As the group entered Alex's house they were ambushed by an excited dog who ran up to the teenage Alex and started jumping.
"Hey." The teen said crouching down and stroking him as he started to lick her.
"Is everyone okay?" Eliza asked walking into the hallway. On seeing the four of them she pulled the closest two, Kara and the teenage Alex, in for a hug.
"We're fine." Kara said causing Eliza to pull away and carefully examine both of them.
"You sure?" Eliza asked, doubt and concern in her eyes.
"We're fine." Kara smiled causing Eliza to turn her attention to the older Alex and MJ who were also pulled into a hug. Hearing her grandson hiss in pain she pulled away and asked. "Your ribs still bad?"
"A little." He said as the front door opened and the teenage Kara and Diz walked in. On seeing her bother she pulled him in for a hug.
"You okay?" Kara asked her brother.
"Fine." He said sounding confused.
"What?" Kara asked pulling away.
"I thought you hated me."
"Of course I don't hate you. I'm mad as hell at you, but you are still my brother." She said hugging him again.
"How come you are not at college?" Alex asked her daughter.
"It's Friday night." The teenager pointed out. "And I wanted to keep grandma company over the weekend."
"It's Friday?" Alex asked surprised.
"Yes, you've been gone for nearly two weeks." Eliza said.
"Sorry." Alex said pulling a face.
"The important thing is you are all okay." Eliza said.
"Why don't I go pick up pizzas and let you catch up?" Dix offered slipping out of the house as Eliza hugged the older Kara again.
00
As the group sat eating pizza the older Alex noticed how close her daughter and Diz were acting and casually asked.
"What has been happening here?"
"Not much, but I've had several calls from Steve." Eliza said, taking the attention away from her granddaughter, not viewing the relationship as anything new.
"Steve?" Her daughter asked confused. "As in Kara's Steve?"
"He's not my Steve." Kara countered.
"Yes, that Steve." Eliza went on, ignoring her youngest. "He was very concerned about Alex and Kara. Wanted to know if there had been any news and if he could do anything to help."
"What did you say?" The older Kara asked.
"That your sister had everything in hand, but I would get you to call once you were back."
"But he was okay?" Kara asked.
"I think so." Eliza replied.
"You should add Lena and J'onn to the people to call." The teenage Kara said.
"How is J'onn doing?" Her mother asked.
"He's fully recovered." Eliza said.
"Unlike his ship." Diz said causing the older Alex to look at him, resulting in him adding. "I've been trying to help him fix it. But it still needs lots of work." He explained as Eliza noticed the untouched pizza in-front of her grandson.
"You not eating?" Eliza asked looking at MJ,
"No, I'm not hungry." He said, seeing his mother frown he added. "I'm just tired." Seeing his mother's doubt he added while pointing to his cousin who was leaning against Eliza. "Alex is too."
"Is she asleep?" Kara asked looking over to her daughter.
"I think so." Eliza said looking down at her granddaughter.
"I'm going to take her home." Kara said nudging her daughter.
"Five more minutes." The teen complained.
"I can carry you." Kara said.
"I'll walk." Alex said sleepily as she stood.
"We'll see you tomorrow." Kara smiled to Eliza who hugged her granddaughter once more before the teen sleepily followed her mother and dog out of the house.
"I'm going to go to to bed." MJ said standing. "Night." MJ said kissing his mother goodnight. Once he had gone the teenage Kara commented.
"Things seem to have got better."
"Yes." Her mother agreed, although she frowned.
"Then why the frown?"
"He's withdrawn and not eating as much as normal."
00
As Kara sat on her bed catching up on all the emails she had missed she saw her door open and her daughter walked in.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Kara asked putting her computer down.
"No." The teenager said moving over to her mother's bed and sitting next to her.
"What's wrong?" Kara asked.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" Kara asked confused.
"What happened to you on Dakran."
"That wasn't your fault." Kara said. "And it wasn't exactly bad." She added as she wrapped an arm around her daughter. "What about you? You feeling any better about what you found out?"
"I guess." The teen said yawning.
"Good. But it's late. Get some sleep." Kara said kissing the top of her head.
"Can I stay in here?" The teen said sleepily.
"Of course." Kara said.
"Mom?"
"Yes." Kara asked looking down at her daughter.
"I know you are still mad at him, but MJ really looked after me."
"I know."
00
"Morning Sweetie." Eliza said when Kara entered her sister's kitchen the next morning.
"Hey." Kara smiled. She then looked over to her niece, nephew and Diz and said. "Morning guys."
