I don't own these characters. DC/the CW does.

2: Drugs and Bikers

Alex's brain hurt and her morning coffee was not made correctly. She could not go back for new coffee, as there was no time. There was a crime scene waiting for her and the light from the summer sun made her want to hiss like a vampire. The lack of coffee and gleaming sun would not help her hurt brain. Damn, why did Lena have to tell me about the failures? She woke up to a text with Lena puzzling over the issues with her most recent science project and stumped herself right along with Alex. Maybe some things were not meant to be solved.

She pulled up to the scene. A rather deserted area of the city, with the body in some dry bushes and a couch that probably had bed bugs if they were unlucky. If not bed bugs, there were probably other vermin crawling around in the dusty alley. Pigeons fluttered about and she would not be surprised if there were mice or rats. I'll take rats. At least rats did not follow people home, like bed bugs or ridiculous science problems that Lena had to tell her about too early in the morning. There were FBI SUVs all around, but something much worse with them.

The hits kept on coming. There were National City police at her crime scene. It got even worse as she got closer. There was a detective bent over her victim. They were worse than pigeons pecking at her crime scene. There were so many of them, too many of them. People spilling out of the tiny lot. What. The. Hell? Her head throbbed a little more.

Alex donned her aviator glasses, giving herself a little added spice. Of course, considering her morning, she probably did not need any help. She stormed over in her typical fashion that made the most decorated agents give her a wide berth. She could hear her boots pound the pavement as agents practically rolled out of her way.

"Who are you and why are you on my body?" Alex said in her "Agent Danvers" voice. She got a few glances from fellow agents, who were already several safe feet away from her. They held their hands up and looked away. The detective was not so intelligent, though.

The turn might have been in slow motion, Alex could not be sure. Long, wavy hair flipped over small shoulders, cascading behind a small woman. Glaring brown eyes set the world back on the fast track. A detective shield dangled around her neck, curtained by a plain, grey t-shirt.

"Trust me, when I'm on your body, you won't have any questions," she had the nerve to say with a smirk.

The fuck? Alex growled and stomped over to her. She yanked her glasses off, needing this detective to see her fury. "Nice to see NCPD can be professional.''

The detective shrugged and looked her up and down. "Maybe when the FBI becomes respectful."

Again, the fuck? Alex doubted her face could look any more "Agent Danvers" than it did now and she really just wanted to devour this detective, if only she could get some damn coffee while she did it. "You're the one in my crime scene."

The detective squinted as the sun moved across her face. "This is my city, my crime scene. I don't even see why you were called in."

Alex glanced at the body and frowned. There was a reason she was called in and it was pretty obvious, except to damn annoying NCPD. "Maybe step out of my way and watch me work to find out."

The detective scoffed, but moved. Alex kneeled by the body, ignoring flies and other buzzing insects. An adult male, probably in his late thirties, early forties. His clothing was covered in blood and underneath him was a light green goo, like antifreeze. That was one of the few things that caught her attention and let her know why she was called. The discoloration of the skin, a faint flush to it, like he died blushing. If only you could be so lucky.

Alex took a little sniff of the air. The smell she expected hit her. Something just underneath the usual stench of decay. The scent was there just enough to keep critters away from the body, probably unsure what to make of it. It was almost like citrus and it basically confirmed her suspicions. Might as well get this body back to HQ. At least she did not need to stick around for an ME like the detective, but this was still a mess. They needed to solve this. She was tired of finding bodies like this. With luck, he would yield some clues, more than what she saw around him anyway.

"Damn it," Alex said, wishing there was more to go by. She forgot she was not the only one there.

"What?" the detective asked from just over Alex's shoulder.

Alex frowned. Does NCPD did not discuss personal space? "You smell that?"

The detective sniffed the air. "Grapefruit?"

"Yup."

"What does that mean?"

"This poor soul will be missing a lot of organs. There's an organization that has been drugging people and stealing their organs like we're living in an urban legend." Alex needed more leads to figure out who the hell was doing it. It was way too sophisticated for a street gang. Possibly even too much for organized crime, but it had to be someone with lots of manpower and could move contraband quickly.

