"Well, you look less like a zombie. So, that's a check in the 'win' box, right?"

"Thanks," Alex said with a shake of her head. She'd had to explain to her parents that sometimes she and Kara just needed to have their own time together without them, but eventually they'd been okay with it. There had been a lot of eyeballing and questioning if they'd done anything wrong. It was more that Alex was feeling a disconnect. She'd been working at Lord Technologies full time for the last week and that had meant seeing her sister a lot less.

"You don't seem as thrilled."

Alex shrugged as she looked down at the cup of coffee in front of her. "I miss the DEO...and I miss seeing you and J'onn and everyone else everyday."

"And the action?"

A smile crept up. "And the action."

There was a silence that stretched out between them before Kara spoke up again. "It's just temporary, right? Unless you really want to stay at Lord Tech full time? I mean, you haven't made your decision yet."

"Right," Alex said softly and looked up at Kara. "I just...it's weird… I can't remember life feeling so quiet...and boring…"

"Boring?" Kara half scoffed a laugh at that.

Alex brightened at that. "I'm serious."

"We were kids once."

"And our lives then were never boring, Kara," Alex reminded as she leaned forward, her arms resting on the table. "I mean...I know I wasn't the best sister-"

"You have always been the best sister," Kara told her before she could finish her sentence. "Stop trying to say horrible stuff that isn't true."

"But...I mean, we didn't have a boring life then...even if it was Midvale," Alex told her. There had been adventures that her parents didn't know about...and then the ones they'd known about. Kara, though, she'd been the singular thing that had changed her life...and maybe there had been rough patches (but others had come along and steered her in the right direction). She sighed. "Please tell me that we can have a binge night soon," Alex practically pleaded with a tilt of her head. "I see Mom and Dad all the time...and that's great, but I miss my sister…"

"I miss you too."

"Please?"

"We'll work it out. Do you have a show in mind?"

"The new season of 'Longmire' is on Netflix?" she offered with a smile.

Kara returned her sister's smile. "That show makes me want to live in Wyoming…"

"Until you see what living in Wyoming entails...but you can fly...so no long drives through high winds and snow," Alex said with a smile and a shrug.

"We should take a vacation there."

"You know they film it in New Mexico."

"Or there."

They both smiled. Alex sighed. "Like either of us will ever get a vacation…"

"I know that the board expects to just hear from one person," Alex said. "Me." She paused to take a bite of her sandwich. "But I think we should really let the scientists each talk about what they've contributed."

"Not everyone is good at public speaking," her father pointed out. It was a good and valid point, but in science you had to able to defend your project. It wasn't just the company's profits that needed growth, but the entire company (that included every single employee).

"There's the whole fact that we're going to have to break down the science," Eliza said. "It's not like we'll be explaining this all to colleagues… I was thinking through pictures. A slideshow or a powerpoint presentation...whatever works best with what we have to present. It would be, of course, better to actually have prototypes, but financially that's not savvy."

"As much as the board is going to be concerned about numbers, the money aspect of it all," Alex said. They all knew that was the sad reality of any board at any company in any field, but Alex wanted more. She wanted, no...she needed to make a difference. That was what Max would have wanted. "We need to remind them that they're human too. That's why the projects I selected might be a bit...all over the place. There has to be at least one project proposal that appeals to each of the board members. We can't fail at this."

It was too important.

Alex just couldn't handle failing in this.

"I think that this is really giving a lot of the employees a boost in confidence and morale," her father spoke up after a moment. "We even got an idea from one of the janitors...made a note of it, but it's not just the scientists in the lab that are making contributions to this company...and I think that's important."

He was right.

"Which idea was from a janitor?" Eliza asked curiously.

"It's more than one," Jeremiah responded. "Wheelchair modifications that are affordable, universal, and would really make a difference. His wife has mobility problems and there are many times she needs to be in a wheelchair, like for shopping. Their daughter takes care of her during the day...but she has a young child. So, something that can be attached to the back of the chair for the child to sit on or stand on. Actually, it might be something really handy and also allow us to build in some extra storage without it being too weighty and still giving the ability to fold. Of course that leads to needed to extend the handles and while we're at it, we might as well make it the type that can be pushed with one hand. There's a whole slew of smaller other modifications that we have as well. Those were ones that are not only important to a life of an employee of ours, but think about how many people must be out there with the same need."

A need in the community.

What better than that? All Alex could think about was how much Max would have liked that. How he would have had the press all over it and how big of a difference it would make, but he'd be smart about it too because he'd really make sure people could afford it. That was what they were trying to do and that was really the hardest part...to make a quality product that the people needed and make it affordable at the same time.

"Tomorrow we're going to really work on crunching the numbers for each project," Jeremiah said. "The need, the cost, and how we can still make a profit from it." She didn't miss how disgusted her father looked when he mentioned the whole part where they had to make a profit. It was the ugly truth of it all, a necessary evil, but it had to be done...and in order for the company to continue forward they did need to make some kind of profit.

Taking a moment to eat more of her sandwich, Alex could only nod until she could finally swallow. "Okay, I'll make sure that I have the bones of the presentation figured out so that we can just plug in the important information."

