"So, you were the guard on duty when Garrett Smythe was allowed to see his daughter, Mr. Beady?" Winn asked the guard sitting in front of him in the conference room he'd been given to use after he looked through the duty roster for the guard responsible. According to what he found, there were two guards working the entrance to the prison with the ability to stop or, in this case, let in Siobhan's father.
"Yes, sir."
"And you were aware that Mr. Smythe was on a No Visitation list?" Mr. Beady didn't respond. He merely fidgeted in his seat. "Mr. Beady?"
"I think his name was there."
"Yet you still let him in?"
"Might've been the other guard that was with me that day," Beady said nonchalantly.
"Yeah, um, a guard named, Theo…Gomez," Winn responded as he flipped through the files and notes he had in front of him. "But Mr. Gomez was off with another visitor verifying that they weren't bringing in what looked to be contraband. So, for about a half-hour, you were alone."
"I remember that, but I don't recall letting in someone to see that freak."
Winn flinched at the sound of the guard's insult. He told himself that he shouldn't be too surprised that she was called that. After all, the entire unit she was being housed in was called "The Freakshow". Then he reminded himself that the whole reason for his doing this was because of how Siobhan was being treated – as a freak. As if the basic considerations that a more normal inmate might get didn't matter. As less than human. Suddenly the word freak made his blood boil.
"I'm sure you mean inmate and not freak, Mr. Beady," Winn told him flatly.
"So, it's true," Beady said with a self-righteous smile.
"What's true?"
"Me and a few of the other guard have a bet going that you got a thing for the banshee. Why else would you care?"
"I care because meta-human or not, Ms. Smythe is still a human being and deserves –"
"Just barely," Beady said under his breath.
"Excuse me?"
"Human beings don't have the powers she has. Freaks do. She's just human enough that she doesn't get lumped in with all those slimy aliens that are running around now."
He knew that the guard was being general in his statement, but, with Lyra now coming to mind, all Winn could hear was another bigot talking out of his ass. "You do realize that the person who caught Siobhan was an alien?"
"I got no problem with Supergirl, long as she keeps herself useful. Though I could give her some things to do to make her a little more useful if you know what I mean," he said wolfishly. Oh yeah, Winn thought disdainfully, I definitely do.
He reminded himself to stay calm, and not give in to the urge to jump over the table and try to smack the smile off his face.
"You know what, let's get back to the topic at hand," Winn said, clearing his throat. "Garrett Smythe? If he didn't get in through your colleague, who can verify not being at the visitor's post when Mr. Smythe was here, then he had to have gone through you."
Beady stayed silent.
"Why did you let him through even though he was listed as a persona non-grata? What did he do? Money?"
"I don't have to –"
Beady stopped as the door opened and a woman in a dark pant suit walked in. He noticed that Winn's eyes widened at the sight of her. This is great, he thought, another agent to ride my ass over that insufferable bitch.
"Agent Schott," she said as she closed the door and moved to stand next to the table.
"Alex…I mean, Agent Danvers," Winn stumbled as he saw Alex smile at him, though her eyes could at best be described as glaring at him. "What are you doing here?"
"Sir, you can go," she told Beady without looking at him.
"Actually, I'm still –" Winn tried to say.
"Sir," she said with more authority in her voice to convey her impatience. "You can go."
Beady gave Winn a shit eating smile and left the room. Once the door was closed, Alex moved into the chair across from Winn.
"Winn, what the hell do you think you're doing here?" she asked him angrily.
"How'd you know I was here?" Winn asked in shock.
"The warden put in a call to the FBI to complain that an agent was taking control of his prison. When your name was entered into their system it got red flagged down at the DEO. So again, what are you doing here?"
"Trying to figure out what happened to Siobhan," he answered her. He proceeded to start telling her about Siobhan's doctor getting in touch with him, what he told him about her father and the outburst it caused, and then the state he found her in. Alex felt for him, but remained stoic as she listened.
"So, you decided that the best course of action was to impersonate the FBI and start an investigation?" she asked, her voice sounding impatient.
"You didn't see what I saw when I got here yesterday," he fired back. "They had her strapped down like an animal."
"After she broke a containment cell," Alex reasoned.
"Which wouldn't have happened if they hadn't let her father near her," Winn fired back. "Or more specifically, if that guard hadn't probably taken some kind of bribe or something to ignore Siobahn's doctor's order of not letting him see her."
"Do you have any proof that a bribe, or anything else, happened?" Alex asked him sternly. After a quick couple of seconds, Winn just looked away. "So then you need to file a complaint with the warden, and let him handle it."
Winn scoffed at that statement. Alex glared at him.
"The warden couldn't care what happens to Siobahn. If he did, he wouldn't have had her pumped so full of drugs that she ended up in a coma."
"Winn, I get that you care, but you cannot just come rushing to the rescue because you think your ex is being mistreated after trying to break out."
"She wasn't trying to break out, she was trying to get at her father," he corrected.
"Be that as it may, she still broke a containment cell in order to do it," Alex told him. "Her behavior –"
"Her behavior has been a non-issue up until right now. I mean yes, she pisses off the guards by mouthing off every now and then, but she's never been violent. Even her doctor could tell you that. There was no reason to go to such extremes."
"Yes, there were," Alex said, her patience starting to wear thin. "Siobhan is dangerous. Her powers give her the ability to hurt Kara, which is not easy to do. And you've personally felt her strength. She's not as strong as Kara, but she is capable of a lot of damage."
Winn was searching for an argument to Alex's reasoning, but he was coming up short. Unlike Kara whose arguments were more personal in nature, Alex's were practical, which took a lot of the weight of his arguments away from him. Stupid logic, he thought. Before he could think any further the door opened again and Doctor West walked in. Winn took notice of his sunken and, dare he guess, defeated expression.
"Doctor…?"
"She's awake," he said, his voice flat and devoid of any emotion.
The walk down to the containment area holding Siobhan was quiet save for the sound of Winn, Alex, and Dr. West's footsteps. In fact, Winn felt as though the whole journey was tinged with this feeling of complete discomfort. Dr. West's entire demeanor was already telling Winn that something wasn't right. Alex was reserving her decision until the end of situation, but even she could tell that something was off.
As they reached the holding area, Dr. West stopped and looked back at Winn. "Brace yourself."
Winn nodded and then walked through the door as it was opened for him, Alex following behind – Dr. West stayed behind. As they made their way in, they saw that bed that Siobhan had been strapped to was empty. That should've elated Winn, but instead he felt an overwhelming sense dread. He got closer to the glass and looked in.
Siobhan was standing at the back of the cell, leaning against the wall. Her hands hung limp at her sides, though her hands were clenching and unclenching into fists. Her head was down, her hair falling over face. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but Winn could've sworn it looked different.
"Siobhan?" Winn asked slowly, cautiously.
Siobhan shook her head, but didn't look up.
"Siobhan can't come out to play right now."
Winn's eyes widened at the sound of the flat, calm voice. "Siobhan, talk to me," he encouraged gently.
Siobhan finally looked up and the explanation for Dr. West's behavior became clear. The reason why Siobhan's hair looked different was because it was. Grayish-white streaks had infiltrated her brown locks, making it look more like some kind of perverse mane. But the most frightening change was her eyes. Gone were her coffee brown eyes, replaced with the eerie visage of nearly all white save for single black, pinpoint irises.
"Oh my God," Alex said.
"No," Winn gasped in heartbreak. "Siobhan…"
"Silver Banshee," the Banshee corrected with a smile. "Siobhan is gone."