Alex knew damn well that the secondary location meant trouble.

Thankfully, she also knew that the DEO possessed tech that would make it easy to find them. While the man next to her might have wanted to convey intelligence and suave, it was clear that he wasn't the enforcer he was portraying.

He was a semi-pro, at best. Which made the reason for the meeting with his so called 'employer' all the more strange.

She'd been in this situation before. Many times, actually. Both simulated and real. When J'onn had promoted her to assistant director, she'd gone through a rigorous training. She'd been beat up, tortured – both mentally and physically – and they'd used the people she loved against her many times. Because there was a high possibility that, now that she was one of the leaders of the DEO, they would attempt to get to her through loved ones.

It was a situation that never got easier. And having to face Maggie when she finally returned from her two-week training at the deserted exoplanet, and start explaining what it was she had endured, was one of the hardest things she'd ever done.

Torture was nothing new for her.

So, as she sat in the passenger seat, looking around at the streets of National City passing by, she analyzed the situation.

She had her subdermal tracker, and it had recently been updated. Maggie had placed the 911 call, been cut off abruptly, and neither the body nor her were there, at the scene. But there was a tire iron that had Maggie's blood on it.

And Alex had told Kara that Maggie and her were going to the restaurant on Hawthorne at seven.

All pieces put together, Alex almost huffed at how much of a hassle this was – she knew this wouldn't be more than lowlife thugs attempting to get a rise out of her. And she also knew that if she didn't manage to escape in some way, the rescue would be hours away, if that.

Of course, there were parameters that she couldn't answer for. Who the employer was. How many goons would be at the secondary. Whether they were alien or human. In what kind of shape Maggie would be.

The drive took at least 30 minutes. Alex knew he was intentionally driving around in circles to confuse her. But she didn't understand why – it would only delay and give law enforcement more time to track them down.

"Do you know where you're going?" She finally asked, when it was clear he'd taken the same roundabout three times. She attempted to sound neutral – no sarcasm. She wasn't about to risk Maggie's health any more than she already had.

"If I didn't know what I was doing, you'd be dead."

Alex sighed, attempting to glance over her shoulder. But the van's back was completely separated from the cabin in front.

The images racing through her head of what that man could do to Maggie when she was unconscious…

She shook her head – physically willing the visuals away. Instead, she tried to get more out of him.

"What's your name?"

"My name is not important to you."

"I'm just making conversation – looks like we'll be stuck here a while."

"I know what you're doing, Agent. You're negotiating. You want to stall to buy time, get me to lower my guard to then overpower me and drive this van off the road."

She feigned ignorance. "Why the hell would I want to risk crashing with her in the back?!"

The man rolled his eyes, and reached for a button on the dashboard. Alex had recognized it as an external piece of hardware – not linked to the car's mechanics in any way. When he pressed it, she heard a vague buzzing behind her.

A sound cue? A signal?

Alex's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a struggle in the back. Scraping, thuds, grunts…

The man next to her didn't seem to pay attention to it, tapping his fingers to the beat of whatever stupid song was on the radio.

Alex didn't know what was happening, but she had a pretty good idea of what the button meant. She knew she couldn't try any of the overt tactics she'd attempted before.

She had to pull another rabbit out of her hat.

"If I may give you some advice…" The man said, interrupting her thoughts. Alex glanced up at him – he took his eyes off the road for two seconds to give her what she felt was a sincere look.

"No matter what is said – understand that we are not the enemy."

Alex opened her mouth to retort with the bloody tire iron, but restrained herself.

The man continued. "My employer wanted both of you. Do you understand what that means?"

Alex's heart dropped. Usually, enforcers talked as little as possible, and definitely didn't give their hostages advice. Either the man was a complete fraud, he genuinely didn't agree with the job…

… or he was just pretending to make rookie mistakes, to throw her off.

And – by default – whoever was investigating what happened.

Fuck.

A big drop.

She didn't have to respond – she knew damn well what he was saying.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence – apart from the occasional sound coming from the back. After a few more minutes of what felt like aimless driving, he finally pulled up to an apartment block, and drove into the underground parking.

