"Hi mom." The teenage Alex called as she entered the apartment before seeing Sam and adding. "Hi."
"Hi Alex." Sam smiled.
"How are you feeling?" Kara asked looking over to her daughter who came and hugged her.
"I'm fine." The teenager said as she pulled back and looked at her mother. Seeing the bruises still on her face and bandage on her hand she guessed. "You still don't have your powers?"
"Not yet." Kara said. "But I'm okay. I'm more worried about you. I missed you last night and this morning."
"I'm fine. All healed. But I have a school thing I need to do, so I'll be with Kara and MJ tonight."
"Okay." Kara said, sounding disappointed. "But don't stay up too late, you still need to recover."
"I'm fine." Alex said hugging her once more as the door opened again and the adult Alex walked in with Lena.
"I'll see you tomorrow." The teenager said before nodding to her aunt and leaving.
"What are you guys doing here?" Kara asked looking from her sister to Lena.
"Girls' night in." Lena said.
"We have ordered pizza." Alex said.
"And seeing it might actually work on you for a change I have tequila." Lena said. "And wine if you'd prefer."
"Guys, I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I really don't feel like company."
"Okay." Alex said. "You go sit over there and we'll sit over here and have fun."
"You really aren't going?" Kara asked.
"No." Lena said as she sat down and poured Kara a drink.
"Fine." Kara said taking the shot glass from Lena and drinking it.
"That's horrible." Kara complained.
"By your fifth shot it will taste wonderful." Lena assured her pouring her another shot.
"Just go easy." Alex warned as Kara downed it.
"I'll be fine." Kara assured her as Lena topped up her glass.
"So who is Steve?" Sam asked looking at Kara who downed the shot.
"Steve?" Lena questioned.
"Yeah, he was texting Kara all afternoon." Sam said.
"It was hardly all afternoon." Kara countered.
"Multiple texts." Sam added.
"It was three." Kara said as she downed another shot.
"That counts as multiple." Lena pointed out. "Wait, is this the infamous Steve?"
"Infamous?" Sam asked.
"He's Martin's uncle and guardian." Kara said.
"That means nothing to me." Sam said.
"Martin is a kid in Alex's class who is getting bullied." Alex clarified, frowning as Kara downed another shot.
"And you run a support group?" Lena asked.
"No." Kara said shaking her head.
"Then what did he want three times?" Lena asked.
"He wanted to know if I had time to meet for coffee." Kara said sensing the conversation wasn't going to end anytime soon.
"Which you do." Alex said.
"Not." Kara corrected, her voice slightly slurred. "I am meant to be resting so I can get my powers back."
"I thought it was just coffee or is that a euphemism in Kryptonian?" Lena teased.
"S'not funny." Kara said trying to pour herself another drink.
"Maybe you've had enough." Alex said taking the bottle off her.
"No. Not enough." Kara said taking the bottle back.
"Kara, drinking when miserable is not a good idea." Alex warned.
"I am not. I can't. I mean … I mean …. I'm the par para paragon of hope. I don't get to be miserable." Kara said hugging the bottle.
-00-
Noticing his cousin wasn't paying any attention to what he was saying MJ threw a pillow at her head.
"What?" She asked whipping her head round.
"Grandma wants to know what pizza you want."
"Anything." The teenage Alex said.
"Glad I asked." MJ said walking off.
"You okay?" The teen Kara asked.
"What do you think she would have said to me?" The teen Alex asked her older cousin.
"Who?" Kara asked confused.
"Mom. I mean she tried to come to Lena's lab. So she was probably coming to find me. So what do you think she was going to say?"
"What?" Kara asked still confused.
"Mom was worried about Red Kryptonite and that Red ring because of what it might make her do."
"Yeah, well from what we over heard they are kind of dangerous." The teenage Kara said.
"Gets rid of inhibitions and releases inner anger is what we heard." Alex said.
"Right."
"So they both act as an outlet for feelings that are already there." Alex argued. "So what would she have said to me?"
"She may have not been coming to find you. I mean Lena and Grandma were there too."
"We both heard her ask your mom to protect me if she ever got exposed. So she must know she has something she wants to get off her chest."
"Or she was just being super paranoid and protective." Kara said.
-00-
"Is she going to be okay?" Lena asked looking at Kara who was asleep on the couch hugging an empty bottle.
"I don't know. I've never seen her like this." Alex said, a constant frown etched on her face. "She was right, she was doing so much for me and I just let her. I didn't question if it was too much, I just let her get overwhelmed."
"We are both guilty of that." Lena said.
"Did she say anything this afternoon?" Alex asked Sam.
"Not really. To be honest we started looking into Sloane Syndicate."
"Why were you looking into Sloane Syndicate?" Lena asked.
"Kara mentioned the and I remembered coming across them a couple of years ago so we were digging up info."
"And?" Alex asked.
"There were some files that they refused to share. I have no idea what was in them and to be honest I still can't remember why I asked for it." Sam said.
"Can you give me the file names?" Alex asked.
"Yes." Sam said. "They are kinda long so I will email them to you."
"You think you can get access to them?" Lena asked.
"We are in their system, plus the IRS are all over them at the moment. But there is a chance they would have destroyed those files."
-00-
"I think I'm dying." Kara said, her voice cracking as she opened her eyes.
"Or you have a hang over." Her sister said handing her a glass of water as she tried to sit up.
"Why'd I do it?" Kara groaned.
"I'm guessing for the same reason I always drunk, you wanted to not feel." Alex said.
"Why'd you let me do it?" Kara asked.
"I tried to stop you." Alex said helping Kara sit up fully.
"Why is it so light in here?" Kara asked.
"It's not. It is normal brightness." Alex assured her.
"Please don't talk so loud." Kara said burying her head under the cushion.
"I need to get to work. But mom will be over to check in on you."
"No. I don't want Eliza seeing me like this." Kara said.
"You're not a teenager." Alex said as the apartment door opened and the teenage Alex came in.
"What's wrong?" She asked seeing her mother holding the cushion over her head.
"I'm fine." Kara said. "Just don't speak so loudly."
"I thought last night was meant to help." The teenager said to her aunt with an accusatory tone.
"It did. Maybe. She's just hung over."
"You got her drunk?"
"Not so loud." Kara pleaded.
"That was all her." Her aunt assured her, wondering why she was the one getting the third degree. "I have to go to work, I'll leave you to it." She added leaving.
"Can I get you anything?" The teen Alex asked her mother.
"A hug?" Kara asked peaking out from behind the cushion causing her daughter to sit down next to her and her. "I love you." Kara said into the hug.
"Love you too." Alex said before pulling away and saying. "I'll make breakfast."
"Don't you need to get to school?" Kara asked.
"There's plenty of time." Alex said putting bread in the toaster. But as the smell of toast filled the air Kara's stomach churned and she sprinted to the bathroom.
When Kara finally emerged from the bathroom she saw her daughter waiting by her bed.
"This is a lesson in why you should never drink." Kara said collapsing on the bed.
"You are doing a stellar job in not leading leading by example." The teen pointed out.
"It's a great example why not to get drunk." Kara countered.