The detective scratched her chin. "No kidding. Haven't heard of that."

"No, I don't suppose you would have." The FBI had been on this since the beginning as the first body had been sent to them because it was such a puzzle.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" The detective scowled, but Alex did not have time for that. She's kinda cute when she's mad, but I also don't have time for that.

"All right." Alex stood and dusted her hands off against each other. "I want the body and the fluid under him to go to my lab." She looked around. "Matter of fact, just take everything in this general area back to my lab." Better safe than sorry.

"Whoa!" The detective got in her face. She was pretty imposing for such a little thing. The fire in her eyes would probably melt lesser souls, but not Alex. FBI agents around winced almost in unison. The detective did not seem to notice. "You don't own this crime scene. The body goes with us."

Alex scoffed. Who the hell did this detective think she was? She did not even know anything about the case and thought she deserved the body? "Just like NCPD, thinking they're entitled to things by virtue of existence rather than hard work. Your medical examiner doesn't know what to look for. I've worked three cases similar to this one."

"And you still ain't solved it?" The detective grinned. "Maybe you should leave it to us then."

"Maybe just stay out of my way. I don't think you want me to compare solve rates between my people and your people." Cops liked to act like they solved every case thrown across their desk, but the opposite was true.

The detective chuckled and looked her up and down. "Top brass hasn't told you this is a joint venture, huh?"

Alex side-eyed the detective. Director J'onzz would not do that to her. He knew she did not play well with others. She could barely work with fellow FBI agents without wanting to throw them down some stairs. And why would this suddenly be a joint venture when NCPD kicked it to them the moment they got a body with a great deal of organs missing? They did not think they had the resources to solve this one, after investigating what they felt were all the "usual" places organs might end up.

"Take everything," Alex told her agents, who moved as soon as she issued the order, and she marched back to her SUV.

"Hey, wait a minute!" The detective hurried after her. "You can't take my crime scene!"

"It's not yours," Alex replied as she jumped in her car.

Alex was not surprised the detective followed her back to her headquarters. She wished the guys in the front of the building would stop the detective and throw her out, but that would not happen unless Alex ordered it. And, while she was a hard-ass, she did not think of herself as unnecessarily mean.

Alex was also not surprised Director J'onzz waited for her right in the plain, white lobby. He had his hands folded across his chest, waiting for her complaints. She did not hold back.

"A joint investigation with NCPD? This is my investigation," Alex said, pointing to herself with her thumb.

Director J'onzz was unmoved, which was expected. "You do remember that this was originally their case in the first place. Beyond that, it happened to line up with their investigation."

Alex scowled. "How?" She did not care if it used to be their investigation. They gave up and passed the buck. They needed to stay out of her way now.

"Talk to the lead detective. Maggie Sawyer will let you know everything you need to know." And then he walked away, like it was nothing. He paused for a second, but did not turn around. "And, Agent Danvers, be on your best behavior." He continued on his way, disappearing around the corner, possibly on his way to the inside cafe. If the man had not saved her life and gave her a chance to change the world in her own way, Alex would throw something at his head.

Alex did not have to turn to know the detective was behind her, probably smiling. She groaned and went to the elevator. It could not come fast enough, but then she had to share space with the smug detective, whose eyes sparkled with delight in getting the better of Alex. I really should get some coffee before I end up punching her.

The elevator dinged and they were at her floor. Alex did not want to chance break room coffee and she was already near her sanctuary. She could put on some coffee in her lab and have some while she worked. She would need something to help her tolerate her new shadow and the headache that was now exponentially worse than it was before. Just make it to the lab and figure the rest out once you're in there.

The detective followed all the way to her lab at the end of the drab hallways. Before Alex stepped through the door to her sanctuary, Agent Vasquez intercepted her. Vasquez was never without a pile of files in her hands, always at work. Vasquez made Alex feel better about how hard she worked.

"NCPD sent everything they have on the drugs," Vasquez said as held up her bounty.

