To her credit, Alex had managed to drag Winn in for a quick check-up before he hopped (somewhat gracelessly) off the exam table and insisted he was no worse off than he had been yesterday. It was that careful phrasing, the shaping the outright lie into the semblance of a half-truth, that revealed that that was the exact opposite of how Winn was really feeling. Physically, however, he was right; he'd somehow managed to not make his knee any worse during his mad dash into the hallway and his many collisions with the floor.

Mentally however… it wasn't like Winn to be quiet and reserved. He'd sat through her whole examination without saying more than five words, and had only perked up when she'd declared the tests over. The whole way to her lab, she'd tried to talk him out of heading back to work because, yes, she was worried about him: two traumatic events in two days would weigh on the most seasoned of agents. That being said, she also knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't admit to needing help or needing to slow down—part of that she suspected stemmed from being friends with literal superheroes, but the rest was just the kid who had clawed his way through a tragic backstory, determined to make something of himself.

Without another word, Winn began limping toward the elevator and making an impatient 'follow me' gesture with his left hand. He was surprisingly fast despite his injured knee and made it to the elevator by the time Alex had only just stepped out of her lab. Even from that distance, she saw him eying the stairs.

"I will kill you," she stated as she pulled the door to her lab closed. "Don't try me."

Winn grumbled something under his breath that Alex, probably thankfully, couldn't hear.

"Thanks," he did mumble, this time more audibly, as she caught up to him and swiped her badge to let them into the elevator, where she promptly punched the button for the main floor.

"I'm just glad you're alright." If she then reached over and pulled him into a one-armed hug, no one but the security system had to know.

Not long after, the elevator doors opened on the main floor, revealing a staff of more than just the third shift buzzing around the command center. As she took in the sight, Alex began to temporarily reconsider the idea that this wouldn't be the worst place for Winn, at least for a little while. It would keep him out of his head, and he'd be in view of many highly-qualified agents, which made it less likely, but not entirely impossible, for further trouble to find him.

Winn took off for his desk the moment the doors had started to slide apart, once again leaving Alex powerwalking to catch up with him. She only slowed when Vasquez slid into step beside her.

"Should he be here?" she asked softly, gesturing at Winn, who hadn't seemed to have noticed—or cared—that Alex was no longer following him.

"Probably not. But given the last few days he's had, I put the chances of him crashing after an hour at almost 90%."

Just then, Alex's phone rang. She held up her index finger then turned her back to Vasquez to answer it.

"Danvers."

"It's Agent David. NCPD is trying to enter Agent Schott's apartment. Supergirl's deflecting but it's not going well."

Alex groaned internally as she turned back to Vasquez. "I have to go back to his apartment. Can you keep an eye on him? And significantly reduce the access on his temp badge to keep him here?"

Vasquez nodded. "Sure thing."

As Alex told Agent David she was on her way, she watched Vasquez look back toward Winn's workstation to find him gone. Alex ended the call then tapped Vasquez on the shoulder to get her attention and pointed to the far corner of the command center where Winn, a few items in hand, was inching his way toward the elevator. "That's your freebie. He's probably heading up to his lab. He should need a badge…"

Should was the opportune word. As if realizing they were watching him, Winn held up a badge and swiped it at the elevator. While Alex looked down and realized hers was missing from her belt, Winn stepped into the elevator, mouthed 'sorry' in their direction, then quickly closed the doors.

"I. Am going. To kill him." Alex vowed. She headed toward the stairs but Vasquez caught her arm.

"You go to his apartment. I'll keep an eye on him and take back your badge. Call me when you get here and I—or someone else—will run it down to you."

"Fine." Alex looked back at Vasquez. "You sure you got him?"

She nodded, her mouth set into a tight line. "Yeah."

As she headed off, Alex's phone rang again and she put it to her ear without checking the caller ID.

"Is Winn okay?" James demanded as soon as she answered. "I heard about the bomb at his place, and he's not picking up."

"He's fine. Kara got there in time. His phone is still at his place, but he's here at the DEO under Vasquez's supervision. I'm on my way to..." She trailed off as her brain fully processed James' last sentence. "What do you mean you heard about the bomb?"

"It's all over the news. Nothing specific to Winn or any of tenants, just a bunch of exterior shots. Apparently the thing could have taken down the entire building."

"Find out who the source is and shut them down! The last thing we need is a mass panic while we try to figure this out."

"On it. Does Winn need anything?"

"No. Wait, yes, actually. All his stuff is evidence. All he has is the T-shirt and pajama pants he was sleeping in. He's wearing a pair of my socks and the shoes he left at my apartment after that hike Kara wanted us to take last month."

"So, like, normal clothes and toiletries?"

"Yeah. He gave me his sizes. I'll text them to you."

"Great." There was a brief commotion in the background before James asked, "So, how's he doing? Really."

"Ignoring the problem and trying to find a solution."

"So nothing abnormal."

"Nope. But that probably says a lot more about us than it does him."

