"Winn, are you sure this is the place?" Alex asks quietly.
She, Supergirl, J'onn and a strike team have been sent to a fairly remote location where Cadmus is suspected to be hiding out.
The building is old and crumbling and water drips from the roof, creating little puddles on the floor. They can smell the damp and the rot, although Lillian Luthor could do that to any place. Lights flicker intermittently, giving the hallway an eerie feel as the lights reflect in the pools of water that splash under their feet.
They haven't seen or heard any movement yet, which is surprising because Cadmus usually have people standing guard, so Alex wants to be sure that this is the place they've received the tip-off about.
"C'mon, Alex, would I lie to you?" Winn jokes from his desk, throwing a bouncy ball against the floor and then almost missing the catch.
"Uh, yeah! Remember that time you tried to tell me that my computer was just broken?" Alex whispers, her voice sarcastically creating air quotes around the last two words, causing Winn to wince.
Winn is uneasily silent on the other end of the comms and Alex knows that he knows exactly what's coming.
"I know you spilled coffee on my keyboard. So I turned the heads on every one of your action figures the other way."
"That was you? They are collectibles, not action figures and they're fragile! Alex-"
"Settle down, agents," J'onn commands.
As Alex looks over to her sister and J'onn, she can see that Kara is almost pink from trying to stifle a giggle and even J'onn is smirking.
"Sorry Papa Bear - Sir!"
Kara bites down on her lip as she tries not to laugh as Winn keeps digging himself deeper and deeper and she can see Alex roll her eyes and sigh, although she's clearly amused.
J'onn holds out his hands, signalling for everyone to stop. Every member of the team freezes in place and the sudden silence deafens everyone, even Kara.
She knows that the silence means that Cadmus have likely disappeared from the building; they are notorious for upping and leaving almost as quickly as they can be detected, although they have been known to use noise-blocking technology to dampen her hearing.
Kara looks over at Alex and sees the focus in her eyes as she awaits J'onn's next command.
They've come to a t-point in the corridor so J'onn carefully peers around the corner to ensure that they're not walking straight into any Cadmus agents, especially as they still haven't come across any yet.
The agents that Alex had sent to the building's other entrance do the same on the opposite side of the corridor. J'onn signals that their path is clear and he rounds the corner first, Alex and Kara on his heels.
This hallway is exactly the same in appearance as every other they've had the misfortune of walking through so far; it's dingy and poorly lit and bits of plaster and paint hang from the walls and ceiling, the only difference being the old wooden door that lies ajar at the bottom of it.
"Supergirl," J'onn whispers so quietly that only she can hear him. "What do you see?"
Kara stops and squints into the dark hallway. The whole building is 'conveniently' lined with lead, so Kara hadn't been able to do a quick sweep before they went inside, leaving them blind.
"I can't see anything, sir," she replies, a little frustrated. "Even the door has lead in it."
An audible sigh from Winn sounds down the comms, echoing the feelings of Kara and Alex. "Who puts lead in a door?"
"Someone who very clearly doesn't want us to find them," Alex mutters. "Someone who knows exactly what they're doing."
Kara begins to close the distance to the door. Alex and J'onn follow her closely. She stops in front of it, studies the way that little chips and chunks are missing at the edges like it has been violently slammed closed one time too many.
Alex crouches, examining the lines that travel from the bottom of the door towards its edge. "J'onn," she says, concern etched in her voice. "These scratches were made by fingernails."
Alex feels a little sick. Someone would have to have been fighting hard to cling to the door and cause that much surface damage to it. She didn't even want to imagine how scared they must have been and how desperately they must have wanted to escape that they would find the strength to tear chunks from wood.
Her hatred for Cadmus burns ever deeper in her soul as she stands up and unclenches a fist that she hadn't even realised was balled.
"Alex?" Kara says worriedly when she sees that her sister's face has paled.
"I'm good," Alex says quickly. "You ready?"
Kara looks at her sister with steely determination and nods once. She bursts through the door first, ready to take on as many Cadmus operatives as come her way.
But they don't.
Alex materialises at her sister's side, J'onn on her other and they look at each other, perplexed, as the other agents move around them.
The large room is empty of people other than themselves.
Lights hang loosely from the mouldy ceiling and the windows are boarded up, leaving only little cracks of light fighting their way into the dark room. Unsettled dust swirls in the light, interrupted by the heavy footprints of the DEO agents as they cautiously advance a little further into the room.
