Hunley led them down a long hallway that was found on the far right of the office-floor. At the end of the hallway, to the left, was the briefing room, which wasn't very large and had a long glass wall separating it from the hall.

There was one long table in the center of the room facing a projector screen. On the other wall was another window that the wide landscape of Manhattan.

The chairs had already been filled up with the members of Ethan's team and other IMF officials. Ethan stood to the side of the room. Snape stood in the back.

Gwen intended to stand at the back as well but her eyes fell on the blue and red colours of Supergirl, who was seated on the other side of the table, in front of the window. Immediately, Gwen squealed and waved. Once Kara had seen her, she immediately gave Gwen her chair...which just happened to be next to a Character that Gwen had not seen in person, but easily recognized.

The Character she now sat beside was wearing a pitch black suit and tie, had a black goatee, shoulder-length black hair similar to Snape's, and several scars on his face.

"This is John Wick," Supergirl said excitedly, crouching on the floor between the two of them. "He just arrived this morning."

Gwen beamed and held out a hand. "Hi!"

John Wick looked at her and quickly shook her hand. He turned his attention back to the front without saying a word. Gwen swallowed awkwardly, shifted in her chair, and looked at Kara.

"So when did you get here?" she asked.

"Just now, actually,"

"How did- Oh, duh. Super speed,"

"Hunley," Wick spoke up and the chatter in the room seemed to die down in an instant. Gwen couldn't help but notice that many of the IMF agents were giving him dirty looks. "I'd like it if you made this quick. I have somewhere to be."

"You mean you have someone to illegally kill in your quest for vengeance," Ethan's friend Luther said from the other side of the table.

"Strictly speaking, yes," Wick responded.

"Wait...if you have somewhere to be, why'd you come?" Gwen questioned. "You're not part of the IMF."

"I'm guessing this is Ms MacMillan,"

It was an odd feeling, being unable to stop smiling, and yet Gwen was becoming very familiar with it. She nodded. "Yup!"

"Mr Wick was curious about our work with Lecter. He dropped in unannounced to see if he had an interest to help," Hunley sighed.

"That's so cool," Gwen breathed.

"Then let's get this started, shall we?" Benji asked. He was sitting next to Luther and was typing at a laptop.

Hunley nodded and started speaking. And what he said had nothing to do with Hannibal Lecter whatsoever. He started going over what many meeting speakers would call "housekeeping". Gwen felt she was sitting in on a very cool but very bizarre conversation that had just started in the middle of a sentence.

Everyone seemed to be paying unshakeable attention to what was being said and Gwen, as smart as she was, didn't know what to make of any of it. Nor did she understand the questions agents like Benji or Ethan would ask.

Her attention was saved by Supergirl, who whispered in her ear- "Who's the new guy?"

She pointed subtly to Snape, who was either paying as rapt attention as everyone else or was incredibly good at pretending to be. Gwen smiled and whispered back-

"That's Professor Snape. I brought him in to help with the case,"

"Is he smart?"

"He's brilliant,"

"He seems awfully cheerful,"

"Oh shut up," Gwen laughed and elbowed her. "He saved my life today, actually. One of the villains, her name is Samara..." She looked at her knees and her voice rasped- "She tried to kidnap me."

"Dang it," Supergirl muttered. "I knew I should've come sooner. I could've helped."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You got your own city to take care of,"

"Why would the villains want you anyway?"

"Yes, Ms MacMillan," Hunley snapped, turning away from a slide on the projector screen. "Tell us."

Gwen and Kara froze and realized that everyone in the room were staring at them. She shrunk significantly, as did Supergirl, but Ethan came to their rescue.

"I think she's referring to what happened in the Party City," he spoke up quickly. "Which I think we should be discussing first. We haven't updated anyone, as I told you, so I think we should bring you up to speed."

The room's gaze went from Gwen, to Ethan, and back to Hunley. There were a few heads that nodded in agreement, including Gwen's. She saw Snape out of the corner of her eye and he was not nodding, but staring at her with an expression of shrewd calculation. She wondered if she was blushing.

"Alright, fine," Hunley sighed, throwing his hands in the air. He tossed down a file folder he had been holding and folded his arms. "Ms MacMillan, fill us in."

Her throat closed. "Me?"