James huffed out a laugh. "Do you have any leads on the person who did it? Anything I can help with?"

"All we know is that they can't be seen on camera. Or they're telekinetic." She pointedly ignored the second question because she had no idea how she was going to contribute to this new discovery, let alone what she could find for James to do.

"Well that's something at least. Have you talked to anyone at Al's yet? See what they know?"

She should talk to James more often, if he kept solving her problems like this. "You know what? It'd be really helpful if you could stop by. And maybe tell Mon-El and the other bartenders to keep an ear out."

"Yup. I'll bring some stuff by for Winn then head over."

"Thank you," Alex said. "Really."

"It's what the Superfriends are for, right?" James replied, without an ounce of sarcasm, before ending the call.

Unable to disagree, Alex found herself nodding as she slid her phone into her pocket and began making her way down to the parking garage.

"So how did Alex take it?" Winn asked, hearing Vasquez crest the stairs as he continued his slow hobble to his lab.

"Not well. If someone hadn't already tried to kill you tonight, I'd be seriously worried."

Vasquez, with two uninjured knees, quickly caught up to Winn and held out her hand. Winn sighed and handed over Alex's badge, which Vasquez then slid into the shoulder of her DEO-issue sweater, pinning it under the strap of her sports bra, where Winn wouldn't dare to steal it again.

"I just wanted to go to my lab," he muttered, pointing at the glass-enclosed room in front of him.

"Until we get this figured out, you have to take someone with you."

"We're in the DEO! I should be totally safe here, especially now that J'onn had me—us—soup up security… Though it is coming to bite me now." Having finally made it to the lab door, Winn gestured to the badge reader he'd installed a few months ago and scowled. "Maybe I should have been marginally less efficient."

Vasquez sighed then leaned forward to swipe her badge, letting them both in. "What are we doing up here anyway?"

"Have you seen the security footage from my apartment?"

She shook her head.

"I'll pull it up for you later. But something opened my window, levitated the bomb over to my microwave, set a timer, and closed my window without getting caught on my verified-working security system. So, in a world without Jedis, the culprit is either invisible to the camera, can turn themselves invisible on a whim, or they're telekinetic."

"And what are we doing in your lab?"

"If they can turn themselves invisible, we need a way to locate them, otherwise they can commit a bunch of other crimes undetected. Or get into the DEO and try again…" He trailed off, wincing. "I see your point, Bri. I will stick with a buddy, even though I want it on the record that I am a grown man and not a wayward four-year-old."

"Your display down in the command center shows otherwise."

Winn made a face at Vasquez then sat down at the closest table and released the handful of odds and ends he'd been carrying. Vasquez had seen most of them at his workstation at one point or another, but had no idea what they were for.

"Are you here to just watch me, or can you help?" he asked.

"Help in small doses."

Winn looked relieved. "Good, cos my knee is killing me and my soldering stuff is way over there." He pointed to the workstation in the back corner. "Would you get it for me? The whole unit."

"Sure," she said without hesitation. "But when Alex returns, you are telling her about your knee."

"Fine," he said equally quickly. Then, he held out his hands and opened and closed his fists a few times. "My tools, please."

Vasquez rolled her eyes good-naturedly, then set off across the lab to fetch them.

On the other side of town, Alex flashed her FBI badge to get into Winn's apartment building, then walked into the crime scene. Or at least, she tried to. The entrance was blocked by Agent David, who was positioned in the open doorway, elbows out so they almost touched the doorframe. Kara, in her full Supergirl suit, stood behind her with her hands on her hips, arguing with a blond haired man wearing an NCPD jacket.

"You do not have jurisdiction here," the man was saying, and based on the frustrated expression on Kara's face, it wasn't the first time he'd voiced that opinion.

"Yes, we do," Alex said, coming up behind them. She held out her FBI badge and dropped it open. "Alex Danvers, Associate director of the FBI." Though that was hardly her job title at the DEO, she and J'onn had learned plenty early on that the combination of 'associate' and 'director' tended to garner a much better reaction from other departments than just 'agent' alone. "Agent Schott is one of ours."

The man opened his mouth but before he could speak again, Alex continued. "We're more than happy to share our findings with you, sir, as long as we can rule this out as being related to an active case."

"Agent Danvers, I've been told a bomb of that size could have levelled this entire apartment building. I insist on being part of the investigation."

"Unfortunately, I can't do that, sir. National security and all. What I can promise is the same thing I said earlier: if and when we clear this as unrelated to Agent Schott's current workload, we will happily read you and your team in." She held out her card. "And if you still aren't happy with that answer, I will refer you to my boss, Hank Henshaw. Feel free to call now. He's not known for sleeping through the night."

The man unhappily accepted the card and took a step back. "I'll be waiting for a verdict from you tomorrow, Agent. Otherwise my team and I will be investigating this case."

Deadlines in this business were so fleeting that Alex felt no shame in nodding. "Of course, sir."

