"Mister Barclay." Alex announced, after knocking on the ajar door to his hospital room.

As she walked in, Maggie right behind her, they now had their first look up close to the man on the bed. A wound on his forehead was freshly stitched and he had a black eye and a split lip, but otherwise he seemed mostly okay.

"Ma'am." The man moved to sit upright at the sight of her, his eyes widening. Alex raised a hand to get him to stop moving. "Are you okay?"

"Nothing I can't handle, ma'am." He shook his head quickly, his blonde hair matted with red streaks of blood. He didn't look a day over twenty-five.

Maggie moved to stand next to Alex, and the agent noticed the man's eyes flickering between the two of them, and then down to their matching rings.

"Agen-…" Alex cut herself off with a sigh. "Tristan. I'm Alex Danvers."

"I know who you are, ma'am. I served the Marsh'ah mission under you."

Alex remembered the operation – standard routine procedure. J'onn had insisted she'd take a fresh set of agents to get to know the DEO field work, and she hadn't complained. It gave her trusted agents a well-deserved break, and everything had gone smoothly.

Though she didn't recognize the man's face, and she was usually good with those.

"I'm glad to hear you still remember that." Alex smiled weakly, attempting to lighten the mood.

"It was an honor, serving under you." Barclay locked eyes with her with a solemn nod. "I… don't know what'll happen to the DEO now, but…"

"Where were you when the bombs went off?" Maggie interrupted him. Alex shot a glare sideways – she wanted to ease the man into it slowly.

Barclay's eyes widened. "It… it was bombs…?"

"That's the working theory, yes." Alex nodded, resting her hand on the guardrail. But she didn't expect the man to shake his head. "No… no, ma'am. They weren't bombs, we were held hostage."

Alex and Maggie frowned and shared a look.

"What do you mean?!"

Barclay moved up so that he was now resting his back against the pillows. "Ma'am, we were all monitoring alien activity in town because of the President's arrival. We got an alert, and we meant to contact you or Director Henshaw, but before we could – these men arrived. Wearing black, like us, so we couldn't distinguish them. We didn't know who they were, but they beat us down, shoved guns in our faces. Started shooting around, killing agents…"

"Mister Barclay." Maggie took a step in the direction of the bed. "Maggie Sawyer, NCPD Science Division. I know an explosion when I see one - this was a multiple-charge detonation."

"Officer Sawyer…" The man began, but Maggie interrupted him quickly. "Detective Sawyer."

"Detective." He corrected himself with an apologetic nod. "…Maybe they planted explosives while they were holding us back because they didn't want anyone to hinder them?"

"But why would they blow up a building if they were still inside?" Alex stated, her question rhetorical. But Barclay replied anyway.

"I tried to stop them, ma'am. I tried to keep them from taking over the building, but they were too strong. I…" He sighed. "I failed. And I should have died like the rest of them."

"No." Alex shook her head. "Agent Barclay, you may not be the most experienced operative in the DEO, but what is rule number one?"

"Leave nobody behind." The man mumbled.

"Right." Alex nodded slowly. "And I'm not leaving you behind again. We can win this, as long as we get to know who those guys were. So me and Detective Sawyer are going to take a walk. You take a few deep breaths, and when we come back, you're going to tell us everything you know about the hostiles."

"Yes, ma'am." The man nodded. "You're right. I need to keep serving. Now more than ever."

Alex smiled weakly, a gleam of pride in her chest as she watched the disciplined look on his face. She put a hand on the small of Maggie's back, and lead her wife out of the room.

As soon as they were in the hallway, Maggie sighed. "Well, that was a waste of time."

"What?!" Alex frowned, stopping to turn and look at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, Alex. Don't tell me you believe a word of what he said!"

"Uh, why wouldn't I…?"

"He's been in the DEO for a few months, that's enough to get a proper layout of the building, and gain trust. He's kissing your ass with his yes ma'am's and he conjured up some hostage scenario!"

