there were five of them, and standing slightly to one side, was an adult, Asian-appearing humanoid with a gun on her hip in a tank top. But she was standing, and the kid laid out on the table looked nearly dead. His delicate blue skin was deathly pale. He set his suitcase down on one table and opened it up, his medical equipment neatly laid out.
Picking up the scanner, he turned and plastered on his most reassuring expression. "Hello, my name is Markus, I'm going to do a quick scan of you all and see how to help you." He stepped toward the table and then yelped, stumbling backward.
"Don't touch him!" The tiny blond humanoid child had lunged, metal scalpel in her hand.
The Asian woman scooped the little girl around the waist, pulling her back, one hand catching the girl's wrist. Her voice was firm. "Hey, Sarah, look at me." She'd bent to be at eye level with the girl, Sarah.
Sarah was shaking, "Doctors are bad!"
"They can be." The woman tapped the underside of the girl's jaw, ensuring Sarah was looking her in the eyes. "I'm protecting you, all of you, yes?"
The girl nodded, brows furrowing.
"What do you think I would do if he tried to harm any of you?" She asked, her tone was utterly serious if not without warmth.
Sarah's shoulders lowered slightly, "You'd kill him."
"Without hesitating." She agreed, and she meant it. It left a bead of cold sweat suddenly rolling down the back of Markus's neck. The woman kept speaking, "But Dem-Van and Fred are really hurt. They need help I can't give, you need to trust me to protect you guys. Ok?"
Sarah hesitated, but finally nodded, stepping closer to the woman.
The woman's arm automatically curled around the child's shoulders, her attention returning to Markus. "The two on the table need help first, Dem-Van hasn't been lucid or strong enough to even talk in the last forty minutes."
Markus's eyes flicked to M'gann, the bartender wasn't going to intervene. He braced himself and went to his patients. He gently laid the scanner against the little boy, Dem-Van. And then well, he had work to do. Work more important than however intimidating the woman with a gun was.
Markus's voice was quiet as he spoke to M'gann. "I've done what I can, and they're out of danger, but they'll need care. Do we know who their parents are?"
"Al'll look into it, but we haven't found them yet." M'gann's arms were crossed.
A throat cleared, and the woman with the gun stood from where she'd been seated letting the little reptilian child soak up heat from her. She carefully secured the blanket around their shoulders, before walking over to them. "We need to get rid of the car."
"Why?" M'gann looked at the woman.
"Because I killed everyone working in and collapsed the lab I grabbed the kids from, and whoever owns that car worked in that lab." She said it like that wasn't terrifying.
M'gann's face tightened, "Will they know Quake destroyed it, or do we have time before Cadmus puts that together?"
"Safest to assume they'll know it was me." Apparently, Quake replied.
And oh gods, that made the past hour make a great deal more sense. Markus couldn't help the wide-eyed look he gave the woman. Because yes, those were kevlar pants, and the jacket over Fred's shoulders was the same kevlar material. He could recognize the clothing as Quake's. The hair was long and not purple, but well, wigs existed.
M'gann sighed, "I'll find someone who can get rid of it. We don't need that kind of attention here."
"Before that, where are we going to hide the children?" Markus forced himself to interrupt. "They can't stay in a bar."
Quake winced, "You can't split them up. They need to stay together till their families can be found. I don't know how long they were in that lab, but they're bonded. If they're going to feel safe enough to rest, let alone not panic, we need to keep them together."
"Our community doesn't tend to be a rich one." Markus winced, his own home was a small apartment with his bondmate and their two hatchlings. He might have been able to squeeze one or two of the children onto a couch and the air mattress but it was out of the question to fit more. "Would two groups work? That way they at least aren't alone?"
Quake's eyes flicked to the kids, who were all munching on the graham crackers and sipping at orange juice she'd insisted on Darla getting for the kids. One blanket and several donated jackets wrapping them all up. "We don't know how valuable they are to Cadmus. There's a risk wherever they end up."
"Can you take them, for a few days at least?" M'gann looked at Quake.
Markus's eyes widened, whatever M'gann thought and read from the Kree woman was enough she trusted the children in her care. It was…rather shocking. Though, perhaps not. Quake had been a hovering threat, and was proving surprisingly good with children if pants wettingly terrifying.
