The next morning, Alex woke up with a hollow feeling in her heart.
Her other half, her soulmate. There was a hole inside of her that Maggie had left.
She knew that Kara had been searching the entire night for her, but she hadn't found anything. A little past four in the morning, Kara had obligated Alex to rest her leg from running around all night looking. As much as Alex had protested, Kara hadn't left room for argument, and had promptly dropped her off at her apartment.
Every little thing inside reminded her of Maggie. Her shoes, her clothes, the stuff she'd moved in. Even the plates they'd had dinner on the night before… It felt like an eternity away.
And now, it seemed like she was never going to get her back. The note had been right – she was never going to see Maggie again.
All of their firsts.
She'd never even considered their first goodbye.
Her phone buzzed on her nightstand, and she reached for it lazily. Unless it was Maggie, she honestly didn't want to be bothered.
It turned out to be a text from Kara. Still nothing. Going to head to Metropolis to get Kal. He can help.
Alex threw her phone across the room in frustration, and rubbed at her eyes, already feeling new tears prick. She couldn't let whoever had done it get away with it.
Old fashioned police-work. She had to think like a cop. Make Maggie proud.
If she could pick up traffic cameras. Get to know the route Maggie and that guy took, maybe she could see what happened. It couldn't have been the guy, because he was lying in a dumpster himself. But then why…
Alex shook her head. Too many questions. Facts first, speculation later. That was rule number one.
She put on a new set of clothes, as efficient as possible with her newly acquired prosthetic, and headed to the street to hop on her bike. Someone at the DEO should be able to help her with the cameras. If she could see where Maggie last went, she could set up…
Oh god.
Alex's mouth went dry, and her head spun at the sight in front of her.
Her eyes were fixed on the small alley facing her apartment building. From where she was standing, she could make out a small, rectangular white note attached to the dumpster at the entrance.
Alex lowered her helmet, and felt her heart beat in her chest as she crossed the street and approached the narrow alley.
Please no…
She ripped the note from the dumpster and clutched it in her hands.
Alex,
Forgive me.
"What…" Alex whispered to herself. Contrary to the other notes, this one wasn't a direct threat. In fact, it didn't make any sense.
But none of it mattered the second she got a glimpse of dark hair in the dumpster in front of her.
She yanked open the lid, and for the first time since she started out in the field, she screamed.
No…
Her girlfriend, lying prone on top of the trash, eyes closed and unmoving.
She was close to hyperventilating as she instinctively pulled Maggie's motionless body out of the dumpster, and lowered her to the ground of the alley. The detective was unresponsive and pale, and Alex felt her heart break.
"Maggie… baby, please…" Alex wailed, as she cupped Maggie's face in her hands. "Please… wake up… oh god…"
It took three steadying breaths to slip into something at least slightly resembling Agent-mode, as she reached down to push three fingers into Maggie's neck, looking for a pulse. "Come on, Mags, please…"
She was sure she was going to pass out the second she felt a thumping underneath her fingers.
The instant she felt a pulse, she flipped Maggie over into a recovery position, and checked her for injures. She couldn't see any blood or wounds on her, and that comforted her at least slightly.
She scrambled for her phone, and called her sister. "K-Kara! I f-found her, please, help me, I'm in the alley next to my building."
She heard the blonde heave a shaky breath. "Is she…"
"S-she's alive, please hurry!" Alex threw the phone over her shoulder as she turned back to her girlfriend, pulling her up into her arms. "I love you… I got you, it's okay…"
A weak groan made her pull back and lower Maggie back onto the ground, just in time to see the woman's face scrunch up in pain. "Ugh…"
"I'm here, Mags. I'm here…" Alex grabbed her hand, and brought it up to her forehead.
"A-Alex?"
"Yeah." Alex smiled through tears.
"I…" Maggie winced. "W-what happened?"
"I don't know, you left the police station with a friend of yours, and you disappeared."
The detective grunted, and moved to sit up. Alex carefully held her, and watched her intensely as the disoriented woman looked around.
"Where are we?"
Alex carefully rubbed Maggie's back. "In the alley behind my apartment. Maggie, are you okay?"
"Yeah…" The detective nodded quickly. "I'm fine."
Alex wouldn't exactly call lying in a dumpster unconscious completely fine, but decided to humor the other woman, as she watched Maggie frown in confusion. "What is it?"
"I don't… I don't know how I got here."
Alex looked at her seriously. "Let's get you inside, okay? You're freezing."
