Kara couldn't remember the last time she slept so well. She was enjoying her slumber so much she didn't want to wake up when she heard her phone vibrate on the coffee table. She mumbled something as she was broken from her pleasant dreams, shifting on the carpeted floor propped up against the sofa. Beside her Lena stirred, the blanket draped over her wrapped tighter ignoring the buzzing noise too. The pair of them opted to sleep in the living room of Lena's apartment last night, too emotionally exhausted to move. After a few moments of insistent ringing Kara finally groaned and reached up to grab the phone. She didn't even look at the caller ID before answering it. "Kara Danvers phone" she answered sleepily, rubbing her eyes resting her head against the sofa. Lena rolled over, seeking peace to return to sleep.
Kara's eyes suddenly snapped open awake as she shot up in her seat. She listened to the caller in disbelief. "Sorry, can you repeat that?" she asked, her startled voice waking Lena up behind her. The voice on the phone repeated themselves and the colour drained from the kryptonian's face.
"Kara? What's wrong?" Lena asked rubbing her face, but her best friend was already on her feet and sprinting out of the apartment via the balcony.
The city was rocked by a sonic boom as Supergirl rocketed overhead making a direct path towards the DEO. She flew through the window and landed on the bottom floor bypassing the steps in so much of a hurry she stumbled on her feet. She almost collided with a group of armed agents who were gathering around the lobby with swat members from the FBI, her eyes scanning the room sensing the tension hanging in the air. She stopped searching when she found Brainy approaching her from the terminals at the back, Olsen rounding a corner to see her. "Where is he" she asked instantly, her voice giving away the breath she'd been holding since she took off from Lena's place. She had been in such a hurry she almost forgot to change out of her civilian clothes into her costume.
Olsen ran up and caught her by the shoulders, looking at her frantic face calmly answering "downstairs. Alex is bringing him up now."
She nodded, trying her best not to hyperventilate as her breath came out in pants. "How did…I don't understand…" she stammered.
"We got an alert half an hour ago" Brainy explained. "His name was flagged on an incoming plane from the UK. He was picked up at the airport by a joint DEO and FBI strike team which Alex took the lead on. The Director wanted to wait until we had him in custody until we called you."
"But I got a heads up, so I came straight here" Olsen added. He was at home debating what Kelly and he had talked about when he got the call. He was able to give his sister a hurried explanation before leaving her at home and rushing straight here. He wanted to call Kara himself but, like Alex, he wanted to make sure they had him first.
Their talk was interrupted when one of the officers barked a signal, prompting everyone in the room to turn on the spot and face the door, their weapons primed standing alert. Kara, James and Brainy all stood together watching the lift doors as the lights pinged up to their level. When it reached their floor there was a dull thump as the lift locked in place before the doors slid open.
Jake White stood in the middle of the gathered officers packed into the lift, his gaze lifting as the doors opened and he saw the welcoming committee waiting for him. Over forty agents stood to attention, their eyes all fixed on him as he was lead out into the lobby in handcuffs. They had all been briefed on what the Reckoning had done, how many of their people had been lost because of his actions and those of his associates. If Maggie Sawyer hadn't been bedridden she'd be here too, staring him down as he was marched through the DEO past the glaring men and women. Alex walked behind her, his eyes fixed to the back of his head as he stared forward following the directions his escort led him down. They crossed the lobby towards the holding cells down a corridor, an interrogation room set up especially in advance for him. As he approached this hallway he passed Supergirl, who was staring silently at him. She was dumbfounded to see him again, see him in handcuffs under arrest, conflicting emotions pumping through her racing heart. But then his eyes flickered to her briefly, their gazes meeting for a fraction of a second, and that pulse seemed to stop Kara's heart as she stood frozen in place, watching him be led down the hall silently by the armed escort.
Alex reluctantly broke away to stop by Supergirl, standing beside her as they watched the man they'd been hunting get led into the interrogation room, the last of the technicians leaving the space hurrying out of their way. She looked at her sister, whispering to her "are you okay?"
Kara couldn't answer. Not yet. She was frozen, relief and disbelief tightening her chest. She never gave herself time to ponder how she'd react when she saw him again. Not it was here and she couldn't shake the shock out of her body. Olsen put a hand on her shoulder and Alex snuck her hand into hers. They both knew this would be hard. They were there for her. She finally found the will to breath and inhaled deeply. This was going to be harder than she thought.