Quake's eyebrows shot up. "Supergirl."
M'gann and Markus both grimaced. And apparently, that'd jinxed them because the bar's door slid open, a very colorful woman blurring inside. Markus barely tracked the blur fast enough to realize that was Supergirl. Quake on the other hand had moved, her arm raising and Supergirl slammed into an invisible wall, stopping the woman in her tracks a couple of yards before reaching them.
"No." Quake's voice commanded.
Chapter 33Notes:Apparently it wasn't super clear, but the whole part of Myriad in the Catco office got leaked. All of it. Everyone knows Quake is Kree, even if they don't understand what that means. But the alien community very much does know what that means. When Lucy and Vasquez said it all got leaked, like, they meant all of it got leaked.
Chapter TextKara winced, that had not felt nice running into a straight wall of vibrations. Her nose scrunched briefly as she oriented herself. She'd thought she was helping Daisy with something. Daisy had been late coming back from the Cadmus base, and when she'd flown by it wasn't blown up the same way that the others had been. Destroyed, but not blown up. This wasn't what she was expecting, also, "No? No what?"
"Supergirl, you need to not be here." Daisy's hand was still up, but the wall of power had vanished the instant Kara had stopped heading toward her.
She paused, her eyes taking in the room. There were eight adults, spread by what she knew were entrances, and then M'gann and a man she didn't recognize next to Daisy. And behind them a group of kids. Also, Daisy was like half in her Quake outfit and half out? "What's going on?"
"Supergirl," Daisy winced, "You work with the DEO, you can't be here. The less you know the more deniability you have."
Kara realized what was happening. Something had happened in that lab, something bad. And Daisy was trying to protect her from it. She looked at her girlfriend seriously. "How can I help?"
Daisy let out a sound that was half exhale and half frustration, her hand dropping to her hip. "You would be lying to people you care about."
"I already am," Kara stared at Daisy.
Daisy winced, "The DEO can't know anything. You don't have to do this."
"It's my choice to help." She didn't even have to think about it.
Daisy hesitated but then nodded, her shoulders slumping slightly. "The lab had test subjects."
Kara's eyes snapped to the children and then back to Daisy, horror rocking through her. "What do you need?"
Daisy turned to M'gann, "Do you know someone with a car we can fit the kids in?"
"I can call someone with one." M'gann crossed her arms.
Daisy hummed, "Call them." She looked at the middle-aged man. "Think you can write up what the kids will need? Like medically, diet, that kind of thing, Doctor?"
"Of course," The doctor, and he had the faintly metallic sheen to his otherwise human-looking features that Kara recognized as indicative of a Tormock. Their ability to bond and shift with their tech left traces of the metal alloys in their skin and hair. He frowned slightly, "Does anyone have a pen and paper?"
"I do!" An orange-skinned patron who had been posted by the staff exit hurried over while digging around in her purse.
Daisy looked at Kara, "Can you go to my apartment and remove all the guns?"
"Of course, do you want them here?" Kara paused before she took off for the apartment.
Daisy shook her head, "No, they just need to be out of my apartment. And don't forget the hand grenades, they're in the vegetable drawer in the fridge, and there's a box of C4 in the bathroom under the sink. The rifle is in its case under the couch, the rest is in the gun chest. Oh, and the k-bar taped under the table. Just scan the place in case I'm forgetting something." Daisy easily unholstered the gun on her upper thigh and offered it over, grip first.
"You have C4 in the bathroom!?"
Kara had never been so glad to have x-ray vision in her life. Usually, she kinda cursed that power. So many far-too-thin walls. She's seen things…things she could never unsee. Hence her wearing her glasses so often even when she was just alone in her apartment most nights. But in this moment she was grateful for it. Because Daisy was apparently stressed out enough to have forgotten the handgun! attached behind the headboard, and a Rao damned morter and four rounds for the thing stashed under the counter topping of the kitchen island.
