THE MAID OF STEEL # 13

"Another Nazi, down for the count." Linda Danvers said, looking at the uniformed man she'd knocked through a brick wall.

"Good job, kiddo." Wildcat grinned at her.

The Nazi already had bruises darkening on his face. He deserved a thousand times worse. At this Concentration Camp she and the other members of the Justice Society had liberated the prisoners. There had not been the atrocities here that there had been in the Concentration Camps she'd read about in school, the one her grandmother had told her about as a girl. The Nazis had not been here long enough to really devastate this country or their Jewish and gypsy populations. They had been in Bialya for nearly a week repelling the Nazis. So far they'd been successful, although the Third Reich's invasion force to the southern part of the country had a sturdy foothold.

"Thanks." Linda often wondered how much damage she was doing to the past by being here, fighting the Axis forces. It was hard to say, but she figured that as long as she didn't kill Hitler and stayed away from the major battles she remembered reading about in high school that the timeline would be more or less safe.

"You look tired," Miss America said, walking up beside Linda. Her star-spangled outfit was very similar to the one that Linda was wearing save a blue tunic instead of a red one, and a red cape instead of a blue one. Once Linda had realized that she was stuck in the past, she knew that she couldn't be Supergirl. There could not be a Supergirl before there was a Superman. Just look at the mess with Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl they were still trying to sort out. She had been calling herself Glory and was being passed off as Miss America's sidekick. Although why she had to be someone's sidekick was beyond her. Apparently since she was only nineteen she was too young to be a hero in her own right. Which made no sense. At least they hadn't tried to stick a Kid before or after her name.

"I am." Linda replied.

"When was the last time you got any sleep?" Miss America asked.

Only a hand-full of people knew that she was from the future, just the core members of the Justice Society, Power Girl, Wonder Woman, and Miss America. Everyone else thought she was a girl who woke up in Warsaw with no memory and super-powers and been rescued by the Justice Society when they'd realized she was an American.

"I slept a little last night." Linda shrugged, "Before you start worrying too much, I haven't slept the whole time I've been here. It's only been worse since I realized that Craig and I were stuck here." Linda thought of her co-worker Craig Morris, who had been gravely wounded by Chryseis before she'd sent them back in time. He was currently in the Justice Society Brownstone in a coma, under the treatment of Dr. Mid-Nite. "I know that if I could get him back to our time he'd get better."

"If it's any consolation, you've done all you can for your friend. It's in God's hands now." Miss America said. "For whatever reason, you're stuck here. And you've done a lot of good here."

"You have done a great job kiddo." Wildcat joined him, clapping Linda on the back.

Linda looked at them mournfully, "I'm just worried about screwing up the future by being here."

"It'll all work out." Miss America put an arm around Linda's shoulder, "These things always do."

"I hope so." Somehow Linda did not feel so sure. Linda noted that neither of them mentioned the disappearance of Kara of Argo City, who was here in the past as the Golden Age Power Girl. She had been in pursuit of Blackstarr. And neither of them had been seen since.

Hawkman flew up to them, landing on the ground.

"Wonder Woman just made contact from position off the coast of Bialya on the Greek side. She and the others are in position." He looked at Linda and Miss America, "You two should get going. Wonder Woman and Silverhawk will meet you there."

"You ready?" Linda asked.

"Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be." Miss America sighed.

"You two be careful. And Godspeed." Hawkman said, waving to them as they flew off.

As she and Miss America flew toward the rendezvous point where they were going to meet Wonder Woman and Silverhawk, the wind whipped by them.

"I tell you I don't think I'll ever get used to flying this way." Miss America said, holding tight to Linda's arm as the European landscape flashed by below.

"I never had that problem." Linda smiled, "When I first flew it was the most natural thing to me. Of course, I was created with powers of flight, so I suppose that's normal."

"Created?"

"Yeah, my secret origin is pretty convoluted and probably really strange if I were to really think about it."

Miss America replied, "I think convoluted and strange secret origins are the norm for people in our field. Mine is pretty bizarre too."

"I've read about it in the future." Linda grinned, "It is a bit out there. But, mine tops it."

"I'm still known in your time?"

"You are. The Justice Society and it's members are well-regarded back home." Linda smiled, "I would tell you more but don't won't to affect the timeline adversely."

"No sweat kid." Miss America smiled.

