"Maybe it's a good sign." Kara suddenly says, breaking the prevailing silence of the car that had been reigning so far. "Maybe it means they don't need us anymore."

"Oh, they need us, alright?" Alex takes her eyes off the road for a second to look at the blonde. "They just don't know it."

Kara doesn't answer; instead, she watches absentmindedly the variety of lights dancing around the façade of the nearby buildings. It's Friday night and due to the reduction of the crime rate the city has experienced in the last couple of months many people find themselves walking the streets peacefully. The atmosphere feels lighter and everyone looks happy.

"Alex" the blonde turns on her seat to look at her sister "there hasn't happened anything alien-related or even remotely dangerous for quite a while now." She half smiles as she toys with the bracelet their mother had given them both as a Christmas present a couple of years ago. Alex's is all black with a silver pearl on the middle whereas Kara's is, in contrast, all white with a black adornment. "National City will be fine without Supergirl for a few days. Maybe I'll even get to retire someday."

"Nothing happened because you were here." Alex takes a left and slows down as they approach Kara's flat. "Besides, it's not the city I'm concerned about; it's you."

It's not that Alex is purposefully trying to make Kara feel bad; it's just that she worries. A lot. Because Kara is not going on a vacation of any kind; she's travelling to Europe with some of the DEO team to investigate a supposed alien threat. They got a call from Berlin some days ago to tell them the Germans' radar had picked up some unusual activity near a spy station built during the Cold War.

"I just wish I could go with you." Alex laments. "To keep you safe."

"J'onn will be with me the whole time." Kara reassures her. "I'll be fine."

"It's called Teufelsberg, Kara." Alex sighs as Kara raises an eyebrow. "It literally means 'Mountain of the devil'. How much nice of a place can it be?"

"It's been deserted for decades now. I'm sure all we'll find will only be a couple of rocks and maybe some rusty metal here and there. Nothing major." Kara tries to refute Alex's worries away but to no avail.

"And if it's been deserted for years" Alex speaks to the youngster in the same tone a mother arguing with her child would "how come we got a distress call?" Kara snorts.

"That was not a distress call." She points out. "They're simply not as used as we are to unidentified signals." Alex takes a moment to stop her parking manoeuvres to raise an eyebrow at the blonde. "Okay, fine, alien stuff." She adds rolling her eyes.

Albeit the car is properly parked, they still sit in silence for a while, neither wanting to voice their thoughts although the feeling of doubt over the fact that there might be something more to it than what Kara had previously suspected was merely an error from the radar is strongly present amongst them.

"Just promise me" Alex hurriedly says as Kara's taking her seatbelt off "promise me you'll be careful and take care of yourself."

"I will take care of everyone." Kara says matter-of-factly as she shifts to open the door.

"Kara." Her sister's sudden change of tone makes Kara's hand stop mid-air. "I'm serious. Please be careful."

"I will." Kara turns around and hugs Alex. "I'll be home before you know it." She whispers as she holds her sister incredibly close.

The older sister solely nods, not thrusting her voice to speak at the moment, afraid it might crack midsentence. She doesn't want Kara to worry over her on top of all the other things the blonde already has on her plate. So with a tight smile and a wave of hand, she drives off.

Kara doesn't stop waving until the car is fully out of sight. Once she can't see the car lights anymore she lets out a shaky breath she didn't realise she's been holding. Not a minute after, she's already making her upstairs and to her front door.

She hasn't even made it inside when her phone starts ringing. Upon looking at the screen an involuntary smile finds its way on her face.

"Hey there" Kara greets.

"Good evening, Kara." The other speaker playfully responds. "I assume you've had a good day?"

"Well, you know" Kara gestures with her hand in the air even though she knows Lena can't see her "with Snapper breathing down my neck every ten minutes it can never be a good day, but" she cuts herself in order to grab an apple from the kitchen counter and starts munching on it "within the ups and downs; it's been a pretty decent day."

"I'm glad to hear that." Lena chuckles at the little happy sounds Kara makes as she eats the fruit. Instead of finding it annoying, as it would be to many, she thinks it's endearing. "Although you should really ask that man for a raise."

