Chapter 6

Alex, Kara and Max faced each other over the coffee table in their motel room. Max's laptop was open on the image of the alien, a stark reminder of their close call the night before. There hadn't been time for any pleasantries this morning, it was all business. It was time to formulate a plan of attack.

'So,' Alex began the debrief, spreading her hands on the table, 'if the alien risks going back to the library tonight then we should be able to contain it. From what I saw, the door into the main hall is the only exit point for the library. If we can herd it into that alcove then maybe Kara can overpower it.'

Kara nodded firmly.

'And how are you planning on herding a huge great thing like that exactly?' Max asked, raising an eyebrow at Alex.

Unsaid words hung between them, remnants of the conversation of last night. With Kara there, they hadn't had the opportunity to address it. Alex wasn't sure that she wanted to address it, Max had sounded so…so sad.

'Before you took that photo and gave away our position,' she answered with a glare in Max's direction, 'I don't think it even knew we were there. Maybe its vision is poor in the dark, obviously it doesn't have super hearing. I don't know, I'm just guessing, but I think we can use that to our advantage.'

'I think I see where you're going with this,' Max nodded. 'Couple of bright flashing lights, make it chase us one way then the other?'

'Exactly.'

'Sounds like a plan,' Kara agreed. 'Will we go at the same time tonight or is that too predictable?'

'We know that it goes to the school at that time so we'll stick with it.' Alex stood up. 'I'm going to go find a hardware store and buy some of those little LED torches for us to use. Can you two play nice for half an hour?'

'We'll be best friends,' Max replied heartily, giving Kara his widest grin and receiving a filthy look in return.

'I'll try not to kill him,' she conceded.

'Well that's something,' Alex sighed as she grabbed her keys from the kitchen bench. 'See you soon.'

Kara waited until she heard the car rumble to life outside before turning on Max.

'So,' she said conversationally, 'what did you say to Alex that convinced her to let you in on this mission?'

'Straight to the point aren't you?' Max chuckled. 'If you must know, I told her I wanted to help.'

'That's it?' Kara replied sceptically. 'You wanted to help?'

'I've offered my help before, haven't I?'

'I wouldn't necessarily call it help…'

'Look,' Max splayed his hands out in front of him, suddenly serious, 'you can dislike me all you want Kara, but at the end of the day I am here to help people. That's all I've ever tried to do. You and Alex do what you do because you want to protect the city and you know what? I admire you for that. Not many people have the guts to stand up and fight. I mean I guess it helps when you're a bulletproof alien…'

Kara, whose face had been softening at Max's words, returned to a fierce glare.

'…but,' Max continued quickly, 'that doesn't take away from what you're doing. So let me help too.'

He held out his hands in a conciliatory gesture and Kara had to admit that he was being utterly sincere. She eyed him carefully, reservations still buried deep within her heart, notches and scars from their previous confrontations that would never truly heal, but relented after a few moments' consideration. Alex had decided to trust him and that was good enough for her.

'Fine,' she sighed, 'I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into.'

'See?' Max teased. 'Best friends.'

'Oh, shut up.'


Alex returned within the hour and distributed an LED torch and a head mount to each of them. They made their final preparations and then spent the day wandering about the town aimlessly. Kara had never really enjoyed waiting and it had gotten her in trouble with Hank a couple of times early on. It was particularly irritating right now though because of the awkward silences that kept descending between her sister and Max. Something had happened between them, something had been said, that made it feel as if she was interrupting something. This feeling made her simultaneously suspicious and frustrated. She was thankful when night fell and, after a slightly quiet dinner at a local restaurant, they started to gear up.

The stars were out as they drove the now familiar road, twinkling overhead as if in anticipation for the show that was about to happen. I hope it's a good one, Kara thought to herself. The quiet surrounding the school was even eerier this time around because of their knowledge of what lurked inside. The dark windows were not welcoming and Max held his breath as they filed in stealthily through the side door.

Alex had laid out a simple plan to lure the alien into the alcove. Max would slip around to the other end of the library and flash his torch to move it away from its original position. Kara, meanwhile, would slip into the alcove and wait. Alex would then flash her torch to draw the alien back and then, when it was right in front of Kara, her sister would flash her torch and attempt to corner it and subdue it. It sounded good in theory.