"I do want to thank you Joan for taking me in and giving me a home in New York while I'm here."

"I should thank you. As Joan Dale, my life is pretty empty. My job at the F.B.I. is a nice way to kill time, but it's not much fun. And I haven't been on a date in lord knows how long. It's nice to have my niece Linda Lee visiting from Virginia."

"It's nice for me too." Linda smiled, slowing down as they reached the meeting spot. The Invisible Plane was undetectable to her eyes, although she could see Silverhawk hovering in mid-air. Wonder Woman was standing in mid-air, arms crossed, gripping her golden lasso tightly. Probably standing on the plane's wing.

Hippolyta had tried to take Linda and Craig back to their proper time in the Invisible Plane. As the plane had reached the point where it would break the time barrier and take them back to Midway City, the plane had stalled. Repeated attempts had produced the same effect. Hippolyta had attempted to take just Craig back and just Linda back, but the plane stopped each time. On her own or with anyone else, the time barrier opened and let them through. For whatever reason she and Craig were stuck here in the past.

Hovering mid-air in her Glory costume, Linda watched the tight formation of six German fighter planes buzzing toward her. Below her the Mediterranean Sea glistened with emeralds as sunlight played across it. The Nazis were ravaging the coast of Bialya and Allied intelligence had reliable information that an old castle here was their base of operations.

Over the past few months, Linda had thrown herself into crime fighting and her Glory identity. The costume was simple, not awful, but nothing as bold and distinguished as her Supergirl costume. Since she was in the past, she didn't have to disguise her identity, so as Glory she was in Linda Danvers mode. She did not bother with a domino mask because she had no family here to protect, and if later on down the road someone noticed the Linda Danvers looked like World War II super-heroine Glory it would be no big deal.

Linda also had come to appreciate that as Glory she didn't have the legacy of Superman to live up to. Miss America, while a heroine in her own right, was not widely known and respected the way that Superman was back in her time. Not wearing an S-shield in many ways was liberating, giving her the ability to carve her own identity.

The past month since Wonder Woman's Invisible Plane had failed to take her and Craig back to their appropriate time had gone by in a blur. There had been adventures in New York City with Miss America defeating Nazi saboteurs and saving Manhattan from certain destruction. They'd also taken down a spy-ring and prevented them from delivering top-secret military documents to Mussolini.

In Washington D.C. she, Wonder Woman, Fury, and Wonder Girl had stopped the Lawbreakers League and their plot to assassinate several high ranking officials within Congress. It was also in D.C. that she and Fury had prevented the destruction of the White House at the hands of General Destruction.

And across the world, she'd helped fight back the Axis menace with the Justice Society. She'd helped them defeat the Ultra-Humanite.

Also she had helped in the search for Kara of Argo City, although all traces of her disappeared in Gateway City. Even consulting Dr. Fate had failed to turn up any trace of either Power Girl or Blackstarr after Gateway City. They both disappeared off the face of the earth there, leaving behind a strange energy pattern floating in the air. The pattern looked familiar to Linda somehow, but she wasn't sure.

The days had flown by and for Linda dealing with memories of Leesburg grew farther and less immediate. It was easier to deal with as she crushed tanks and knocked fighter planes from the sky. As she destroyed the armies of the Third Reich, Linda found a comfortable distance from the past.

Watching the formation of Nazi planes flying toward her, Linda braced herself for impact. She was going to knock them all of out the sky. Further ahead Wonder Woman and her Invisible Plane were engaging another squadron, preventing them from air raids on the Bailyan islands. On land Silverhawk and Miss America were staking out the Nazi stronghold that the fighter planes had come from.

"I'm going to enjoy this immensely." Linda said, grabbing the first plane that got closest to her. She took it by the nose and swinging it into the others like a giant baseball bat. Three of the planes scattered, maneuvering out of the way, but the two she made contact with exploded on impact along with the one she'd latched on to.

Fire danced all around her, not even scorching her skin, although her costume darkened slightly with smoke and soot. The material was not indestructible, although it was able to take a lot of abuse.

Turning, she headed after the two fighters that had escaped her, knocking them both out of the sky, sending them hurtling toward the water. Both pilots parachuted out. Hovering in mid-air, Linda watched them float safely toward the water surface landing safely after their planes had careened off and crashed into the sea.

