SuperCorp - Under a White Flag

Chapter 3 -Strange Bedfellows

"What do you think is going on over there?" Maggie asked as she gestured across the field with her chin.

"The love birds or the odd third-party observer?" Alex asked.

"Oh, I'm used to your sister and her boss. I've just never seen them so snuggly in front of Lillian before. It seems...weird. It seems weird, right?"

Alex nodded.

"I told you; she's making progress. You kids don't get it, but she isn't who you think she is. Don't judge her on her past. There's a lot you don't understand," Jeremiah said.

Eyeing Maggie for a moment, Alex stepped closer to her father and placed a hand on his elbow. "Look, Dad, I know you have to work pretty closely with Lillian, but don't forget who she is. The woman kidnapped you."

"Technically she saved my life after Hank stabbed me," Jeremiah responded.

"Uh...only technically. Still, she held you against your will for years and let us think you were dead. You had to work with Hank until he was captured. That had to have been awful."

"It was difficult," Jeremiah admitted. "Though I stopped working with Hank before his capture. He left Cadmus. Hank didn't agree with the changes Cadmus was making, so his split with the organization was necessary. We're definitely on a better path now."

"We're?" Alex asked.

"Alex, Cadmus now—"

"Dad, you just said 'we're' regarding Cadmus like you're part of them. Dad, what the fuck!?"

"Babe, chill," Maggie said, rubbing a circle on Alex's back.

"Well, I am a member."

"Because you were kidnapped!"

"Not technically. Technically, Lillian—"

"Jesus fucking Christ, Dad!" Alex threw her arms into the air, allowing them to fall to her sides again. "I don't want to hear any technicalities. I know what happened. You went on a mission, and you never came home again. I thought you were dead. Mom thought you were dead. Kara, the little girl who lost her whole planet, thought you were dead because Lillian Luthor had you for a dozen years. That's kidnapped!"

Jeremiah stood silently studying his daughter for several moments before asking, "Alex, how's AA going?"

"What? Fine, it's fine. Why would you ask me that?"

"Because, sweetie, I know that in the past, when you've been having problems with alcohol, you also have problems with your temper. Are you still making meetings?" Jeremiah asked.

Alex eyed her wife who merely held up her hands and shook her head. "Jesus." Reaching into her pocket, Alex tugged out a bronze coin and held it up between two fingers, showing it to her father. "Eight years, Dad. This is my eight-year chip. That first year was tough, but Maggie and the kids...I haven't had a relapse again, and I've been clean for eight years now. You'd know that if you came home."

"I'm proud of you sweetie," Jeremiah said, laying a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "I'm doing important work, though. We're bringing peace about."

Shoving the chip back into her pocket, Alex said, "Okay, but is that why you're still there?"

"What else could there be?"

"Alex, don't do this here today," Maggie warned.

Tugging free from where her wife had grabbed her arm again, Alex said, "Are you there because you think you're converting Lillian, or because she's converted you? Are you worried about my alcohol addiction, or should we be worried about your Stockholm Syndrome?"