Come the next morning, the feeling that something was amiss was still itching at the back of Winn's mind; it was only exacerbated by the fact that he hadn't slept well yet again. He'd jolted awake every few hours for no apparent reason, and like clockwork, had cleared his apartment with the lamp hoisted high over his shoulder—and man, it was time to invest in a baseball bat. That thing was heavy. And single use—before checking his security footage and lying back down, in fervent hope that this time he'd drift off for the entire night.
Finally, around two AM, with eyes throbbing from lack of sleep, Winn decided that if this was his time to go, it was his time to go, and popped two Benadryl. Once they'd kicked in, he'd slept five interrupted hours, but as typically happened when allergy pills were used as sleep aids, he'd woke up with dry and scratchy eyes, a similar feeling in his throat, and a face that weighed a thousand pounds.
The morning only deteriorated from there. When Winn went to shower, he almost put body wash in his hair before he realized it and the shampoo bottle were swapped. He didn't remember switching them, but he had been half-asleep yesterday when he'd hopped into the shower after being called in at that ungodly hour, so he didn't think too much of it. But then, his hip had collided with the corner of the island as he tried to maneuver around it with a plate of eggs. After managing to save most of his breakfast in a Peter-Parker-in-the-cafeteria-esque maneuver, Winn chalked that one up to lack of sleep, and shoveled in what remained of his food before he could change his mind. On his way out, the pair of shoes he'd had set out yesterday to coordinate with his outfit, before being too sleep deprived to care about anything matching at zero-dark-whatever, were no longer in their place beside the door.
Tired, and at this point in danger of being late, Winn toed on the first pair of shoes in his entry closet, armed his security system then left.
On the way into the DEO, he couldn't help thinking that if all that chaos wasn't a sign he needed significantly more sleep, he wasn't sure what was. All he had to do was get through today, and then he could crash tonight for at least ten hours, Guardianing be damned.
At the office, Winn roused slightly thanks to the massive extra-strength coffee he'd brewed, which had earned him a dark look from Vasquez after inhaling a mouthful of it herself, and managed to sludge through the morning, picking up where third-shift had left off on both the bank robbery and the various alerts that had come in overnight.
Sadly, even after over a day's work by multiple teams, they hadn't made much progress on the bank robbery case. All the Doxans, Pieranese, and Knoxtecs that were registered within a few hours' drive of National City had alibis, which analysts of multiple shifts had spent a painstaking amount of time verifying. So their vault thief was either using tech—which Winn still highly doubted—or was unregistered.
"Can we trace for similar cases?" Alex asked, as Winn relayed this information to her and J'onn in person, and Kara over the phone.
"We're running it now, but even just looking at the unsolved cases for National City alone, it's going to take some time."
"Focus on the ones within a few hours' radius of National City for now. Go back as far as you can," Alex instructed. Then, after a moment, she added, "Actually, I might be able to shorten that list some."
"And by 'you', you mean Maggie?"
Alex nodded.
"When's she get back from her conference?"
"Saturday. But I'm sure she'll be itching for a break." It was no secret Maggie hadn't been thrilled about sitting all week listening to the latest and greatest upgrades in law enforcement policy and technology. She'd tried everything to get out of it, but NCPD Captain Barlow would not be dissuaded.
"Only the pertinent details, Alex," J'onn said gently.
"Of course, sir. Winn, can you send me the cases since Maggie joined Science Police?"
"Sure thing." As he turned back to his keyboard and began typing, Alex left the command center, presumably to phone Maggie.
"What about increasing the radius of the registered Doxans, Pieranese, and Knoxtecs?" Kara asked over the speakerphone set-up next to Winn's workstation.
"We can try, but then we'd have to find a way for them to get here. Planes, trains and boats are easy, but driving…" Winn shook his head. "Unless they paid with credit card slips or booked hotel reservations, it will be almost impossible to know for sure. And that's assuming none of them can fly."
"Let's start running that down," J'onn said. "If our perpetrator can truly teleport in and out of places, he's of a high risk for more than just local banks."
"Yes, sir."
"What about the security footage? Were we able to get any identifying information?"