In what seemed like déjà vu, they crouched in the hallway waiting for the lights that indicated the alien's arrival. Max wanted desperately to prove his worth to Alex in the field. For once, he was determined to stick exactly to the plan.

Alex was calm. She was prepared this time, ready with a small idea of what they were facing and a plan. There would be no running away tonight.

'This is it,' she whispered when the lights began to glow softly from behind the library door. She faced her companions, gave each of them a serious nod and surged forward into action.

Max dashed silently to the other end of the library whilst Kara followed Alex into the nearest aisle. Sure enough, a hulking shadow loomed in front of them in the same area as last night. Not a very smart alien then, Alex thought absently.

The two sisters waited anxiously for Max to get in position and start luring it away from the alcove. Kara could distinctly hear Alex's heartbeat next to her and was comforted that it wasn't going any faster than usual. Alex was the master at keeping cool in a situation such as this which, Kara supposed, was why she was Hank's best agent.

A piercing white light breached the shadowy darkness of the library, flashing like a strobe light. There was a roar from the alien as the bright flashes reached its eyes and a great thumping noise as it turned to chase after Max. His torch jerked wildly as he ran backwards, making the alien chase him but keeping it in his sights at the same time.

'Go,' Alex prompted Kara with a small push.

Kara darted forward and hid herself in the vacated alcove.

'I'm in!' she called ever so softly.

Alex turned on her torch, on, off, on, off. Max, seeing the signal, extinguished his and ran out of the aisle away from danger. Alex walked forward slowly, flicking the light and trying to get the target's attention. For a moment she was worried that it was just going to keep chasing Max, but then it turned and saw her. Another shriek rent the air and it came charging towards her. Alex measured the distance in her head.

'Nearly there…' she whispered to herself, 'nearly…NOW!'

Her shout was followed by a new light from the alcove where Kara was hidden. This third distraction was the last straw for the alien. It had been teased and frustrated enough. With a hideous scream, it threw itself violently at Kara and she met it with equal force. They tangled, arms, legs and tail flying awkwardly as they grappled.

From the noise, Alex could tell the alcove was being destroyed. So much for keeping this a quiet operation. There were thuds as the two aliens hit the walls, cracks as the self-loan system fell to the floor and broke, and scrapes as its tail gouged the wall. Those marks that Max had found in their initial inspection made sense now.

'Kara!' Alex cried as she heard her sister grunt in pain. A hand on her shoulder made her aware of Max's return.

'We…don't…want…to hurt you!' Kara huffed in between punches.

'Your actions are quite to the contrary!'

Alex froze, wondering where the high-pitched voice had come from. Judging from the sudden silence, she guessed that Kara had stopped mid-fight as well.

'I-I'm sorry?' Kara asked in surprise.

'Let go of me or I'll eat you!' the voice cried again.

Max stepped past Alex and sidled around the corner, running his hands along the wall. He allowed himself a small smile when he found the light switch and flipped it. It was only the small yellowish light in the alcove that turned on, leaving the rest of the library in darkness, but it was enough to illuminate the scene.

A monstrous figure taller than Kara and rippled with muscle filled most of the space. Its thick legs were a mottled grey flecked with green and looked powerful. Its thinner forearms were the same colour and were held out to fend off Kara's attacks. The rest of its body was a darker black except for its eagle-shaped head which was all white. A forked tail with vicious looking spikes swung slowly behind it.

It let out a squawk. 'What did you turn that on for?'

For a moment, the three of them were speechless.

'What…who are you?' Alex asked, recovering herself, her gun raised.

'I,' the alien declared proudly, 'am one of the great Farfarmniflatch!'

It waited as if expecting a reaction from its dramatic announcement. Eventually it was Max who broke the stunned silence.

'Bless you,' he muttered.

Alex had to stop herself from laughing and hitting him at the same time.

'Oh, no way,' Kara breathed.

'Yes way!' The alien took a step back from Kara, drawing itself to its full height. 'And if you don't leave immediately and swear to tell no one of what you saw here tonight, I will eat you without a second thought! It won't be pleasant!'

Kara exploded with laughter. 'You don't eat humans!' She cried in between fits of giggles.

Alex and Max didn't quite understand what was going on and could do nothing but look at each other in confusion as Kara wiped away a tear.

'How do you know? I eat everything!' the alien insisted.

