- Lena Luthor: I haven't been able to separate the drug's more curative properties from its... extra-normal ones.
- Lex Luthor: Super powers. Sounds less silly the more you say it. Try it.
- Lena Luthor: Its super powers is what makes this drug so lethal. Okay? The powers need to be isolated and dosed out. And you have more experience working with Kryptonite, in all of its forms, than anyone else. So, please help me.
- Lex Luthor: You trust me?
- Lena Luthor: Would you trust me if I did? But I need you, and that's enough.
- Lex Luthor: Lex and Lena Luthor, teaming up to save Superman's best pal. What would Mother think?
- Lex Luthor: They call this a mercy furlough.
- Lena Luthor: Thank you, officer. That'll be all.
- Lex Luthor: They never let me out of their sight. As if I'd run away like a dog set loose from his leash.
- Lena Luthor: Well, you would.
- Lex Luthor: Of course I would. But I can't. I'm numb top to bottom. My guts are in knots, there's blood in my...
- Lena Luthor: Okay, that's enough.
- Lex Luthor: I'm dying.
- Lena Luthor: I know.
- Lex Luthor: That's it? You know?
- Lena Luthor: Well, you've only mentioned it at the start and the end of every phone call for the last six weeks.
- Lex Luthor: I'm not used to needing help. It's weak, pathetic. I'm pathetic.
- Lena Luthor: Your white blood cell count has stabilized. You're not gonna die today.
- Lex Luthor: I won't die tomorrow either if you finish the Harun-El serum.
- Lena Luthor: I'm not risking human lives on an experimental untested drug.
- Querl Dox: What exactly transpired?
- Kara Danvers: All I know is that he was shot in his own office from behind. They used a hollow-point bullet. It... splintered.
- Nia Nal: Who would do something so horrible?
- J'onn J'onzz: Someone without a soul. This has to be Manchester Black. At the march, he threatened me. He swore to come after me and my family, everyone I care about. Seems he started with James.
- Kara Danvers: We have to find him.
- J'onn J'onzz: Stay with James. He needs his friends right now. I'll find Manchester. This ends today.
- Alex Danvers: Lena, I'm so sorry this is happening, but you and I both know the limitations of modern medicine. I mean, even best case scenario would leave James paralyzed. Your serum could heal him entirely.
- Lena Luthor: Or it can kill him. I can't summon a breakthrough through sheer force of will.
- Alex Danvers: Then how is that every time I've seen you work under pressure, you have done exactly that? Lena, you have all of L-Corp and you have the DEO at your disposal. I mean, there must be some resource that you're not utilizing.
- Lena Luthor: [getting an idea, but covering] Keep me updated.
- Lex Luthor: Miss Tessmacher!
- Lena Luthor: [Eve enters, holding a gun on her] Eve!
- Eve Teschmacher: Sorry, not sorry.
- Lena Luthor: How long?
- Eve Teschmacher: Forever. It's nothing personal.
- Lex Luthor: "Against other things, it is possible to obtain security, but when it comes to death, we human beings all live in an unwalled city." Do you know who said that?
- Lena Luthor: Please, Lex, you don't have to do this.
- Lex Luthor: I'm doing this for us, for the entire human race. Listen down below. They're already cheering. And it was Epicurus, by the way. An aphorism 230 years old, and yet still as apt as ever.
- Lena Luthor: You sound like a freshman philosophy major, and you're gonna kill millions of people. The world can't live under a red sun.
- Lex Luthor: Neither can Superman. You see, sis, we as a people have become soft and fat, and stupid.
- [calls are made on a loudspeaker for him to surrender; he taps his watch, and an explosion is heard]
- Lex Luthor: Where was I?
- Lena Luthor: My god, Lex, you killed them.
- Lex Luthor: Oh, that's right. Uh, we must put faith in ourselves, but instead, we look up to him, with big, glassy eyes because we think he's invincible. But it's my duty to dispel the world of that notion. And when he dies, they will finally wake up and see him for what he really was, a false god.
- Lena Luthor: At least he's a good man.
- Lex Luthor: HE IS NOT A MAN! I was the man of tomorrow, not him! Not him!
- Lena Luthor: So it's all ego, then?
- Lex Luthor: [surrendering as armed soldiers enter] No, it's science. I want to see if the Kryptonian pretender can bleed. Even gods can die. You'll see. Everyone will see. And then, they're gonna thank me.
- Lex Luthor: What was the point of pulling strings to get you DEO resources if not to test your drugs on humans?
- Lena Luthor: I didn't ask for that. And if Colonel Haley knew you were behind it...
