lajsus

by pots782

bomauis

37. jj

"Wow, dollar Lemon Drops, and the whole town shows up," Maggie remarks, pulling bills from the register and cringing at the state of the bar. Dirty glasses and beer bottles litter the tables, and peanut shells are scattered all over the sticky, liquor-soaked floor. The stench wafting from the bathroom is god-awful, and even the music trickling out from the old-school jukebox in the corner can't distract her. Maggie glances over at Lila, the other bartender that usually works the closing shift with her, touching up her eyeliner in the bar mirror.

"Never underestimate the power of cheap booze," Lila laughs, capping her eyeliner and giving herself one last once-over before turning to Maggie. She shoots Maggie a sly smile. "And a hot, new, ivy-educated bartender, of course."

Maggie rolls her eyes, collecting the glasses from the nearest table and handing them over to Lila. "I said I'll cover for you, but don't think you get to leave before helping me clear these tables."

"What, I'm serious! Sawyer, you had like five girls throwing themselves at you."

"It was two, and one was borderline unconscious."

"The other one seemed kinda sweet," Lila insists, grabbing empty bottles in a haste and tossing them haphazardly into the trash.

Maggie chuckles, taking the bottles out of Lila's hands. "Yeah, so did her boyfriend."

"Oh, ouch."

Clearing the last glasses off the tables, Maggie looks around at the still-wrecked state of the bar, dreading the hours it would take for her to clean the place by herself. Then, catching sight of Lila's pleading face, she groans. "Fine, go."

Lila squeals, running over to hug Maggie. "You're the best!"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll get me when I have something waiting other than my Law Review application."

Lila releases her, beaming. "If I ever get arrested or divorced, you're the one I'm gonna hire."

With that, Lila races out of the bar. Maggie shakes her head, amused, and grabs the mop, resigned to the gargantuan task ahead of her. She had taken the bartending gig a couple weeks ago, home from her first year of law school at Stanford and figuring that a dive bar in a smaller town, despite being right outside National City, wouldn't get that much traffic. However, she hadn't taken into account the sheer lack of anything else to do within 15 miles. She wouldn't even think about staying in the place for more than a couple weeks, but after she had gotten accepted into Stanford, her aunt Isa decided to move down here to be closer to her. The least Maggie can do to repay her is to come stay for the summer. Plus, she's missed Isa over the past year, caught up in a never ending cycle of classwork. Getting to spend the summer with the aunt that basically raised her is worth cleaning up some... questionable stains.

A couple hours later, Maggie throws the last of the trash away and looks around at the now pristine bar. Satisfied, she flips off the music and the lights, flinching at the suddenly eerie atmosphere of the place. The creeping sensation runs through her veins, and she feels a shiver crawl down her back. Shaking it off, she grabs the trash bags and heads out, locking up and shoving the keys back into her pocket.

The parking lot is empty, save for her car in the corner of the lot, and the streetlights dimly showcase the thick, dark forest next to her. Maggie shuffles towards the dumpster, and as she opens the lid, she hears a rustling noise. Unsettled, she switches on her phone flashlight and, anxiety pooling in her stomach, she peers inside.

Her light catches a possum, who hisses at her and burrows back into the garbage. Shoulders loosening, Maggie quickly tosses the bags into the dumpster and closes the lid. "Get it together, Sawyer," she mutters to herself, switching her phone light back off.

She hurries to her car, eager to get out of the empty lot and back home so she could get at least some sleep before her online course in the morning. Sliding the key into the ignition, she tries to start her car, and—nothing.

"Shit," Maggie hisses, turning it again. Glancing around the car, she sees the vanity mirror open, which had sucked up all her battery. Cursing, she sees the clock flashing 2:25 AM, and cringes as she pulls out her phone and dials.

"Iss? I'm so sorry..."

Twenty minutes later, her aunt's car pulls up, and Isa Sawyer steps out, still in her scrubs from her shift at the hospital. Maggie smiles, relieved and apologetic, as Isa pulls out jumper cables from her car and walks towards her niece, shaking her head.

"I'm like Triple A but with outerwear," Isa jokes, handing her a thick sweater. "Here, it's cold out."

Maggie takes it, her feeling of guilt swelling at the thought of her aunt having to come out of her way to rescue her after a long shift. "I'm so sorry I dragged you out here. Good news is, I made a lot in tips?"

"Enough to cover tuition?"

"...Books. At least for one class?"

Isa chuckles. "You're just lucky I was on call. I love you, sweetie, and you know I'm always here to help you, but you need to be more careful. If I had been asleep, you might have been stranded out here."

"I know, Iss. Won't happen again, promise."

Suddenly, headlights flood the parking lot. Maggie and Isa turn, both squinting to see a beat-up black car with tinted windows pulling in. Maggie frowns, checking the clock again to confirm the late hour, and turns back to Isa. "Maybe they don't know the bar is closed?"

Isa, however, seems wary, setting down the jumper cables and squaring her shoulders. The driver's door of the car opens, and Isa calls out, "We're good here!"

Through the high beams, they see a man get out, but Maggie can't quite make out his face. Isa repeats herself firmly. "I said, we got it."

There's no response from the man, and Maggie starts to feel uneasy, the eerie sensation from before creeping back in. She's not sure what the man wants, but she has half a mind to call the cops, just in case. However, before she can voice her concern, Isa puts a hand on her shoulder. "Maggie, get in my car."

Maggie hesitates, but Isa shoots her an urgent look, so she does what she's told, starting towards the car. Isa turns back to the man, saying "Look, we already called Highway Patrol, so—"

The man is suddenly moving, startling Maggie. She sees him pull something from behind him, and before she can even blink, a shot rings out.

As soon as the piercing crack hits Maggie's ears, time seems to freeze altogether. Then, slowly, numbly, she pivots and watches as Isa falls, and falls—

"...Isa?" Maggie whispers, stunned and terrified, unable to move or even breathe. There are knives in her throat as she stares at the woman who raised her, who loved her unconditionally when her own parents didn't, lying still. Heart cracking against her ribcage, she starts towards her aunt, frantic. "Isa!"

Then, another man emerges from the passenger side of the mystery car, and a horrifying beat passes as she realizes that the man is headed towards her. Fear rips through her, and with another split-second look at her aunt, she tears off, darting across the parking lot into the pitch-black woods.

Branches whip at Maggie from every direction as she runs, tears streaming down her face, gasping for air. She's hollowed-out inside, feeling nothing except for the fear and pain wrenching her apart, but she keeps dashing forward even as she hears the footsteps gaining on her. She glances back at her attacker, and feeling her foot catch against a tree root, she falls, and falls—

Her head strikes against a rock, and the pain slashes through her as her world blurs out of focus. She rolls over to see the fuzzy image of her attacker, raising his gun—

Maggie closes her eyes, bracing herself, and when she hears the second shot of the night ring out, she flinches. A beat passes, and confused, she opens her eyes to see her attacker fall—

Suddenly, through the trees, someone steps out, gun raised, and for a moment, her world snaps into focus once more. The first thing she registers is that the woman holding the gun is striking, with short red hair falling in waves and a fierce look in her eyes as they lock onto Maggie's. The woman startles, and begins to lower her gun, and Maggie notices the deep scar running down one side of her face. Despite the harshness of the scar, that face begins to soften as she looks at Maggie. Maggie feels her lungs fill with air for the first time in what feels like hours, and opening her mouth, she tries to say something, anything, when—

Even more quickly than the woman had come, she disappears in a blur that, inexplicably, shoots up towards the sky, and a flurry of leaves fall around Maggie. Bewildered, her eyes unfocus. She feels her head throb in agony, and her world fades to black.

Five Years Later

Maggie's feet thunder against the pavement as she runs, panicked and gasping for air. Weaving her way through the mass of people, she pulls her hair out of her ponytail and runs her fingers through it in a desperate attempt to look presentable. Slowing down, she finally catches sight of the front of the arena, and smiling in relief, she calls out to the woman waiting in the front scrolling through her phone. "Emily!"

The woman turns, and Maggie catches the surprised look on her face and her eyes darting around nervously. Did she think I was standing her up? Shit, time to do some damage control.

Maggie reaches her girlfriend and kisses her, frowning as Emily noticeably stiffens. "Sorry, babe, you know how my boss never wants to leave work, which means that I don't get to leave early, even for a concert—"

Emily takes a step back, interrupting Maggie. "You didn't get my text."

Maggie frowns again, confused. "No, what?"

Her girlfriend rolls her eyes, annoyed, and Maggie feels her stomach drop at the familiar gesture. She notes Emily's firm posture, arms crossed and distant, as the woman replies, "Okay, look, I'm just not into this."

"What, Barenaked Ladies, or that I'm five minutes late? Because I was stuck wrapping up a case—"

"No, Barenaked Ladies is great. It's just, at first your job was kind of a turn on. Now it's kind of a drag. Like tonight, if I wanna smoke some pot—"

Maggie interrupts, shaking her head. "You can smoke pot, I don't care—"

Suddenly, a voice rings out from behind Maggie. "Hey, babe!"

Maggie whirls around to see another woman, looking like she's barely out of college, approaching them, beaming at Emily, and all the pieces click together as Maggie begins to understand what exactly Emily had to be so nervous about. She turns back around to face Emily, glaring as the woman rolls her eyes once more and takes another step away from Maggie.

"Sorry, Maggie, this has just been stressing me out."

"Really? That's what you texted me?" Maggie spits out in disbelief as Emily shrugs and grabs her new date's hand. They start to head off as Maggie simply stands there, processing how she had just been completely played and dumped. Fuming, she catches sight of the security guard standing near the doors of the arena, and she walks up to him, flashing her badge. The guard straightens and Maggie gestures to Emily.

"That woman's got pot on her, I trust you'll take care of that?"

The guard grabs his walkie and nods. "Yes ma'am, of course."

Maggie nods back and walks away with a sigh. She pulls out her phone and glares at the unread text flashing up at her, ignoring it in favor of making a call. "Hey, looks like I'm free after all..."

"You got her arrested?"

Maggie groans, taking another sip of her scotch. "Of course not, they just confiscated it. At least I got to harsh her buzz in front of her new girlfriend. I mean, she couldn't have waited two hours before dumping me? I was really looking forward to that concert."

Renee snorts. "I would've tased her for having the guts to parade the girl she's been cheating with in front of you. And for the text message. Hell, I would've done it for the comment about the job. What, was she just in it for the handcuffs? I hate when they do that."

Maggie smirks. "Well, I didn't mind that part so much."

Renee huffs, grinning at her. "Of course you didn't."

Maggie smiles back at her best friend and leans back in the worn-out booth, taking in the surroundings of her regular dive bar. The bar is owned by her friend, M'gann, and she has been a regular since moving to National City. It's never too crowded, and it's far enough away from the university that college kids rarely trickle in. That usually leaves a comfortable crowd of regulars, even if the bar sometimes reminds her of—

No, she's not going to think about that right now. Shaking off the empty feeling in her chest, she settles her eyes back on her best friend. Renee's been with her since the Academy, where they had bonded over being slightly older than the other recruits. While Maggie had come to the Academy after leaving Stanford, Renee came from a family of cops and had spent a few years traveling before deciding to join the family business. They became fast friends, and were lucky enough to also be assigned as partners in the same precinct after they both were made detectives. Maggie's extremely grateful for Renee, who always has her back with little judgement.

"You know, Sawyer, if you keep staring, you're gonna have to at least buy me dinner."

Yanked out of her thoughts, Maggie shoots back, "I'm out of your league, Montoya."

"Sure, sure."

Maggie shrugs on her jacket as she walks out of the bar, slightly tipsy. Shoving her hands in her pocket to beat the cold, she starts the trek to her apartment, mind swirling. As nice as it had been to get drinks with Renee, she was left alone now to ruminate on the events of the night. Maggie had been honest when she stated that she was more upset about missing the concert than the breakup; most of her relationships over the past few years had been short-lived. While Emily had been a good distraction, it was clear that they were both really only in it for some fun. There's too much on her plate to consider anything more serious, and she definitely hasn't met anyone who she has felt comfortable enough to open up about everything that keeps her up at night.

