The lock snapped into place once Alex turned the latch, flipping the catch so it couldn't be broken. She saw Jake's eyes follow her as she silently walked across the room towards the corner where the security camera was pointing at the table. "What is it you want now Director Danvers?" Jake asked as she approached the camera.
"I'm just here to talk" she said, her voice low as she reached up and disconnected the wire plugged into the back, the red light switching off. Only then did she turn her intense gaze back to him.
Lena and Brainy sat side by side at a computer working through their strategy to pin Jake down for the theft at L-Corp. Kara sat nearby absently listening to them converse, her chin resting in her palm. With how well their interrogations had gone so fa she was less optimistic. Nearby Nia rested her eyes at another desk, her head practically drooping into her arms. Kara chuckled. For once she wished she had narcolepsy so she could take irregular naps. Olsen came up behind her and offered her a cup of coffee, which she took eagerly. Eliza also returned, squeezing Kara's shoulder before walking to Brainy's desk.
"Well?" Lena asked when Brainy paused to roll his neck muscles.
"The evidence is circumstantial, but compelling" he said, nodding with confidence. "there's a eighty percent chance Colonel Haley will accept this as enough to charge Jake with theft, which will also give us a warrant to search his property both here and in the UK, along with his bank statements and call history. Once we have clearance it should only be a matter of time till we connect Jake to the Blacksmith and all his other associates."
"That sounds promising" J'onn said, joining the two of them nodding along. They smiled, finally feeling like they were making progress. After a moment J'onn scanned the room and asked everyone "has anyone seen Alex?"
"Last I saw she was in her office" Olsen answered.
J'onn shook his head. "I've just been there, she isn't."
"Maybe she went for a walk to clear her head" Eliza speculated. "It's been a stressful day after all." J'onn nodded, it sounded like something she would do.
Kara cleared her mind and focused her hearing to see if she could find her. It didn't take her long to find her voice nearby, still in the building. Concern suddenly crossed her face when she heard Jake's voice alongside it. "I told you, I've got nothing to say to you without my lawyer" he said, prompting Kara to sit up and listen.
"I know what you said" Alex's voice answered, the echoes of footsteps on a flat surface following her. "And we both know what you are. I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work. You really think I'm going to let you get away with hurting the people I love. Hurting my sister. Trying to kill me?"
"Jesus, this really is about my break up with Kara, isn't it."
"We both know what this is about so drop the act. I won't let you hurt Kara or anyone else we care about!"
"You're starting to sound crazy. I told you, I'm not answering anymore questions without my…"
Kara suddenly jumped at the violent sound of something hitting the metal table, paired with the tell-tale crack of something breaking and the grunt of a man in pain. Her flinch jostled everyone out of their talk drawing their attention. Even Nia woke up startled. She spun in her head hearing Jake's voice crying out as Alex hissed with him. She saw everyone staring at her. "She's with Jake" she said.
J'onn's eyes narrowed before he suddenly sprinted across the room, Brainy and Olsen following him. Whether he could sense something was amiss or he had a suspicion, the Martian didn't waste time to consider it.
He reached the interview room, already alarmed to find it unguarded. When he tried the door it was locked, from the inside. "Alex!" he roared, banging on the door as Brainy tried next, Olsen sprinting into the viewing room to rap loudly on the glass. "Director Danvers, open the door!" they shouted.
All Alex heard was the blood pumping in her ears as she slammed Jake's face into the table a second time, throwing his forward pinning him down hearing his nose crack. He screamed in pain twisting his head shouting "get off me!"
"I'm done playing your game you fucking sociopath" she hissed, holding him down barking in his ear "I told you I'm going to make you pay."
"You're crazy!" he cried, blood pouring from his nose as Alex pushed her elbow into his back. "You won't get away with this" he choked.