- Lex Luthor: She doesn't. No one does.
- Lena Luthor: Except the person whose strings you're pulling.
- Lex Luthor: But now I wonder if you didn't wanna just pull up a front row seat to watch me wither away and die.
- Lena Luthor: I'm not the one who accidentally poisoned myself with kryptonite in a quixotic attempt to kill an invincible man. And while I do find the irony that you now need black kryptonite to cure yourself just delicious, you are my brother, Lex. I do want to save you. Besides, how can you pay your debt to society if you're already dead?
- J'onn J'onzz: I found Manchester. He's done something terrible. I can sense it.
- Kara Danvers: I'm coming with you.
- Alex Danvers: Hey. Where are you going?
- J'onn J'onzz: After Manchester Black. He's the one responsible.
- Alex Danvers: Well, be safe. Kara and I can hold down the fort.
- Kara Danvers: No, I, uh... I... I have to go to CatCo.
- Alex Danvers: Now? I mean, James is your best friend.
- Kara Danvers: Well, he would want to know that someone could be there if he couldn't.
- Alex Danvers: What if something happens?
- Kara Danvers: I'll be back soon.
- Supergirl: What is this place?
- J'onn J'onzz: This is where my father died.
- [the ground rumbles, and he falls into a crater]
- J'onn J'onzz: Supergirl!
- Supergirl: I'm on it.
- [time appears to stop]
- Manchester Black: [appearing with the staff of H'ronmeer] Hello, J'onn.
- J'onn J'onzz: How are you capable of this?
- Manchester Black: When you broke into my mind to stop me from killing the Lockwood brood, you opened up a motorway. It goes both ways. So whenever you poke around in my mind, I can poke around in yours. So I did. And looky what I found. Your people's most powerful weapon.
- J'onn J'onzz: You don't know what you're toying with.
- Manchester Black: Oh, but I do. I dug deep into your mind. And the ground. You call yourself a man of peace, Martian, but your god was one of wrath!
- Lex Luthor: Did I ever tell you about my dog, Ignatius? Before you joined our family, he was my closest companion. And when I was seven, he had to be put down.
- Lena Luthor: If you're gonna continue to compare James to your dying dog, I'm not sure I'm gonna be amenable to your point.
- Lex Luthor: I wanted to be there for the procedure. But Mother insisted that I go on a business trip with Father. She thought I was being too sentimental.
- Lena Luthor: That's our mom.
- Lex Luthor: That's my mom. A trip with Father, that sounds like something that ordinarily would've pleased me. But on this particular trip, he brought a woman with him, and insisted that she go everywhere with us.
- [coughing]
- Lex Luthor: So, here I was, seven years old, dog dying, Father ignoring me.
- Lena Luthor: Is there a point to this story?
- Lex Luthor: At first, I swore to loathe this woman. How dare she take my father from me at the moment I needed him most? But I couldn't keep my promise. Because she was wonderful. She was so kind to me. On the day they put Ignatius down, she embraced me, and sang me this beautiful Irish song. By the end of the trip, I wished that she was my mother.
- Lena Luthor: But she wasn't your mother.
- Lex Luthor: She was yours. I want you to know with certainty that while I came from poison, you came from love. And if the rest of this family stands steadily in darkness, you will always fall into the light. I knew that from the moment I met her.
- J'onn J'onzz: Manchester was trying to show me what could happen if I continue to sit idly by. I have left you and Alex alone to face dangers. Is choosing the path of peace worth it if it means I could lose everyone I care about?
- Kara Danvers: After what happened on Krypton, the way my mom stood by and did nothing, I've always sworn that if I can act, I will. But until you took your vow of peace, I didn't truly understand that simply by standing with someone you can make them feel braver. J'onn, the only reason Alex and I can face danger the way we do is because we know you're standing by us. In whatever way you choose.
- J'onn J'onzz: Thank you. What should we do now?
- Kara Danvers: Well, certainly, Manchester wants you to hunt him, so he can exploit your psychic connection and attack you, and we've just been playing into his hands. So maybe the best thing to do now is let him come to us.
- Kelly Olsen: Jell-O really is the perfect hospital food. It's a metaphor for trauma. If you shake it, it wobbles, but it still holds its form. If you dig in too deep, it's never the same.
- Alex Danvers: You don't seem to be wobbling very much, given the circumstances. Military?
- Kelly Olsen: Psychologist, yeah.
- Alex Danvers: Mm.
- Kelly Olsen: I have pretty much seen it all. Plus, this is the... twelfth time that I have visited James in the hospital.
- Alex Danvers: Wow.