In fact, there were only two people who knew about her past, Renee and M'gann, both having heard the gory details during a late night in the bar when Maggie had too much to drink. However, though they are aware of how Maggie spends her nights it's clear they don't completely approve.

Opening the door to her apartment, Maggie switches the light on and slumps, hanging her coat up and heading to her desk. Opening up her drawer, she pulls out the worn file, spreading out the contents and staring at the headline of the slightly faded news clipping: "Dr. Isa Sawyer Shot in Tragic Mugging Incident." That's what the media and the police had gone with: a "tragic mugging incident."

"You have to believe me!"

Tears were still running down her face as Maggie begged to the skeptical face of the cop in front of her. Her throat tight, she choked out her words even though she could hardly breathe. "It wasn't a mugging, they didn't even ask for any money!"

The cop sighed, shaking his head. "Listen, kid, I know you're still a little confused. You hit your head pretty hard in the fall, but there was no one else at the scene besides you and the man who attacked you. It seems like what happened was that your attacker's partner accidentally shot him while they were chasing you, and then he ran back to his car and tried to flee the scene. We caught him coming out of the parking lot, and there was no one else around."

"But the woman—"

"There was no woman. None of our men saw signs of anyone when they swept the scene, and traffic cam footage shows no one exiting the forest anywhere. The woman you saw doesn't exist."

Maggie's heart hammered against her chest at the officer's words, but she refused to believe them. She knew what she saw, and she had seen the woman save her, clear as day. "Look, if you test the bullet in the man who attacked me—"

The officer cut her off, glaring, "Look, missy, there isn't any point in wasting finite police resources. The bar's security cameras caught your aunt's shooting and the second man trying to flee the scene. No one else was around, and that's that. I would suggest you accept the facts."

With that, the officer left the room, and Maggie watched through the window as he greeted a couple of men in suits, who shot some glances at her and proceeded to converse with the cop. Maggie gritted her teeth and knew, in her bones, that she wouldn't accept what the officer had said. Even if no one believed her, she was going to figure out why those men had killed Isa and tried to kill her, and she would prove that the woman who saved her did exist. No matter how long it took.

Maggie feels her heart clench at the reminder of how she had begged someone, anyone, to believe her, but no one had. Even after she had become a cop, she wasn't able to gain any new information on who those men were or why they had come after her and Isa. There was one piece of evidence that the cops had never tested: a single strand of short red hair that had caught on a branch at the scene. Maggie had asked a friend of hers working in forensics to run the DNA to see if there were any matches, but they hadn't gotten a hit on any database. It was as though the woman really hadn't existed, and if it wasn't for the strand of hair, Maggie may have been convinced of that. That single shred of evidence tied her mystery woman to the scene, and Maggie would stop at nothing to find out the truth.

Staring at the strand of hair, Maggie feels her throat tighten painfully, and she clenches her jaw against the pinprick of tears in her eyes. I'm trying, but I miss you, Iss. I don't know where to go from here.

The next night, Maggie and Renee stroll onto the latest crime scene, flashing their badges and ducking under the crime scene tape. Maggie walks up to the body, grimacing at the sight of a young woman splayed out on a hotel restroom floor, her face bloodied and bruised. She takes in the scene while she and Renee pull on gloves and acknowledge the security guards.

"911 got a call off her cell at 8:32 tonight, no recording," Renee states, glancing around the bathroom.

Maggie nods, crouching to examine the body more closely. "Blunt trauma to the head, looks like she was attacked. And there's a trail of blood by the door. Maybe it happened outside, then she came in here?"

"Window's broken from the inside. Perp could've followed her, escaped that way."

"No hotel key, no wallet…"

"Robbery homicide?"

Maggie shakes her head, dubious. "Look at her designer purse, clearly expensive. Would be strange for a robber to leave it behind. Plus, it's a pretty public place to rob and kill someone."

Renee murmurs her agreement, turning to the security guard. "Any chance we can get some security footage?"

"Yes ma'am, I'll have someone from the office send it over as soon as possible."

Thanking him, Renee nudges Maggie. "Looks like it'll be a long night."

"Hopefully the security footage will give us our answers."

Maggie rubs her eyes and sits back in her chair, grumbling over the late hour and wishing some higher power would come smite the precinct's coffee pot so they could finally replace it. Renee glances over from the desk beside her, brow furrowed. "Hey, you okay? How much sleep have you been getting?"

Maggie pushes away from her desk and stretches, rolling her shoulders back and cracking her knuckles. "Apparently not enough to make sense of this footage. Come check it out."

Renee joins her, leaning down and squinting at the slightly blurred hotel camera footage. "Damn, you'd think a five-star hotel would have better quality cameras."

"Yeah, no fucking kidding."

Maggie presses play and they watch the doorway to the restrooms as multiple hotel guests enter and exit, oblivious to the victim faltering in, face bloodied. "Damn, injured woman walks through a hotel and no one even blinks."

Renee whistles, shaking her head in disbelief. "Rich people."

"Has anyone ID'd her yet?"

"Yup, Taylor Webster," Renee declared, grabbing a file off her desk. "Google says she's a fashion editor at Vogue. Pretty white girl murdered in a swanky hotel and no one sees a thing?"

"Most of the people on the tape were either too drunk or tired to notice anything."

"She got a husband, wife, anyone?"

Maggie hums in affirmation. "Husband, Alex Webster. He's a big fashion photographer. They're all over Page Six as this power couple. Haven't been able to track him down yet."

"Based on the crime scene and missing wallet, this is looking more and more like a random robbery."

Renee flips through the file once more, then pauses. "Looks like CSU got prints off one of the vic's buttons."

"Well shit, why didn't you lead with that," Maggie mutters, turning back to her computer. "What's the name?"

"Alexandra Danvers."

Maggie types in the name, then stops, confused. "That's...weird."

Renee looks up from the file, eyebrows raised. "What?"

"Says here Alexandra Danvers is dead."

Maggie's captain pulls some papers from the printer and reads aloud to Renee and Maggie, all three trying to make sense of this new lead. "Dr. Alexandra Danvers, PhD, MD. National City. Killed in a laboratory fire five years ago. Rest is redacted, and there's no picture."

Maggie groans, annoyed, and sighs out, "Redacted. Sure. How does a dead scientist's prints end up on a fashion editor?"

A beat passes, and no one answers. Maggie looks at her partner and captain, both as stumped as she is, and she moves back to her computer to try and find more information. Renee blinks and moves to Maggie's shoulder, pondering. "Maybe it's a mistake?"

"Says here she's survived by a mom and a sister. Mom lives out in Midvale, but the sister's here in National City. I've got an address."

Renee hums and starts pulling on her jacket. "Okay, let's head over there."

Captain Ramirez nods in agreement, handing the file over to Maggie. "Let me know what you two find out. The vic was high-profile, so the press will be on this case. We need more of a lead than a dead woman's fingerprint."

"Yes, sir," Maggie replies, taking one last baffled glance at her computer. Now we're chasing ghosts? Why is her file redacted? What's going on?

Pulling up in front of an abandoned chemical building, Maggie double-checks the address, muttering, "What the hell is this?"

Renee seems just as baffled as Maggie, and they share a look as they pull in next to the only other car in the worn down, decrepit lot. A chain link fence surrounds the property, with signs warning "Bio-Hazard" and "ELECTRIC FENCE: KEEP OUT." The building is large and dilapidated, with crumbling brick and boarded-up windows. Maggie peers up at the windows on the top floor and catches a glimmer of movement; frowning, she steps out of the car. Renee joins her, murmuring, "You sure this is it?"

Maggie shrugs. "According to her file, Kara Danvers works for CatCo Worldwide Media. Maybe she needs the isolation to escape Cat Grant?"

"Or it's a meth lab. Hey, maybe she's your type! How low are your standards after Emily?"

Maggie snorts, shoving Renee as they head towards the building. "Fuck off."

"A little rebound. Perfect, you two can make out in that," Renee chuckles, pointing at the other car in the lot. It's in relatively good condition, but plastered on the bumper is a sticker with a yellow smiley face saying "Have a super day!" Maggie gawks at the sticker and looks back at the building, utterly perplexed, and Renee cackles as she heads to the door. "Yeah, very funny!" Maggie calls at her, jogging to catch up.

Renee knocks at the rusted door. "NCPD, open up!" There's no answer. Renee shrugs and turns the handle, and the door swings open.

"Huh, this place is getting creepier by the second," Maggie shivers as they head in the building. The place is cavernous, filled with rubble and rusting equipment. "The fuck?"

Renee carefully steps over the rubble, calling out, "Hello? Anyone here?"

There's still no answer, so they move through the cluttered space towards a hallway on the right. Maggie notes that the clutter eases up in the hallway, and she murmurs, "Seems like the girl needs a new decorator."

As they reach the end of the hallway, Maggie hears the faint tune of what sounds like boy band music, and she wrinkles her nose. The music matches the car outside, but heavily contradicts the surrounding area. Weirder and weirder. They reach a door labelled "Office", and Maggie knocks loudly. "Kara Danvers? NCPD."

A beat passes, and the door opens slightly to reveal a woman in her late 20s, with blonde hair, glasses, and a sheepish smile that freezes slightly when she catches sight of Maggie. It only lasts a moment, before the woman opens the door wider and adorns a bigger smile. She offers a hand, and Maggie reaches out to shake it, thrown off by the woman's cheerful demeanor. "Kara Danvers? I'm Detective Sawyer, this is Detective Montoya. We're here to ask you a few questions."

Kara fidgets nervously, and her smile turns slightly embarrassed as she reaches up to fix her glasses. "Um. Hi, detectives! This isn't about that speeding ticket, is it? Because I'm totally gonna pay it, I've just been so busy with work, and my boss, well you don't know my boss but she's very, um, demanding, and—"

Maggie holds up her hand to stop the blonde's rambling as Renee looks on, amused but quiet. "No, we're here to talk to you about your sister, Alexandra Danvers?"

Kara's smile freezes again, and her eyes flit to the side as she fidgets with her glasses again. Maggie looks past her into the room and sees a well decorated, bright interior, with light yellow walls and colorful paintings decorating the space. Well, at least I know the car is hers.

"Alex? What about her?" Kara replies, a crinkle appearing on her forehead as she furrows her brow slightly.

"Look, this may sound odd, but you haven't heard from her recently?"

Kara's smile falls slightly, and she examines Maggie carefully. "Like… voices? Or—"

"No, like her. Her prints just showed up at a crime scene."

"Oh gosh, sounds like you need new fingerprint guys! How strange!"

Maggie's eyes narrow as she takes in Kara's rigid posture, frozen smile, and nervous fidgeting. What's really going on? What is she hiding? "Is there any reason your sister might want people to think she's dead? Maybe she was in trouble, or—"

"Well, her lab caught fire, so I would say that's trouble."

"She ever write to you, indicate some sort of plan?"

Kara shakes her head, eyes now steely as she frowns at the detectives. "If you're insinuating that my sister somehow faked her death, you're wrong. I don't know about any fingerprint, but I need to get to the office. Still paying off Christmas shopping."

Renee snorts, still amused. "It's October."

"I have… cousins. Lots of cousins."

Maggie, suspicious, pulls out her card and hands it to Kara. "Well, if you think of anyth—"

"Sure thing! Bye!"

With that, Kara shuts the door, leaving two nonplussed detectives on the other side. Maggie turns and shares another look with Renee, and they start to head out. "That was… weird. Really weird."

"Yeah no kidding. That girl's nervous energy could power this plant back up. Guess no backseat romance for you."

Maggie peers back up at the building as they reach their car, her gut telling her there's more here she needs to figure out—

And just like before, she catches slight movement in the top window. Eyes narrowed and head spinning, she mutters back to Renee, "Yeah, guess not," as they climb back in the car and drive off.

Maggie ambles into the medical examiner's office, coffee in hand and movements slow from the lack of sleep. "Hey, Liv, tell me you've got something."