Maggie got to her feet, and much to Alex's surprise, besides the slight disorientation from stirring back to consciousness, she found her to be pretty much okay.
Why would the killer abduct Maggie and kill the man, only to spare her life despite the obvious threat? None of it made sense.
Before they could exit the alley, Alex heard Kara land behind them, her eyes wide. The blonde looked as surprised to see Maggie standing upright and talking than Alex was. "Maggie!"
"Hey, Little Danvers." The detective smiled weakly, her dimples showing. "How you been?"
"I-…" Kara was taken aback by the comment. "L-looking for you, for the past twelve hours!"
"It's alright, Kara. I'm here, and I feel fine."
Kara didn't exactly seem convinced, and made eye contact with Alex quickly. A brief non-verbal communication between the two sisters – as they'd developed over the years – told Kara not to ask any further questions. It was obvious that Maggie was in some sort of shock.
Instead, Kara pulled both Maggie and Alex into her arms, and flew them straight to the DEO. For once, Alex's couch wouldn't suffice. Maggie needed to be checked over properly, preferably for traces of alien contact.
Alex immediately ran to the cabinets of the med bay and washed her hands before putting on gloves. Kara silently lowered Maggie down onto a gurney, and held her down with an arm on her shoulder.
"Kara, I'm serious. It's fine, I feel fine. Nothing hurts."
The last part was directed at Alex, but the agent knew better than to take her word for it. "Can you x-ray her?"
Kara nodded, and squinted her eyes, scanning Maggie's body. "… Nothing's broken."
"See?" Maggie tried, but Alex ignored it, and took a seat next to the gurney. "Can you take off your shirt?"
Kara excused herself quickly, not wanting to make her future sister-in-law uncomfortable. So Maggie was left with a stern looking Alex, who had a clinically distanced look on her face.
She sighed, as she moved to pull her shirt over her head, leaving her in her bra. Alex frowned as she saw that there were no bruises, cuts or scrapes on her torso anywhere.
"Pants too."
Maggie sighed, before complying. "Al, listen to me. I'm not lying to you, I'm not covering anything up. I'm just telling you – nothing's wrong."
"Alright, then, if everything's fine, what happened last night?" Alex asked, examining her girlfriend's thighs, knees and calves intensely.
"I don't know." Maggie shook her head, closing her eyes. "I only remember bits and pieces… I was… Walking out of the precinct, and Hayden was there."
"Hayden – the blonde guy?" Alex frowned, walking over to one of the cabinets to take out a vacutainer. Maggie nodded. "Yeah, Ian's oldest son. He wanted to talk to me."
Alex froze at hearing that. Ian Hayes' son?
It would explain a lot.
Something had to be wrong with that entire family, for them to be killed off one by one in such a ruthless manner...
The agent moved back and reached for Maggie's arm, tying a tourniquet around her arm. Maggie made a fist quickly – it wasn't her first rodeo, and she didn't want to stand in the way of Alex doing her work, but it still felt like overkill.
"The next thing I remember is… splatters."
Alex stopped moving the needle to look Maggie in the eyes. "Splatters?"
"Yeah…" Maggie frowned. "Something like… paint splatters, all over a wall. It was dark."
"What else do you remember?"
"Nothing… Just-…" Maggie cut herself off as her eyes widened. "Oh god…"
Alex opened her mouth to ask her if she was okay, when Maggie pulled away from the needle and Alex's gentle touch, jumping off the gurney.
"Maggie…" Alex walked around the bed to get to her, but Maggie shied away from her again. "Don't touch me! Oh god… Hayden… He's dead…"
Alex sighed sadly. "I'm sorry, Mags. I…" She honestly didn't know what to say. Maggie seemed to be the epicenter of this entire mess, and everybody that was pulled into it ended up dead.
"No…" Maggie reached for her clothes and pulled them on quickly. Alex got confused at her behavior; it was clear that Maggie remembered something crucial that scared her to death.
Alex decided to risk it, rushing forward and grabbing Maggie's wrist to prevent her from moving away. "Talk to me. Please."
Maggie looked up to meet Alex's eyes, tears in them, as she bit her bottom lip. "A-Al…"
"What is it?" Alex looked at her with soft eyes, pleading silently to let her in.
"I… I remember last night."
The agent waited for her to continue.
Maggie took a shaky breath, staring down at her trembling hands, balling them into fists.
"I… I killed Hayden, Alex. A-and I left him in that dumpster."