Once, during a training bootcamp, Alex Danvers had been put below a plastic javelin, suspended from the ceiling. Her instructor had only muttered two words before slamming the door shut behind her.
Catch it.
At first, she'd been underneath it, her hands tingling with anticipation, as she waited for the spear to drop.
The first few minutes, her reflexes were on high alert. Her heart thumping loudly in her chest, as adrenalin coursed through her veins.
But as the time passed, she found her gaze wandering down to the clock on the other side of the room – ticking the seconds down. Her heartbeat stabilized – unable to keep up the focus she'd displayed.
In the end, the javelin did drop.
Two and a half hours after her instructor had first locked her in.
She ended up catching it on a lucky break – just turning her head back from glaring at the clock as she saw it break free. She had to leap towards the ground for it – but she managed to hold on to it before the tip hit the hardwood floor.
In the end, the lesson taught wasn't one of reflexes.
It was that she had to be ready for anything, anytime.
In the field, she'd kept that laser focus anytime the situation required it. Her genius, analytical mind made it easy to assess threats. And really – every new situation was just another javelin waiting to drop.
Truthfully, though, it was only a matter of time until shelet one clatter to the floor.
But if Alex Danvers could have chosen the situation – it would have been anything but what ensued.
"Not to sound impatient but I'm not the one who gets to use the siren."
Maggie mumbled something under her breath as she slammed her car door shut and walked up to her fiancée, locking her cruiser in the process.
Alex noticed immediately that her cheery jab might not have settled in right. She frowned, and took a few steps in Maggie's direction. "What's wrong?"
The detective sighed, and started walking – making Alex trail behind her. "Nothing."
Alex winced in sympathy, as the two of them walked towards the restaurant they'd had a reservation at.
Then, she carefully took hold of Maggie's hand – making her stop.
Alex looked into her eyes. "You want to talk about it?"
For a second, it looked like she might shut Alex out again. Then, she grunted, and folded her arms. "You remember how I told you about Beekman?"
"The inspector guy?" Alex contributed, stopping in front of the restaurant's doors to let Maggie finish her story first.
"Yeah – he was at my fucking desk again this afternoon – whining about how he needed to see my paperwork from the last three cases I worked. Guy hasn't ever seen a woman up close, let alone an alien."
Alex smirked – but it faded quickly as Maggie continued.
"Ends up nailing me for apparently misfiling a report on that Alazonian homicide from a few weeks ago. I told him three times that it wasn't misfiled, he was just mixing up the reports – wouldn't fucking listen."
"So… what now?"
Maggie huffed. "He went over my boss' head, and complained to the deputy commissioner – apparently gushing all about my 'previous mistakes' and 'precedents as a liability for the force'."
Alex froze in her tracks, her stomach churning. She dreaded the next sentence to come out of Maggie's mouth.
"He was going to suspend me until further notice – he already had the paperwork filed and everything. Thankfully – the DC knows my captain, so he gave him a heads up first. And he was pissed. Pulled in a favor with the Chief of Police to get Beekman to stand down."
"And…?"
"And…Beekman has had it out for the SciDiv ever since we split off from homicide. Guy wants to pretend aliens don't exist, so he sees no need for taxpayer money to go towards us. The sooner he can get rid of all of us, the better."
Alex shook her head, trying to contain her anger. The DEO had a lot of liberties – even if there still was a lot of red tape. But conventional policework would never be something she was interested in. How Maggie got through a single day with the amount of paperwork and explaining she had to do for every little thing she did…
"I'm sorry." She said – and she meant it.
Maggie shrugged. "Nothing I c—"
Alex glanced up to meet her eyes when Maggie had cut herself off, but found her staring at the other side of the street.
"What is it?"
The detective ignored her for now, taking a few steps closer to the curb and reaching for her hip in pure muscle memory – before forgetting that she'd taken off her holster to meet Alex for their date night.
Said agent did have a gun on her, albeit concealed in her jacket. When she scanned the other side of the street, she now saw what Maggie had seen seconds earlier.
A shady man had just pulled up in a black van with tinted windows, and had disappeared into an alley.
Carrying what looked like a body.
"The hell…?" Alex whispered.
Both of them crossed the street, as Maggie linked her arm with Alex's, and gave her hand two squeezes.
Act normal.
They only had one gun between the two of them. They had to be smart.
The two walked past the alley, glancing into it casually.
Alex stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of the unmoving man, lying in the middle of the alley – illuminated by a flickering safety light above.
"Shit…" she heard Maggie curse. The man that had carried him was nowhere to be seen. The alley was dead silent.
Maggie squeezed once. It could be a trap.
Alex squeezed back. But what if it's not?
Squeeze. It wouldn't be the first time.
Alex let go of Maggie's hand, and motioned for her to stay back and call for backup. Maggie fished her phone out of her pocket as Alex pulled her gun out of her jacket and moved up into the alley.
"Detective Sawyer, NC SciDiv badge 2-7-0. We have found a man lying in an alley off Hawthorne – checking vitals now. Caucasian, looks mid-20s, blonde, broad build."
Alex was close enough to reach the man and – still scanning the alley with her eyes – put two fingers to the man's carotid artery. He was lying face down on the ground, unmoving, but there was no blood – and no visible injuries, at first glance.
The agent glanced back to Maggie, shaking her head.
