"Thank god you are here." Ruby said as Supergirl walked through the control room the next morning.
"Hello to you too." Supergirl smiled. "What's wrong?"
"Alex."
"Still backseat directorial-ing?"
"No. She's in her office, chewing everyone out."
"Why is she he- never mind, I'll go talk to her."
"Thank you." Ruby said. "Wait, you haven't solar flared have you?"
"No. Why?"
"It's a good day for powers." Ruby said causing Kara to frown before she walked off to find her sister.
"Why are you here?" Kara asked walking into her sister's office. Her entrance causing two agents to scamper from the room.
"Don't start." Alex warned before asking. "Did Alex know?"
"Know what?" Kara asked completely lost.
"About the party."
"What party?" Kara asked none the wiser.
"The party MJ went to last night."
"I don't think so. I mean she was with Frax until Lobo took him. What type of party was it?"
"The type where MJ ended up smoking and drinking." Alex said.
"Ahh." Kara said. "He still alive this morning?"
"I guess so."
"You guess so? You've not seen him?"
"Space seemed a better option."
"Why?"
"He was really angry and he told me I could never get him as I wasn't his mother and nothing connected us and he wished I had been the one that died in the accident."
"Oh Alex." Kara said moving over to her and hugging her. "He didn't mean it. I mean think of all the things you said when you were drunk."
"I know. But he was so angry and I don't know why."
"You shouldn't be here. You should be at home."
"I know, but right now I am angry and if we are both angry it will spiral. I'll deal with MJ tonight. First we need to worry about Frax."
"Have you found anything?"
"No. Not exactly. Lobo left orbit soon after he took Frax. We have no idea where he went. Is Alex okay?"
"Shaken, but other than that ok. She worried about Frax. We need answers."
"We'll get them." Alex said. "Vasquez has set up a team."
"Good. In that case I'm taking you to lunch." Kara said to her sister.
"It's ten am."
"Fine brunch. Let's go."
00
"It really hurt." Alex said after several minutes of silently staring at her coffee. "I know he was drunk, but there was so much venom in his words."
"He didn't mean it. I'm sure he was just angry."
"I don't think so, I mean some times I wish it. I mean the part about being the one to die in the accident. I mean I am sure Kelly would have dealt with all of this so much better than I am." Alex said looking at her coffee again before looking at Kara and saying. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"How I treated you."
"What?"
"All the times I was drunk. I knew I said some really mean things to you. But I don't think I ever appreciated how much it hurt. I'm sorry."
"I know." Kara said.
"We should get back." Alex said.
"Or you could go home?" Kara suggested.
"No. Too much to do. Plus I promised Pete I'd meet him."
"Want me to come?"
"No, you work on Frax."
"In which case I'll take you back to the office and then I'm going to talk to some of his crew."
-00-
"Hey MJ, what's up?" His sister answered when his call came in.
"I screwed up."
"With what?"
"Mom."
"What did you do?"
"Went to a party, got drunk and smoked and then said some really bad things to her."
"How bad?"
"Scale of zero to Kara? At least Kara plus 2."
"It can't have been that bad." His sister said.
"I told her she wasn't my real mom and I wished she had died in the accident." The confession being met with silence until eventually his sister asked.
"Why?"
"I don't know, I was just really angry."
"What did mom say?"
"Nothing. I stormed off and she had left for work before I got up this morning."
"She's at work?" Kara asked surprised.
"Well probably beats being in a house with me." MJ said.
"Want me to come down?" Kara offered.
"You have your own things."
"It's a quiet day."
00
"I thought you weren't coming." MJ said when he saw his sister walk into the lounge with his aunt that afternoon.
"Well I thought I could be a good buffer." His sister said.
"Your mom should be back soon. But first you and me need to talk." Kara said to her nephew. "So we are going for walk." She then looked at her niece and added. "You handle things here, we'll see you soon." She then looked back at MJ and said. "Let's go."
"What about Alex?" MJ asked.
"She's at chess practice." His aunt said. "Let's move."
"Fine." MJ said following his aunt out of the house.
"I know I screwed up." MJ said.
"Well that's a start." Kara said as they walked. "But it's more than that. What's going on with you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You aren't this type of kid."
"Clearly I am." He countered.
"Partying is one thing, but you are so angry right now." Kara said. "What's going on?"
"Nothing. I just want to fix things with mom, so let me go back and do that."
