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saiilorstars · 2 years ago

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Ch.9: The Girl Who is Neither Nor

Story Masterlist ◦ Anais’ Masterlist ◦

Also on: Fanfic • Ao3

Pairing: Winn Schott x OFC

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @foxesandmagic

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know!

Anais sat on the edge of Winn's desk holding the latest issue of CatCo. in her arms. She had been comfortable in her spot for way too long and yet it wasn't Winn who pointed out her curious affection of using his desk as a seat.

"Solar!" J'onn's voice that morning had an extra boom in it. Even Alex winced from where she stood. "Shouldn't you be out there with Supergirl and Superman today?"

Anais didn't bother looking up from her magazine when she answered. "And risk getting sandwiched between the Girl and Man of Steel? As if."

"Don't you have superspeed?" Alex stopped by Winn's desk and poked the side of Anais' head.

"Yeah. Besides, it's some family time for those two. I'm okay where I am. Did you see Cat wrote about me?"

"Yeah, we all read it," Winn mumbled from his seat. Anais had practically forced everyone to read the latest article Cat Grant had written about Solar, finally introducing her to the public. Anais was excited, to say the least.

"Again, you have super speed," Alex said, "So shouldn't you have been done reading that magazine ages ago?"

Anais lowered the magazine, revealing a furrowed brow. "And what if I wanted to reread it?"

"Again?" Winn pointed out.

Anais looked down at him. "Whose side are you on?"

"Solar," J'onn called again, drawing the trio's attention, "You wanted to work for the DEO. You should be out there! You and Supergirl! You and Supergirl!"

Anais' brows raised. He might as well have said 'Only you and Supergirl'. It was easy to tell that J'onn had a disdain for Superman and vice versa. "I can go out the next time," she said simply.

"You promised Kara that you'd be nicer when her cousin was around," Alex told J'onn.

"I said I would try," J'onn reminded his particular word choice.

"'Do or do not'," Winn recited, "'There is no try.'"

J'onn was neither amused nor interested in the quote. "Exactly how bad did you want this job, Mr. Schott?"

Winn ducked his head at the call. He heard Anais' quiet snicker.

"He'll be leaving town soon, I'm sure," Alex said, getting back to the point and hopefully dissuading J'onn from any potential firings. "So until then…"

"We continue reading!" Anais picked up her magazine again and happily went back to her favorite page, ignoring J'onn's disapproving look. Eventually, Alex took him away.

"Seriously, how many times can you read the same article?" Winn looked at her curiously. "I mean, as a speedster, don't you also get bored quicker than the rest of us?"

"Not really, no," Anais shook her head. "You think it would be self-absorbed if I framed this?"

"Sure, but I'm the dork around here."

"That's what Alex says."

Winn deadpanned her. "Off my desk." He made the motion for Anais to slide off already.

"Sheesh, alright!" Anais hopped off his desk and closed her magazine altogether. "Fault a girl for being excited about something." She tossed the magazine to Winn, laughing at how he scrambled to catch it and even when he was so close to her, he still managed to drop it. "I'll see you later."

"Where are you going now?" Winn asked once he finally had the magazine in his hands.

"Seeing Arun again," Anais said, and Winn noted the way she lost some of her cheeriness.

"Is he still not being nice to you?" He frowned. If there was one thing that he had come to like about Anais it was her unusual talent at being cheerful and positive all the time. How could someone be mean to someone like her? It made no sense.

Anais shook her head. "We've been discussing things and he's definitely apologized for coming off the wrong way. I think…I think it's just the age differences and the time periods. He lived on Solaria and I didn't. For him, it's been a very long time since he's gotten this close to home."

"I don't care — is he being nice?" Winn asked and sternly waited for a proper answer.

Anais playfully rolled her eyes. "Yes," she said clearly. "He's taking me out for ice cream. Can you believe he's never had ice cream before?"

"Oh, I can think of a few words," Winn said, sounding a tad sour, yet still smiling to be convincing. It was true what they said: first impressions were everything. Ever since Anais shared her troubled first meeting with Arun, Winn couldn't see Arun the right way anymore.

