"Hey cuz." Clark greeted as he opened the hotel room door.
"Hey Kal." Kara smiled.
"Come in." He smiled. "I'm glad you could make it. We need to talk."
"Don't worry, I'm not here to step on your toes. I guarantee Supergirl will not be making an appearance."
"Yeah, about that. I'm sorry. I was kind of a -"
"Jerk." Lois cut in as she joined the pair.
"Yes jerk." Clark agreed.
"I get it." Kara said.
"Just to be clear I wasn't referring to the Red-K thing, although that was also jerk like." Lois went on. "I meant when he told you to butt out, which was stupid and stubborn and rude."
"I think she got that." Clark said.
"So how are you doing?" Lois asked looking at Kara. "I heard rumours."
"They were probably true. But I am back to normal now." Kara smiled.
"But no Supergirl?" Lois pressed.
"No. I am laying low until we know Tycho's next move. And that is part of the reason I am here. Your father."
"Yeah, I thought you were going to say that. Which is why I already asked him about Tycho and Stagg."
"And?"
"He pulled the it's classified card. So then I asked Lucy." Lois explained.
"You did?" Kara asked.
"Yes. That conversation didn't go so well. But I am going to meet Lucy for dinner tonight. Do you want to go?" Lois offered.
"Yes, but I should get back to Alex and Alex."
"What if I move the dinner earlier?" Lois asked. "We could be done by eight."
"Okay, sure."
"What's the other part of the reason for being here?" Lois asked.
"There are two. Firstly to find out what you have found out. And secondly I need Kal to stage a fight."
-00-
"Hi guys." The adult Alex greeted when the kids returned home.
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" MJ asked.
"J'onn helped me down." Alex said.
"So you're staying down?" Her daughter asked.
"Well, I'm not allowed to walk anywhere, so yes. Are you trying to get rid of me?" Her mother asked.
"No." The teenage Kara said taking out her phone.
"Diz can still come over." Alex pointed out guessing the reason behind Kara's strange behaviour.
"Alonso." MJ said.
"What?" The adult Alex asked confused.
"Dizzy will be a stupid hero name if everyone calls him that normally. So we call him Alonso."
"Ignore him, he's an idiot." His sister said as Eliza came in holding a cup, which she passed to her eldest.
"Who's an idiot?" Eliza asked.
"MJ." Kara said bluntly.
"You shouldn't call your brother an idiot." Eliza said.
"Even if it is true?" The teenage Kara asked.
"MJ is not an idiot." Eliza said.
"Thank you." MJ said.
"You clearly haven't seen his assignment mark." Kara said dropping her brother in it.
"What have you failed?" Alex asked.
"Astronomy, but it is not my fault." MJ said.
"Then whose fault was it?" His mother asked.
"Umm, Alex."
"What did I do?" His cousin asked.
"Told me the answers. The wrong answers."
"They were right." The teenage Alex said. "It's not my fault that astronomy knowledge on Earth is so wrong."
-00-
"Clark really is sorry for everything." Lois said as she and Kara walked to the restaurant.
"I know."
"I'm not sure you do." Lois said. "The last few years have been hard on him. Not just for the fight with Mongul. That dented his confidence a lot. But so did things that happened with boys. In less then two years he went from believing he was invincible to realising he wasn't and that even with powers there were some problems that were too big for him. He was starting to get his confidence back and then you came and showed him how easy it could be. But instead of inspiring him it knocked his confidence again."
"I'm sorry."
"Why? None of this is your fault. I just wanted to let you know where his head was. And to ask you to be patient with him." Lois said as they entered the restaurant. Before Kara could reply Lois saw her sister and added. "There she is."
"Hey Luce." Lois said approaching the table.
"Lois." Lucy said looking up before seeing Kara and asking. "Kara?"
"Hi Lucy." Kara smiled before hugging her friend.
"Wait you were telling the truth?" Lucy asked Lois.