Liv looks up, mid-autopsy, and shoots a small smile to Maggie, gesturing that she needs a second. Nodding, Maggie leans against the wall and closes her eyes, occasionally sipping her coffee and reflecting on the previous night. It was so strange. I'm sure Kara Danvers is hiding something… maybe she knows where her sister is? What's the deal with Alex Danvers? And why is sunny Kara Danvers living in a shitty abandoned chemical building? The more I dig into this case, the more questions I have. And the feeling I got when I looked up at the building… it was a familiar feeling. I can't quite place it.

"Morning, Detective Sawyer."

Maggie straightens up and nods in greeting. "Dr. Moore. What've you got for me?"

Liv hands Maggie the autopsy report for Taylor Webster, and gestures for Maggie to follow her to the body. "Okay, head wounds were too superficial to have killed her. No other signs of major trauma, but she does have dark postmortem lividity, which you get with low oxygenation."

Maggie frowns, scanning the report. "So, suffocation, strangulation…?"

"Or maybe poisoning, she's got some rash. But here's the weird part. Bruised sternum, cracked ribs. You see that from CPR sometimes."

Maggie's eyebrows shoot up, and she inspects the body with renewed interest, mind whirling. "So someone tried to save her? And they didn't stick around…"

"There's something else."

Maggie turns back to Liv, hearing the serious note in her voice. The examiner looks around and steps closer to Maggie, pulling another sheet out from the pocket of her lab coat. "There was a strand of hair on the body, short and red. On a hunch, I tested it against the hair you had me test for your aunt's case, and it… it was a match."

Maggie froze, staring at Liv, heart hammering. "A… match? You… what?"

"It's probably nothing, I just wanted to give you a heads up."

Maggie nods absently, stunned. She looks down at the DNA report and looks back up at Liv. "Can… I keep this?"

"Yeah, of course. Are you okay?"

Maggie nods again, already moving towards the door. "Thanks so much Liv, really. I'll update you later."

With that, Maggie goes back to her desk and collapses in her chair, staring blankly at the computer in front of her. The DNA found on Taylor Webster's body matches the DNA found at the scene five years ago… which means the woman that saved me was at this scene as well. Which means… the woman that saved me… is probably… Alex Danvers.

Maggie's heart was still hammering, thoughts drenched in disbelief. After all this time, she had a clue into what happened the night her aunt was killed. After all this time, she might have a name. Alex Danvers. The presumed dead scientist who has something to do with this murdered girl. Alex Danvers.

"Sawyer! Check this out!"

Renee's voice jolts Maggie out of her stupor, and still stunned, she turns to her partner, who looks positively gleeful. Renee shakes a photo at her, grinning. "An image of the hotel doorway the night of the crime. Look at the car parked outside."

Maggie takes a look at the image, then nearly jerks out of her chair at the familiar sticker on the car's bumper. "Holy shit."

Maggie drives up to the chemical building, heart in her throat, DNA report tucked firmly in her pocket. She knows that she's taking a big risk right now, but she has to get some answers. Stepping out of her car, she glances around, but the car that was at the scene of the murder was nowhere to be seen. Setting her shoulders, she marches up to the building when suddenly, her phone rings out loudly. Jumping at the noise and cursing, she answers it, whispering, "Hey, what is it?"

Renee greets her, responding, "Hey, I just spoke to Cat Grant. She says that Kara Danvers was at the office that night, and it's nowhere near the hotel the vic was at."

"Really?"

"Yeah—why are you whispering?"

"Oh, uh, I'm here."

"Where? I don't see you. Are you hiding in the interrogation room again? I told you, you can only do that like three times before Ramirez will start to notice—"

"No, I'm at Kara's warehouse. Thought I would check it out."

"Check out what? Jesus, Sawyer, wait for me to get in the car next time. I'm on my way."

"No, no—"

Maggie curses again at Renee hanging up. Taking a deep breath, she heads into the building and to the "office" door, knocking loudly. "NCPD, I've got a warrant to search the premises."

Silence. She knocks again, then tries the knob. The door swings open, and she walks into the room. It's bigger than she had expected, and definitely belonging to Kara Danvers. Suddenly, she hears a creak from upstairs, and she whips out her gun, walking towards the staircase. "Hello? NCPD, who's there?"

There's no answer again, and with her heart beating a mile a minute, Maggie pushes open the gate on the stairs that separated the floors (which… what?) and heads into another, bigger room.

The room is another living space, decorated in darker tones than the one downstairs. An alarmingly large bed sits elevated off to the side, and a couch and TV are across the room. Maggie looks around, assessing the danger level, when—

"I'm here, detective."

Maggie swings around, gun raised and heart in her throat, and she watches as a figure steps out of the shadows and—

For the second time in her life, Maggie's world snaps into focus. In five years, the woman hadn't changed much; a couple more lines around the eyes, but her reddish hair was about the same length, and the scar that ran down the side of her face was instantly recognizable. Maggie stares into the face of the woman who had saved her life, heart racing, and through all the thoughts sprinting in her mind the one that screams loudest is that the woman was astonishingly beautiful, eyes soft as she gazes at Maggie with her hands raised. Maggie feels her lungs fill completely with air for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime, and she chokes out, "You're… Alexandra Danvers?"

The woman across from her nods, the corner of her lips quirking up slightly. "Alex, please. And you're Detective Maggie Sawyer."

Maggie nods and lowers her gun, hands trembling. She sucks in another breath and gazes in wonder at Alex. "You're… you saved me, that night. They said… they didn't believe me… I couldn't…"

Alex takes a step closer to Maggie, hands still raised carefully, as though trying not to scare Maggie off. "I did. I was there. I'm so sorry I didn't get there sooner."

Maggie examines the pain and regret in Alex's face during her apology, and shakes her head. She had never blamed Alex for that. "It wasn't your fault, those men… they're the ones to blame."

Alex smiles sadly. "Still. I know you must have a lot of questions."

Maggie nods, throat clenching painfully as she tries to make sense of the situation. "Kara's car, it was at the scene of a crime. You were there?"

Alex lowers her hands and hums in confirmation. "I didn't kill her, I swear."

Maggie takes a deep breath, eyes locked with hers. "...I know. You tried to save her, didn't you?"

"She was bleeding, disoriented. I was out driving when I saw her trip and fall, hitting her head. I tried to resuscitate her."

More pain and regret as Alex seemingly becomes lost in thought. Not wanting to startle her, Maggie continues softly, "And you couldn't stick around because everyone thinks you're dead."

Alex nods, and focuses back on Maggie. "No one can know I'm alive, and that I'm here."

"Why—"

"Maggie!"

Maggie and Alex both jump and turn at Renee's voice ringing out from downstairs. Panicked, Maggie twists back to look at Alex, whose eyes are pleading. Maggie whispers, "I'll be back, okay? I won't tell her, but I'm coming back." Please, stay. Please still be here. I need you to stay.

Alex nods, her eyes warm, and Maggie thinks she understands. "I'll be here, I promise."

Maggie takes one last look at Alex, her chest aching, and then she turns and rushes back down the stairs, stopping Renee in her tracks. "Hey, it's all good. Nothing in there."

Confused, Renee shrugs and heads back out the door, and after a moment, Maggie follows.

The precinct bustles around her, but Maggie doesn't register any of it as her mind whirs, trying to process the interaction she just had. Alex Danvers. For years Maggie hasn't been able to find any new information about what had happened to Isa, and in the span of just a few days she's been able to find and have conversation with the woman who saved her, the woman who definitely knows more than Maggie about the men that had attacked them.

The woman who was...certainly not what Maggie had expected. Alex had known who she was, and she seemed okay with Maggie knowing her secret. She hadn't approached the situation with hostility; in fact, when Maggie looked into her eyes there was a genuine warmth to them that had radiated through her chest. There had been a lot of guilt emanating off of Alex, and it was unwarranted. Maggie hadn't been lying when she reassured Alex that Isa's death wasn't her fault; the thought had never even crossed Maggie's mind. She had always been grateful that Alex was even able to show up when she did, even after her disappearing act (which she really needs answers about). She is sure that Alex is someone who's used to protecting people, especially with how she had tried to save Taylor Webster, despite the fact that doing so could have exposed her to whoever she's hiding from. Finding out why Alex is in hiding seems like the key to finding the truth to Isa's murder, which means she needs to get back to the chemical factory as soon as she can—

"Maggie!"

Maggie jerked out of her whirling thoughts, whipping around to face Renee standing over her desk, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. "The hell, Montoya? Don't sneak up on me like that."

Renee scoffs, tilting her head and peering closely at Maggie. "Startle you? Girl, I've been calling your name for the past five minutes. You've been acting so weird ever since I found you at Danvers' place. What's gotten into you?"

Maggie groans internally. She had been trying to come up with a way to explain to Renee why she had left her at the precinct and gone to check out the chemical factory on her own, but she knew that Renee wouldn't believe any of the excuses. "Listen, Renee—"

"Oh here we go," Renee grumbles, pulling up a chair and plopping down into it. "You only call me Renee to my face when you're being sappy or trying to sell me on some bullshit."

"I wasn't--"

"Maggie." Maggie shuts her mouth with a click, frowning. Renee leans closer to her, speaking low. "I talked to Dr. Moore earlier."

Shit. Maggie loves and respects Liv, but she definitely told Renee about what Maggie had been up to if Renee came around to ask. Maggie slumps back into her chair and gestures for Renee to continue.

"She didn't tell me what exactly was going on, but she's worried about you. Mentioned that you're wrapped up in something to do with your aunt." Renee hesitates, tapping her fingers against her thigh. She looks at Maggie carefully, and she lets a beat pass before speaking again. "Whatever's happened, you don't have to tell me. But I'm here for you. You know that, right? I've got your back."

Maggie blinks in surprise, heart clenching. Whatever she had expected Renee to come at her with, it wasn't that. She should have given Renee more credit, though. Renee had always quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) supported Maggie. She was the best partner Maggie could have ever asked for... and the best friend. "I know. And you know that I love you for that, right?"

Renee nods, the corner of her mouth quirking up, and she taps her knuckles against Maggie's thigh in acknowledgement. Then, she straightens, face set, and crosses her arms again. "That being said, whatever is going on, you need to get your head back into this job. We've got a case to work on. And don't think I'm done giving you shit for leaving me behind earlier, you know we never do that. If the job is gonna start getting affected, I have no problem going to the chief to get you to go home and take a breather."

Maggie nods, chastised. She had been letting her aunt's case get in the way of the job, and Renee didn't even know about what Maggie was hiding about the chemical factory, about who Maggie was hiding. Maggie still has a job to do, and she'll be damned if she doesn't have Renee's back too. "Thanks, Montoya. I'll get my head back on straight. Though I've always kinda had a problem with getting any part of me straight..."

Renee chuckles, standing and shoving Maggie's chair away. "That's my girl."

Maggie grins back at Renee, rolling back to her desk. She was so lucky to have her best friend. She grabs the Webster file from her desk and follows Renee, determined to focus back on the case at hand.

A couple hours later, Maggie's going through interviews with Renee when she hears heels clicking down the hallway. She shoots a look at Renee at the familiar sound, and they both turn and start to straighten the papers sprawled out across the table.

Assistant District Attorney Lucy Lane walks into the room, quirking an eyebrow at the duo gathering up paperwork. She's dressed to kill, as always, in a classic power attorney look, all heels and legs and well-tailored suit. "Detective Sawyer. Detective Montoya."

Maggie nods back in greeting. "ADA Lane."

Renee smirks, running her eyes up and down Lane before locking eyes with her. "Lane. What have we done to be so blessed with your presence all the way down here?"

Maggie and the ADA both roll their eyes, exasperated, though Maggie notices a hint of red peeking out from under Lane's collar. Interesting. "I'm here to talk to you about your case."

Maggie frowns, glancing back at the papers on the table. "The Webster case?"

Lane nods, her eyes narrowing. "There's a piece of evidence from the crime scene that I find very interesting, and I'm not the only one."

Renee's eyebrows shoot up as she regards Lane more closely. "You're talking about the fingerprint? From the dead scientist?"

Maggie's heart starts beating faster as she realizes what's happening. Shit. She's here about Alex, and she absolutely cannot find out the truth. Wait… "What do you mean, you're not the only one?"

