A/N: Thanks for the reviews.
Baratta jennifer - things will not be plain sailing
"Morning." Stan said as Alex came into the kitchen.
"Morning."
"Sorry about Molly."
"It's fine." Alex smiled before seeing Molly appear midair in front of her. Quickly she grabbed her to stop her falling.
"That was fun!" Molly said.
"No. That was bad." Stan said sounding strict. "What if Alex hadn't caught you?" He asked taking Molly of Alex. "No more powers."
"That's not fair." Molly protested.
"Tough." Stan said as he put Molly on a chair before looking at Alex and apologising again. "Sorry."
"She must keep you on your toes." Alex commented.
"That's one way of putting it." Stan replied as Matt and Jane came through the back door.
"Hey, you're up." Matt smiled as he walked over to Alex.
"Happy Birthday. Where have you been?" Alex asked.
"Long story." Matt replied.
"We'll fill you in later." Jane added. "But first I need to grab my stuff. See you back here in thirty?"
"Sure." Matt replied as his father entered the kitchen.
"Morning all." He smiled. "How is the birthday boy?"
"Happy not being referred to in the third person."
"All ready for today?"
"I was thinking, as Alex is here, perhaps we can do something different." Matt said hopefully.
"Alex, do you want to stand in the way of a family tradition." Matt's father asked.
"No." Alex said.
"How about torture?" Matt asked.
"Ignore him." His father said. "It will be fun."
"Can I go?" Molly asked.
"No." Stan said.
"But-"
"You can't walk that far." Stan said.
"Yes I can." Molly said. "I won't ask you to carry me. I promise. Please."
"Fine. But I won't carry you. And if you don't make it back you'll miss cake." Stan conceded. "Go get dressed."
"You sure you want to take her?" Sarah asked.
"No." Stan said.
"What exactly are we doing?" Alex asked Matt.
"Every year, to celebrate mine and Stan's birthdays we are taken on a ritual that some would call torture."
"Ignore him." Andy said. "After I married Alison, Stan was feeling left out, so we started a tradition where the two of us would go on a hike for his birthday. Eventually Matt was old enough and Stan invited him."
"Because he wanted to share the pain." Matt muttered.
"After that on both their birthdays we always go on the hike. And then Jane joined in, and now you and Molly." Andy went on, unperturbed by is son's lack of enthusiasm.
"You sure it is okay for me to go?" Alex asked.
"See even Alex is trying to get out of it." Matt argued.
"Anyone can come." Andy said. "Besides, maybe you can make Matt appreciate it more."
000
"I thought you were taking time off for you." Alex said when her sister entered her office.
"I was, but I thought I could help you." Kara said.
"How is that focusing on you?" Alex asked.
"If I help you, you'll finish earlier and we can have fun." Kara said as the office door opened again.
"Alex, we have a major problem." Vasquez said.
"When don't we?" Kara asked.
"What is it?" Alex questioned.
"Those files we got from Mel's father, some were using a different encryption software. The thing is on the disk Dodds gave you there was a key, we tried using it and got in."
"That's great." Kara said.
"Not really. This isn't over." Vasquez said putting something up on screen.
"That looks really familiar." Alex said looking at the screen.
"That looks like Myriad." Kara said.
"It is." Vasquez said.
"They were going to use it?" Alex asked.
"No, they are going to use it." Vasquez said.
"What?" Alex asked.
"Some of the files were made after Indomitable died. And there is countdown, which reaches zero today."
"The power needed is huge." Kara said. "How are they getting the signal out?"
"Comms satellite?" Alex guessed.
"No, much more clever, they are going mass small scale." Vasquez said.
"What?" Alex asked.
"They are using individual radios-" Vasquez started only for Alex to jump in.
"Anything can be an individual radio, including phones."
"Hence smart." Vasquez said. "We know a signal has been loaded in as part of updates, so in theory kill the networks and we should get round that problem. But -"
"All emergency services, military, us, use and need radios." Alex said.
"Yes."
"Let me sort out the networks." Alex said.
"The Whitehouse is on line 2." Vasquez informed Alex.
"Thanks." Alex said picking up the phone.
"We need all cell networks shut down now." Alex growled into the phone. "Yes I know. But compared to if we don't that is nothing. No, the whole country. … yes I am aware of that …. yes I understand that … compared to the alt- .. yes I do … yes I am … I am aware-" Alex said, Kara wincing with every response the person on the other end of the line was giving her. Finally Alex put down the phone and said.