"I'll let you know how it goes," Anais said, "Keep my magazine safe?"

"Of course," Winn nodded, bringing a hand on the magazine on the desk.

Anais grinned. "I'll bring you an ice cream. What's your favorite flavor?"

"Chocolate mint!"

Anais pretended to gag. "Winn, that's disgusting!"

"What?" Winn said incredulously.

"I am not bringing you chocolate mint ice cream. You're going to have to do better."

"I cannot believe what my ears are hearing right now!" Winn turned in his chair, raising a hand at Anais, absolutely offended. "Go now. You've completely destroyed this friendship."

Anais laughed and sped away.

~ 0 ~

It was true that Arun was trying to do better by Anais. He was not a fan of the ice cream emporium she had talked about. It was too crowded and quite loud — and sticky. Anais loved it!

She had brought them two glass bowls of ice cream — strawberry shortcake for her and coffee for him. She sat down opposite of him and encouraged him to try it.

"You said you liked coffee," she reminded him, "And this is coffee ice cream. Starbucks, to be exact."

Arun picked up his spoon and dug into the ice cream. He took just a small bit into his mouth. Anais watched him like a hawk, super excited to see his reaction.

"Well," he swallowed what was left of it in his mouth, "Not bad."

"Yes!" Anais cheered with a fist in the air. "I knew you'd love it!"

"I didn't say I 'loved' it—"

"But you didn't say you didn't love it!"

Arun rolled his eyes. "Do you have to be cheery about everything all the time?"

Anais was already eating her ice cream and merely shrugged at the question. "I don't know."

"I've never met anyone who seems to be so positive about everything all the time."

"Sorry," Anais reached for a napkin from the dispenser, "After everything that's happened to me, I just try to be happy about what I have. And lately, things seem to be going well for me. Did I mention that Winn's adding a few things to my suit?"

"No, but I'm sure I'll be hearing about it for the next month," Arun said, noting the strange smile that spread across Anais' face. "What?"

"So, we'll be seeing each other for the whole month?"

Arun felt a laugh coming up and he couldn't control it. One thing he noted about Anais Mjorkland is that he ended up doing things he hardly did on his own. Laughing was one of them. "What?"

"I just have to be sure that you'll keep agreeing to see me!" Anais shrugged again. "You're kind of a grump, you know?"

"A grump?" Arun frowned. "Well, now that's mean."

"But not untrue."

"How about we discuss our future together?"

"Wh-at!?" Anais almost choked on her ice cream, and she didn't even know that was possible!

Arun lifted an eyebrow at her. "I mean as in how we should start training you and teaching you about Solaria."

"Oh," Anais brought a hand to her chest. She was a speedster with a natural racing heartbeat but this time, it truly felt like she could've had a heart attack. "Y-yeah! Right!"

"I was thinking the best place to train you would be at the DEO," Arun went on, idly eating from his ice cream. "They have proper rooms and open fields and proper tools in case something happens."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Anais said. "I'll talk to J'onn about it. Things are still kind of hectic."

"Are you guys still dealing with that man from the pod?"

Anais nodded. "Mhm. He's been unconscious ever since we found him. Kara's convinced that he's another Kryptonian but I'm not so sure. I mean, Kara and I look the same but we're not from the same place."

"It's the pod that's making her think that, right?"

"It is pretty similar to the ones she and Superman were put into," Anais admitted. "But technology can be deceiving as well. The fact remains that we won't know who nor what he is until he wakes up. And until then, J'onn prefers to have him in a room."

"Is he rounding the poor guy?" Arun asked with a laugh, speaking directly from experience. "Your director is pretty mistrusting. I respect him for it but, you know, I don't like being locked away."

"Well, for your information, J'onn might actually dislike Superman more than he disliked you. And since Superman is still around…"

"Yeah, the news won't stop covering it," Arun nodded.

Anais chuckled. "Have you ever met him? Like, properly?"