"That's all Vasquez." Winn pointed to his right where his coworker was sitting, head bobbing while she examined some data onscreen. "Vasquez," Winn called again, and when she didn't respond, he kicked gently at her chair, sliding her over a few inches. When she spun around to glare at him, Winn pointed hurriedly at J'onn standing behind them and motioned for her to pull off her headphones.
"Yes, sir?" she asked, suddenly contrite.
After J'onn repeated the question, she replied, "The perp is about 5'10" based on known heights of the security deposit boxes and factoring in the angle and distance of the camera. Based on general anatomy, he appears to be male, or someone who can shapeshift into one. We weren't able to get any other information. The ski mask hid his hair and he was too far away for eye color, even on our best zoom."
"Skin tone?"
"Medium to light? But again, if they have shapeshifting abilities, we don't know for sure."
There was a commotion on the other end of the speakerphone. "Snapper's looking for me," Kara groaned. "Keep me updated."
As she ended the call, J'onn, who had been considering Vasquez's report, spoke up. "Let's assume not for now, unless you have been able to identify a species with native teleportation and shapeshifting." He looked around at the analysts who looked back at him blankly.
"Only you, sir," Winn said, when no one else did. "But there's no aura in the footage that indicated a phase or a portal instead of direct teleportation."
"Well then, since I clearly didn't rob the bank and M'gann is still off-world, let my conjecture stand that we are dealing with a male suspect until we have more information."
"Sure thing, boss," Vasquez said, and the other analysts nodded.
"I'll be back in an hour for an update," J'onn stated before leaving the command center.
The moment he did, Vasquez stood, turning her back to her workstation so she could fact the rest of the analysts. "Agent Schott, rerun yesterday's search to find all Doxans, Pieranese, and Knoxtecs registered in the United States. We're going to split up the results and run down their alibis one at a time."
On the other side of the command center, one analyst, Jenn Rico, raised her hand. "I'm already running down a P1 for Agent Matheson."
Vasquez just nodded. "Then do that. Anyone else?" The remaining five analysts, Winn included, shook their heads.
"Okay. When you have the results, Agent Schott, put them on the board and divide among the six of us. Find your target's location for the last… let's say five days, but especially with a focus on the time of the break-in. Anything suspicious gets brought to me or Agent Schott. Everything else gets removed. And despite what Director J'onzz says, no one gets eliminated based on gender. Copy?"
"Yes, ma'am," the analysts said before turning back to their stations.
Just then, Winn's computer chirped with the search results. "Expect assignments shortly," he said before cracking his knuckles and getting to work.
After sending a very bored Maggie the cases, Alex changed into her street clothes and headed over to Al's. Neither Kara nor Mon-El had anything to report from their fact-finding mission yesterday, but Alex was hoping today's shift might have some answers. The bar was being worked by Stella, who had what looked like two French braids running back from her forehead, and was expertly handing an overflowing bar.
"Don't these people work?" Alex asked as she pushed her way through the crowd and ordered a club soda.
"It's a Valerian holiday tomorrow," Stella said, sliding Alex's drink down the counter. "Everyone in their solar system who was able to took it off to celebrate."
Alex took a sip of her drink then slid a still photo of the surveillance footage from the vault across the counter. "I know it's vague but have you seen someone who fits this description? Male, about 5'10", medium to light colored skin. They have teleportation abilities from what we can tell, and could be Doxans, Pieranese, or Knoxtec."
Stella pulled the photograph closer to her face, and the two rows running down her head peeled away from her skull, revealing themselves to be antennae which now floated around her head.
"It could be anyone," she said after a moment, before handing the photograph back.
"Even if we narrow down species?"
"I don't exactly ask folks what they are when they show up here," Stella said with a unapologetic shrug.
"Fair enough. But this person has the ability to teleport into our most secure facilities, which makes him extremely dangerous. We need to apprehend him as soon as possible."
"I understand, Agent Danvers. If you want to leave a copy here, I'll share it with the rest of the staff and see if they recognize him."
"I'd appreciate that." Then, Alex took a look around the crowded bar. "Would you mind if I show this picture around?"
Stella shrugged again as she fetched two empty pint glasses and began filling them. "If you're not too disruptive. It is a holiday eve and these people have been through a lot this year."
