A/N: Thanks for the reviews.
Baratta jennifer - More issues are coming their way
RS806 - Thanks! No specific goals on length - but I doubt it will get that high. Although I am pretty sure I said that about 100k along time ago! Right now I am solely focused on finishing this plot. That said the last chapter will leave things open for a sequel.
"Good you are here." MJ greeted when Mel entered his cousin's room a couple of weeks later.
"Why what's happened?" She asked.
"I need help getting Captain Killjoy to have fun." MJ explained.
"I am having fun." Alex said looking at the computer on her desk.
"You are doing math." MJ said.
"It is a Cauchy-Euler differential equation." Alex said.
"That's no less tragic." MJ said before turning to Mel and saying. "Back me up here."
"It does solve Laplace's equation in polar coordinates." Mel said.
"Thank you." Alex said.
"I am surrounded by nerds." MJ muttered.
"But … " Mel started. "It is the last Friday before everyone leaves. So I deserve some sort of social interaction before it becomes a ghost town."
"You are staying here over the holidays?" MJ asked.
"Well it's that or an empty house at best, my father returning at worst." Mel shrugged.
"Where did you spend Thanksgiving?" Alex asked turning to face her.
"Here."
"By yourself?" MJ asked.
"Um, yeah kind of, I mean there were others here as well. Not many, but there were a few."
"Why don't you spend Christmas with us?" Alex asked.
"I don't want to intrude."
"You wouldn't be." Alex said taking out her phone and firing off a message. Moments later it buzzed in response and she said reading it. "Mom is all for it."
"You don't need to pity me." Mel said.
"We're not. You shouldn't be alone at Christmas." MJ said.
"But don't you have family stuff?"
"Sure, but there is always room for more." Alex replied.
"Really?" Mel asked.
"Yes." Alex replied.
"Okay. Great – but I'll cover transport. May as well make use of my dad's jet."
"Now that is decided, let's go." MJ said.
"Where?" Alex asked.
"Somewhere fun. And assuming you don't want to go to a toga party, what about The Works?" MJ suggested.
"It is half price entry til nine." Mel said.
"But my-" Alex started only for MJ to shut her laptop. "Let's go, I will be telling your mom you have no social life."
00
"We have a rat problem." Vasquez said walking into Alex's office.
"Who?" Alex asked.
"No, I mean an actual rat problem." Vasquez clarified. "We need to get pest control in."
"Make sure they are watched at all times." Alex said.
"Of course. Hansen, White and Healy will be with them. Plus we will have surveillance on them."
"Good." Alex said just as an alarm started ringing. "What now?" She asked standing and hurrying to the control room.
"What's going on?" She demanded.
"Containment breach at the desert site." Rose said. "They have gone into full lockdown."
"Ask Supergi-" Alex started to say only for Kara to land beside her.
"I heard the alarm, what's wrong?"
"Containment breach at the desert base. They are in lock down." Alex said.
"What can I do?" Kara asked.
"Right now, nothing. Nothing can get in or out." Alex said.
"That's what they said about the safe room in the White House, but I got you out." Kara said.
"Well our engineers are better." Alex said. "My concern is this is a distraction technique. Alpha and Bravo squads were training there, so they aren't available to support us. My worry is something big is about to happen and you won't have back up."
"Yes she will." Cook said. "We may not have the latest kit, but my team is ready to go."
"If something happens and you go out there you could get hurt." Supergirl said.
"We know the risks. And we are fine with that. We really appreciate the protection you give us, but you don't need to. We have trained for this." Cook argued.
"Just don't be a distraction." Alex warned. "If something happens we will coordinate from here and everyone follows orders."
"Yes ma'am." Cook said before Alex turned to her sister.
"What? I always follow orders." Kara said.
"Ma'am a sensor has just been triggered." Rose called.
"Where?" Alex asked.
"The abandoned cannery ten miles out of the city." Rose said.
"Take Ruby and Isak." Alex said to her sister. "Cook, have your team ready to go."
"Yes Ma'am." Cook said walking off.
"Rose. Get teams Whiskey and Romeo ready to go."
