THE MAID OF STEEL # 27

The sun was warm outside, suggesting that by the end of the day it would be a blazer.

From the small kitchen of her parent's apartment, Linda Danvers looked out, wondering what the summer would be like. This would be her first summer in Midway City, and she found that she was afraid it would be unbearably warm. Summers in Leesburg had often been humid, but there was always the safety and sanctuary of the woods around Leesburg and Lake Leesburg.

She wasn't sure what sort of comforts Midway City would offer. There were plenty of parks and they were situation on a Great Lake, but Linda had heard horror stories of previous summers.

"Is everything all right dear?" Sylvia Danvers asked, putting a plate with pancakes, bacon, and eggs in front of her. "You seem quiet this morning."

"Just thinking." Linda said quietly. "Wondering what summer will be like here."

"One of the women at the church told me that summers are usually mild. With a really hot stretch between the end of July and mid-August." Sylvia said, bringing out a plate of bacon and a pitcher of orange juice.

"I hope so. I miss Leesburg." Linda sighed.

"We could always move back." Sylvia said quietly, "The government is offering us funding if we'd like to rebuild. There are a few people trying to rebuild it."

"I don't think I'd be able to go back. It just wouldn't be the same." Linda said softly.

"I feel the same way." Sylvia said, looking over at her daughter.

"Linda..." Sylvia said finally after several moments of silence had passed.

"Yes, Mom?" Linda looked up from her breakfast.

"I was wondering if you could go with me on Monday." Sylvia said pensively.

"I'm free. Still haven't found a job." Linda said, feeling a bit more glum than she should have. She had an interview with a temp agency next Tuesday. And the first of her unemployment checks had arrived last week. So, all wasn't lost. Yet. She was just feeling like a sponge, living off her parents and the unemployment department. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to go on the Other Side with Selena Moonstone."

Linda stopped, not just because of what her mom had said, but because of how she had said it. Her mother had sounded frantic and frightened.

"You mean that awful show with that fake psychic lady who pretends to talk to dead people to exploit her audience?" Linda had watched the show a couple of times and thought it was all a bunch of crap. The woman—Selena Moonstone, did often reveal information that any stranger off the street wouldn't know. But, Cutter, who worked at the TV station where it was filmed said that the wait for tickets to the show was quite long and that there was an entire team of investigators who researched the people who attended the show so that Selena could reveal "details" of their lives. The rest was just Selena being good at reading people and making lucky guesses.

"She's not a fake." Sylvia said sharply. "She does speak with people who have passed to the other side. And, she's real. She has a gift from God. And, I want her to help us talk to Jan."

Linda was unable to hide her surprised expression. Her mother never mentioned Jan, Linda's late brother.

"This is about Jan." Linda said quietly. Her poor older brother had been the apple of both Fred and Sylvia Danvers' eyes. And, when he had been kidnapped and murdered by a pedophile who to this day had never been caught, it had devastated them all. Linda had been incredibly devoted to her big brother. In her heart, Linda knew that single event was what had sent the entire Danvers family into the ruin that Supergirl had found them in when she first came to Leesburg. In that awful darkness where they were dying inside and out.

"Yes. I need to talk to him. And, Selena Moonstone can help us."

Linda remained silent for several minutes. Her father still refused to speak about Jan's death all of these years later, and the one time Linda had tried to bring it up—not long after revealing that she and Matrix had merged into one being, explaining that they had to deal with all of their family's dysfunction unless they wanted it to get in the way again. She just wasn't sure they should deal with Jan's murder this way. Selena Moonstone was a charlatan. A phony... she preyed on people for ratings. Linda didn't want her mom subjected to that, especially when it revolved around Jan's death—the event that had caused her mother to start drinking again to begin with.

Finally, Linda smiled weakly, "Of course I'll go with you Mom."

"Oh, thank you!" Sylvia said, rushing around the table to hug her daughter tightly.

"I just want you to know," Linda began, hugging her mom tightly—feeling the desperation and sorrow in the tightness with which Sylvia Danvers clung to her. "That I don't believe she's really a psychic. I've met magicians, angels, and gods... I would know."

"It's OK Linda. Just having you there is enough." Sylvia said, hugging more tightly.

Linda glanced down at her watch, "Oh God. I'm running late. I gotta go Mom. I'm supposed to meet Mattie in five minutes downtown."

"And you need enough time to switch to and from Supergirl without Mattie figuring out your Supergirl." Sylvia Danvers smiled.

"You got it." Linda gave her mom another hug, before grabbing a slice of bacon and stuffing it in her mouth. She rushed out of her parent's apartment, leaving her mom behind.

