"This doesn't make sense. It's like Tycho doesn't actually exist, but so many people say they have seen him." Kara said the next day at the DEO.
"I have found no evidence, weak or strong, of him actually being real." Ruby said. "Every photo could have been faked. He has done no in person live press conferences."
"Yet people are convinced they have been to them." Kara said.
"Maybe it is the Mandela effect?" Vasquez said.
"Possibly, it felt like that last night. So many people were convinced they had met him, but when I checked the details there was no way they could have done when they thought they had."
"But say he doesn't exist, then why create him and what does the person behind him want?" Ruby asked. "Especially as we are no closer to nailing Tycho, should he exist."
"Maybe someone just wants to mess with us." Kara said. "What did the raids find?"
"Not much. Each of his businesses seem pretty legal. Although mandatory inspections will be keeping everyone busy for awhile." Ruby said. "But Agent Bell said she was happy to give a full briefing."
"Doesn't sound like it will reveal much though." Vasquez said. "They haven't even found any linkages to Kryptonite."
"Is there a warrant out for Tycho?" Ruby asked.
"Not enough grounds to have him come in. Once they dug into Stagg's evidence the judge rescinded the warrant. Weirdly, Tycho has been answering questions remotely, but no one knows from where. What we do know is regardless of who he is, someone has been here doing his dirty work and we are working to find them."
"While we are being paranoid, have we found Stagg's guy yet? And are we sure they are independent? Could they be Tycho's inside man in Stagg's empire?" Supergirl asked.
"No. Still haven't found Utkin." Ruby said. "The Feds are trying to persuade Stagg to give him up, but he isn't interested. We have found nothing to link Utkin to Tycho. Then again we haven't exactly found anything that links him to Stagg either."
"If Stagg isn't giving him up is that because he thinks Utkin will help him escape?" Supergirl asked.
"Maybe."
"Why can't they all give up?" Supergirl asked as Vasquez's phone rang.
"Problem?" Ruby asked.
"No. Not exactly. It's the boss."
"Is she okay?" Kara asked, worried Alex hadn't messaged her.
"She's fine. She wanted to know if we were done here."
"Why?"
"I think she needs you for something."
"I'll see you later." Supergirl said leaving the room.
-00-
"Kara?" Alex asked confused as Kara flew into the house.
"What's up?"
"What?" Alex asked.
"Why did you message Vasquez?"
"To find out if you were busy." Alex said.
"Why didn't you just message me?"
"Because I knew if I did that you'd just come here." Alex said.
"Of course I would so you should have messaged me." Kara said as the discussion turned circular. "So what's up?"
"The metas you rescued-"
"Are they okay?"
"They're fine. Most are fully back to normal."
"But?"
"They want to meet you, both yous. Fatigue's mother contacted me and said Kara you had been ignoring her."
"No I haven't. I've just been busy."
"Why don't you want to meet them?" Alex asked.
"Because I failed them. They were taken on my watch and I didn't even notice."
"You were the only one to notice." Alex corrected. "You aren't responsible for what happened."
"During the fight I did meet some of them and they all had this look of adoration and respect and it just felt so out of place." Kara said.
"It's not. You saved them. But it's not just that, you are a survivor, they relate to that." Alex said. "I'm not going to tell you to meet them if you don't want. But it might help you as well. Just think about it."
-00-
"Alex, you are meant to be resting." Eliza said that evening.
"I am. I have not moved from the couch in five hours." Alex pointed out.
"That doesn't mean you are resting." Eliza pressed.
"Better than pacing the house." MJ said.
"Where's Diz?" Alex asked her daughter.
"Working. He has a summer job doing cars." The teenager said.
"Fixing or lifting?" MJ asked earning a punch to the arm.
"Hey." MJ protested as he tried to retaliate by taking her phone. Seeing the action Chewie jumped up to join in before deciding to run over to the adult Alex and sit on her lap.
"Guys. Please don't fight." Alex pleaded as her headache grew. In response booth teens started bickering in a language neither Alex or Eliza understood.
"Guys!" Alex shouted louder just as the front door opened.
"We need a new plan." The adult Kara said as she collapsed on her sister's couch her daughter standing by her cousins.