She stared at the alarming pile of weapons she'd pulled out of their respective hiding places. Where was she supposed to put these? There was no way it would all fit in Daisy's car. Her girlfriend? had clearly stocked up since arriving on this earth. So where to put it? It was too late to get a storage locker or something. Alex's? No, that would mean telling Alex something was going on and that meant the DEO knowing something was going on. Winn broke under so much as a stern look from Alex…also Kara wasn't sure he wouldn't blow himself up. James would rat her out to Clark at least.
Looking up she looked through the floor at her own apartment. She was going to be having nightmares of blowing up her apartment. But, a small price to pay. Though why exactly she needed to get all the weapons out of Daisy's apartment, she wasn't quite sure. Still, Daisy was letting her help. So she could handle that, and hear a proper explanation later.
Still, this was going to be kinda awkward to carry up to her apartment…thank Rao for super speed? Or…could that set off C4? Could she google that? Was she going to have to start learning about human weapons in depth? Because that was becoming something she was getting the idea might be useful. Possible sister night activity? Alex did like weapons.
Kara noted there wasn't a car in the alleyway any longer when she landed outside the bar, weapons stacked awkwardly in her living room. She entered the bar, at a normal walking speed this time. But it hadn't taken long and she was back. Her eyes automatically found Daisy, and then she just came to a sudden halt. It was adorable.
Sitting at the chair most between the table with the children and everything else was Daisy. She had a juvenile Tsauron clinging to her. Arms wrapped around her exposed shoulders and neck. The Tsauron was soaking in warmth from Daisy. After all, as a reptilian species their young, as this one's leaf-green scales and small stature attested to, had a difficult time regulating their internal temperatures.
Daisy was writing out a list of some kind, one arm naturally around the clearly sleeping Tsauron to keep them securely in place. The child's nose was buried against her neck. It was unbearably sweet. As was the also sound asleep blue-skinned child leaning against her other side. She wasn't sure of that child's species, there were a few with his features. All of the kids were slumped in sleep in some way except for a tiredly, blinking humanoid-looking girl.
Kara wanted to take a picture and shove it in anyone's face who said Daisy was a threat or a bad person. Including Daisy. Because Kara couldn't think of better proof that Daisy was exactly as wonderful of a person as she thought Daisy was. The smile on Kara's face was unconscious as she walked over, keeping her voice quiet as Daisy looked up at her. "I got everything, including the mortar under the counter." She looked at Daisy in questioning amusement. Kara couldn't help the warm fuzzy feelings about the whole thing, including the packrat weapons hoarding.
"Oh yeah, sorry. Kinda forgot that one." Daisy had a rueful smile on her face.
She couldn't help the affection, as she unhooked her cape, laying it over the faint growl-tinged snoring shoulders of the G'Newtain. His furry brown head pillowed on his arms on the table. Her voice was low, careful not to wake the kids. "And you needed a mortar and an alarming number of..shells? bombs? whatever it shoots in your kitchen, why exactly?"
"My CO said it was ridiculous for me to have one, and wouldn't let me use ours." Daisy grinned unrepentantly as she ripped the page she's been writing on out of the notepad.
Kara knew she was smiling outright, "You can crack a continent, I think your CO might have been right about that."
"It was just sitting there when I was setting charges to blow up that last base, it was calling to me." Daisy held out the list on the page and her credit card.
Kara paused before looking at the list as she accepted it. "Your sudden increase in weapons is because you've been robbing Cadmus bases before blowing them up?"
"I mean, waste not want not?" Daisy couldn't possibly know how perfectly at ease and warm she was with these kids near her. It was like half of her guarded walls had just vanished. The easy warm playfulness was usually more sarcastic.
The little half-asleep girl grumbled, "You're a terrible role model."
"Oh god, I'm not a role model," Daisy's attention turned to the kid in alarm, but none of her usual caution or firmness returned. "Why would you think I'm one of those? I've committed multiple felonies since we've met."
The kid just yawned, an unimpressed expression on her face.
Kara had to bite her lip to keep from snickering or cooing. She wasn't sure which one. To keep from laughing, she looked at the list. Oh, that was why Daisy had wanted the guns out. Because it was a Walmart shopping list. The children's socks, pajamas in a list of sizes, chicken nuggets, stuffed animals, blankets(with a note they all needed to be different patterns or colors), and a few dozen other things were telling. She was going to keep the kids at her place till their families could be tracked down. And explained the credit card. Anyone who said Daisy wasn't a hero could suck on a lemon. She was amazing.