"Is there another MacMillan in the room?"

"Hey, now, give her a second," Supergirl said, holding up a hand. "Maybe she doesn't want to talk about it."

Gwen felt her shoulders shudder as she remembered the cool, oily feeling of Samara's hair against her neck. She nodded silently.

"Ethan...maybe you could..."

Ethan stepped forward, giving an encouraging smile, and took the time to explain everything that had happened during the hostage situation while Gwen sat, staring at her knees again, and Supergirl put an arm around her.

Once Ethan had finished speaking, Wick raised a pen he had been writing notes in.

"Alice. Would that be an allegorical codename of some kind? Seeing as this is sort of...Wonderland to her?"

Gwen had a sudden vision of two men sitting in armchairs discussing differently coloured pills. One man looked exactly like Wick, only with shorter hair and a clean face. She looked up quickly.

"Are we in the Matrix?" she suddenly blurted out.

"I'm sorry, what?" Hunley said. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I just thought- I just needed to know. See, um, John Wick here- the guy who plays him in my world also plays the guy in the movie about 'The Matrix' and- and they also talk about Wonderland so- I mean, if everything exists then-" Gwen stammered quietly.

"The Matrix is on a Future Earth," Ethan said. "So no."

"Future Earths are just other dimensions, right?" Gwen asked. "Because if they are, wouldn't this just be a massive universe with- like- a multiverse INSIDE of it?"

Ethan looked around, and people stared at her, then exchanging glances of their own. Gwen swallowed, not liking the silence. Benji cleared his throat.

"If it's easier for you to think about it that way, Gwen, then sure,"

"But is it actually like that? Or do you not know either?"

They didn't have to respond for her to know that they honestly didn't know.

"You ask a lot of questions," Wick said, glancing at her with a fathomless expression.

"Yeah I don't really...know all,"

"I can see that," Wick turned away and Gwen wasn't sure whether that was meant to be an insult or not. "So. They're calling her 'Alice'. Do you think it's a sort of nickname?"

"If it was a nickname, I think she'd know that it was a nickname. Because that's the point...of a...well, you know," Benji said.

"I'm with Benji. Samara sounded pretty confident that was her name. Which is good. If they don't know her name, they can't track her," Ethan added.

It was now when Snape brought his own voice up. "They can track her using other methods."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Who are you?" Wick asked, pointing his pen.

"I'm someone who already decided to stay," Snape sneered. "Unlike you, apparently.

"Hey, do you know how hard it was to get here? I had to steal a helicopter, forge two IDs, and ride a horse through New Jersey to get here this morning!" Wick yelled. "And I didn't even know you had a meeting! So why don't you get off my ass or I might have to add you onto the body count I've already stacked this morning!"

"You're so cool," Gwen breathed, smiling.

"Cool? He is not cool! He's a murderer! Can I just arrest him?" Ethan asked Hunley. "He basically just confessed-"

"As I was saying," Snape snapped, shooting a venomous glare around the table. "I believe...that the General and the others have a much more... advanced way of finding those they need to use."

"They do. They have this incredible tech that can block our own tracking programs and they can just pop up places unannounced," Benji said.

"They're using the sewers," Snape said.

"How'd you figure that out?" Kara asked.

"Because..." Snape hesitated and Gwen could see him trying to decide whether he should admit to entering the Party City. After a pause, he opened his mouth, paused again, and finally spoke.

"Because I investigated on my own. I overheard that they had been keeping the...ice cream down there. And they have a legitimate Tracker,"

"They do?" Gwen asked, sitting upright. "Who?"

"I...don't know his name," Snape said. His face was one of forced calm and he was obviously trying to decide how much he should keep private and how much he should tell. "But he's a creature who prefers to stay underground and in shadow. He...takes the form of a..." He sighed and his lips thinned. "A large clown."

The room was dead quiet for a few seconds before Gwen cried out- "Pennywise?! I thought he lived in Maine!"

"He lives wherever he is told to track," Snape said. "And in this case, it's the New York City sewer system."

"Woah woah woah," Ethan held up his hands. "Who- who's Pennywise exactly?"

Words spilled out of Gwen like a river of icy, shrill, and anxious water.

