NB: I'm back, did you miss me? So I met Peter Facinelli (Max Lord) last week and he was wonderful (HE SHIPS MAX AND ALEX!). After listening to him talk about the character, I had to rewatch Supergirl season one and that led me back to writing. It's good to be back. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

It was a dreary day in National City. Rain pounded the windows of the Danvers' apartment and thunder rolled across the dark sky. Every so often a bolt of lightning would illuminate the shadows and cause the power to flicker. Alex hadn't seen a storm like this in years.

'I hope it's not like this in Midtown,' Kara said absently. Alex silently agreed.

She and her sister were curled up on the couch watching the news. The news anchor, an unimportant looking man in a suit, was just wrapping up a story on the new fire department facility. For the first time in what felt like forever, National City was quiet. Alex wished she could say the same thing about her brain. She barely registered the female voice decreeing National City to a week of rain. She was too busy mentally checking off her packing list, running through the intel that she'd memorised and going over the directions to Midtown.

Tomorrow morning, Alex and Kara were leaving for the small town three hours south of National City on a reconnaissance mission for the DEO. Hank had received reports recently that suggested an alien presence in Midtown, possibly and probably another Fort Rozz escapee. Alex and Kara were going to scope out the place and see if they could dig up anything that might lead them to their target.

Alex was almost relieved that an alien had showed up. She wasn't used to the calm that had descended since they'd defeated Non and his army. They'd been through so much over the past few months that she'd forgotten what it was like before aliens arrived on Earth. Truth be told, she thought it was thoroughly boring. Danger was part of her job description, adrenaline kept her alive. Without it, she wondered what her purpose was at the DEO. Glorified personal trainer? She'd given all of the agents a good beating in their training bouts. Even Kara didn't want to train with her anymore. Then Hank had given them the mission and her brain had kicked into gear and now it wouldn't stop.

She didn't sleep that night, but she still insisted on driving the full three hours despite Kara's offers to take the wheel. Driving forced her to concentrate. Kara was treating the drive like a road trip. She had the window down, a bag of popcorn in her hand and she was singing and dancing along to the radio. Alex couldn't help but be amused.

'You do know we're going to hunt an alien, right?' Alex asked her about halfway into the drive.

'Yeah,' Kara replied through a mouthful of popcorn, 'so what?'

'You could look like you're having a little less fun.'

'Come on Alex, we're an hour away from Midtown and the sun is out! No more rain for a week!'

Alex couldn't deny Kara's enthusiasm at the lack of rain. Their job would be much easier now that they wouldn't have to wield umbrellas everywhere they went.

An hour passed, the highway branched off and they rolled into Midtown. It was a small town, home to only about seven thousand residents, but bustling nonetheless. The main street boasted a diverse shopping experience, filled with local produce. Sports fields covered in children decked out in the colours of their school dotted the town whilst buses ferried them to and from the schools in question. Big houses lined the streets in the residential areas, porches standing guard over highly manicured lawns. It was as different from the city as it could possibly be, but to Kara it felt welcoming.

Alex followed the main road for two more blocks and then pulled into the motel that they would be staying in for the next week. It was supposed to be the best accommodation in town, but she hadn't had high expectations. She was pleasantly surprised when it boasted a lobby for check ins rather than just a booth with a window. There was even a fountain in the middle of the room. Their little apartment, number three, was equally nice. A comfortable lounge room that looked like it had been painted recently, a clean kitchen, and two separate bedrooms containing king size beds and ensuites.

'Not bad,' Alex admitted as they set their luggage down.

'Not bad? Something like this would cost a fortune in the city!' Kara replied. 'Did it cost a fortune?'

Alex shrugged. 'The DEO paid for it.'

Kara looked around appreciatively for a moment before turning back to her sister. 'Can we get lunch now? I'm starving.'

Alex nodded with a laugh. Typical Kara.

Maxwell Lord was seated at a window table in the Midtown Coffee Pot Café sipping a latte. He made a face at the taste and put it down. An expensive laptop rested on the surface in front of him and he tapped away at the keys for a minute, opened a new browser window and proceeded to read his emails. He sighed at all the unread notifications. The amount of idiots that wanted to talk to him was growing as his involvement in the war against the aliens leaked out. He'd denied everything of course, the DEO had forced him to, but that hadn't stopped the press harassing him.

Leaving National City for a week had been a blessing, even if it did require him to attend a few dull business meetings in Midtown. There wasn't a hell of a lot here, but at least it was different. He'd received next to no communication from the DEO after the war, despite reaching out to Alex. They appeared to have finished with him, but he wasn't entirely ready to be done with them. It was difficult to let it all go when he'd looked death square in its head-exploding face and escaped, alongside Alex, Kara, Hank and everyone else that had been involved. Not really the kind of incident that you moved on from easily.

Max rubbed his eyes in an attempt to clear his head and focus on the reports that he was supposed to have read yesterday. The meeting was this afternoon, but he hadn't been able to concentrate lately. His brain just wouldn't shut up; ideas swirled around his head, his scientific knowledge going wild to come up with half-inventions, half-plans. He tried to write it all down, but there was just so much that he didn't get anywhere with it.

He had no direction that was the problem. The projects that were already in motion at Lord Technologies were developing smoothly enough, but Max felt like he didn't have a goal to work towards at the moment. There was nothing driving him except the lack of purpose now that he was an outcast from the DEO, left to his memories of the fear, of the hope that Supergirl gave National City, of gripping Alex's hand when he thought he was going to die.

Max shook his head roughly at the thought of holding Alex's hand. Where did that come from? He wondered. Get a grip. Giving up on the figures on his computer screen, he glanced out the window to watch the people of Midtown strolling along the pavement. The sun was out and people were in short sleeves, soaking it up. A young couple walked by holding hands, the boy carrying shopping bags no doubt filled with his girlfriend's new clothes. A father pushed a stroller along, the toddler inside licking a lollipop earnestly. Across the road, a woman dragged a barking dog on a leash towards her parked car.

Max was just about to try and give that latte another go when two women walking past caught his eye and he choked. They didn't even glance at the window, continuing past the door of the café, but Max watched them until he couldn't see them anymore. Alex and Kara Danvers. What the hell were they doing here? A smile crept slowly onto Max's face. If they were here, that meant that there was something going on. Something dangerous. Probably alien. And Max was going to found out exactly what it was.