For the first time since the bombing had initially happened, J'onn had called for the five of them to regroup and talk each other through what they knew.
So now they found themselves in Alex and Maggie's apartment, sitting down and having a drink. It was far from relaxing, but at least they all had a second to take a breath and let the adrenalin of the past few hours flow disappear.
As Kara forced Alex and Maggie to eat something, J'onn took the lead in the meeting. "The public is getting impatient – and the President isn't sure what to think. We've been running around blindly, we need to take a step back and get a plan first. What do we know?"
Winn shot up immediately, reaching for his laptop. "Lyons, the CEO that recommended Barclay, wasn't much help. He seemed insistent that Barclay wouldn't have anything to do with such a plot."
"Barclay was shot point blank." Alex continued. "But nobody saw anything. Which means that the assailant was probably invisible. But there has to be some kind of way that we would be able to see them? If they plan another attack and it goes right past us…" She turned to Winn. "Please tell me there's something you can do."
"I… I don't know, Alex. If these aliens are from another dimension, or if they use technology that's too advanced…" He grunted in defeat. "I doubt it."
"We can't let them get away with this." Kara shook her head.
Alex took a deep breath before continuing. "I found nothing on Barclay – which means that he wasn't bugged. The hospital room was clear, and nothing in the hallway looked shady either. But then…"
She sent an insecure glance towards her wife, which made the others frown. Kara raised an eyebrow. "Then what?"
"Maggie got a visit from her Lieutenant. Greene. He told her to stop digging, and that he'd kill her and us if she did."
"What does Greene know?" J'onn shot back. "Maggie…?"
"Not more than I know. He's just scared – I know him. He wouldn't put us in danger like that."
"But he'd vow to kill you…?" Alex huffed indignantly. "You're staying away from him. And if I see him around again, I'm ripping his tongue out for talking to you like that."
"Did he hurt you?" Kara asked, glancing down at the fresh bandage on Maggie's hand. The detective tucked it away instantly, but knew that there was no avoiding it. She sighed. "Greene… put something on my hand to remind me of what was at stake."
"That's not what you told me." Alex frowned. "You said it was a mark. A target…" She turned back to the group. "Barclay had a mark on his hand. I thought it was just a wound from the blast, I didn't think twice about it. But… Maggie's is identical."
"Which means…" Winn tried.
"… She's next." Kara whispered.
"But why you? What do you know? What did you-…" Alex cut herself off with widening eyes. "The guy. You saw the invisible guy that nobody else saw."
"They're killing witnesses." J'onn grunted. "Maggie, you need to stay here. I don't want you out in the field in case something happens."
"What?!" Maggie's eyes widened. "No, no! I need to help, we need to find these guys!"
"Mags." Alex put a hand on her back. "What if they come for you? What if they decide to shoot you, or kidnap you again…"
"Winn, we need some sort of solution to the invisibility problem." J'onn said. "Focus on that for now. Alex, Kara – do we have any other leads?"
"Barclay's trail went cold. Nothing in his files showed anything that leads to believe he went full-on terrorist before he joined the DEO."
"I'm still convinced that Barclay is a good guy." J'onn shook his head. "… But it doesn't hurt to try, and I'm out of ideas. Kara, go interview some of his army buddies. Maybe something happened overseas."
Kara nodded, and folded her arms, waiting for the rest of the briefing. J'onn rubbed his temples. "Nobody that we interviewed at the DEO site mentioned anything about unusual behavior around the building."
"Barclay said that the hostage takers were dressed like DEO agents." Alex said. "That wouldn't seem out of the ordinary at all. And the explosives could have easily been smuggled inside through other ways."
"I thought the DEO security was airtight?" Kara frowned.
Winn, J'onn and Alex let out a collective huff.
"Not as airtight as we want it to be." J'onn replied. "But still – smuggling in enough explosives to bring down the entire building, that would take months."
"Seven months?"
Alex sent a glare to her wife, thinking that she was making a joke, but Maggie looked dead serious. "I'm just saying – I've seen the amount of explosives it takes to blow up a building like the DEO, and it's not exactly covered by putting some in your duffel bag on your way to a sparring session."
"Did we ever recover pieces of the bombs?" Kara asked.
