Contributions to society

chapter 3: 2th wave of aliens kidnapping

A decade had passed since Supergirl went missing.
"Face it, Alex, she's gone, it's over," James looked gently into Alex's eyes, but even though his voice was soft, his words were so hard on her ears that she instantly lashed out at him, hissing in defiance.
"NO! No she's NOT!" the young leader of the DEO snarled. But that was when J'onn came up behind her.
"Alex, listen, we know it's hard, but it's been 10 whole years. If Kara were still alive, we would've found something by now!" he murmured.
"And how can you be so sure?" Alex snarled, but the tears in her eyes revealed that she was starting to take J'onn and James at their word.
"Because the DEO has never taken this long to crack a case before," J'onn answered with a pained expression. "And you know we've had allies all over the universe trying to help us find Supergirl. If she were still alive, we would know it by now."
Alex opened her mouth as though to protest more, but when she was unable to think up a suitable rebuttal, she closed her mouth again. The agony in her eyes was unspeakable and she looked so tired and old. It didn't matter that Kara had been absent from her life for 10 years now, it didn't matter that she'd since taken over the DEO and married Maggie Sawyer in that time frame. Even though life had continued on, both for Alex and for the rest of the universe, there was still one small part of her that was still frozen in time, stuck in that nightmarish night when Kara first went missing. That part of Alex would never move on, never be free to keep on going and growing. As long as Kara remained gone, so would that one part of Alex's soul. She would never be truly able to get over the death of her beloved little Kryptonian sister.
"Come on, Alex, it's time for you to take a break," J'onn finally broke the pained silence and wrapped a tender arm around her shoulder. It was an unusually affectionate and gentle thing for him to do, but underneath his stoic exterior, there was a heart of gold. And he loved Alex as much as any father could ever love a daughter. She really was just like his own child. It broke his heart to see her looking so dead inside and he gladly shed his gruff, authoritative persona to be the comforter that she so desperately needed. On Alex's other side, James did likewise, placing a comforting hand on her other shoulder before gently leading her away from the DEO. Alex, once again, looked like she wanted to protest, but when she could think of nothing to say, she fell silent once more and left the agency without resistance. Instead, she allowed J'onn and James to lead her onward and upward, out into the sunlight to try and take her mind off of some of her troubles.
Part of the reason Alex was so down today, out of all days, was just because it had been exactly 10 years, to the day, since Kara had gone missing. This was her 10th "death-day anniversary" and this day was always extremely painful for Alex.
"Where are we going?" the young DEO leader finally asked her retired predecessor.
"Universe Food, for a burger," he replied, the barest of smirks flickering across his aged face. If there was one thing that could always cheer a Danvers girl up, it was food, especially if it was greasy, deep-fried fast food. Unhealthy? Yes. Delicious. Definitely!
"Of course," Alex replied and, just as J'onn hoped, a small smile played across her face.
"We're bringing all of our friends too," James chimed in. "Winn, Cat, Lena, Eliza, Nia, Brainy and Maggie will all be there too."
"Ah, the good old gang," Alex's tired smile brightened once again.
"Exactly!" James nudged her playfully. "Now come on! I don't want to be the last one there! We've got burgers and meat pies to eat!" then he took off running down the city streets and, despite herself, Alex cheered up enough to go running after him. J'onn watched them both run off together and a sad, bittersweet smile flickered across his face once again.
Five minutes later, all of the Superfriends were squished into the largest table at that particular Universe Food joint.
"Ah! It's so good to see you again, Alex!" Nia was the first one to pipe up and a fond, unreadable smile spread across Alex's face in return. Nia was a relatively new addition to the Superfriends, having joined only three or four years ago. In that time, Alex had come to see her like a new little sister, not a replacement of Kara per se, but just as another sister to love and protect. Nia certainly did have some of Kara's old playful, goof, clumsy mannerisms after all. And Alex was far from the only one to notice how similar Nia was to Kara. It was part of what endeared her so much to the other members of the Superfriends. No one saw her as a replacement to Kara, but she did bring that old spark back into everyone's eyes.
"Hello Nia," Alex said as she took a seat right beside Maggie. Without a word, Maggie wrapped a supportive arm around Alex. They'd been married for just over six years now and, because of that, Maggie always seemed to know what Alex was thinking and feeling, even if she wasn't told about it. She knew that today was the 10th "anniversary" of Supergirl's disappearance, she knew that Alex was grieving today. All around, the other Superfriends gave Alex similar looks of empathy. Not pity, but empathy. She managed a smile back.
"How was work today, dear?" Eliza was the first to start up a conversation, knowing just how much pain Alex was in.
"Fine, mom," Alex replied, and then slowly, the casual conversation picked up from there.
By the end of lunch, all of the Superfriends were laughing and smiling again. Their hearts and stomachs were full and there were just as many burger wrappers on the table as there were smiles on messy faces. Although today was a day of suffering, grief and loss, it was also a day of hope, comradery and remembrance. Alex was laughing now, currently locked in conversation with Lena and Cat who were sharing all of their fond memories about Kara. Nia and Brainy were eagerly listening to Winn and James talk about some of Kara's more daring adventures. Eliza, Maggie and J'onn were all sitting together in silence, each of them watching Alex with tender expressions.
But as always, the fun and joy could not last forever. Instead, towards the end of the meal, Alex suddenly received an alert, an emergency message from somebody at the DEO. It was not good, and Alex's peaceful mood was spoiled immediately.
"More aliens have gone missing..."
15 minutes later, Alex, J'onn, James, Winn, Brainy, Maggie, Lena, Nia and all the other DEO agents within the area were all standing in conference as they discussed what they knew about the most recent disappearances.