Disclaimer: Supergirl is not mine.
"Do not shoot, Agent Danvers! I repeat, do not shoot!" Hank's tense voice boomed in Alex's ear piece.
"No sir, we've got this! We have the alien surrounded!" Alex ran in a wide arc in the wooded area, gun at the ready, making sure to stay out of the alien's wide reach. The other members of the unit spread out to their respective positions.
"The alien is far too strong for you and your unit to take on. Your new directive is to capture the hostile alive after Supergirl incapacitates it. Supergirl is on her way there as we speak."
"We don't have the luxury of time, sir," Alex replied, already crouching behind a big boulder and taking aim. "We need to act now!"
"Agent Danvers, the alien is just discovered to have..."
But Alex had already fired the first shot. She was followed suit by the other agents. The alien exploded in a flash of light, leaving only a pile of smoking ash. Alex heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that the alien had been eliminated.
However, the supposed pile of smoking ash moved as if it were possessed; it separated into three piles of ash before regenerating themselves to three more aliens, each one stronger than their predecessor. The three began shooting laser beams from their fingertips, effectively hitting the DEO agents through their hidden positions. Cries of pain reached Alex's ears before she herself was hit on the shoulder. She gasped and clutched at her shoulder, which was already bleeding profusely.
Luckily for them, Supergirl and their backup team have already arrived on the scene. Those in Alex's unit who weren't injured assisted, thus effectively neutralising the three aliens as per Director Henshaw's orders.
Alex could only watch numbly as she was being led to one of the DEO vehicles. She was in big trouble.
To Hank's credit, he waited until Alex and the rest of the injured field unit members were treated before he said anything. Kara stayed beside him until Alex was released from the med bay, then he called her over.
"What happened out there, Agent Danvers?" Hank demanded without preamble.
Alex shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Sir, the alien... it regenerated."
Hank threw his hands up in frustration. "Precisely why I ordered you not to shoot and to capture it alive instead. Why did you do otherwise?"
"I-I thought we have it covered, sir."
"Apparently not." Hank stared pointedly at Alex's injury. "You have disobeyed a direct order, Agent Danvers," he continued. "You could have gotten everyone killed in your unit. In the light of all this I think you better go home for the meantime."
"What... I can handle this, Director Henshaw," Alex pleaded. "It was just one little mistake."
"Yes, a little mistake that could have had a big repercussion if Supergirl and your backup hadn't arrived in time. You should have listened to me instead of winging it out there. If I am not mistaken, you were being overconfident in the field earlier tonight."
Alex could not think of a comeback because in her heart of hearts it was true.
Hank looked at Alex, concern etching his face. "Go home, Alex," he repeated. "Get some rest and take your time."
"If this is what I get for all the hard work I've put in for this department, then I'm done here." Alex turned on her heel and left.
"Alex..." Hank started, but Kara laid a hand on his arm.
"Let her go, Director Henshaw," Kara said. For she knew that Alex needed her space whenever she felt bad. She just stared sadly at her older sister's retreating back, wondering how she could help her out of this particular rut in her career.
After driving aimlessly for two hours, Alex found herself in front of a decrepit-looking bar on the outskirts of National City. She stared hard at the blinking neon sign that says liquor with an arrow under it that points to the entrance. The sign blinked on and off. Come in, Alex, it seemed to say. Just one drink and everything will be a-ok.
The decision was not hard to make. Emotions were still running high in her system, creating a maelstrom that needed to be quenched. Forgotten. This is something that crying over a pint of mint chip ice cream will not cure. Alex parked and entered the bar.
"Give me whatever you've got. As long as it's strong," Alex told the bartender brusquely as she settled on a stool.
The bartender gave Alex a glass of scotch on the rocks which she downed in one gulp. The scotch burned down Alex's throat like wildfire, but she didn't care. For her, it was better to feel that than to remember her huge blunder on the mission due to her overconfidence.
Overconfidence. Alex never needed it before Kara arrived, because she was secure with her parents and at how proud they are of her achievements. But after Kara's arrival, she had felt the constant need to prove that she can do everything. From protecting Kara, to getting straight As in school, scoring the most number of goals in her soccer team, to even something as small as helping her parents do household chores. She has to be the best. The star.
But tonight, being overconfident almost led her and her unit to their graves. Overconfidence is unacceptable especially in her line of work since it leads to mistakes, which she did eventually commit. And that is something that she could not live with. Because of this she does not even know if Hank would want her back at the DEO.
"One more," Alex barked at the bartender.
The second scotch didn't burn her throat as much as the first one, yet she told the bartender to top off her glass one more time. Alex glared ruefully at her third scotch. If she only listened to Hank's orders, waited for Kara to arrive, then she would not be in this rut. What happened was all her fault. It was not like her to commit this kind of error; Hank had trained her to be better than that.
Alex did not remember how many drinks she'd had after the third one nor how long she stayed in the bar. When she did decide to leave, she exited the bar at the exact moment when a couple of guys were in the act of breaking into her car. One of them had already broken the window on the driver's door and was about to get in.
"Hey!" Alex yelled with as much strength she could muster, "What the hell are you doing? That's my car! Go away!"
The guy who broke her car window leered at her. "It's ours now, lady, so you go away." He gunned the engine.
As intoxicated as Alex is, she still managed to stumble towards the man in the driver's seat and tried to drag him from the car. "Get out! I have to go home!"
"So do we!" the guy shouted, pushing Alex roughly to the ground. "Wherever that is," he said to his partner and both of them laughed cruelly. They sped off into the deserted avenue, leaving Alex alone gasping and heaving on the sidewalk.
Alex curled into herself in misery, taking care not to jar her injured shoulder. Her muddled mind tried its best to make sense of what had just happened. First she gets practically suspended from the work she loves, albeit justifiably so; so she decides to have a little fun to forget it and then what happens? Her car gets stolen. Where is the justice in that? None. None at all.
The gravity of the situation combined with her being inebriated weighed heavily on her that she literally did not have the strength to get up anymore. Not caring if anyone saw her curled up in a ball on the sidewalk, Alex closed her eyes and sank into unconsciousness.
She did not wake when a car, with its driver's window broken, stopped in front of her. She remained out cold when the person who was driving the car got out and loaded her onto the car's back seat.
As quietly as it had arrived, the car drove off into the night.
chapter 2 coming up soon.
thanks for reading :)