Sylvia Danvers got up from the table, taking Linda's plate and scooping the left-overs into the trash. Sometimes she wasn't sure if she'd ever get used to her daughter being Supergirl. Sometimes it was still too fantastic to believe.

The doorbell rang.

Sylvia frowned, wondering who that could be. It was still too early for the mail, and Fred still hadn't come home. There was a meta-human murder he was investigating that had kept him out all night.

Walking toward the door, Sylvia pulled the door open.

"Yes?" Sylvia said before getting a full look at the person on the other side. She blanched and recoiled, backing off when she saw the four armed men standing there around a man wearing golden Nazi armor.

"Guten Tag Sylvia Danvers." The man in the golden armor said. Sylvia thought she recognized him as Baron Blitzkrieg. She'd seen a documentary on the Wonder Woman of World War II a few weeks ago, and it had shown photographs of Wonder Woman fighting off a man who looked eerily familiar to this man.

Sylvia attempted to slam the door on him, but it was too late.

Baron Blitzkrieg had stepped between the door and the frame. The door bounced off of him, nearly splintering.

"You will come with us." The Baron said. "You can make this painful or easy. I would recommend easy. You're not as invulnerable as your daughter is."

"I don't know what you mean..." Sylvia stammered.

"We know that the girl pretending to be your daughter is the World War II heroine known as Glory." The Baron said as his four armed soldiers entered the room behind him. "Don't lie to us. We are aware."

Sylvia couldn't help herself. She began to whimper.

Baron Blitzkrieg pointed a strangely shaped gun at her.

"Very good, Frau Danvers. You're making this easy."

Sylvia closed her eyes and said a prayer as Baron Blitzkreig pulled a trigger, causing a bright flash of light.

Everything went dark for Sylvia Danvers.

In the short time Decker Corp had been operating from Midway City, they had purchased as massive compound outside of the city limits in the countryside between Midway City and Hawk Valley. Once it had been a campus for an electronics company, but in the late 1990's the company had gone out of business. Since then, it had sat empty. Until recently when Decker Corp had purchased it and retrofitted it to be their Midway City headquarters.

However, while the media had been invited to tour the facilities several times over the past few weeks, they had not been invited to see the secret sub-basements. It was in these sub-basements, that Phillip Decker stood surveyed the work going on in the laboratory a level below.

The laboratory was wide open, with only a small walkway and computer bank on this top level. Stairs led down to the laboratory below, where dozens of technicians labored away. It was brightly lit and the sound of electronic beeping and instruments filled the air along with the murmur of chatter as the various technicians worked away on their current tasks.

Phillip Decker frowned, feeling troubled at the data presented to him.

So far there was no scientific reason for how Joan Dale-Trevor a.k.a. Miss America and Derek Trevor were still so young, even though they were both in their late eighties or early nineties. Scientifically there was nothing abnormal about Derek Trevor. Obviously there were some physical differences in Joan related to her meta-gene and her transmutation powers, but nothing that explained their youthfulness. From the tests, Derek Trevor was normal human being and Joan Dale-Trevor was a meta-human with transmutation powers.

"We will commence with more tests, Mr. Decker." The chief scientist said to Phillip. He was a short squat man with wiry hair and large glasses that obscured his entire face. "There is no real reason we can tell. We have compared their DNA to your DNA, and it does not appear that they have the same physical differences as you do. I cannot even venture a guess as to why they are so young... although at this point, with so little scientific evidence of their youthfulness, I am quite ready to hypothesis magic."

"You know how little faith I have in magic, Professor Kirchen." Phillip replied, his deep blue eyes darkening as he looked down at the woman and man in the containment cylinders. "There has to be a scientific reason."

"If there is, we have yet to find it." Professor Kirchen replied, his voice heavily accented in German.

"Have you been able to replicate Miss America's powers?"

"Not yet. Our test subjects have not adapted to the serum we've developed. However, keep in mind it has only been a few days that we've had her in custody. It took several months for us to properly replicate Baron Blitzkreig's powers, and even then there were several test subjects before we finally got it right."

"Do you have the containment cell for Glory completed?"

"We do. Based on historical descriptions of her powers from eye-witnesses, and yourself, we have prepared for her super-strength and her flight powers. We have also adapted the cylinder so that she will be captive, yet not unconscious. As you requested." Professor Kirchen said.

"Very good. I want her fully awake and aware of her surroundings, so that she can see her friends and loved ones suffer and die around her. And, will feel the effects on the testing on her. I want her to suffer, just as my family suffered because of her." Phillip said, his eyes still trained on Miss America below.

Phillip's assistant Kelly Bennett entered the room.