"In what way?" Her sister asked, having no idea what her sister was talking about, but glad her kids had stopped fighting.
"Mom's a whimp." The teenage Alex said.
I'm not. But unlike your aunt I'm not mean."
"I'm not mean." Alex protested.
"You enjoyed every second of that punch."
"What punch?" The the teenage Alex asked.
"When Alex first started training me she put me in a Kryptonite cell, with out telling me what that meant, and punched me."
"Alex!" Eliza chastised.
"It wasn't a cell." Alex said. "And it was to help her train and keep her safe. She is a much better fighter as a result."
"But you enjoyed slugging her?" Her daughter asked.
"No. Well kind of, but that's not the point." The older Alex said.
"Yes it is. I can't hit Alex, even if she is almost invincible." The older Kara said.
"If you don't she won't learn." Alex reminded her.
"Are you as glad as I am that mom isn't the one training us?" MJ asked his sister.
"Oh yeah." The teenage Kara said.
"Well we can set up some red lamps and have Wildcat train her in hand to hand combat." Alex said. "And then we have have you both run drills against J'onn."
"What about killer robots?" MJ asked. "Surely the DEO have some of those."
"I'm not setting killer robots on Alex either." His aunt said looking appalled by the suggestion.
"Sink or swim." The teen said.
"Geez you are sounding like mom." His sister said.
"For now, why don't you focus on drills?" Alex suggested. "When my leg is fixed we'll come up with a new plan."
"Are you training Alex?" Her daughter asked.
"Maybe." The older Alex said.
"Good luck with that." The teenage Kara said to her cousin.
"How about for just one night we don't talk about fighting?" Eliza asked reaching breaking point. "For one night can't we just have a normal evening? No work, no fighting and no global conspiracies?"
-00-
"Morning." Alex said entering the briefing room.
"Morning. Did I know you were coming in?" Vasquez asked.
"No. Last minute decision." Alex said.
"Eliza was getting protective." Supergirl said.
"I thought it would be good to brainstorm." Alex corrected.
"So do we have to get you home by a certain time?" Vasquez asked earning a glare from Alex.
"Where are we with the investigation?" Alex asked.
"We are working our way through various strands. One the contractors; two our ex special forces guy; three the other missing metas, which includes spiders; four the missing aliens; five Kryptonite. Six Tycho."
"Anything that draws them neatly together?" Alex asked.
"No." Vasquez said. "Right now we are looking at the winners."
"Who benefited from the pulling of Spirt Inc?"
"No one in a major way. The whole contract is being redone. No longer will one company hold a monopoly." Bell said.
"So one big loser and many little winners?" Supergirl asked.
"Financially yes." Vasquez said looking at the information. "But there is a possible winner here."
"Who?" Alex asked.
"While nothing has been finalised yet, there is talk of an oversight board."
"Always is." Alex muttered.
"There will be two levels. Senate Select Committee and a private contractor, who won't be able to bid for any of the underlying contracts, but are there to ensure this can't happen again."
"And they will have access to everything." Alex said.
"Yes." Vasquez confirmed.
"Why can't this be done by Federal Employees?" Supergirl asked.
"Neutrality. A contract that benefits the army, may screw over prisons. Someone neutral has to pick." Alex said.
"But they aren't going to be neutral are they?" Supergirl said.
"That was way too cynical for you." Alex said. "But no. But presumably that contract won't be let for months and is going to be subject to oversight. It is hard to see how anyone can guarantee being the winner."
"That brings us onto two and our Merc well ex-special forces guy. He has disappeared without a trace. I doubt we will see him again unless he wants to be seen."
"The missing metas?" Alex asked.
"Stagg claims to have given us locations of interest. But we haven't found them. Nor have we found the spiders who Stagg is adamant he wasn't behind."
"Do you believe that?" Alex asked Bell.
"Not exactly, but it is hard to see why he would lie about it. He also denies knowledge of the aliens, but his denial is more believable as he is a complete xenophobe." Bell went on.
"And he blames Tycho for the metas and the aliens?" Alex asked.