- Kelly Olsen: You know, my brother, he's always running off and diving into something dangerous. It was the way he coped when things got hard at home.
- Alex Danvers: If you just keep running, then you don't have to stop and feel how much you're hurting.
- Kara Danvers: [approaching] That sounds familiar.
- Nia Nal: He's gonna be okay.
- Querl Dox: It's not just James. Only months ago, Supergirl nearly died. And don't even get me started on the AI plate that has forced me to... just give up my entire existence! Have I mentioned that every single one of my ancestors is evil? And Mon-El, well, he was always a bit dismissive. Hmm? Microaggressions are their own form of trauma. I-I-I'm... I'm sorry. I think... I think this event has forced me to process every difficult thing I have ever experienced. And I still can't even get a Choco...
- [spontaneously, she kisses him]
- Kara Danvers: You should give that ring back to Brainy. He'll be happy to see it.
- J'onn J'onzz: I'm not ready to explain how I got it.
- Kara Danvers: James is okay. The whole city is okay because of you.
- J'onn J'onzz: Yeah, but at what cost? Manchester is dead.
- Kara Danvers: I know you're trying to follow your father's code, but what happened today doesn't change who you're trying to be.
- J'onn J'onzz: But I don't know who that is, Kara. One thing I do know...
- [giving the ring to her]
- J'onn J'onzz: I am not a man of peace.
- Lena Luthor: A stroke, huh? You wanted to see me in person that badly?
- Lex Luthor: What can I say, sis? I missed you.
- J'onn J'onzz: You burned my father's grave to teach me a theology lesson?
- Manchester Black: You forget H'ronmeer's punishments. You're a hypocrite. Wake up, man! It's time you followed the true righteous path. And we can put a stop to the hate that's burning this world up, just like it burned up Mars. We can stop it together.
- Supergirl: [as he disappears, time resumes] I heard everything. J'onn, what did he mean when he said "the punishments"?
- Lex Luthor: [looking at a portrait of Lillian] Have you ever noticed that her eyes seem to follow you everywhere?
- Lena Luthor: Lex... Lex, it's worse than I thought. If we don't help him, James is gonna die.
- Lex Luthor: Why do you even care about Jimmy? I thought you two broke up, and good riddance.
- Lena Luthor: I pushed James away because if he found out about us working together, it would destroy our relationship.
- Lex Luthor: And-and now you're asking me to work with you to save him? You were right, the irony is delicious.
- Nia Nal: My dreams are failing me. I should've seen this coming. What good am I as a hero if I can't even protect the people that I love?
- Querl Dox: What about my powers? Of deduction. It should've been I that predicted this. A backlash always follows a political success like the march. And Manchester is still in possession of my Legion ring. He could use it to fly into CatCo undetected. I am to blame.
- Dr. Kaplan: Mr. Olsen is stable. We were able to remove a significant amount of shrapnel from around his cervical vertebra, but I have never seen a normal bullet cause this much damage. We've placed him in a medically-induced coma.
- Alex Danvers: To reduce swelling, of course.
- Dr. Kaplan: There are going to be some decisions to make. Who is next of kin?
- Alex Danvers: Well, there's... there's no family present, but I can act as next of kin.
- Dr. Kaplan: We need a family member.
- Alex Danvers: Look, I'm FBI, and I have extensive medical training...
- Dr. Kaplan: Sorry, without a court order...
- Kelly Olsen: [approaching] I'm next of kin. Sorry, I just got off a red-eye. I'm Kelly Olsen, James' sister.
- Lex Luthor: It really is a remarkable substance.
- Lena Luthor: It started with mice.
- Lex Luthor: Sure, a supraprimate. It's like you're running a lab out of a Wikipedia handbook. No wonder you're so behind schedule.
- Lena Luthor: Are you going to taunt and provoke me the entire time?
- Lex Luthor: This is how we've worked together ever since we were kids. You propose a theory, I tell you how wrong you are, and it drives you to be better.
- Lena Luthor: And you call that working together?
- Lex Luthor: You're...
- [coughing]
- Lex Luthor: You're brilliant and driven and defiant. Always were. You just needed someone to defy.
- Lena Luthor: Wait. Are you actually taking credit for my success?
- Lex Luthor: You were always driven to impress me. Always.
- [coughing and wheezing]
- Lex Luthor: And if I would've given you an inch, if-if I would've thrown you a "good job" or cried out "that's wonderful" every time you showed me one of your toys, do you think you would've been as successful as you are...
- [he coughs blood into his handkerchief]
- Lex Luthor: Oh, well, that's unfortunate.
