"You okay?" Vasquez asked when she entered Alex's office a little later.
"Sorry what?"
"I asked if you were okay. But your face is telling me everything I need to know."
"I'm fine. Just trying to figure out everything."
"And have you?"
"Not even close." Alex said.
"Well to add to the confusion here are the files on the metas who were possibly attacked by Osmose."
"Thanks." Alex said before looking at Vasquez. "I need you to run a project for me."
"Sure, what?"
"If we are right and Osmose is taking powers in order to give powers to order, we need a way to counteract those powers. So starting with the metas taken last night figure out how to stop them."
"On it." Vasquez said.
"Good. In which case I am going home." Alex said standing. "I need to talk to MJ."
"What's he done?"
"Nothing, I hope. Although the way today is going, I'm not ruling anything out."
-00-
"I'm back." Alex called.
"Hi, bye." MJ said rushing down the stairs.
"Where are you going?"
"Study group."
"Nice try." Alex said.
"Fine out with my friends."
"Have you done your homework?"
"Well, no."
"Then you know the answer." Alex said.
"But-" He said, before giving up. "Fine."
"Good, now that's sorted, I want to talk to you about something."
"Sounds bad." MJ commented.
"It's not. Where's your sister?"
"At school, finishing up her science project. She said she'd be home by six."
"In that case, let's go get a milkshake." Alex said looking at her watch.
"Really?" MJ asked.
"Yes."
"This is going to be bad." MJ muttered as he followed his mother out of the house.
-00-
"How was school?" Alex asked when her daughter came home a little later.
"Ignoring the gawking. Fine."
"You doing okay?"
"I guess."
"Good, then come with me."
"Where?"
"For a walk."
"Bu-" The teenager started to see, but recognising her mother's body language she said. "Let me get my coat."
"We'll be back soon." Alex said to her mother as her daughter returned wearing a coat.
"Let's go." Alex said leading her daughter from the house.
"Am I in trouble?"
"No. I just wanted to talk to you."
"About?"
"Wildcat has to go away for a while."
"Where?" Her daughter asked.
"To help a friend."
"Is Diz going too?" She asked sounding hurt.
"No." Alex replied. "But Wildcat asked me to keep an eye on him. And seeing how much is going on at the moment I don't think it is a good idea for him to live by himself at Wildcat's. So I have been coming up with a few options and one is for him to move in with us, in the study, until Wildcat gets back. Before you say anything I need you to think about something. Being under each other's feet for the whole time will be hard. I know you all stayed at Sam's but that was for a few days. This will be a few weeks. And although you two may be closer at the end of it, there's a good chance that close proximity will break you up."
"Shouldn't MJ have a say in this?"
"He already has. He said yes." Alex said. "I don't want an answer now, let me know tomorrow. But even if you do say yes, remember Diz may not want to."
"What are the other options?" Kara asked.
"What?"
"You said one option was to stay with us, what are the others?"
"J'onn or Lena." Alex said. "Although Lena has a few trips coming up so it probably leaves just J'onn."
"Who is spending most of his time helping Alex. Won't Diz being there get in the way?"
"He'd figure something out."
"But when something goes wrong J'onn goes to help, so Diz wouldn't be protected."
"He'd still have a DEO guard." Alex said. "But you are right he'd probably be a little safer with us. Although the amount of trouble you, MJ and Alex attract may counteract that. And he may put you guys at more risk. There is no easy answer."
"You sure MJ is okay with him moving in?"
"Yes." Alex confirmed. "He liked the idea of another male in the house and has already worked out which chores he can palm off to Diz." Alex smiled.
"Then Diz should move in with us. I hear what you are saying about it breaking us up, but I also think he'd be safer with us."
"You sure?" Alex asked stopping to look at her daughter.
"Yes."
"Okay, I'll talk to Diz later. When's he coming round?"
"He should already be there."
-00-
"Hey." Diz said when Kara and her mother entered the lounge, where he and MJ were playing a video game.
"Hi." Kara said.
"MJ, can you go game in the den?"Alex asked.
"Sure." He said pausing it before he and Diz stood.
"Diz, can you stay for a minute?"
"Um, sure." He said wondering what he had done, growing even more concerned when Kara followed her brother out of the room.
"Is Kar okay?" He asked.
