"What do you mean there's someone down there?"
"I mean." Kara frowned, looking down once again. "I can see somebody walking around downstairs."
"Male? Female? Body posture?" Alex pried. Her sister squinted to look again. "Male. Looks tall."
Alex reached for her pistol, and nodded at her. Kara tried to stay quiet as she pulled the hatch off its hinges, and threw it back. She lead the way down the ladder below, gently floating downward until her feet landed on the concrete floor. Alex followed shortly, throwing her sister a few hand gestures.
Stay quiet. Surprise him.
Kara nodded, and the pair started making its way towards where Kara had seen him.
If it was the Shepard…
Alex wasn't all that sure that she'd be able to stay level-headed. That thing had broken their relationship, not to mention Maggie herself.
And based on everything Maggie had told her during her time in the cult, and the things they knew about the alien… They didn't know anything.
If it really was from another dimension, then there wasn't a whole lot they could do about him. But they'd pulled in alien experts from all around the world, and Alex herself had done a large investigation in the alien bar, asking around whether anyone knew about the alien, or its abilities.
Nobody had known anything.
So if the Shepard was really behind that door they were currently closing in on, Alex was convinced that despite her rage there wouldn't be the slightest chance that she'd be able to overpower him.
And running head-first into a suicide mission wouldn't do anyone any good. Least of all Maggie.
So when Kara motioned to the door, Alex raised her fist to make her sister stop and shook her head. She motioned for Kara to fall back, but the blonde frowned.
Alex took a step back and holstered her gun once again, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. She had to think. The diary had to be somewhere around there.
Unless whoever was in there was trying to get to it first, of course.
Kara waved her hands in front of Alex's face and frowned. What are you doing?!
Alex shook her head once again, but before she could reply, the both of them heard a noise coming from the closed door.
"No, I can't find it. It's not here."
A muted, frustrated voice that Alex couldn't place. But it didn't sound like the Shepard.
"Tell him he can come get it himself."
Alex's gaze hardened. She was convinced that it wasn't the Shepard now. Moving forward again, she motioned for Kara to open the door. The Kryptonian nodded and braced herself, shoving her weight against the door to shove it open.
But instead of the door flying off its hinges, much to both sisters' surprise, the door barely dented.
"What?!" Kara said out loud, reflexively, as she tried to punch the door once again. And again.
Alex felt her heart pounding in her chest.
When Kara wound up for another punch, the door unlocked by itself and flew open, almost making the superhero run into the wall on the other side but managing to only stumble into the room. Alex pulled her gun once again and ran inside behind her.
The room was deserted. A spacious bed, a hot tub in the corner, far too luxurious furniture…
This had to be the Shepard's private room Maggie had told her about. The one nobody but his three wives were allowed to enter.
"He's gone." Kara's astonished voice snapped her out of her thoughts, before the blonde turned to her. "How did he disappear?! Do you think it was the Shepard?!"
"I don't know." Alex answered honestly. "But I'm more interested in what they were looking for."
With a nod to her sister, Alex knew that they were going to have to comb out the entire bunker looking for the journal, and anything else that could help the investigation.
She threw Kara a pair of gloves from her back pocket, and put on a pair herself, as they got to work.
She'd spent the first whole day in the cult mostly exploring, and being lead around by some of the townspeople who were apparently set up by Ada to at least be polite to her.
She'd joined them in prayer to be polite, and tried to remember as much of what they were saying as possible, to relay all of the info back to Alex. That evening, she'd found herself sitting alone at a table once again, glancing up at the table of honor, where Tess was keeping the other two wives entertained with a story. The Shepard had been nowhere in sight.
After dinner, she checked in with Alex, who had told her that it was time to start acting the part more. Somebody worried for her boyfriend and wellbeing would want to leave immediately, not sit and wait around.
She had to stage an escape.
"There is a possibility that they won't let you leave." Alex had warned.