"God no," Arun said quickly. "I have made it my life's mission to stay out of the media. By the way, I don't appreciate you mentioning me in that article that Cat Grant woman wrote."

Anais chuckled. "I didn't say anything about you except that you weren't a threat."

"Still, for future references, let's just keep my name out of that place."

"Hard to do when you're sort of popular amongst the higher class," Anais remarked, surprising Arun with that knowledge. "I do use the internet, Arun. Your artwork is pretty well known. And they're good pieces."

"Thank you," Arun said, genuinely smiling at her. "Most humans don't really understand the concept of my artwork."

"It's Solaria, isn't it?" Anais' presumption brought an even wider smile from Arun.

"How'd you know?"

"The stories my mother told me," Anais said, sighing, "The landscapes — golden fields and beautiful golden-orange suns? That's Solaria. Home. You paint home."

"I do," Arun said, "And like I told you before, I'd be more than happy to show you what it really looked like."

"I don't have telepathic powers, though," Anais reminded him.

"But I can still show you from my side," Arun said. "Not having telepathic abilities just means you can show me nor respond to what I show you. But you can still see what I show you. And trust me, you would love it."

"I would," Anais knew it too. "I really would." She felt her phone buzz in her back pocket and quickly pulled it out. It was an S.O.S. from Alex urging her to come back to the DEO. "Uh oh, gotta go! Emergency at the DEO."

Arun nodded at her to leave. "Call me later, okay? We really need to start training."

"Yea, yeah!" Anais said, picking up her bowl of ice cream. "I learned early on it's not a good idea to super speed eat ice cream! Mega brain freeze." She took off towards the entrance doors only to quickly go to the counter. "Can I get a to-go box?" She asked the young cashier. "Oh! And I can order three more scoops of strawberry shortcake please?"

"Do you want them in the same box?" The cashier asked.

"No, it's for someone else. I'm trying to prove a point."

~ 0 ~

When Anais got to the DEO, she dumped her ice cream in the nearest fridge and got into her suit. She met Alex and was quickly informed of the situation. Them, along with their DEO team, headed back to the control room to get going.

It was there that they crashed into Supergirl and Superman.

"Woah, hey!" Kara was taken aback by all the agents.

Alex let out a frustrated breath. "We haven't heard from you! We were just leaving to catch the Kigori!"

"Oh, we just dropped that little guy in containment," Superman said with an apologetic smile at the group.

"Oh, well," Anais crossed her arms. "Thanks for the heads up!"

Alex was nothing short of annoyed as well. "Stand down, guys," she ordered the team and dispersed them.

"I'm sorry," Kara chuckled. "Team Krypton was just having #toomuchfun. I mean, I've always loved being Supergirl. But today…"

"Next time it would be nice if you followed protocol and alerted us that an alien combative was no longer an active threat," J'onn said as he walked over to the group. "Your cousin may not work for the DEO, but you still do."

Kara nodded dutifully. "Sorry. We were... We were just having…"

"# toomuchfun. Yeah, we know," J'onn muttered.

Anais zipped in and out of the control room, returning with her civilian clothes on. "I was having the best ice cream ever," she spat at the Kryptonians. "Thanks for that."

"Sorry," Kara said again.

Suddenly, the power around them cut out. Winn quickly grabbed his tablet off his desk and rushed to the group. "Uh, energy drain coming from the holding area!"

Everyone knew exactly where to go. Their unconscious man from another world was still in bed with nodes attached to his bare chest.

"It happened last night too," Winn informed them when they reached the room, "All energy resources at the DEO suddenly diverted to him."

Superman didn't get any closer to the room. "You're exposing him to kryptonite?" He looked directly at J'onn. "He's a survivor, not a prisoner."

"It's a precaution," J'onn clarified. "We don't know anything about him."

The lights flickered back on and Winn reported they were back at 100% capacity. Alex moved to his side and took a look at the readings on his tablet.

"His vitals have jumped again. It's at the same rate as the power drain."

"He's repairing himself at a cellular level?" Superman said, soundign surprised.

