Chapter Text
You sat in the helicopter silently, your gaze taking in everything and focusing on nothing. It was nighttime, the light from the bustling city below lighting up your eyes. The blades that kept the machine airborne beat in time with each other. It was a constant cadence that kept the perfect tempo. Somehow, they helped you focused, even now as you were escorted to your job. It was during times like this, usually before a mission, that you wondered how it was that you ended up here. You had no memories to draw from. No family. No friends. All you had was a single purpose, a drive. It was your only reason for being alive, and you should question it. You see people, all the time, laughing, crying, enjoying life or hating it. They got to go to the movies, go to dinner, take a walk in the park. Even now. You could hear and see them all as though you were standing in the middle of the street. Either people loved life or hated it. You wondered how you would feel if you understood the mundane. To your knowledge, you’ve never experienced any of those things.
Should you be jealous? Envious? Are you missing out on something?
Was it even in your place to have these types of questions? The answer was easily no. You were alive for one reason, and that reason was why you were on your way to a job now. Everything else was irrelevant and a distraction. Zeus instilled that in you, had made sure that you understood that since you weren’t human, it was ridiculous to masquerade around as one. Your purpose was why you were alive, and when you weren’t needed, you were deactivated until it came time that you were needed again.
That was it. Black and white. Plain and simple. Truth of the matter was that you had no emotions on the issue. Maybe you should feel jealous. Maybe you should be envious, but you didn’t. You didn’t feel anything. Never in your life did you feel anything, and if you ever did, you don’t remember.
As the skyline passed you by, you mentally recounted the mission details:
Target: Morgan Edge
Occupation: Media and real estate conglomerate
Notes: Edge spends a considerable amount of time at Edge Global after business hours. Maintaining a rather predictable schedule, he orders food and has it delivered to his office every night at 8pm. After that time, no one else is in the building, and Edge spends the rest of his time at his desk until 11.
Mission: Eliminate Morgan Edge quickly and quietly.
You were never given a reason for why you needed to kill someone, but then again, you didn’t need one. The reason why wasn’t important. If you were ordered to do it, then you were ordered to do it. That was it.
An earpiece buzzed to life in your ear, and you straightened in your seat, your jaw clenching as you focused.
“Kronos, do you understand your mission?”
“Affirmative.”
“You’re clear to engage.”
The moment that was said, the helicopter halted above a building. You stood up and walked to the edge, your eyes assessing the large drop. Before starting a mission, you made sure to check a couple of things on your person. First, was your metal left arm. You rolled your fingers and flexed your hand into a fist, the appendage shining under the light of the moon. It was imperative that it functioned at all costs. Next, you turned on your body camera. It was a requirement from Kronos, to always monitor your movements. Then, you secured your mask to your face. It covered your nose, mouth, and chin. Its function was obvious, to conceal your identity.
When everything was in order, you rolled your neck and leaned forward, tipping over the edge, and plummeting face first to the ground. The air whipped through your clothes and around your face. You tucked your feet into your body, somersaulting, before landing on your feet. The ground cracked and cratered beneath your boots, the cracks spreading like spiderwebs in all directions from your point of impact.
You were on the ceiling of Edge Global, and to your right was your way in. If you did this right, you could be in and out in 10 minutes. You grunted as you approached the door and scanned it. X-ray vision was one of your many assets, along with super strength. True to your intel, there was no one in the building.
No one except for Edge.
He didn’t even have a security system. No cameras or video surveillance, no guards…not even a laser grid. You’d smile if you were capable of it. Surely, he would benefit from something for his protection. It wouldn’t stop you, but the others that gunned for his well being and wanted him gone, yes. Quite arrogant. You grabbed the handle and tore it free from the door, tossing it aside before entering.
Now if you wanted, you could use your super speed to traverse the hallways and rush Edge, effectively eliminating him and concluding your mission right as it began. But…
This was the one rare time where you felt something. An emotion, something never felt except during moments like these. It would be best described as excitement. You took no pleasure in killing. You felt nothing for it. If you were asked to kill, then you would obey without question, but you felt nothing when you ended someone’s life. What you did feel was the anticipation of it. The moments that led to ending your target was what made you feel alive. It was electric, the adrenaline, and it was what kept you from rushing your jobs. These moments made you feel something when you weren’t supposed to feel anything. It was your dirty little secret and something you hoped would never be revealed.
So, you entered the building and took your time getting to Edge. Your x-ray vision already told you exactly where he was. He was a few floors down, in the largest office the building had to offer. The office was in the center of the floor, and he stood near his desk where his discarded take out was already in the process of cooling. You could smell the smoke of his cheap cigar, and could also make out the musky notes of his cologne. You heard him on the phone, and he began to pace as he talked.
