A/N: Yay, it feels great to be writing again!
"Supergirl is not going to be interviewed at NCPD like a common suspect," Alex snaps angrily into the phone.
"Alex, it's okay. I can go there," Kara says softly beside her.
"No. No, you can't. They will extend to you a professional courtesy and they will come here to interview you," Alex retorts as much to her girlfriend on the phone as to the hero standing beside her.
"Okay, okay. I'll work it out with Lieutenant Collins and let you know what time we'll be there, but Alex she needs to stay there," Maggie replies firmly, pushing back. She knows that Alex has slipped into protective sister mode, but as lead detective on the case, she has to pursue every possible suspect, even if one of them is Supergirl.
Angrily Alex hangs up the phone. "I can't believe that NCPD is seriously considering you as a suspect... and Maggie, Maggie of all people..."
"Is just doing her job Alex," Kara interjects. "And it will be fine, I didn't do anything wrong."
"I know that you didn't, but after everything that you've done for this city. And what if Maggie is just doing this to get back at me for lying to her about Guardian and Lord?" Alex blurts out.
"Alex, she wouldn't do that," Kara protests.
"I know, I just hate that she caught this case. But then maybe it's good that she did, because she knows that you didn't do it and she won't let the press find out that you're being questioned," Alex admits.
"The press could still find out," Kara points out.
"I'm guessing that Cat knows that you're here and not at CATCO?" Alex asks worriedly.
"She overheard our conversation this morning," Kara confesses. "But she definitely isn't going to say anything, in fact, she made a statement this morning and didn't mention Supergirl at all," Kara replies. "It should be on the news," the hero adds nodding to the TV on the wall.
Alex picks up the remote and clicks the TV on, changing the channel to CATCO News.
"It has just been confirmed by the authorities that the body found at Steven Waller's townhouse was Mr Waller, no further details have been released by NCPD as this is an ongoing investigation. And while Mr Waller left CATCO under less than pleasant circumstances, we are all shocked and saddened by this turn of events. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time..." Cat says from the steps of CATCO with Kara standing just behind her.
"You were at the press conference?" Alex remarks with a heavy sigh.
"We were practically ambushed, Alex! Reporters from every local channel were set up at the entrance to the building, she had no choice but to issue a statement," Kara replies defensively.
"I know, I just wish..." Alex's voice trails off as Winn enters the office.
"Hey, I have that data you asked for," Winn says laying a thumb drive on the desk in front of her.
"What data is that?" Kara asks.
"Uh, it's the tracking data that shows Supergirl's patrol route from last night," Winn replies hesitantly, because Kara's face is not a happy face. "D-director Henshaw asked me to set up a way to track you after CADMUS kidnapped you," he adds quickly.
"The DEO is tracking me," Kara blurts out. Her tone full of disbelief and her face a cloud of anger tinged with confusion.
"We did it to protect you," Alex replies quickly.
"Wait, if you're tracking me then why did you go to the loft this morning looking for me?" Kara asks confused.
"We only use it when you don't check in," Alex explains, "Which is why Winn just pulled the data for me, now."
"How does it track me? Did you put something on my suit?" Kara questions, sending Winn a withering glare.
"Kara, it tracks you based on a biometric sequence and has nothing to do with the suit," Alex answers. "Winn was just doing his job, don't. Don't be angry with him. And he made sure that the data is specially encrypted, so even if it was intercepted, it would be useless to anyone."
"Biometric markers? Great, so after everything that we've done to protect my secret identity, now the DEO has created a trail of indisputable evidence that Kara Danvers and I are the same person!" Kara rolls her eyes and angrily storms out of the office. She knows that it is pointless to be angry at Winn and even Alex, because J'onn would have been the one to make this decision and she intends to tell him exactly what she thinks about it.
"Supergirl," J'onn says as the hero enters his office, cape swishing behind her dramatically.
"Y-you're tracking me..." she begins angrily.
"All DEO assets are tracked, even me," J'onn replies.