"It's like photosynthesis," Alex remarked. "His cells are absorbing the electrical energy and converting them to chemical energy."

"You should test his levels again," Superman said to J'omn, "Now that he's—"

"We've got this, Superman," J'onn cut him off, his voice hard.

Superman smiled bitterly. "Sure you do."

The others felt the air grow even more terse as Superman left them.

Kara then turned towards J'onn, resting her hands on her hips. "I know you two aren't the best of friends but you promised you'd be nice to him while he's here."

"Yeah, actually he said he would try…" Winn chimed in, although Anais promptly shushed him.

"How...how is it hard to be nice to Superman?" Kara said incredulously. "He's Superman!"

"If it means so much to you, we will get along," J'onn muttered and walked away, leaving his word in jeopardy.

"We still on for sister night?" Alex gently brought Kara to her side. "Veep and Chinese?"

As upset as she was, Kara ended up smiling at her sister. "Yeah. Of course. Do you know it's Clark's favorite show, too?"

Alex's expression changed subtly even when she tried to hold onto her playfulness. "Is Clark is coming to sister night?"

"Yeah. I mean, he's in town…"

Anais made a face with Winn. What were the odds that the two Danvers sisters would notice if they backed away quietly? They tested the theory out by silently backtracking.

"You're not going to that sister night?" Winn asked once they were safely away.

Anais snorted. "God no! Did you see Alex's face? I am not getting in between that! No, I'll probably stick around here for the night. Gotta work on some of my pictures. Hey, you know what I bought for you?"

"What?"

"Strawberry shortcake ice cream."

Immediately, Winn's face scrunched. "I'm sorry — what? What the hell is strawberry shortcake ice cream? Isn't that a cartoon?"

Anais groaned and picked up her pace down the hallway, taking the lead. "You're so ignorant!"

"Ignorant?" Winn went after her. "You're misinformed!"

"How am I misinformed!?"

"Because you think chocolate mint is horrible!"

"It is!"

~0~

Later in the evening, the DEO had lost a few of its employees, leaving a quieter control room. Anais had brought up a chair beside Winn's desk and the ice cream she had bought earlier in the day. Both bowls were empty but the grudges were still there.

Winn had tried her flavor and while it was not the most horrible thing he thought it would be, it still didn't compare to chocolate mint ice cream. Anais ended up eating both bowls.

After that quarrel, they each went to work on their individual tasks. Anais had several pictures to look over because she did have a due date with James.

"Hey, check it out," Winn said suddenly, turning his computer screen towards Anais. There was a live newscast showing a potential jumper on the bridge.

"Oh God," Anais frowned. She looked over at Winn. "You think they'll handle it?"

"If it's sister night and a movie? I don't think so."

Anais agreed and zipped out the control room. When she returned in her suit, she stopped by the desk again and looked down at it. "I don't see these new notifications you're supposed to be adding."

"It's a work in progress!" Winn said.

"Hey!" J'onn strode over in a hurry. "We have a problem!"

"Yeah, a jumper, I know. I'm on it." Anais was about to leave when J'onn stopped her.

"It's Corben!"

"What?" Both Anais and Winn frowned.

"No, no, he's dead," Anais said, then looked back at the computer. She leaned closer and saw the jumper had turned out to be Corben, the man who was supposed to be dead.

"Oh, crap!" Anais exclaimed and took off without another moment to waste.

When she reached the bridge, there was already quite a sight. Corben seemed different, starting with the great big green stone lodged in the middle of his bare chest.

"Ah, and there she is," Corben said, spotting Anais across the bridge. "Come to see the Kryptonians final battle?"

Anais' eyes shifted between Supergirl and Superman on each side of the bridge, looking worse for wear. She noted the green lines running down their bodies.

"Is that — is that Kryptonite?" She brought her hand up to her ear comm. She hoped to receive an answer from the DEO. When no one answered her, she locked eyes with Corben. "Where the hell did you get Kryptonite?"

Corben laughed maliciously. "From the place that wants humans to prevail. You'll learn about it soon. They sent a message for the Golden Girl."