"Mr. Decker, the Baron and his team just reported in. They have Sylvia Danvers in custody. They are getting in place to capture Fred Danvers. He is on his way home to the Danvers's apartment, where they are laying in wait for him." Kelly Bennett said.

"Any word on the whereabouts of her cousin Karrie Danvers?"

"None. We still haven't found proof that Karrie Danvers actually exists. Her school records and personal identification provided when she was enrolled at Midway City Central High all appear to be fake." Kelly replied. He was a tall lanky man with deep shadows under his brown eyes. "The observation team is following Linda Danvers. She is with her friend Madeline Harcourt. Cutter Sharp is at his job at Channel 8 today, well surrounded by witnesses. His observation team will still attempt a capture. Dick Malverne is at school. And Craig Morris is working at the Museum."

"Harcourt, Sharp, and Malverne all RSVP'ed along with Linda Danvers to my fund raising party tonight. And Craig Morris will be attending as well tonight with Jocelyn Rodgers. We can grab them then if no other opportunity presents it's self." Phillip Decker said.

"Also, your sister called..." Kelly did not complete the sentence.

Phillip nodded, his eyes suddenly blazing far more furiously. "I will call her later."

Phillip stalked off, heading out of the underground labs and to his office on the top floor to call his sister.

As he made his way there, he tried to calm his nerves. He had to remind himself that he had waited so very long for this moment, and soon everything would fall into place. Tonight, at his charity gala, Linda Danvers and her friends would arrive unaware of the real reason Phillip Decker had invited them. Phillip was unable to suppress a dark and malicious smile.

"I'm not sure about this." Linda said quietly, looking at her reflection in the large dressing room. "It's a bit more slinky than I'd like."

"You look amazing." Mattie Harcourt said, from behind her. "The nice thing about that dress is that you always need a cute little black dress. You'll be able to wear it to all sorts of functions. Very versatile."

"I don't know..." Linda frowned, the hemline seemed a bit high for her tastes. Of course, it was longer than the red hot pants she wore as Supergirl—and even longer than the red skirt she'd worn when she'd started out. But, of course, she reminded herself when she assumed the form of Supergirl she had a perfect body. Linda Danvers had cellulite and wasn't perfectly shaped.

"You need that dress. You don't have any decent clothes. There is more to life than jeans, t-shirts, and those awful khaki slacks and blouses. Surely you've heard of fashion Linda." Mattie teased tightly.

Linda swiped a lock of brown hair from her deep blue eyes, biting the corner of her lip. "I've never really been fashionable. You know that. Even at Leesburg High I tended to stick to jeans and t-shirts."

"I remember." Mattie said, "But, perhaps, now that you're in your twenties and wanting to find a decent job, you should consider expanding your wardrobe choices. Not only that, but you need a cute dress for Phillip Decker's party tonight."

"I don't even know why I'm going to that thing." Linda groaned.

"Because, he invited us. And, you don't get out enough. You've been moping and sticking close to home since Karrie went away."

At the mention of Karrie, the alias Kara of Argo City had used while living with her before she'd disappeared—lost in time at the Dawn of Time, made Linda's frown deeper. She still laid awake at night contemplating the Time Trapper's deal... and thinking about Chryseis's staff sitting in the Midway City Museum. The Time Trapper's deal sounded like a trap.... Well, it was a trap. A one way trip to the 30th Century in exchange for Kara's safe return. And Chryseis's staff was unpredictable. She wasn't entirely sure how it worked. And, although it had sent her and Craig to the past, and she had used it to bring Craig safely home—and heal him, she wasn't sure if she could use it to bring Kara of Argo City back safely.

"I just miss the kid is all." Linda replied. "Am I really this flat-chested?"

"You are as Linda." Mattie said coolly.

"I'm sorry?" Linda said, looking at Mattie's expression in the mirror, unable to judge it.

"Nothing." Mattie's tone was measured, "You're just no Supergirl."

"Oh." Linda frowned, "That's rude."

Mattie laughed lightly, "You need a push-up bra for a dress like that. It makes you look flatter than you really are. We'll need to get you one of those before we leave."

Linda frowned. Did Mattie know that she was Supergirl?

"I like this dress." Linda said finally, "I just think it's a bit out of my price range. I think we should find something with at least one less zero at the end of the price."

"Nonsense." Mattie waved it away, "Your outfit today is on me. I can afford it."

"I didn't think that Midway City General Hospital paid you this well." Linda replied.

"It does." Mattie smiled, "We will need to get you stockings and shoes too."

"I'm not sure Mattie." Linda said, "I am kind of super-broke. But, I don't know if I feel comfortable with you picking it up. I can put it on my Vista card."