"Having disciplined agents who respect their superior is hardly ass-kissing, Sawyer." Alex replied, narrowing her eyes. Maggie had been defensive with the man right from the start, and the agent honestly couldn't figure out why.

"Alex, you said it yourself. Why would they rush in and take hostages, and then die when they blow up the building?!"

"If they're invisible, maybe they just made it out alive but we didn't see it."

Maggie shook her head. "I've interrogated enough people in my life to know that Barclay is lying to you, Alex. He has something to do with it – maybe he's in on it, or maybe he saw something he wasn't supposed to. Either way, he's not telling you the truth."

"Why were you being such an asshole to him? He hadn't even said anything yet!" Alex shot back. "And don't give me any 'cop instinct' crap, because nothing about him was a red flag!"

"He made a connection with you right off the bat, Danvers!" Maggie chuckled dryly. "That's manipulation 101, of course that's a red flag!"

"Or maybe he was just scared because he survived when over 100 people died, and he wanted to tell somebody, Maggie!" Alex was now yelling. She couldn't believe how stubborn Maggie was acting. They rarely clashed visions on moral points, but this…

Alex hadn't seen this coming.

She sighed, and lowered her voice.

"Look, I know that this Cerberus stuff is getting to you. And I'm-… I'm terrified. The DEO is gone, all my agents are dead, and you got kidnapped, and I thought you were dead." Alex looked down and took a shaky breath. "We can't… fight. I don't want us to fight. Not now."

Maggie opened her mouth to reply, but then Alex's phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out, seeing that it was Winn.

As soon as she accepted the call, Winn's voice screamed through her ear.

"Alex! Alex, the next target! It's the NCPD Science Division! There's only 30 minutes left until those bombs go off, I don't know if we'll be able to evacuate everyone in the perimeter on time!"

Alex's eyes widened, as she looked up at Maggie's frown. "We're on our way."

"Hurry!"

Alex disconnected the call. "The next target, at 8. Your precinct. We need togo, now."

"Shit…" Maggie cursed, following Alex as she ran out of the hospital, but slowed down by the stitches on her side.

Alex had never wished for flying powers more than at that moment.

Winn glanced at his watch. "7.42. Did you send a message to J'onn?"

"I did, but he needed to do damage control at the site – somebody from the hospital leaked that Barclay was awake, and they're demanding answers." Kara sighed. "The DEO's blast radius was contained to just the building."

"Can we bet on that? The DEO is pretty isolated, but this…" Winn looked around at the many buildings surrounding the precinct. Stores, apartment buildings…

Too many people.

"As many as we can. In the meantime, keep an eye out for anybody that looks shady. You take the precinct, I'll do the perimeter."

"Got it." Winn nodded, as he ran into the building, trying to figure out a strategy.

All coherent thought flew out the window though, as he decided that the quickest approach was to pull the fire alarm in the reception area.

The receptionist, a graying police officer, frowned and got up from behind his desk. "Young man, what the hell do you-…"

He was cut off by the blaring alarm, and the sprinklers activating immediately.

"There's a gas leak!" Winn yelled over the alarm, towards him. "We need to evacuate immediately!"

"So you pull the fire alarm?!" The man responded, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Uh…" Winn trailed off nervously. "Doesn't matter! Everybody out!"

He ran towards the elevator, pressing the 'call' button, and waiting.

The officer sighed impatiently. "The elevators are blocked because of the alarm! Take the stairs!"

"Are you kidding…" Winn grunted, as he flung himself towards the stairs, jumping up the steps as fast as he could, while yelling 'evacuate!' to anybody who would listen.

"If this doesn't work out… I'm going to be arrested." He muttered to himself. "And thrown into jail. For the rest of my life. Great."

He ignored the thought for now, trying to get as many people out as possible.

