Not only was Alex unable to get anything out of Taylor Lewis that was remotely related to CADMUS or project Phoenix, but it had set the DEO a few steps back in the game.

Seeing as how she was currently bent over her and her girlfriend's dead body.

She'd been quick when she heard what happened, intercepting the NCPD and convincing them that the crime scene was under her jurisdiction because of its connections to their mission. Within a few minutes, the DEO had set up camp at the Lewis apartment, checking the entire block for clues.

Behind her, she heard a whoosh coming from the window, and for a second she expected it to be Kara. She tried not to look too disappointed at J'onn, who had just arrived at the scene. It was a little over nine in the morning, and Alex had to look as tired as she felt because her boss was shooting her a concerned look, that she dismissed quickly.

"Is it Lewis?" J'onn asked, looking around the apartment. Alex nodded, crouching down and using her latex-clad hand to turn the woman's face towards them. "It is. I was talking to them earlier."

She looked up at him. "I must've been the last person to see them alive."

J'onn walked through the room, looking at the two bodies and stopping at Ciara. "I don't see any wounds."

"She was choked." Alex nodded. "Lewis, however…"

J'onn noticed the needle stuck in her arm. "Did she do that to herself?"

Alex edged closer and studied it. "There's some residue left in the syringe…" She winced as she carefully pulled it out, examining the liquid on the bottom. "It looks like some sort of poison…"

"Why would somebody poison her?" J'onn asked.

Alex realized it was too big of a coincidence. It had to be. "The other two members of Phoenix injected poison into themselves when the DEO was on their tail… Maybe she did the same? Maybe she choked her own girlfriend and injected herself when she realized that I was onto her?"

J'onn hummed. "Well, we can't be sure. And if it was CADMUS, I doubt they'd leave any trace of them behind that they didn't want us to find."

"I'll analyze the content of that syringe, but it'll probably be a dead end." Alex sighed. "We have nothing now. The last person that could help us is dead."

"Maybe… But she can still help."

Alex opened her mouth to ask what the hell he meant, when J'onn leaned down and held Taylor Lewis' head, twisting it around and touching it. "There's a scar here, CADMUS had to have injected some sort of chip into her brain to control her."

"Good thinking." Alex agreed, getting up from the ground.

Before J'onn could continue, Alex was already out the door with the syringe, turning to one of the DEO agents outside. "Get Lewis' body to the DEO lab. We need to remove her brain chip."

The agent nodded and walked into the room, as Alex clutched the syringe, and walked away. She knew that CADMUS probably wanted her to find the chip. But it was the only lead they had. She had to play along with the game, that much she knew.

"You did well." Lillian said, as soon as she saw Maggie enter the dining room again. The detective sighed, and put her gloves down.

"Did anybody see you?"

"Nobody sees me." Maggie answered immediately. "That's why I'm so good at it."

It was sarcasm, but she wasn't surprised to see Lillian agree. "Indeed you are. Well, now that that's out of the way, you're the only one of my Phoenixes left."

"Hooray."

"Now I know I can trust you, so you get a reward. I know all the drama with you and agent Danvers has been entertaining, but I think it's time to put a stop to it. We wouldn't want the DEO to keep too close to our business, so I think we can kill two birds with one stone."

"Y-you want me to kill Alex?!" Maggie's heart sank.

Lillian laughed. "Oh, dear God, no. I'm not that heartless. Alex Danvers has done nothing more than mildly inconvenience some of my actions. She's not a threat to our cause."

"So, what do you want?"

"Your next target." Lillian gave her another envelope. Maggie opened it. She didn't recognize the name, but she vaguely remembered seeing the alien at the dive bar every now and then. She looked up at Lillian. "I don't get it."

"I'll send out a message to the DEO that gives them the location. They'll be there, led by agent Danvers undoubtedly. You'll be there. And you'll get a chance to explain everything about your mission. She'll understand, and she'll back off."

"Why would she, if she knows that I'm killing aliens?!"

"Because I still have something of hers." Lillian smiled. "And I still have you. So… I know that it'll be emotional, so we need to establish some ground rules."

Maggie leaned back, not liking where it was going.

"Whatever you do, you kill the target first. Talk then, whatever you need. If I see you doing something I don't like, I'll reactivate you, and kill her. And finally, you come back to me. Because if you don't return within your timeframe with a confirmed kill, I'll reactivate you anyway."

Maggie sighed, but shrugged. "Fine. Okay."

"You have one hour to prepare. Go get some rest."

Maggie turned around, ready to leave, but hesitated to ask one more question. "I can tell Alex the truth?"

Lillian smirked. "The whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I can't imagine what she'll do if you lie to her one more time. You and I both know that the truth will hurt her more than anything you could ever make up."

The smaller woman nodded slowly, before walking out of the room, leaving a pleased Lillian Luthor behind. She took another sip of her glass, and headed to her control room.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the DEO. Nobody is safe. We will continue to perform our duty to wipe this world from evil aliens that threaten our way of life. You will not stop us, you will not contain us. We will strike down upon what aliens call home, and we will show no mercy to those who betray us. We are the protectors of the human race. We are CADMUS."

Alex's throat went dry, as she was transfixed by the moving image on the screen. Next to her, Winn and J'onn also seemed to snap out of their trances, and looked around. "So…"

J'onn grunted. "They want us to stay out of their way."

"If we do that, more aliens will die." Alex shook her head. "We can't."

