SteelCorp

Chapter 6

BOOM!
    It’s the fifth time Thalia’s Turbo Energy explodes in her face while trying to draw the Turbo Sword.
    “Aarrgghh! I was so close this time!” Shouts Thalia pounding a fist into the training mat in frustration.
    She gets to her feet slowly, still a little dizzy from the explosion.
    “Okay maybe we should take a break.” Says Max reaching out to steady his daughter.
    Frustrated Thalia replies. “No. I’m fine I can keep going. I can do this.”
    “No, you can’t kid. You can barely stand; I don’t think you can take another explosion like that.” Says Steel sounding like a disapproving mother.
    Groaning Thalia retorts. “Traitor. You're supposed to be on my side.”
    Laughing Max ushers Thalia over to one of the benches by the far wall. “Well I’m taking a break so you might as well too.”
    Rolling her eyes and dropping heavily onto the bench, Thalia sighs. “Fine. I'll take a break.”
    “I think we should try the Twin Turbo Pistols next. They should be easier since you are already accustomed to the feel of a gun in your hand.”  Says Max after a few gulps of water.
    “Alright. Sounds good to me.” Replies Thalia getting back up.
    With that they return to training. Before they now it the day has gone by and it is nearly time for supper. Thalia is ultimately frustrated as she failed to draw a single weapon all day.
    “Relax honey, even I couldn’t do it in a single day, and I was considered to be a prodigy. You will get it with time don’t worry.” Says Max resting a hand on Thalia’s shoulder.
    Relaxing a bit, Thalia looks at her father. “I know, but it’s just so hard. What if I’m not actually ready? What if I hurt someone?”
    “Don’t worry about it. That is why I’m here and Steel too. You will get it in your own time.” Answers Max giving her a hug.
    Squirming in her father’s grip, Thalia scrunches her nose. “Eeww! You're all sweaty and you stink, let go, let go!”
    Laughing, Max let’s his daughter go and ruffles her hair before heading into the shower.
    “Ugh. Would you stop doing that? I’m not a kid anymore.” Groans Thalia as she tries to brush her hair back into place with her hands.
    The only response is more laughter echoing off the bathroom walls.
    Thalia showers and changes before meeting her father in the dining hall for supper.
    “So, have you made any friends at all?” Asks Max curiously.
    Without looking up Thalia answers. “Other than some work friends, not really. It’s not easy when you work for two government agencies and are a super hero at the same time.”
    “Well what about that Luthor girl, whatever her name is?” Says Max sounding almost disinterested.
    Annoyed Thalia answers slightly louder than necessary. “Okay first of all her name is Lena, and second if you don’t really care don’t bother asking.”
    With that Thalia gets up and storms off to her room. After a few minutes Kori knocks on her door.
    “Is everything alright Thalia?” Asks Kori clearly concerned.
    Rolling off of her bed Thalia opens the door. “Everything is fine Kori. I’m just a little annoyed with my dad, that’s all.”
    “Would you like to talk about it?” Says Kori.
    Flopping back down on her bed, Thalia answers. “It’s just my dad, he is almost never around because of his job. When he is around, he seems completely disinterested in everything I do unless it is to follow in his footsteps.”
    Sitting down next to Thalia, Kori replies. “Believe it or not I actually understand what you are dealing with. I come from a family of Knights, so of course my parents wanted me to be just like them. They refused to understand that I wanted to see other places other worlds.”
    “So, what did you do about it?” Asks Thalia seeing Kori in a whole new light.
    Laughing Kori answers. “I told them that I was going whether they liked it or not then left.”
    “How did they take it?” Says Thalia feeling somewhat awed.
    Kori gets up from the bed. “Not that great at first. But eventually they came to terms with the fact that that was who I am and they couldn’t change it.”
    “Wow. So, you are a total boss yet you work as a maid? What is up with that?” Replies Thalia now completely in awe.
    Laughing again Kori answers. “More like head of security and your bodyguard. I act as a maid because it is easier to see and hear everything that happens here.”
    “That makes sense. The help always love to gossip. They won’t talk as much if they think they are being watched.” Replies Thalia smiling at Kori's logic.
    With a smile in return Kori heads for the door. “Yes exactly. You seem to be feeling better now so I will leave you to get some rest.”
    “Thanks for everything Kori, you're the best.” Says Thalia as Kori leaves the room.
    The next day, Thalia is working at her desk finishing the paperwork from one of her cases. She is so absorbed in her work that she doesn’t notice her phone ringing until Chadwick reaches over and answers it for her.
    “Thalia’s phone.” Answers Chadwick picking up the receiver.
    Thalia looks up horrified and embarrassed and lunges for the phone. “Keane! Stop answering my phone! Give it!”
    Chadwick hands Thalia her phone laughing. “I wouldn’t have to if you payed more attention.”
    “Shut up Keane. Hello?” Says Thalia once she has the receiver back.
    “Well he sounds fun.” Mocks Lena through the phone.
    Sighing and rolling her eyes, Thalia responds. “Tell me about it. So, what can I do for you?”
    Thalia sits up straighter when she hears the worry in her friend's voice. “I don’t know. I think something happened with my security and I was hoping you could check it out.” Says Lena.
    “Of course. Just let me notify the Director then I will head over.” Responds Thalia before hanging up and making her way to the Director’s office.
