Kara and Maggie waited, less than patiently, for J'onn. The three of them, rounded out by Lucy and Winn, had one more hail Mary left before they were out of ideas. They were literally back to the same square one they had been sitting at before Lillian so graciously revealed herself. Wherever she was hiding out, wherever she'd been for the last couple months, they were no closer to finding her than before.
J'onn marched into the interrogation room with his prisoner and slammed him down into a chair. He'd been in D.E.O. custody for a while now, and was ashen and unkempt with the patchy beard of someone who hadn't seen the sun or a shower in weeks.
Brenden Webber.
The Cadmus rat that he and Alex had tracked down after Violet's attack. The one who, until now, had given them little to nothing of any use.
Today they were going to change that.
"Hello Mr. Webber." Maggie started, cold and to the point. Kara hung back, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, and J'onn stepped out to give the women some… privacy. Webber watched him leave and stared back at Maggie, unfazed. He'd been through this before, had been in custody and repeatedly questioned on and off for weeks now.
"Let me guess. You're the bad cop with a temper and now that the boss man has left… you're going to be the one to break me," he sneered.
Maggie smiled ominously. This guy had no idea what he was in for. "Why don't we have a little chat about Cadmus. I think it's about time you let us in on what they're up to."
"Yeeaaaaahhhh, I have no intention of having any more little chats. With anyone. Haven't you and your little toy soldiers learned anything yet? I'm. Not. Talking. Haven't yet, and nothing's changed."
"Oh, but something has changed. Lillian Luthor has taken an agent. And fully intend on getting her back. This isn't a game anymore."
Webber's sneer turned into a haunting grin, "Good to know she still had it in her, we were beginning to wonder if she was a little too preoccupied with that kid to get anything of substance done."
Kara stood up and Maggie's heart skipped a beat. "Tell me what they want with Violet," she demanded.
"Violet? Who the hell—"
"The kid! Our – my – kid! They took Alex, and then they took Violet. You're going to tell me what they want, and where they are."
Webber sat up a little straighter, smug look on his face, nearly salivating over this new piece of information. "I have no idea what you're talking about. But when my people get me out of here—"
"Your people?" Maggie hissed. "Let's do a little exercise. Ok? I want you to think about them. Picture them in your head. The ones that left you here to rot. Because no one has come for you, no one's even tried. And now look at my face and tell me which scenario comes with a better guarantee. Counting on them to have your back? To 'get you out of here'?" Maggie got quiet, but her eyes were on fire, punctuating her threat for her. "Or counting on me to destroy you if you don't tell me how to find my family."
Kara looked between them; a flicker of consideration on Webber's face, and fury and rage on Maggie's. She'd only ever seen this side of her one other time; the last time Alex had been taken; held hostage and used as a pawn. And it had taken everything Kara had to talk her back down. But this time? This time she had no plans to step in.
Webber faltered and spoke. "Look, I don't know anything about the kid. Before you all threw me in here Luthor wanted intel. On her, on the D.E.O., on the alien registry, on whatever the hell you all started working on that was suddenly more important than Cadmus. She wanted Danvers. Always has. But other than that?" he crossed his arms and settled back into the cold metal chair that he'd been dumped in at the beginning of this… 'conversation'. "She went dark, started digging into something. Hadn't made contact in weeks, even before you hunted me down and tossed me in here. Whatever she's up to, it's clearly progressed since I was involved. Even if I wanted to talk," Webber shrugged, "I would have no idea where she is. Or what she has planned for your 'family'."
That was it.
Their last hope at tracking Lillian Luthor.
Gone.
J'onn returned to pull Webber out and return him to his dim, secluded cell. Kara paced the room as Maggie slumped down into his vacated chair and dropped her head into her hands.
"What do we do now?" she whispered through silent tears.
"I think… I might have one more idea," Kara softly squeezed Maggie's arm before taking off.
Kara squared her shoulders and knocked softly on the open door to Lena's office. She'd been sent right up, but it still seemed a little presumptuous to just waltz in.
"Kara." Lena looked up and smiled softly, "it's been a while."
"I know, I'm so sorry." Kara stepped inside and headed towards Lena's desk. "I've been so busy, I think I owe you like three brunches and a dinner."
"It's not a problem, I know you've had a lot on your plate. How is your cousin's recovery coming along?"
Kara had gone with the standard story with Lena as well, and felt terribly guilty about it. As far as Lena knew, her cousin was from out of town and had been involved in a major car accident. The cover story had given her the ability to lean on her friends, justified all the care and focus on Violet, and explained the critical nature and of her injuries without divulging the classified truth behind them.
