Next of Kin - SuperCorp

Chapter 36 - Home

Supergirl landed in the lot near the abandoned building. There were already two police cruisers and an ambulance there. As she walked by the unmarked car, Supergirl was fairly certain it was Maggie's which made sense given who had called her. X-ray vision led her to the people within the building, a tight cluster of emergency response folks with grave faces in the middle of a serious discussion.

"Detective Sawyer!" Supergirl lifted a hand as she raised her voice in greeting.

Maggie gave a little chin nod in response, breaking away from the group and heading to meet the hero halfway. "Hey, thanks for meeting me here, Supergirl."

"Anytime. How are you doing? I didn't think you'd be back at work so soon. You were only released from the hospital three weeks ago."

With a bright smile, Maggie looked around to make sure they wouldn't be overheard. "Yeah, if you could not mention seeing me on site to your sister, that would be great. I'm supposed to be riding a desk for another three weeks, and she's a cruel mistress."

"No problem." Supergirl smiled broadly in response. "I won't tell Alex if you don't tell her the grocery store wasn't out of double chocolate brownie ice cream last night. I ate it all waiting for her to get back with dinner. She got into some argument with the guy at the restaurant where she was picking up our takeout and took forever getting home, so I got hungry and ate it."

"I didn't even know about that."

"You do now," Supergirl said, elbowing the detective while continuing to grin. "Hey, thanks for coming by and checking on Lena. The nurses said you've been by the hospital a few times now. Somehow, I keep missing you."

Nodding, Maggie rubbed her arm. "Yeah, lousy luck there. You'd think we'd have run into each other. You there a lot checking on Lena?"

"Oh, me? Eh, nah. You know. Not...really. Some but...Why am I here now? Why did you call me?" Supergirl asked.

"Follow me, kid. We've got something we'd like you to take a look at, but you should know, it's pretty alarming."

Placing a hand on Maggie's good shoulder and squeezing gently, Supergirl replied, "Maggie, I've seen a lot. You know that. I'll be fine."

"Yeah, uh...not like this."

"Really?"

Maggie nodded. "This is...it's...just try not to inhale. The smell stays with you."

"Well, okay then. So, what is this about?" Supergirl asked. "It's not a Lillian Luthor thing, is it?"

"Not as far as we know, why? Is she still calling you?"

"A few times. It's still the same things. She tells me to stay away from the police, or maybe from certain areas of town. You've gotten the information every time I've heard from her. Could this be from Lillian?"

"We're still piecing this together whatever it is," Maggie admitted, leading Supergirl around a few twists and turns where an unpleasant odor grew stronger. "I got a call from a CI early this morning. I headed down and got some pictures, called in a few more folks and the lab techs. The rate of decay has been astounding. We have no idea what's causing it. Maybe you can tell us."

"Decay?"

As they reached a door, Maggie pulled it open, and the smell hit Supergirl straight on in the face. The hero staggered back, unprepared for the full effected. It was warm, sweet, foul, nauseating and overpowering. It struck Supergirl almost like a physical force and seemed to cling to her. She retched and gagged, the hero falling back as she tried to place some clean air between herself and the offending room.