Kara spent the next few weeks at Star Labs with Barry. While Joe and Iris often came to check in and Caitlin, Cisco and Harry kept monitoring his progress, those weeks felt like they were really catching up on the past six months. Even if in her heart Kara knew that he may not remember any of this when he got better, she still found herself falling in love with him all over again. She spoke Kryptonian more often when it was just the two of them, and lapsed into it on a few occasions when Felicity called her with an update on the hunt before remembering to switch back to English.

Then things changed, Kara was just leaving the Pipeline to give Cisco some time with Barry, all of them had been talking with him in the hopes that he would get back to his old self when Alex called.

“Alex…”

“Kara, we need you back at the D.E.O. J’onn insists that it’s urgent.”

“Barry’s making progress Alex, I think in some way our conversations in Kryptonian are really helping him. If I leave now…he might regress…I…”

“Kara…I know how difficult this is. I know what leaving Barry could do…but we’ve got our first solid lead on Cadmus in weeks. If this one is the big one…the one where we find them…we can end this.”

Kara was torn, she didn’t want to leave Barry, but if he weren’t still in the state he’s in, he’d tell her to go. He’d actually be right there with her. He told her early on in their relationship that he supports her both as Kara and Supergirl, and that would never change. Though reluctant, she knew that Cadmus had to be stopped and if this was the best chance they had, she was going to make it happen.

As she was suiting up, Harry came to see her with his own findings on Cadmus. He had been agonizing over everything Felicity had sent, looking for any possible clues and finally found something. Like Alex had told her, he also had a solid lead.

“Danvers…”

“What is it Harry?”

“Smoak has been extremely thorough in her digging. She’s had so many hits on where Cadmus could be potentially operating from; I thought all of them were going to be dead ends…”

“Because we’ve been hit with so many already.”

“Yes, but this latest find…the geographical coordinates indicate that the resources, the land, even the power lines that were disconnected from the electrical grid could have easily been repurposed to serve Donovan’s needs.”

“Then I’ll take this with me to the D.E.O. With our information and theirs…”

“Wait a minute Danvers…that’s not all.”

“What else is there?”

“Ramon and I ran a thermographic scan of the area from a Star Labs satellite that my Earth-1 doppelganger had launched into orbit before Thawne killed him and took his place. The scan was taken late at night, and as this location is near the desert, heat signatures would be prevalent as…”

“…temperatures in the desert can easily reach the freezing point with no structures to absorb the heat of the day.”

“Bingo…being with Allen has really rubbed off on you. Not that I don’t think that you could have…”

The look on Kara’s face told Harry that he needed to backtrack his comment before he finished. Earth science may move slower for her and seem archaic, but she is the daughter and niece of two of the most respected and prolific Kryptonian scientists, so she could have said something but she then remembered that this is just Harry being Harry.

“Harry, I really have to visit your Earth with Barry someday. No offense, but I think it would be interesting to find out why you are the way you are.”

“None taken…anyway these are the images from the satellite.”

Kara quickly flipped through the five infrared scans, all of a different section of land. But all were continuous in what they show in the topography, or rather what’s underneath.

“This structure…whatever it is, is massive. Any ideas?”

“Plenty, but every search I’ve run has come up negative. My prevailing theory…some sort of abandoned military facility. Which means classified.”

“And the D.E.O. could be able to get access. Or at the least have some knowledge of what may be under there. Thanks Harry.”

With this new information, Kara left for National City. Upon arriving at the D.E.O. she found everyone gathered around the control room, images displayed across every screen.

“Kara…”

“Alex…J’onn…what is all that?”

“A possible location on Cadmus. Thermal imaging puts it somewhere out in Colorado. This is…”

“Hold on…are those photos from a Star Labs satellite?”

“Yes…how did you know?”

“Because I have something similar. The Flash and his team gave me these.”

Kara dropped all her thermographic images on the table for everyone to see. Soon, Alex, J’onn and Winn were examining the same image they had on the screen but with so much more detail.

“Agent Schott…feed the coordinates of these images into the system. We know this is out in Colorado, but we need an exact location.”

Kara and Alex could both tell that J’onn was worried about the location being in Colorado. He had told them some of his history on Earth, but had still kept a lot of details secret. They could only guess that he had experienced something horrific before Jeremiah and the D.E.O. had found him. Whatever that was, if this location had ties to the rest of his past, the reveal would bring to light a lot of unpleasant memories.