Mattie came up to Linda, taking her hands and squeezing. "Linda, you are my best friend. I love you like a sister. I should be able to buy you things. I have surplus cash and I want you to look fantastic tonight at this party. You know Dick is going to look smashing, and I want you too look amazing next to him."

"I guess." Linda bit the corner of her lip. She had never let anyone spend this kind of money on her before. Not even her parents had dropped this much cash at once. The dress was over five-hundred dollars.

"Don't be silly Linda." Mattie said, "If you had the money, you would do the same."

"That's true." Linda replied quietly.

"Of course it is." Mattie replied, "Now, let's go get you stockings and a bra. Then it's off to that shoe boutique on 11th Street."

Fred Danvers unlocked the door to the apartment, his eyes heavy and tired. It had been a long night, with them trying to track down a meta-human killer. They had not found him, only more bodies. The head of their department had started throwing around the word "meta-human serial killer" and that had sent shivers down Fred's spine. A normal human serial killer was tough to catch... but a meta-human one...

His mind turned to the Joker, the most infamous and dangerous serial killer in America, who was most assuredly slightly meta-human. That green hair and white skin couldn't be natural.

Fred would have to talk to Linda about it. She might have some ideas, and if he shared case information with her, she might be able to see a pattern and figure something out. Better yet, as Supergirl she might be able to find and stop the killer.

"Sylvia?" Fred called, blinking against the darkness of the apartment. It was cool and still. Normally at this time of day, Sylvia would be cooking dinner or be watching television while delivered pizza or Tai food waited in the kitchen with plates.

Fred smiled to himself. His and Sylvia's marriage had never been better and all the years of strife and heartache, when things had been tough, seemed worth it these days. Their troubles with Linda had been solved when Linda and Supergirl had merged—whatever had been lacking from their daughter and her soul had been added by Matrix the feeling caring creature without a soul of their own. At first it had been a difficult transition for him to accept, but now that some time had passed and he saw his daughter becoming everything he'd always hoped she would be, he realized that it had been a blessing.

"Sylvia?" Fred went into the bedroom, to see if perhaps she were taking a nap. He found the bed still made from this morning, the blankets smooth and perfect.

He heard a noise in the apartment behind him.

All of his senses went off. He drew his weapon, turning around and going back out into the living room.

"Good evening Herr Danvers."

The lights went on in the living room and standing in the doorway to the kitchen was a man in gold armor with a red swastika on his chest.

On either side there were man in black jumpsuits.

Fred Danvers pointed his weapon, releasing the safety.

"Where is my wife?" He demanded.

"Put the pistol down, Herr Danvers." The man in gold armor said. "Your wife is safe... for the time."

"Where is she?" Fred asked.

"You will have to come with us to find that out."

"Who the Hell are you?"

"I am Baron Blitzkrieg." The Nazi said, lifting a pistol.

Before Fred could react, a bright light flashed from the muzzle.

Fred Danvers collapsed to the ground.

Linda looked at her reflection in the vanity mirror, brushing through her shoulder length brown hair. She looked very nice in the dress... she bit the corner of her lip. When was the last time she'd dressed up? She had been a little kid. It had been some Christmas Pageant or Easter Sunday or some church event her mom had dragged her to. She'd skipped her own prom in high school—being too drunk, high, and messed up to even care.

How much life had she missed out when she'd been mixed up confused Linda Danvers? It made her sad sometimes. She had so much more life now, even while balancing it with saving the world as Supergirl.

The phone rang on her bureau and she went over.

"Hello." She said warmly.

"Hey, Lin."

"Dick!" Linda replied, "I can't wait until you see me in this dress! I look positively gorgeous."

"That's what I'm calling about..." Dick said with a sigh, "I'm not going to be able to make it tonight."

"Oh..." Linda couldn't hide the disappointment. "Why?"

"I have a big project due tomorrow, and I'm so far behind. I thought I could get it done in time, but I still have about five hours of work." Dick said. "I'm sorry."

"It's OK." Linda replied, "I understand. School has to come first."

"Well, before parties yes. I promise I'll make it up to you." Dick said.

"I'm gonna keep you to that." Linda said.

Dick laughed, "I expect you to."

As they made their way to Phillip Decker's party in Mattie's sleek black SUV, Linda fiddled nervously with the strap of her dress. She had looked at herself in the mirror before leaving and thought that she looked really hot. Mattie had helped her fix her hair, pulling it back into a cute knot and curling several locks so it fell around her eyes. She looked very good. She just felt out of place. She had never tried to be a stylish girl before. Her style had always leaned more toward tomboy.

"It's too bad Dick had to cancel at the last minute." Cutter Sharp called from the front step.