'I know who the Farfarmniflatch are,' Kara replied, 'I'm from-,'

'Kara!' Alex warned, her common sense telling her that Kara's Kryptonian knowledge had come to her at an opportune moment.

'…the city and we have lots of aliens these days,' Kara finished lamely.

The alien looked from Kara to Max and Alex and back again as if deciding whether to believe her or not.

'You're not here to kill me?' it asked.

'No,' she replied honestly. 'Especially now that I know what you are.'

'Uh,' Alex cleared her throat, 'Kara? Can you please explain?'

'Oh right, of course! The Farfarmniflatch are from a planet not too far from…that other one.' Alex rolled her eyes at her sister's lack of subtlety. 'They're shapeshifters. Right?'

'That's right,' the alien agreed. 'We can shapeshift into most of our native animals as well as a humanoid form much like your own.'

'Could you shapeshift into one of those please?' Max asked weakly, stunned by the turn of events.

The Farfarmniflatch gave what could be conceived as a nod and stepped backwards away from Kara. It closed its eyes and a golden light surrounded it, pulsating and shimmering around its changing body. Within seconds, the light faded to reveal an elderly man in a beige cardigan standing before them.

'You!' Max cried, pointing at the man. 'You're the one who saved that lady! Helen something or other…'

'Yes,' the man said thoughtfully. 'You humans are very slow. She never would've gotten out of the way in time. You can call me Ronald in this form by the way, Ronald Thornton.'

'The librarian? The painting in the office! Of course!' Kara clicked her fingers sharply as if she'd just solved a great mystery.

'Oh you saw my painting did you?' Ronald asked.

'It's of Farfarmniflatch isn't it? The landscape?'

'Yes,' he replied sadly. 'Somewhere I will never see again.'

'Why?' Alex asked softly, sensing his sadness.

'I was exiled from my planet because I am not of the warrior persuasion. Whilst your friend is right in that my people do not eat humans, we are still quite an aggressive race. We pride ourselves on our strength, on our ability in battle, qualities that I have never had. I am, you might say, an oddity among the Farfarmniflatch.'

The old man's eyes became so downcast that Alex couldn't help but feel pity for him. His story made her wish that they'd never come after him at all.

'So you came here?' she asked.

'I was sent here as punishment, however I have not found it as much of a punishment as they seem to think it would be.' His mouth quirked up into something resembling a smile. 'I am happy as I can be on a planet that is not my home. I tend to the books in this establishment. I live peacefully. Every night I come here to return to my natural form as is necessary for my survival. We can't go too long without reverting, you see.'

Max hadn't said a word for some time as he'd been completely thrown by the revelation that the terrifying alien who had chased him was nothing more than a harmless librarian with a name that he couldn't pronounce. Now though, he felt sorry for the man.

'We're sorry we attacked you,' Kara apologised sincerely. 'We had to investigate the possibility that you might be dangerous.'

'Of course, of course.' Ronald flapped his hands. 'I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mention me to anyone however. It would make things very difficult.'

'We won't say a word,' Alex promised.

There wasn't much to say after that. Ronald assured them that he would be more careful to hide his transformations from snooping students and that he would clean up the mess from the earlier fight. Alex nodded to him, hoping she could convey her apology in her eyes. Kara patted him genially on the shoulder. Max didn't really know what to do so he just gave him a sort of comforting smile and then followed the others out of the library and out of the school altogether.

It was still dark when they returned to the car. The slam of the doors closing was loud in the cool morning air, but silence quickly followed as the three of them sat in their seats. Alex's hands rested on the steering wheel, but she didn't move to turn the key in the ignition. Max stared out of the windscreen, his brow furrowed. Kara tapped her fingers on her knee, her heart feeling heavy.

The gravity of the situation hung over them like a cloud as they replayed the night's events in their heads. Alex saw again the great figure of the Farfarmniflatch in its true form, rising up and declaring itself to them.

And then her lips twitched, first into an amused smile and then into a grin. A giggle escaped her prompting Max and Kara to glance over. She giggled again and then met Max's eyes.

'Bless you,' she whispered and burst into laughter.

Max realised what she was talking about and a grin plastered itself across his face. Instantly, he was laughing too. Kara joined in and they laughed and laughed, none more so than Alex who had tears streaming down her face. Max clutched at his sides and Kara, despite her underlying sadness, couldn't stop because Alex laughing was making her laugh even harder.