“I’ve got it…the location is just outside of Middleton, Colorado. It’s…”

“I know that place. Cadmus has taken…”

“J’onn?”

“Alex, Kara…Middleton is where I first came to Earth. The location is a laboratory. A good man I knew died there. This is what put the D.E.O. and Henshaw on my trail.”

“J’onn I can lead this mission if this brings back to many memories. You know if…”

“I’ll be fine Alex. Cadmus needs to be stopped and I intend to see this through.”

No further discussion was needed and a team of agents accompanied J’onn and Supergirl to Colorado where they found Cadmus’ new location, and Alex stayed behind to coordinate the mission. However as with the previous location, this was all but abandoned. The only opposition they encountered were some of Donovan’s meta-humans. These too seemed to be nothing more than mindless drones. After they were easily defeated, J’onn came upon the room where he had been brought by Dr. Saul Erdel. Instantly he was lost in thought, not hearing his agents until one of them tapped him on the shoulder.

“Director Jones…”

“What is it?”

“A couple of things Sir, first…we found what appears to be an alien body. Can’t be sure based on his physiology, but we’re not sure if he’s unconscious or dead.”

“And the second?”

“There appears to be a message playing on a recorded loop. If we want to find out what happened here, this may be our best option.”

“Play it, Agent. We’ll see to the alien in a moment.”

When the message activated, a large holographic screen appeared in front of the team. The face seemed anemic behind the large glasses and thick mustache. His voice was cold, and Kara would almost describe it as alien as well.

“Director Henshaw…and the D.E.O. Greetings, if you are unaware, I am Dr. Dabney Donovan. I see you have found my most recent base of operations and yet this one is also abandoned. I do hope you appreciated the small contingent of meta-humans I left for you. Sadly, I could not be there in person to greet you as I have greater plans that I intend to accomplish.”

“What do you want Donovan?”

“You’re so impatient. Perhaps you don’t realize Director Henshaw…that I have actually deduced your true identity. I chose this very lab for that purpose, Martian. Only an alien would take an anti-alien organization and choose to use it to protect other aliens. So I left you a gift.”

“The alien that appears to be dead.”

“Oh he’s not dead, far from it actually. I left him in stasis. He’s all yours. And if you’re going to take him back to the D.E.O., I suggest you do it quickly. This lab is filled with enough explosives to level Middleton. I know you can imagine what that would do to you given your weakness to fire.”

A timer appeared on the screen as Donovan’s face disappeared. They had less than ten minutes to evacuate the lab. J’onn ordered his team to get out as fast as possible while Supergirl went back for the stasis tube holding the unknown alien. The team escaped just barely in time as the detonation occurred earlier than the timer was set for. Thankfully no one was left behind and only suffered minor injuries.

“Supergirl…do you think you can identify our mystery alien?”

“No…he’s not like the Khunds that the Flash and I faced before. They were well known across the universe. This one…I’m sorry, I’m at a loss.”

“Then we’ll have to take him back to the D.E.O. We’ll get our answers there.”

“But J’onn, you don’t think this is all a little convenient? Donovan knew who you really were, even if he didn’t reveal the how. Is it possible that this alien was a plant for him to get to us?”

“You really are starting to think like an Agent. I’d guess the Flash has had a good influence on you. Especially with his being a C.S.I. in his life outside of the uniform.”

“Wait…you read his mind. How long ago?”

“On our first meeting. Don’t worry Kara…his secret is safe with me.”

While the possibility of the alien being a trap was prevalent, he could also have been an unwilling pawn in Donovan’s schemes. His stasis tube was loaded on the transport bound for National City. Upon arriving, he was taken to the med labs where Alex started her examination.

“Alex…what do we know?”

“He’s been in stasis for an indeterminate amount of time. Winn came to gather what information he could to identify his species and planet of origin, he’s still working on that. We won’t really know anything until our guest here wakes up, J’onn.”

“Keep me updated. I want to know if he’s a threat.”

While the rest of the D.E.O. agents continued their tasks, Kara was with Winn working on discovering the alien’s origins. While he ran every species and cross-referenced them through every known database they had access to, he was asking her about the Flash. Then in moments, alarms started sounding through the building before it went into lockdown.

“Agent Schott!”

“It wasn’t me J’onn. It was internal but I can’t trace the source…”

“You don’t need to, human. I caused it.”

The alien they had brought back was awake and walking through the control room like he owned the facility. Kara was instantly worried for Alex and made a move to the medical wing, only to be stopped and unable to move.