"He's this evil clown- hey, don't laugh, it's serious! He's this big clown who resurfaces every...27 years, I think. He can transform into whatever you fear the most and he eats children. Wait- wait a moment!"

She pulled her backpack off and into her lap, fishing through it until her hands fell on "101 Horror Movies To See Before You Die". She flipped it open to the first page, where she found a table of contents. Her finger went down the titles.

"Dammit!" she cried. "It's not in there!"

"What's not?" Ethan leaned over the table a bit.

"This book doesn't have either of the 'It' movies down here. Those are the movies with Pennywise," she groaned.

She flipped the book shut and stared down at Jack Torrance's face on the cover, which didn't do his real likeness any form of justice. She sunk in her chair and folded her arms.

There was a flurry of activity when the people at the table had seen what the cover of the book said and suddenly, several people were grabbing for it, or leaning over to get a better look.

"Is there anything about the name 'Alice' in that book?" Ethan asked, glancing over Luther's shoulder- as he had the book and was handing it around.

"I don't know, I didn't read it," Gwen muttered.

"So if Alice isn't a nickname, then it has to be a code they've created just so they can call you something," Supergirl said.

"And it could very well be for allegorical effect, as Wick stated," Ethan added. "You know, for a monologue purpose."

Wick clicked his tongue. "Seems a bit dramatic,"

"Have you met Lecter?" Ethan laughed coldly. "I think 'dramatic' is an understatement, Baba Yaga."

Gwen snorted and covered her mouth quickly, gaining a glare from Wick. The book was continuously passed around the table, and agents flipped it open to random pages before Snape had snatched it mid-pass.

He opened the book to a page and held the book around, his face stone and fathomless, showing off a photo of Hannibal Lecter wearing his iconic bite-mask and tied up on the trolley.

"This is what we should be focusing on. He orders his Tracker to do what he wishes and with the Tracker...stalking the sewers, there is a strong chance nobody is safe from being hunted down," he drawled. "When this man demands you do something, you either do it or you die trying to resist. Which returns us to our...original predicament."

He closed the book and threw it onto the table.

"Why does he want the All-Knower?"

"Because he must've figured out what I was!" Gwen said shrilly. "He's like a criminal mastermind, remember?"

"He didn't do much when he was in the IMF," Hunley said.

"He was never IN the IMF!" Gwen said, her voice getting higher. "I told you that!"

"To be fair," Benji spoke up. "We've never seen them in the same room together." Ethan smacked him upside the head. "Ow- ow- but- but I guess she's the All-Knower..."

"We're classifying him as a disavowed agent until further proof," Hunley interrupted.

"Until further proof of what?" Snape barked. "According to the Revocation, he's not supposed to even exist! Or have you forgotten the logistics of a conversation we had barely fifteen minutes ago in your office? What does a man, who seems to be the most dangerous man on the planet, want with dessert items and an All-Knower?"

"Well, you're the one who said that when he asks someone to do something, they do it," Ethan pointed out, shifting his weight onto a foot. "So, Professor, why don't you give us a hypothesis?"

Snape's lips thinned and the room watched him silently. He looked up, his eyes darting around the ceiling, before he faced the table again.

"The man...they found... in the sewers," he said slowly. "I...overheard him discussing a plan with the Lieutenant...while he was alive."

"Was that inside the Party City?" Gwen inquired and Snape nodded.

"The man's name was Marsh. I didn't get a look at him. But my suspicion is that this man was somehow tracked by the General and roped into this new sort of...plan. I believe that...he helped them obtain the ice cream and travel through the sewers. He was given...a few hours to leave the country," he explained. "I, however, don't know when he would've spoken to the General."

"So you admit that you entered that store and went to investigate them on your own, after you lied to our officials?" Hunley snapped.

"Are you serious?!" Gwen cried, gesturing to Snape. "He just gave you valuable information that he picked up and you're scolding him?"

"Holmes is investigating the body as we speak. There's a good chance he'll give us that information when he's finished," Hunley said, scowling.

"But you don't know that!" Gwen argued. "One time, a woman showed herself to Sherlock BUCK naked and he couldn't tell ANYTHING about her! He's not like this invincible computer or something!"

"Um...mister?" Supergirl said, looking at Snape. "Do you think Marsh knew about Hannibal's real plans?"

"Real plans," Snape repeated.