"I'm just getting started" she growled, grabbing him by the back of his leather jacket and yanking him backwards throwing him off his chair. He toppled backwards, colliding with the wall before sliding to the floor gasping for air. She stood over him menacingly, watching him crawl and scurry at her feet before crouching down and grabbing him against to pull him back to his feet. "Are you ready to talk yet?" she asked, yanking him up by his hair and shoving him into the wall throwing her weight against him. He screamed as she twisted his arm behind him, threatening to break it as she asked "are you ready to confess?"
"Please, you're hurting me!" he cried, wincing as she twisted his arm further, the bone almost snapping. There was a dull thudding somewhere in the distance of Alex's hearing, but it spurred Jake to start shouting "HELP ME! SHE'S TRYING TO KILL ME!"
"I'm trying to? That rich" she snarled, spinning him around and glaring at him through cold eyes. "After what you've done, the people you've killed, you deserve worse!" she bellowed, her arm shooting out to crack him across the jaw.
She caught him as he stumbled to the side, yanking him back to punch him in the face again, then the stomach, watching him double over heaving and groaning, pleading with her. Her ears started to ring, drowning out the frantic voices and banging at the door. She knelt down, pulled on Jake's shoulder, watching him beg through tears and blood, begging for his life. "Please, stop! Don't hurt me!"
"Like you hurt my sister?" she snarled, punching him again sending him onto his back. She straddled his waist, put an arm across his throat, hissing as he choked under her weight. "I will never hurt Kara again! Are you listening? I will kill you before you lay another hand on her you fucking psychopath!" she screamed.
The door suddenly burst inwards as a large shape came barrelling into her peripheral. Before she could turn her head something grabbed her by the armpits and yanked her off the trembling young man and slammed her against the wall. She screamed and kicked at the intruder, snarling like a feral cat as the shape pinned her cheek against the wall trapping her arms behind her. "Check him!" J'onn bellowed, holding Alex in place while Brainy ran in and knelt beside Jake, who was now curled into a ball. He looked up at the two of them with concern. "Shit, get him to the infirmary" J'onn ordered.
"Get off me!" Alex bellowed. She fought and struggled until a shouted "ALEXANDRA!" she froze and looked up to the door where Eliza, Kara and James were standing, looking at the scene with wide eyes and shocked expression. The fight left Alex as J'onn dragged her out of the interview room, her eyes glimpsing Jake's bloodied face as he cowered from her in the corner, Brainy radioing for a medical team urgently. As she past the others they all stared at her like she was…someone else.
Moments later J'onn kicked the door to a small storeroom and was throwing Alex inside violently. She tripped over her feet and landed in a heap colliding with a self of cleaning supplies. "What the hell were you thinking?" J'onn bellowed, following her into the small room towering over her. "That is not how you treat a suspect in custody?"
"He had it coming!" she spat back, climbing back to her feet angrily glaring at him. "I was getting that confession!"
"That is no excuse for your behaviour!" he said loudly. The large black man stared at the young woman, anger filling his face as he roared "you are the Director of the DEO. You cannot abuse your position by assaulting a prisoner."
"That man has been terrorising Kara for months" she argued. "He has been lying, abusing and manipulating her and us all this time. He sent Hank Henshaw after us for fuck sake, or have you forgotten that?"
"This is not about what he has done" he snapped. "This is about you and your actions. Do you have any idea how much this jeopardises our case against him. You've jeopardised your whole career!"
"Nobody knows, disconnected the camera" she scoffed.
"THAT IS NOT THE POINT!" he bellowed, his form suddenly shifting to his green Martian form as his eyes glowed red. Alex backed up in shock, the tall alien glaring down at her as she pressed against the shelves. After a tense moment he took a hissing breath and shrunk back to his human form, his eyes still glaring at her disapprovingly. "Brainy had a plan to present Colonel Haley with enough evidence to charge him with the theft of the kryptonite formula. We were going to use it to get a warrant that will let use search everything, both here and in the UK. We were going to build our case against him. But now we can't because of you" he said. "You assaulted a suspect in your custody. You abused your position. No judge is going to help us comply with anything connected to this case now! What were you thinking?" he asked.