"Oh," Anais scoffed. "Color me surprised. Who's sending this message?"

Corben smiled at her. "'For the girl who's only half of each, don't you wish that there could be more of you?'"

Anais raised an eyebrow at him. "What—?"

"End of message," Corben said. "Now if you'll excuse me." He turned towards Kara.

Anais shook her head. He had to be kidding. She drew in a breath and charged straight for him. He had been about to shoot Kara with more Kryptonite when Anais rammed her body into his. He tumbled down the bridge.

Anais then spun around and saw Superman getting up, albeit wobbly. They exchanged glances and silently agreed on what to do next.

Anais looked back at Corben getting up. She started running towards him again, at the same time Superman rushed over to Kara and picked her up. Once Anais delivered a few punches to Corben, keeping him down, she flew into the air as well and headed back to the DEO.

~0~

"I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm just a little dizzy," Kara said as Superman helped her land in the DEO. There was still a significant wobble in her feet, not to mention the fact that Anais still had to help her stay on her feet when Superman let her go.

"You told me that only the DEO had access to kryptonite," Superman had gone directly up to J'onn. "So how would you like to explain what just happened out there? A kryptonite-charged cyborg almost killed Kara. Almost killed me. Start talking, J'onn!"

With the silence that fell in the room, J'onn had no choice but to respond. "A shipment went missing four months ago. We've done all we can to find it."

"Four months ago?" Kara had to gawk at the amount of time that'd passed by.

""Went missing"?" Superman repeated, not quite sounding convinced.

"Stolen," J'onn clarified. "We thought it was an inside job but everyone in the transport came up clean."

"So you have a mole," Superman said.

"We don't know that."

"If you'd gotten rid of it when I told you to—"

"We would have been helpless when Non and Astra launched Myriad! Or have you forgotten that there was a force even the Man of Steel couldn't defeat?"

"Superman and Martian Manhunter are gonna fight…" Winn couldn't help the words that tumbled out of his mouth when the tension grew even more. "This is terrible — this is awesome?" He wasn't sure but he needed to stop talking now.

"We have given our lives protecting the people of Earth," Superman argued. "If you cared about Kara at all—"

"Watch what you say!" J'onn snapped.

"Or what?"

A static noise cut through the argument. The screens around the control room — and everywhere else in the city — had gone out and produced an AI head that addressed the watchers.

'People of National City. The Earth has been stolen from us. And the enemy has come in the guise of heroes. They say they come in peace, to protect us from ourselves. But how long will it be before these gods decide to rule instead of serve? We are the antidote to their poison. We are the scientists who will show them what humans are capable of. Those who have sided with the invaders will not be spared. You cannot stop us. We are everywhere. We are Cadmus.'

In its trail, 'Cadmus' had shown pictures of Supergirl and Superman in their various fights. With that announcement, it shut down the screens and allowed everything to return to normal.

"Cadmus," Alex swallowed hard. "Announcing themselves to the world."

"Declaring open war," J'onn saw right away. "They want to kill us. All of us."

"Cadmus has my father…" Alex said quietly, "If they turned John Corben into Metallo, what do you think they've done with him?"

"We'll find him," Kara said determinedly, finally able to stand on her own. Anais still watched her carefully just in case. "And stop them."

"How?" Superman was stumped, a total first for the team. "Metallo isn't just flesh and blood anymore. Cadmus has given him a metal endoskeleton. Traces of the alloy had to end up on my hands when I hit him. I can analyze it at the Fortress of Solitude."

"Agent Schott, get Non and Astra's anti-kryptonite technology out of storage," J'onn directed, "See if you can improve upon it for our two friends here."

Winn was frozen for a few moments while the orders settled in his head. "I-I get to make Superman's new suit?"

"No pressure," Superman flashed him a smile.

There was certainly a considerable amount of pressure that Winn felt, but he didn't let it stop him. He rushed to get started on the job.