The three pilots who had died upon impact crossed her mind, and Linda frowned. She had noticed lately that she was becoming less concerned with the lives of the enemy. She abhorred killing and avoided it at all costs. But with the sights of this war all around, plunging into bloody and destructive battles day after day, and knowing what she did of history and the atrocities committed by the Nazi and Axis agents, Linda found herself taking Axis soldier's lives when it came to that far easier than she should.

Linda's frown deepened, troubled by this trend. She flew in-land, toward the castle where Silverhawk and Miss America were supposed to wait for her and Wonder Woman to return.

When she arrived near the rear of the castle grounds, Linda landed looking around the trees and bushes where Silverhawk and Miss America were supposed to wait. There was no sign of them. She looked to the gate leading to the castle's service exit and saw that it had been peeled away, the bars cut and bent. The talons on Silverhawk's gauntlets were strong enough to do that, whereas, Miss America would have transmuted it into something else.

It would have been a better idea for Miss America to have entered, since she could have transmuted it to a gas or something equally harmless and then reverted to it's real form in a few minutes. It was less noticeable. Leave it to Silverhawk to just go charging in.

Linda pulled the gate from it's hinges, tossing it aside and walking into the courtyard. She was halfway across the courtyard, heading to a stairway that led to a damaged door that undoubtedly was the work of Silverhawk and Miss America.

"Freeze there madchen!" The heavily accented voice came from behind her, causing Linda to spin around before she made her way up the stairs.

Pointing a pistol at her, and flanked by two handsome young Nazi soldiers, was a tall statuesque blonde that was easily recognizable as the Baroness Paula Von Gunter. She was one of Wonder Woman's greatest foes here, and also the host for the evil wandering spirit known as Dark Angel.

"You really don't want to point that at me." Linda stood her ground, staring coldly at the Baroness. She knew that at some point the Baroness would be freed of the Dark Angel and rehabilitated by Hippolyta-eventually immigrating to Paradise Island and helping the Amazons develop many powerful scientific tools including the Purple Ray. But that was in the future, and here and now, the Baroness was a foe.

The Baroness was halfway across the courtyard, one hand planted firmly on her hip. Two more guards appeared, falling into step beside the two with her. They were also young and handsome. The Baroness obviously had a thing for handsome young men. The Nazi soldiers pointed their rifles and pistols at Linda.

"I have studied up on you Glory." The Baroness purred, "You do not have the bullets and bracelets ability that Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl possess. Nor do you wear the armor Fury and Silverhawk use to protect them from gunfire. You and your mentor Fraulein America are not Amazons. My guards will fill your body with bullets if you take another step."

"Apparently you haven't been studying the right books Baroness." Linda said pushing off the ground and hurtling toward the Baroness and her soldiers.

The Nazi soldiers let loose a barrage of bullets. The bullets bounced harmlessly off Linda's body, whizzing off to embed themselves in the building and the ground.

<"She is bullet-proof!">* (translated from German.)One of the Nazi soldiers exclaimed.

Linda grabbed two of them by the collars and flew straight up; both soldiers flailed about wildly screaming for help. From the ground, the Baroness and her two remaining soldiers continued to fire at her. The bullets continued bouncing harmlessly off Linda, although several of their bullets connected with the soldiers Linda held onto punching bloody holes in them.

"They have no respect for even the lives of their own people!" Linda exclaimed. She had seen this again and again during her time here. Axis soldiers and agents caring nothing for their compatriots, killing them if they got in the way of their targets.

Flying out of their range of fire, Linda landed outside the castle grounds near the spot where Miss America and Silverhawk were supposed to have waited, setting the wounded soldiers down safely. The other man was already dead, having taken a shot to the face. The other man had bullets in his arms and legs. Blood flowed from the wounds and his troubled eyes looked up at her in agony.

"Kill me please." He said, coughing up blood. "If I return to the Baroness alive and wounded after being captured by you, she will kill me. Painfully. She has no compassion. Please show mercy. The Baroness tells me that the heroes of America, especially the Wonder Woman and her friends are kind and compassionate."

"Your English is pretty good for a Nazi." Linda said, looking down at his face. She noted the soldier's youth, determining he was probably no older than she. His eyes were a deep piercing blue and his hair dark sandy blonde. He was the Nazi picture of perfection, one that she realized she represented as Supergirl.