Alex stared up at him, frozen under his gaze. She wanted to shout, to scream, to make him understand. But his words finally reached her and she realised the grave mistake she'd made. He was right. She was the head of the DEO, she was meant to set the example. She shouldn't have done what she did. It was impulsive, reckless, and unprofessional. She let her emotions get the better of her. "I just wanted to protect my sister" she said, her excuse suddenly sounding as flimsy to her as it did to J'onn.
The man looked at her, sadness in his eyes, anger in his face. And then his eyes stopped glowing as it was replaced with something else, something worse. Disappointment. "I thought I had taught you better than this" he said, his tone quieter and less threatening. Yet to Alex it cut deeper than any of his earlier outbursts. She felt her gut clench as J'onn, looking away in shame, walked out of the storeroom leaving her. He didn't look back once.
Alex felt the adrenaline drizzle out of her body as she felt the weight of her mistake fall over her. She started panting, heaving, and shaking uncontrollably. She looked down at her hands, her knuckles bruised and bloody, and she suddenly felt queasy. Tears suddenly dripped down her face as she struggled to keep composed. After a minute a shadow fell over her and she found Eliza entering the storeroom looking at her with concern. "I thought…" Alex gasped, breaking into tears as she crumpled into her mother's waiting arms. "I thought I was…."
"I know" she whispered, hugging her daughter tightly. She wasn't mad, she understood better than anyone. Alexandra needed her after all.
Jake was lucky his injuries were superficial. The nose they thought had been broken had easily been reset, his cuts given stiches and bandaged and his bruised ribs tended to. He hadn't said a word since he was brought out of the interview room. He hadn't even objected when his left wrist was handcuffed to the bed. He just sat quietly with his eyes down, allowing the doctors to treat him.
Kara stood outside the infirmary watching through the glass doors. She couldn't explain why she was still here after following him from downstairs. She told herself it was to make sure Alex hadn't done any major damage. A brief glance from her x-ray vision confirmed she hadn't. So why was she here? Maybe it's because you still care about his wellbeing a little voice in her head said. She chased that thought away, though she couldn't come up with an alternative.
Fortunately for her Nia arrived to find her, prying her away from the glass so they could talk more privately. "I was talking to Brainy, and he seems to think that this might've ruined our chances of charging him? Is that true?" she asked.
"I don't know" Kara sighed. What was Alex thinking? "I've never seen Alex act like that before" she said, walking with Nia back downstairs.
"We've all been on edge around Jake for weeks" Nia said. "Maybe she just snapped?"
"She attacked a DEO prisoner. That's not something she's supposed to do. I don't know what this means for the case."
Nia looked at Kara, noting her distracted look. "You're worried about Alex more than the case, aren't you?" she looked back and nodded. "Then maybe you should stop worrying about Jake and go find her" Nia suggested.
Kara looked at her protégé and smiled. "That's a good idea" she agreed, thanking her with a smile before stepping away to go looking for her sister. She didn't get five feet before she looked up and found James jogging down the hall towards them. "James? What's wrong?"
"You need to see this!" he said, running past the pair of them to jog to the main room where Brainy was stationed at a computer. "Cacto just got sent this in an email" he said, showing Brainy his phone holding the device. The agent took it and plugged it into the computer so they could all read the email on the big screens. Their eyes lifted to read the text, which pointed to a web link. Upon opening it everyone's collective gasp caught in their throat. "according to my IT guy, this email was sent to every TV network, radio station, newspaper, blogger and law firm in the city" Olsen said, looking up at the video playing out before them.
The screens were filled with a website that was playing a livestream, the footage of which is the interview room Jake had been placed in. and right now it was playing the harrowing scene of Director Danvers assaulting Jake White and brutally beating him. "Oh my god!" Lena muttered, appearing beside Kara as they stared at the screens.
Brainy broke from the computer to sprint down the hall into the interview room. Memorising the angle of the footage he triangulated the source of the camera to the top left corner above the one-way mirror. Ingeniously he found it attached to their own camera monitoring the room, a small cylindrical device plugged into the same outlet in the ceiling. He removed it, examining the click piece of spyware. There was no transmitter attached, but he bet if he looked he'd find it hooked into the wiring just above him in the panels. He pulled a chair under his feet and climbed up, lifting the ceiling panel finding the wireless transmitter exactly where he expected it.