"'Perform our duty', that's what they said, right?" Winn frowned. "Maybe they're referring to the Taylor Lewis murder? That she had to be destroyed because she was evil?"

"Of course she was evil, she stopped working for them." Alex scoffed.

"CADMUS wants to hurt aliens where they think they're home." J'onn seemed lost in thought. "Maybe…"

"… The bar." Alex's eyes widened. "They're warning us that they'll strike next at the alien bar. That's where aliens go to be themselves, it's a safe haven."

"I'll assemble the troops." J'onn said. "We need to stay low."

Winn raced back to his monitors, while Alex ran out of the command center and towards her bike. She would kill every CADMUS goon that stood between her and getting her two girls back. She knew it.

She wouldn't hesitate.

When Alex arrived at the bar, she plugged in her earpiece. "Winn, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear. J'onn and the strike team are moving out, but they don't want to spook CADMUS yet. You'll have to go in and scout."

"Copy that." Alex said, moving inside. Usually, the bar felt like a safe place for her too. It was where she'd gotten to know Maggie. Where they shared their first kiss, albeit an awkward one. Where they'd made so many memories…

She ordered a drink, and took a seat at a booth, scanning through the crowd. A few aliens were playing poker. Two were flirting at the bar. One was sitting by himself at a table.

Alex didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She actually recognized most of the present aliens as regular patrons of the bar. Of course, it was early, so she hadn't expected the place to be packed.

The door opened, and another familiar face walked in. She vaguely remembered him as a guy who hung out at the bar sometimes. Always dressed in a suit, he was probably a banker or something. He came out to drink after work, but Alex had never seen him there during the day.

She watched him walk over to the bartender and ask her something. When the woman shook her head with a frown, Alex got a weird feeling. The alien copied her frown and replied, but when the bartender shook her head for a second time, he stepped back.

Another figure entered, face and head covered by the hood of their sweater. It wasn't something unusual; most people new to the bar wanted to cover up their alien markings or face to not be scrutinized for being who they were in public.

The figure walked over to the suited alien, patted him on the back and whispered something to him. He turned around, and laughed with a grateful nod, as the hooded figure slipped him something. He stared at what they'd put in the palm of his hand, nodded, and walked out.

Alex watched intensely, seeing the hooded figure look around, and finally settle on her. It was too dark in the bar to see their face, but as they approached Alex, the agent reached for the weapon in her holster.

"Don't. Not here." The figure whispered. And Alex recognized the voice immediately. "Maggie?!"

Maggie took off the hood, and slipped into the booth, leaning against the wall so she couldn't be seen by the rest of the bar. Only Alex, who was dumbfounded to be right next to her, apparently, because she didn't say anything.

"Alex, there isn't a lot of time. I need to talk to you."

"What did you do to him?!"

Maggie craned her head to see that Alex was looking at the door, before turning back to her girlfriend. "I poisoned him."

"Why?!" Alex's face was nothing but pure horror and disgust. It broke Maggie's heart. "You… It was you, you killed Lewis."

"I had to. Alex, listen. Lillian is using me as a Phoenix again. She wants me to get rid of 12 names, and then we'll finally be free."

"Free, what do you mean, free?!" Alex shot back. "Do you think for one second she'll actually let you go?!"

"She has Kara, Alex. I have to do it. If I refuse her, she'll reactivate my implant and she'll let me kill you like I tried last week." Maggie put her hand on the table, and Alex reached for it immediately. Needing to feel Maggie, to know that she was okay.

"I'm me, Alex. She isn't controlling me. But you have to let me do this. Stay out of my way, let me finish that list. 12 names, 2 down already."

"You can't expect me to let you get away with this. We're a government agency, we can't let those murders just happen."

"I'll leave you marks, okay? You'll know it's me, but you have to back off. If you don't, Lillian's going to know."

"So, you two are best friends now?" She honestly hadn't meant for it to come out like that. But Alex was too confused and hurt to think rationally. Maggie was a killer again. She was innocent, and she had nothing to do with CADMUS, yet she was killing in their name. Again.

"I… I have to go." Maggie got up. "I can't come home for another day. I have to eliminate them all by tomorrow evening. And if I do that, Lillian said she'll deactivate the implant and never ask for me, or bother us again."

Alex shook her head. She couldn't believe Maggie was so naïve as to believe whatever came out of Lillian Luthor's mouth. But the thought that at least she was safe and being actively protected by CADMUS reassured her slightly.

Maggie leaned forward, and captured Alex's lips in a quick kiss. "We'll be back here playing pool in no time."

She put on her hood again and turned around, heading for the exit.

But before she could, she was met with a big explosion throwing her backwards, and several other grenades being thrown into the room.

Alex dove onto the ground, trying to get away from the bangs all around the room.

So much for not wanting to spook CADMUS. What happened to being stealthy?!

She crawled on all fours, but the ringing in her ears disoriented her greatly. She tried to remember wherever Maggie had been, but got distracted by several DEO agents pouring into the room, all yelling. The alien patrons and the bartender hit the deck quickly at the sight of the guns in their hands.

But Alex could only see Maggie, kneeling down in the center of the room.

See Maggie lower her hands, and reach for something on her back.

See Maggie reach for the gun tucked in the back of her pants.

And see Maggie pull out the gun, and raise it.

Instinctively, Alex reached for her own gun.

And then, all hell broke loose.