"Anything new?" Alex flipped through the stack of paper.

"I didn't see anything new, except it's possible they tracked a source for the main ingredients of the drug. You should also have the electronic version waiting in an email." NCPD was either trying to be annoying or thorough. Maybe a little bit of both.

Alex's eyebrows drew in a little. "How many sources?"

Vasquez gave her a look and Alex blew out a breath as Vasquez dumped the folders in her arms. NCPD had a file that could rival an Oxford dictionary in thickness, yet they found almost nothing. The mountain of paper was annoying then. Vasquez walked off and Alex had to figure out how to flash her ID badge to open the lab door with a stack of papers in her hands. It was not the first time, so she managed and went into her lab. She slapped the file down on the nearest surface.

"This is your office?" the detective asked, looking around.

"This is my lab." It was not the fanciest lab or even the biggest lab, but it suited her needs. While she did not have the same funding as a lot of scientists, she had a lot of leeway in what she did with her lab and she made a difference. It was in this lab she developed her award winning truth serum, and where she worked on several other ideas that would eventually change the world.

The detective stood by some equipment, but thankfully did not touch. "Lab? What kind of FBI agent are you?"

Alex went to her keruig in the corner, beyond thankful at the moment that Kara bought it for her, and popped in a K-cup. With that in place, she went and booted up her computer. "A versatile one. So, what do you know about this, Detective?" She motioned to the file.

"It's Detective Sawyer. I know you heard the Director use my name." There was that mischievous twinkle in her eyes again, making them shine in a dangerous, challenging manner. It would be attractive if she was not so irksome.

Indeed, Alex had. "Okay, Detective Sawyer, what do you know about this?"

Detective Sawyer examined the file, flipping through it as quickly as she could. "This is a narcotics report, but it lines up with a body I caught a couple of weeks ago."

"He had the main ingredients in his system?" That would explain why a homicide detective ended up handling him. He had to be dead, but then again, Detective Sawyer should not have been surprised about the body this morning missing organs and Alex should have been at that crime scene. What happened?

"No, he had them in his pocket."

"Excuse me?" Alex looked at the detective with eyes wide. "In his pocket?" This could be their big break.

Detective Sawyer shrugged. "Yeah. At first, we thought they were street drugs because he was a biker, but it wasn't like anything we had ever seen before. We weren't sure what it was, but when we entered it in the database, your director called my lieutenant and that's how we ended up together."

Alex frowned. "I would've gotten that sample and that didn't happen." How could they have had the main ingredients of the drugs outside of a body and she not get those samples? What games were NCPD playing?

Detective Sawyer gave her a testing smirk. "Guess you're not as important as you think."

Alex frowned and checked her email and found messages she missed having to go into the field immediately. There was one about samples coming in from the NCPD. So all of this basically was happening in real time. That was annoying. Her phone buzzed and she grabbed it. Probably more work stuff that she should have known yesterday. But, it was Lena with successful news on her latest experiment. She would answer it later, once this headache had passed.

"Good news?" Detective Sawyer asked.

"Nothing about this is good," Alex replied.

"Then why are you smiling? Did you get reassigned?"

Alex put on her "agent" mask, unaware when it slipped. Damn Lena texting her during work hours. "NCPD are sending over their samples. Tell me more about finding drugs on the biker."

Detective Sawyer propped herself up on a stool. "Like I said, we couldn't figure out what the hell it was. Lab techs knew it wasn't a new street drug and didn't know what to test for."

"No, it's worse than a street drug. It's turned up in five bodies missing organs. It's a complex set of chemicals." NCPD lab techs were right not to even try to test. They never would have nailed down all the properties of the drug without some help. It had taken her a lot of research and trial and error.

"So, not something a biker gang would just know how to make? Not like it's some new form of meth or something, huh?" Detective Sawyer had to know that, but was now either picking Alex's brain or just trying to piece things together aloud.

"No. I wonder how the biker ended up with it. Biker gangs aren't usually involved in black market organs." Maybe this was not as complicated as she wanted to make it, but there was something up here.

"No, they're not."