"Yeah. What he's really up to. What all these weird heists mean,"

"There's a...good possibility that he did not. Lecter isn't the type of man to disclose his true intentions to anyone. Not even to his closest followers,"

"Must be lonely," Benji muttered.

"He's an egomaniac who only cares about what he gets out of other people," Gwen scoffed. "He's not lonely, he's a total psycho."

"You talk about Lecter as though you know him, Snape," Ethan disclosed. "Care to explain?"

"If you think I'm working for that, as MacMillan perfectly put it, egomaniac-"

"I'm just wondering,"

"As am I," Wick said, folding his hands.

Snape glowered around the room. "I've met Lecter twice."

"And?" Gwen said, clutching her backpack

"We didn't exactly...become...pals,"

Everyone in the room exchanged raised eyebrows and then returned their gaze to Snape.

"Do you know him well enough to make a hypothesis about where he could've recruited Marsh or how?" Supergirl questioned. The people around the table nodded.

Gwen saw Snape gulp as he was battling again with how much he should say. He raised his chin and said-

"Yes, but Marsh is dead now,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ethan said, wrinkling his nose. Snape swallowed again but kept his face fathomless. However, he was fiddling with his fingers.

"If Marsh were alive and in custody...I would be able to enter his mind and interpret his memories,"

There was a pause around the room. No one took their eyes off of Snape. A few peoples' mouths dropped open. Luther blinked, shook his head and said-

"Hold on a second. Are you saying that you can...read minds?"

Snape's eyes narrowed. "A simplistic and moronic way of putting it but...yes. I can...read minds,"

He looked ready to gag at the term used. Gwen knew Snape was the sort of guy who liked to over-explain everything, especially to those he deemed less intelligent. She guessed it was an insecurity thing. Legilimency was far more complicated than just reading minds but Gwen knew to explain it would be to explain magic, and he wouldn't risk that. Magic was something nobody really understood and even she didn't know the limitations...

Which suddenly gave her an idea.

"Snape, I have a question!" she blurted. "If- if you can use this weird inner-space dimensional thing to mind read-" (That was the easiest way to explain magic without revealing what it was) "- do you think the space used to mind read still exists a bit in Marsh's head? Like, do you think- even though he's dead- there's flickers of images inside his brain?"

Snape's eyes widened slightly. "Perhaps...but...I think it would need to be quick and the body would need to be in one piece,"

Gwen jumped to her feet. "Well then we should get down there before Abbey and Sherlock do- you know- stuff to it!"

"We're in the middle of a briefing-" Hunley interrupted but Gwen was already throwing her backpack on.

"But if Snape thinks there's a possibility that he could see any remaining memories, we need to do it now!"

"You heard what he said!" Hunley snapped. "He said 'perhaps'! It's all hypothetical!"

"Which is why we need to try it! Right? Right?!"

She spun at Snape, whose eyes darted around the room. He flexed his fingers again and then, without a word, he nodded, pushed by Ethan and swept from the briefing room. Gwen clapped her hands together and grabbed "101 Horror Movies To See Before You Die".

"We'll be right back!" she called, dashing around the table and waving the book. She ran from the room but poked her head back in and said- "Nice to meet you, Mr Wick! Have fun on your next revenge trip!" and then promptly vanished again.

The room was dead quiet. Supergirl bit her bottom lip and then stood up from kneeling. "I'm going with her," and she too exited the briefing room.

Ethan's hands clenched and unclenched into fists. He gritted his teeth and Hunley put his hands on his hips, eyebrows raised.

"Sorry, sir," Ethan mumbled, and then he ran out too.

Everyone sat uncomfortably and awkwardly. It seemed as though no one really wanted to speak up first. Wick cleared his throat and fiddled with his pen.

"Does that happen everyday?"

"Shut up," Hunley grumbled and faced the projector screen. "We have more work to discuss."

Gwen, Snape, Ethan, and Supergirl had made it down the morgue level in record time. They bolted down the long corridor towards Abbey's morgue and quickly saw that Sherlock, Watson, and Abbey were in there together deep in conversation.

The morgue wasn't very large and there was only one table in the middle, where the body was lying. One the left were glass shelves of equipment and chemicals while a freezer and tray-trolley (as well as two small extra tables) were on the right. The body, still intact, was lying on the table under a white blanket.

