"Sorry! I was just… Trying to get a glimpse of your artwork, Jade." Violet chuckled nervously, closing the door immediately. "Didn't mean to barge in or spy."

"It's alright." Jade laughed, shaking her head. "No harm, no foul. Let's go back to the gallery though. My studio's a mess, I've been painting non-stop. I guess that's my way of coping."

"Yeah… It's all pretty dark stuff." Violet commented, as she looked around the paintings hanging up in the hall leading back to the gallery.

Jade nodded. "It's things that I think about. The vulnerability of the human race." She sighed. "I mean – look at what happened. Three days, and Ian, Joan and Hayden are gone…"

Violet swallowed thickly, as she reached for the glass of water Jade was holding out. She took big gulps, and downed it, before getting up. "I should get going… I just wanted to talk. But Jade – if something's up, you know where to find me, right? And we should start talking about the funerals…"

"Of course." Jade smiled sympathetically. "I'm here for you."

Violet headed to the door, when Jade stopped her one last time. "That cop… Do you know her name?"

"Sawyer… Or something. I'm going to go over to the police station first thing tomorrow to get more information."

Jade nodded once again, and watched Violet leave, before taking a deep breath and returning to the studio, closing the door behind her. "Well, that was close."

"W-what did you do to me?" Alex hissed through her teeth as she glared up at the woman. The brunette walked back to her easel, and picked up her brush.

Alex was breathing heavily. She'd tried to scream earlier. To get whoever was in the store to notice her, but she found herself unable to yell out, or make a sound above a whisper. It had to be Jade, she had some sort of control over her.

"Answer me!" Alex tried to scream, but it came out a pathetic whimper. She cursed herself for having let her guard down back at the bar – with Maggie in jail, the only hope she had was Kara. And the blonde was off doing a piece on a conference on the outskirts of the city – she wouldn't think to check up on her. Fuck.

"Alex, if you don't stop moving I'll be forced to hold you down. And that makes everything feel fake. Keep it natural, please."

Alex scoffed at the woman's nonchalance. "Look me in the eyes and tell me what you made Maggie do. Did she kill Hayden? Did you?"

"Let's say… Maggie and I have a history of… having fun little projects together. This was just us picking up where we left off."

"Why Hayden? Didn't you love him?"

"Lie back down on the ground, please."

A non-answer. Alex shook her head. "I'm not helping you do anything until I get answers!"

Jade put her brush down again with a deep sigh. "If you want answers, I'm going to have to kill you. Up to you, really. They'll never figure out it was me. And you won't remember this by morning. The only thing left…" Jade stared down at her canvas, "…will be this artwork. Centuries from now people will see it, and feel the pain that you felt right now, Alex. Isn't that magical?"

She didn't wait for Alex's sarcastic response. Instead, she made eye-contact with the woman, and smiled. "Lie down. Now."

Alex found herself complying before she could stop her own body. As her back hit the ground, she looked up at Jade. "You're sick, do you know that?"

"I am a genius." Jade replied, tilting her head sideways to study her work. "I love it. Your face is so… intricate. You've seen so much in so little time."

She put the canvas to the side, against the wall, and grabbed a new, blank one. Alex craned her neck to see the painting she just finished.

She had to give the alien credit – it was hyper-realistic. It showed her, looking up, with glassy and teary eyes. And for a second, she could see the pain reflected in her own eyes, like looking in a mirror. It was disturbing, to say the least.

"For the next one, I need you to sit." Jade stated, as she reached for a wooden chair and put it in front of Alex.

She was so close…

Alex moved forward, pushing both of her legs in Jade's direction, and effectively hitting her knees, causing the brunette woman to lose her balance and fall to the ground. Alex jumped up, and elbowed her in the face, before hopping towards the door.

"STOP!" She heard behind her.

Alex froze involuntarily.

Winn hadn't mentioned that the toxin was mind-controlling.

"Come here, and sit on the chair." Jade ordered, sounding more irritated than angry. "You law enforcement people need to learn to follow orders."

When Alex was back in the chair, Jade walked up to her, and undid the ties around her hands and feet. "Now, I assume you're going to behave?"

Alex stayed silent.