"You're tracking yourself?" Kara questions, distracted for a moment by this information. Furrowing her brows even more in thought, she paces the office.
Stopping in front of his desk, she glares at him. "J'onn, if CADMUS were to get a hold of this data..." she adds fiercely.
"Kara, CADMUS has already proven that they can get to you, I have no choice but to do everything that I can to make sure that if it happens again, I can get you back," J'onn says thickly, remembering his promise to Jeremiah. Even if the man has been compromised by CADMUS, the alien has no intention of not honoring the promise he made when Jeremiah saved his life. "And we've taken extraordinary measures to encrypt and protect this data. Even if they get a hold of it, they won't be able to use it," he promises.
"You don't know that," Kara replies. "They used Jeremiah against us, we trusted him and he stole the Alien Registry for them," she reminds him.
"I assure you that, that won't happen again. Agent Schott has reconfigured our system protocols and there are new security features in place to prevent another breach," J'onn informs her.
Kara pauses to pace the office and consider this information.
"Does Kal-El know? Because if you're tracking me, I'm guessing that you are tracking him too," she counters.
"He's not a DEO asset," J'onn replies, pointedly not answering her question.
"But that doesn't mean that you are not tracking him," Kara repeats and waits for confirmation.
"His biometric markers are similar to yours, so yes, we can track him," J'onn admits.
"Well he has a right to know about this," Kara retorts, before storming out of the office.
"This data shows Supergirl's patrol route from last night. As you can see, she did fly over Mr Waller's townhouse last night before she returned to quarters, where she remained overnight," Alex explains, tracing the route with a laser on the map displayed on the screen overhead. She looks around the room, careful not to make eye contact with Kara, who is still angry about the tracking program and this disclosure.
"Where exactly are her quarters located?" Lieutenant Collins questions as he studies the patrol route above them. The DEO redacted all street info, leaving only standard markers to identify key areas of interest.
Maggie refrains from reacting and instead looks over to Alex to wait for her response. The two women know that they are walking a fine line in regards to conflict of interest on this case. If Supergirl's identity were to be revealed, it wouldn't look good on either of them for not disclosing the connection.
"The exact location is not relevant to your case. You wanted to know Supergirl's whereabouts for the last 12 hours and we've provided proof that she was not near the scene after her patrol," Alex asserts.
"Judging by your map of the city, it would appear that Supergirl lives in or very near CATCO Towers," Collins point out.
"As I stated before her exact location is not relevant to this case," Alex reasserts.
Collins nods silently, conceding the point. "Agent Danvers you seem to have some insights into our investigation," Collins says turning to look at Maggie. "Either you know more than you're saying or someone has leaked information to the DEO.
"No one has leaked anything to me, I just..." Alex replies, quickly. Then taking a deep breath, she is about to launch into another rant when Kara interjects.
"It was me. I told Agent Danvers that Waller was alive when I went by on patrol. I saw him dozing on his couch and his heart indicated that he was resting," Kara explains. "And he was alone. I would have noticed if anyone was on the balcony or roof, so whoever killed him would have had to have done it after I left the area."
"You spied on him with your x-ray vision?" Collins clarifies.
"No, his balcony curtains were open, I could see him in there," Kara answers honestly.
"But you didn't enter his townhouse?" Maggie questions, although she already knows the answer.
"No, I was simply making sure that he was in for the evening. He had threatened Ms Grant earlier and I simply wanted to check on him to ensure that he wasn't going to cause any more problems for her," the hero explains.
"You seem rather protective of Ms Grant," Collins points out.
"W-we are close," Supergirl responds, "We've been through alot together."
"Yes, I believe that Grant was kidnapped last year by two meta-humans, Livewire and Banshee, to get to you. In fact, Livewire has a habit of going after Cat Grant and each time, you were the one to save her. So Supergirl, how long have you been involved with Cat Grant?" Collins asks.
"Don't answer that!" Alex blurts out before standing up at the conference table. "This interview is over," she announces.