Lane turns to her, looking annoyed. "There's an FBI agent who heard about it somehow, he's been very persistent in coming down here to examine the evidence himself. I've had to have some words with him about where he can stick his badge—well, nevermind about that. I'd also like to know what Alex Danvers' fingerprint was doing on a crime scene when she's been dead for five years."

Maggie frowns, running Lane's words over in her mind. "Did you… know her?"

Lane glares at her, and Maggie sighs internally. The ADA had always had a bit too much of a stick up her ass in their previous interactions, and she didn't see this one going any better. "Of course not."

Maggie narrows her eyes back at Lane, suspicious. "Sure. Okay. Where's the agent? He sure as hell isn't getting his Fed hands anywhere near this case."

Just as she says that, an older man in a suit walks in with Captain Ramirez and Maggie braces herself, setting her shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Lane watching her, an unreadable expression on her face.

The FBI agent looks about as boring as every other fed she had encountered, with a scowl on his face and a condescending air. "Agent McCleary. I want the lead detective on the Webster case."

Renee snorts and kicks her chair, and Maggie shoots what she hopes is a withering look back at her partner. She stands, steeling herself. "Detective Sawyer. I'm lead on this case. What can I do for you?"

McCleary sneers at her and waves to the door behind them. "I'd like to speak with you privately, if you don't mind."

I absolutely fuckin' mind. "Of course not. Lead the way, agent."

She follows McCleary, and on the way out she locks eyes with Lane, who seems to be scrutinizing her. Why is Lane acting so strange?

McCleary stops in front of a deserted interrogation room, gesturing for her to go inside. Wary, Maggie steps inside as the agent closes the door and she turns to face him. The agent pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket and waves it in her face, saying "I'd like for you to explain this."

Maggie raises her eyebrows, unamused, and deadpans, "Well, Agent McCleary, it looks like a piece of paper to me, but if you're really that confused—"

"What's on the piece of paper," McCleary hisses, and Maggie takes a moment to enjoy the vein popping out in his temple as he grows agitated. She takes the paper from him, and though she had braced herself for it, dread still pools in the pit of her stomach at the sight of the fingerprint data matching one Dr. Alexandra Danvers. She keeps a bored expression on her face as she glances at the paper and looks back up at the still seething agent.

"Agent… McCleary was it? We've already ascertained that the fingerprint on the coat has nothing to do with the murder itself, as the victim was killed through lethal poison and not through any physical means. We've also confirmed that Dr. Danvers died in a laboratory fire five years ago, so unless you're suggesting a dead woman got up and walked into a crime scene, I don't think this case concerns you or the FBI."

Maggie sets the paper down onto the interrogation table, careful to keep her movements and voice steady. McCleary puts on a smarmy smile and takes a step closer to her, and she fights not to take a step back. Instead, she raises her chin and looks him dead in the eye. She isn't sure why this FBI agent is so concerned with Alex, but she has a feeling that she's definitely not going to like the reason.

"Detective, Dr. Danvers was a well-respected government scientist. You can't expect us not to be curious when a former colleague's name shows up in the system years after her death, right?"

Maggie's brain is screaming at her, but she keeps her expression blank as she stares back at McCleary. Government scientist? That explains why Alex's file was mostly redacted, and it means that this agent knows a whole lot more than he's letting on.

McCleary, clearly tired of her silence, continues, "Did you find any other evidence on the victim's body, anything that may pertain to Dr. Danvers?"

Maggie shrugs, nonchalant. "Just that print. And like I said before, it's not relevant. Likely just a mistake in the data, honestly. Sometimes transferring data from paper to tech goes awry."

McCleary nods, clearly dissatisfied by the lack of information she's giving out, and pulls out a card, handing it to her. "If you find anything at all, it's imperative that you call me at this number. Like a said, Dr. Danvers was a former colleague, making this very high interest."

Yeah, I bet. Maggie takes the card and steps past McCleary, opening the door. "Nice talking to you, Agent."

The agent, barely acknowledging her, walks out the door and disappears around the corner. Maggie lets out a breath and stares at the card. After a moment, she pockets it and turns to leave, jumping slightly when she sees ADA Lane standing there, still scrutinizing.

"Can I help you, Lane?"

"What did you say to McCleary? He left in quite the huff."

Maggie pauses, suspicious. She's not sure why Lane came all the way down to her precinct over Alex's fingerprint, but she doesn't trust her. "I told him the truth. That the fingerprint isn't of any relevance and definitely isn't of the FBI's concern."

Lane tilts her head, eyes narrowed. "Detective, you like your job, don't you?"

Her hackles immediately raised, Maggie steps closer to Lane, anger seeping through her voice. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Lane doesn't even flinch at Maggie's sudden hostility. "I'm just reminding you, Sawyer, that if you like your job it would be wise of you not to keep anything from me. There's a good amount of people clearly very interested in the evidence of this case, and any information about it needs to come to me, first. That's your priority."

Maggie takes a moment to calm herself down before answering, "I don't think it's up to you to tell me what my priorities are, Lane."

Lane shakes her head and steps back. "It is when it comes to important police matters, Sawyer. Like I said. If you like your job."

Lane walks away without another word, leaving Maggie alone in the hallway, seething. Renee comes around the corner and frowns when she sees Maggie's demeanor. "Yo, Sawyer, is everything okay?"

Maggie takes a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. "This day has been so weird, and Lane's getting on my last nerve. She really thinks she can come in here and lecture me about my priorities? What is she on? And why does she care so much about that damn fingerprint?"

Alarmed, Renee places her hand on Maggie's shoulder. "I've seen Lane out a few times outside of the office, she's usually a lot of fun off the clock. I'm sure dealing with stray FBI agents coming around isn't easy, she's probably just stressed about that."

Incredulous, Maggie shrugs. "Yeah, sure. I'm gonna stop by the ME office before I head out for the night."

Grinning, Renee slaps her shoulder. "Say hi to Livvy for me!"

"Should I flirt with her a bit for you too? Since you won't be around to do it?"

"Shut up."

Maggie smiles as she walks into the medical examiner's office and sees Liv stretched out on the couch watching some horror flick and chowing down on a bowl of noodles. "Are those zombies?"

Liv turns and smiles back at Maggie, setting the TV on mute and sitting up. "You can have some noodles if you don't tell my boss about this."

"Maybe later. I'm actually here to ask you for a favor…"

Liv furrows her eyebrows and gestures for Maggie to go on. "This better not be about you and Renee teaming up to try and get me to go to a party, I really don't do parties."

"No, no, nothing like that. I was wondering… that sample of hair from the Webster crime scene… did you run it through any official channels?"

Liv's face turns serious, and she eyes Maggie as she answers. "I tested it against the hair found at your aunt's scene, but her case is closed, so it wasn't through official channels. And…"

"And?"

Liv sighs, averting her eyes. "I haven't logged it as evidence for the Webster murder. I had a hunch that it might not be the best idea to officially tie this case to your aunt's yet."

Maggie slumps, relieved. "No, that's good. Really. I don't think it would be either."

"Are you sure? Because this is serious, Maggie."

"I know. And you're probably not gonna like the favor I have to ask."

Liv sighs, drawing her legs up and curling into the couch. "What is it?"

"We need to keep the hair between us."

"What?"

"It's private right now, and it has to stay that way. Please, Liv. I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't important. It can't be in the system."

Liv opens her mouth to protest, but then shuts it and takes a long look at Maggie. Maggie knows that she looks desperate right now. This favor is putting Liv's job at risk as well as her own, but after her meeting with Agent McCleary her instincts are screaming at her that logging another piece of evidence connected to Alex Danvers would be downright dangerous. That's the reason she lied to McCleary's face when he asked if there was anything else found on the scene; not to mention, Lane is keeping a close eye on the case, and she isn't sure who she can trust right now.

After a long moment, Liv finally responds, "I've known you for a bit, Maggie, and god help me, I trust you. But you know what this could mean if anyone finds out, so I need to ask you again. Are you sure?"

Maggie nods firmly. "I'm sure."

"...Then it stays between us. I won't log the hair."

Reaching out, Maggie sets her hand on Liv's arm and squeezes. "Thank you, Liv. Really."

Liv nods and reaches for the remote, unmuting the TV. The sound of dramatic screaming plays as the implications of what they had both just agreed to runs through Maggie's head. God, I hope I'm not wrong about this.

Maggie knocks on the Danvers' door, exhausted from the day she'd had. After the strange encounters with Lane and McCleary, the questions she has for Alex seem innumerable. Her conversation with Liv is still weighing on her mind as well, and she hopes she made the right judgement call. Hopefully I'll feel better about it after talking to Alex. If she's even still here…

To her relief, Kara finally opens the door, confusion turning to surprise at the sight of Maggie. The blonde immediately begins fidgeting with her hands, but despite her obvious nerves she still shoots a wide smile at Maggie. "Detective! You're back! Is this still about Alex? Because, um, I'm not sure I can stick around long enough to chat, I still have so much Christmas shopping to do—"

Maggie raises a hand to stop Kara's rambling, amused. "Yes, I am here for Alex. Is she here?"

Kara freezes, blinking rapidly. "Uh, like her ghost? Are we still on that? Am I supposed to like, feel her presence or something?"

"Let her in, Kar."

Kara jumps and whirls around at the sound of Alex's voice, hand flying up to her chest. An involuntary smile tugs at Maggie's face as she catches sight of Alex behind Kara, and it grows as Alex smiles back at her. Kara, however, seems to be suffering from a heart attack standing between them as her mouth opens and shuts, no words coming out. Finally, face pale, she reaches her hands out towards Alex, exclaiming, "It's… a ghost! Alex! You're...visiting me? From the other side?!"

Maggie loses it, turning away to muffle her laughter as Alex's mouth drops open and she stares at her sister, incredulous. "Kara, she knows I'm alive. I met her last night."

Kara's hand drops from her chest, but color still doesn't return to her face. "She knows? Why didn't you tell me?"

Alex snorts, glancing at Maggie, whose shoulders are still shaking from laughter. "And miss the utter train wreck that just happened? I'm starved for entertainment, here."

She waves for Maggie to come in and Maggie enters, patting Kara on the shoulder as she passes. Kara shuts the door behind her, still baffled. "Wait, when did we decide that it was a good idea for the detective to know our big secret?"

Alex presses her lips together and walks over to Kara, touching her arm. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I know the risks here."

Kara nods, placing her hand over Alex's. "You, better than anyone. If this goes bad…"

"I know. But she deserves to know the truth, and I think we both owe her that."

They both turn to look at Maggie, who tries to hide her discomfort at being spoken about like she wasn't there. Kara notices, though, and smiles apologetically. "I guess I'll leave you guys to it, then! Alex, if you need me, I'll be in my office."

She gestures to a door off to the side that Maggie hadn't noticed, and with a wave, she disappears behind it. "Well, she bounces back quickly," Maggie remarks, taking in her surroundings. She didn't take a good look around before, when her emotions were running high, but she was surprised to find herself liking the place. It was warm and light, a reflection of the younger Danvers. She glances back to see Alex watching her, a smile pulling up the corner of her mouth. Alex blinks and looks away, and Maggie lets out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

"Let's go upstairs. I love my sister, but she has no taste when it comes to alcohol. I keep the good stuff with me."

Grinning, Maggie follows her up the stairs. "The good stuff? Didn't know it was that kind of night, Danvers."

Alex doesn't turn to look at her, but Maggie can see a flush starting to creep up the back of her neck as she opens the gate. Maggie peers at it as she passes. "What's with the gate, by the way? Is it just supposed to be super creepy?"

Alex chuckles and shrugs, heading to the other side of the room. "Honestly, yeah. It was here when Kara and I took over the place, and it's a funny deterrent whenever anyone comes poking around." She turns around, holding a bottle of scotch and two glasses, and Maggie raises an eyebrow.

"Didn't deter me, though."

Alex meets her gaze and grins back. "Oh, please. You only made it in here because I let you."

"Oh, really? And what would you have done to stop me?"