"Good." Jade continued anyway. "Now sit still. I want this to be perfect."

The agent wondered if anybody even knew that she was gone.

It was after midnight, and the lights in the police station were out. Maggie knew where she was. She'd been in the precinct many times working on cases. But never had she seen the inside of the jail cell, and she never wanted to be here again.

Truth be told, at this point, she didn't even know what was real anymore. The flashes of last night were so incoherent, yet convinced her that she at least had something to do with the murders. But she didn't remember anything about Jade, or whether she was even there in the alley. Or why she could possibly murder Hayden.

The door opened, leaving her wincing at the sudden brightness of the fluorescent lights in the hallway. A figure stepped into the cell.

Maggie held still. She figured it was Holmes coming back to taunt her, as he'd done a few times in the past hours. If he thought she was sleeping, maybe he'd leave her alone…

"Maggie?"

It was a woman's voice. She recognized it as Violet, and turned around on the mattress to look at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I sent the guard for coffee, but we don't have much time. I went to Jade's, there's something in her art studio. She was painting another woman." Violet whispered. "… Holmes is convinced it's you, but maybe we can ask somebody else for help, to get a warrant to search the place?"

Maggie tried to think quickly. Holmes was lead investigator, so there wasn't much they could do… except go over his head. "Ask Cooper. My boss. He's been buying illegal alien drugs after hours, so maybe we can blackmail him into listening to us."

"Good thinking." Violet looked up at the sound of footsteps. "Quick, pretend you're asleep."

Maggie flipped over quickly, trying to even out her breathing, as she heard the door open once again.

"She's sleeping. I'm sorry to bother you, sir. I wasn't sure whether they were still interrogating her."

"That's alright." Came the guard's scruffy voice. "… Want me to wake her up?"

"No, thank you. It can wait until morning. Have a good evening."

Maggie heard two pairs of footsteps head out of the room. When the door closed behind them, everything went back to dark silence.

"I feel like we've really bonded, you and me. You know, it gets pretty lonely having to start your life all over again every fifty-something years. And people are dicks to painters, too. Well, it's getting better now, but back when I was this painter in the 1700s in Paris, I…"

Alex's head lolled down. She was exhausted. There was a permanent fog over her brain, and thinking straight was getting harder by the minute. Maybe the memory loss was already kicking in.

And at that point, she realized, there was no way that Jade was letting her walk after telling her all of her secrets. Within the next six hours, Alex would be dead.

She hadn't heard Jade stop talking, and watched now as she put her next painting by the other one. Another masterpiece – as cruel as it was.

"Now, for the last one… take off your clothes."

"M-my…?"

"You heard me, Alex. I want to see all of you."

Alex shook her head slowly, trying to push the fog away. "N-no. I'm not…"

"Why? Are you embarrassed? It's fine, Alex. I'm married. Oh, well, not anymore, I guess." Jade smiled weakly. "Now, do it."

Alex took a shaky breath, as she reached for her shirt and pulled it over her head, dropping it to the floor. She unbuttoned her pants, and felt a tear slide down her cheek as she pulled them down.

"Oh, heavy machinery." Jade commented, as she stared down at Alex's legs.

Alex ignored the comment, and threw her pants next to her shirt, taking a seat now dressed only in her underwear. "Satisfied?"

"Not quite." Jade raised an eyebrow.

For a second, Alex realized that she was actually going to have to strip naked in front of this psychopathic alien shapeshifter.

But then, Jade dropped the four words that were even worse.

"Take off your leg."

Alex started sobbing quietly as she reached for her knee, and slowly pushed the prosthetic out of its socket. For the first time, she stared down again at her missing leg as the tears dripped onto her thighs.

The reminder of what had been taken from her. Of the normal life she would never lead again.

"Good. There we go. You're gorgeous." Jade encouraged, but it only made Alex feel sick to her stomach. She had to look away. Anywhere but the stump.

She'd never felt more dirty and vulnerable in her life. And she couldn't help the thick tears, or the gasped sobs that left her now. Even with her underwear still on, she felt naked.

"Yes… perfect." She heard Jade whisper as the woman got to work on her canvas.

Alex bowed her head, and closed her eyes, tears slipping through them, and dripping onto the floor underneath her.