"Your mom used to drink and she was a mean drunk. And I bore the brunt of it. So right now I know exactly how your mother feels." Kara said.
"So how do I fix things?"
"There's no easy fix." Kara said. "But you need to talk to her."
"What if she doesn't want to talk?"
"She's your mom. She wants to fix this more than you do." Kara assured him. "I don't know what is going on with you, but whatever it is you need to figure it out. Your mom said that you were angry last night. You need to face that anger, figure out what's driving it. If you don't it will just drive a bigger wedge between you and everyone you care about."
"So you are saying it's all my fault?"
"All what?" Kara asked confused.
"It doesn't matter. Can we go home now?"
00
"Kara? What are you doing here?" The older Alex asked limping into the house and seeing her daughter.
"MJ told me what happened." She explained as she hugged her mother.
"You didn't have to come down. How'd you get here anyway?"
"Aunt Kara. Who is talking to MJ now, they should be back soon." Her daughter said before adding. "It may not help, but he feels really bad."
"Has he talked to you about what's going on?" Alex asked.
"As in last night? He called and like I said was feeling really bad." The teen said trying to forge a path of peace.
"I actually meant in general." Alex said.
"What else has happened?"
"I don't know. He's just really angry all the time. You saw him at Christmas. I thought it was because of what happened with me and the shapeshifter, but I think there is more to it. Plus he and Alex still aren't really talking."
"I'll talk to him." The teenage Kara said before asking. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine, almost healed now."
"That's not what I meant. MJ told me what he said."
"Well he was drunk."
"Doesn't mean it didn't hurt."
"Kara, I'm okay." Alex assured her daughter. "You don't need to worry about me. But if you do have time to worry, try to get your brother to talk to you." She said as the door opened and the older Kara walked in with MJ.
00
"Have you found him?" The teenage Alex asked her mother when she came through the door a few minutes later.
"No. Lobo left orbit shortly after he left you. We think Frax was with him."
"You think? You don't know?"
"We're working on it. And we are working with his crew."
"But you have no idea where he is?"
"Not yet, but we will find him. I know you are worried, but I promise you we are working on it. We'll get him back." Kara said.
"When? What if Lobo kills him?"
"Alex, we are doing everything we can. But focusing on the worst case won't help anyone."
"Sorry. I'm just worried about him." The teenager apologised just as the doorbell rang.
"I know. So am I." Kara said opening the front door. "Hi?" Kara greeted confused. "I thought you were a buffer."
"They needed space." The teenage Kara said entering the apartment.
"Kara!" The teenage Alex said as she saw her cousin enter the apartment.
"Hi Alex." The older teen smiled.
"What are you doing here?"
"The short version is MJ was and idiot and I'm here to help smooth things over between him and mom. But after they have spoken."
"Does he still blame me?" The teenage Alex asked.
"For what?" Her mother asked.
"Him getting caught."
"Did you know?" Her mother asked.
"No."
"Then why would MJ blame you?"
"Ask him."
"You want to walk Chewie?" Her cousin asked hoping to get to the bottom of things.
-00-
"So what's going on?" The teenage Kara asked her cousin as they walked Chewie.
"What do you mean?"
"With you and MJ."
"Nothing."
"And the truth."
"He's just- we don't … it doesn't matter."
"Kinda sounds like it does. And Christmas was a nightmare for everyone." Her cousin pressed. "If you don't sort this how is it going to work? I mean you have the same friends."
"No we don't. He hangs out with a different crowd now."
"He does? Who?"
"Jess and Reeves and his friends."
"Reeves?" Kara asked surprised. "Since when?"
"Start of school year."
"Why? He's an idiot."
"I don't know. I mean it coincided with Jess, but that could be coincidence. I stay clear."
"How does that work? I mean don't you see him all the time?"
"The only time he acknowledges me at school is to make fun of me or criticise me, like today."
"Today?"
"He thought I'd told your mom about the party and was really angry about it."
-00-
"MJ you need to talk to me." Alex said. "What's going on with you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Parties, smoking, drinking." Alex listed.
"Aren't you the last one to lecture me about that." MJ asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"Partying, drinking, wasn't that your thing? Especially the drinking thing?"
"You're right. But it almost destroyed me and every relationship that mattered. And that's ignoring the fact that I was older and it wasn't illegal." Alex said trying to stay calm. "But I also know I started to drink for a reason. So what's yours?"