"Hi." The teenage Kara replied as Diz nodded and MJ tried to sneak out of the kitchen.
"MJ wait." The older Kara called. The command causing him to turn round while mentally preparing himself for whatever his aunt was about to do.
Kara then walked towards her nephew and gave him a bag. Seeing his confusion she said. "You can open it."
"Okay." He said still confused as he pulled a box from the bag. The box was for the latest console game he had been after.
"What's this?" MJ asked.
"It's a game." His aunt said.
"I know, but why?"
"Well, I was assuming you needed something to do when you were grounded." Kara said before hugging him and adding. "Thank you for looking after Alex."
"Sure." He said.
"Right, I need to get to work."
"Where is Alex?" The teenage Kara asked.
"Still asleep. I'm sure she'll be over later."
"We'll look after her." Eliza assured her.
"So does aunt Kara no longer want to kill me?" MJ asked confused.
00
"Most people take one sabbatical in a career." Cat commented as Kara walked into her office. "You take them almost as often as coffee breaks."
"Sorry. Alex was kidnapped by Lobo, I had to get her back."
"I know. Is she is okay?" Cat asked.
"Yes. He took her to Dakran." Kara explained. "Wait, how do you know?"
"It was on the news."
"It was?"
"Well a giant alien kidnapping one high schooler and beating another is big news. The video was top trending for three days." Cat said. "How are you doing? You weren't exactly looking good after your last fight."
"I'm fine now." Kara said.
"Why are you here?"
"I work here." Kara said before worrying. "Don't I?"
"I haven't fired you if that is what you are asking." Cat said. "But assuming you have only recently returned to Earth, don't you have Tycho related activities to deal with?"
"I thought you might want me here."
"As novel as that would be, you can't do everything." Cat said.
00
As Eliza entered Kara's apartment she saw her granddaughter sitting on the couch looking upset.
"What's wrong?" Eliza asked rushing to her side.
"Nothing."
"That doesn't look like nothing." Eliza said before seeing that her granddaughter was watching news clips of her mother after she was extracted from Tycho's base. "It is better to not watch the news." Eliza pointed out as she sat next to her granddaughter and hugged her. "The important thing is you are both okay."
"She looked really bad." Alex said looking at the footage of her mother being carried out of the Tycho's building several days before.
"She was, but she is fine now." Eliza said turning off the TV.
"She never said she had been that bad. I should have known when she collapsed but she said she was fine-"
"When did she collapse?" Eliza asked frowning.
"After she got to Dakran, but they had a lamp room and Alex said she was okay."
"She was desperate to find you, so left Earth before she should have done." Eliza said. "But if your aunt said she was okay, then she is okay."
"What if she hadn't made it though? She was really mad at me that day."
"She wasn't mad at you."
"Yes she was, for not telling her everything that had happened."
"She wasn't mad at you." Eliza said. "But I do know if it will make her happier if you don't hide things from her."
0-
"How was Dakran?" Vasquez asked when she saw Alex in her office.
"Alien." Alex responded.
"Everything okay there?"
"I think so. The kids are fine, so that's the main thing."
"Yet you don't look okay."
"I was hoping I'd come back to some progress in the search for Jess. But based on these emails there has been no progress."
"That's accurate." Vasquez said.
"I've been reading the reports of all the attacks that happened. We are working on the assumption Tycho was behind it, but what if he wasn't?" Alex asked.
"In a way it doesn't make any difference, it doesn't bias the investigation and we are going to keep digging for the truth no mater what that might be." Vasquez pointed out. "How is MJ doing?"
"He is being very un MJ like. And I know he is carrying around a lot of guilt, but I'm sure something else is going through his head."
"Has he talked about what happened?"
"Only the headlines. And he has barely mentioned Jess."
"So he is basically acting like you?" Vasquez said.
"Apparently so." Alex sighed.
"Well I have more bad news as well. We haven't made progress with Malaise either. We had a couple of maybe leads about him, but they turned out to be nothing."
00
"MJ, what are you doing?" The teenage Kara asked when she saw he was mowing the lawn, clutching his ribs as he did so.
"Mowing the lawn." He answered as if she was stupid.
"You need to stop." She said.
"I need to do this." He said as he kept going causing his sister to pull the power cord. "What are you doing?" He asked.
"MJ, you're hurt." She pointed out.
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not. If mom comes back and sees you in pain she is going to freak out. So come on, let's go inside."
"I need to finish the lawn. It's on the list."
"What list?"
"The MJ punishment list mom wrote weeks ago."