“The human doctor is unharmed Kryptonian. Her mind was far too primitive for me to bother with. Yours however…”

Kara tried to fire off her heat vision, but was again prevented. She could feel him in her mind, controlling her actions. Unable to fight back she could only listen to his cold voice taunting her.

“You want to fight back. I can feel it. How does it feel to be bested by someone more powerful than you. Oh…yes…you want to know who I am. My name is Despero. And you now belong to me.”

J’onn could tell that one of their enemy’s abilities was telepathic and he was using that to control Kara’s mind. But he didn’t account for another telepath as J’onn attempted to use his powers to free her.

“Don’t even try it Martian. My powers surpass yours. You only use them when necessary…I have no such limitations. Any attempt to stop me will result in the death of your precious Supergirl.”

“What do you want, Despero?”

“What do I want? Nothing. I am simply here at the behest of my employer. He has studied the D.E.O. for some time. He knows your weaknesses, and can counter your strengths. And you masterfully fell into his trap by bringing me here.”

In the next instant as Despero stopped speaking Dabney Donovan’s voice came over the D.E.O.’s communications arrays. He had known his plan would be successful as J’onn would have undoubtedly brought his gift back to their headquarters.

“Hello Martian, honestly you were so predictable. The real Hank Henshaw would have eliminated Despero without a second thought. Your need to save any alien was all a part of my plan. And while I loathe working with him, he was a means to an end. I presume you remember Myriad?”

Both J’onn and Kara’s eyes widened in fear, though that small action was all the latter could do. She remembered how everyone she cared about had been affected except for J’onn, but with Despero there nothing was certain, and Donovan continued speaking.

“You see, I watched as Myriad was used by aliens to control humanity. By your own kind in fact, Supergirl. I studied it, worked with it, and have improved it to the point that it will control any aliens and meta-humans. When I’m finished, humanity will rise up against all alien invaders, freeing the Earth from your influence. Despero…if you please.”

With Supergirl under his control, Despero only had to step over to where she was standing and place a small electronic inhibitor behind her ear. Donovan had used the six months since Cadmus’ first defeat to develop the device. When activated, Kara’s eyes glazed over and she no longer tried to struggle so Despero released his telepathic hold on her.

“You have Supergirl, Donovan, but you can’t possibly think that your version of Myriad will work on me?”

“Oh it will, Martian. I developed a special inhibitor just for you. Yours is enhanced with Despero’s own powers. When you succumb, I will have control of the D.E.O. through you.”

Despero moved over to J’onn to place the inhibitor on his neck, but was stopped as Alex fired her gun at the hostile. It was only a momentary distraction as J’onn saw her, but only had enough time to shout a warning.

“Alex…get Winn and get out!”

“But…”

“Go…you know where to find help!”

Alex grabbed Winn by the arm and took off. While the building was still in lockdown she had an emergency access code and knew several different escape routes. Her only hope was that Despero wouldn’t follow.

“Alex…wait…”

“We can’t Winn! You heard J’onn. We’re their only hope!”

Turning back, Despero had almost followed them, but Donovan stopped him with a word. He too didn’t think that Alex and Winn were any kind of threat and let them go. With no more distractions, he placed the inhibitor behind J’onn’s ear, his eyes glazing over as well before he shapeshifted back to his true form.

“Despero…”

“They are completely at our mercy, Donovan. Supergirl and the Martian cannot fight back.”

“Excellent, Director Jones…open up the cells and release all of the D.E.O.’s meta-human prisoners.”

J’onn followed the instruction without question as Despero used his abilities to telepathically control the Meta’s as well. One by one he placed an inhibitor on their necks as well, causing them to succumb just as Supergirl had. Donovan’s next order issued was for her.

“Now Supergirl…use your super-speed and put every D.E.O. agent in the open cells.”

While Kara carried out her orders, Donovan commanded J’onn to override the lockdown and grant him access to the facility. He briefly resisted until Despero gave one more telepathic push and J’onn obeyed. Immediately after entering with the rest of his meta-humans, the mad scientist set himself up in J’onn’s office where Supergirl and the Martian Manhunter were ordered to stand guard.

Alex and Winn had just barely escaped as they watched Donovan enter. They were in trouble but J’onn’s last words were that she knew where to go. Central City was her first thought, but from what Kara had told her, Barry was still recovering from his trauma, and he may not be of any help. She had one other option, and hoped as an alien raised to be human, Clark would be immune this time. So she and Winn were off to Metropolis in a desperate attempt to save the world.