There were two things Alex knew for sure.
One – Lillian Luthor was undoubtedly the most evil person she'd ever encountered in her life.
And two – Maggie would die in the next 24 hours.
She wasn't sure whether it was the darkness gnawing at her hope and positivity, or just simply her being a damn realist, but Alex was certain that she'd never felt more powerless that she'd felt in a long time, and she knew there was nothing she could do to save her girlfriend.
Except, of course, hand her little sister on a silver platter to the woman she'd vowed a long time ago she'd kill when she had the chance.
The silence in the room was filled every few seconds with a gurgle or a gasp of breath, and it felt like somebody had stabbed Alex through her heart. She looked up.
She knew damn well that Lillian would kill Maggie the second she gave up Kara's identity. She'd probably end up dead too anyway, since Lillian apparently had no use for either of them once she had Supergirl in her grip.
So the only thing she could do was stall. Stall, and hope that somehow, Kara and J'onn had a plan. Because the both of them were running out of time fast, and if the gurgled breathing was any indication, it was about to become a serious problem.
"Maggie, I'm here." Alex whispered again, wishing desperately that she could touch the detective, hold her. Comfort her.
"Yes, but is she?" Came Lillian's sickly sweet voice through the intercom.
"What do you mean?!" Alex spat back, looking up. She wasn't in the mood for any more of Lillian's games, and her patience was slowly turning to anger.
"People that lose one of their senses, notice an almost immediate increase in the other four. You start to hear better… Pick up more scents…"
Alex took a shaky breath.
"Can you smell it, agent Danvers? Can you smell the blood?!"
She turned her head away from the sounds, but she couldn't unhear what Lillian had said. And the metal, sharp smell of what she knew was her own girlfriend's spilled blood almost made her throw up.
"We can play this game for a very long time, sweetie. The only one growing tired of it is you."
"Let me see her, and I'll help you." Alex said to the ceiling, expecting no response. Instead, she received another chuckle.
"You're not exactly in a position for demands, unfortunately. Hmmm…" Lillian faked thinking about it. "Well, I suppose I could humor you for just this once. After all… She won't have much time left anyway."
Alex felt her heart stop at the words, but had no time to reflect on them, before a sharp, bright light bathed the room in whiteness. Alex screamed, covering her eyes with her hands.
She heard her name being shouted, and knew that it was Maggie, but she didn't dare to open her eyes out of fear that she'd actually gone blind.
"Now, now. I gave you a present, agent Danvers. At least enjoy it. Open your eyes."
Alex took a shaky, unstable breath and opened her eyes carefully. While the whiteness still burned, she was at least happy to recognize her surroundings for the first time.
She was lying in a sizeable room with concrete walls. Her heart stopped when she saw two CADMUS henchmen, arms crossed, and standing next to a figure, hands tied to a chain in the wall behind her.
Maggie looked exhausted, and completely beat up, but her eyes were wide as she looked Alex in the eyes, silently asking a thousand questions that Alex all understood, but couldn't answer.
"I-it's going to be okay." Alex whispered. Maggie nodded quickly, and flashed a shaky, unconvincing grin. "Yeah."
It didn't fool Alex at all, but she knew that she had to be the strong one. To keep Maggie safe, even though the thought she had earlier hadn't slipped her mind. So she settled on looking the detective in the eyes pleadingly. "I love you, Maggie." Whatever happens.
Maggie smiled weakly. "I love you too."
"How endearing."
Alex looked up, finally seeing that the green light did come from a camera on the ceiling.
"Now, come on! Finish this, go to her and hold her!"
She had no idea what Lillian was up to, but she knew that she'd never make it to Maggie's side before the Luthor would interfere.
Yet she had to take the risk. So she got up carefully, minding the now present ache in her ribs, and walked over to Maggie's form.