////
M'gann felt nauseous from the assorted heightened emotions and thoughts. The anger, fear, unease, disgust, frustration, and pity that had been swirling all night were intense. Pieces of thought she was trying to avoid slipping through from the sheer strength of everyone's thoughts. It was a miracle the little Aranes boy, Dem-Van, had survived. Not just because the death of a child that small was horrifying, but because what it might have unleashed was nearly as horrifying.
And that wasn't getting her started on the way Daisy kept oscillating from cold and mission-focused to spilling concern and alarm everywhere despite her expression not changing. It was a rollercoaster going anywhere near her. And the rage, Daisy or Quake or whatever she wanted to be called was so indescribably furious it felt like caustic acid. Xal deciding to use Daisy as a living hot water bottle was a relief. It'd dropped the warrior from caustic murderous intent anytime her eyes caught any of the assorted injuries the children had, to something soft and nearly content if still very focused.
The Kryptonian broadcasting the very intense feeling of their latching bond tightening had been a wildly new emotion to add to the mix, and not helpful. M'gann was tired, and done with everything this night had brought. She didn't need lovesick gazes from a Kryptonian as the woman melted. It was distracting.
So it was with relief she watched the Kryptonian vanish to go get necessities for the kids.
M'gann approached once the emotional well of sparkles and goo left. "Al dropped off his car out front." She held up the keys.
Daisy sighed in relief. "Can you help carry them out? I don't think any of them are up for walking."
"Was already going to be driving," She stared at the woman unimpressed. "I saw what they thought of your driving them in here. I'm not risking my boss's car getting totaled."
Daisy rolled her eyes, "I'm not that bad."
"I like my job." M'gann would not be hitting up the other woman for any jobs involving driving. To be fair, anything that needed someone in their community capable of handling things, she would be. And she wouldn't be alone. Tonight had certainly been a spectacle. She looked over toward the bar. "Darla, come help cart the kids out."
M'gann knew better than to risk any of these kids waking up without Daisy and each other in sight.
Darla scoffed but still came over to help.
It took some doing, all of the kids had to be gently nudged awake by Daisy. They then had to quietly be told what was happening before they could be convinced to let themselves be hoisted up and carried out of the bar. But M'gann found peace in these small actions, in helping. It'd never wipe the blood from her hands. Tonight she might sleep without seeing blood spilling on her red planet though. Or mayhaps it'd be all she'd see. To remind her what she was, no matter what small actions she might perform in her self-imposed exile.
M'gann carefully transferred the barely awake from the movement Fred, and still clutching a scalpel Sarah into the van. She looked over their heads after securing and buckling them in, to where Darla was buckling a sleeping again Wally. "Lock up the bar, we'll worry about cleaning tomorrow."
"I'm putting in for Saturday off," Darla replied before stepping back and sliding the side door shut. It wasn't hard to tell she was hiding a need to go home and cry over what had happened to these kids beneath her sharpness.
Didn't even require telepathy to notice, since as soon as M'gann shut the driver's door, settling into the seat, Daisy spoke up. "Is she going to be ok?"
"Darla's a tough cookie," They all had to be to live on a planet like this. Not that humans were part of inherently violent societies like the White Martians or Kree or Dominators. But some of the things they did… M'gann shook the thought off. "You're going to need to tell me your address."
Daisy sighed, "Well, I suppose having any kind of secret identity wasn't going to last. Take a left at the light up ahead. I'll direct you there."
The drive was quiet, just soft directions from Daisy, the roads as empty as they ever got in National City. Just city lights and darkness. M'gann parked in front of, not a high-end, but very nice apartment complex. The first floor was all small businesses and the floors above apartments. Climbing out she opened up the back, carefully unbuckling the kids, and scooping up Fred with one arm.
"I can walk, I'm the oldest," Sarah said with all the determination of a child. It was a tragedy, but her fight was likely why she'd survived long enough to be rescued.
M'gann could feel the exhaustion in the child, but she also only had two arms, as did Quake and there were five children. "Alright, if you need to stop, let us know, little warrior."