~0~

While the others got to work on their respective tasks, Anais received a text message from James who directed her to come to CatCo. Anais rushed into the busy bullpen, figuring the mess was to do with Cadmus' recent announcement. She saw Cat striding from one desk to another, although clearly upheaved from the mess she looked primp as always.

She went straight into James' office. " Hey James, you wanted to see me?" She stepped inside and closed the door, only noticing after how there were several boxes lying around the room. "Woah, what's going on? Re-decorating?" She sounded hopeful when she asked.

James chuckled and sat down at his desk. "Moving." Anais' eyes widened. "Don't worry. I'm just moving offices."

"Oh," Anais brought a hand on her chest. "Next time, lead with that!" She walked over to the desk and sat down.

"Sorry, I'm still trying to write my head around it too," James admitted. "But it is happening so I have to make sure all my affairs are in order and that is why I called you."

"Because I can move at the speed of light?" Anais said questionably.

"Listen, you're gonna find out about it soon because Cat will be making the announcement. She is taking a leave of absence from CatCo.—"

"What!?"

"—and so she's named me as the temporary acting director of CatCo."

"Woah!" Anais' eyes couldn't be any wider at this point. But James was still not done.

"As such, that means I have to now find a replacement for the position of the Art Director. Your name is on my list of possibilities."

Anais let out a breath, actually feeling like she was going to stop breathing at any moment. "James. Are you…are you serious? Are you serious right now?"

James shrugged lightly. "You have talent and I think you might make a good fit here."

"I am inexperienced," Anais corrected, "I mean…I've only been working here for a few months. Doesn't seniority come into play here?"

"Listen, Anais, the fact of the matter is i'm thinking of you as a replacement because of your perspectives." James leaned forward on the desk. "I know the whole ordeal with Lena Luthor and how it went down. You don't let yourself be influenced by what everyone thinks. I mean, even Kara got it wrong. The whole DEO got it wrong. You didn't. Your perspective on things gives the public a new light on our articles, our stories. I think with that mindset, you would nit-pick everything until you found the right pictures to tell the right stories."

Anais was baffled and speechless. No amount of time would let her come up with a decent response to everything that James had said.

James understood her completely. "You can definitely take some time to think about it."

"O-okay," Anais nodded slowly. "Can I…can I talk to Cat? A-about her leaving?"

"Yeah," nodded James, "just be discreet about it, okay?"

"Mhm," Anais promised and got up from her seat. She walked slowly to the door and stopped there for a moment. Her mind was racing. She eventually opened the door and walked out.

In her slow pace into the bullpen, she didn't see Kara fuming as she followed Cat herself into her office. It was only when she had already stepped inside the office that she noticed Kara's prescence.

"What is it now?" Cat looked at Anais expectantly. "And why does it look like your head full of air right now?"

Anais blinked a couple times in an attempt to get herself out of her thoughts. "Sorry, I, uh…" She looked back at the bullpen, "I just finished talking with James and—"

"Ah," Cat rested a hand on her hip, "You know as well."

Anais' eyes flickered to Kara who seemed quite distraught sitting on the couch, practically clutching a cushion. She knows too.

With that in mind, Anais went straight to the point. "Why are you leaving?"

Cat smiled dryly. "I should put myself on recording if everyone is going to ask the same question. As I explained to Kara already, I need to venture out into a new world. I've done everything I can for CatCo. and now I want to see what else I can do. It's only temporary."

"But…I mean…you want to leave!"

"Yes, I said that," Cat nodded, "And I plan on following through so make sure you play nice in your new position."

"New position?" Kara found her voice then and looked at Anais curiously. "What is she talking about?"

Anais drew in a breath, meeting Cat's eyes. "I don't know about it. Art director is a big leap from photojournalist. I don't have experience."

"Neither does Kara," Cat remarked, gesturing towards the woman, "But I'm going to let both of you in on a secret. Experience is great, yes, but talent is better. And another secret? Talent is not made by experience. You either have it or you don't. Now Allen," she snapped her fingers at Anais, "I've seen your work. I know talent when I see it. James does too. Don't be scaredy-cat and say no to something you'd excel at."