"You're not in charge of this interview Agent Danvers," Collins replies, standing up slowly and buttoning his suit jacket slowly. "But I think we have what we need for now," he adds motioning to Maggie to lead the way out.
"I need to talk to Cat," Kara says as soon as they are alone in the conference room.
"Use this line, it's secure," Alex remarks gesturing to the phone on the table. "I'm going to walk them out and maybe try to talk to Maggie before she leaves," she adds before rushing from the room.
Kara stares at the phone a moment, They still haven't discussed what happened last night, although Cat seemed normal around her this morning, even though there was nothing normal about this morning. Kara sighs, there was a time when she thought that she knew every nuance of Cat's moods. Deciding to just get it over with, she picks up the phone and calls her.
"Cat Grant," Cat says quickly, waving off Ms Teschmacher to answer her own phone.
"The police think that you are involved with Supergirl," Kara blurts out. "That we are romantically involved."
"Well, that's interesting," Cat replies dryly, dismissing her assistant with a slight nod. "But I am going to need a bit more information," she adds knowing that Kara will realize that she's speaking in front of someone.
"Apparently, the agency that I work for can track me and they released my patrol route from last night to the police," Kara admits nervously. "It was an overview, but the detectives figured out that I was near CATCO Towers all night."
"I see," Cat replies, her mind already whirling through potential solutions.
"And I'm pretty sure that the police are going to show up at CATCO to question you about me, both of me," Kara adds.
"Well, I expected that they would show up here at some point, and I've kept my schedule light today for that reason," Cat points out. "None of this is your fault Kara."
"I know it isn't my fault, but I seem to have made things more complicated," Kara counters. "I should have protected you by keeping me distance."
I appreciate that you wanted to protect me and I did feel safer having you nearby," Cat confides, before the obvious solution pops into her head.
"Kara, what if I gave Supergirl an apartment in my building as a thank you for saving my life?" Cat inquires.
"Cat, you don't have to do that and I have a loft," Kara protests.
"No, Kara Danvers has a loft. Look, this is the perfect solution and we should have thought of it sooner," Cat retorts. "Supergirl needs a home base and CATCO Towers is perfect, you can come and go from the roof. It would explain why you were nearby all night. And once the police figure out that Kara Danvers was with me last night... well we can't have them thinking that we had a threesome," she quips.
"Cat!" Kara blurts out, slamming her mind shut on the confusing visual inspired by that remark.
"I have a furnished one that I use it for out of town guests, it's just down the end hall from me. Come by tonight and drop off some 'super' things, then if the police pursue this angle, you'll have an address to give them," Cat offers.
Maggie follows Collins into the building, still annoyed that he's leading the investigation himself and dragging her along like a damn rookie. And she knows that it is because it's high profile and involves Supergirl, but honestly, she has handled her share of high profile cases.
They are intercepted by security as soon as they cross the lobby.
"Hey Sawyer," the guard says greeting the detective.
"Dan, this is Lieutenant Martin Collins, we're here to ask Ms Grant a few questions, can you take us up?" Maggie asks greeting him like a friend. "Lieutenant, Dan was on the job for ten years before he was recruited by Tom Clarkson, who's Chief of Security here," she adds as ice breaker. Well aware that her boss and Clarkson went through the academy at the same time.
"I remember Tom, and it's good to meet you Dan," Collins says politely. "No offense, but corporate security seems like it would be rather boring to me."
"Dan doesn't look bored to me, he looks fat and happy," Maggie says teasingly.
"It's different, not as intense as patrol, but we have our moments and corporate security pays a bit better than NCPD, but then I wasn't making the big bucks as a detective," Dan teases back as he walks them over to the security desk. "Let me just call up there and make sure that she is available," he says picking up the phone.
"Ms Grant, the police are here to see you," Ms Teschmacher announces as she enters the office, followed by a tall man and a short dark haired female.
Cat glances up at the pair of detectives and calmly greets them. "NCPD's finest, I presume," she says standing up and crossing the room.