Maggie tilts her head at Alex, whose eyes flit away again as she pours the drinks. Is she nervous? I don't blame her. I am too. I still can't believe I'm standing here, talking to a person I was almost convinced didn't actually exist.

"I could've taken some ideas from Kara and pretended I was a ghost," Alex retorts, giving her a sidelong glance. Maggie snorts, taking the glass from her.

"I admire how committed she was to the bit, but your sister can't lie for shit, Danvers. Threw my partner and I for a loop when we showed up the first time."

Alex lets out a small laugh, leaning against the table. "I've basically told her to just go ahead and run if anyone ever brought me up into conversation."

"That… explains a lot, Danvers."

Maggie realizes she probably has a ridiculously endeared smile on her face as she looks at Alex and quickly tries to cover by taking a sip from her glass. Reveling in the burn of the alcohol, she surveys the room, taking note of the few pictures Alex had on the bookshelf in the living area. It was clear that she and Kara both had done what they could to make the abandoned building home. Looking down at the table, she sees a familiar article peeking out from the mess of papers scattered around, and frowning, she plucks it out to examine it further. Alex glimpses the article and immediately flushes a pretty red, eyes widening.

"Oh...uh...I was just...um," Alex begins to stammer, and she stops when she takes in Maggie's face. Alex sighs and looks down, and Maggie reads the headline of the article she has tucked away in her apartment somewhere: "Officer Maggie Sawyer promoted to detective by NCPD."

Maggie takes a second to process the paper she's holding. She was aware that Alex knew who she was when she came knocking at the Danvers' door, but this was definitive proof. Heart hammering, she looks back at Alex, whose face is still pointed at the floor, posture stiff. Maggie's chest ache at the sight, so she tries for casual. "I think this is more 'hang on the fridge' material, if you ask me. They gave me a whole two sentences for this one."

Alex meets her eyes again, and relaxes infinitesimally when Maggie quirks the corner of her mouth up in a small smile. Softening, she holds out a hand for the article and Maggie hands it over. Alex looks down at it and sets it back on the table, letting out a breath. "I realize this is all too creepy, but I've sort of...been keeping tabs on you the past few years. Just every so often. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Maggie feels her lungs fill with air as she takes in Alex. Alex, the woman she's been searching for for the past five years; the woman who saved her and has apparently kept track of her since. Alex's face is still riddled with guilt, but she bravely meets Maggie's eyes. The scar on Alex's face somehow softens her appearance, and even though Maggie was aware that Alex is beautiful, she hadn't prepared herself for the raw ache in her chest whenever she sees Alex's soft eyes on her. Clearing her throat, Maggie repeats, "You've been keeping tabs on me?"

Alex nods, still slightly stiff. "I usually check a few times a year to see if you're still in the area. I follow your cases sometimes, too. It's...comforting, in a way. Not much else to do when you're stuck up here and everyone thinks you're dead."

Maggie finally smiles fully at Alex, letting her know that it's okay. Relieved, Alex returns the smile. After a moment, Maggie clears her throat again and gestures to the article. "That was a pretty proud moment for me. It was nice to prove myself as more than a law school drop-out."

Alex nods, understanding. "You dropped out after…"

"What happened, yeah. I couldn't focus on it anymore, you know? I was so wrapped up in what had happened to Isa, and no one was giving me any answers. So I decided to go after them myself. Came up here, to National City, and started at the police academy."

Alex steps closer to Maggie, and Maggie tries to ignore the tingling in her fingers when Alex's hand accidentally brushes against hers. "I get it. Sometimes life can derail your plans, what you originally intended for yourself."

Maggie nods, then tilts her head at Alex. "So you didn't always plan on being a government scientist?"

Alex frowns and examines her, confused. "You know about that?"

"I had some… interesting visits today. This pain-in-my-ass ADA is sniffing around the case I'm on, and so is some FBI agent. They're both very interested in what your fingerprints are doing at a crime scene."

Alex grimaces and paces away from the table, clenching her hands. "God, of course they are. I was such an idiot for leaving evidence. I couldn't just leave her there, though."

Maggie reaches out to stop Alex's pacing, and she sits down on the couch, sighing. Maggie joins her, drawing a leg up to face Alex. "That wasn't the first time you've tried to save someone at a scene though, right?"

Alex nods, taking a swig of her scotch. "I come across people sometimes, when I'm going out for walks. I try my best not to be seen and to not leave any trace behind, but I guess I was reckless this time."

Maggie frowns, considering. "You've never left any trace of yourself at a scene before?"

The corner of Alex's mouth tugs up. "My job was a bit unorthodox. I was trained to be stealthy. If I have left anything at other crime scenes, I wouldn't know. This is the first time the police have come knocking, asking questions."

Alex then frowns as well, turning to completely face Maggie. "You said an FBI agent is sniffing around?"

Maggie hums in acknowledgement, pulling out the card she had pocketed earlier. "Some guy named McCleary. Said you two used to be colleagues?"

Alex's nose wrinkles in distaste as she looks at the card. "Ugh, fucking McCleary. I definitely remember him. I think I punched him once."

Maggie's sure the adoring smile is back on her face, and she tries not to think about the ridiculously attractive image in her head of Alex punching McCleary. "So he wasn't bullshitting?"

"Oh, no, he was definitely overstating our working relationship. McCleary was just hired muscle when I was around, working for the higher-ups. I take it he still hasn't found a brain anywhere since I've been gone?"

Maggie snorts. "Not according to the conversation I had with him today. Speaking of, I think we should probably get into why exactly they're so interested."

Alex nods, getting up and grabbing the bottle of scotch. "We'll probably need more alcohol if we're getting into all of that."

Maggie sits quietly on the couch, patiently sipping her drink and waiting for Alex to begin. Alex is sitting next to her, gazing into her glass with a slight crinkle between her eyebrows, and Maggie has to clench her fist to fight the urge to smooth it away. She runs her eyes over the scar on the side of Alex's face. In the dim lighting coming from the kitchen, Alex looks resigned and almost… haunted. The woman hasn't spoken for a few minutes, and Maggie can tell by the distant look in her eyes that Alex is gathering her thoughts. She wishes she could do something to comfort Alex, but her nerves are shot in the anticipation of finally knowing more about her aunt and the entire situation. So, she settles for taking another sip of her scotch and letting Alex breathe for a second.

Alex blinks and finally glances up from her drink, and Maggie flushes, knowing she's been caught watching Alex. Alex doesn't comment, and instead flashes a ghost of a smile to Maggie, who tries to send a reassuring one back. "Sorry, I'm just trying to figure out where to start. There are so many pieces, and some things I don't even understand yet."

Maggie decides to stop fighting, and reaches over to rest her hand on Alex's. Alex freezes for a moment, watching their joined hands, then looks up at Maggie, softening. Maggie squeezes, trying not to give away her racing heartbeat, and gently replies, "Just start from what you do know, and we can go from there."

Alex swallows, nodding, and Maggie pulls her hand back to give the woman some more breathing room, feeling her heart clench as she lets go. Alex takes a large gulp of her scotch, shaking her head slightly and turning to face Maggie.

"Kara... she wasn't always in our lives. My dad brought her home to live with us when she was 12. I wasn't really happy about it at first, because… well, I didn't respond well to suddenly having to share everything with a traumatized pre-teen, as horrible as that sounds. But it wasn't just that. Kara's...special."

Maggie tilts her head, bewildered. "Special?"

Alex takes a deep breath, fidgeting slightly. "Okay, start with what you know, right? What I knew at the time was that Kara had these...abilities. My parents refused to tell me why, and Kara couldn't really remember how it happened either. But she could do these...incredible, superhuman things."

Maggie tries not to let her skepticism show on her face, but some must leak through, because Alex chuckles a bit. "I know it sounds impossible, but it's true. Her skin is impenetrable, and she's extremely fast and strong. She can also fly."

Maggie quirks her eyebrow. "Fly?"

"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself, but yeah."

Maggie sits back, processing, when it hits her and she jerks upright again, wide-eyed. "Wait, that night that you saved me...That's how you got away? I was always so confused about how you just...disappeared in the blink of an eye, but I thought that was just the concussion. Yet none of the police were able to find you when they swept the forest."

Alex's expression grows even more serious. "Yeah, Kara flew in and got me out of there. I shouldn't be surprised you noticed that, though, it seems like you're a great detective."

Maggie grins at her, attempting to lighten the mood. "Aw, you getting soft on me, Danvers?"

Alex scoffs, but a blush creeps into her face and she coughs, shifting in her seat. "Anyways, I knew about Kara's powers but I couldn't figure out the origin."

"Yes, you said she couldn't remember?"

Alex hums in affirmation. "Kara was in a car accident with her parents when she was 11. Her parents were killed, but Kara survived with just a few injuries. She remembers being sent to an orphanage, but after that she only has some flashes of memories until Dad brought her to our house a year after the accident."

Maggie frowns. "A whole year is missing from her memory?"

"The whole year. And my dad was acting weird, always away at work, disappearing at odd hours. Neither of my parents would tell me what was going on, only that we had to protect Kara at all costs, that we couldn't say anything about what she could do and that I had to help her fit in, make sure no one knew her secret. I had to keep her safe. And I...resented her, at first, but eventually we got closer, and she became my sister. No question. Everything I've done since, it's all been to protect her."

Maggie tilts her head, assessing Alex. "It was drilled into you, and now it's your first instinct to protect people."

Alex's eyes dart away as she shrugs her shoulders, resigned. "Doesn't always work though." She settles back into the couch and continues, "A few months after Kara came to live with us, my dad told us that he had to go away for a while on a work trip. He had been gone more often than not, so I didn't think much of it, until—"

Alex's voice cracks, and she pauses, eyes downcast. After a beat, she murmurs, "A couple government agents showed up at our door to tell us that my dad, he was missing and presumed dead."

Maggie's heart breaks at Alex's distraught expression, and she reaches out again to take Alex's hand. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry."

Alex takes a moment to compose herself before continuing, lacing her fingers through Maggie's. "I didn't believe it, at first, that he was really gone, but my dad loved us, and after time had passed, I knew that he wouldn't have stayed away unless… he couldn't come back. But I needed to know what happened. There were so many secrets, so many answers I needed. So years later when I finished my PhD and the agency he worked for came knocking, I took a job with them."

Maggie sucks in a breath. She and Alex had been down similar paths: both of them had lost someone they cared about and their lives were changed trying to seek answers. Alex watches her, face gentle in understanding, and squeezes her hand. "I needed to know what happened to my father and the truth about where Kara came from, so I joined the DEO as a scientist and field agent. The DEO was a small agency, but I found out that it was a branch off a bigger organization called Cadmus."

Maggie stiffens. "I've heard whispers about Cadmus around the streets. Men in dark suits with dark secrets."

"Mhm. Cadmus was an organization secretly contracted by the US government in an attempt to create 'super-soldiers.' The DEO was a special forces unit, training soldiers so that when they eventually created this serum, they could inject the soldiers and have this… super-soldier squad."

Maggie holds up a hand to stop Alex before breaking into stunned laughter. "I'm sorry, it's not funny, but what the actual fuck, Danvers?"

The corner of Alex's mouth tugs up in a small smile as Maggie laughs. "What the actual fuck is about right, Sawyer. And that's not even the half of it. They experimented on trained soldiers at first, but the soldiers just became violent, so violent that Cadmus agents had to kill them. After losing too many soldiers, Cadmus decided…"

Maggie sobers up at the sight of Alex struggling to get her words out. Alex tilts her face up to the ceiling, swallowing. "They decided that children were more expendable than their soldiers."

Horror rips through Maggie as she realizes where this is going. Fuck. Fuck. "Fuck, no. They… no." Alex pulls their joined hands closer, swiping her thumb in soothing circles.

"They're evil bastards. And no one raised an eyebrow when they started buying up properties and using them to start orphanages."

Maggie turns her face away, trying to hide the tears stinging in her eyes. She whispers, voice shaking, "What happened to them?"

Alex's eyes mirror the emotions coursing through Maggie. "Most of them were killed by the serum. Their bodies couldn't handle it. And no one batted an eye at orphans disappearing. When I found out, I was sick to my fucking stomach. All those kids… and my dad was a part of it."