"I was not always a Nazi. And if I had my choice I would not be one now." The soldier said. Linda felt something, a pang in her chest looking at him. Before she realized what she was doing she had pulled her cape off and began shredding it into makeshift bandages. The Baroness and her two remaining goons had probably gone into the castle by now after Miss America and Silverhawk. The two of them were more than capable of handing two Nazi soldiers and the Baroness.

The soldier continued, "I was a student at University in London until shortly after this war began. My parents ran out of money and I could find no way to continue living in London and no way to fund my continued education. I had no choice but to return to Germany. Once I returned there, I found that the Baroness was holding my parents and my sister hostage. She said she would kill them if I did not assist her. And I have been a member of her personal army since."

"Do you have a name?" Linda asked him, tightening the torn pieces of her cape into a tourniquet to try and stop the bleeding. With her super-strength she applied a little extra pressure to the wounds, careful not to apply too much and break his bones.

"My name is Philip Deitleheim." There was still blood seeping from his mouth, and that troubled Linda deeply.

"They call me Glory." While she did not have to truly hide her true identity, to protect those of her friends and colleagues that did have secret identities, when not on duty she reverted to her tall blonde Supergirl form and was called Linda Lee.

"I have read all about you American superheroes and your crusade to fight injustice." Philip wheezed.

"I am glad you see what is happening here as an injustice." Linda said, dressing another wound.

"It is a grave injustice. Hitler has had many books destroyed. Anything that contains writings that he does not approve of or conflicts with his beliefs is burned." Philip said.

"Not to mention all the people dying in the concentration camps." Linda frowned. Her mother Sylvia Danvers had been Jewish before converting to Christianity. Linda's great-grandmother has escaped a concentration camp, been rescued by an American soldier and brought to America. The rest of her great-grandmother's family had died in the concentration camp. "I would say that goes well beyond injustice and more into heinous."

"I have heard terrible things. I have seen many of the Baroness's experiments. She has a doctor in a stronghold that does nothing but experiments upon the living. There are atrocities that you could not imagine."

"You would be surprised what I can and cannot imagine Philip." Linda said, "I have stopped the bleeding and dressed the wounds as best as I can."

"Please Glory. Just let me die. It is better than facing the wrath of the Baroness, and there is no telling what she'll do to my family."

"If you die, chances are that she will hurt your family anyway. Killing you isn't going to save them, nor do you any good." Linda glanced toward the Nazi stronghold. "Tell you what, after we take out this base, I will get you medical attention and then we'll find your family and rescue them from the Baroness's clutches."

"We would never find them in time." Philip's eyes grew heavy and he looked like he was ready to pass out.

"Never say never. I don't believe in giving up so easy." Linda smiled down at him, lifting him and carrying him deeper into the growth of trees, finding a dark spot within the bushes where she could leave him and he'd go relatively unnoticed. "I will be back for you once I'm done in there."

He was passed out by the time she'd set him down.

Linda lifted off, flying back toward the castle strong-hold just in time to see Silverhawk come flying out of the doorway she'd planned on going through before being interrupted by the Baroness.

"Hola Glory!" Silverhawk called, grinning at her from his shining winged helmet.

"Hola Silverhawk!" She smiled back, flying up to meet him.

They hovered in the air just above the castle's roof.

"Where is Miss America?"

"Inside. She and I split up. I went after a couple soldiers, while she headed for the communications hub of the castle. She wanted to destroy their radio equipment."

"The Baroness Von Gunter is here. I tangled with her and a few of her men." Linda said darkly.

"Wonder Woman will be pleased to know that." Silverhawk replied, "It's been awhile since she tangled with the Baroness or Dark Angel."

"Wonder Woman won't be pleased that you and Miss America went in before we arrived. She gave strict instructions." Linda frowned, "That castle is full of Nazis. There is no way the two of you should take them on alone. Miss America doesn't have the super-strength the three of us do. You two shouldn't have split up."

"Miss America can transmute things. She's probably more powerful than the three of us when you really grasp what her power can do." Silverhawk scowled, "Wonder Woman will be fine. Hippolyta knows that Miss America and I are adults. You're the junior partner here."

Linda bit back her retort.

"Miss America is no match for Dark Angel." Linda said finally. During Supergirl's days as an earth-bound angel she'd heard of the mad Dark Angel, and later she'd heard that the Dark Angel was somehow responsible for the mess that Donna Troy had found herself in not long ago. "Luckily she showed no signs of the Dark Angel when I faced her earlier."