"Yeah, as if he would ever grant it." Kara snorts. By the noise on the end of the line, Lena can picture the blonde throwing the core of the apple away and grabbing something much less healthy. The journalist's appetite is hard to please. "How was your day?" Kara asks back as she realises she hasn't returned the question yet. 'That is so impolite, Kara' she scolds herself.

"It could've been worse, to be honest." Lena answers as she stands up from her desk chair in order to stretch her legs after many hours of sitting down. "But it could've also been better" there's a short pause before she adds "I thought you'd come by."

"Oh my God." Kara brings her left hand to her head and grunts. "Were we supposed to meet for lunch? I totally forgot, I'm so sorry, Lena, I'll-"

"Kara" the brunette chuckles at the blonde's sudden burst of apologies "we didn't have a lunch date. I just hoped you would swing by."

"Oh" Kara is a little taken aback by the other woman's almost timid response. "I'm still sorry, though." Albeit she cannot see her, she knows Lena is rolling her eyes at her.

"I'm free tomorrow if you want to grab lunch together." She offers hopefully.

"Sorry once again" Kara grimaces knowing she won't be able to make it, for her flight to Berlin leaves tomorrow at eight. "But I have to catch a plane to Germany."

"Oh?" To say Lena is surprised would be an understatement. As far as she knew, the blonde had never travelled outside of the country, let alone to a whole different continent. "How come?"

Throughout the week Kara has been packing up suitcases, reading and investigating as much as she could about the signal they received from Berlin and even learning a few basic notions of German just in case she needs to talk to people who don't speak English. She has been so busy it did not occur to her, however, that her best friend would have questions.

"I didn't mean to pry." Lena quickly adds when Kara takes a little too long to answer. "Of course you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, no" Kara is quick to assure her. "I just spaced out. I have to leave for work." She's praying that Lena will let it go and not ask any more questions because she knows she will not be able to answer convincingly at the same speed as to which Lena will throw them.

"Hm, okay…" Lena is sceptical but decides to let it be. If Kara wants to tell her, she will.

"I hope to be back by Wednesday" Kara tries to divert the conversation topic to a comfortable zone "maybe we could grab lunch then?" Lena is quick to accept and they spend the next minutes talking about everything and anything.

It's not until Kara looks through the window that she realises the streets are deprived of the crowd of people there was some hours ago. She glances at her wristwatch and can't hold the gasp that escapes her mouth as she sees the time. Two in the morning. She's been talking to Lena for nearly one hour and half.

Kara, never being one to be rude to people (let alone Lena) is then conflicted between wanting to get some hours of sleep before the flight departure and keep talking to the woman who always manages to put a smile on her face. After a couple more minutes of small talk, she falls victim to a loud yawn and damn now she wishes she had drank the coffee Winn had offered her mid-afternoon. Lena seems to catch the 'subtlety' behind the unasked demand because after lightly laughing and letting Kara know just how adorable she thinks that was, she tells the blonde she should get some rest before her flight.

"But we were just getting started on endangered sloths!" Kara whines. She feels another yawn coming but tries to disguise it behind a forced cough.

"Right now, you are the only endangered sloth I can think of." Lena allows herself to fully laugh this time and even though Kara is now blushing she still cracks a smile of her own.

"Good night, Lena." Kara tells her once the brunette's laugh has subsided.

"Night, Kara."

In spite of having to get up in less than five hours, Kara goes to bed happy. Speaking to Lena seems to have taken the weight off her shoulders and her worries have been, for the most part, dissipated.

The alarm goes off way before Kara's fully ready to wake up. The sun is not out yet and her eyelids feel incredibly heavy. As she drags her feet begrudgingly down the corridor and gets breakfast ready, she thinks she feels a headache coming her way.

Although she managed to dissipate some of her worries last night while talking to Lena, she hasn't managed to shake all of them away. Her shoulders feel stiff with tension and no matter how many times she massages them as she bites down on her toast, it doesn't seem to get any less painful.

Once her stomach is satisfied with the first ingest of the day and she feels more awake, Kara gets dressed in her Supergirl suit, grabs the suitcase and waits for the DEO team to call her to let her know they're ready.