The detective continued her chatter upon the signal. "… no pulse, starting CPR. Get a bus here ASAP. We saw one unsub carrying him into the alleyway, about 6'5, no id—"
Alex, who had been attempting to turn the man over to begin chest compressions, looked back at the sound of a dull thud, and Maggie's relay of the events being cut off.
Her stomach churned at the sight of her fiancée lying on the ground on her side – her ring finger twitching slightly as blood dribbled out of her hair, already beginning to form a small puddle underneath her.
A man stood towering over her, holding what looked like a tire iron before throwing it aside carelessly – the clattering reverberating through Alex' skull.
The javelin.
It dropped.
…
She'd missed it.
Alex let out an inhuman whine as she leapt forward, raising the gun and using the last iota of restraint she had not to unload the clip into the man's torso.
"HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!" She yelled. The man glanced up at her – but she now saw that his face was covered with a balaclava.
He tilted his head, almost seeming curious. Then, he let out a breathy chuckle.
"Nothing personal, Agent Danvers. Just business."
Alex felt her blood boil. She willed herself not to look at Maggie at the man's feet, instead focusing her steely gaze on his eyes. In the dark, she couldn't make them out – but it didn't matter.
"What do you want?!" She spat.
"My employer wishes to meet with you." The man spoke. "They don't like to be kept waiting – so I suggest you comply."
Alex chuckled dryly. "After what you did to her – you just expect me to come quietly?!"
"Oh believe me, Agent." He glanced down at the woman below him. "I can assure you, if you don't intend to come quietly, we have received very specific instructions to force you."
Alex swallowed thickly – finally willing herself to glance down at her fiancée, lying unmoving in the dirt. The pool of blood continued to grow, and it made Alex sick to her stomach.
Those hits could smash skulls and kill instantly. For all she knew, Maggie could have been dead for the past few minutes – while she was standing around doing nothing.
The nausea turned to sheer hatred for the man standing above her.
She had a clean shot at his T-box. She could drop him with one bullet and get Maggie to-
Suddenly, Alex felt the sharp prick of a knife pointing at her lower back. And she realized she was running out of options fast.
Another drop.
Another spear clattering to the ground.
"Tick tock." A man's voice whispered in her ear.
Alex took a shaky breath. "Alright – alright. Tell me what I need to do."
"You're going to give your gun to the gentleman behind you. You're going to carry Detective Sawyer into the back of the black van parked on the road, and you're going to get into the passenger seat. And if you attempt to deviate from any of those instructions – believe me, she will pay for it."
The one thing Alex was aware of, was that Maggie had called for backup – that should be arriving any second – hopefully spurred on by the fact that the detective had stopped responding.
She had to stall as much as possible.
"Can I at least check if she's okay first?" Alex asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "If you've killed her, you might as well shoot me now."
"Very noble of you, Agent. But I can assure you she's still breathing."
"I want to check for myself."
"You're hardly in a position to drive a bargain." The man shook his head.
"Please." Alex whispered, layering her performance to appear much more distraught than she was. "Please – I need to know if she's okay."
The man sighed. "According to my sources, you're usually a little tougher to crack." He fished a gun from his pocket, and aimed it at Maggie's head.
"No – please. Okay – alright, aright." Alex took a deep breath. "I'll do it, okay? There's no need for any more violence. I'll come with you."
"Excellent decision."
Alex lowered her gun, and handed it off to the man behind her – which she now recognized as the 'body' she'd been checking.
Either she'd misjudged his pulse terribly – or there was some sort of trickery in play.
Or he was an alien.
He shoved Alex forward – she stumbled in the direction of Maggie and the man.
She carefully crouched down next to the unconscious detective, and put a hand on her forehead. Thankfully – as pale as she looked, Maggie was still warm. But a quick pull back of her eyelids made it clear that her pupils were unevenly dilated – which was a bad sign.
"Move it along." The man said.
Alex glanced up at him, and shook her head. "I can't move her like this."
"Why not?"
"Her head and neck need to be stabilized. I need an extra pair of hands."
He rolled his eyes ostentatiously, but Alex was having none of it. Feeling around on the back of her head, she winced as she felt the cut that the tire iron had left on Maggie's skull. Within seconds, her hands were caked with blood.
"If you were really as professional as you're claiming to be, you would have sedated her instead of mowing her down like a fucking caveman." Alex hissed through her teeth. "If you want me to come with you, you'll have to help me move her carefully."
The man sighed. "Alright. You know what? You make a good point. My associate here will help you."
Alex didn't spare either of the men a second look. "You're going to grab her legs and hold them up. I'll stabilize her neck – but we gotta go on my signal, okay?"
In the distance – sirens approached.
Alex tried not to show too much relief. She carefully wrapped her hands around Maggie's neck, as the man grabbed her feet.
The sirens were too far out – and then men didn't seem at all worried about them.
"3…2… wait." Alex said, readjusting her grip.
It wasn't until she felt the barrel of a gun pressed to the back of her skull, that she realized her bluffing was done.
"One more chance, Agent Danvers. I'm done playing games."
Alex swallowed thickly.
The javelin wobbled.
Was it going to fall – or was she imagining it?
It had been so long.
She was starting to go crazy.
She couldn't risk it.
The van doors slammed shut behind them.
The man who'd hit Maggie took the wheel.
The other man stayed in the back with Maggie – Alex couldn't see anything.
She could only watch as they drove past the horde of police cruisers, finally on their way.