Won't Let You Down (Book Two of The Unmatched Records)

Chapter Six

To be honest, not much story development here. It's pretty much Oliver's recap of the last book - oh, and we get Slade's opinion on James. I laughed when I wrote it.

Enjoy!

***

Kara spent two more days under the sun lamps before Alex was comfortable with letting her leave. What surprised Alex repeatedly was that at least one of the Earth-1 vigilantes was constantly watching over her. Alex would have thought that Kara would have had something against being overprotected, but Kara was never without a smile, whether she was chatting with Laurel about her new life on Earth-1 or discussing something in quieter tones with Slade or Malcolm. Lena dropped by when she could as well, speaking with both Kara and Oliver from time to time.

In fact, with the four around, the only time Kara didn't smile was whenever one of the D.E.O. doctors came near her to check her progress. The smile usually vanished at once, and Kara's eyes went wider than Alex had ever seen them before. She even tried to squirm away from them sometimes, depending on if they carried anything in their hands or not. And as if silently summoned, Oliver found his way to her side, squeezing her shoulder supportively. If Alex ever looked out of the corner of her eye, she could see Malcolm and Slade watching every move the doctors made. And when the doctors left, Laurel seemed to appear from nowhere to distract Kara with news from National City.

About the third time this routine happened, Alex finally followed Oliver towards the training rooms. He knew she was following him, but she noted he had subtly changed the direction he was heading. Instead of the range J'onn had allowed the two archers to use, he was heading - Alex faltered in her step slightly - towards the training room where Alex and J'onn continued to spar with Kara.

Where the power in the room came from Kryptonite.

Oliver stepped into the room, and Alex walked in behind him. "I'm assuming you have a question?" Oliver raised an eyebrow at her.

"What exactly happened when Kara went to help you?" Alex asked bluntly. "And don't say she saved every single one of you, I get that. How? What happened?"

Oliver folded his arms, leaning against the wall. "Did Kara ever tell you about a man called Prometheus?"

"No."

"He was the one that forced my hand enough to make me ask Kara for help," Oliver said bluntly. "Kara was the last person on my mind to ask. I didn't even think of her before Cisco said there was no one else on my Earth that I could have contacted. When I first met her, I didn't trust her one bit. At the time, the strangest person I ever met was Barry, the fastest man alive. And then, when the Dominators invaded, here came Barry with this blonde cheerleader with an S on her chest and an innocent smile. I proceeded to watch her plow through the best of vigilantes and metahumans as if we were in beginning self defense class. Your sister unnerved me, and I told her I don't get unnerved. Barry told me he didn't know she could get angry, and I did that when I tried to put her on the sidelines because she completely overwhelmed me. And then she saved my life fighting the Dominators. She probably still didn't like me at the time, and she saved me anyway."

"That's my sister," Alex's lips curled into a smile. "She thinks everyone deserves a chance no matter who they are."

"And when I apologized to her when it was all said and done, she told me hardships make us stronger," Oliver nodded. "I'd been through several hardships, but there were none that made me really think about those words until Prometheus took my team, my sister, and my son."

"What?" Alex's eyes widened.

"He made me extremely desperate," Oliver nodded grimly. "Desperate enough that the first people I reached out to were former enemies. In fact, one of them came to me first, after he learned his daughter had been taken."