Gwen stayed outside the doors but managed a way to crouch under the window so that she could see the others without having to see the body on the table. Ethan kept the door open a crack so she could listen...but only after Snape, Ethan, and Supergirl had barged in.

"Hey, what the hell-" Abbey cried, standing on one side of the body. "Hunt, we're kind of in the middle of something-"

"What have you figured out so far?" Ethan demanded.

Abbey gestured to Sherlock, who rolled his eyes and said-

"We don't have a name but we've come to the conclusion that he was shot, and then slashed across the chest by a set of long blades. However, he was already almost dead from the gunshot so the blades were mostly likely just a form of art to mark the body. He's Bajoran but due to the lack of Bajoran regalia he was wearing, and the lack of a piercing in one ear, he's most likely been on Earth for a while. Hiding."

"Well that's great because we have even more information," Ethan said. "According to Snape, the guy's name is Marsh and he was-"

"Working with Hannibal. Yes, that I figured out due to him being found in the sewers. And he was shot in the front, meaning he was betrayed. Not trying to run," Sherlock finished. "But Marsh...that's interesting."

"That's not a Bajoran name," Watson noted.

"No, it isn't. Which connects to our previous conclusion-"

"Oh, would you just shut up!" Snape snarled and shoved him aside.

He grasped the sheet and pulled it back away from the body's head where he was met with the face of a man, probably in his thirties, with a ridged nose and mousey brown hair like Watson's.

Snape froze, staring down at the body. His eyes had widened and suddenly, his legs felt numb.

"Well, can you read him?" Ethan asked.

"Can he what?" Abbey cried. "Hunt, you can't just barge in here while I am trying to-"

"This'll all make sense in a moment, Abs, I swear," Ethan promised. "Snape, can you read him?"

Snape still hadn't moved. His breathing was coming short. Gwen watched him through the window and her own breath stopped. His face had gone distant and deep down, Gwen knew he was seeing someone else on that table.

"Professor, are you alright?" Supergirl whispered kindly.

"I'm fine," Snape choked out. He shook himself and stood upright, taking in a deep, shuddering breath. He looked a bit paler. "Dr Bominable, have you swabbed his face yet for any fingerprints or...however you...do this."

"Yeah, I did it before-"

"Good. I need to use my bare hands,"

"I'm sorry, what's about to happen?" Watson asked but Snape, with trembling hands, put one hand on the body's forehead and one hand on its covered chest.

He closed his eyes and his head angled to the floor. Everyone held their breath, watching intently, none of them sure what they were waiting for. Snape's eyes moved around under his eyelids, and his eyebrows furrowed but either than that, he didn't move. His breathing was barely audible. The whole room held still.

Which was why Gwen, and Abbey, screamed when Snape's head suddenly snapped upwards, facing the ceiling. He began to shake slightly.

"I- I can see something," he stammered. "I- I see something-"

"Holy shit," Gwen whispered, her forehead against the glass.

"Well what is it?" Ethan cried, bending closed. "What is it?!"

"Hold on, give him space-" Abbey held her arms out over the body. "I had a friend who was psychic-"

"I need to focus!" Snape snapped, his eyes squeezing more shut. "Be quiet!"

His breathing seemed laboured and heavy but he still remained frozen to the spot.

"I- I can see...a table. And- and I can see a- a drink of some kind- I can't tell what kind, it's too fuzzy- things are moving and focusing in and out-"

"Just focus on what you find easy!" Gwen called into the morgue. "Don't force it too hard!"

"SHUT UP!" Snape suddenly yelled. He almost teetered backwards but he scowled and he righted himself. It was like sheer willpower was the only thing keeping him standing.

"There's...there's some sort of wooden booth chair...and- and old photographs on the walls...and I can see cutlery..."

"That sounds like some sort of restaurant," Sherlock whispered.

"And- there's a person- I can see a person- damn, I'm losing it- I'm losing it-" Snape growled. "I can see...blue- It's Lecter- I know it's him but I can't- I can't get a clear image-"

And then, his jaw dropped and his eyes popped open . Except instead of his normal black pupils, his eyes were totally white. Abbey shrieked and Gwen crouched to hide from shock, but slowly, looked back up.