"I found it installed on top of our own security camera" he reported, returning with the device in his hands to be analysed.
"So Jake installed his own camera to record his own interrogation?" Lena said. "Why would he do that?"
"I don't care why, that's not our concern" J'onn barked, storming up to join them catching wind of this. "Who else has seen this?" he asked Olsen.
James brought up the new reports already flooding the internet and TV Stations. "I'm afraid everyone has" he said.
"What you are seeing is disturbing footage of police brutality" a news anchor broadcasted with the same footage playing alongside her. "The man in custody has been identified as Jake White, a British national who was arrested by the FBI early this morning on charges that have yet to be publicly revealed. Though we cannot confirm the identity of the officer assailing him, audio from the video seems to indicate the agents name as Danvers. The FBI have refused to comment at this time…"
Nobody could think this moment could get any worse, not until Alex arrived behind them to witness the new reports for herself. Kara turned around and saw her with Eliza, their faces pale as the redhead stepped forward to stare at herself attacking a defenceless prisoner. Her eyes widened in horror, at what she had done and that the world now knew about it.
"Director Danvers!" a sharp voice bellowed from above, proving the moment could get even worse as Alex slowly turned around and lifted her head to see Colonel Haley on the balcony glaring down at her.
Moments later Haley was in Alex's office standing before her desk with her hands clenched into fists. Alex stood in the middle of the room, her hands behind her back, feet spread, back straight looking straight ahead. Haley had instructed her here immediately and she'd been standing here for the last three minutes. Three tenses suspenseful minutes. After the forth Alex could no longer hold it in and began "Ma'am…"
"No!" Haley barked, silencing her immediately. Alex closed her mouth and obeyed. The Colonel fixed her gaze on her and stood in front of the young woman. "All I want to hear from you, Director Danvers, is yes or no. am I understood?"
"Yes" she answered obediently.
Haley nodded, never losing her stone expression. "Now, tell me, did you manage to build your case against Jake White? Have you any evidence to validate the charges?"
Alex stood there hesitantly before admitting "no."
Haley nodded. "Have you been able to determine any of his alibis to be false?" she asked.
"No."
"Did you managed to get a legitimate confession from the suspect?"
Alex released a begrudging breath before answering "no."
Haley nodded, pacing in front of her. "Agent Dox had informed me of the case he was putting together regarding Miss Luthor's accusation. Until now I was willing to consider it a viable option, given the circumstances. Tell me Director, do you think it's a viable option now?" she asked her.
Alex closed her eyes, mentally kicking herself as she guessed "no."
"No" he agreed. "Any case we might've wanted to put to Mr White now has been tainted by your actions." She turned around and walked up to Alex. "Just so we're clear, I need to hear it from you. Did you abuse your position and assault the suspect?"
This time Alex was reluctant to answer.
"YES or NO Director Danvers!" Haley barked.
"Yes" she answered quietly.
She could feel the fury burning from the Colonel's eyes as she glared at her. "Well, I hope you're happy. Because now the world has seen that footage, I've got lawyers already crawling up the walls looking to represent Mr White in his defence. Police brutality lawsuits, abuse of power, violating civil rights, beating up a prisoner in custody…that's all bad enough for the NCPD but this is the Department of Extra-terrestrial Operations. A government sanctioned agency arresting and assaulting suspects outside our jurisdiction, the perpetrator our own Director of Operations on top of it all?"
"ma'am, if I could just explain…" Alex tried to say, but Haley barked for her to shut up again. She stayed silent, waiting for the Colonel to finish ranting and get to the reason she has her standing here in her own office. She knew it was coming, the reprimand. She just had to brace for it.
Haley didn't leave her waiting long. She fixed her scolding glare on the young woman and explained "due to the now public nature, and without further evidence to lay charges, I have no choice but to release Mr White immediately."