Maggie feels nauseous as well, but tries to pull herself together. "So Kara was in one of those orphanages, and they experimented on her. But, she reacted differently to the serum?"

"From what I could find out, she was the only one. But Cadmus has no idea. In their records, the orphan Kara Zor-El died the same way as the other orphans. Which is how I was able to piece together what happened."

Maggie raises her eyebrows, understanding. "Your dad faked the results, and snuck Kara out of there, didn't he?"

Alex nods. "When he figured out that the serum worked on Kara, he must've known what Cadmus would've done to her. They would have dissected her, did everything possible to find out why her body reacted differently. So he faked her death and brought her to our home, changing her identity to Kara Danvers and hiding her away."

Alex pauses again, sighing. She holds Maggie's hand tighter, and Maggie steels herself for what Alex is about to say. "My dad… he wasn't the only one involved. When I got a hold of his file, they listed his partner, a Dr. Isa Sawyer."

Maggie's stomach drops as nausea ripples through her once more. She had started to suspect that Alex's story was headed in that direction, but she couldn't believe it. "She... she worked for them? I don't... she was good. She was a good person. She couldn't have just… stood there while these children were killed and been a part of it."

Alex's eyes were sympathetic. "Maggie…"

Maggie shook her head and stood up, releasing Alex's hand. She saw a flash of something (disappointment?) in Alex's face when she let go, but she turned and walked to the window, throat closing up and eyes stinging. "She took me in. I was 14, and alone, like those kids, and she didn't even say a word, just dropped everything to take care of me. She was the best person I knew. She played pranks, and taught me how to bake. She… raised me, worked extra shifts at the hospital to help me pay for school. She loved me. She was a good person."

Alex stands, moving next to Maggie and resting her hand on Maggie's back. "So was my dad. So was I. We all worked for the same people, Maggie. The difference between them and the other Cadmus agents was that when it came down to it, my dad and your aunt risked everything to save Kara. I don't even know if they knew what was actually happening to those kids when they joined. I didn't. When I learned about the orphanages, the higher-ups played it off as experiments to help the kids' health, and that the kids were getting adopted, not dying. It wasn't until I got a bit higher up in the food chain that I learned the truth. By then, I was wrapped in about twenty confidentiality agreements."

Maggie takes a deep, shaky breath, and leans into Alex's touch. "How do you know Isa was involved in saving Kara?"

"I recognized her, when I saw her file. She used to come to the house every so often, and she and Dad would disappear into his office. She came a couple times after we adopted Kara, too, before my dad went missing. She was always really nice to me."

Maggie feels the tears threatening to spill down her face, and she blinks them away, turning to face Alex. Her breath hitches slightly when she realizes how close they are, and how Alex's hand moved to rest on Maggie's hip when she turned. She doesn't move to dislodge it, and instead lets herself breathe out, releasing some of her tension. She hopes Alex is right, and that Isa didn't know what the job entailed. The job that she knows now likely led to Isa's murder. "You saw her file?"

Alex leans against the window, looking almost ethereal. "She was one of the Cadmus doctors, partnered up with my dad who was a DEO scientist. From what I understood, she would examine the kids pre-experiment, documenting their health and helping my dad with genetic analysis. She left Cadmus a bit before my dad went missing, actually. I think around February of that year."

Maggie shuts her eyes and finally lets the tears fall. She feels Alex's hand cup her face, brushing the tears away, and opens her eyes to see Alex's concerned expression. "I'm sorry, Maggie. I know how much weight this is to bear."

Maggie shakes her head. "February. That was around when she took me in. She must've left Cadmus a little after I came to live with her."

Alex's face softens as she smiles at Maggie. "She loved you very much."

Maggie takes a few more breaths to calm down, then motions for Alex to continue with her story. Alex straightens, dropping her hand from Maggie's cheek and clearing her throat. Maggie tries not to be disappointed that they're no longer touching.

"Cadmus kept tabs on your aunt, probably to make sure she didn't break confidentiality. I joined the DEO, learned what I could, and decided to stay to make sure they didn't find out the truth about Kara. I needed to protect my sister at all costs."

Alex squeezes her eyes shut. "Five years ago, Cadmus decided to restart injections of the serum on some of the DEO soldiers, and it went bad. The agents that were injected became violent and they started killing other agents. All the injected soldiers were killed, but it was enough damage that some unaffiliated parts of the government caught wind of what was happening. Before they could open up an investigation, Cadmus decided to stage a cover-up. Burn the DEO to the ground, and everyone who knew about the experiments, save for some higher-ranking Cadmus agents that were planted in different areas of the government."

Maggie's eyes widen in shock, breathing out, "When you say they decided to burn the DEO to the ground, you mean—"

Alex nods. "The lab fire. It was Cadmus, trying to destroy their research and everyone involved. I honestly don't know how I got out of there alive. As far as I know, everyone else in that building died in the fire. I somehow ended up finding a door out that wasn't locked, and I ran. Got this when things started exploding in the lab on my way out." Alex gestures to her scar, and Maggie brings her hand up to brush her thumb down the length of it. Alex closes her eyes at Maggie's touch, exhaling. The scar is rough and jagged, running from the side of her mouth up around her eye and stopping a bit past her temple. The scar doesn't change the fact that she's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Maggie awkwardly drops her hand at that thought. Alex slowly opens her eyes, gazing at her for a moment with a look Maggie couldn't decipher before carrying on.

"I went to Kara's first. She had no idea that I worked for the DEO, so imagine her surprise when her sister shows up, injured and smelling like smoke, babbling about how she needed to disappear. I knew I had to make sure Cadmus couldn't find me, to make them think I died in that fire. If they thought I was alive, they would come after Kara, too, and it wasn't going to be hard to figure out her real identity. I was going to leave, but I was… selfish. I couldn't leave without explaining things to Kara. I didn't want her to be like me, sitting there wanting answers from someone who had gone before she could get them. So I explained, and she adamantly refused to let me leave without her. She told me that we were gonna do this together, and despite my protests, she didn't relent."

Maggie chuckles, echoing Alex's earlier words, "She loves you very much."

Alex smiles, eyes crinkling. "I don't know what I would've done without her. She found this ridiculous abandoned factory, and we made up this story that she was gonna move here out of grief after losing me. When we were planning, I remembered my dad's partner, and I realized that she was unprotected and probably the last key to me figuring out what happened with my dad. So I tracked her down, but I was too late."

Maggie's chest feels like it's about to crack open, and she walks back over to her glass, downing the rest of her scotch to keep more tears at bay. "So it was Cadmus that… killed her, as a part of covering their tracks."

Alex sighs, nodding. Guilt takes over her expression as she looks away. "By the time I got there, the men had already shot Isa and were running into the woods to chase you. I ran after them, and… well, you know the rest. Kara was monitoring the police scanners to make sure I wasn't caught, and when she heard that police were on their way, she flew in and grabbed me. We've been here ever since, hiding out, trying to keep off Cadmus's radar."

"Until your fingerprint was found on a crime scene, and the NCPD started poking around."

Alex smirks at her. "Well, I don't mind certain NCPD detectives," she jokes.

Maggie grins back, but grows serious again. "That FBI agent that's sniffing around my case…"

"McCleary, yeah. He's Cadmus. Which means they're onto me." Alex drops back onto the couch, burying her head in her hands. "We tried so hard, and we were so fucking careful for so long, but none of that is gonna matter if they find me. If they find Kara."

Maggie clenches her jaw, infuriated. These evil bastards killed children, took Isa from her, took Alex's dad from her, experimented on Kara. She'll be damned if those fuckers don't pay. "Alex. We need to stop them. They can't just… get away with all of it! They're still out there."

Alex sighs, resigned. "I can't. Maggie, I wish we could just march around and arrest those rat bastards, but we don't even have any proof of what they did. All of it burned when Cadmus covered their tracks. I've been looking, but I can't risk exposing myself. They're already too close. Kara and I… we're gonna have to leave, throw the trail off."

Dread pools in Maggie's stomach at the thought of Alex leaving, of never being able to see her again. "Alex… if we can work together, we can find the proof we need. We can find out what happened to your dad. And then you don't have to run." She sits down next to Alex, itching to just wrap her in her arms. "You don't deserve any of this Alex. You deserve to be free, to be alive. Not stuck running from Cadmus."

Alex's shoulders slump, and she rubs her face. "I can't, Maggie. I can't risk that."

Disappointment rolls through Maggie, but she understands. She doesn't want to risk Alex getting caught, either. She'd rather Alex be safe more than anything else. "Okay. But I'm going after them, regardless. They're not getting away with this."

Alex turns to look at Maggie, seeing the fierce determination on her face. She takes Maggie's hand and locks eyes with Maggie, serious. "Please be careful. They're more powerful than you may think, and they're already watching you. I don't want anything happening to you."

Maggie's throat tightens as she squeezes Alex's hand. "Thank you. For trusting me. For everything."

Alex exhales shakily, smiling sadly at her. "Of course. You deserve the truth, or at least, the bit I could give to you."

"You've given me a lot more than the truth, Danvers."

With that, Maggie stands to leave, swiping at her eyes. Her eyes rake over Alex, trying to memorize her. "Will I see you before you leave?"

Alex stands too, downcast. "I'll try and get a message to you before we go. Maybe through Kara or one of her friends."

Maggie nods, and squeezes Alex's hand one more time before turning to walk away, chest caving in and trying not to look back.

Maggie sits in a worn-down booth, fidgeting with her beer bottle. It has been days since she and Alex talked, since she learned the truth about what Isa had been involved with and what had led to her murder. She hasn't heard from Alex since, and she assumes the Danvers sisters had taken off without getting a message to her. Which is… fine. As much as I want Alex's help and for her to stick around, Cadmus has already taken so much. I don't want them to take her or Kara either. They've both been through enough. And if I can somehow find the proof we need… maybe they can come back for good.

Her search in the past few days, however, had yielded little results, especially since Maggie was aware that Cadmus has been keeping an eye on her and her current case. She'd had multiple run-ins with the ADA as well, each of which has made her increasingly suspicious. Lane seems convinced that Maggie knows more than she's letting on, and despite her obvious exasperation with McCleary and the other government agents interested in Alex's fingerprint, Maggie's operating on the assumption that Lane is affiliated with Cadmus too. She has a very short list now of the people she can trust, and one of those people is likely going to be off the grid for a long time.

Maggie is taking a deep breath to dismiss the pang in her chest when she notices Renee making her way to her booth. She plasters on a smile, which, judging by the incredulous look Renee throws her way, is wholly unconvincing. Her partner drops into the seat in front of her, raising an eyebrow.

"You look like shit, Sawyer." Renee deadpans. Maggie sighs, eyes falling to the table below. She doesn't want to lie to Renee more than she already has, and though Maggie has kept her focus on the Webster case during work hours, she knows she's been off since that night with Alex. Hell, she's been all over the place since she found Alex's fingerprint on a crime scene.

"How did you know I'd be here?" Maggie stalls, avoiding Renee's eyes.

Renee snorts, unimpressed. "Are you kidding? You're always here when things are shit for you. Plus, M'gann has me on speed dial now for when you come in looking exceptionally dark."

Maggie breathes out a laugh, glancing over at the bar to see M'gann eyeing her. She turns back to see the same scrutinizing expression on Renee's face. Rolling her eyes, Maggie presses her head into her hands, trying to organize her thoughts. "I've just...had a lot on my mind lately. You already knew that."

Renee hums, shifting to rest her arm around the back of the booth. "Yeah, I got the very vague indications that shit's hit the fan with your aunt's case, but something else is going on. Lane and those dimwit FBI agents have been up your ass the past few days, you've been miles away at work even when you're trying to pretend everything's alright, and I think we're way past the point where I need to know more about it all."

Maggie tilts her head, confused. "I thought you said you didn't need to know what was happening."

"Yeah, well, that was before the vultures started circling and before I realized that whatever is about to go down, we need to be on the same page."

"You're calling Lane a vulture?"

"Oh hell no, Lane's more like a… sexy… uh… yeah I don't know enough about birds to keep this metaphor alive."