Before Alex could say something, samples started coming in. Agents delivered things, putting them down on their usual table. Alex was so shocked by the delivery that she was speechless for a moment. Was everyone just trying to disrespect her and leave her out of things today? Is this what happens when you don't drink coffee before starting the day?

"Did Doctor Hamilton start the autopsy without me?" Alex asked as she remembered to get up and retrieve her coffee from the keruig. Hopefully, the warm hazelnut flavor would help reset the day and get things to work in the way they should.

Agent Reynolds shook her head. "No, just giving you blood and tissue beforehand. I think these were all things around the body." She motioned to almost a dozen small containers.

Alex sipped her coffee. "Even tissue?"

"It came off the clothes in bits from the cuts to remove the organs, we think anyway."

"I suppose. So, is Doctor Hamilton ready?"

Agent Reynolds nodded. "As soon as you're there, she'll start, as always."

"All night." Alex thought she would have time for other things before the autopsy, but they could wait until she could come back up and run tests on samples. At least she got a taste of her coffee. She would drink as much as she could on her way downstairs. "Detective Sawyer, I assume you want to see the autopsy."

"Of course."

"Then you'll want to follow along. You seem good at that," Alex said. Wow, that was unnecessary. She gulped down more coffee, thinking it might help settle her.

The detective smirked at her. "Yeah, I'm pretty good at following directions. I'm even better at leading." And just like that, Alex was not sorry. Of course, I'd be cursed with the flirty pain-in-the-ass detective.

Alex went to Doctor Hamilton to assist in the autopsy, managing to finish her coffee on the way. She did not feel much better, but she chalked that up to the company. Detective Sawyer was right on her heels. They came into the red and white room, body already laid out on the examination table with Doctor Hamilton standing by, suited up. Hamilton glanced at the newcomer and then at Alex.

Alex shrugged. With the way the day was going, Doctor Hamilton probably knew more about her current shadow than she did. Alex went to study the body.

"I'm Doctor Hamilton. You must be the NCPD detective partnered with Agent Danvers," Hamilton said, offering a hand to the detective.

"Detective Sawyer." She shook Doctor Hamilton's hand.

Doctor Hamilton chuckled, delicate shoulders shaking with mirth. "I'm sure you two are getting along well."

They both rolled their eyes and Hamilton laughed even more. She motioned for the detective to come over to the examination table. She gave them both smocks, gloves, masks, and protective eyewear just in case. They got started and it was fine until Alex jumped into the autopsy, going to make a cut of her own.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Detective Sawyer asked, hands up to stop Alex.

"Assisting in the autopsy," Alex replied. What the hell did it look like she was doing? This is why I hate partners! It was like baby-sitting.

Detective Sawyer put her hands between Alex and the body, forcing her to step away. "You can't just do that! I mean, I know you FBI guys do things different, but come on!" She looked from Alex to Doctor Hamilton and back.

Hamilton waved the outburst off and kept most of her attention on the body. "Has no one told you yet that Agent Danvers is a medical doctor masquerading as a field agent?"

Alex groaned, not liking to spread that around. She was not one to try to grab the spotlight. Alex liked to let her actions do all her boasting. "Can we just see if they left any of this man's organs?"

Detective Sawyer's eyes went wide and from the way her face mask moved, her mouth must have dropped open a little. "Medical doctor? And you chose to be a fed? To each her own, I guess."

Alex did not lower herself to that perceived insult. The detective observed for the rest, not getting in the way nor making a nuisance of herself. Alex and Doctor Hamilton had done this too many times before and could predict almost everything they saw.

"They left his heart of all things," Doctor Hamilton said.

"Even though there's no sign of disease," Alex replied.

"Ran out of time?"

"Possibly, but we have another victim where they had time to even steal his bones," Alex said. That body was pretty much just muscles with a skull. They even took large patches of his skin and both eyes.

"His bones?" Detective Sawyer's eyes were wide once more.

"Bone marrow will fetch a pretty penny. All right, Hamilton, I'm going to take my samples and the detective and be on my way." She had taken tissue samples from bits of the organs left behind.