Nia got into the DEO late, rushing past the security checkpoints in her civilian attire with a visitors pass. Brainy made sure she would always be able to get in both in costume and without, which was fortunate. He hadn't answered her texts so she had to rush here as fast as she could. She couldn't reach Kara, or Olsen, or anyone else. As she sprinted through the corridors she bumped past a dark skinned man in a technician's uniform, apologising to him as she ran past. He waved her on as she boarded the lift, waiting impatiently for the doors to close. She saw that technician wave at her politely and she awkwardly waved back as the doors closed.
When they opened again at the floor she was after she bared past a few more people looking for the war room. She found it and called out Brainy's name. The coluan turned around and saw her, running to greet her asking what was wrong. "I've been trying to call you for the last half hour" she said frantically. He looked at his phone and saw the texts, apologising to her. She brushed him off. "No, listen…I had it again. It's back. The dream. The one with Kara and the red devil and the city on fire. I don't know if it means anything but I think it's here now because Jake might be up to something."
"If he is, it doesn't matter" he told her. "He's here." Her eyes widened. "He was arrested ten minutes ago. We have him in an interrogation room" he explained. Nia's eyes widened further.
Moments later she was led into a dark room where Kara, Alex and Olsen were standing. She ran to Kara and joined her side, looking through the window in shock to see Jake White sitting at the table with his wrists handcuffed. The man hadn't changed much since the last saw him. His dark hair was trimmed short, he was dressed in a leather jacket and denim jeans, his eyes scanning the room in alarm. He looked troubled, scared, but Nia could sense an undertone of calm in his demeanour. "Where did he come from?" she asked.
"The UK" Alex replied. "The idiot booked a flight back to the US under his own name. We were notified the moment his plane came in to land."
"That doesn't make sense" Olsen muttered. "The guy has been on the run for months under suspicion of murder, manslaughter and terrorism and he books a plane ticket under his own name? He couldn't be extradited if he stayed in the UK, so why come back. He must've known he'd be picked up."
"Does it matter?" Alex asked, walking to the door signalling Brainiac to follow. "We've got him now. He's not going anywhere" she said.
"I advise caution" Brainiac proposed as he followed the director, who was ready to interrogate her suspect. "Even incarcerated, he has knowledge that could prove damaging" he warned. Jake still knew their identities, so they needed to tread carefully. Alex nodded, not stopping her stride as she entered the room with the Reckoning.
Jake's head spun around to see the two DEO agents enter the room, his back straightening as they walked purposely to their chairs opposite him at the table. The handcuffs clicked against the metal loop when his moved his wrists, remaining him he was trapped. He swallowed a gulp as Alex and Brainy sat down. "Mr White, it's good to see you again" Alex started with fake politeness as she shot daggers at him from her glare.
Jake narrowed his eyes when he looked back. "What is this about Alex?" he asked.
"Like you don't know" she scowled. "And it's Director Danvers" she corrected, slamming her folder onto the metal table. A classic intimidation tactic to throw suspects off.
Jake, however, didn't seem fazed. "No, I don't know. You guys came after me with guns and arrested me in the middle of the terminal while I was reading a leaflet for sushi. You didn't even tell me what this was about?" he looked at them both before looking at Alex again. "Oh wait, is this about Kara?"
Alex shot a sideways glance at Brainy as Kara herself stepped up to the mirror in the room behind them. All Jake saw was his own reflection. "Kara Zor'El?" Alex asked cautiously.
Jake blinked. "No, Kara Danvers" he said, throwing the conversation off as he started rambling. "Okay, I get it. Things between me your sister didn't end great. I'm sorry we broke up. I'm sorry if I…hurt her in the process, but I wasn't…it didn't work out. By the way, you didn't help digging into my private life. Running background checks on your sister's boyfriends, how messed up is that. What are you anyway? FBI? Please tell me you're not the CIA. After the month I've had being hounded my cops and "special investigators" I'm half expecting MI5 to be tapping my phone."
Alex stared at the young man, narrowing her eyes in confusion as she looked at Brainy, who shrugged. "What are you rambling about?"
"I don't know" he said. "I get pulled off the street by my ex-girlfriend's sister and held at gunpoint and nobody will tell me why? What am I supposed to assume?"
She shook her head, bewilderment almost distracting her as she opened her folder and pulled out the photos she had ready. "What it's about is this!" she snapped, slapping the pictures in front of him.
Jake leaned over and looked at the police photos of his apartment after the explosion. "What am I looking at?" he asked clueless.