Maggie had laughed. That's what she was hoping for.
So that night, when she was sure everybody would be asleep, she tiptoed out of the hut they'd assigned her to temporarily, and started walking back to the gates.
She was convinced that somebody would still be up, and catch her in the act.
Reaching for her glasses, she put in her earpiece. Alex had told her to come online when she was sneaking out, to follow what was happening. If it did go south, then at least she'd know.
As she neared the gates, she realized that the town was completely quiet and deserted. Perhaps her theory hadn't even been right in the first place – maybe she could leave after all.
Did they have enough to go on? Could they build a case from just those two days?
Surely, the baptism alone would be reason enough to dismantle the entire town?!
Damn, she thought. Alex and I haven't talked about whether I'm actually supposed to try to leave.
The choice was made for her, though, when she heard a voice calling out her name.
"Margaret!"
Maggie spun around to see Elise walking over to her with calm, composed steps. Shit.
"What are you doing up? You should be resting."
I could ask you the same question. "I was…" Maggie sighed. "I was trying to leave."
"Why would you try to leave?"
Maggie chuckled humorlessly. "Because my boyfriend is missing, and I'll probably be reported missing too. I need to get back home. I'm really grateful for all that you people have done for me, but I can't stay here." She finished with a scoff, as if the thought alone was ridiculous.
Elise didn't seem amused. "The Shepard won't let you leave."
"The Shepard is the one that sent people to go look for my car."
"He lied." Elise said simply, the same neutral, almost bored look on her face. "You're one of us now."
Maggie shifted nervously. "Listen, I don't know what you want from me, but this is absolutely insane…"
"Don't call her insane." Came Alex's voice in her ear. Maggie backtracked, and continued. "… I was lost, I needed help. But I'll just walk out of here, you don't need to help me anymore."
"I can't let you do that."
Maggie was growing uneasy. "Says who?"
"If you leave now, you will come back and bring death to us all."
"Right. The omens your Shepard told you about. So what, I'm some demon that's here to kill all of you?" Maggie laughed. She didn't know what came over her suddenly, but Elise had been watching her get murdered during the baptism, and she hadn't even attempted to stop them. She was just as responsible as those other people for what they'd done to her.
"Maggie…" Alex's warning voice once again.
"If you walk out of our gates, you will die. Instantly." The distance and coldness in the woman's voice actually made Maggie's hair rise up.
Elise was serious.
"Go back. Obey her."
The four words in her ear made Maggie hope that Alex had recorded the entire exchange. Because she was convinced that 'only a couple of days' had just turned into something else entirely.
"Alex?"
Her sister's voice rang out through the bunker, echoing off the walls. Alex, who had been turning one of the mattresses upside down to look for hidden objects or stashed clues, looked up.
"What is it?"
"I think… I found something."
Alex got up from her knees, and walked out of the room, making a mental note to return to it to continue her investigation. But as she made her way over to where she'd heard Kara's voice, and entered another room that seemed like a bedroom, she saw Kara holding a black book in her hands.
"Is that it?" Alex said.
Kara nodded breathlessly. "It was taped to the underside of the closet."
Alex took it out of Kara's outstretched hand, and felt curiousity get the best of her. She knew that she had to respect Maggie's privacy, but if something had happened between her and that journalist when they were both in there…
She needed to know.
She flipped to the last few pages, and looked around for Maggie's name.
Soon enough finding a passage that gripped her attention completely.
Margaret – FBI? Can handle a knife, defended herself.
Must investigate further.
Probably gay. Attempt seduction.
Alex's eyes widened, as she almost ripped the pages out in an attempt to browse through them faster, searching for Maggie's name again.
September 6th – Have saved Margaret's life, she's now wrapped around my finger. Now to figure out who she works for, and why they're interested in the Shepard. I need answers. If she gets in the way of my investigation, I might need to get rid of her. For now, play the part. Pretend I like her back.
Alex saw red.