"She's fine." Alex smiled. "And thank you for looking after her last night."
"Sure." He said.
"So I talked to Wildcat today." Alex said.
"He told you he's leaving?"
"Yes. And he asked me to keep an eye on you." Alex said.
"You don't need to. I'm fine by myself."
"You've not had the best luck recently." Alex said. "Which is why I don't think you should live by yourself," she started, sensing his argument she added, "despite being more than capable. So if you want, you can stay here, in the study."
"Sorry, what?" He asked.
"If you want you can stay here until Wildcat gets back. But you will be in the study and there will be rules, lots of rules."
"Shouldn't you be asking MJ and Kar?"
"I already have and we discussed both sides of the argument, if they said no I wouldn't be offering."
-00-
"Going somewhere?" Alex asked confused when she entered her sister's apartment and saw her sister dressed up.
"Dinner with Barry." Kara said. "Can you keep an eye on Alex when she gets back."
"Sure." Alex said.
"Did you need something?"
"Yeah, I just wanted to let you know that Diz is staying with us for awhile. In the study. Just while Wildcat is away."
"That is nice of you." The older Kara commented.
"Well, Kara likes Diz and he does keep her safe." Alex said. "Also with the missing Metas still posing a threat, I don't like the idea of Diz being alone. Besides, if he is here and he tries anything I will kill him." She said as the front door opened and the teenage Alex entered the apartment.
"Hi." Kara greeted.
"I'm going to bed." The teen said disappearing into her room.
"Give me a minute will you?" Kara said to her sister.
"Sure." The older Alex said as Kara followed her daughter.
"Alex, you okay?" Kara asked entering her daughter's room.
"Sure." The teen said, from where she was lying face down on her bed.
"What's happened?" Kara asked moving over to the bed.
"Just tired." The teen said. "May have practiced my powers too much with Frax."
"Have you eaten?"
"No."
"Then food first, then you can sleep."
"But I'm tired."
"I know. But if you don't eat you'll feel bad tomorrow. Plus you need to feed your dog. So up you get."
"Fine." The teen said sitting up. As she did so she saw her mother was dressed up and asked. "Are you going somewhere?"
"Yes, to see Barry." Kara said. "I'm assuming you don't want to come?"
"No."
"Okay, then you can stay here."
"So I can go to sleep?"
"No. But Eliza is cooking a nice meal for you."
"Fine she said standing."
"Everything okay?" The older Alex asked when the two emerged.
"It's fine." Kara said. "But no powers tonight."
-00-
"Morning." Kara said the next day when she entered her sister's kitchen.
"Hi." Alex said.
"Was Alex okay last night?" Kara asked.
"She had another nightmare." Alex said. "But mom helped her through it."
"I shouldn't have left her." Kara said feeling guilty.
"If it makes you feel better, after she talked to mom she fell back to sleep and is still sleeping."
"That's good." Kara said.
"Anything from Barry?" Alex asked.
"Veronica Cale used to work with StarLabs. At the time she was interested in understanding how powers could be used to help heal illnesses. But, back when Barry knew her she decided it was too risky and killed the research."
"So either she has had a change of heart or someone else is involved." Alex said.
"Looks that way. I was going to investigate at CatCo."
"Okay." Alex said.
"One more thing, I a have a work thing tonight can you watch Alex again?"
"Sure."
"Thanks."
"It's no problem, besides I'm sure Diz will appreciate the extra protection."
"Is he moving in today?" Kara asked.
"Yes, Wildcat set off first thing this morning."
"You regretting your offer?"
"Yes, no. I don't know." Alex said. "I'm just picturing all the ways this could go wrong."
"I'm sure it will be fine." Kara smiled.
"How are you doing? You seem a little happier today."
"I am." Kara said. "Seeing Barry and Iris last night really helped. Barry can always bring a special perspective to things."
"That's great." Alex said as the teenage Alex walked into the kitchen. On seeing her mother she went over and hugged.
"Hi." Kara said returning the hug. "You okay?"
"Yes."
"You less tired?" Kara asked, earning a shrug in response.
"Pancakes will help." The older Alex said passing her niece a plate.
"Thanks." The teen said.
"Anyway, I better go." Kara commented, kissing her daughter on the head.
"Don't work too hard." Alex warned.
"I won't." Kara said leaving.