"Where are the kids?" Alex asked immediately noticing the silence in the house.
"MJ and Alex have gone out with some school friends and Kara and Diz have gone to dinner." Eliza said. "Everyone has promised to be home by ten and have their DEO escorts. So I suggest you make the most of the peace and get some rest."
"That feels like all I have been doing recently." Alex complained.
"Then you have no idea what rest is." Kara countered.
"Cute." Alex countered.
"At the very least you need to ice your leg before dinner." Eliza said to her eldest.
"I'm going." Alex said limping to the freezer.
"And you?" Eliza said looking at her youngest.
"I have some work to do." Kara said.
"What about resting?" Eliza asked.
"I'll be sitting as I do it." Kara said walking off towards Alex's study.
-00-
"You okay?" Alex asked her sister a little later when she saw her in her study looking at a computer.
"Sure."
"What are you looking for?"
"You got me thinking about the bigger picture so I was looking for proof that we were right, or wrong." Kara said looking at photos.
"About what?"
"Alex's secret being safe." She said as Alex realised she was looking at the photos of carnage Lobo had left when he had rescued Alex form the lab.
"What exactly are you looking for?"
"We assumed that Lobo killed the man who figured out Alex's identity. But what if he didn't? What if he escaped?"
"So you are looking for his body?" Alex guessed.
"Alex shared everything, so I know exactly who I am looking for." Kara said.
"Photo 347." Alex said. "I'd already checked based on Alex's description." She added as Kara scrolled through.
"That's him." Kara said seeing an almost severed head lying on the ground in an office. "But what if he passed the information on?"
"If he had I am sure we would have known by now. I am pretty sure Stagg would have tried using it. But I had Vasquez go through the electronics we could salvage and she couldn't find anything to suggest he passed the information on." Her sister said before adding. "No matter who knows what, no way are we letting them get Alex."
"I'm worried about her." Kara confessed.
"In what way?"
"She has this thing, almost a phobia, about being a bad person."
"That's not surprising." Alex said. "I mean she'll be spending her time comparing herself to you. And you are kind of special. It's a lot to live up to." She pointed out before seeing her sister grimace. "What's wrong?"
"I was trying to tell her it was fine to choose her own path and she said she was worried about letting me down and I told her she couldn't because she'd be better then me."
"Better than you, the Paragon of Hop and saviour of Earth? Wow, I thought mom applied the pressure to me, but that takes it to a whole new level." Alex said.
"That's not helpful." Kara pointed out.
"Sorry." Alex said. "But pressure aside. Maybe it's also a fear of the unknown. How much do you talk about Fels with her?"
"Recently not so much. I mean I ran out of fresh material pretty early, I didn't exactly know him well."
"Maybe another talk will help ease some of her fears?"
-00-
"What's going on?" The teen Alex asked when she, her mother and Chewie got back to their apartment later that night.
"What do you mean?" Her mother asked.
"You have had your crinkle all night."
"You only got back ten minutes ago." Kara pointed out.
"I can tell." The teen said.
"Nothing is going on. We are just trying to make sure we haven't left any loose ends." Kara said. "How are you doing?"
"Fine."
"Want to talk more about what we discussed last night?" Kara asked.
"Didn't we cover it last night?" The teen asked.
"You tell me." Kara said.
"I heard everything you said."
"Doesn't mean you listened though." Kara said.
"I don't know what you want me to say." The teen said.
"I don't want you to say anything. I just want you to be happy." Kara said.
"I am."
"I was wondering if you wanted to talk about your father."
"Why?"
"Because I am sure you have questions and we haven't really talked about him for a long time."
"You already told me what you knew."
"Okay, but you know if you do want to talk I'll answer all the questions I can."
"I know." The teen said before suddenly getting worried. "Wait, has his family come back? Is that why you are acting weird?"
"What? No. Nothing like that." Kara said. "I just want to make sure you are okay with who you are."
-00-
Waking up in the early hours the teenage Alex went to the kitchen to get some water only to hear whimpering coming from her mother's room.
"Mom?" The teenage Alex called entering her mother's bedroom, where her mother was clearly stuck in a nightmare. Not getting a response she edged closer to the bed, hoping she wouldn't be about to find out how far her powers went.
"Mom." She called again, louder as Kara whimpered her daughter's name, anguish plastered on her face.
"Mom!" Alex said louder.
"Alex? What's wrong?" Kara asked opening her eyes. "Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?" She asked looking round confused.
