The Shape of Things to Come

3

"You mean to tell me that four of my most experienced agents got made by a little girl?" J'onn asked.

Wentworth winced and took half a step back. "Sir," she said, "she didn't just make us, she knew everything about us, she knew our names. Our real names, not our cover identities. She knew where I was born, where I went to college. Hell, she even knew my breakfast order. And she did an uncanny impression of you".

"An impression of me?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"Yes sir. She actually tried to get me to bet her on whether you'd call her a little girl or a pretty blonde when you asked if four of your most experienced agents got made. I think I might actually owe her fifty dollars".

J'onn sighed and looked over at Vasquez. "Please tell me Agent Danvers is still in the training room".

Vasquez nodded. "She's busy wiping the floor with Nguyen right now".

He nodded. "Well, at least that's one bullet I won't have to dodge today," he said as he turned back to Wentworth. "Any idea how she made you?"

Wentworth shook her head. "No sir. She just said to tell you, and I'm quoting here, 'Lady Kara, Chatelaine of the House of El, Daughter of Zor-El and Alura In-Ze and the last daughter of Krypton says to back off". She held up a heavy parchment envelope. "She did give me this, and told me to give it to you. I had security irradiate it, and run every scan we have. It appears to be plain old earth stationary, with the card inside printed within the last thirty-six hours. Once you open it, we could probably do a high-rez scan and get the serial number of the printer if it was printed on a commercial inkjet.

J'onn took the envelope and tore it open. Inside was what looked like a single folded piece of cardstock. He pulled it out, and nearly dropped it in shock. On the front of the a card was a green circle, surrounded by a thick black border, and crossed with two red stripes. Under it, in perfectly formed Green Martian, was his name. J'onn J'onzz.

"I can have it scanned and run through the Kryptonian translation matrix, if you'd like," Wentworth said.

"It wouldn't do any good," he said. "It's not written in Kryptonian. It's written in Martian".

"Why would she send a message in Martian?" Wentworth asked.

"Because it appears our pretty blonde is more well informed than I thought. It's a reference to a mission I went on about a year after she landed." He opened the card. The message inside was in English. It was simple. 'My roof. Tomorrow night. 21:00 hours local. Come alone.'

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Kara stood near the edge of the building, trying not to roll her eyes at the sight of the sniper three rooftops over. She hadn't really expected J'onn to come alone, but she had hoped. It would have made things easier in the long run, but it didn't really matter. Not much.

She tilted her head slightly, opening up her hearing a bit more, nodding as she confirmed that she'd caught the sound of J'onn on the stairwell. He was good, she'd give him that, but there had always been something unique about the cadence of his footfalls. It had taken almost a year of working with him before she was even consciously aware of it, but she'd recognize it anywhere.

He moved quickly, coming up the stairs with a purpose. Six flights at that pace would have had even the healthiest human a little winded, but of course J'onn wasn't human, even if he wore a human face. She didn't turn when the door opened. She let him approach, slowly and cautiously. She could feel the buzz of the Kryptonite bullets in his weapon.