"Uh…thanks…" Anais felt like she would throw up under all the compliments from one Cat Grant.

"And as for you Kara," Cat's eyes shifted on Kara, "You need to go back to Carr and show him what you're made of. Now."

It was an order and no one would dare to defy Cat Grant's orders, not even Supergirl.

~0~

Anais admitted that she felt slightly more confident thinking about the offer that James made to her. She went home that evening with the intention of having a calmed night in her room to really think about things. She did not expect to overhear an argument between Kara and Alex, one that did strike her heart from both sides. When Alex stormed out of the apartment, Anais felt it safe to come out and see Kara.

Kara stood with her back to Anais, her hands pressed on the kitchen aisle.

"You want to move to Metropolis?" Anais was cautious as she approached Kara.

Kara wouldn't even pretend like she was surprised that Anais had overheard everything. She turned around instead, sighing heavily. "Doesn't it just make sense?"

"Permission to be honest?"

Kara nodded, motioning Anais to go ahead.

"It feels like you're running away," Anais said in one go. Ripping the bandaid, one would say. "You're afraid of Carr, you're afraid of being alone again. Don't get me wrong, I understand you have good intentions but I just don't think it's the right decision."

"Cadmus—"

"Would find a target regardless of your presence in the city," Anais said, "Just because they haven't mentioned me doesn't mean they won't. And I'm not going anywhere. I like this place."

Kara sighed and dragged a hand through her hair. "It's just that when I'm with Clark, I feel like I'm connected to somebody who actually understands what it's like to be me."

"I get that," Anais nodded. "I feel like that when I'm with Arun. But don't get me wrong, I also notice there's a couple discrepancies too. There are some things that nobody will ever understand about yourself. Like I said, I'll support you but…just really think about things first."

All Kara could do was nod and agree to the terms. With that, Anais bid her Goodnight and returned to her room.

~0~

Early in the morning, Anais and Kara got word that Corben was out again. He was near a freeway in the city's industrial district.

Superman reached the site first and found Metallo loading things into the back of a truck. "It's over, Metallo," he said as Supergirl and Solar arrived on the scene.

Metallo didn't seem threatened at all. "I am happy to give myself up for my cause. But it's not over. Not by any means."

"You make a move, we'll incinerate you," Supergirl warned him.

"Go ahead. But you'll still be here with me. And if you're here with me, then you're not in Metropolis with him."

Superman felt a dread in his stomach, figuring out the trap in a heartbeat. "It's a setup. We have to get to Metropolis."

"Go," Solar said without missing a beat. "Both of you. You don't have the anti-kryptonite gear anyways. Go."

Supergirl exchanged glances with her cousin then flew up with him.

Solar then took their position against Metallo, narrowing her eyes on him. "What is the point in all this? They're not the ones causing destruction. That's you — Cadmus."

"Don't be fooled by them," Metallo said, "You should open your eyes before you follow in their footsteps."

"What?" Anais frowned.

"The girl who is neither nor — Cadmus understands your condition and they see the future in you."

"Cadmus is a volatile project that should have never seen the light of day," Anais spat. "If it was twisted before, I can't imagine how it looks now."

"You misunderstand our mission," Metallo said, making slow rounds on her. "You yourself have been prodded with the intention of helping them. The aliens. But you're not like them. Cadmus sees that, knows it. Cadmus seeks out to recruit the gifted and what better recruit than the Solar hybrid?"

"Solar hybrid?" Anais actually hated it more than 'Golden Girl'. "I would never join you or Cadmus."

"Never say never. Cadmus always gets what they want, whether or not you like it."

Solar didn't want to listen anymore. She started vibrating in her spot, slowing time down around her. When she struck with a punch, the force was more than usual and threw Metallo across the place.

"I am never joining Cadmus!" She exclaimed, dashing towards Metallo.

The man got up in time and struck her with kryptonite from his chest. She flew back into the truck, crashing into the crates.

"Cadmus only wants to help!" Metallo said. "Rid our world of the infestation of aliens."