Nothing about the past events had been run-of-the-mill kidnapping, as stupid as it sounded.

She hoped Kara would get here soon. It had been 30 minutes since the officers should have arrived at the scene.

Did Winn still have the alert to notify him whenever their names popped up in 911-calls?

The man stopped the car in a spot, and pulled on the parking brake. Then, he looked at her. "Don't get out just yet."

Alex heard the back doors open, and another scuffle. She glanced into the side mirror to see the 'dead' man, and what looked like a third enforcer, pulling Maggie out of the back.

She was conscious, and appeared irate – kicking and punching around to try and get away. Very likely panicking at waking up in the back of a van covered in blood, and not thinking straight because of the head injury.

Alex took a shaky breath, willing Maggie to stay calm and just let it happen. But she knew damn well why he wanted her to stay in the car.

Maggie couldn't know that Alex was there. At least – not yet.

Probably either to make the confrontation that much more powerful – or because they didn't want Maggie to know about why she was being tortured.

Because if she knew that Alex was on the other side, and had to give up precious information – she'd put on a brave face and take it.

And if Alex wasn't there…

"We're going for a walk." The man said, motioning her out of the van. She obliged. Her options were limited – and overpowering the man with hand-to-hand combat wouldn't help her case.

She had to lie in wait.

The man put a hand on her back and guided her towards a concrete stairwell. But instead of heading up into the apartment complex, they took the stairs down to the floor below.

Through a maze of musty corridors with leaking pipes. Alex had to duck her head more than once to navigate it – all the while painfully aware of the man's touch between her shoulder blades.

After what felt like ages, they finally stopped in front of a door with a keypad.

"Look away." He ordered. She did as he asked, but listened intently.

Five distinct button presses, and a click.

As the door opened, she glanced down at the keypad again – there was only a numeric pad – no lock or pound. So it had been a 5-digit code.

He shoved her inside, closed the door behind them, and walked her through the now pitch black room.

She couldn't see a thing, but stopped as the man pushed her shoulder down. She felt hard and cold metal behind her, and realized it was some sort of thick pole. She crouched down, and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of handcuffs. He pulled her arms backwards until they wrapped around the pole – and clicked the handcuffs in place.

It was uncomfortable, to say the least. But Alex didn't give as much as a wince.

When he was done – she suddenly felt two pats on her cheek. Almost as if to say 'well done'. She couldn't resist the indignant huff through her nose at the gesture – but he seemed to ignore it.

As he walked back towards the door, she heard five buttons again. As the door opened, the room was bathed in the light from the hallway for just a second. Alex took the little time she had to look around.

The room was small – almost like a storage unit. Probably rentable basement space for the apartments upstairs. The pole was in the center of the room. No windows, the only door being the one he was standing in front of.

And – more importantly – she was alone.

The man gave her a smirk, before closing the door behind him – leaving her in darkness.

Alex took a deep breath, and tried to think about her new situation. The floor she was on wasn't hidden. The walls looked like concrete – nothing her sister's X-ray vision couldn't handle.

None of this made sense.

These men should know damn well that they were making mistakes.

Which terrified her more than anything.

There was no blinking light – no cameras to monitor her.

The only way out was through the numerical pad at the door.

If she ever got out of the handcuffs.

She could tell instantly that it wasn't low quality gear. The chain felt heavy against her hands. The DEO used titanium equipment because of its durability and strength – and it looked like these guys took a page out of their book.

Alex tried to pull the cuffs against the pole to get the chain to break – but the angle was awkward, and she couldn't get the momentum going properly without injuring her shoulders.

The chain didn't budge.

She felt a headache coming on.

She got to her feet, realizing that she didn't have a lot of room to work with.

Sure, she had fought aliens five times her size, been shot, stabbed, drowned, burned, and just about anything in-between.

But it had to be a stupid pole and handcuffs to get her stumped.

Her thoughts went to Maggie. She'd been lightheaded with relief upon seeing that she was conscious and moving. Not dead, comatose or paralyzed.