“I need you to listen to me!” he spat.
Escalated heartbeat and high blood pressure. You could hear it clear as day even with a few floors of concrete separating you. He was in a state of stress, the inflection in his voice indicating that he was mad.
“Whatever Luthor made, can be made better! That’s what I’m paying you for, or have you forgotten that? So, whatever she did, and I don’t care what…Make. It. Better!”
You heard the slam of his office phone on the receiver. Then, he sighed wearily as he sat in his chair.
“Fucking imbeciles,” he cursed as he took another drag of his cigar.
You were down the hallway by the time he finished his phone call, and when he sat down, you stood outside his door. You could feel the beating of your heart, the adrenaline coursing through your veins. Your power flowed through you, and you clenched your hands into fists. The knuckles in your left hand cracked softly. This was it. The moment. The anticipation. Time slowed down for a second as you closed your eyes and took a deep breath. The excitement was fading, and you relished in it before the emotionlessness replaced it. As soon as it came, the exhilaration was gone, and you opened your eyes. This too would fade, and it would be as though you felt nothing at all. There was nothing left now, and you shifted back into cold, calculating apathy. You knew what to do, and had done it so many times before.
When you opened your eyes, they glowed red, the pressure behind them increasing as you gathered all the energy behind them. Another power of yours. You took the door by its handle and threw it open, ripping it clean off the hinges and shattering it against the wall behind you.
“What the hell?!”
Edge was on his feet, his chair tipping over from how fast he stood up. You entered the room and faced him.
“Who do you think-”
You didn’t give him a chance to finish his exclamation. You shot your heat vision at him, the beam of hot energy hitting the floor before you tilted your head back and curved it up. It dragged across the expensive carpet to cleave his desk in half, before shooting outside the window and into the open air. Someone would have seen it, which was what you wanted. Edge would die tonight, and no one would suspect your involvement. Shattered and melted glass fell onto the floor, twinkling against each other as they settled. There was a slight groan as the desk wobbled, and then it caved in. Papers, utensils, his computer, and other items clattered loudly on the floor. The parts where your heat vision cleaved the desk in half still burned hotly, the tiny flames dancing from the wind that poured in from the broken window. After a few seconds, they died out and smoke rose in its place. Your attack missed Edge, but just barely.
Edge was rooted to his spot with fear, but he kickstarted into action when you took another step inside. He turned to a filing cabinet that was beside him, and threw it open before pulling out a gun. He pointed it at you, his hand cocking it and switching the safety off. The moment he pulled the trigger, you heard the pop. Smoke wafted from the nozzle, and Edge watched with fear as the bullet ricocheted off you. The gun shook in his hand, and he swallowed thickly as you looked at where the bullet would have pierced you. It lied on the floor a little further away, the tiny piece of metal flattened and useless.
“What are you?” he whispered. “What the hell are you?!”
There was no point in answering. Talking did nothing. It only wasted time, nor did you feel anything from doing so. Instead, you rushed him, your super speed kicking in, and in the blink of an eye, you appeared before Edge and wrapped your metal hand around his throat. He wheezed as you choked him, and at this proximity, fight or flight kicked into overdrive. Fight won, and he decided to empty his entire clip into you, or at least tried to. Every bullet failed to pierce you, and one of them bounced off you to imbed itself into his thigh. He would have screamed if you hadn’t cut off his windpipe and hoisted him into the air. Edge’s feet dangled as his hands tried to pry your grip from his neck. He knew that you were going to break it, and with it being your metal arm, there would be no fingerprints, only an ugly, hand shaped bruise.
Edge would have begged if he could talk. He’d offer anything. Money. Power. Notoriety. Land. Anything so that his life would be spared, but nothing was going to stop this. His death was ordered, and you were going to carry it out. You were about to snap his neck when you heard something that made you stop. Your ears twitched as you concentrated on it. It sound like something was cutting through the air, and approaching you quickly. You looked out the window just in time to make out a streak of blue and red, and then you felt hands against your back. Fingers dug into your shirt, your grip on Edge slipping, and then you were thrown backwards harshly. You hit the wall, and then went through it, dust and drywall covering you thickly as you hit the wall in the hallway hard enough to be imbedded into it.
Edge was on the ground, choking and sputtering as he struggled to breathe. His face and neck were an ugly shade of red, his eyes blood shot, and his thigh bleeding profusely. His blood stained his suit and carpet. Standing next to him was Supergirl. She grabbed him by the elbow and helped him up before shoving him away, her blue eyes never once regarding him. Her focus was on you, and you had a split second to decide what to do. It was here that you would have to take a gamble.