"Of course I was." Lois said sitting down.
"Why do I feel like I am getting ambushed?" Lucy asked.
"Dad's paranoia is rubbing of on you?" Lois suggested.
"What do you need?" Lucy asked.
"We think that some of your father's former associates are involved in plans that-" Kara started only for Lois to jump in.
"Threaten this country."
"Simon Stagg and Simon Tycho." Kara said.
"I can see from that twitch you know them." Lois said.
"I came across them several times. Not always when working with dad. But it was mainly Stagg I had dealings with. Looking at the legal ramifications of some of his technology."
"And?" Lois asked.
"Some was completely illegal. Some was borderline."
"Do you have any information on them? Like hidden factories or proving grounds or companies we may not have made the link to?" Kara asked.
"It was a long time ago, but I can look."
-00-
"Yes?" MJ asked when he opened the front door and saw a stranger on the doorstep.
"Hi. Is your mother here?"
"Yes." MJ said without moving.
"Can I see her?" He asked.
"Who are you?"
"An old acquaintance. She'll want to see me."
Peering round the stranger MJ confirmed that the DEO agents were still there and must have already vetted the stranger. He then said. "This way."
"Mom. Visitor." He said as he walked into the lounge.
"Max? What are you doing here?" Alex asked looking round at the new arrival.
"You weren't taking my calls. But now I can see you may have been busy." He said pointing to the leg.
"Is everything okay?" MJ asked still looking suspiciously at the stranger..
"It's fine sport." Max said.
"I wasn't talking to you." MJ said.
"It's fine." Alex assured him as Eliza entered the room.
"Max?" She said surprised.
"Eliza." Max smiled.
"Mom, can you take the kids out to dinner?" Alex asked.
"Are you sure?" Eliza asked.
"Yes." Alex said. "Besides I have my DEO team round here."
"Where's Kara?" Max asked when Eliza had left the room.
"Chasing a lead." Alex replied. "How did you find my house?"
"It's not exactly hidden in the woods. You are in the burbs."
"True, but I am not listed."
"After your visit, I wasn't sure if I could trust you so I did some homework. I know you think I can be jerk but I am sorry about your wife."
"Is that what you came to talk about?"
"No." Max said. "I have information."
"What?"
"Tycho wants to control Kryptonians and Stagg wants to make his own version right?" Max asked.
"That's what we think."
"Well the thing is I already did that didn't I?"
"You mean Bizarro?" Alex asked. "Because that wasn't exactly an overwhelming success."
"That hurts." Max said. "But if you were going to make your own Kryptonian wouldn't you look at the work that had already been done?"
"You were never officially linked to Bizarro." Alex reminded him.
"True, but the DEO knew I was and plenty of those Agents no longer have allegiances to the DEO. So what if one of them had said something, then someone should try to break into my research."
"But they haven't?" Alex asked.
"That's what I thought and I was going to set up a honey trap. However, further investigation revealed I had a mole."
"So they already have your research?"
"No. What they accessed was meaningless. But since I discovered the mole I have been watching their every move."
"Are you sure they don't know?"
"Alex, I placed a camera in your bag and you had no idea." He reminded her.
"So who is the mole working for?"
"Stagg. I think."
"You think?"
"Over the years I have been collating information about my competitors. Information that could be extremely damaging to them. The mole accessed my Tycho file. Well accessed and cloned."
"Not modified?"
"No. So I am pretty sure Stagg is making a move against Tycho."
"That's kind of what we were hoping for." Alex said. "But isn't there a chance that that is a smoke screen and your mole is actually taking information useful to Tycho?"
"I was concerned someone, probably linked to the government, might try to exploit my research. So I modified the contents of my technical files. They all have hidden security. I would know if they had been accessed."
"Now isn't the time for arrogance."
"This isn't arrogance." Max assured her. "And if you would like anything specific planted now is the time to tell me."