"And I'll make sure that we have the detailed sketches worked out," Eliza added.

Alex sat there for a moment, thinking about everything. "You know something that Max really had an interest in when I first met him? His Super Rail Train," Alex told them. "He said that he'd had this train with blue stripes when he was a boy and how that was his favorite toy. So, he made the Super Rail and had them design it with blue stripes. We already have one, but I think it is important to consider how we might expand the use of the Super Rail throughout National City and even on a state level."

"Public transit really isn't great out here, maybe we could consider the Super Rail in more of an everyday public need. National City isn't built for subways, but perhaps something like an automatic train system in the place of buses…"

"Or a monorail," her mother added.

All Alex could think about at that moment was how she'd ridden the monorail at Disneyland when she was a girl. They were right, though, it would have real everyday applications in the city for public transit. It would be a lot more useful than some kind of super train that went long distances quickly. This was truly something they needed. "Definitely something to look into."

"Let's just hope that the board sees the importance in these projects."

It was getting closer and closer to the board meeting and Alex had had a board member stop by her office earlier. She'd kept her cool, smiled, and answered questions even though he'd been a complete jackass. The guy obviously knew nothing about science or pretty much anything else except for money. All he cared about was stock price and the company continuing to make loads of money. It was the first moment since she'd been working at Lord Technologies full time that she'd really had a hard time controlling herself because she'd wanted to knock him on his ass so badly.

So, she'd resorted to running. The gym had been an option, but there were too many people and she was too concerned that she'd feel like punching someone after the day she'd had. She didn't want to spend her time fighting over machines or having to put up with inconsiderate people. So...running. Music was in her ears and she'd just picked a direction.

It was so odd to her to be out and exercising while the sun was still up, while the day was still bustling. Sure, this was the normal time for most people to be off of work, but Alex just wasn't used to it. Today, she almost hoped that she'd run into J'onn...well, maybe not like the last time...but she missed him...and Kara...and everyone at the DEO. She hadn't been away that long, but it already felt like a lifetime.

The running helped.

Not completely.

Some, though.

Some.

Working like a normal person and pretending to have a normal life meant doing normal things, like grocery shopping. This wasn't the kind of grocery shopping that Alex was used to...it actually required going into the produce section and other sections that were fairly foreign to her. Alex knew that it was better for her to prepare her own meals at home and to cook, but it wasn't something that she had time for before.

Working at the DEO was busy and adventurous, but she'd never spent so much time not working and at her apartment until now. It was surreal. Alex half wondered at least once every day if she somehow had slipped into another dimension. Sure, she'd sort of chosen this option, but at the same time...she hadn't completely.

Pushing the cart down the aisle, she sighed as she tried to think if there was anything from the aisle that she really needed for the week. Of course, this was mainly an aisle full of snacks. There was always a need for snacks. She grabbed a bag of sweet and salty kettle popcorn. She scanned the section for a moment before grabbing an additional two bags. Alex wanted to make sure she had enough on hand just in case Kara stopped by.

That was enough thing that bummed her out, she didn't get to see her sister as much as she once did. She didn't even need movie nights, Alex just missed seeing her sister. Right now she was seeing her parents way more than she saw Kara. Actually, she saw her parents way more than she saw or heard from her sister (in any way or form).

She got to the freezer section and was deciding on what ice cream to buy when someone pulled their cart up beside her. She looked over and smiled politely before moving to grab one of her choices. There needed to be multiple pints of ice cream in preparation for when Kara actually could come over.

"Is that any good?"

Alex looked over at the man who now felt like he was stalking her. "Uh, it's ice cream...so yes."

"Sometimes it's hit or miss when it comes to bits in the ice cream," the man continued.

Was this what is was like to be normal? To be randomly hit on by someone in the ice cream section of the grocery store? This certainly wasn't how her parents met. Alex opened her mouth, trying to think about how to respond, let him down, and make a break for it. Nervously, she twirled her ring around with her other finger. Pausing for a moment, a smile spread across her face and she made sure that her ring was in its proper place before she pulled the door open with her left hand, so her ring would practically be in the guy's face before she pulled out another pint of ice cream (Kara's favorite kind). She held it up. "My husband's favorite. Would definitely recommend."

The guy's face was priceless. He also seemed to be a bit speechless. "Oh," he muttered for a moment.

"Happy ice cream selecting," she blurted out before making her exit. No more shopping, she decided in that instant.

Putting away the groceries properly was like playing a game of tetris. She wasn't even fully sure if the crisper bins were actually set correctly, since apparently they had settings. Alex figured that she'd find out by trial. She was exhausted now, though, and didn't know how people could do this. "Should have picked up tacos," she mumbled as she glanced down at the text she'd just gotten from Kara.

She couldn't make it.

Her heart dropped and Alex fought off how suddenly sad and lonely it made her feel. She knew that Kara had a life outside of her...outside of their family...and she also knew that she had responsibility to CatCo and as Supergirl. That didn't make it easier.

Night alone.

Again.