You shared a lot of the same abilities. Super strength, super speed, heat vision, but in some areas, you lacked what Supergirl had. For example, she had the ability to fly while you did not. You had the ability to survive any drop, didn’t matter how far down it was, but never developed the ability to fly. It was a flaw, whether from you or from the serum, you didn’t know. Another area in which you lacked, and perhaps the most important, was that while you shared her strength, it wouldn’t last forever. You had a limit, whereas Supergirl did not. The longer you used your powers, the weaker they got. It all boiled down to your physiology. Your cells could store radiation, but not very much and not for long. The result was that you burned through energy very quickly, your powers short lived. It didn’t matter how long you spent under a sun lamp, the results were all the same. It was another flaw, and one that would declare the winner of a fight even before it began. You could run, but you wouldn’t be able to outrun her, especially if her focus remained on you. You had one thing in your favor, and that was you had nothing to lose. It meant you didn’t have to hold back. Supergirl protected people. It was her purpose and as a result, she conducted herself accordingly and restrained her powers so that she wouldn’t hurt anyone. You didn’t have to worry about such sentimentality, and as you pried yourself from the wall and stood up, you kept that in mind as she charged you.
Supergirl raised her arm as she rushed you, and you raised yours just in time to clash against her. The force of her attack didn’t cause you to waiver. You stood your ground, but it did cause you to lose it. You were forced back, your boots firmly planted but cracking and digging up the linoleum floor as she forced you back a couple of feet.
“So, you’re the one who’s been framing me,” she said as your forearm remained locked against hers.
Similar powers and dead bodies led the media to the only conclusion it could make, which is why you always used some of them before killing your mark. In no time at all, Supergirl was suspect number one. The Girl of Steel reduced to a murderer. It was ordered of you to use your power, and again, you obeyed.
“You’ll pay for what you’ve done,” she promised, her voice lowering as her eyes sharpened.
Then they glowed red. You were shot backwards and back into Edge’s ruined office, your shirt singeing from her attack. Supergirl flew to you, rushing you again, but you were on your feet and sidestepping out of the way at the last second. As she passed, you grabbed her cape and threw her to the ground. She grunted but couldn’t move fast enough to avoid you grabbing one of her legs and then tossing her outside into the night air. With her out of the way, you approached Edge again, who was calling the police on his cell phone.
“You have to help me! Some freak is trying to kill me, and she’s handling Supergirl like a rag doll!”
You batted the phone from his hands, stomping on it the moment it hit the ground, and wrapping your metal hand around his throat again. The force of your throw made Supergirl twirl end over end in the air, sailing some feet away from the window. It took a second for her to gain her equilibrium and right herself, before turning and flying back to where you were.
You lost the opportunity to kill Edge again when she used her own body like a battering ram, colliding into you and sending you through the wall again, into the hallway and through that wall, before throwing you into the adjacent office space next door.
Her attack caused the most damage, the collision into you resulting in fractured ribs. You were on the floor, sprawled for a second, but it was all the time Supergirl needed to approach you. She stood above you, her feet on either side of your body before kneeling on top of you. Then her hand grabbed your shirt collar and she punched you hard in the face.
“Give up!”
If it weren’t for your mask, which was reinforced and lined with lead to keep Supergirl from seeing through it, that punch definitely would have broken your nose. It sure as hell hurt your cheek. She was about to punch you again when you saw Edge from the corner of your eye. He was hobbling at the door, his leg a bloody mess, and his hand around his throat to try and soothe the pain. You saw your opportunity. Either it’ll hit him, and he died, or Supergirl would be distracted trying to protect him. Either way…
You looked at him and shot your heat vision. It didn’t hit him, but Supergirl took the hit for him. It lifted her into the air and her back hit the ceiling before she crashed to the floor. You were on your feet, stumbling a bit. You had healing, but it was incredibly slow. Supergirl could heal from wounds like this instantaneously. For you, it would take a few hours for the fractures in your ribs to mend. No matter, you ignored the pain. Even though each breath you took was like a saw against your bones, you powered through it in favor of completing your mission.
You tried one more time to get to Edge, and you approached him just in time for a helicopter to fly to where you were and shine a spotlight into the room. Everything was illuminated. Supergirl, Edge, the destruction from your fight, and you.
“Stop where you are!” a voice commanded you from a speaker.
You watched as another helicopter joined its side. Supergirl stood up and shook the debris from her body.