Not sure how to respond the teen just crawled into the bed and hugged her mother.
-00-
"Anything?" The adult Alex asked the next day.
"Do dead ends count?" Kara asked.
"No."
"Then no." Kara said miserably. "I know we are missing something obvious. I just don't know what."
"Are we talking the case or Alex?" Her sister asked.
"Both."
"How long have you been reading these files for?" Alex asked.
"I don't know three, four hours maybe."
"Then it is time for a break. What happened with Alex?" Her sister asked.
"I think she is having nightmares still." Kara said.
"It'll take time to get over what happened." Alex pointed out.
"But she won't talk to me about it. I want to help, but she shuts me out."
"She's worried about you." Alex said.
"But that's not her job."
"I know, but she can't turn off her feelings."
"I don't want her to, I just want her to talk about them."
"I know. I get that."
"What do you do when you are shut out?" Kara asked.
"On that everyday occurrence I just let them have space. Kelly used be be able to get them to open up, but whenever I tried it ended up like an interrogation and they shut down. And now it is just me and they still won't talk, to me anyway. They talk to each other, a lot. Just like we used to and they talk to mom and Lena. And Kara has talked to you more in the last six months than she has to me in the last six years. I don't have any answers but what I do know is Kara, MJ, Alex, may not all be the same species, but they are still teens and they are all resilient. We may not like that they won't talk to us, but they will talk to someone and that is the important point. And it is why you were right."
"About what?"
"I talked to James. He's happy to MJ for a few days."
"That's great." Kara smiled.
"Well, seeing I am assuming Kara will be spending all her time with Diz, you are going to have to fill the void."
"Of course." Kara smiled. "And maybe by then we will have solved this case."
"Maybe." Alex said before asking. "Want to go see Max?"
-00-
"What can I do for you?" Max asked as Supergirl and Alex landed on his balcony.
"It's time to share intel." Alex replied.
"I seem to remember I did share." He said waving at the couch so Alex could sit down. "An act of good faith. But since then I have heard rumours you are illegally detaining prisoners again. While I am far happier that it is Stagg not me, it still makes me feel uneasy."
"The FBI have Stagg not us." Alex said.
"How uncharacteristically sharing of you. But government is government." Max commented. "What exactly do you want from me?"
"What do you know about Tycho?" Supergirl asked.
"Ruthless leader, but highly successful."
"And corrupt?" Alex guessed.
"He has a reputation of doing what ever it takes. That's why he has so many shady government contracts." Max said.
"Have you met him?"
"Not in person. Rumours are he is a germ phobe and he avoids meeting people. But that has never got in his way."
"Why did you think he was involved in the hyperloop accident?" Supergirl pressed.
"Money."
"Yes, but what proof do you have?" Alex asked.
"None. That's the problem, he's too good to get caught. Mind you I thought Stagg was too and he proved me wrong. Or did Tycho turn on him?" He asked.
"It looks that way." Alex confirmed.
"And that is why you never get into bed with rival CEOs." Max commented.
"The mole who you thought was working for Stagg, where is he?" Alex asked.
"I'm not you. I don't track the location of all my employees." Max said.
"But you will keep an eye on a risk. And he is a big risk."
"And useful. I don't want to jeopardise that." Max said.
"Useful how?" Supergirl asked.
"What do you want from me?" Max asked.
"Help putting an end to this. Ignoring Tycho, there are still missing metas and aliens." Alex said.
"None of which are my problem." Max said.
"Why did you help us?" Alex asked. "You are better than just wanting revenge. There was a reason you wanted to stop Stagg and Tycho. What was it?"
"My goals haven't changed since we first met. I just want what is best for this planet. That means humans taking care of themselves." He said. "And before you get on your high horse, you disappeared for nearly twenty years. When you went there were already too many dependencies on you."
"And Metas stood up to fill the gap." Supergirl said.
"And what happened when you returned? They disappeared." Max argued.
"They were kidnapped." Supergirl corrected.
"Look, I don't want to be reliant on anyone other than myself." Max said. "All I want is what is best for the Earth. And some of that requires tough love. That's all I'm doing. But to do that I need money. Stagg and Tycho screwing me over put my plans in jeopardy. Now they have bigger issues so aren't my concern."
"I guess it is true that a leopard never changes his spots." Supergirl said.
"I never claimed to have changed. You just have too much faith in better angels."