"Well, Dark Angel hides pretty deep for the most part. But, Wonder Woman always seems to draw the Angel out in their conflicts. Dark Angel has a deep-rooted hatred of Hippolyta. She has been defeated by Polly too many times for Dark Angel to stay hidden." Silverhawk grinned widely, "I've never seen them go at it, but I hear it's something really special to see."

"I can imagine."

"Do you want to wait for Wonder Woman? Or should we go charging in?" Silverhawk asked.

"I say we go charging in. There is no telling how many soldiers Miss America is facing in there. And with the Baroness in there… well, Dark Angel could present quite a problem."

"Miss America can handle a wandering spirit with bad taste in clothing. She can transmute her into a salt-lick or something." Silverhawk chuckled.

"An evil spirit is not so easily defeated. But, if you're afraid of facing her, then you can wait here for Wonder Woman and I'll go help on my own." Linda fluttered her eyelids at him.

"Playing with my male ego isn't going to work." Silverhawk chuckled again, "It didn't work when we were facing off against Chemo in Midway City, and it's not-"

Silverhawk caught himself in mid-sentence.

Linda looked at him sharply, "We've never fought Chemo in Midway City. Chemo doesn't even exist yet."

"Uh…" Silverhawk stammered, looking away quickly.

"Just who are you? And where are you from?"

"Listen Supergirl," Silverhawk sighed. "I'm from the future too. I didn't mean to screw it up like that."

"So you know who I really am?" Linda looked at him in shock.

"Yeah. We meet. After you get back to your proper time."

"So, I do get back home."

"Yeah, eventually. Of course. The world needs Supergirl. But, let's not talk about this. I'm not supposed to tell you about the future. And please don't say anything to anyone else. I don't want anyone to know. It could really mess everything up."

Linda looked at him long and hard, "Just who are you?"

"My real name isn't anything you know. But, when we meet, I'll go by the name Donald Henry." Silverhawk's eyes got a faraway look in them.

"We'll discuss this in detail later. Right now, let's get in there and help Miss America."

"Sounds like a plan."

He and Linda flew through the doorway. It was easy to determine which direction Miss America had continued in, even after the corridor branched off. There were unconscious Nazi soldiers littering the floor.

"She did pretty good I'd say." Silverhawk said to Linda.

They came around a corner, just in time to see Dark Angel holding an unconscious Miss America up by her cape. Miss America's eyes were closed, and her head drooped at an awkward angle.

"So glad you could join the party." Dark Angel laughed maniacally just before tossing Miss America through the air, sending her unconscious form straight into Silverhawk, knocking him out. He collapsed to the floor, his limbs tangled with Miss America's.

"Now to deal with you…" Dark Angel hissed at Linda. The two guards from earlier still flanked her side; however now they'd been joined by several other guards, these much bigger and burlier and meaner looking. They all pointed rifles, pistols, and machine guns at Linda.

Dark Angel advanced toward Linda.

"Did you think that I would not sense the essence of the earth-bound angel within you?"

"The earth-bound angel is long gone demon." Linda replied, her hands squeezing into tight fists.

"Ah… so you think." Dark Angel's bottomless eyes glistened. "Perhaps that is what you have been led to believe girl. But, the essence and the power is still within you. It is just buried deep. In remission. Of course, you can't really tap into that power considering how well it's hidden, how deep it goes. Except perhaps in times of heightened anger and fear."

Linda recalled tapping into the flames during her battle with the Cyborg after the death of Leesburg and before that when fighting with Paragon. But Wally had told her that all of her powers as an earth-bound angel were gone forever, that she would never wield them again. Surely Wally of all people wouldn't lie to her.

"I don't know what the Hell you're talking about Dark Angel." Linda said as Dark Angel drew closer.

"Hell… apropos indeed girl." Dark Angel cackled. From her hand a bolt of purple lightning lanced out, striking Linda. Linda felt the lightning touch something deep inside of her. It was as though a switch had flipped in her, crackling something deep and forgotten to life once more.

The world exploded in flame.

TO BE CONTINUED…

NEXT ISSUE : "Past Imperfect" continues as Supergirl faces the return of her Angel Powers and gets the first hints of the dark destiny that awaits her!