As soon as she gets the call, she flies to the air runway and J'onn introduces her to the team that will be accompanying them on the mission.

"These are: Russo," he says nodding to the oldest man. He is tall and his skin is as white as snow. "Fields," the second man, who is standing next to Russo, represents the contrary of the first, for his skin is as dark as the night itself. He pumps his chest proudly and smiles down at Kara in a way she does absolutely not like. Both men are huge and pretty intimidating.

"Next we have Gomez, she'll be the one piloting that thing." J'onn explains pointing to the aircraft. The woman in question is shorter than her fellow teammates but seems much nicer which comforts Kara. "And these are Scott and Haik." Both approach Kara to shake hands. Scott is a blonde woman in her late twenties who looks really nervous upon coming face to face for the first time with Supergirl but still holds herself composed enough to make a good first impression. The last team member, agent Haik, is by difference the youngest of them all. He is an Arabic boy who, apparently, doesn't go anywhere without a calculator clutched in his hands. He would be the one assisting Gomez on the flight commands.

"Don't be fooled by his age." J'onn laughs as he sees Kara's astonished expression. "He's amazingly smart for a boy that young." Kara nods and smiles back.

She thanks all of them for being there and lets them walk first into the plane. She thinks they might feel more comfortable if Supergirl isn't always the one who leads the way. She doesn't want the team to walk around eggshells around her only because she's much stronger. Supergirl is a team player after all. J'onn soon catches on and smirks at Kara, ever so slightly nodding his approval.

Once they're all set, Gomez and Haik start to set the coordinates and get the engines ready. As they're about to take off, Kara texts Alex to tell her they'll make it to Berlin around 5 p.m. and that she'll call her as soon as they land. She's going to put her phone away when she thinks of texting Lena as well. Right as the plane starts to move she flashes the brunette a quick text to basically tell her once again she's sorry they will not be able to meet today but wishing the CEO a great and lovely day. Lena responds not ten seconds after with a heart emoji and although the flight will last a little over ten hours, Kara's smile won't fade in the slightest.

As the plane reaches the desired altitude the team decides to go over the action procedure for when they make it to Germany. It's pretty simple, actually, and they have it down pat after twenty minutes: Once they arrive at Teufelsberg, agents Russo and Fields are going to examine and secure the perimeter, given that they are former US soldiers and are used to work on the field. After they conclude there's no danger, agents Scott and Haik will bring out the technical equipment to run a test on the environment, the building and everyone who they suspect might have been exposed to radiation. Last, agent Gomez is going to speak to the German pertinent authorities so the DEO can gather as much information as possible, given the fact she's fluent in German.

J'onn is going to supervise and command everyone as they move along and Kara, or rather, Supergirl is going to scan the mountain and its surroundings from above.

"Remember" J'onn tells Kara once everyone gets back to their seats "just because there doesn't seem to be anything dangerous going on, doesn't mean there really isn't. There's always calmness before a storm."

"It's just a routine lookout mission." The blonde shrugs, unpreoccupied.

"If it were, they wouldn't have called the DEO, now would they?" J'onn argues.

Kara is too tired to think of anything else really, so when J'onn suggests they could all use some sleep, the Kryptonian is the first one to put the blindfold on and within seconds she's already deep in sleep.

J'onn wakes her up as soon as they land and as Kara is brushing off the last trays of sleep remaining on her body, the man is already calling the local authorities.

"Willkommen!" A thin dark-skinned man greets them as they all start to make their way off the plane. "You've brought with you the Mädchen of Steel, oder?"

"I suppose that's me." Kara is the last one to exit the plane and raises her hand up so to draw the man's attention; as if her bright red cape wasn't an indication. The German smiles politely at her and he resumes introducing his team.

"My name is Peter Schulz. These agents" he turns around and nods towards his team "are agent Müller, Herrmann, Lorenz and Simon. They all have a large experience on the field and are highly trained." He looks rather proud of his command, however when he turns around to look at the DEO team, his shoulders slump slightly. "We are sorry for asking you to come here on such short notice, we wouldn't have called unless we thought our team could've handled it on its own." Schulz laments as he starts to walk to the base.