For a moment, she thought about ordering in pizza. Instead, she remembered that she'd purchased a few of those frozen meals in a bag. It was still home cooking, she told herself as she dumped the frozen contents of the bag into the pan. Alex was fairly sure that this was fool proof cooking as long as she didn't let it burn. That didn't seem so hard. So, she stood there and stirred it far too constantly until it was done.

Dishing it up, she decided that that just wasn't going to be enough for her meal. She grabbed a wine glass and an already chilled bottle of wine from the fridge before making her way over to the couch. Turning on Netflix, Alex then turned her attention to the bottle of wine. Once her wine was poured, she started to search through what was on Netflix. She couldn't watch 'Longmire' yet because Kara wasn't there, so she looked for something that she'd already seen. There was a split second that she'd pondered watching 'Anastasia' before she settled on 'Torchwood'.

Alex settled in with her plate of food, wine, and half hoped that Kara would text her and be over for ice cream in an hour.

She could hope anyways.

The sound of the waves crashing on the shore was soothing.

"You know, we could stay here forever…"

It was so tempting.

"But who would say the world?" she questioned as she looked over at Max. They were always in Midvale now, by the beach. "You know it still needs saving."

"Others can save it," Max told her. "It doesn't have to be you doing it."

"Why not?"

"Us, Alex," Max said matter of factly. "You and me." He paused for a moment. "And what about our daughter? We're a family, Alex. As much as I'm sure you have a whole speech about how you should be out there saving the world for our daughter, I'd rather never have to explain to her that her mother isn't coming home because she died protecting the world from alien invasion…"

Alex just stared at him for a long moment. "I miss you, Max," she whispered.

"You don't have to."

"I miss everyone," Alex added as tears streamed down her face. She knew that this was a dream. As hard as it was to deal with reality after this dream, this time she wanted to embrace it. Maybe it was the disconnect from Kara and J'onn and the DEO...maybe it was the loneliness...whatever it was, Alex found herself okay knowing it was a dream and just wanting to stay there with Max. "I don't think I want to run Lord Tech, Max. I don't think I'm good at it. I don't care about the money and the board only cares about it."

"You just need to know how to handle them."

"I thought about punching one of them in the face."

Max smirked at that. "I don't blame you."

The little girl that was supposed to be their daughter giggled and went playing into the ocean's water before them. She watched the little girl for a few minutes before she asked something that she'd wanted the answer to every night that she'd been in that dream. "What's our daughter's name?"

"You know it."

"Humor me."

He smiled at that. "You know, that was almost as good as your standard answer a question with a question. Bravo."

"So?"

"I wanted to name our child Alexia or something along those lines, so we could call her Lexie, but you were apposed to having your daughter named after you," Max said. "I don't know why." Before she could argue about how he wasn't answering the question, he opened his mouth again. "Etta."

"Etta?"

"Yes, Mommy?" the little girl said as she stopped what she was doing to look back over at them.

Alex blinked for a moment, just staring at the child. "No, nothing, Sweetheart. Go on playing."

"Okay!" A moment later, Etta was there jumping in the water, splashing, and occasionally squeaking a scream as the wave came crashing against her little legs.

"You're worried," Max pointed out.

"Always."

"It is not Atlas who carries the world on his shoulders, but woman," Max clearly quoted. "Henryk Sienkiewicz."

"I can't help it," Alex told him with a shrug.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Max admitted. "It's part of the reason that I love you."

Deep down, that killed Alex. To hear him say that. She sucked in breath, looked upward, and tried to keep her tears in. It wasn't easy, all she wanted to do was cry in that moment. She looked over at him, teary eyed, and let out the breath. "I love you, Max. I just wish you were here with me."

"I'm always with you, Alex."

"That's not what I mean…"

"Are you sure?"

She hadn't slept enough.

Alex just tapped her fingers against her desk as she scrolled through social media on her computer. It was the weekend and she didn't have work at Lord Tech. This was what a weekend was. All it felt like to her was boring. What was she supposed to do with two whole days off?

Refreshing social media pages for likely the tenth time in the last five minutes, Alex was tempted to go back to bed simply because there was nothing. She wasn't motivated to do anything. Kara hadn't texted her back and she was seriously starting to think that she'd just watch the rest of 'Torchwood' over the weekend, just an insane amount of binge watching.

Staring at the screen for a moment, she brought up a browser window, this time dead set on doing something productive…something that she missed. Alex started to type into the search box, looking for signs of Trigon on the world. An alien like that, who could change in size but not the amount of destruction that he fed on...that was something that just couldn't disappear. Alex knew that he was out there, still on Earth.

"Come on," she whispered as the browser searched. It took only a couple of seconds before it returned with some results. Alex started to add filters to the search, looking through the news stories, but also utilizing the videos that had been uploaded to social media sites. It was really amazing what people uploaded to social media.

And there it was.

Breadcrumbs.

Trigon was out there.

She didn't even need the DEO computers to find him.

Suddenly, she knew exactly what she was doing for her weekend. Alex moved over to where her printer was and started to print out all of the news articles that were appropriate and realized that she was going to really need a world map to do this properly. Just because she wasn't working with the DEO currently didn't mean that she couldn't hunt aliens.

The printer hummed to life and so did Alex's weekend.

TBC…