"Take what you need. I'm going to examine the heart a little closer, try to figure out why they left it behind even though it seems quite healthy. Maybe there's something there to help us figure out where they're selling the organs."

"Sounds good. Let me know if something comes up."

"You do the same."

Alex nodded, got out of her autopsy gear, and returned to her lab to test samples. Detective Sawyer was right behind her. She hoped for something new to pop out at her and solve this case. She had enough things to study and figure out.

Detective Sawyer settled back on the stool and watched. Alex tried not to be self conscious about it, but she usually worked on her own or a couple of lab techs around her. She was not used to having an audience. She put some more coffee on and then went back to the samples.

"So, you're a lab tech, too?" Detective Sawyer asked.

Alex was going through data on her computer. "Doctorate in biochemistry."

She heard a kind of scoff-like laugh. "Just the whole package, huh?"

Alex scowled, but did not engage. I don't have to defend my education to her. "So, what can you tell me about your biker?"

"Not much. His club wasn't very forthcoming when I went to talk to them about him being dead in a ditch, if you can imagine. What do you think the biker was doing with a drug used to help steal organs?"

"It's both a tranquilizer and helps preserve the body tissue. It's quite impressive." It sounded a little familiar and she looked at the chemical break, her brain swore she had seen it before, but she could not recall where.

Detective Sawyer laughed. "You're a science nerd."

Alex had heard that her entire life. It did not affect her anymore, especially from a detective who had been mostly rude to her all day. For a while, Detective Sawyer let her work in silence, but not long enough.

"So, what can you tell me on the science end?" Detective Sawyer asked.

"I've broken the drug down to its basic components, but tracking them always leads to a dead end." No lab she could find had been missing any of the items in question. It was not like a criminal could just manufacture complicated ingredients out of thin air.

Detective Sawyer's face scrunched up and there was a light in her eyes. "Wait, could you replicate it?"

"In my sleep at this point. Why?" Alex arched her eyebrow.

"We go out into the field and do some recon." Detective Sawyer grinned and she had amazing dimples.

Alex's heart thumped hard against her ribs. No, don't even think about it. You don't have time for it and she's annoying and disrespectful. Of course, that would pair well with Alex wanting something she could not have and should not want. That fit right in her wheelhouse. Stop thinking about it. Focus on matters at hand.

"You want to go confront the biker club with the drug?" Alex asked, forehead wrinkled. That sounded insane.

"We could say we found it and see what they let slip as they try to figure out how we got the drugs. Or maybe they don't know what it is and it's a coincidence. I just figure it would be safe to walk in with something as close to the drug as possible in case they can test it. Won't know unless we try." Detective Sawyer shrugged.

"That's actually a pretty good idea. What did the container look like for the drug the biker had?"

Detective Sawyer grabbed the NCPD police file. "I'll find it in the file. How long will it take you to make a safe version of the drug? We should be as authentic as possible, just in case."

Alex thought about it. "Might take a few hours."

"Okay. I'll run this by my captain. Will Director J'onzz be okay with it?"

"Yeah, he's cool." Sometimes, anyway, when he's not forcing me to hang out with rude NCPD detectives.

"Good. You got something to go to a biker club in?" Detective Sawyer arched a challenging eyebrow.

Alex fought down the urge to roll her eyes, but could not keep in her scoff. "I'm sure I'll manage."

Detective Sawyer grinned. She was obviously nothing but mischief and trouble. "Good. This'll be fun."

-8-8-8-8-

The operation was approved since it was the best idea they had. Alex was warned to "take it easy" in the briefing by Director J'onzz. Detective Sawyer laughed until her captain said the same went for her. With a few details polished out, and those warnings, they were free to proceed, but first they had to change.

"Need a ride on my bike?" Detective Sawyer asked with a smirk as they made their way out of the FBI building. Those damn dimples were in play again. If only she would stop talking.

"No, thanks. Got my own." Alex smirked back and Detective Sawyer stopped dead in her tracks. Alex resisted the urge to laugh. "Back here in two hours?"