"Yes ma'am."
-00-
"What have we got?" Alex asked her sister.
"One creepy old cannery." Kara said.
"I meant in terms of intruders." Alex said.
"Well if they hang out here, they'll be creepy." Kara said walking through the old cannery with Ruby and Isak.
"Not picking anything up on our sensors." Ruby reported in. "Any idea where we should be looking?"
"Not really, there is a sensor on the road into the cannery, it was that which tripped. But I can't see anything." Rose reported.
"False alarm?" Isak said.
"Or they are aquatic." Kara said. "I mean this leads into the sea."
"Any sign that's where it went?" Alex asked
"No. Wait, there are wet patches on the ground." Kara said.
"Wouldn't that indicate they came out of the water, not went in?" Isak asked.
"Unless they have been doing it for awhile." Ruby said.
"Only the sensor hasn't been tripped before." Isak argued.
"Speculation isn't getting us anywhere." Alex said. "If there is no sign of trouble get back here."
"Wait." Ruby called.
"What is is?" Kara asked.
"Something caught my eye. It was glint." Ruby said walking towards a wall.
"You know that is a window?" Isak asked. "And the sun would make it glint."
"It looked wrong for that." Ruby said as Supergirl flew up to the window.
"There's a camera here." Supergirl said.
"It's not ours." Alex said. "Bring it back for analysis."
"Okay." Supergirl said picking it up and flying down to Isak.
"If someone is watching, doesn't that imply trap?" Ruby asked.
"Yes." Supergirl said shutting her eyes and listening for anything out of place.
"Anything?" Ruby asked after a minute.
"No. But let me try something else." Supergirl said. "Stay here, I'll be back in a minute." With that she flew out of the cannery, leaving Ruby and Isak looking confused. But a moment later she returned carrying a large rock.
"What are you doing?" Ruby asked.
"Stand behind me." Supergirl instructed before breaking off some of the rock and crushing it in her hand. She then blew the dust across the room revealing the outline of a non human creature.
"Boss, we have an invisible alien." Ruby reported over the radio as Supergirl flew towards the alien at speed and tried to capture it. But as she reached it, it spat out some dark liquid which covered Supergirl."
"Gross." Supergirl complained before wrapping a metal bar round the empty void. As she did so Ruby approached from behind and hit the invisible alien with the latest DEO weapon. Moments later the alien became visible and collapsed to the ground.
"You okay?" Ruby asked Supergirl.
"I think so." Kara said as Isak scanned the slimy material she was covered in.
"Mildly radioactive, but nothing else abnormal." Isak reported.
"Want me to fly everyone back?" Kara asked her sister.
"Check no one else is there first." Alex said. "I am sending a tech team to look for more cameras."
-00-
"Well?" Kara asked as her sister ran another scan.
"You're fine."
"So I can go?"
"Do you have somewhere to be?"
"Well no, but anywhere beats the infirmary. You need TVs in here."
"Well you can propose it to the President." Alex said.
"Really?" Kara asked hopefully.
"No." Alex said shaking her head as Vasquez walked in.
"You found something?" Alex asked.
"Yes but no." Vasquez said.
"So no." Alex guessed.
Ignoring her Vasquez said.
"The team found a few more cameras. They were all connected to a wireless network via a VPN. However, as soon as we found them the link was severed and the camera was fried. We can't trace where the images went. But there were part numbers so we can track where they were procured from. They came from a local distributor. We are working with the FBI to figure out who purchased them."
"Good, but what aren't you telling me?"
"Ruby didn't pick anything up. That alien was completely invisible to our sensors." Vasquez said. "Only it wasn't, as we picked it up on the main sensor."
"Different sensitivities?" Alex asked.
"Already checking." Vasquez said. "But something feels off." She added. "But that is my problem. You should get home and see Kara."
"She's not due back until six." Alex said looking at her watch. "Wow, when did it get so late."
"You need to stop working so hard." Her sister said before asking. "What's happening with the desert base?"
"Looks like a false alarm. But it will remain locked down until we are sure." Vasquez said as Rose hurried into the room.
"There is an alien attack down town."