Getting a kid settled in each arm took effort, it wasn't natural or easy how Quake made it look. It was interesting how automatic and natural the woman made it look. Whatever her history, she'd been around children, a lot. It was second nature to her. Weapon or not, her hands were as natural with children as they were with instruments of death. If the Kryptonian wasn't half-claiming the woman, she certainly would be swamped with interested parties after tonight's performance.
M'gann huffed under her breath, if any other interested parties tried anyways, the ensuing pissed Kyptonian was their own damned fault. She took up the back position, keeping exhausted and dragging Sarah between her and Daisy as Daisy led them into the building and up a single flight of stairs, and into the first apartment on the hall, thankfully. The stubborn kid wouldn't have made it up two flights of stairs.
Daisy, somehow got the door open without disturbing either kid, was the woman a mother? She didn't have that feel of that parental bond to her, but M'gann didn't get a deep read on her. Missing that wouldn't be completely unexpected.
Walking into the apartment, well…it wasn't what M'gann had expected. It was…empty. Recently remodeled, sparsely filled, and very neat. Also an open studio apartment, large as those things went, but still lacking any walls dividing any of it except the bathroom from the wide open space. There were no personal photos, no real anything indicating it was more of a show apartment except for the odd coffee mug left on a windowsill, a potted plant there, a spare pair of shoes by the door. M'gann took back the guess of motherhood.
Daisy looked around and winced, "I'll worry about separate sleeping situations for them tomorrow. For tonight, Dem-Van and Fred on the couch, they'll both fit, the rest can fit in the bed."
"You?" M'gann could guess the answer but still found herself asking.
Daisy looked at her dryly, "I've slept on worse than the floor."
And M'gann didn't doubt that was true, even though she could feel that Daisy was not looking forward to the floor.
It wasn't hard work, but it was quiet from there to settle the two worst injured kids onto the couch. Fortunately, the couch was on the long side. Each kid got half, and as long as both of them didn't stretch to their full heights they wouldn't accidentally kick each other. The remaining kids, including a dangerously swaying on her feet Sarah, were then ushered and tucked into the neatly made bed. They were all asleep before their heads hit pillows.
M'gann paused in the darkness, looking at Daisy's face. "You're good with them."
"Yeah?" Daisy hummed, she didn't sound surprised by the observation. "I always liked watching out for the younger ones."
Whatever nostalgic memory that'd brought up wasn't a painful one, sad yes, but no real anger to it. "Younger siblings?"
"Hmm?" Recognition of the question flickered across her face. "Foster care."
If M'gann was a better person she'd have had something kind to say to that. Meaningful. But she was not, and she was tired. "Then I suppose your hands are safer for them than I'd thought. I'll bring Markus to check on them again tomorrow. If we find any of their families I'll call, or if they tell you anything else to help find them, call me."
"Got it, hopefully at least one of them is more willing to talk when they wake up." Daisy held out her hand. "Thank you, for helping them."
M'gann accepted the hand and accepted the brief handshake. She had to grit her teeth to keep from reacting from the suddenly sharply bare way she felt the woman's emotions. And then thankfully, their hands parted. "Good luck."
"Eh, they'll be too crashed out to burn the place down tomorrow. The next day…I might need to get a second fire extinguisher." Daisy shrugged with a faint twist of her lips in amusement.
M'gann just tipped her head and left with a passing wave. "Good luck." As the door closed behind her she breathed out. It'd been a long day. The next few promised to be long and draining as well. But there was one good thing in all this awfulness, nobody or anything would harm a hair on those kids' heads. They were as safe as it was likely possible to be. It was small, but it was something. And hopefully, they found their families soon.
////
Maggie knew it was going to be a terrible day when she arrived at work, at five am (fuck the Lord case to whatever the worst part of hell was), and waiting for her, standing right by her desk, was her ex-girlfriend. Maggie stood there, blinking stupidly, coffee travel mug halfway to her mouth. "Darla?"
"Detective." Darla looked as unhappy to be there as Maggie was to see her. The dark circles under her eyes were not a good sign either. "We need to talk."