It took Detective Sawyer a moment to recover. "Uh, sure."

They met out front of the FBI building on their bikes. Alex had to consciously keep her jaw from dropping as she saw Detective Sawyer straddling her bike. Alex could not be sure, and even if she was, she would have never admitted it, but she thought she muttered a "wow." From the way Detective Sawyer smiled at her, the word probably escaped her and it probably was not "muttered." she had to recover.

"Nice bike," Alex said. She shoved her hands in her black leather jacket to appear indifferent and cool.

Detective Sawyer stared at her. "You ride a ducati." Was that awe or surprise in her voice?

Alex gave her a half-smile. "Yeah, not the best for a Harley club, but we're not trying to fit all the way in." They wanted enough to get in the door. So, she had on black jeans and a band t-shirt with her favorite, roughed up pair of boots. She would probably go into a club like this if she had the time.

"You gotta let me ride later." There were the damn dimples again.

Is she flirting with me? Nah. We've been at each other's throats all day. She's messing with me… before a recon operation for some reason. "I don't just let anybody ride."

"No, I don't imagine you do." Detective Sawyer looked Alex up and down in a way that set Alex's face on fire.

Nope. Alex did not want any part of this. She needed this op done and to go back to her regular, sane, professional life.

"You really should talk less," Alex said and then revved her bike, needing to get out of there before Detective Sawyer did anything else. They charged off toward a bar the biker frequented. It was in a rough part of town, on the edge of the city. There were bikes lined up outside, a few tough guys clad in leather talking to each other, and loud everything pouring from the building.

"You gonna be all right here?" Detective Sawyer asked as they found spots for their bikes.

Alex scoffed. "I think we need to worry more about you being in there." She dismounted and scanned the exterior of the bar. The window in front of the place was blacked out. They had no idea how many people were inside beyond a rough estimation based on the number of bikes outside. They were grossly outnumbered.

"We are definitely outmanned and probably outgunned," Detective Sawyer said, taking in the same information as Alex.

"Good thing we got a plan." This was definitely dangerous, but she had been in worse places.

The bar was the type of place where their mere existence caused anxiety and anger. Eyes watched them the moment they parked their bikes. They barely got in the door and there were dudes in their faces. The entire establishment seemed invested in a conversation that had not begun.

"I think you ladies made a wrong turn," a bald guy with a face tattoo said. According to his vest, he was a member of the Doomsday Squadron. Patches around the crowded room suggested many of the patrons were. They also did not seem keen on bathing from the smell of things. It was like cheap beer, alcohol sweat, and body odor all mixed together.

"No, this is where Lee said to go," Detective Sawyer said.

That was not the right response. More people stepped into the crowd in front of them. The rest of the place seemed to close in on them.

"You knew Lee?" a guy with a long, knotted beard asked. He had beads in his beard, but he was almost seven feet tall, so it was still intimidating, kinda. Or maybe it was the sawed off shotgun Alex could tell he was concealing in his jacket.

Detective Sawyer shrugged, like it was no big thing. "In passing. We sometimes gave each other business tips."

He sucked his teeth. "That dumbass wouldn't know a good tip if it bit him in the ass. Can't make a good decision worth a damn."

Alex chuckled. "Don't we know it."

"He sold us something for cheap, but then regretted it and wanted it back. We wanted to see if you guys could beat his price," Detective Sawyer said.

Alex went into her pocket. Almost the whole bar had weapons out in the amount of time she had a vial of amber liquid out. The citrus smell was strong enough to surround them. The crew jumped back and tensed. They had an idea of what this was then.

"Little girls, you might wanna hand it over," the bald guy said.

Detective Sawyer smirked. "What's your offer?"

"We might let you walk out of here."

Alex scoffed and Detective Sawyer glanced at her. "Sounds like my partner doesn't think that's a good deal. We were hoping for cash." She rubbed her thumb, index, and middle finger together.

"Listen, little girl, don't make us take it," he said.

"So, it's valuable enough to threaten our lives, but not pay for it. This isn't going exactly the way I planned it," Detective Sawyer said.