"Well you ignored that list for weeks, a few more weeks won't make a difference." His sister argued. "MJ, I know you are feeling guilty and like you want to make amends, but hurting yourself isn't going to help mom. Come on let's go inside."
"But-"
"No buts." She said guiding him inside. "I'll make you some breakfast."
"We had breakfast."
"No, I had breakfast you just played with your food."
"Where's Diz?"
"Inside. Why?"
"I need him to run interference." He said as they entered the kitchen where their cousin was sitting talking to Eliza and Diz.
00
"Hi." The teenage Kara called when her mother limped into the house.
"Hi." Alex smiled before noticing the silence. "Where is everyone."
"Grandma is walking Chewie with Alex. And Diz is out buying food with MJ." She explained, seeing her mother's confused look she said. "We thought MJ may open up more to Diz."
"How's he been?"
"Quiet." The teen said. "What about you?"
"What about me?" Alex asked confused.
"How are you doing?"
"I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me."
"I was there during some of MJ's outbursts. I know how hurt you were."
"He didn't mean it." Alex reminded her. "He wasn't in control."
"I know. But I was. I mean all the times I lashed out at you. I'm sorry."
"Lashing out is something you both inherited from me." Alex said hugging her. When she finally pulled away she said. "So you and Diz seem close again."
"We are." The teenager said bracing herself for a lecture. Noticing her expression Alex asked.
"What?"
"Aren't you about to lecture me?" The teen asked.
"About?"
"Diz."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because that is what you do." The teen pointed out.
"Kara you are old enough to know what you want." Alex said. "Just be careful."
"I will." She said as they heard Diz's car pull into the driveway.
"Anything I should know about your brother before he gets in?" Alex asked her daughter.
"He tried mowing the lawn earlier."
"Why?"
"To make it up to you. I stopped him, but unsupervised he's likely to do something stupid."
00
"What's wrong?" Kara asked her daughter as they walked Chewie that evening. "Are you worried about school tomorrow?"
"No."
"Then what's wrong?" Kara asked.
"I don't want you and Alex to fight."
"We're not." Kara said confused.
"Now. But you were. When you and Alex fight you do things alone and get into trouble. Just like what happened with Tycho. You could have died because you were fighting with Alex."
"We weren't really fighting."
"But you were avoiding her because of what MJ did." The teen said.
"Well yes."
"That's why I didn't tell you. I'm tired of you getting hurt and I don't want to lose you." Her words causing Kara to pull her in for a hug.
"You shouldn't have had to deal with that alone." Kara said. "And you shouldn't worry about me. Even when Alex and I fight we always look out for each other." She paused before pulling away and added. "But you and me to be strong, we need to not hide things. So you need to tell me when things are bothering you and what you are feeling."
"Okay." The teen said hugging her again. "So are you really going to be okay with MJ?"
"Are you okay with MJ?" Kara countered.
"I think I'm more okay with what he did than he is."
"What do you mean?"
"He's knows he caused lots of problems for Alex and he doesn't want to create more so he's keeping it to himself."
"Has he talked to you about it?"
"Not really. He just apologises for being a jerk." She said as they walked up the drive to Alex's house.
"It takes time to get over guilt." Her mother said opening the front door.
"I guess." The teen said letting Chewie off the leash before they headed to the kitchen.
"You are off the planet for two weeks and you get engaged?" The teenage Kara asked her cousin when the pair entered the kitchen.
"Who got engaged?" The older Kara asked confused.
"Alex." The teenage Kara said.
"What are you talking about?" The older Kara asked as the teenage Alex glared at her two cousins. The older Kara then turned back to her daughter and asked. "What are they talking about?"
"Should we be worrying about those sirens?" Diz asked, trying to save Alex.
"What sirens?" MJ asked before his sister kicked him. "Oh those sirens."
"My hearing is better than yours. There are no sirens." The older Kara pointed out looking at all the teens. She then focused on her daughter and asked. "What engagement?"
"It wasn't an engagement, It was some jerk wanting my money trying to arrange a marriage."
"Why are you only telling me this now?"
"You collapsed." The teen pointed out before adding. "Twice."
"Twice?" Eliza asked, only knowing about the first one.
"That one wasn't really a collapse." Kara said.
"Kinda was." Her sister said before explaining to her mother. "She touched an alien device and unlocked some memories."
"Can we stay on topic?" The older Kara asked looking at her daughter. "You got engaged?"
"No. He just wanted my money. Plus he was a jerk. That's why MJ got into a fight."