"Where are the kids, it's abnormally quiet?" The adult Kara asked as she and her daughter entered Alex's house.
"Kara is upstairs and MJ is at the Eagles' game with James."
"He is? that's great."
"We're going to meet them after for pizza if you want to come." Alex said.
"Well you did say the p word." Kara pointed out.
"Do I have to go?" The teenage Alex said unenthusiastically.
"Yes." Her mother said.
"Why?"
"James is a friend."
"Hmmm."
"What does that mean?" Kara asked.
"Kara told me what he said." The teenager explained.
"He had just lost his sister. Grief makes people do stupid thing." Kara said.
"It's also weird that he used to date you and Lena."
"How do you know that?"
"Kara."
"How does Kara know that?" The older Kara asked before pointing out. "It was a date rather than dating."
"But you did have a big crush for a long time." The adult Alex commented.
"Not helping." Kara said to her sister.
"A date still makes him one of your longest boyfriends." The teenage Alex pointed out as the adult Alex cracked up in the background.
"We're not having this conversation." Kara said.
"So I don't have to go?" The teenager asked optimistically.
"No. You do." The adult Kara said.
"That's so unfair." The teenager complained walking off, to find her cousin.
"Kara had a very similar reaction. This is going to be long evening." The adult Alex said.
"At least MJ is happy." Kara pointed out.
"Maybe I should I have left it with that and not suggested the meeting up afterwards." Alex said.
"I know things have been tense, but James is still family." Kara reminded her.
"Let's just hope Kara and Alex remember that." Alex said.
-00-
"How was the game?" Alex asked as the two groups met after the game in the pizzeria.
"Awesome." MJ said as he sat down.
"Hi Kara." James smiled at the teenager as he sat down.
"Hi." Kara replied.
"And you must be Alex." James smiled at the youngest teenager.
"Hi." She said, sounding more reserved than normal.
"So is the political world what you hoped?" The adult Kara asked trying to spark a conversation.
"Sometimes. Sometimes I feel like I can make a difference. But sometimes it feels like the whole political system is set up to stop changes."
"Have you tried bribery?" MJ asked.
"That would be illegal." James pointed out.
"That wasn't a no." The teenage Kara stated.
"I have not tried bribery." James said. "I have always tried to stay on the right side of the law."
"Weren't you a vigilante?" The teenage Alex asked.
"Well technically, but I was trying to do the right thing." James said.
"But illegally?" The teenage Alex asked.
"This isn't meant to be an interrogation." The adult Kara said looking pointedly at her daughter.
"So are you going to be in National City much?" MJ asked.
"I don't know, but I should be back in National City in a couple of weeks, when I am, perhaps we can go to another game?" James suggested before looking at the teenage Kara and saying. "Or something that appeals to you?"
"That sounds great." Alex said on her kids' behalf.
"I hear you are back at CatCo." James said looking at the older Kara.
"Yes, Cat offered me a job."
"I can't believe she is still there." James said.
"I think many are hoping she will retire, but I think she is having too much fun." Kara said.
"I can imagine." James smiled. "And I am pretty sure many of my elected colleagues wouldn't mind if she retired."
"That shows she is doing a good job." Kara said.
"There is nothing worse that be in Cat's cross hairs." James commented.
"You've experienced it?" The teenage Kara asked.
"Unfortunately." James said.
"Does that mean you have something to hide?" The teenage Kara asked, earning a pointed look from her mother.
"No." James smiled.
"Then why was Cat targeting you?" The teenage Alex asked. "I mean she would only do that if she thought you were doing some thing wrong."
"Cat has high standards and she thought I wasn't living up to them." James said. "I'm not sure if anyone can live up to her standards. Just ask your mother."
"Cat definitely pushes you to do better." The older Kara agreed.
"So what was it Cat Grant didn't like?" The teenage Kara asked.
"She felt like I wasn't making good on my campaign promises."
"And were you?" The teenage Alex asked.
"No."
"Have you now?"
"Alex." The adult Kara cut in in a mildly chastising tone.
"It's okay." James smiled. "No. Not yet. Getting them through is harder than I thought. But I am still trying."
-00-
"Sorry." Kara apologised to James as she walked him to his car.
"For what?"
"Alex seemed to give you a bit of a rough ride."
"I've had worse. General Lane was good at it." He recalled. "Not that I am comparing Alex to Lane." He added quickly. "Thank you for arranging this."
"That was Alex. As in the adult one, not me."
"Something tells me you were working behind the scenes. So thank you."
"I know you want to do what is best for the kids." Kara said. "So does Alex. What the kids need is to see their uncle not arguing with their mom so go easy on Alex."
"I will. Or at least I try." James said hugging her goodbye.
-00-
"Morning." Kara said entering Alex's kitchen.
"Hey." Alex said. "What are you doing here?"
"The kids are all doing something at mine."
"Something?" Alex asked amused.
"It looked like a game. They're fine." Kara shrugged. "But I felt that I wasn't wanted, so I thought I'd hang out here."
"You let the kids chase you out of your apartment?" Alex asked.
"They didn't chase. I am just giving them space. Don't you want me here?"
"You are welcome here anytime." Alex said. "Especially after you provided backup last night."
"I think James was more in need of backup than you." Kara said. "Last night taught me that I don't want to get on the wrong side of Alex and Kara."
"They make a formidable pair." Alex agreed.
"Speaking of wrong sides, were all the emails you got last night about Conway?"
"Only some of them."
"And?"
"The autopsy revealed very little of his brain was left so there is no way to look for the normal abnormalities associated with psychics."
"So seeing his was shot three times in the head, whoever ordered the killing didn't want us to know if he was a meta." Kara said.
"Which either means he was and they want to hide it. Or he wasn't and the dirty Fed is still working the case." Alex said.
"Using a kid to murder him is dark." Kara said.
"There is a theory behind that, we think the way the contacts work means the brain needs to not be fully developed. That places a max age of the victims as twenty five. But the younger the better." Alex said.
"Still dark. So what are we going to do?"
"Technically this is an FBI case." Alex said.
"So what are we doing unofficially?" Kara pressed.
"Working on a way to stop those contacts, without frying the brain. We are still digging into Aptil and Conway as well."
"Any news from J'onn?"
"Not yet, but it will take a few days to get all the information."
"How are you doing?"
"Taking it one day at a time." Alex said. "We did find some good news. There was a hidden compartment under the floor of the ice cream truck we pulled over. It had a lot of guns in."
"You and I have a different definition of good." Kara pointed out.
"What I meant was we have a possible link between the power plants and Kai. It gets us a step closer to figuring out who is behind this. In a couple of weeks, if they keep using that truck, we should have the locations of several Kai hideouts."