"I shut down the networks ... or resigned." Alex said. "However, military and agency comms won't be shut down without alternatives."
"So we let the people with guns be brainwashed?" Kara asked.
"No, we come up with alternatives." Alex said before looking at her second in command. "Revert to the DEO radio system from thirty years ago." Alex said to Vasquez. "And we need to get hold of LEOs and get them-"
"Boss, we need you in the control room." Ruby said coming into her office.
"What's happened?" Alex asked.
"A whole bunch of craziness."
"Go. I have this." Vasquez said causing Alex and Kara to follow Ruby out of the office.
"There is some crazy weather." Ruby said as she walked to the control room with the sisters.
"I'm a little busy to deal with the forecasters screwing up." Alex replied.
"No, I mean crazy weather. Weather that defies all numerical weather predictions. Kinda like it is man made." Ruby explained.
"How like it is man made?"
"Could be alien made, but definitely not natural. The bigger problem are there are several instances. Which means if it is a meta, there are more than one."
"That's all we need." Alex said entering the control room.
"Think it is connected to Myriad?" Kara asked.
"Can't rule it out, which means if it is a meta and you go stop them, you could be in danger."
"Right now many people are in danger." Kara said looking at the screens. "Where am I needed the most?"
"Rose?" Alex called.
"Yes ma'am. Lead operations here, send Supergirl where she is needed, but make sure she has appropriate back up. Anything strange, let me know."
"Yes Ma'am."
"And Kara, you need to take an old generation radio with you."
00
As the group hiked Matt said to Alex. "Told you this was torture."
"How did you grow up on a farm and hate the outdoors?" Alex asked.
"Clue was in the question." Matt said as Molly suddenly appeared in front of them. Reacting at speed Alex caught her moments before an irate Stan said.
"Molly."
"I was tired." The toddler protested.
"No powers." Stan growled.
"I want Alex to carry me."
"Absolutely not." Stan said.
"It's fine." Alex said.
"Isn't she heavy?" Jane asked.
"No." Alex said.
"Like not at all?" Jane asked.
"Not really." Alex said.
"Seriously? She weighs a tonne." Jane went on.
"I mean maybe a little but its fine." Alex said.
"Why are you being weird?" Matt asked Jane.
"I'm not, I just don't want Alex to hurt her back." Jane said.
"I'm fine." Alex said as Matt looked at his childhood friend.
"What?" Jane asked looking innocent.
Before Matt could answer, it started to rain heavily.
"Was this forecast?" Stan asked his father.
"No. And it looks bad, we should get back."
"Finally." Matt said.
00
"Where are we on the radios?" Alex asked.
"A message was sent out telling everyone to power down and come in for a replacement. So far we have switched ninety percent of our ones out to old generation versions. The new ones are locked in an anechoic chamber and we are monitoring. The armed forces are being surprisingly responsive. But LEOs aren't. The President is going to send an emergency broadcast telling everyone to stay in their homes. Once that is sent the television networks will be shut down. It is estimated they will be shut down in an hour."
"Why so long?"
"There are back ups and back ups of back ups. The networks were designed to always be on. Getting the cell networks shut down when we did was a miracle." Vasquez said. "But one thing you should know is Cullen and Holland did disconnect, but their units haven't been replaced. Ruby went to the house, but no one was there."
"If they disconnected it means they got the message, I need to trust that they will do their job." Alex said before asking. "How are we doing with the storms?"
"They are still occurring everywhere." Rose said. "There's a lot of damage, but few casualties. The bigger issue is infrastructure. A few hydro plants have stopped working and several power lines have been destroyed. And with radios and phones down it is hard to coordinate repairs. That said with the resulting power cuts no one is grumbling about cell phones being down."
"How is Supergirl getting on?"
"Stopping the major damage the flying on." Rose reported.
"This feels like a distraction." Alex said looking at the screens.
"Seeing Myriad is meant to happen today it has to be connected." Vasquez said from her side.
"We can't stop the storms, but where are we on tracking. Can we figure out who or what is behind it?" Alex asked.
"We are going through all the data and have pulled out a few blurry images. We can't even tell if it is the same person everywhere or multiple metas, assuming metas are the cause."
"Any sign of anything chemical or mechanical?" Alex asked.
"No." Vasquez said.
"I really don't like this." Alex said. "And if this is going where we think it is going, Supergirl is burning energy she will need."
"You want to pull her back?" Vasquez asked.
"Yes, but she won't go for it. But we can get some help. Let's call her cousin."