“You’re surrounded. Stand down!”
At this point in the fight, you were almost out of energy. If you kept fighting, you would surely lose. Your earpiece came to life, and you froze as someone spoke to you.
“Retreat.”
You noticed when Supergirl heard it, her super hearing picking up on the command. Her eyebrows flew up as shock lit her features. Something changed in her. The superhero façade, the one she always donned for the public, melted away. The steel in her eyes was gone. Her stance relaxed, her fists dropping from her hips that was her signature pose. Instead, she took a step towards you, her hand outstretched.
“No, wait-”
You turned on your feet and bolted from the room. You had to plan an escape and quick, and you assessed all your options before you saw it. The broken window in Edge’s office. That was your way out. You ran to it, quickly ducking and avoiding the search lights and traversing the ruined remains of drywall and other debris. Just as you were about to reach the window, another helicopter flew up and intercepted you. It blocked your path outside, and right behind you was Supergirl, flying to catch up.
You sprinted out the window regardless, glass shards flying outwards as you jumped and grabbed onto the railing of the helicopter. You offset it with sheer weight and strength alone, the alarms inside blaring and the red warning light flashing. The pilots yelled as they fought to get you off, the helicopter spinning as it begun to descend. Supergirl followed you out the window and hovered in midair, watching as you dragged the helicopter down.
“Let go!” one of the pilots yelled.
You grunted, and using the last of your remaining strength, hurled the helicopter at Supergirl. You heard the thunk of metal against a body as it crashed into her, and then you angled your body downwards as you plummeted hundreds of feet to the ground. Supergirl was able to catch the helicopter and help it land on top of the building, but when she looked around, you were long gone. Even with X-ray vision, she couldn’t find you. You’d successfully used the helicopter as a distraction to get away, but you failed your mission, and even worse, Supergirl and the authorities now knew what you looked like.
As you dropped to the ground, you flipped over and turned in midair, your legs tucking under you as you prepared to land. When you did, you crouched to absorb the shock, the ground cratering beneath you as dust and dirt rained down. Then, you collapsed forward, your legs giving out as you landed on your hands and knees. A bone wrenching cough shook you and you vomited a mouthful of blood, your chest in agony as you breathed harshly. You removed your mask to spit it out quickly, the red fluid splattering thickly onto the street. You quickly put the mask back on before getting to your feet. Luckily, you landed in the alleyway. All you would have to do was return to base.
Kara sighed as she reached into her boot and took out her phone. She pressed a button for speed dial.
“Did you get that, J’onn?” she asked when he answered.
“Yes. Return to the Tower. We’ll upload the video and analyze it. I know the goal was to bring them in, but you did good.”
Kara sighed and nodded, her fingers playing with the tiny camera that was secured to her suit. Despite the praise, she felt like she failed. She wanted to bring you in and question why it was that you were framing her. What was the purpose? Now, she had to settle for footage of you. It was still a step forward. Until now, she wasn’t even able to track you down. By the time she arrived at your murder scenes, you were long gone, and your assumed target was already dead. But she intervened in this one…even if it was Morgan Edge.
Kara couldn’t stand him, and a part of her wanted to deal with him for the sake of her girlfriend, Lena. The amount of hell he caused her was unreal, and yet, he somehow managed to avoid legal trouble at every turn. Lena made Kara promise to let her handle it for the sake of her identity. It was no secret that Kara Danvers was dating Lena Luthor. However, if it broke out that Supergirl also had a personal and romantic relationship with the CEO, well then, it would all fall apart. It wouldn’t take long for someone to figure out that Kara Danvers and Supergirl were one and the same. Her identity would be public information, and every enemy that she ever made would be gunning for the people she loved.
Kara sighed before flying back to Edge’s office. Her red boots crunched on broken glass as she walked inside. His office was decimated in the fight. Barely anything could be salvaged. He was staring angrily into a mirror. His eyes were still slightly blood shot and around his neck was a stark, purple bruise. It looked terrible and even Kara knew that it was still in its developing stages. It would get worse. His leg was no better, but a quick scan with her x-ray vision told her that it was a flesh wound. The bullet passed through completely, and it missed all his major arteries. Even now, the bleeding was slowing down and was on the cusp of stopping. Edge scoffed with irritation before shifting his irate gaze to her, his eyes meeting hers through the mirror.
“Unless there’s something that you need, Supergirl, you can go ahead and leave.”
Kara crossed her arms. “You’re welcome.”
She turned and left the way she came in, taking off into the night sky and heading back to the Tower.
“Jackass,” she added under her breath.