"Your apartment, after you detonated an explosive device in it" she said, watching his response carefully.
His response was a confused expression and a blank stare. "Wait, this is about the explosion at my apartment? The police at home already talked to me about that."
"We have reason to believe that you are responsible for the explosion at your previous address" Brainy said calmly.
Jake's confused eyes shot to him. "Me? Why would I blow up my own place?"
"Because we were standing in it" Alex suggested accurately. "And to destroy evidence of your crimes."
"What crimes?" he asked. He shook his head, as if not believing what he was hearing. "I'm sorry, what are you accusing me of?"
"conspiracy to commit acts of terror, associating with known criminals, theft, murder, conspiracy to murder, destroying evidence, assault, industrial espionage and infiltrating this very DEO facility" Brainy listed. Alex raised an eyebrow, content with that answer.
Jake's eyes bulged out of his head. Then he burst out laughing. "Okay, this is a joke isn't it" he said to Alex. "This is one of those pranks to scare me, as revenge for breaking up with Kara right? I mean…I'm a mechanic with an engineering degree. That list makes me sound like a supervillain."
"If the shoe fits" she replied bluntly.
He realised she was serious and turned pale. "There's no way, no! I'm not a supervillain. I'm not even a criminal. I haven't done any of the things you said on that list."
"We know you blew up your apartment to remove evidence of your surveillance of certain individuals, including Director Danvers" Brainy told him.
"Oh, we should put that on the list too" she considered. "Stalking and illegal surveillance."
"What?" he squeaked? "What do mean…" he sighed, wanting to rub his eyes only his hands were trapped. He groaned. "I didn't blow up my apartment. I already talked to the police officers and special agents who talked to me weeks ago. I wasn't even in the country when it happened, I was on the plane home."
"The explosive device used a remote trigger, which could've been activated from any connected network" Brainy explained. "Meaning as long as you had access to the internet you could detonate the device."
"From an aeroplane? Hate to break it to you but British airways doesn't have Wi-Fi, believe me. I was stuck watching finding nemo staring a headset with a dullard next to me" he grumbled.
"We know you called the apartment" Alex insisted. "We have a witness."
"Well your witness must be wrong, because I didn't call my place. Why would I?" he looked at them, neither of them believing him. "Check my phone records, not that I had a signal from five thousand feet in the air. Why would I call my apartment? Nobody was home."
"We were there, with a warrant" Alex told him. "We saw the collage you kept on the wall, before you incinerated it. Newspapers, photos, post it notes, we know what was on It." she leant in over the table, her eyes fixed on him as she hissed in his ear "we know what you know, it won't make a difference. You won't get away with any of it. the apartment, breaking into the DEO, murdering Maxwell Davies, working with the Blacksmith, arming the Children of Liberty, working with Hank Henshaw, we know it all and you will go down for it."
He looked up at her, the menace in her eyes. For a brief moment she thought she saw a twitch in his façade, a glimmer of the Reckoning glaring back at her. But then he leant in and said loudly "I have no idea what you're talking about" before slumping back into his seat. "I'd really like my lawyer now" he said looking at his hands.
"You feel you need a lawyer?" Brainy asked curiously.
"Kind of" he nodded. "Best case you guys are mistaken and you're barking up the wrong tree. Worst case, the sister of my ex-girlfriend is out to get me. Either way, I want a lawyer" he said, his voice projecting worry.
Alex slowly flopped back in her seat, still glaring at him while Brainy looked over his shoulder at the mirror behind them. In the next room the others watched the interview, each sharing a foreboding sense of concern. Kara stepped up to the glace staring at her former boyfriend intently, monitoring his heartbeat, scanning the sweat on his brow, reading the micro expressions on his face. She had come to believe he was a blood good actor to fool everyone including her for so long, but she realised a more worrying aspect of his performance. She didn't know if he was that good or if her judgement was compromised, because she couldn't tell at this moment if he was lying.
Alex and Brainy left the interrogation room abruptly. Partly to keep Jake off kilter and mostly so Alex could let out a furious bellow in a private hallway. She'd been forced to hold back the fury she had to this man ever since she arrested him. She wanted to grab him, throttle him, scream at him, and beat the living daylights out of him and more. Every time she looked at him she saw the Reckoning and the damage he brought to Supergirl. The beatings, the stab wounds, the kryptonite poisoning that had her sister in agony. She hated him and it was taking all her willpower to stay professional.