When Alex and Maggie arrived at the precinct and jumped out of the car, the clock said 7.55. Kara was already busy rounding up people and flying them away from the perimeter, while there were officers running out of the police precinct, and ducking behind squad cars.

"Sawyer!" One of the uniformed men ran towards her. "Get away, there's a gas leak! The entire building could blow!"

"How many people are still inside?!" Maggie asked, taking a step in the direction of the building.

"There's a guy running through the building, but I don't know where he is!"

"Winn." Alex said, more to herself than to Maggie. "Come on!"

"Alex, there's no time!"

"Winn is still in there!" Alex snapped out of Maggie's grasp and ran towards the entrance of the building, shoving the door open.

"Fuck, Alex!" Maggie growled, before running after her.

They were running out of time. But Alex didn't care, as she ran up the stairs, taking three steps at a time. "Winn! Winn, where are you?!"

She reached the top floor within the minute, running through the corridors and shoving doors open left and right, still shouting the technician's name.

Finally, after what felt like hours, a muffled reply came. "Alex!"

The agent ran towards the sound, and kicked the door at the end of the hallway open, revealing Winn. "Everyone is out."

Alex glanced down at her watch, and her stomach dropped.

7.59.

"I'm sorry, Alex." Was all Winn said, a sad smile on his face. "We got everyone out."

"We did." Alex nodded slowly. "Thanks. For everything, Winn."

He laughed weakly. "You know, I wanted to be you, ever since I joined the DEO. Thanks for making me want to be a better person, Alex."

Alex's watch beeped.

8.00.

They both braced for impact, raising their hands above their heads.

But the blow never came.

A few seconds later, Winn looked up questioningly. "Did… Did we die?"

"Nothing happened." Alex whispered.

Winn's eyes widened. "Which means…"

Alex clenched her jaw.

"We were wrong."

As the pair ran back downstairs, they were met halfway down the stairwell with a panting Maggie, clutching her side. Alex gasped, as she ran to stabilize her wife. "Are you insane?! Why did you run inside, you could have died!"

"You would have died." Maggie shook her head weakly. "I didn't… want to stay outside."

Alex closed her eyes, as the realisation that the three of them had come really close to dying finally started to settle in.

"Nothing went off, not even outside." Maggie shook her head. "So why did they announce an attack…?"

As the trio ran outside, Alex reached for the nearest detective and held him by the shoulders. "Did any reports come in of explosions around town?"

"Yeah, earlier today, the FBI building that got attacked, it's all over the ne-…" The man started, but Alex ran off halfway through, cutting him off. Winn and Maggie trailed closely behind them.

"It's safe now, you can go back in!" Winn yelled over his shoulder to the waiting crowd.

The trio didn't expect a hysterical Kara landing down onto the concrete so roughly that it cracked underneath the pressure.

"Shit." Alex cursed silently, as Kara raised a finger to her. "You… went inside! I had to hear it from them!" She yelled, pointing to the surrounding officers. "You… all three… I…"

Alex's cellphone rang. As much as she hated to interrupt Kara by answering the call, she knew that it had to be important. It could be J'onn, with crucial details on the investigation.

Or… something else.

"Danvers." She answered anyway, knowing that Kara was already in full-on wrath mode. Might as well.

"Agent Danvers, this is Dr. Ford from National City General Hospital. Uh… I think you should come here."

"Is this about Agent Barclay?" Alex asked, distancing herself from Kara's shouting match against Maggie and Winn. And while Maggie seemed to take it for now, she also knew that her wife was in a no-nonsense mood, probably because of the pain, and was convinced that it wouldn't take Maggie too long to stand up for herself.

"Yes, ma'am. There was an… incident."

Alex's stomach turned. "I'm 15 minutes out. What happened?"

"I'd… rather not discuss it over the phone."

That's when Alex froze in her tracks, and disconnected the call in shock.

How could they have been so blind.

Rule number one of the DEO – Leave nobody behind.

They killed Barclay.