"Analogy."

"Oh, analogy? Is that right, Ms. Law-School-Dropout?"

"Suck my ass, Montoya."

Maggie and Renee glare at each other for a beat before breaking out into laughter. Grinning, Renee reaches over to shove Maggie's shoulder. "See, there she is."

Maggie returns the smile, feeling a bit of the weight in her chest lighten. "Listen, Renee—"

"Do not first-name me here—"

"Renee."

Renee presses her lips together, gesturing for Maggie to continue after a moment.

"This… thing… what I'm doing, it's so important. I need to do it. It's not just about my aunt anymore."

Renee's eyes widen imperceptibly, but she stays quiet, letting Maggie speak.

"These past few years, Isa has been all I've thought about. I've tried to live my life, but everything always circled back around to my aunt. And that night. I've been so focused on trying to find out the truth. But now I know what happened… and the truth is so much bigger than I had ever imagined. So much… heavier. I love Isa. And I want the fuckers who killed her to pay. But there are other people involved in this. Other reasons why I can't stop. Other lives at stake."

Renee nods. "It's bigger than you, now."

"Bigger than all of us."

"Well, shit, Sawyer, that sounds like a real party. And I'm in."

Maggie grins. "We could both lose our jobs."

"Par for the course, really."

"And I still can't tell you everything. Some secrets aren't mine to tell."

"Well I don't tell you everything either, so I guess we're even, then."

"And you're still with me?"

Renee's expression shifts into something sincere and serious for a moment as she looks at Maggie. "You know the thing about heavy truths, Sawyer, is that you don't have to bear the weight of them alone."

Maggie shuts her apartment door and slumps in relief, ready to pass out in her bed. She felt much lighter after her conversation with Renee, but trying to explain the Cadmus situation without exposing Alex in the process was exhausting. Rubbing her eyes, she shrugs her jacket off and tosses it on the counter, walking towards her bedroom. She grabs her gun to put it away when she hears a faint rattling coming from the fire escape, almost blending in with the wind rattling her window. She stiffens, suddenly alert, and raises her gun, slowly inching towards the window. Heart thundering, she sidles up next to the window, ready to throw it open, when—

"Sawyer, open up," a familiar voice hisses from the other side of the window, and Maggie lurches away from the wall, incredulous, as she ogles at Alex Danvers crouching on her fire escape, a nervous grin lighting up her features. Maggie shakily opens the window, trying to catch her breath and still gaping at Alex.

"Jesus fucking fuck, Danvers, you nearly put me in an early grave! What—how—fucking shit—"

"What, did you miss me?" Alex breaks out into a full grin as she watches Maggie flounder, still in shock. Maggie leans down, pressing her palms to her knees, and takes a few more deep breaths.

"How—I thought you left," Maggie wheezes out, grimacing as she glimpses Alex's face fall slightly.

"I know, I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner. It took longer than I thought to get everything squared away with Kara. There were a lot of arguments."

Maggie exhales, moving to sit on the window ledge. "What were you arguing about?"

Alex gazes at her for a beat with an unreadable expression, then—

"She thinks we should stay… and I agree."

Maggie freezes in disbelief, examining Alex's face intently. She doesn't see anything but gentle sincerity, and Alex flashes her another nervous smile. "You're staying? What made you change your mind?"

Alex pulls her knees towards her body, wrapping her arms around them. "I didn't exactly change my mind. When you asked me, I wanted to say yes. But I've been running from Cadmus for so long, it felt like I could never stop. That Kara and I were always gonna have to run, so I could keep her safe."

Maggie shifts her foot to rest against Alex's, drawing comfort from the small touch and hoping Alex could do the same. Alex rests her chin on her knees and gives her a heart-stopping smile before continuing.

"It's been five years now, and Kara reminded me, very loudly, that she's fully capable of taking care of both of us as well. That she loves me, but with what she knows now she doesn't want to just sit back and do nothing. Especially with her abilities. That… I don't have to carry this burden alone anymore."

Maggie smiles at the similarity with her and Renee's earlier conversation. "She's right. You've got people, Danvers."

Alex nods, vulnerability shining through in her eyes. "I've got you, don't I?"

Maggie's heart swells a few sizes as she beams at Alex. "Ride or die. We're gonna fight this together"

They keep smiling at each other for a few moments, and Maggie would give anything to bottle up the feeling she gets when she sees Alex's eyes glittering in the lights from the street below. After another moment, she glances down at the bottom of the fire escape, blinking at the gaping 10-foot space between the ground and the stairs up. Some boys had been swinging on the ladder a few months ago until it had broken clean off, and her shitty landlord hadn't put in any repairs yet. Glancing back up at Alex, she nudges her leg with a shit-eating grin.

Alex starts, looking at her questioningly, and Maggie swallows back her laugh. "So, how exactly did you get up here?"

Alex flushes in realization, glancing down at the broken fire escape. Her face blooms with red as she stammers. "Well, uh, I mean, field agent training and all…"

Maggie's shoulders shake with laughter at the ridiculous image of Alex scaling up the wall and she tilts her head, teasing, "I'm sure they trained you impeccably, Agent Spider-Monkey."

Alex's mouth drops open and she nearly looks offended as she watches Maggie fall back against the window in laughter. "Seriously?"

Maggie shakes her head and grins at Alex. God, I am so into this woman. "Ever consider using the front door?"

Alex sputters, indignant, "I'm dead, Maggie!"

Maggie breaks into laughter again, and Alex rolls her eyes, trying and failing to hide her amusement. After Maggie composes herself a bit, Alex peeks up the stairs. "Have you checked out the roof of this place?"

Maggie shakes her head no and Alex smirks before standing and holding out a hand for Maggie to take. Maggie slips her hand into Alex's, feeling sparks flicker from her fingers to her chest as Alex leads them up the stairs.

Maggie whistles, impressed, as they climb onto the roof. The view of the city is breathtaking, and there are lights strung up around the edges of the rooftop above them, casting a warm light. She feels her lungs fill with air, and she turns her head to look at Alex. The lights bounce off her red-tinted hair and her eyes glow as she takes in the sight, squeezing Maggie's hand. Alex finally turns her head to lock eyes with Maggie, face softer than she had ever seen, and Maggie's breath catches at the sight. As Maggie stands there, holding hands with the woman she knows she's falling for, she is certain that she's never felt more alive.

Maggie doesn't knock when entering the chemical factory anymore; usually the Danvers see her coming with their security system setup outside. She waves to the camera Alex pointed out a few weeks ago before pushing her way into Kara's area.

"Hey, I brought some food, and yes, Little Danvers, I did get extra potstickers for you," she announces before looking up and beaming at the sight of Alex coming down the stairs with a matching smile. Kara comes out of her office and lights up at the sight of the food, making grabby hands in Maggie's direction until the detective hands the food over. Maggie pulls a slice of pizza from the box and makes herself comfortable on Kara's couch, trying and failing to hide her pleased grin when Alex settles in next to her. They had kept up a routine for the past few weeks of working together: on days Maggie could get off work at a normal time, they usually met at the chemical factory to work on the Cadmus case. On days Maggie had to work late at the precinct, she would arrive back at her apartment and find a note from Alex on the fire escape letting her know she was on the roof. Those nights are Maggie's favorite, to walk up the stairs after a long night at work and see Alex framed by the cityscape. They'd work on the case up on the roof if the weather held, and if not Maggie would invite Alex into her apartment and they'd make themselves comfortable there.

Maggie shakes her head slightly to dismiss the image of Alex curled up on her couch with a glass of wine. She knows her feelings for Alex are getting outrageously out of hand, as evidenced by the numerous times she's been caught daydreaming at work about Alex (Renee has taken it upon herself to smack the back of Maggie's head whenever she walks by her desk, daydreaming or not) or just staring at Alex.

Maggie walks up the stairs, pocketing the note that was propped up on her windowsill, giddy at the prospect of another night spent with Alex. As she steps onto the rooftop, she notices Alex sitting on the edge, staring out at the city. She takes a long moment to look at Alex, noticing how pensive she seems, but apparently she looked for a second too long because Alex turns, locking eyes with her. Maggie feels the back of her neck warm, but when Alex just offers a small, sad smile, Maggie frowns and makes her way over, leaning up against the edge.

"Long day?" Maggie asks as Alex turns away again.

"All of them are long," Alex mutters, exhaling sharply. Maggie feels her palm itch, and despite her brain screaming at her, she reaches a hand over to cup Alex's cheek, running her thumb along her scar. Alex softens, shutting her eyes and leaning into Maggie's hand, and Maggie shifts to sit on the ledge beside Alex.

"What's wrong?"

Alex slowly opens her eyes. "I've just been thinking about all of it. My dad, Cadmus, everything they've done. Sometimes I don't know if I should be hysterically laughing or crying."

Maggie nods, sliding her hand down to Alex's shoulder and squeezing. They sit there for a few minutes in silence, leaning into each other.

"Maggie?"

Maggie snaps out of the memory to see Kara with a knowing smile. She coughs and reaches for the beer Kara was offering her, taking a healthy swig. "So, is Winn coming today?"

That had been another surprise: Kara's friend Winn Schott, who works at NCU with her as an engineering professor. Kara had told him her secret a few years ago, and Winn has spent the years since helping cover their tracks electronically. Maggie likes the kid, especially with how scared shitless he is of Alex, and by extension, her. He has also been helping them track Agent McCleary, who they have been following to get an idea of what Cadmus's leadership looks like. If they can figure out who is running Cadmus, they'll be able to track them down and hopefully get the proof they need to bring the whole organization down.

Renee has also been helping out on the side, looking into police records to keep track of anyone in their vicinity who could be linked to Cadmus. Maggie and Alex had agreed that Renee shouldn't know about who Alex really is to protect her; if they get caught, Renee can have plausible deniability on the identity of Maggie's "friend who's helping them take down Cadmus."

Kara nods her head at Maggie's question, swallowing the mountain of potstickers she had shoved into her mouth. "Yeah, he's coming. Says he has some good news for us!"

On cue, Winn bursts into the room, laptop in hand, causing Alex and Maggie to both flinch and reach for their guns. Their glares stop Winn in his tracks and he smiles, sheepish.

"Whoops, sorry guys, I forgot I'm not supposed to do that anymore."

"One of these days you're gonna get shot and I'll be around to say 'I told you so'," Alex snarks, releasing her gun. Maggie smirks at her while Kara waves Winn over, mouth full again.

"So, what've you got, Schott?" Maggie asks, propping her feet up so they nudge Alex's, a little habit they had gotten into.

Winn swings his laptop around, wide-eyed. "Okay, so you know that number you gave me for McCleary? Well I've been tracking the numbers he's been calling, all seem to be lower-level Cadmus types or actual FBI agents. But I've been tapping his calls to his superior—please don't arrest me Maggie—through which I got a name: Lillian Luthor."

Alex shoots forward in her seat and Maggie's jaw drops, while Kara just blinks at him in shock.

Maggie recovers quickly, tilting her head at Winn. "Lillian Luthor? The CEO of LexCorp? With the crazy-ass son? That's the bitch who's been running this?"

Alex stands up, furious. "Of course she is, no fucking wonder. I remember the name 'Luthor' being thrown around when I was at the DEO, I just assumed they meant Lex."

Winn nods nervously, scooting away from Alex's fuming. "This is good news, right? All we have to do is poke around Lillian Luthor and get the dirt on her."

Maggie snorts. "Easier said than done. Lillian Luthor probably has so much security up her ass it would take us an entire year just to get inside her office. I can't get a warrant when all the evidence we have are some low-level Cadmus agents and a presumed dead former DEO scientist."

Winn turns to raise an eyebrow at Kara, who had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout this exchange. Kara looks vaguely uncomfortable as she clears her throat and straightens. "I… might… have somewhat of an in, but honestly it's not a super big thing right now and I don't know if I can even call her, like, is that a thing we do? What if she doesn't want to—"

Alex raises a hand to stop Kara's rambling, exasperated. "Who's your in, Kara?"

Winn snickers as Kara turns red, mumbling, "I kinda know Lena Luthor."