"I'm fine if you're fine," Alex replied. She had been in much worse situations and was far from worried. The only problem she would have was if Detective Sawyer could not keep up with her.

"We weren't supposed to get in trouble," Detective Sawyer reminded her.

"I've built my adult life off of it's better to beg forgiveness than ask permission." It served her well at work.

Detective Sawyer chuckled. "Hear that, fellas? My partner's done talking."

"Last chance, gentlemen," Alex said.

"Yeah, your last chance. Get 'em!"

Alex tossed the vial on the floor. It shattered on impact and gas hissed to life. She passed Detective Sawyer a gas mask.

"Where the hell were you hiding these in your leathers?" Detective Sawyer asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Alex eased her mask on just in time to sidestep a punch. Her counter landed square on the jaw. He dropped. She ducked a chair and Detective Sawyer knocked out that guy. It was a bar brawl for all of one minute, but for that minute, Detective Sawyer laid a few guys out. The fumes slowed everyone before forcing them to sit. They swayed, dizzy, disorientated, and harmless for the moment.

"Will they be okay?" Detective Sawyer asked, mask firmly in place. She looked around, concerned. It was admirable for her to worried over a mob who just tried to kill her a few seconds ago.

"Yeah. Just sick for a few hours. Questioning them will be funny."

"How so?"

"I mixed my own special, pretty accurate truth serum in."

"Is that legal?"

"It's not illegal." This was something important she had learned when coming up with stuff in her lab.

Detective Sawyer chuckled, eyes sparkling underneath the mask. They gathered everyone up, which was not a difficult task. They were all too loopy from the tranquilizer to struggle. They got a ride to the medical bay of the FBI headquarters. They were treated and then questioned. At first, they did not talk, but after being confused by asking easy, non-related questions, agents sneaked in relevant questions and they answered those just as easily as the others thanks to the serum.

Turned out, the man stealing organs was a fired L-Corp scientist. That's why those ingredients seemed familiar! She recalled Lena had been trying her best to come up with a drug to help preserve organs, but the more she worked on it, the more it was clear the drug would never do exactly what she wanted. She scrapped the idea. He stole the failed drug after they halted further testing.

In an official statement, L-Corp explained the suspect was in charge of disposal, but it was discovered he had been slacking in that area for months. He had been fired for that offense, but he had done worse when he found what it did and what he could do. The drug was supposed to help preserve organs for transplant, but it was also such a powerful tranquilizer, it stopped body function. He used that to carve people up for parts, selling viable organs on the black market.

Alex texted Lena as soon as she found out. "Gotta be more careful in getting rid of failed experiments. Some people don't have the same lofty moral ambitions as you." Alex made her way outside of FBI headquarters, on her way home.

Before a response came, Alex was knocked in the shoulder. She turned to see Detective Sawyer grinning, eyes bright. God, those dimples. Alex's heart felt like it fluttered away.

"Well, Danvers, that wasn't entirely awful. I might even look forward to working with you again," Detective Sawyer said.

Alex found herself smiling, even though Agent Danvers did not smile. "Yeah… Sawyer." She would not mind working with the detective again.

Sawyer mounted her bike and despite everything in her, Alex had to admit it was a sexy sight. She could not ignore that now. The day rushed back to her as she stood there, a dam broken in her brain. Her day with Sawyer played through her mind. She recalled Sawyer fighting in the bar, clearly knowing her business. The fact that she came up with the plan to go to the bar after she saw Alex's skill in her lab was something else, too. Even the way she had obviously been in charge of the scene before Alex showed up was something else. Her cocky attitude was not a show. She had a reason to be so confident. She was like living dynamite.

"See you around." She smiled, eyes twinkling yet again. And then, she disappeared on her bike, handling her high speed like a pro. Alex missed the text reply, eyes helplessly trying to continue tracking Sawyer. Her heart pretty much went boom.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: more Sawyer and Lena and Kara show up again.

(You can get early chapters for this and any other stories I'm working on by checking out my P treon page.)