Kara writes an article about Lex Luthor.
Two robbers tell an alien shop keeper to go home. They chase him into his truck, and Dreamer steps out and snares them with a dream-energy chain. Braianiac-5 calls her saying that the DEO are on their way and she should get out before Ben's men arrive, and Dreamer quickly leaves.
Later back at J'onn's office that they're using as their base, Brainiac-5 tells Dreamer that they have to be careful. Dreamer insists that they have to defend aliens and suggests that Brainiac-5 join her in the field. He warns that they'll be apprehended without Supergirl, and his hologram projector flickers. Brainiac-5 says that they'll have to continue their spat later and signs off.
At the DEO medbay, Brainiac-5 joins Lena, Kelly, and Alex as they monitor James' condition. Brainiac-5 tells Lena that her extraction process isn't working, and James works up when superhearing kicks in.Brainiac-5 asks James if he's heard of a mind palace.
Kara goes through her files and finds the black-budget information that Eve gave to James. As she works, Kara hears an employee Franklin talking to his sister Edna about her altering files at Amertek. Nia arrives and Franklin explains that he's sleeping in the office because the CoL raided the building across from his apartment. He agrees to have Edna call Kara, and Nia suggests that Kara join the others. Kara points out that since she's been declared a public enemy, she has to expose Lex's scheme to clear her name. Nia agrees but says that she'll continue watching the streets.
Brainiac-5 explains that he can use a device to map out James' memoires, letting James identify his main fears and confront them. The Harun-El was designed to attack illness, focusing on James' PTSD. Even if James can manage the symptoms, he'll still have superpowers but can control them.
George watches as Ben and his people haul away and alien father, and Ben tells the wife not to make a scene. When Ben goes to his car, he tells George that he can't humanize aliens and they're all roaches. He asks one of his men, Marcus, to take George along for the rest of his shift and Marcus agrees.
Kara is walking down the street and "accidentally" knocks out a purse snatcher. Edna approaches Kara and says that things at Amertek are bad. Kara asks if she can get access to Amertek's records to show a connection between Lex and the company. Edna worries that it could expose other aliens, but Kara says that they have to expose the people committing the crimes.
Kelly thanks Alex for being there, and Brainiac-5 says that they'll start by exploring James' trauma with Lex. James finds himself in a mind palace of the Daily Planet, the first time that Lex kidnapped him. Two children and a woman come in, and Brainiac-5 says that the memories are folding in on each other. The two boys run at James, and in the real world he fires a blast of heat vision from his eyes.
In the mind palace, James and Brainiac-5 find themselves at the funeral for James' father, with a young James standing over him. They come out and James tells Kelly and Alex what he saw.
Edna takes Kara to the Amertek file room and she finds a file referring to Sebastian Melmoth and a secret military base. Kara asks Edna to get the information on Melmoth, and Edna warns that it requires her personal PIN number so they'll know she was involved. The guards come by and Kara secretly freezes the door shut with her superbreath. Once they leave, Edna says that she has a target on her back because she's an alien and can't help her.
In her lab, Lena performs more experiments with the artificial Harun-El and it destroys an organ. She then looks at the equipment that came from Amertek.
Brainiac-5 figures that James' trauma is based on his father's death. James says that he wasn't at the funeral, and Kelly confirms that he wasn't there. When Brainiac-5 says that James might have been there, James says that he was across the street locked in a restroom and couldn't get out until the funeral was over. Brainiac-5 suggests that he created the memory to conceal what actually happened. Kelly abruptly leaves and Alex approaches her outside. The woman says that the memories are triggering for her, and points out that James wasn't at their father's funeral. She was 8 and it was the worst day of her life: her father was dead, her mother was grief-stricken, and James wasn't there as he promised.
Kara goes over her whiteboard trying to figure out what Melmoth was doing. She finds Melmoth's name in the black budget files purchasing the land the military base is on, and goes to see Lena. Kara explains what she's doing to expose Lex and asks Lena if L-Corp has done business with Amertek on a military project. Lena says that the company hasn't and she can't discuss it because she's busy trying to help James. She points out that Supergirl has been there but Kara hasn't, and Kara says that she's trying to catch Lex for Lena. Lena figures that Kara only cares about her as a source for her story, and Kara figures that it's better if she just go.
Dreamer goes after two men breaking into the alien bar. They join others inside and Dreamer realizes that she's stumbled across an alien refugee camp. Marcus and his men come in and put everyone under arrest. Dreamer takes on the Co and tells the aliens to leave. One of them, Charlie, runs for the door and George intercepts him only to realize that it's his friends. The COL retreat and Al tells Dreamer that they'll be back and nowhere is safe.
When George returns home, Lydia asks him what's wrong. He asks her if she wonders about Ben's policies, and Lydia insists that Ben is saving the country and he's proud of George.