"Yes, the NCPD was analyzing them. It was expertly made, so whoever did it – it's not their first time." J'onn replied. "But we already figured out that whoever is behind it is organized and trained, so that doesn't bring us any closer. Kara – find out what you can on Barclay. Winn – figure out that invisibility situation. Alex – you and I need to update the President."
"I'll come with you." Maggie offered, but J'onn shook his head. "You need to stay here, away from the open."
"I'll see them coming, J'onn." The detective replied. "I'm the only one that can see them!"
"You saw one of them, that doesn't mean you can see all of them. And you need to stay and help Winn figure out why."
Maggie sighed. Alex took pity on her. "Let me check out those cuts before you go."
Kara moved over to Winn to get information on the location of Barclay's army unit, while Alex carefully unwrapped the bandage around her wife's hand. Maggie winced, as the bandage was saturated with blood.
"It doesn't look infected." Alex shook her head slowly. "That's good. I'm just going to disinfect it again, and then I'll put another bandage on, alright? Be right back." Alex pressed a delicate kiss to Maggie's cheek, before getting up to grab the first aid kit from the bathroom.
"I'll send the adresses to your phone." Winn ensured to Kara. "These are all the people he served the two tours with. You might want to start with his platoon leader."
"Got it." Kara nodded, before she glanced over at Maggie, who was staring at the wound on her hand. "That looks bad."
"It's fine – doesn't even hurt." Maggie smiled weakly, trying to put the other woman at ease. But as Kara turned around to head for the window, she did a double take with a loud gasp, her eyes widening as she turned towars Maggie once more.
"What?! What is it?" Winn asked.
"That symbol!" Kara said, moving forward to take Maggie's hand in her own to study the three C's.
"What about it…?" Alex said as she appeared from the bathroom with the first aid kit. Kara looked up to meet her sister's eyes, before she reached into her pocket, and pulled out a small rectangular card.
"Lyons' business card." Winn stated. Before their eyes, Kara flipped it to show what she was talking about.
Next to the man's name and his company information, was the logo of his firm. Lyons Inc.
The symbol was almost identical to the carvings on Maggie's hand.
"Oh fuck." Winn whispered, before he moved back to his laptop.
Maggie felt her stomach sink.
Alex shot up, heading for her door, but J'onn moved to block her path. "Wait, Alex."
"We need to bring him in!" Alex yelled. "Let me go!"
"No." J'onn shook his head. "We need to be careful with this. If we go in guns blazing, they'll know that we know! We need to use it!"
"How?! Sit back and watch as that guy has Maggie killed?! No!" Alex growled.
"Alex, babe, sit down." Maggie said. "J'onn's right, we need to think this through first."
"Lyons looked a bit like a hypocrite, but I doubt he's the one getting his hands dirty." Kara shook her head. "He has the means to support it, though. Whatever he has against the DEO."
"Don't you guys think that this looks too easy?" Maggie shook her head. "The guy's a rich and powerful CEO. If he wanted to hurt us, he wouldn't use the symbol plastered all over his walls as a secret code."
"Well… Maybe he wants to taunt us? After all, we're what's left of the thing he tried to destroy. He has a direct connection to Barclay – the sole survivor of the blast, and he personally recommended the guy for DEO training." Kara shook his head. "I'm siding with Alex here. We need to bring him in and get him to talk before more people get hurt."
"Guys, we don't know what this is! This could be a coincidence." Maggie tried. But Alex was having none of it. "You have to be blind not to see this, Maggie! He connects all of the pieces that we had before. God, how could we not have seen it?! He and Barclay worked together, and-…"
"You're making assumptions!" Maggie yelled, raising her voice and jumping up. "You're jumping to conclusions! Before you go and arrest one of the most influential people in National City with an army of lawyers, can you at least consider that maybe there's another way this all fits together?!"
"Uh… guys?" Winn broke the tension. "I… hacked into Lyons Incorporated's intranet, and I found the site that Barclay was guarding. It's a factory that was deactivated a few years ago, but is still owned by the company."
He turned the laptop so everybody could see the map on the screen. "… Barclay was the only one that was ever put on security duty there."
The room went dead quiet.
Kingswood and 22nd.
The old factory building.
Maggie felt herself sink back into her seat as she felt four pairs of eyes land on her.