When Maggie woke up, she found herself lying on something soft. The last she remembered was passing out on the ground, after…
Joan. Alex.
She shot up, a gasp dying on her lips, before she realized where she was.
On her couch, at her apartment.
With two concerned faces hovering over her.
"It's okay, it's okay…" Alex. She was sitting next to Maggie, her hands on both of the detective's shoulders to prevent her from moving around too much.
Maggie grunted; her headache had returned.
The other person in the room, that she now identified as Kara, crossed her arms as she stood next to the coffee table. "Do you know what happened?"
"Kara, easy." Alex shook her head at her sister, as she turned back to Maggie. "Maggie, baby, can you hear me?"
Maggie nodded weakly, laying back down before the throbbing in her head got worse. She brought a hand to her forehead. "Ughh…"
"What hurts?" Alex asked again, bringing a hand up to cup Maggie's cheek. "Is it your head?"
"Mmhm." Maggie confirmed her statement with a groan. "Hurts."
"I'll get something." Kara offered, as she rushed to the bathroom. Alex's other hand went to bring Maggie's up to her face to kiss it. "You're okay, Mags."
"I- I don't…"
"Shhh. Don't worry." Alex smiled weakly. "Take your time."
"What… happened?" Maggie managed to stammer, as Kara came back into the living room with a packet of Advil and a glass of tap water. She gave them both to Alex, allowing her sister to bring the pill up to Maggie's mouth and help her drink.
"I found you by the side of the road." She cleared her throat, looking at Maggie. "I was flying to the DEO when I heard your breathing, you were having a panic attack. I brought you here."
"Thanks, Kara." Maggie managed a lopsided smile.
Alex helped her take another sip of the glass, before easing her back down onto the pillows. When Kara saw that the situation was under control, she whispered something Maggie couldn't understand into Alex's ear, and walked to the window, launching herself up into the sky.
"Al…" Maggie tried. But Alex gently took a hold of her hand, and looked her in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Maggie. I shouldn't have… I put so much pressure on you earlier. I was yelling at you, and it wasn't what you needed. I should have been there for you."
"I'm scared…" Maggie whispered, as she saw Alex's concerned gaze. "I don't know what's going on…"
Alex smiled weakly. "Why don't you start at the beginning?"
Maggie sighed.
"If I tell you the truth, will you promise me you won't go all agent-mode on me? I just… Really need my girlfriend right now, not Agent Danvers."
Alex nodded solemnly. "I promise."
No way back now.
"The murder that happened last night." Maggie swallowed thickly. "The victim was Ian Hayes."
"The detective?" Alex frowned in thought. "The one from the barbecue? The guy that took that bullet for you on your first case?"
"Yeah." Maggie nodded. "He… Apparently, he'd been working on a cold case in his free time. Four murders that happened five years ago. H-he came to me yesterday morning when I went to work-…" She tried to continue, but soon found a lump had formed in her throat at the thought of that conversation. If only she'd been there for him…
Alex gently ran her thumb over the back of her hand, indicating that she was listening. That Maggie was safe.
"… He came up to me and he told me he was being threatened, but I… I didn't believe him." Maggie finally sobbed. The tears came quickly, and Alex nodded and wrapped her up into her arms, holding her as she felt her girlfriend shake and tremble.
"It's okay… Shhh… It's okay…" Alex whispered into Maggie's ear. As the detective pulled back, Alex cupped her face in her hands again. "Maggie, listen to me. What happened was not your fault. I know how you feel, I know it's horrible. But you can't blame yourself for this."
"They pulled me off duty, Alex. I'm not allowed to come near the investigation."
Alex tilted her head in confusion. "Then why were you filling out paperwork?"
"I- I wasn't." Maggie sniffed, wiping at her face with the back of her hand. "There was- uh… There was another note near Ian's body, identical to the one he'd gotten. A-and… It had my name on it."
The agent's eyes widened. "Maggie, are you… Are you being threatened?"
"If the murderer follows their schedule, I have until Friday to find him, or I'm killed and left in an alley, Alex…" Another sob. "I didn't… I didn't want to tell you, but I'm…" She cut herself off.