Brainy followed her at a close distance, the others slinking out of the room to join her in the hall. They were all silent for a moment before Brainy was the first acknowledge "this complicates matters."
"Yeah" Nia muttered awkwardly. "He was very…"
"Convincing" Olsen admitted.
"Oh please, he's lying through his teeth!" Alex scoffed.
"We know that" James agreed. "But you have to admit, he's good. I'm starting to see how he was able to hoodwink us before."
Nia turned to Kara, who was leaning against the wall silently staring into space. "Are you okay?" she asked her quietly.
Before the blonde could answer Lena's voice called from down the hall. "I came as soon as I heard" she said, immediately pulling Kara into a hung. Nia immediately stepped back, letting the two of them hug it out. "They really have that bastard in there?" she asked. Kara nodded. "Well, maybe I should talk to him myself" she scowled angrily.
No doubt Lena Luthor could and would tear the man apart, which was why both Olsen and Brainy stepped in front of her advising "that might be a bad idea."
"That monster stole from my company, made a fool of Kara and you expect me to sit to the side?" she barked.
"We've got it handled" Alex assured her, stepping around to straighten her uniform. "He's in our custody and he's not going anywhere."
"Director Danvers!" a voice called, drawing the group's attention up the hall. Alex grimaced when she saw Colonel Lauren Haley, Interim Secretary of the United States Department of Alien Affairs, standing at the end beckoning her over. Alex excused herself along with Brainy as they both walked over to the woman in her military dress uniform, standing to attention greeting the Colonel. "I hear your suspect was back in the country" she said bluntly, cutting to the chase.
"Yes ma'am" Alex replied obediently. "He flew in this morning and we detained him at the terminal, all by the book."
"So why is he here instead of at the FBI office?" she queried.
"I convinced the lead investigators that, for a man as dangerous as the Reckoning, security would be more suitable here than their field office" she explained. It was a heated debate but Alex was able to pull rank and convince him she should take the lead.
Haley nodded. "that maybe so, except so far there is no evidence to back up the claims that he is the criminal we have been after. Unless you investigations have indeed produced the evidence I requested?"
Suddenly Alex's confidence wavered. In her haste to detain and capture Jake and removing him from the streets she hadn't actually considered the flaw in their plan. Despite all the hunting and investigations into the Blacksmith or Children of Liberty, Jake's background or the Reckoning's activity, they hadn't actually found a tangible piece of evidence that links Jake to the Reckoning. Brainy had warned her about this, that everything they had was circumstantial. The only hard evidence they had was Supergirl's testimony of the phone call between her and Jake before the explosion. Unfortunately they couldn't verify the phone call, resulting in her statement being a case of he said she said. It wasn't enough, especially with the evidence in his apartment gone. Worse still, they couldn't put it on record without detailing what was on it, including the secret identities of Supergirl, Guardian and Dreamer. Shit Alex thought.
"We have enough to hold him for questioning" Brainy answered on her behalf, telling the Colonel "our case is strong, have a detailed list of his activities and we believe we can get him to confess to his crimes."
She raised an eyebrow at the agent. "All of them?"
"Most of them" he predicted optimistically.
Haley shot a look at Alex. Her expression gave nothing away, but Alex got the sense she knew how flimsy her case actually was. "Then you'd better get that confession" she said. "But I should warn you, arresting a British national at this time brings a few hurdles for me, for you, and a lot of attention we really don't need. So get this right" she advised. "We need this case to be solid. Has he asked for a lawyer?"
Brainy opened his mouth to answer until Alex beat him too it. "No, he hasn't" she said, drawing a glance from her partner as she remained motionless staring at the colonel.
The woman shrugged. "That'll make our job easier. Less red tape already" she mused. "Twenty-four hours Director. I'll be monitoring your progress" she said, giving them a nod before turning on her heel and walking into the lobby.
Brainy waited until she was out of earshot before turning to Alex. "If I recall the procedures and rights of prisoners in this time period, then not only did you just lie…"
"I know" she snapped under her breath, holding back another frustrated scream as she spun around on her heel. "But I am not letting this guy get away on a technicality."
"It's not a technicality if we do not have the evidence to make our case" he told her. "We've already verified his flight from the US at the time of the explosion, failed to connect him to the phone call or the explosives. And without the Blacksmith or any of his associates to identify him as the Reckoning we have nothing to charge him with."
"All the more reason to get that confession then" she said, marching back down the hall to continue her interrogation, the distinct sound of a ticking clock suddenly echoing inside her head.