"Yes. It is." Linda frowned. "But, if he doesn't pass this class, he doesn't get to move to the graduate program next term."

"When are you going to get back to school?" Cutter asked.

"I finished filling out all of my scholarship, grant, and loan paperwork last week and sent it off. I'm set to start in the Fall. I just have to hear about financial aid to see if I can afford it. Without a job, I'm going to have a hard time affording school and a place to live." Linda grimaced.

"Still no luck on the job front?" Cutter asked.

"She has an interview next Tuesday. And, I've set up an interview for her at the hospital for the records department. It would be a boring job, mostly filing paperwork and helping enter data from the doctor's handwritten patient notes into patient's electronic files, but it pays all right and has a flexible schedule for when she starts school again." Mattie piped in.

"I might have a position opening at Supergirl Enterprises." Cutter said, "With my full time job at Channel 8 and trying to find time for Mattie, being the only person in charge of the Supergirl merchandizing and promotions phenom is getting to be a bit difficult."

"What would the position be?" Linda asked, marveling at the surrealism of working as a grunt at her own company.

"You would mostly help with the mail. Supergirl gets a lot of fan mail, some of it fluff and some of it from people with real problems. I only give Supergirl the most important letters. The others get "form" personalized letters from Supergirl."

"Oh." Linda nodded, as though this were all new to her, even though she'd set this whole thing up with Cutter back in Leesburg. She usually got two or three letters a week from Cutter that were actual issues Supergirl could help with—a few were from terminally ill children who wanted a visit from Supergirl. "Would that be it?"

"Answering phones, proofing samples and demos of merchandise sent to us by the various people who produce Supergirl products. Pretty much anything and everything as needed. You'd just help fill in the blanks of the stuff I can't get to."

Linda considered the offer; it would be the ideal job for her.

"What is the pay and schedule?" She asked.

"Schedule is pretty flexible, i.e. you would mostly make your own hours. As long as the work doesn't back up, you could come into the offices however often or however little works for your personal schedule that week. The pay would start at 25 a year."

"That's less than I was making at the Museum, but better than minimum wage. But, the hours are perfect." Linda frowned, it was about ten less than the Museum. But, at the same time it was a job, and when she got her financial aid for school, between that and 25 a year, she would be doing all right and still be able to get by. She might even be able to afford off-campus housing, which would make it easier to preserve her secret identity than if living in a dorm.

"Obviously, after time you qualify for raises and bonuses. That of course also depends on how well the Supergirl business is going." Cutter replied, "But, I only make 30 and I'm the only one there handling it all by myself. There is enough money to hire a few more staff members, in all honesty, but I've been holding off. Supergirl made it clear when we went into business to try and keep the business to a minimum so that maximum funds could go to the various charities her profits and proceeds go to."

"And, you could still take another job." Mattie said pleasantly, "At least for now. You could save money up and then when you start school you would have a nice nest egg."

"That's a really good idea." Linda replied, "When would I start?"

"Monday?" Cutter said.

"I can't Monday." Linda said, "I'm going with Mom to be on that Other Side with Selena Moonstone show."

"Really?" Cutter asked, "Why would you go on that?"

"Mom wants to." Linda replied, not really wanting to talk about her brother Jan right now.

"That's cool." Cutter replied. "Then Tuesday at 3:00pm? I have the day off since Johnny Drew leaves for vacation Monday afternoon."

"Sounds good." Linda smiled.

"We're here." Mattie said, pulling to a stop in front of the Midway City Ambassador Hotel. They all got out of the SUV and Mattie surrendered her keys to the valet.

Once they went into the hotel, they made their way to the elevators and selected the 60th floor Penthouse, where Phillip Decker was throwing his posh charity event.

In the penthouse, Phillip Decker stood surveying the party. There were balloons and streamers everywhere. People sipped champagne and ate finger foods and ordered harder drinks at the bar. Some charity would make a mint off of this. And Phillip Decker's public image would make a mint off of this as well. At the end of the day, that was the important thing. Billionaire Phillip Decker—philanthropist would look even more golden in the public eye. He was up there in the big leagues now—Donald Trump, Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, Leda Thorul, and Oprah Winfrey.

His cell phone rang.

"Decker." He barked into the phone.

"Linda Danvers has arrived. Cutter Sharp and Mattie Harcourt are with her. They're on their way up." His assistant Kelly said. "Craig Morris is in route, and our team is preparing to descend on Malverne. He's at the Midway City University Library. We're going to wait until he's in a less public place."

"Excellent. Then Operation: Vengeance is in full swing." Phillip Decker said warmly.

TO BE CONTINUED