He handed over one of his cards then unhappily left, his crime scene tech trailing behind.

"Well that was exciting," Alex commented to Agent David, who had stepped aside to let her in. "Good job holding down the fort."

"With Supergirl at my back, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. He just refused to take no for an answer."

Alex nodded but didn't add additional commentary, not wanting to get into interagency politics tonight.

"So what do we have?" she asked, taking a look around the apartment. The ice wall that Kara had erected between Winn's kitchen and his dining space was melting, and the space behind it was blackened and far spread. Based on that pattern alone, Winn was lucky Kara had gotten here when she did, or the news would have been correct in their statement that there would have been a lot more damage.

The arson investigator who had been assigned by the Fire Department, a consult the DEO hadn't been able to shake, said pretty much the same thing the NCFD had: that based on the size of the remains, the bomb would have destroyed much of the building. His team would need to take it back to the lab to determine more about its components and hopefully find a signature in the way it had been built.

As much as Alex wanted to refuse, that wasn't anyone's area of specialty at the DEO, not even Winn's. It was better to have someone who dealt with those cases every day work on it to get the fastest and most accurate results.

"Have you told anyone else about this?" she then asked, her mind slipping back to how the news stations would have found out about the bomb and its size.

"No, ma'am," the investigator said. "And I can guarantee none of the NCFD did either. They're all stand-up guys."

Much as she wanted to believe him, Alex couldn't—not until they had all been questioned. But that would be a problem for later, and hopefully not one at all if James came through in shutting the story down and potentially identifying a source.

"What about the security system?" she asked, turning to Agent David.

"I haven't seen the footage yet, ma'am. Called the alarm system but they're having trouble getting a hold of the manager to sign-off on releasing the footage to us."

"And accessing it locally?"

"Agent Schott's computers are off and it's not standard operating procedure to turn them on here, in case of what might ride the connection. I need the sandbox back at the office, and potentially Agent Schott's credentials to speed things up."

"Alright. Let's get them packed up and taken to the D—FBI as quickly as possible."

Her phone rang a split second later.

"Danvers," she said, answering without looking.

"Please make sure they pack my computers up nicely. I put a lot of time, effort, and money into building them."

Alex groaned. "Vasquez was supposed to cut your access. Is she at least in the room with you?"

There was a shuffling sound then a muffled, "Alex wants to talk to you."

"You have eyes on Agent Schott?" she demanded once Vasquez came on the line.

"Yes, ma'am. We're in his lab building a device to identify invisibility. It's pretty brilliant actually—"

"And his computer access?"

"I need it to run simulations!" Winn called from the distance. There was a shuffling again, then a clunk, and Winn's voice appeared much clearer and closer. "I need it to run simulations," he repeated at a normal volume, "and check on the DEO's anti-teleportation shields. But yes, I do have the security feeds from my apartment on in the background."

"I thought they were Ethernet only," Alex stated before she could stop herself.

"Short version: I'm piggybacking off my phone, which is still—"

"Winn. This is a crime scene. Your crime scene."

"I know. I'm being careful," Winn replied, his tone somber and serious. "But you won't be able to get into my security system without me. That's what I called to tell you. You'll have to bring my computers back here, and I'll have to make them think they're still in my apartment."

"But you're accessing the feeds now?"

"Yeah, cos I'm—"

"Piggybacking off your phone. Got it. Can you send me what you showed me earlier so Agent David and the arson investigator can take a look?"

There was brief typing then a, "Done."

Alex's phone chirped and she pulled it away from her ear to find a MMS incoming.

"Second window from the left, it was," Winn continued. "But Kara blew it out on the way in."

Kara, who was still standing in the apartment and could have overheard their conversation even without her superhearing, winced. "Sorry."

"Not your fault," Winn said. "I'm just glad you got there when you did."

As Alex tipped her phone at Kara, who nodded that she'd heard that too, Winn continued, "That's a 'thank you', by the way. Because I don't think I said it before. Or if I did, it's worth repeating."

"You're welcome, Agent Schott," Kara replied, before being summoned to the kitchen to answer some more questions from the arson investigator.

"I doubt there's much remaining of the microwave for a print, huh?" Winn asked, over a burst of furious typing.

"It's not looking like it." Then Alex shook her head, again realizing she was discussing a crime scene with someone who, on a technicality, didn't have explicit permission to work the case. "We'll handle this W—Agent Schott. Put Vasquez back on."

Winn grumbled something, but a beat later, Vasquez returned.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"We're going to need to depose Winn and," Alex paused briefly to check the time, "give J'onn an update."

"I'll have Hernandez get the interview room ready, ma'am. And I can call Director J'onzz if you'd like."

Alex looked back at the apartment's occupants which had surged into some sort of coordinated motion.

"That'd be great," she said to Vasquez, as she watched them take one final photo, then began to pull what remained of the microwave from its mounting. "I'll be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, please keep Winn away from here. Virtually or otherwise."

"I'll do my best," Vasquez promised.