- Lena Luthor: We need some water in here. Lex, just breathe, okay?
- [a guard brings a glass of water]
- Lena Luthor: Thank you.
- Guard #2: [dropping it on the floor] He can lap it up like a dog.
- Lena Luthor: How dare you!
- Lex Luthor: It's okay, sis. I'm used to it. I'm not very poular in prison. What I was trying to say is... you were... wonderful. You always... wowed me. Always. Look at you. You made kryptonite. Even I couldn't do that. I'm proud of you. Let's get back to work. This sentimentality will kill me faster than the cancer.
- J'onn J'onzz: H'ronmeer tested the Martian people in many ways. And when they failed him, they were punished.
- Kara Danvers: A god of wrath.
- J'onn J'onzz: We can't just track Manchester. We'll have to find him another way.
- Kara Danvers: The sacred symbols. Your Bible.
- J'onn J'onzz: Maybe they can tell us what Manchester is planning to do next. The symbols are full of tales of H'ronmeer's vengeance. When he would use violence to enforce a moral law. Manchester can use the staff to recreate the punishments, one by one. All because I let him into my head. All to force me into violence.
- Kara Danvers: You told me yourself you thought Manchester was a test. Don't let him bait you. Let's find him and let's stop him.
- Lena Luthor: Eve, what's wrong?
- Eve Teschmacher: I understand you wanting to save your dying brother, no matter what he did. But now we're giving him full access to everything in order to save Mr. Olsen. Look, I care about James, too. But I-I just wanna make sure that you're not gonna let your sympathy jeopardize everything that you've been working toward.
- Lena Luthor: Eve, I know what my brother's capable of more than anyone. But I truly believe his lone scheme right now is just to live. I don't think he can imagine the world without him in it.
- Lena Luthor: [finding Lex sprawled on the floor] What's going on?
- Guard #2: [indifferently] He's making a mess of your floor.
- Lena Luthor: I'll have you arrested!
- Lex Luthor: Don't blame him. He knows not what he does. He's on a government salary, after all.
- Lena Luthor: Give me the keys.
- Guard #2: You can't be serious.
- Lena Luthor: Give me the keys now!
- Guard #2: [handing the keys over] It's your funeral, lady.
- Alex Danvers: How's he doing?
- Kelly Olsen: Still unconscious, but that means he's healing, so I'll take it.
- Alex Danvers: Thank you for giving us access. James means the world to us.
- Kelly Olsen: Of course. James has always been more of a "chosen family" kind of guy. Speaking of, where is your sister?
- [alarms beep and James starts to convulse]
- Kelly Olsen: We need help in here!
- Dr. Kaplan: Your brother's bleeding internally. Surgery poses a great risk to James' spinal cord, but if we don't operate, he'll continue to bleed out.
- Kelly Olsen: He might die?
- Dr. Kaplan: Correct.
- Kelly Olsen: Yeah, let's do the surgery.
- Dr. Kaplan: We'll prep him right away.
- Alex Danvers: Lena's working with the government on an experimental drug that could heal James entirely.
- Kelly Olsen: Okay. Why does that sound too good to be true?
- Alex Danvers: Because it's not ready yet. But I spoke to her, and she said that she just needs a few more hours to render the drug non-lethal.
- Kelly Olsen: You're proposing that we hold off on James' surgery, risking his life for hours, only to administer a drug that might still kill him?
- Alex Danvers: The operation is gonna be invasive, and it's gonna be traumatic to James' entire system. He will be lucky if paralysis is his only after-effect. You haven't seen Lena work. I have watched her do incredible and impossible things.
- Kelly Olsen: I understand that you trust this woman, but I don't know her. All I know is that she and James had a messy break-up, and that her family has done some terrible things, many of them to my brother.
- Alex Danvers: Those things have nothing to do with Lena.
- Kelly Olsen: That doesn't mean I'm willing to put my brother's life in her hands.
- Alex Danvers: I just want what's best for James.
- Kelly Olsen: So do I.
- Lex Luthor: BMP's 92 and rising. What was that tutor's name?
- Lena Luthor: Krinick.
- Lex Luthor: Yes. Yes, that's right.
- Lena Luthor: Okay, injecting now.
- Lex Luthor: If I misquoted my Salutati, 124 and rising, she would make me stand in a corner and repeat "I do not like myself" in perfect Latin.
- Lena Luthor: [saying the phrase in Latin] No wonder you became a sociopath.
- Lex Luthor: Well, if the Latin fits.
- Lex Luthor: 143 and rising. Uh, pull back on the drip just a touch.