"Maybe I just want some fun or maybe I just want to forget what a rubbish life I have."
"What's wrong with your life?" Alex asked, feeling herself loose control.
"You're kidding me."
"No. Let's hear it." Alex said. "You have a family that loves you, a roof over your head and you eat everyday. So what is it you don't like?"
"You think my family is a selling point?" He asked. "My family is made up of two people who cost me my actual mom. If you and Kara hadn't been so selfish that accident wouldn't have happened."
"Is that what you really think?" Alex asked, internally jumping from angry to devastated, just as the front door opened and the teenage Kara returned.
"What's going on?" She asked, seeing how defeated her mother looked.
"Nothing." MJ said.
"This doesn't feel like nothing." His sister replied. When she was met by silence she said. "Fine don't tell me. Instead you can tell me why you are hanging with Reeves."
"Is there anything Alex doesn't pass on?" He asked angrily.
"For the record, she didn't even know about the party. But I'm sure the way you treated her today made her feel great."
"So you are team Alex as well?" He asked.
"No, I just refuse to be on team Jerk. Why are you hanging with Reeves?"
"Maybe because he's on my side."
"What is it with you and sides?" His sister asked.
"Someone has to fight my corner and it clearly isn't you two." MJ said. "Reeves does. So yeah I hang with him."
"Seeing you are grounded for six months you won't be seeing Reeves or anyone else." His mother said.
"Six months?"
"You were drinking and smoking." His mother reminded him. "You're lucky it isn't a year." She pointed out.
"But-"
"No buts. And I will be here to ensure you don't sneak out. And on the off chance you get past me, the DEO Agents will stop you."
"This isn't about the party is it? You just didn't like the truth." He said leaving the room and slamming the door behind him.
"Sorry if I made things worse." The teenage Kara said.
"Not sure that is possible." Alex replied.
"You okay?" The teen asked sitting next to her mother.
"I don't know." Alex said sadly before asking. "How bad is Reeves?"
"When I was there he was like a junior Holtz."
"Why would he hang out with someone like that?" Alex asked confused.
"No idea." Her daughter said worried by how rattled her mother looked. "I'll be back in a moment."
00
"Kara? What are you doing here?" Alex asked when her sister entered the lounge moments later before hugging her.
"Kara told me what happened."
"I'm okay."
"No, you're not." Kara said
"You should be with Alex."
"Kara is there. Where's MJ now?" Kara asked.
"In his room. Unless he has snuck out again." Alex said, causing Kara to shut her eyes and listen.
"He's still upstairs." She said.
"I don't know where I have gone wrong." Alex said.
"You argued plenty with Eliza and you said some really mean things to her." Kara reminded her.
"I know, and believe me when I say I regret it. But things were always explosive between us. I'm not saying that's an excuse, but you know what we were like, things escalated fast. But it wasn't like that with dad. And it never used to be like that with MJ. So what did I do wrong?"
"You've done nothing wrong." Kara said. "And when I spoke to MJ earlier all he wanted was to make it up to you." She then asked. "Do you remember just after J'onn brought Alex to Earth she had that outburst?"
"Yeah." Her sister said.
"We got past that. And you and MJ will too."
"Only Alex was an outburst, singular. MJ, he's just so angry at the moment. I don't know why."
00
"Thanks for getting me and bringing me back." The teenage Kara said when her aunt landed near campus.
"Of course." The older Kara smiled. "I know your mom appreciated you coming down."
"Don't know why, pretty sure I made it worse."
"I think we all did."
"Mom looked so lost." The teenager said.
"I'll look after her." Her aunt replied.
"Thanks." The teen said hugging her.
"She'll be okay." The older Kara said into the hug. "And we'll figure out what is bugging MJ." She then looked at her niece and asked. "How are you doing?"
"Me? I'm fine."
"Kara you are trying to go through college while attempting to keep your family together. That's a lot for anyone."
"But it's not like I am doing it alone is it? I mean I have you."
"Always." Her aunt smiled. "So make sure you call if you need help."
"I will."
"Or if you want a ride to see Diz."
"Diz?"
"I heard you got very close after Christmas."
"How?"
"You had a DEO guard, they told Vasquez, she told me."
"Have you told mom?"
"No. That's for you to do." The older Kara said. "But seriously, if you want to see Diz I can fly you down there."
"Thanks." The teen said hugging her aunt once more.