Every other police officer and employee of any stripe within hearing distance was suddenly trying very hard to avoid notice and meld into their desks if not outright changing directions.
A cold shiver went down Maggie's spine, oh no. Those were never good words. They were very bad words. "Yeah, ok, um coffee?" She needed something to fiddle with if she was going to have to have a conversation with an ex.
"Surely you have an office somewhere here?" Darla's tone was biting, which was the biggest giveaway she was in a mood. A very unhappy and pissed-off mood.
Maggie had never wanted to do something less. Her partner was diligently trying to look like he was busy. The report he was scribbling on was upside down. "Sure," She waved to one of the soft interrogation rooms. They mostly used it for talking to families of victims or victims. Her hand tightened on her travel mug. As Darla turned and sharply marched into the room, Maggie cringed, and hissed at her partner, "Traitor."
Grafton snorted, "Try not to die."
She made a rude gesture as she followed Darla into the room, shutting the door and accepting her fate. It was going to suck.
"So, what's so pressing you needed to talk to me at," Maggie looked at the watch on her wrist, "Five am in the morning?"
"Quake." Darla primly sat down, her voice, as she uttered Quake's name as though it had the same seriousness as a gong.
Maggie stiffened, "Are you alright?"
"Tired, going to have nightmares for weeks, but fine." Darla tipped her head slightly.
Maggie slumped, she might not have ended things with Darla on good terms, but she didn't want anything terrible to happen to her. Jesus. "What's going on with Quake and why come to me?"
"Because she's been hitting Cadmus bases apparently and got five kids out of one of their labs last night, and we have no idea who they belong to." Darla pulled a notebook out of her purse. "It's a long shot, but we were hoping you might know something?"
Maggie set her coffee down on the table, completely serious, "Alien or human?"
"What do you think?" Darla flipped to a page and passed over a Polaroid photo of a kid. "None of the kids were being cooperative with anyone who wasn't Quake, and even for her, it wasn't a lot. "That's Xal, species Tsauron, we know they're under ten because of the scale coloration still being fully green. Tsauron's are bad at thermo-regulation normally, but that kid was losing heat faster than they should have."
Maggie's mouth was dry, horror lodged in her gut as she looked at the face of the little reptilian kid. The thin dirty white clothing that was clearly of some medical lab were horrific. She pulled out her own notepad and started taking notes. "Do we know how long they were in captivity?"
"No, but they were in better shape than most of the kids, so I'd guess you're looking at the shortest amount of time missing." Darla passed over another photo, this time of a small blue-skinned boy with messy black hair. He looked absolutely horrible. "That's Dem-Van, he's an Aranes, said he was seven. But he was barely conscious off and on, his lungs were nearly paralyzed by whatever it was they had in his system."
Swallowing back bile, Maggie made notes of it, "Anything else?"
"Call Markus if you need more details on their health," Darla passed another photo. This one of a tiny delicate-looking girl visibly swaying when the photo was taken. "That's Fred, she's a Jirenn, bad shape and Markus was confident she was six."
Maggie just accepted the next photo, "This one?"
"Wally, short for W'ellephy. He's a G'Newtian, the youngest of the group at five." The matted brown fur was shaved off around one section of his muzzle. Kid was fully out in the photo.
She looked up at Darla, "The last one?"
"Sarah, we don't know what species she is, would have thought she was human if scans hadn't shown her to have two hearts and the structure for gills to develop along her neck. She's probably the oldest, we're guessing and M'gann thinks she's not sure of her age. You'll want to look at older records for her. Also, she tried to stab Markus to keep him from touching any of them. Didn't let him look at any of them till Quake'd promised to murder him if he hurt any of 'em." Darla passed over the notebook that had her own, and M'gann's notes and speculation filled in.
Maggie knew she wasn't going to be able to find most of these kids' families, but she might be able to find a couple. And if they'd been taken from other areas she did have some contacts in other alien communities she could hit up. "The people who took them?"
"If they were in that lab when Quake got there, dead." Darla replied without flinching, "And once Quake gets the chance, I'd wager she'll hunt down anyone connected to it. Good riddance."
Terrifying, terrible idea, but Maggie understood the feeling. She looked at her ex, "I'll see what I can find."