"Yes." Bell confirmed. "There is one bit of new information." Bell said. "As you know, Tycho has been attending VTCs. Along with an army of lawyers. He is obviously denying everything, including meeting or working with Stagg. However, for someone with no connection he has given us a lot of dirt on Stagg."
"He has?" Alex asked.
"Last night his lawyers sent over many many files. So many I am pretty sure they want to tie up resources. But there is correspondence showing Stagg trying to buy Kryptonite and confessing to using it for Meta control."
"Stagg left such an obvious trail?"
"That's what we are trying to find out. I mean it could have been fabricated. Or Stagg may thought he had enough on Tycho to not worry about being backstabbed."
"But he doesn't?" Supergirl guessed.
"Well, Tycho has met with us virtually on several occasions and he has been openly talking about his knowledge of Stagg. And he has thrown Stagg under the bus." Bell said.
"Hasn't Stagg tried that with Tycho?"
"Yes, but we have found problems with all the accusations. Tycho's accusations are air tight though. Unless your investigation has turned up anything we have nothing to use against Tycho."
"Hang on, he made a trade with Supergirl then had her tortured." Alex said.
"Only he didn't. Not exactly. Based on your testimony it was video link." Bell said looking at Supergirl who nodded. "He says it was a deepfake and could have been anyone. He went on to say he is being framed and there is no evidence against him. And he isn't wrong on that."
"So he is using our argument against us." Supergirl said.
"Your argument?" Bell asked.
"As far as we can tell no one has met Tycho in person. Ever." Alex said. "We're not sure he exists." Alex explained.
"He has more money that some countries." Bell said.
"We aren't saying someone isn't behind him, but maybe he is not a real person. Just a puppet."
"Isn't that what Joiner was?" Bell asked.
"Yes, but Joiner was real. What if Tycho isn't, what if he is an AI?"
"Seems a little far fetched." Bell said. "But then again this is the DEO and he is a recluse. But ultimately does it make any difference? I mean based on what is happening we have nothing on Tycho."
"So that's it?" Supergirl asked.
"I don't know. I mean we have Stagg and thanks to Tycho we are getting a good case against him." Bell said.
"How is Stagg taking the betrayal?" Alex asked.
"Badly. But there is nothing he can do."
-00-
"Where is everyone?" Kara asked as she entered the lounge carrying boxes of pizza that evening.
"Not sure. Mom is out and the kids said eat without them."
"More pizza for us. But that one there has freaky green stuff on." Kara said putting the offending item on the far side of the table.
"I'm sure Alex will eat it later." The older Alex said before noticing Kara's frown. "What's up? Apart from freaky pizza?"
"It just feels like we haven't won." Kara said taking a cheesy slice.
"If what Tycho is saying is true then it's a win. If he is using Stagg as a scapegoat, at least it buys time. I mean if Tycho makes a move now it shows that he is involved and takes suspicion off Stagg." Alex said.
"I guess. But it still doesn't exactly feel like a win."
"I know. But like I said it buys us time regardless." Alex said eating her own slice. "And we need the rest."
"You still not sleeping?"
"That's not what I meant. The last few weeks have been one crisis after another. It's not healthy," Alex said. "You need a rest and to not worry about, well everything."
"Easier said than done." Kara pointed out.
"I know." Alex agreed.
"And I am so behind my work at CatCo."
"I'm guessing Cat doesn't mind."
"No, but I still feel bad." Kara said. "But I think what is worrying me is the missing Kryptonite. Especially silver K. I mean that can really screw Alex up."
"I know." Her sister agreed. "But no matter if it Stagg or Tycho or someone else we will figure out. Plus thanks to Lucy we actually have a decent insider in the FBI."
"That's true." Kara said as the door opened and four teens walked in.
"'Bout time you guys showed up." Alex greeted.
"We left weird pizza for you." Kara said pointing to a box.
"Weird how?" Diz asked.
"There is freaky green stuff on it." Kara explained. "The good news is the movie is already."
"What movie?" MJ asked.
"Kingsman. It's for Diz." His aunt explained.
"He's not going to like you for this." The older Alex said.
"Everyone likes me." Kara pointed out as her daughter sat next to her.