Kara is looking at a photo of her and Lena when Nia joins her. She explains what happened and she doesn't know what else she can do to help the aliens. Kara says that she's made things worse, scaring Edna and being a terrible friend to Lena. Nia complains that it sucks out there, and Kara suggests that the people just need to know one alien. She says that they should inspire hope as heroes, and wants to interview Dreamer because she's half-human and half-alien.
Brainiac-5 takes James back into the funeral at the mind palace, and they watch a young James approach the coffin. He promises his father that he'll make him proud, and a woman calls him out. On the street, two bullies taunt young James. Young James tells them to show his father some respect, and they chase him into the funeral home and lock him in the coffin.
In the real world, James' vitals spike.
Brainiac-5 tells James to push through the memory and then loses his connection. He asks Kelly to go in and act as a tether. She refuses and Alex agrees with her, but Kelly realizes that there's no choice. Kelly enters James' mind palace and he begs her to get her out of the coffin. She realizes that James was trapped in the coffin, and a young Kelly calls out looking for young James. James figures that he was ashamed of what happened and he buried the memory, and tells Kelly that he wanted to be there. He breaks into tears and Kelly assures him that it wasn't his fault and he can change the narrative. James goes over and makes the bullies vanish, and then opens the coffin and helps his younger self out. He wakes up in the real world, hovering over the gurney.
Kara interviews Dreamer on camera.
Brainiac-5 visits Lena and tells her that James unblocked his PTSD. Kara's interview with Dreamer comes on the TV, and Dreamer says that she's an alien. People across the nation watch it, and they hack the system so no one can shut it off. Dreamer says that she's half-alien and half-human, and is also a transwoman. She says that being different isn't a bad thing, and sharing their truth will make them strong. Dreamer says that she lost her mother but her father is her spine, and talks about all of the things that she loves. Kara asks if she's afraid of how the world will react to her, and Dreamer says that fear sucks and she's sick of feeling hopeless. She insists that they're the new day, and the aliens watching at Al's applaud.
Lena sits down, crying, and tells Brainiac-5 that what she just saw was real courage. Brainiac-5 says that none of them should be afraid of sharing who they are, and Lena admits that she can't find Lex or fix James. He tells her that if she wants to be trusted, she has to trust.
Ben tells his people to detain Dreamer. One man texts Alex telling her that the CoL are heading to CatCo to arrest Dreamer, and Brainiac-5 says that they can't stop them if they can't see them.
Ben and the CoL arrive at CatCo and arrest Dreamer for sedition. Alex and Brainiac-5 cut the lights, and Kara secretly uses her powers to knock out the CoL. Dreamer attacks them, and Brainiac-5 comes in and joins the fight. Dreamer says that Brainiac-5 is there, and they join forces. Franklin accidentally knocks out one CoL, saving Kara. More CoL arrive and Supergirl freezes the floor beneath them. Ben goes after Dreamer, and James breaks his arm and tells him to get out. James says that the only people there are reporters defending freedom of speech. Ben says that he'll find out what happened to James and locate Dreamer, and leaves with his men.
The next day, Kara is cleaning up her office when Edna comes in and says that she was inspired by Dreamer's interview. She gives Kara the acquisition papers for the military base, and says that she doesn't care if she loses her job and will go on the record if necessary. Franklin comes in to get Edna, and Kara thanks her for her help.
Lena comes in and apologizes to Kara for snapping at her earlier. Kara says that she was too focused on her job, and Lena tells her that she wouldn't have let Kara be with her even if she had been there. She explains that she was working with Lex. He contacted her four months ago and asked for her help developing the Harun-El to cure his cancer. Lena knew that he was lying but helped him anyway. Kara hugs her and assures her that she's not weak. Lena tells Kara that she wants to help her with her investigation.
At the CoL base, George throws an Agent Liberty mask across the room and texts Charlie, saying that he's there if his friend needs him.
Kara tells Lena that Melmoth withdrew money from L-Corp at the same time Amertek paid the entire amount to buy a missile base in Rubniu. They have no idea where Rubniu is, but Lena realizes that "Sebastian Melmoth" is Oscar Wilde's pseudonym and Lex read all of Wilde's works. She works out that "Rubniu" is code for Kaznia.
At home, Ben finds an alien woman in his study. She escapes, and Ben goes in and discovers that the alien killed Lydia, and breaks into tears.
In the desert of T'Ozz on Mars, J'onn crosses the desert with the Staff of Hronmeer. He raises a device out of the sand and the Staff disappears. The face of M'yrnn appears and tells J'onn that he's done well, and now he should go home and join his family. J'onn nods and walks away.
Written by Gadfly on Apr 29, 2019