"I promise I'll be as non-evasive as possible," Alex said, before throwing back the rest of her drink, dropping a couple dollars on the bar, and beginning her canvass.
After a long day of running down alibis and coming back with zero, zip, zilch, and nada, Winn wanted nothing more than to go back to his apartment and crash. But then James caught wind of something on the police scanner and begged—yes, actually begged; apparently Winn hadn't been the only one with a less than stellar day—Winn to come along. Winn had tried to make himself say 'no', but since he apparently had a genetic inability to refuse his friends, especially when there was a possibility to do some good, he'd ended up agreeing.
The first time his eyes slipped closed while watching James stake out a target, Winn should have probably told James to cut the night short. Instead, while James was securing said target and phoning in an anonymous tip to the police, Winn slipped out to a nearby convenience store for a massive Red Bull and pack of Red Vines.
Amped up on sugar and practically vibrating in his seat, Winn reported three more situations to James, who after giftwrapping them for the NCPD, returned to the van to, surprisingly, call it a night. Winn had protested the exact amount that was appropriate before pretending to give in.
"Get some rest, okay?" was all James said, before sliding out of the van and closing the door.
"From your lips to God's ears," Winn mumbled as he powered down his equipment then crawled into the front of the van, where he started up the engine and drove through the non-existent National City traffic to the parking lot down the street from his apartment. Back when this whole Guardian thing had started, he'd cut a deal with the lot's owner to cut the monthly rate in half as long as Winn kept the lot's security system up to date. So far, both were still happy with the agreement.
After checking his gear one last time, Winn locked the van, then headed for his apartment with more bounce in his step than usual, thanks to the last dredges of sugar in his system. Given the late hour, he was joined in his trek by a bunch of drunks, who were staggering home after last call. Winn found himself caught up in a conversation between two twenty-somethings when suddenly, something wrapped around his forearm and yanked him to the right.
He was so startled that he didn't have time to do anything but let out a half-hearted yelp before his right arm was wrenched behind his back and his face was shoved into a brick wall.
"I don't have… any money," he gasped as he felt something warm dripping down his cheek. His arm was burning fiercely, his wrist twisted up between his shoulder blades.
Then, a weight shifted behind him, pressing him further into the wall, and suddenly Winn felt hot breath on his left ear. At this range, Winn couldn't smell any alcohol on the man's breath, dashing any hope this was some sort of drunken mistake. He tried to catch a glimpse of his assailant out of the corner of his eye, but he/she/it was standing too far out of sight. "I don't want your money," a man's voice, low and deep, growled. "I want you to leave National City, Toyman Jr."
Winn's brain stuttered to a stop. "Wha'?"
The man responded by wrenching Winn's arm higher, forcing a groan from his lips. Winn slipped up onto his toes to try to relieve the pressure, but was helpless against the man's grip.
"Leave," the man ordered. "Tonight."
Then, something smashed into the back of Winn's knee a split second before his shoulder was released. No longer supported, Winn collapsed to the ground in an unceremonious heap. His vision whited out as pain soared through his knee, and now his shoulder as blood flow was restored.
He heard footsteps racing away and tried to haul himself into a sitting position to catch a glimpse of his attacker, but his body refused. So he lay there until some indeterminate length of time later when, with a great heave, he finally managed to right himself. Breathing hard, he sat there for longer than was probably deemed advisable for the late hour, but the pain refused to subside. His shoulder throbbed in time with his pulse, sending a bolt of pain down his side to his knee, which was screaming in agony, despite being locked straight out in front of him.
He had to get up.
Leaning heavily on the wall for support, Winn tried to push through the pain and stand, but only ended up getting about halfway up before his right knee shifted rather unnaturally. He dropped back to the ground, cursing in every language he knew, and rubbed at his knee with his uninjured hand.
He didn't want to bother anyone, especially after the long and fruitless day they'd all just had, but it didn't seem likely that he was getting out of this alley on his own accord. Reluctantly, he pulled out his phone and dialed Alex.
"Can you come get me?" he asked with a hiss as his cheek split open again. "I got mugged. This time for real."