Maggie suppresses her laugh as she realizes why Kara's so nervous. "Got it, Little Danvers. Any way you can get the youngest Luthor to rat out her mom?"

"Oh yeah, she is not a fan of her mom. I can ask her if Lillian has any super-secret meetings we can crash."

Maggie lets out another snort. "Subtle."

Alex narrows her eyes. "And how exactly is it that you 'know' Lena Luthor?"

If possible, Kara seems to turn even redder, stammering, "Um… she's a researcher at NCU… who… brings me coffee? Sometimes. And flowers. Occasionally."

Alex raises an eyebrow, unimpressed, and Kara shoots up, pulling out her phone. "I'm just, gonna, you know, call her! Be right back!"

With that, Kara races into her office, and Maggie shakes her head, amused. She eyes Alex, who's tensed and staring at the door, so Maggie reaches out and threads her fingers through Alex's, pulling slightly. Alex turns to face her, still frowning, and Maggie smiles up at her.

"Hey, Danvers, this is a good thing. Look at this. All together, we're closer to ending this than any of us were alone."

Alex hums, still harboring that crinkle between her eyebrows. "It's just… there's so many hoops we'll have to jump through to take down someone as powerful as Lillian Luthor. I… I want to start living my life again. To not be the dead girl living in the attic."

Maggie nods, squeezing Alex's hand. "No matter what, I'm with you, okay? Attics, rooftops, anywhere."

A smile blooms onto Alex's face as she beams down at Maggie, eyes sparkling. Before she can answer, however, Winn interrupts, and both of them jump, clearly having forgotten he was there. "Aw, you guys are so cute—"

"Winn, I swear to God—"

Winn is saved from Alex's wrath by Kara coming back into the room, goofy smile on her face. She takes in the three of them, bemused, and Alex and Maggie drop their hands, trying to look casual.

"Oh-kay then, moving past the super weird vibes in here, how do you guys feel about masquerade parties?"

Maggie slides her hands over her dress to smooth out any wrinkles, bracing herself as she watches the wealthy elite of National City walk into the museum, decked out in their most expensive gowns and intricate masks. Lillian Luthor sure does like to put on a show. Thankfully, Lena had been able to pull some strings and get their names on the guest list for the gala, even Alex, who is listed under a pseudonym as Kara's plus-one. This gala is their chance to keep an eye on Luthor and hopefully obtain some concrete evidence of Cadmus's agenda. Making sure her mask is secured, Maggie walks to the entrance more confidently than she feels, and hands her invitation to the bouncer. She gets waved through and steps into the museum.

Maggie whistles as she enters, grudgingly impressed by the amount of money that's gone into converting the space into what Renee would call "rich-bitch territory." Speaking of, she spots her partner at the bar down the stairs, flirting with a shorter woman whose identity Maggie can't quite make out past the gold mask she's wearing. On the way down the stairs, she catches sight of Kara's bright blonde ponytail, chatting with—yup, that's Lena Luthor. She makes a note of the blonde's fumbling and taps at the small earpiece Winn had fitted for her.

"Hey, Little Danvers, looking super smooth out there," she mutters, snickering when Kara, wide-eyed and red, jerks around to look for her as Lena frowns, bewildered. She can hear Renee chuckling as well, but she hasn't seen Alex yet, so she cranes her neck up to search for her over the crowd.

"Looking for someone?" Maggie whirls around to see Alex smirking at her, and—oh holy shit. Alex looks like a dream, stunning in a blue dress and an intricate black and gold mask covering the upper half of her face. Her hair is curled into soft waves that fall down her neck, and goddamn Maggie can barely breathe and she has never wanted to kiss anyone the way she wants to kiss Alex Danvers right now. She tries to play it cool, though, and dons a matching smirk.

"You clean up nice, Danvers," she says, smirk growing wider as Alex flushes and starts to stammer.

"I do? Well, you do too, with the shoes, and the hair, and all the—"

Alex stops herself mid-sentence, looking slightly embarrassed, and Maggie's heart feels like it's going to burst. Alex composes herself quickly, a more serious expression slipping on as she takes in all the people surrounding them. Maggie also takes a slight step back, trying to hide her own blush by turning towards the bar. She turns back immediately when she realizes that Renee is fully cackling at her, and Alex raises an eyebrow in confusion as the sound of it crackles through their earpieces. Before Alex can ask, Maggie decides it's time they get to business.

"Have you seen Lillian around yet?"

Alex nods towards the railing upstairs and she sees the woman in question, staring down at the party with a flat smile that looks just about as cold as she expected. Alex's face twists into a scowl as she glares at Lillian.

"Who's the man with her?"

Maggie squints to try and make out the face behind the mask before she inhales sharply, grabbing Alex's arm. "That's Sam Lane, he's a military general. Would make sense if he's Cadmus."

Alex's eyebrows furrow, and she examines the man with greater interest. "Did you say Lane?"

Suddenly, Kara's voice crackles through the earpiece as she hisses, "Guys, stop looking at Lillian! She's gonna notice!"

Alex rolls her eyes and mutters, "You're telling me to be stealthy?" She exhales and gazes at Maggie with a strangely nervous expression. Clearing her throat, she offers a hand.

"Would you like to dance?"

Maggie grins, linking their fingers together in a move that has already become familiar. "Well, we do have to blend in."

She tugs Alex into the dancefloor, keeping one hand in Alex's and resting the other on her hip. Alex slides her hand around the back of Maggie's neck, and Maggie has to suppress a shiver. Some slow, lilting song is blanketing the room, and she can barely breathe again, this close to Alex. She can't help but slide her hand around to the small of Alex's back, and Alex responds in kind, leaning down to press her forehead against Maggie's. She could've stayed there forever, softly swaying with Alex, but as the song fades, Renee's voice sounds off in her ear, urgent. Goddamn earpieces.

"Hey, is anyone keeping track of Luthor? She and General Lane just disappeared down the east hallway."

Maggie and Alex snap their heads up in unison and Maggie curses at the empty space where Sam and Lillian had been. Alex pulls her through the crowd and they duck into the empty hallway, running into a wide set of stairs and multiple different hallways. Maggie curses again and glances over at Alex, who looks resigned. Her earpiece whines loudly in her ear, and Maggie cringes, pulling it out. Alex does the same, wincing and rubbing her ear, grumbling about "stupid fucking tech." Maggie takes in her surroundings with a sigh.

"I can take a quick look around, but you should get back to the crowd so you don't get as easily recognized," she suggests, starting towards one of the hallways.

Alex grabs her arm, stopping her in her tracks. "Wait, there's no way you're going in there alone. We do this together, remember?"

Maggie hesitates, and for the second time that night, Alex pulls her in. Her hands come up to Maggie's face and she presses her forehead into Maggie's. Maggie takes a deep, shaky breath, sliding her hands up to keep Alex's in place. They share a breath, and Alex leans in as Maggie's eyes flutter shut—

"Well, if it isn't Dr. Alexandra Danvers."

Alex and Maggie jerk away from each other in shock, whirling around to see Lillian Luthor at top of the stairs, gazing down on them with her ice-cold smile. General Lane stands behind her, gun in his hand, and Maggie's stomach drops. Dread slithers in as she looks on in horror while Alex is pale-white with fury. Maggie whips out her gun, stepping in front of Alex as she points it at Lillian, who merely laughs and ignores her.

"I thought that was you earlier, in the crowd, but I just had to make sure. I have to say, Dr. Danvers, you've eluded me for quite some time. Imagine my surprise when your fingerprints popped up on an active murder case! You're a clever one, just like your father."

Alex grows even more furious, spitting out, "What the fuck do you know about my father?"

Maggie's heart thunders as Lillian begins to walk down the stairs, and she levels her gun, growling, "Don't take another fucking step, Luthor."

Lillian pauses, looking amused, and General Lane raises his gun as Alex steps forward, shoulder-to-shoulder with Maggie.

"What do I know about your father? Well, he was a model employee, up until it was discovered that he had been sneaking my test subjects away. Shame, really, but his death was almost painless, which was far more than he deserved."

Test subjects. So Kara's not the only one he and Isa saved? They must not have known Iss was involved. Beside her, Alex pulls out her own gun, cold with rage.

"Well, I think I've heard enough."

What the fuck? All of their heads snap to the side as ADA Lucy Lane steps out of the hallway, smirking. She waves a hand forward, and over a dozen agents in full gear converge on Lillian and General Lane, who gapes at his daughter in shock. Maggie is in a similar state of shock, and it spikes when Alex steps forward, incredulous. "Luce?"

Maggie's eyebrows shoot up as she gawks at Alex. "Luce? What, wait, you two know each other?"

"Luce" winks at her and Alex nods, faltering. "We worked together at the DEO, we were friends."

"Were? With the amount I've covered for you the past five years, we better still be friends," Lucy retorts.

"You knew I was alive?"

"Yeah, when you started leaving evidence at a fuck ton of crime scenes I put it together."

Maggie lets out a laugh that borders on hysterical and presses her hand to her forehead. "That's why you've been such a bitch to me? You were trying to figure out what you needed to do to cover for Alex?"

Lucy nods, grinning. "You guys aren't the only ones who've been trying to take these bastards down. I had an in because of my dad, so I've been investigating for a while. All I needed was that little speech in there to arrest Lillian and my father. We'll have more than enough evidence to put them away."

Tears fill Alex's eyes and Maggie grips her hand, barely believing that it's really over. "Thank you," Alex breathes out and Lucy smiles gently.

"Well, I think it's high time you came back to life, Dr. Danvers."

Maggie chuckles and presses her forehead to Alex's shoulder as the woman lets out a disbelieving laugh, wrapping her arm around Maggie. Suddenly, Kara ambles in, stopping short at the scene in front of her.

"Woah, what did I miss? You guys were gone for like maybe five minutes!"

Maggie climbs onto the roof, exhausted but exhilarated after the night she'd just had. Alex and Kara had left the gala with Lucy to work out some logistics of Alex coming back from the dead. Maggie would've joined, but she wanted to give Alex and Lucy a little time to catch up. She figures she can process the events of the night on the rooftop, even though she knows she'll be missing Alex with her.

Exhaling, she leans against the ledge, basking in the cold night air. She still can't quite believe that the leaders of Cadmus have been arrested. Everything she's worked to discover over the past five years, all the searching and all that pain, coming to a head. Maggie feels her eyes sting as she thinks about Isa and how after all this time, she has justice for the murder of her aunt. We finally got them, Iss. God, I wish you were here. I miss you so much. You'd be so proud… I've got people now, people that care. You would've loved them. Renee, Liv, Kara, Winn, Lucy I guess… and Alex.

As if she manifested it, Alex's voice drifts across the roof. "Is there room up here for two?"

Maggie breaks out into a grin, turning her head to see Alex gazing at her, a soft smile tugging at her lips. "Of course there is."

Alex walks over, hands in the pockets of her coat. Maggie tilts her head, narrowing her eyes playfully. "I thought you were with Lucy?"

Alex waves her hand dismissively as she steps closer to Maggie. "That… that can wait. There are more important things."

Maggie's smile grows soft as she looks at Alex, a rush of feelings settling in her chest. "Oh, yeah? Like what?"

Alex examines Maggie carefully and slowly steps into her space, stealing her breath. She gazes down at Maggie for a beat before responding, "These past few years, I've been… drowning. Suffocating, in my mistakes and the mistakes of the people I loved. In the people I couldn't save. But then, you came bursting through my door, and suddenly it was like… I could finally come up for air. And now I get to be alive again, and all I want is to experience this life with you."

Maggie feels her tears nearly spilling over as she looks at Alex, brave and determined and so, so beautiful. She reaches up to take Alex's face in her hands, breathing out, "Alex… slowly, without me even really noticing, you've become… the center. Of my world, of everything. You gave me a second chance at life, too, and I want that with you. I want it all with you."

Alex's smile is breathtaking and there are tears in her eyes as she wraps her arms around Maggie's waist. Maggie leans up, their noses brushing. Her lips finally connect with Alex's, and for the third time in Maggie's life, her world snaps into focus.