But she had no idea where Maggie was.

The only thing she was certain of, was that these guys had a plan. And if they had a plan – then they wouldn't kill Maggie yet. They needed some type of leverage, whatever it was.

And every second they didn't come to get her, Maggie would be okay. And it would give the DEO, NCPD or whoever else was looking for them another second to track them down.

So this was good – Alex sighed. This was good.

She ignored the pain in her shoulders and arms, and tried to recount the steps back from the restaurant, to piece together the enforcers' plan to get them.

Which was jumbled at best. If the two of them hadn't seen the van pull up, if they hadn't seen the man carrying the body into the alley – their entire plan would have fallen apart. It was a bad lure – a gamble, if anything.

Perhaps the third man had been in the back of the van all along – to get a plan B going just in case it didn't work. But there still were too many factors that confused her.

The thing that she forced herself to keep in mind, though – just because they might be low-class thugs, didn't mean they weren't deadly. If anything – the high-class organizations and bosses were less violent and much more elegant in the way they handled things.

A few minutes passed, and Alex's eyes had yet to adapt to the darkness. Which proved her theory that there wasn't a single crack of light in the room unless the door opened. There was a constant hum – almost like an AC unit, buzzing through the room, but it came from outside. Nothing to go off.

There was nothing she could do, but wait.

She'd lost track of time – it could have been seconds, minutes or hours. In the dark, everything was the same. But as soon as she heard footsteps approach, she was on high alert.

Back in the room with the hardwood flooring.

Back underneath the javelin.

Any second now.

The keys were pressed once again. The door opened.

Alex closed her eyes instinctively – already feeling them fill up with tears at the brightness. But she willed herself to open them – to see as much as she could.

The driver stood in the doorway, followed by the two enforcers that had dragged Maggie out. The shape of a woman walked behind them, but Alex couldn't see her face. She was the only one that wasn't masked.

The woman, along with the driver, walked into the room – while the other two men stayed outside. As soon as they were in – he closed the door.

Leaving them in darkness once again.

"Hello, miss Danvers." The woman spoke in a rough, frayed tone from somewhere to her left. "Or… is it missus?"

"Not yet." Alex responded truthfully. She assumed the woman knew the answer to every question she was about to ask anyway – and just wanted to skip ahead to the next part of the meeting.

"Your… fiancée said the same." She said. "But I can imagine you prefer your title, anyway? Assistant Director?"

"What do you want with us?" Alex asked, cutting the conversation short.

"I have a proposition." The woman said, after a brief moment of silence. "You can call me Fletcher. I lead a faction of civilian militias to fight alien-related crime."

Not what Alex was expecting – but the emotion on her face was completely lost in the dark anyway.

Fletcher continued. "… see; the DEO handles big cases. Large-scaled threats. Counters with tanks, rifles and bombs. The NCPD – well, the science division handles the subtler things. Alien drugs, gangs, lone terrorists. But… neither organization bothers picking up the scraps."

Alex swallowed thickly.

"…You are blind to the violence that litters our streets, Agent Danvers. You don't see how these aliens tear apart neighborhoods, families, workplaces… Not all species are violent, no. But the ones that are, get to roam around, free to do whatever they want without consequence."

"That's not true." Alex countered. "We track everyone. It's not only what you see. It's what happens behind the scenes."

"Behind the scenes, Agent?" Fletcher laughed. "See, I think you're putting on a brave face because you don't want to admit that I'm right."

"Even if you were – what's the proposition?" Alex bit the inside of her cheek to remain calm, but her mind was racing.

Fletcher took a few steps – her heels clicking around the room and reverberating. In the dark, Alex almost lost track of her. Until her voice appeared again from somewhere behind her.

"You have met my second-in-command, Atticus?"

"We've met, alright." The driver – Atticus – spoke.

The picture was beginning to get clearer.

"Why the violence? If we're on the same side, why didn't you just arrange a meeting? I would have come." Alex said in one breath – still not clear about why her fiancée had to get knocked out for this to happen. And she still hadn't seen her…

"Because this is information that only pertains to you, and Detective Sawyer."