Alex's breath caught in her throat. "ma'am, you can't let him go!" she cried.
"Enough!" she hissed, glaring at her coldly. "There is no other option, unless we want a PR nightmare storming our gates. I certainly don't have the energy to deal with it. Our only hope now is to pray Mr White doesn't press charges against the agency, or the government body who funds it" she growled. "And as for you…I hereby suspend you of your rank and duties, effectively immediately, pending a full investigation that may very well conclude with your removal from service" she said.
Alex stared at her, opening her mouth to object before realising it was pointless. She had expected suspension, but the subtext she gave was closer to being outright fired. She lowered her eyes a little, ashamed and humiliated. The worst thing, she couldn't even completely blame Jake for this one.
Haley looked at the young woman, stepping up and holding out her palm. Alex reluctantly reached into her pocket and pulled out her official identification and badge, placing it on the open palm. "You are dismissed, Miss Danvers" Colonel Haley said.
The entire staff of the DEO waited in the lobby to watch Jake White be escorted from the infirmary to the lift, a pair of officers either side of him leading the way. He walked slowly, wincing from discomfort with every step as her rubbed his wrist. He was no longer in handcuffs. His face was cleaned with a plaster over his nose, stitches along his jaw and forehead. He had a black eye and bruising along his arms. But he was able to walk, to talk, able to leave of his own free will. The DEO followed him to the lift where Colonel Haley waited with her arms in front of her.
Alex watched too, standing next to Supergirl, Nia, Lena, J'onn, Brainy, James and Eliza as they stood near the front of the audience but far enough away to keep Haley happy. They were horrified to learn that Jake was being released at once, but none of them was in a position to argue against it. Brainy tried to pitch his case, but he knew already how pointless any attempt would be. Kara looked at Alex, sensing how outraged she was and how ashamed she was it was because of her. She wished she could put her arm around her, but in public that's not what Supergirl could do. Eliza was there, though, putting her arm around Alex's comforting her. Nia held hands with Brainy for their own support.
Jake approached Colonel Haley silently, hesitantly lifting his eyes to look at her. "Mr White, on behalf of the united States government, I can only apologise for the treatment you received while in custody" she told him mechanically, like she was reading from a prompt. No doubt because this was a constructed statement made to cover their own arse. "All charges against you have been dropped, pending review. And I can assure you the…individual responsible for your injuries has been appropriately suspended pending review" she explained, glancing momentarily at Alex.
Jake didn't deign to look up as Haley continued to express her apologies on behalf of the state and the DEO, the subtext being they hoped he wouldn't sue them. "I understand. Thank you" he said when she was finished, taking a strained breath before stating "I just want to leave."
"You are free to go" she nodded, stepping aside so the man could walk to the waiting list with his escort. "Our men will take you outside and there'll be a car waiting downstairs to take you where you need to go" she told him. He nodded, thanking her again.
"After all of that and he just gets to walk out of here" Lena mumbled, glaring at him as he stepped into the lift car with the officers.
"It's not fair" Nia whispered.
"No, it isn't" Olsen agreed.
"But it couldn't be helped" J'onn muttered. Alex bristled from the statement, knowing how loaded towards her it was.
Kara watched him silently, conflicted emotions once more bringing doubt to her mind. She couldn't help but run over everything that happened today. It all pointed to Jake being the victim. What if we had it wrong? "He couldn't have planned any of this, could he?" she asked them. The others all looked at each other. Some seemed convinced, others had doubts. It didn't seem plausible.
Jake stood in the lift silently, looking around at his escort before scanning the lobby. Colonel Haley had already walked away to start making phone calls, hoping to avoid a public relations catastrophe. Many of the DEO agents turned away to resume working. Jake's sombre eyes fell of the super-friends, catching their eye from across the room, catching Kara's eye as they met. The lift doors slid closed.
Any doubts the group had towards Jake vanished the moment they all saw his expression twist into a taunting smirk as the lift doors slid closed.