"Oh god…" Alex wrapped Maggie up into her arms again, now finally understanding the pressure she'd been under for the past 24 hours. God, of course. How could she have been so blind. Maggie had been terrified, and the only thing Alex had done was yell at her more, and give her ridiculous ultimatums.
"You're not alone." Alex shook her head. "Mags, I'm here. And Kara, and the DEO… We'll help. We'll get that bastard before he even manages to look at you the wrong way."
"Al, Ian's wife was murdered too." Maggie sobbed. "I can't let you help me, if he comes for you… I- oh God, I can't do this…" She felt herself starting to panic again. But this time Alex was there, shifting so that she could hold Maggie closer, and looking her in the eyes. "Baby, look at me. Calm down, look, breathe. Follow my voice, alright? In… out… in…"
Maggie winced, but after about a minute, she finally managed to follow Alex's rhythm. And when she finally had her breathing under control, she felt exhausted. And the pounding in her head made everything much worse.
"I'm calling work." Alex reached for her cellphone on the coffee table. "Stay put. Get some rest. I'll handle it."
"No… No, Alex." Maggie shook her head. "No handling. Alex, you promised..."
But Alex ignored her protests, grabbing her crutch from next to the sofa and limping towards the kitchen. "Milo? I need an update on my leg…"
Maggie watched Alex's face morph into different emotions, before finally settling on a frown. "No, I need it today. Actually, I'm coming for it, so it'd better be ready in 30 minutes… Well, we'll tweak the bugs later then, I need it now. It's important, I fucking need to be able to walk around. And get J'onn, I need to speak to him."
She disconnected the call, and closed her eyes for a second, pointing her phone at Maggie. "You need to brief us on the case."
"Alex, I…" Maggie protested, before sighing. "There's nothing to brief. I don't know anything yet. I don't want the DEO, I didn't tell you because I needed your help. I told you because you deserved to know."
Alex limped back towards the couch, grunting under her breath. "I need my leg, this is ridiculous, I can't even move around..." When she finally plopped down in the chair next to the couch, she put a hand on Maggie's thigh. "Okay. You call the shots, alright? I'm here. Just… If you need an extra pair of hands… I'm not sure I can give you a pair of legs…"
Maggie smiled weakly at the joke. But Alex quickly grew serious again. "We're going to catch this bastard. With or without the NCPD."
"So… you're not mad at me?" Maggie asked in a small voice. Truth be told, she'd already accepted that Alex was going to walk out on her for lying. But as the agent rubbed her back and leaned her forehead against hers, Maggie finally felt like she was going to be alright.
"Ride or die, babe." Alex whispered.
And it was all Maggie needed, to be convinced that she'd made the right decision in telling Alex the truth.
A knock on the door made Alex pull her forehead back and get up. Maggie moved to sit upright, and leaned forward as she finally felt the painkiller starting to take effect.
Alex limped towards the door, and opened it. She didn't recognize the man standing in the doorway, but Maggie sure as hell did.
"Michael Holmes, NCPD. You must be Alexandra Danvers?"
"Yes…?" Alex frowned, glancing back to where Maggie was sitting on the couch.
Holmes glanced at Maggie, and raised a document. "We have a search warrant for this apartment."
"On what grounds?" Alex asked, still blocking the doorway for him and two uniformed officers behind him. He gave her the paper, and she read through it.
Illegally obtained case files, stolen from the evidence room.
Alex knew that she was treading on thin ice, but she narrowed her eyes at him anyway. "Why would there be stolen case files from the NCPD at our apartment, officer Holmes?"
"Detective Holmes." He corrected her with a huff. Maggie, from her spot on the couch, had trouble keeping a straight face at how much of a pain in the ass Alex was being. Though the situation was far from funny.
"We have reason to believe that your girlfriend is responsible for stealing the files."
"Why would my girlfriend, an NCPD detective like yourself, and me, an FBI agent, have any interest in stealing case files when we both know how much it sucks putting case files together, detective Holmes?"
"Enough questions. Can you step aside so we can perform the search?"
"I'm trying. I know you cops like to put your foot down, but as you can see, I'm having some trouble with that."
Holmes had the humility to look embarrassed as he now noticed Alex's stump. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I didn't… Take your time."