Surprisingly, neither of the two men stopped her, as she carefully took Maggie's face in her both hands, and leaned their foreheads together. Maggie winced, but Alex knew that she wouldn't want her to pull away. They stayed like that for a few seconds, until that godawful woman's voice filled the room again.
"My, my. I'm getting teary-eyed."
"Fuck you." Maggie spat, looking up at the ceiling. "You don't scare me, Luthor."
"Nothing really scares you, doesn't it, detective Sawyer? I mean… Except for your girlfriend knowing the truth about you."
Maggie breathed heavily, but Alex couldn't tell if it was because of the pain, or Lillian's statement. The agent decided quickly that Lillian was probably just attempting another one of her psychological tricks to push them apart. She wasn't going to let her.
"I trust her, Lillian." Alex said. "That's enough for me."
"And while that is absolutely heartwarming… I think it's time for you to tell your little secret to agent Danvers, wouldn't you say, Maggie?"
The way Lillian said Maggie's name with such an attempted innocence, made Alex's blood boil. But much to her surprise, Maggie's shaky voice shot back. "I won't."
Immediately, the two henchmen sprang into action. One of them went to Alex and shoved her back, but the agent wasn't going down without a fight. She tried to get out of his grip and grab him by the neck, but the ache in her body and the fact that he was probably twice her size, made it anything but a fair fight. He shoved her onto the ground and held her arms back.
In the chaos, she'd lost track of Maggie, and she froze when she heard another horrifying scream.
One second after that, the lights shut off again, and the room returned to total blackness.
Alex felt the weight above her being lifted, as the man walked away. She vaguely remembered Maggie's position in the room, but when she crawled over to where she thought it was, she found nothing.
Either her mind was playing tricks on her, or Lillian was.
Beep.
"I've never liked the NCPD anyway."
"Go to hell." Alex heard Maggie's voice, this time coming from the other side of the room. She spun around towards the sound. Was she that wrong about her position?
"Do you kiss your girlfriend with that mouth?"
Alex heard shuffling, as if the henchmen were up and about, moving things around. It disoriented her completely.
"My dear agent… I have so much more in store for her. You can make her pain go away. But if you don't tell me who Supergirl is in the next five seconds… I cannot guarantee her safety."
Alex almost heard the clock ticking in her head. She couldn't. She wouldn't…
Three… Two… One…
"How unfortunate. So young, so beautiful."
The sound of a gunshot echoed through the room.
Followed immediately by the most haunting scream Alex had ever heard in her life.
"MAGGIE!" She yelled, now jumping to her feet and running around aimlessly, hitting the walls of her concrete cell twice before stumbling back onto the ground, the tears spilling quickly down her face. "Please, Maggie! Where are you!"
"Alex…" Came the pleading, pained voice. "Please… Please, you have to tell her."
"Maggie, I can't… I…" Alex shut her eyes, knowing well enough that it didn't make a difference. She had to choose. She knew it. Maggie, or her sister.
If she gave up her sister's real identity, that would mean the end of her. She would never have a normal life again, and just the thought of throwing all that away in her place seemed selfish.
But Maggie was dying. That much she knew. And as much as she knew, she couldn't accept it.
"Alex… Please… Tell her, I can't… I can't take it anymore!" Maggie's pained wails filled her ears once again.
Then, a thought popped into her head.
Maggie wouldn't be this disturbed by just a gunshot wound. No. Maggie was trained. She wouldn't let herself go like that faced with a crisis. And she'd never admit to weakness in the face of her enemies. That much she knew.
It had to be another one of Lillian's tricks.
And after a second, she realized that Maggie was probably not even there in the room with her. It was probably all an illusion to make her snap.
But… could she take that risk? Because if she did, and it was real… Then Maggie would die for sure.
And that was the moment she knew, she'd run out of time. She had to decide.
Maggie or Kara?
With a quick prayer to whatever God she didn't believe in but would listen to her, she looked up at the ceiling.
"I'm calling your bluff, Luthor. And I'll never tell you a goddamn thing."