"What do you want?" Alex hissed, beginning to grow impatient.

"Patience." The woman whispered it so silently that Alex had nearly missed it. The heels clacked again – until Alex was sure the woman was right in front of her.

"We need resources. We have tried communicating with the DEO and the NCPD, but neither are willing to negotiate. They keep denying the need for a civilian corps – just like you. Your boss didn't even let us through the doors."

As much as she wished she wasn't in this situation – she couldn't help but understand where the woman was coming from. If she were in their shoes, and nobody was listening – she might have done the same.

That didn't mean she sympathized, though.

"So – what? You expect me to break into my armory and steal guns?"

Fletcher sighed. "Not that. We have plenty of guns. Plenty of technology too – you'd be amazed at what you find when you dig through the DEO's trash once in a while."

Alex shook her head – unnoticed.

"…What we need is intelligence. Lists of aliens, species indexes, anything that can help us. We're trying to keep our heads above water, but we're failing."

"Do you understand how sensitive some of the relationships between different planets are?!" Alex shot back. "Do you not get that you can't just go around killing aliens whenever you like it?! There are rules put in place, and there are systems in place to enforce those rules!"

Fletcher continued, ignoring Alex's outburst. "My proposition is simple. This meeting stays confidential. Your rescue is on its way, but we're stalling it. Until you give us the answer to the following question."

Alex felt the woman step forward, until she was almost sure they were face to face.

"… are you willing to help us?"

"What if I say no? Are you going to kill the both of us?"

This time, Atticus spoke from her right. "I might have taken some liberties with Detective Sawyer earlier, but that's because we're old friends. We wish you no harm."

Fletcher agreed with a hum. "We're desperate, and we only want the best for National City. None of you listened, so we had to go to drastic measures. If you say no – that is your choice. But like you said – we play by a different set of rules, and we won't be stopped. If you let this go, we'll have to get drastic in our enforcement too."

"And if I say yes?"

"You'll be released, and given a way to keep in contact. You'll provide us with intel to keep our enforcing clean and safe, and in return, we stay out of the DEO's way. You won't even know we're there."

Alex sighed. "Can I get a moment to think about it?"

"We figured you might." Atticus said. "No worries. Do you want to know what Maggie said?"

The way her name fell off his tongue made her stomach turn.

"Yes." Was all Alex could say.

"You'll have to ask her yourself." He walked over to the door, and hit it three times.

"I don't have all day, Agent. The people of National City need our help. But do take the time to make a good decision – I know you will."

The woman walked over to the door as well, and it opened. Alex had to clench her eyes shut this time, but knew that the two were out of the room.

A shuffle of feet, and the rough thud of what sounded like somebody falling filled her ears, but as she opened her eyes – the door closed with a bang, and left the room in complete darkness once again.

Alex didn't need to see to know what just happened.

"Maggie…?"

"Oh, no…" Came the mumbled response from the ground. Alex yanked on the handcuffs with a new vigor, but it still didn't budge.

"Hey… hey, Mags, it's me…" She resorted to sliding down until she was in a sitting position, closer to Maggie. Stretching her leg, she found that she could touch what felt like Maggie's ankle.

"Why are you here…" Maggie whispered. It sounded pathetic – like she was close to tears. Alex understood that it was probably shock, but it didn't make her worry any less.

"Babe, can you move?" Alex asked. "Can you get closer to me? Follow my voice…"

After a few seconds, she heard a dragging sound. After that, tentative fingers felt around her, and finally touched her thigh.

"Alex…" Maggie sniffed. "I didn't mean to drag you into this… I'm so sorry…"

Alex frowned. "Mags, what are you talking about? They're… they're just civilians that fight aliens, they want to send a message to the DEO and the NCPD…"

Maggie took a second, breathing hard. Alex had never wished for sight more than in that second. But as the Maggie's hands felt around Alex's body, and the detective finally collapsed onto Alex's lap, she responded.

"They're rogue NCPD officers, Alex. And they're going to kill me."