"Lieutenant Martin Collins and Detective Maggie Sawyer," Collins says extending his hand.
Cat waves it off and steps around them to sit on the sofa, gesturing for them to sit across from her on the other one.
"What can I do for you? I understand that you are investigating Mr Waller's death, but the last I saw of him was when he was escorted from my office by security," she remarks as they sit down.
"Yes, we both read your statement, but we have a few questions for you regarding any measures that you may have taken to protect yourself after he was removed from the premises," Maggie says tactfully.
"CATCO security was given standard instructions to detain Mr Waller should he attempt to reenter the building and that a restraining order was being filed, which is also standard procedure, I believe that you may recall that I've had trouble in the past with disgruntled employees. Also standard procedure is for Tom Clarkson, Chief of Security, to notify the security team at CATCO Towers about Mr Waller and provide them his photo and a copy of the protection order. Both are defensive measures on my part and I'm sure that you would agree that those measures are well within my rights to protect myself from the man who threatened me," Cat replies smoothly.
"What about extra security? Did you send anyone out to check on Mr Waller, maybe put him under surveillance as additional protection?" Collins asks.
"It was suggested to me by Mr Clarkson, but I declined that measure of protection," Cat admits.
"What about friends and family? Is there anyone close to you who would have felt that they needed to confront Mr Waller on your behalf?" Collins asks.
"Absolutely not. If I felt that I needed additional security, I certainly have the means to acquire it," Cat snaps indignantly.
"Did you ask Supergirl to monitor Waller?" Collins blurts out, hoping to catch her off guard.
"My understanding is that Supergirl patrols the city day and night, if she flew over Mr Waller's house, I'm certain that it was merely on her patrol route. Although, one couldn't blame her for checking on him, the last employee I pissed off tried to kill me and her," Cat points out carefully.
"Well, that explains everything," Maggie says moving to stand up, hoping to take advantage of Cat's perfect explanation for Supergirl surveilling Waller and get Collins out of there.
But Collins won't be rushed, instead he asks, "How long have you been involved with Supergirl?"
Cat tilts her head, feigning shock at the implication, but not answering the question.
"We know that Supergirl spent the night in the vicinity of your penthouse," Maggie interjects, hoping that Cat will understand what Collins is basing his question on.
"I see. Let me point out that CATCO Towers is a highrise residential building surrounded by highrise residential buildings. I believe that there are over three thousand residents in the immediate vicinity of my building. And just to help you out, I am not involved with anyone of them. I would hate for you to waste resources investigating my social life, when you have a murder case to solve," Cat retorts sarcastically.
"We are not investigating you or your social life," Collins begins to reply, but is cut off.
"Excellent. Well then, if you have any further questions, please call and make an appointment with my assistant," she adds as Ms Teschmacher reenters the office.
"Ms Grant, should I cancel or postpone the editorial meeting?" Eve asks.
"No, that won't be necessary, I've answered all of the detectives' questions," Cat replies, effectively letting them know that she's done with the interview.
"Well, I think that we may have everything we need for now, but I'm sure that we'll be back," Collins retorts. "Thank you for you time Ms Grant, we'll see ourselves out."
"I think that Mr Clarkson would prefer to escort you out and answer any additional questions," Cat says as her Chief of Security enters the office.
"Lieutenant. Detective," Clarkson says greeting them. "Right this way, we'll take Ms Grant's private elevator so that we can talk on the way down."
"Eve, the next time the police show up, please notify Morton and Stanhope immediately and get them in here. I will not be speaking to the police without counsel again. In fact, have them meet me after this, I need to tell them what is going on. I don't like the tone of this investigation," Cat confides to her assistant.
As Cat gathers her things together for her next meeting, she mentally kicks herself for not listening to Kara's warning about the police investigation. As she makes her way down the hall towards the conference room it occurs to her that she may be a suspect in Waller's death. But if that were true, wouldn't they have requested that she come to them for the interview? Unless, it's not her that they suspect, it's Supergirl.