"That's actually sort of why I'm here. Lena, I need your help."
Lena frowned, immediately concerned. If Kara was worried, worried enough to come and ask her for help, then she was too. "Of course. What can I do."
"I need you to find your mother for me."
"Kara…" Lena shifted uncomfortably.
"Please Lena, it's critical." Kara begged.
"Kara, you know my mother and I aren't exactly in constant contact," Lena slowed as she watched Kara drop her eyes and lower her head. "Tell me what's going on, and I'll see what I can do."
Kara raised her eyes to Lena's, only debating for a second. She knew Alex wouldn't like what she was about to do. But they were out of options.
"What do you know about time travel."
Lena narrowed her eyes and eyed Kara suspiciously. "Why. Who have you been talking to."
"What? No one," Kara answered, confused. But she shook her head, not willing to divert any of her attention away from finding Alex and Violet. "We have a… visitor. It's kind of an unbelievable story, and it starts with… time travel."
Lena didn't skip a beat. "Go on."
Kara took a breath and prepared to jump right in. No sense in drawing it out, it wouldn't make what she was about to say seem any less outlandish. "It turns out our future involves an invasion. A massive one. Within the next twenty years, most of the earth's population will be wiped out."
"And you know this how." Lena asked, calm and poised as always. She was a scientist first, and until she had all the information there was no sense in getting worked up about it.
"Someone was sent back, she told us what's coming. It gives us a chance to fix it."
"Someone traveled back." Lena whispered. Incredible. She stepped back to her desk, mind racing, trying to put the pieces together.
"Not just 'someone'…" Kara went for it. "My cousin… she's not actually… she's my niece. My sister's daughter. She showed up a few months ago and Cadmus figured it out and they took her. Her and Alex both. They lured the D.E.O. to a secluded location and once they got there… Alex just… disappeared."
"Do they know who she is? Your niece?"
"We think so. Winn found a security breach, someone stole some reports that specifically discussed her arrival. They should at least have been able to figure out that she's from the future."
"So they took her for information. They want to know what's coming. And knowing my mother… they probably took Alex to get her to talk."
"The more they know, the more they can change… the more screwed up everything gets. Violet has been so careful not to divulge too much information. She's stubborn. And she's afraid of what that information could do. Lena, I don't know what they're going to do to her. Or to Alex." Kara whispered, tears stinging her eyes.
Of course she was concerned for the future of the planet, and what Cadmus could do with knowledge of that future. Even the most benign knowledge. But her primary concern was her family. Cadmus was ruthless. If Violet refused to talk, which Kara knew she would…
"I don't have a way to get in touch with her," Lena started and Kara just about lost hope. "I haven't spoken to her in months. But what you're describing, your sister simply disappearing?"
Kara swallowed her worry and nodded. "I was talking to her and she was just gone. There was no device, no portal, and nothing that pointed to a physical abduction. They sent a team to do a sweep, do scans of the entire building, and they got nothing."
"It sounds like something Lex was working on, a sort of large scale teleportation field. It required a very specific setup, but he always said it would be nearly undetectable."
"So we can't even prove that's what happened to her," Kara sighed.
"Not exactly. My mother wasn't the only person Lex ever talked to about his ideas… this one in particular I think I may have some old information on. He thought it had commercial promise, so he was going to patent it under LexCorp. Which means it's on a server somewhere. We kept everything."
"Lena," Kara exhaled, wide eyed, suddenly hopeful.
"After what happened with him… I swore I would never touch anything of his. But for you… for your family. And the future of the planet? It doesn't seem like there's time to even consider the possibility of another option. If I can find the designs, not only can I prove it, I can track it. Find an origin point."
"Thank you, Lena." Kara sniffled and immediately embraced her, eyes full of relieved tears.
"Of course."
It took some time, and some coordination with Winn, but eventually Lena was able to work out the teleportation field that Cadmus had used. With a digitally recreated model of the building and every bit of data and analysis that Winn had on it, Lex's designs and a couple of failed simulations (and some quiet from Kara, who was finding it damn near impossible to just sit still and wait), Lena eventually stopped, stood up, and turned to Kara with a smile on her face.
"Assuming my mother is still holding them in the same location, which she would have every reason to considering she thinks no one will be able to trace them… we've got them."
Kara enveloped Lena in a hug, brief but meaningful, before quickly pulling back and placing an eager phone call; "Maggie. I know where Lillian is."
"Send me the location. I'm leaving the D.E.O. now, I'll meet you there. But you go now."