It is littered with empty wooden crates and metal tables, their stools fallen and strewn across the room like their owners left in a hurry. Sheets of paper sit on the tables, flapping around in the cold gust of air that leaves the hairs on the back of Kara and Alex's necks standing on end.
"Something's not right about this place," Kara says, her eyes darting around the room as they try to take everything in. Her crinkle sits proudly between her eyes, her discomfort plain across her face. "It's so cold in here."
"Why not take everything? Why leave this here?" J'onn wonders aloud, looking into a box filled with what looks like surgical instruments.
Alex thinks. "Maybe they knew that we were onto them? They grabbed what they could and left?"
J'onn nods, bringing his hand to his chin in thought as he assesses the situation.
'Wait," Kara directs. Her eyes fall on an opaque plastic curtain that hangs in the far corner, drawn closed. "There's someone over there."
Her x-ray vision reveals a figure huddled behind the curtain.
J'onn brings his fingers to his temple and closes his eyes. "I can't read their mind, something's stopping me."
Alex begins to slowly advance towards the curtain.
"Agent Danvers, what're you doing?" J'onn whisper shouts.
Alex doesn't stop walking. "Finding out what they know."
Kara matches her sister's footsteps while J'onn and his agents hang back.
"We see you in there," Alex shouts, her voice carrying through the room.
When no reply comes, Alex looks over to her sister who shakes her head.
The person hasn't moved.
Alex and Kara stop in front of the curtain.
Alex raises her hand to grab it while Kara readies herself in case the person behind it suddenly becomes hostile.
Alex holds three fingers in the air and counts down before yanking the curtain so hard that the rail falls from the wall.
A startling crash ricochets around the room as the metal pole falls to the concrete floor.
Kara and Alex absorb the sight in front of them.
A single hospital bed is pressed to the corner of the room, its sheets untucked and dishevelled.
Underneath sits a boy of around eighteen, his knees tucked tightly into his chest, making himself as small as he can. His elbows secure his knees but his hands grip his ears and his eyes are tightly scrunched closed.
"Agent Danvers?" J'onn says.
Alex holds her hand up in an effort to keep the room quiet. She looks at Kara, who looks equally as confused as she feels.
Why is there a boy hiding in the corner of an abandoned building formerly occupied by Cadmus?
Alex crouches in front of him. His clothes are tatty and torn, his dark medium-length hair a knotted mess and swept in all directions. Sweat shines on his skin but he shivers like he's cold and he rocks himself gently, mumbling something incoherent.
"Alex!" Kara whispers hurriedly as Alex extends her arm towards the boy. "This could be a trap!"
Alex ignores her sister. She gently places her hand on his arm.
The boy's eyes snap open. He scrambles further into the corner, further under the bed, cowers against the wall and curls further into himself. Alex can feel him shaking.
He's a trembling bundle of nerves.
"Hey, hey, it's okay," she says soothingly. "We're not gonna hurt you."
His eyes watch Alex as she kneels in front of him before looking up at Kara stood over her shoulder.
"Alex-"
Alex waves her sister's protests away, all her attention on the boy.
"Can you tell me your name?"
The boy says nothing, his hands still covering his ears. His eyes lock onto Alex's and she can see the fear in them.
They look familiar.
They're dark brown, almost identical to hers and she can't shake the feeling that she's seen them somewhere else before.
But she doesn't know this boy.
"It's okay," she tries again, shrugging off the feeling. She puts her hands over the boys' and gently tries to pull them away from his ears.
At first, he resists, so Alex loosens her hold. Eventually, he allows her to slowly move his hands away from his head.
He still looks scared but Alex feels like she's making progress.
She gently lowers his hands so that they rest against his knees.
"My name is Alex," she says, smiling at the boy in an effort to make him feel more comfortable. "And this is Supergirl."
The boy looks up at Kara again. "Su..per..girl?" His voice is shaky like he's been crying.
"Yes, that's right!" Alex says with another smile. "Now can you tell me your name?"
It's only slight, but the boy shakes his head. "M-my mother says… I d-don't deserve my n-name."
His words tug at Alex's heart. "I'm sure that's not true, sweetie," she says gently.
Kara crouches next to her sister, following her lead. "Everybody has a name no matter what your mom says."
The boy looks between them both.
"Go ahead," Alex says reassuringly.
The boy swallows hard, his eyebrows furrowing together. "Lee..viii."
"Good! That's a lovely name. Okay, Levi-"
Alex is cut off when the boy speaks again.
"Levi…. Danvers…. Luthor."