"I am an alien!" Solar flew straight for him. They entered into a combat fight where for a moment Anais gained an upper hand.

But he struck her with Kryptonite again, throwing her across the ground. She hit her head multiple times and with the grogginess, it slowed her down. Metallo reached her before she could stand and grabbed her by the neck. "Take this as a warning and a moment to think. Cadmus would like to welcome you whole but they are not against taking you in pieces. Your value is inside. We don't need you alive to study your insides." He dropped her on the ground and walked away.

~0~

Anais sat on a medical bed as a couple nurses helped clean her up from her battle. She was not concerned with herself nor her state, not when there were plenty of other things to be thinking about.

The city of Metropolis suffered a significant blow from a second Metallo. Superman and Sueprgirl were too late to stop the destruction.

Anais couldn't stop thinking about the conversation she had with Metallo either. Nothing made sense, not him, not his words nor his actions.

"Anais? Anais!" She heard the familiar voice but didn't quite match it until Arun rushed inside the room. "Oh my God, what happened to you!?" There were several cuts and bruises on her face and those were the ones he could see.

"Arun, how'd you find out?" Anais asked him, confused.

"Supergirl called me. What the hell happened?"

"The usual. Some psycho wants to get rid of aliens."

"It's that Cadmus thing, isn't it? The ones who ran the announcement yesterday?"

Anais nodded, and in doing so she felt an ache on the back of her head. "I'm fine."

"Mild concussion," one of the nurses informed the two. "You'll have to stay clear of the field until you're cleared. Even with your healing rate, it'll be a couple of hours."

"What?" Anais frowned at the news. "No, I have to go help Supergirl and—"

"You heard the nurse," Arun said sharply. "The Kryptonians can handle it."

"No, they literally can't." Anais hopped off the bed. "This guy's got Kryptonite as a power. It can kill them."

"They're going to have to figure it out because you're not going out there. Now more than ever, we need to continue training you."

Anais couldn't argue with that. She did have to train because she'd gotten her ass kicked so easily. That couldn't happen in the future, not if she was fighting Cadmus.

~0~

"I should be out there," Anais said, standing in-between Arun and Winn, overseeing the fight between Metallos and their team. Superman and Supergirl had backup in Alex and J'onn.

"No, you shouldn't be," both Winn and Arun said at the same time. At that, the two looked at each other curiously then back at the screens.

Anais was none the wiser. "I could help them."

"Not with a concussion, you can't" Arun said. "I've spoken to J'onn myself and he agreed to let us use the DEO as our training base. I'll be coordinating a schedule for us so it won't interfere with your duties here."

"Great, thanks." Anais couldn't find joy in anything right now. She was pretty bitter that she was benched and even more upset that Cadmus had won her this time.

What she did find peace in was watching their team defeat both Metallos. She was aware, however, that it didn't mean the Cadmus threat was over. That would just be ignorant thinking.

~0~

In the evening, after some coordination with Kara, Solar stopped by to bid goodbye to Cat Grant. She had to thank Cat for the wonderful article written about her. She may or may not have also promised to always refer to CatCo. for any future exclusives. She wouldn't be Cat Grant if she didn't ask.

Afterwards, Anais stopped by James' office — the old one — to talk about the offer. James was in the middle of packing when she knocked.

"Are you busy?" Anais slowly walked in.

"Nah, what's going on?" James motioned her to come over.

"I've been thinking about the offer," Anais said, and James immediately perked up. "I'll take it."

"Great! You'll see, you'll be fantastic!"

Anaís nodded. "I still want you to help me, though. I-I know you'll have like a gazillion other things to do but…but I could really use a mentor."

James chuckled. "No problem. I don't think you'll need a mentor for long."

Anais wanted to believe in his faith for her. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to try.

#ocappreciation #arrowverseocs #fd: supergirl #winn schott #supergirl fics #winn schott fics #winn schott imagines #winn schott x oc #supergirl imagines #supergirl ocs #oc: Anais Mjorkland #fic: sweet ambitions

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