"But given that you have more experience with these..." he slurred half-gesturing at Kara "type of situations; we thought you'd perhaps see something we haven't been able to."

J'onn hums professionally and Kara shoots him a side glance, feeling the way his whole body tenses ever since they got out of the plane but choosing to not say anything.

When they arrive at the base the German have set up right at the foot of the mountain, Schulz shares all the information they've been able to gather so far. J'onn and Gomez inspect it carefully while the rest of the agents, both American and German, get ready for a 'field trip'.

They establish Russo, Fields, Gomez, Kara herself and J'onn will go up the mountain to inspect the terrain for themselves whereas Scott and Haik will stay on the base located downhill to assist them with anything they might need. Moreover, Schulz and a couple of his men, Müller and Lorenz, will accompany them given that they are more familiar with the ground. The remaining two German agents, Herrmann and Simon will be working with the DEO agents from the base camp.

They inspect the zone once they started to make their way up for over an hour and everyone is pretty much convinced by now that Kara's been right all along. This whole thing was merely a malfunction of the radar.

After another half hour of exhaustive exploration, they are ready to come back down when a loud noise coming from the base crashes their ears. An explosion. Before J'onn can even open his mouth Kara is already flying off and into the flames and smoke hoping that the agents there have somehow managed to get out in time.

She starts calling for them but Kara doesn't remember all of the agents' names so she ends up shouting a combination of 'is anybody here?' and 'hello?' Minutes pass by and there's still no sign of life anywhere. The blonde feels the hair on the base of her head arise and she tries to shrug the fear off but it's useless.

Then, right before she can fly back up and inform the team that's still up on the mountain, she gets a phone call from her sister.

"Alex?!" Kara cannot hide the confusion and worry in her voice. Alex knows she's on a mission and she wouldn't call unless it was an absolute emergency, which must be, considering Kara can indistinctly hear her sister's voice quiver. "Alex, what's going on?"

She can't quite understand Alex due to the interferences and to the rumbling noise the explosion has left on Kara's ears. The only thing she can gather about Alex's rambling is the word 'Luthor'. Kara's blood suddenly runs cold.

"Alex?!" Kara starts to panic. "Where is Lena? Is she okay? What happened?" Alex can't catch up with Kara's interrogation; either that, or likewise Kara's end, she can't hear her properly. The call ends, so she flies as far as she can manage without losing sight of the mountain, for she will hang up and come to rescue if need be. She hastily dials Alex's number again but unfortunately; she doesn't pick up which only adds to Kara's dismay. She's starting to feel sick down to her stomach.

After the fourth unsuccessful attempt to communicate with her sister, Kara is torn between flying off to a place where she has better reception or postponing the phone call in order to get to J'onn and the team. Even though she knows she shouldn't, she opts for the first.

So she tries again. And again and again, despite she can hear J'onn faintly calling for her to come back. She ignores it and keeps trying over a dozen times.

On her thirteenth call, J'onn calls for her much louder and clearer. "Supergirl, there's been a betrayal! Do not trust-" He doesn't manage to end his warning before somebody shoots him and he falls to the ground; clutching tightly to his side.

Grasping her phone tightly in her hand, Kara launches herself to the place she recalls she left from but as her feet touch the ground a heavy net made of metal and Kryptonite falls on top of her, effectively trapping her in place. She feels her head start to spin and her body ache with an unbearable pain. Kara falls to her knees grunting of pure agony and her phone falls between the net's holes out of her reach.

"Yes, they are all dead." Kara hears before she can see anything. She identifies the voice as a man's and she lifts her head up to try to get a proper look. There, in all his glory, is Fields, talking on a phone and even though Kara wants to yell at him the impending feeling of passing out any second now is much greater. "Well, except for the big one. I'll bring her to you." he talks into the phone whilst smiling wickedly at the girl.

Then her phone rings indicating she's got an incoming text. She quickly glances down but the man is faster and stomps his foot on top of it. He then bends down and picks it up. "Too bad you won't be able to text back." Kara can't take the pain anymore and she faints.

Sadly, she will never read the text Alex sent her. "Lena's missing."