    After speaking with Kashvi, Thalia and Chadwick pile into her convirtable and make their way to L-Corp. Once there, they make their way up to Lena's office. Lena stands up from her desk when they walk in.
    “That was fast, thank you for coming agents.” Says Lena as she steps around her desk to shake their hands.
    Looking around after introductions, Chadwick replies. “So, can you tell us what seems to be the issue Miss. Luthor?”
    “Yes. I noticed that there were…oddities with the security rotations the last couple of days as well as issues with the security on my personal computer. I think something big is going to happen.” Responds Lena clearly worried.
   Pulling out her laptop and placing it on the desk Thalia turns to Chadwick. “Keane, why don’t you go check on the security schedules and rotations and I’ll see what I can do here.”
    “Good idea. I’m great at foot work not computer stuff.” Answers Chadwick with a small chuckle as he makes his way to the door.
    Thalia watches until Chadwick leaves before opening her messenger bag again. “Steel I need you to plug in and see what you can find.”
    “On it. But you owe me big time for this.” Replies the little alien as he connects to Thalia’s laptop and begins interfacing with Lena’s computer.
    Rolling her eyes Thalia answers. “Fine just do what you can.”
    Meanwhile Lena has been pacing around the office nervously. “Do you think it could be those guys from three moths ago?”
    “No, they are still in containment at NTek. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they have friends we didn’t know about.” Replies Thalia, matter of factly.
    Just then there is a beep and a chime from the computer. “I got something. I was able to trace the origin of the tampering back to something called Cadmus.” States Steel as he pulls up all necessary information.
    “Alright copy what you can and get back in the bag. Keane should be back any minute now.” Replies Thalia hurriedly.
    “Did he just say Cadmus? What does mother want now?” Asks Lena in shock.
    Turning to Lena concerned, Thalia responds calmly. “Yes, he did say Cadmus. If I had to guess she probably wants something from you to help her in her war against aliens.”
    “You can’t tell your partner! I don’t want the FBI involved in something they are not equipped to deal with.” Says Lena almost in a panic.
    Resting a hand on Lena’s shoulder, Thalia answers. “Don’t worry I won’t tell him. I will bring this to Supergirl, hopefully she will know what to do.”
    “Who will know what to do?” Asks Chadwick coming back into the office.
    Startled, Thalia turns struggling to come up with a reasonable answer. “Oh…um…Jessica, Lena’s secretary…it seems it’s just the new operating system has a couple glitches. Find anything on your end?”
    “Nothing concerning. It seems it was a false alarm.” Answers Chadwick reassuringly.
    “I’m sorry it turned out to be a waste of your time.” Says Lena looking at the floor.
    Resting a hand on Lena’s shoulder Thalia retorts. “Don’t apologize. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Besides I was starting to lose feeling in my foot just sitting there doing paperwork.”
    Lena laughs at that. “Glad I could help.”
    Thalia and Chadwick make their way back to the office to file their report and finish the rest of their paperwork. Once done, Thalia meets with the others at the DEO.
    “Alright so we know Cadmus is behind the security breaches at L-Corp, we just need to figure out what they want and why.” Says Supergirl going over the data Steel collected.
    “We know why. She wants What ever tech L-Corp has that will help her with her next plot to eliminate aliens. I already have Lena going through her inventory and flagging anything her mother might target.” Cuts in Thalia impatiently.
    Alex and J'onn share a look. They can both tell that Max Steel and Supergirl haven’t settled their differences, yet Thalia and Kara get along great.
    “Fine then I will check out some of these sources with Winn.” Says Supergirl annoyed that Thalia cut her off.
    With a sigh Thalia gets up and heads for the door. “I’ll keep you updated on Lena’s progress.”
    Following close behind her Steel responds. “Yeah and I’m going to watch Call the Midwife.”
    That gets a chuckle out of J'onn and makes Alex roll her eyes.
    “Seriously Steel? Was that really necessary?” Groans Thalia embarrassed.
    Steel replies proudly. “Yes, yes it was.”
    Rolling her eyes Thalia makes her way back home. She is surprised to find Lena’s car where her dad’s truck was earlier that morning. She hurries inside and Kori leads her to the library where Lena is waiting with a book.
   “Kori can you bring us some hot chocolate?” Asks Thalia as she crosses the room to greet Lena.
    Lena looks a little sheepish as she gets up from her seat. “Sorry to just show up at your house, but I found something that I think you should see.”
    “That’s alright. I hope you weren’t waiting long. What did you find?” Replies Thalia frowning as she sits across from Lena.
    Lena pulls out a flash drive and hands it to Thalia. “I think I know what my mother is after. It’s a new security system meant to trap intruders in a force field.”
    “Wow. The things she could do with something like that.” Answers Thalia as she pulls up the diagrams on her laptop.
    Steel scans the data. “I’ll send a copy to Berto and one to Supergirl.”
    “That’s not all. It turns out those guys from three months ago were hired by my mother to scare me into giving them the tech.” Replies Lena clearly angry.
    Frowning Thalia shouts. “Scare You?! They tried to kill you!”
    Lena flinched at Thalia’s sudden outburst. Noticing, Thalia quickly apologises rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. Once they had gone over the information and increased the security at L-Corp, the two go their separate ways for the night.
    Unfortunately, despite how tired she is, Thalia can’t stop her mind from racing through all of the day’s events. She spends hours tossing and turning in bed before exhaustion takes over and pulls her into unconsciousness.