Alex huffed at him as she shuffled to the side, taking a seat on the couch.
Maggie knew that one of the Officers would be assigned to just looking at the two of them, to check if they would communicate, or if one of them would panic. One look at Alex confirmed that the agent realized the same thing, as she was staring ahead and rubbing at the skin below her right knee.
"Don't touch that." Maggie glared at her. "You need to let it heal."
Alex looked up at her, an angry scowl on her face. "Fucking Stevens. The next time I see him, I'm breaking his leg so he knows what it feels like."
Maggie tried her best to keep a straight face, as she statement completely confused her. But the Officer watching them seemed interested in hearing what Alex had to say, so she had to play along. She assumed Alex was up to something.
"… Babe, you know that he didn't mean to." Maggie had seen how Alex's fist had tensed up, so she assumed she wanted a fight.
She was right, apparently, as Alex growled and shot up. "Are you fucking serious? The guy fucks up, and I risk my ass saving him and get a chopped off leg in return, how the hell can you defend that ass?!"
"Hey…" Maggie stared at her, glancing at the Officers. Both of them – and Holmes – had stopped searching to stare at the unfolding scene. "Not now. Not here."
"Fuck off, Maggie." Alex got up and turned, but lost her balance upon the first step, and tumbled to the ground ungraciously. Maggie gasped and shot up from the couch, but one of the Officers was there first. "Ma'am, are you okay?"
"Alex!" Maggie kneeled next to her girlfriend, her eyes wide. "Are you okay? Al, talk to me!"
She heard Holmes crouch next to her. "Is she alright?"
"Holmes, fuck off!" Maggie yelled over her shoulder, before turning back to her distressed girlfriend. "Alex, do you need me to call an ambulance?! Did your stitches rip?!"
Holmes got up again and whispered something to the officers, who nodded and walked back to the door. He stayed behind. "Sawyer, do you need me to call a bus?"
"Just… Just…" Maggie didn't know what to do. It was obvious that Alex was in pain, as her face was stuck in a grimace and she was clutching at her leg desperately. "It's okay, Alex. You're okay, calm down…"
She turned back to Holmes, tears in her eyes. "Just search whatever the fuck you want, Mike. I didn't steal your fucking files, I have other things on my mind than beating down on my own precinct."
Holmes looked down at how Maggie had turned back to comforting a writhing Alex on the ground, and he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Sawyer. I didn't… I still want your testimony. Just… Come by when you get the chance."
After that, he walked out of the apartment, closing the door behind him. But Maggie barely heard him, as she was still too occupied with Alex's pain.
"Babe, how's the pain? Can you tell me how bad it is?"
She didn't expect her girlfriend's expression to go normal within a second, as she moved back upright. Maggie, stunned, helped her up and allowed her to lean on her as she moved Alex back to the couch, crouching down. "Are you okay?"
"Glad that's out of the way."
Maggie's eyes widened, as she realized what had happened.
Alex had faked the entire thing to get Holmes out of the apartment with his warrant.
"Jesus, Al, you're a genius." Maggie wrapped her arms around her, unable to form any other coherent thought.
When they pulled back, Alex raised an eyebrow. "Now, you'd better have a damn good explanation as to why you have stolen files here, because if I find out that you did steal them, I'm cuffing you myself."
Maggie got up and moved towards her gun safe, unlocking it and taking out the black trash bag. "These were on Ian's boat. I don't know why he had them, but it proves that he took them from the evidence room because he was onto something. Look at this one."
Maggie threw it in Alex's direction, and she opened it, her breath hitching at the realization.
"Why did he have this?!" Alex read through the Montana file with wide eyes.
The detective shrugged. "I don't know. But it has something to do with the cold case. Maybe the Magh'rah is the killer."
Alex swallowed thickly. "We need to get these files away from here before that guy comes back to break down your door."
"What do you suggest?"
"The DEO? That's a black site, they'll never get a warrant to search it."
Maggie was less than thrilled at the prospect of the DEO having their hands on the case, but it was only a matter of time until Holmes caught up with her, or some camera had picked her up sneaking around at the harbor.
So Maggie nodded. And Alex wrapped an arm around her waist, looking her in the eyes.
"Let's go get me a new leg, babe."