They laughed for almost five minutes before they managed to get the last few stray giggles under control. Alex wiped her face with the backs of her hands and Max sagged back into his seat. Kara smiled to herself. Everything had turned out ok in the end.


They decided to spend another day in Midtown to catch up on some much needed sleep. Alex had called Hank and debriefed him on everything that had happened, leaving out some of the more ridiculous bits, but assuring him that the target was not a threat and her recommendation was that it should be left alone. Hank wasn't overly happy with the recommendation, but he trusted Alex enough to go with her judgement.

The three of them had had dinner together again in the motel room. Alex noticed that Kara wasn't as hostile towards Max as usual and wondered what had gone on between them when she'd gone out to buy the torches. Max felt like he was being scrutinised by both of them, but all he really wanted was to be with Alex alone so that they could talk. She hadn't acknowledged what he'd said to her and he didn't want to let it go. She was…important to him.

Alex knew the text message would come even before her phone buzzed. It was nearly eleven o'clock and she'd just finished packing her bag. Kara had shut her bedroom door about an hour ago so Alex assumed that she was asleep. The message was, of course, from Max.

Can we talk?

She didn't even bother replying. A minute later she was knocking on his door and he was ushering her inside. He gestured to the couch and they sat down. Max took a deep breath.

'Some mission huh?' he said even though it wasn't what he wanted to say.

'You can say that again,' Alex replied. Her eyes were soft and serious and she watched his face as he decided on what to say to her. Eventually she made the decision for him. 'Max, you know that you can't just join the DEO right?'

'Yeah,' he sighed.

'Hank won't sanction your involvement in anything we do unless he honestly thinks we need your help and even then he'll be reluctant.'

'What about you?'

'I…I think that if you used that brain of yours for good, you might be handy to have around. Sometimes,' she hastened to add with a small smile.

'We could be a great team, you know.' Max smiled and raised his hands as if framing his next words. 'Danvers and Lord, geniuses at work.'

Alex laughed softly. 'You're going to have to work on obeying field procedures.'

'I've never been very good at following orders,' he murmured.

They had slowly but surely leaned towards each other as they spoke and now they were close enough that Max's eyes filled Alex's vision. They were searching hers, warm and inviting, and she couldn't help but be captivated by them. To her amazement, she suddenly saw how deeply Max needed her and, to her even deeper shock, realised how much she'd grown accustomed to having him around.

His closeness was no longer something to be flinched away from. In fact, she'd technically had no obligation to come over to his rooms the last two nights and yet here she found herself anyway.

She closed her eyes, reached for his hand and kissed him gently. Max returned the kiss with a soft pressure of his own, a relieved sigh unfolding inside his chest. His fingers intertwined themselves with hers and his other hand went to her face, moving a strand of her hair out of her eyes. She placed her other hand on his chest, her fingertips sliding around until she found the spot where his heart fluttered faintly beneath his skin.

They parted for breath, but only for a moment. Max was afraid that she would pull away, but Alex came back to him with a kiss slightly more vigorous than the last. He leaned into her and she gave way, laying smoothly backwards so that her head rested on the cushion in the corner of the couch, Max's body on top of her. He propped himself up on an elbow, his hand along her side.

Their breathing was deep and warm and Alex's chest felt tight. Max loved her, she could feel it in his kiss, and it scared her a little bit. It also made her feel happy in a way that she hadn't felt for years. Her hands took on a life of their own and ventured slowly all over his torso and up to his head where she slid her fingers through his hair.

Max felt his heart quicken and deepened his kiss. He wanted nothing more than to touch her, to feel her hands on his body, but he didn't push. Just having her here, like this, was more than he could have hoped for.

They kissed for a long time, enjoying the warmth that surrounded them like a cocoon. Eventually they parted, Alex shuffling in close to the back of the couch so that Max could roll onto his side next to her. He draped an arm over her and she rested a hand on his chest.

'I won't throw you away, Max,' she whispered.

'Thank you,' he whispered back. 'I need you, Alex.'

She reached up and kissed him one last time before settling herself into him and closing her eyes. Taking the hint, Max snuggled closer and closed his eyes too. Her body rose and fell under his arm as her breathing slowed and he let the sound of it carry him away to sleep.