"What is it?!" Ethan cried, shaking slightly. "Hey! HEY!"

"Someone pull him out, he can't answer-" Abbey breathed.

"No, he could still find something!" Sherlock snapped. "You might ruin whatever the hell this is if-"

Snape's nose started to bleed and his whole body had gone rigid. His chest was heaving and he was still staring at the ceiling.

"He can't answer, Sherlock!" Watson shouted.

"What if Sherlock's right-" Ethan started but Supergirl cut him off.

"He's in pain, Ethan!"

"SOMEONE PULL HIM OUT!" Gwen screamed through the crack in the door. "SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!"

Abbey rolled up her lab coat sleeves over her muscular arms. She stormed around the body and grabbed Snape's shoulders, pulling him away from the table, shaking him. It was immediately effective. Snape's eyes blinked and returned to normal. His mouth loosened and he took his hands off of the body, staggering backwards. Abbey kept him upright as he fell back, panting, eyes wide. His forehead shone with sweat.

Abbey was staring at him with an expression of both horror and blatant fascination. "What the hell did you just do?" she hissed, gripping his arms.

He didn't answer straight away. In fact, he still looked as though he wasn't sure where he was. He stared around with jerking head movements before he seemed to remember everything that had just happened, and he tore out of Abbey's hands, wiping his nose.

"Well..." Ethan said quietly, putting distance between Snape and himself "That was..."

"Horrifying," Supergirl finished. She took in a deep breath. "But did you find anything?"

After clearing the blood from his face, Snape was still trembling but he was obviously trying to regain some of his mental cool. He straightened up right, folding his hands behind his back, and glanced down at Marsh's body.

"The General and Marsh ...spoke in a restaurant," His voice cracked and he shook his head, his breathing uneven. "I saw...wood, an old photograph, and a plate of some kind of red meat...and that bite-mask...but I couldn't see anything else. I believe...I believe the memories are all gone now."

"Kinda sounds like a Cracker Barrel!" Gwen called in.

"You think Hannibal talked to Marsh in a Cracker Barrel?" Ethan called back. And Gwen shrugged.

"I dunno. We could check every Cracked Barrel near here and ask if they had anyone come in wearing a mask like that! Though, I'm not sure why Hannibal would even WEAR a mask like that out of jail,"

"I mean, you did say he was dramatic," Supergirl said to Ethan.

Snape blinked several times and leaned a hand on the table to support himself. He was still swaying slightly.

"I don't know how long ago it was," he murmured. "If anyone saw him...they could've been fired or laid off in the days between...whenever that happened or today."

"It's still worth a shot," Ethan said. He smiled uncomfortably at Snape. "Good job. Why don't you sit down? You look terrible."

Snape glared and straightened up again. "I'm fine. We need to tell Mr Hunley the update and continue strategizing,"

"Still, it's okay to take a break-"

But Snape had already swept by him and exited the morgue. He didn't look at Gwen as he passed her by.

She watched him leave down the hallway with wide eyes. A small part of her wished he would've told her "good job" or "excellent idea" but she knew that would've shown even more blatantly that there was something wrong with him.

Ethan and Supergirl exited next and Gwen rose to her feet, jogging besides Ethan as they made their way back towards the elevator. She could hear Abbey and Sherlock arguing with one another.

"I gave Abbey the thumbs-up to do her thing. Sherlock's not very happy. I think he might be a little intimidated that he's not the only genius anymore," Ethan sighed. Gwen's eyebrows raised.

"Genius? You talking about Snape?"

"Well, I don't know how he did what he did so, I'm gonna assume that- yeah- he's a genius," Ethan laughed. "I mean, he's a weirdo and he, um, kinda scares me. And I don't trust him. But you said he was brilliant and...after what I just saw there...I think you got a gift."

"A gift?"

"Of selecting Characters we could use to fight Hannibal," Ethan said. "So...Gwen..."

She smiled when she heard him say her name. "Yeah?"

"Is there anyone else out there you think could help us? Anyone else you think might...I dunno...be of help? Anyone,"

She thought for a moment. She began to weigh Characters in her mind. Characters she liked, disliked, that she knew were still alive, that she knew would be willing to help.

She gasped and clasped her hands together.

"Ethan," she said excitedly. "Do you know who Constable Odo is?"