- Lena Luthor: No, that's how we lost the last one.
- Lex Luthor: That was a tad, not a touch.
- Lena Luthor: Oh, you call that scientific?
- Lex Luthor: Do you want this to succeed or not?
- Lena Luthor: Pulling back a touch.
- Kara Danvers: Is James okay?
- Alex Danvers: No, Kara. James' life is at stake and you left me here alone. And he's heading into surgery again.
- Kara Danvers: What? Why?
- Alex Danvers: He's bleeding internally. And his sister wanted the doctors to operate...
- Kara Danvers: Hang on. Kelly's there? What... what is happening?
- Alex Danvers: Well, you would know if you were here. We all need you here, Kara. He's headed into a very dangerous operation, and-and you may never get to say goodbye. And where are you, exactly? CatCo? Because, look, I-I called there, and they said that you haven't been there all day.
- Kara Danvers: I... I'm helping J'onn with a lead.
- Alex Danvers: J'onn needs a reporter to help fight Manchester Black? I mean, what-what are you gonna do, exactly? You gonna interview him?
- Lena Luthor: We're so close. At this point, it's 99% non-lethal. It doesn't matter now. James is in surgery.
- Lex Luthor: So why are you still here?
- Lena Luthor: I can't help James now.
- Alex Danvers: I'm sorry about before. I was out of line.
- Kelly Olsen: You care about James. That's nothing to apologize for.
- Alex Danvers: So, you came.
- Kara Danvers: I did, and I brought a whole bunch of excuses with me. But deep down, I think I just... couldn't bear standing by and doing nothing.
- Alex Danvers: It's scary, feeling helpless.
- Kara Danvers: It's terrifying.
- Alex Danvers: Yeah.
- Kara Danvers: But being here with you isn't nothing. It's everything.
- Kara Danvers: Power surge?
- J'onn J'onzz: [using his powers] Manchester's at the dam. It powers the whole city. With the staff, he can wipe it out.
- Kara Danvers: Let's go.
- J'onn J'onzz: Manchester!
- Manchester Black: [brandishing the staff] Well, well. It's about time. Come and get it, Martian of peace!
- Supergirl: [Manchester uses the staff to deflect her heat vision] The dam's cracked. He's gonna flood the whole city.
- J'onn J'onzz: Go. This war is mine.
- Kelly Olsen: I picked the safe option. This isn't supposed to happen when you pick the safe option.
- Alex Danvers: Kelly, look, no one could've predicted that this was gonna happen. You made the best decision that you could for your brother, and Lena's drug wasn't ready then. But it's ready now.
- [seeing she's still reluctant]
- Alex Danvers: Now, look, I-I know you have a thousand reasons to not trust Lena Luthor, but I'm not asking you to trust her. I am asking that you trust me.
- Kelly Olsen: Let's do it.
- J'onn J'onzz: Stop this madness! You'll kill thousands of innocent people.
- Manchester Black: This world is already tearing itself apart. If you want to stop that, don't fight me. Join me.
- J'onn J'onzz: Never.
- Lena Luthor: What I'm about to do is absolutely illegal. Any witnesses will be considered accessories to a crime.
- Dr. Kaplan: Ms. Luthor.
- Lena Luthor: Leave now before I fire you.
- Manchester Black: If you don't stand up and fight, you'll lose everything. Again.
- J'onn J'onzz: [seeing a memory of his children] Khym. Tania.
- James Olsen: I only got shot once. You didn't have to come all this way.
- Kelly Olsen: Aw, you never invite me to visit. How else was I gonna meet your friends? They're pretty great, by the way. One of them even saved your life.
- James Olsen: Yeah, about that. Thank you.
- Lena Luthor: I'm just glad you're okay. Besides, Supergirl was the one that found you. You should be thanking her.
- Kelly Olsen: I know you just came back from the dead, but you're about to wish that you didn't, because I called mom.
- Kara Danvers: I think that's our cue.
- James Olsen: No, she... don't leave me alone. Guys.
- Querl Dox: If I may...
- Nia Nal: We don't need to talk about it.
- Querl Dox: I must. Even if it hurts. A wise man once said "Relationships based on intense experiences never work."
- Nia Nal: What are you...
- [realizing]
- Nia Nal: The wise man is Keanu Reeves.
- Querl Dox: A truth-teller if there ever was one. It pains me to say, you and I... we can never be together.
- Nia Nal: All right, well, if Keanu Reeves says...
- Querl Dox: Don't speak. It only makes this more difficult.
- Nia Nal: [to herself, as he leaves] Whatever you say, Wildcat.