J'onn – as Alice – smiled weakly. "It's been a while."
The Magh'rah seemed stunned, but he nodded quickly. "Y-yeah. I missed you, Alice."
"Could you… could you not be him?" J'onn looked down. "It hurts."
It took the alien two seconds to change into a male form that Maggie didn't recognize. Mid-thirties, with dirty long, blonde hair. "Is this better?"
"Yes." J'onn took a shaky breath. "… I need your help."
Maggie watched the interaction closely, praying that her plan would work. If the Magh'rah could read minds, then he would know that something was wrong, and flip out. Now that the glass wall was lifted, he could spew acid at them and kill them in an instant.
Yet right now, all she saw in the alien's eyes was pure adoration for the woman in front of him. It was almost saddening.
"The alien that you told her about." J'onn glanced up at Maggie. "Scarlet. The drug dealer."
The Magh'rah nodded slowly.
"… It is a Ragh'tah, isn't it?"
The alien took a deep breath. "What she does is none of my business. I have no relation to her."
"The both of you have been on this planet for centuries, making your art. But she's putting everybody in National City in danger." Maggie spoke up, with crossed arms. "You need to tell us where we can find her."
"I don't know anything about her. I only know of her." The alien sneered, before he turned back to Alice. "But please… It's been so long, can't we talk about you?"
Maggie pinched the bridge of her nose. J'onn chuckled nervously. "If you tell us what we need to know, I can try and see if I can get you out of here. But only if you help."
"You're lying." Maggie raised an eyebrow, looking the alien in the eyes. She saw how tense he'd become, and involuntarily took a step back. J'onn seemed to notice Maggie's discomfort, and cleared his throat. "Please."
"I don't know anything, Alice." The alien bowed his head. "I wish I could tell you… I would tell you everything. But I don't… We don't speak."
J'onn glanced backwards, and made eye-contact with Maggie for a brief second. He is telling the truth.
Maggie looked away in defeat.
"Can I hold your hand?"
J'onn nodded, and scooted the chair closer, passing the edge where the glass barrier was before, and reaching out his hand, so that the alien could take it in his.
It was oddly touching to see his eyes light up.
"There's this auction." The alien started. "… It's a space where artists like us come together to sell our artwork to the highest bidder. I've never done it, myself, but I've heard of it, and I've been invited a few times."
"Where is it?" J'onn asked.
"I don't know. I never went, and the location changes every time. But there is one in National City every few months. Maybe you can find her there. You have to be invited, and that doesn't come cheap, but it's the only thing I can think of…"
J'onn and Maggie made eye-contact once again, as Maggie made a move towards the door.
"Y-you're leaving? Already?"
J'onn smiled. "I'll be back. I promise."
"No- stay! I- I want to talk to you without her!" He pointed at Maggie, the handcuffs clinking together.
Maggie was less than amused by the prospect of leaving J'onn alone with a dangerous alien. But to her surprise, J'onn nodded up at her. "It's okay. Just… Go take care of it."
A deep breath, and Maggie slipped out of the room, phone pressed to her ear.
"The body was human." Kara confirmed, the second she saw Maggie back at the command center of the DEO. "DNA did confirm that it was the real Jade Hayes. The autopsy currently says that she OD'ed on an unknown drug, she died somewhere last night."
"Yeah." Maggie winced at her own memory. Jade had spared her, and she'd spared Alex. There had to be a bigger plan there. "That means that the real Jade was still alive somewhere while the alien was taking her place."
Kara sighed. "All of this… Just for some paint on a canvas?"
The question was rhetorical. But Maggie had found herself wondering the same thing ever since it started.
Winn ran into the command center from a side corridor, panting, and dropped back down at his desk. "Found it! The prosthetic is in a building on Pico, downtown."
"The gallery." Maggie frowned. "Which means that she did take Alex there… Kara, could you-…"
The blonde had already launched herself from the balcony.
Maggie sighed, and turned back to Winn. "The Magh'rah told us about an auction. Alien artists that sell their things to the 1%. Can you find something?"
"If it's underground, I doubt I'll find anything here… I'll have to go dark." Winn cracked his knuckles. "It might take some time."
"That's alright. I have my own plan." Her mind was already racing with the next steps. She patted Winn on the shoulder, before walking out of the DEO.
"Maggie?!" The woman exclaimed in surprise as she watched the detective enter the room, getting up from behind her desk. "I didn't… expect you?"
"Sorry to bother you, Lena. I know that you're busy. But I need your help."
Lena nodded slowly, as she settled back down into her chair. "Sit, please. Something to drink?"
"No, I can't stay long…" Maggie took a deep breath.
Lena noticed her discomfort and frowned. "Is everything okay…?"
"I know that you like art." Maggie started, ignoring Lena's worrying. "... How did you meet Laurent?"
"Laurent – the writer?" Lena looked up as she considered. "Uh… A few years ago, we met at an event."
"An event." Maggie nodded slowly. "W-what kind of event?"
Lena chuckled dryly, now getting more and more worried about the state of her friend. "Maggie – can you tell me what's going on?"
"We need to track down a painter. Alien, female. From the same galaxy as the alien that impersonated Laurent. Apparently there are underground art auctions that only the most rich and influential people get invited to."
"Oh, yeah, those auctions." Lena nodded. "Yeah, I get invited to those, but I've never been to one. Aliens selling their artwork to snobs that can brag about it at the country club."
"Then why is it underground?"
The billionaire laughed. "Most of those creative processes aren't exactly… legal. They commit crimes to get their art made. Everyone knows, but nobody talks about it."
"Crimes? Like what?" Maggie asked. Lena raised an eyebrow. "I… think what happened to you and Alex in Montana pretty much illustrates that." She tilted her head to look at Maggie, as she watched the detective process. "Did your painter hurt other people?"
"You could say that."
"Well…" Lena got up and opened a few drawers, rummaging through until she finally found what she was looking for. "… I got an invitation about a week ago. Didn't throw it out, though I wanted to. I have more charitable investments than buying blood art."
She handed the envelope over to Maggie. "The date and location are in the letter, but the start time of the auction is always kept quiet. I can't help you with that."
Maggie nodded. "Thank you so much, Lena."
"Be safe, okay?"
Lena watched the detective leave, a concerned frown plastered on her face.
As Maggie left the L-Corp building, the envelope tucked firmly underneath her jacket, she took a moment to breathe. She had barely slept last night in the holding cell, and exhaustion was seeping in her bones. But she couldn't give up. Not now that she was so close to finally getting the alien, and leaving the whole mess behind them.
God damn it, she was going to marry Alex and spend the rest of her life together with her.
It couldn't end here. Not like this.
"So, it's like Roulette's fight club but with art?" Winn frowned, reading through the letter himself.
Maggie nodded. "It says to meet at the abandoned Diamond theatre, on the evening of the 25th."
"That's tonight..." Winn looked up from the paper. "That's probably why she started to kill again. She needed paintings to sell."
The fact that it made so much sense that that stupid reason was why she murdered the entire Hayes family in National City, made Maggie all the more angry. All that blood spilled, just for money?!
She sighed, taking the letter back. "Well, I have an invitation. Now all we need is a plan."
"I hope there's room for a +1."
Maggie turned around at the sound of the voice, and her heart fluttered when she saw Alex walk into the command center, in her black DEO gear, right leg back in place. Kara walked next to her, seemingly ready to reach for her in case Alex lost her balance. But the agent seemed hyper-focused, and Maggie could barely tell that just hours before, the woman had been crying hysterically in her bath tub, broken by whatever that alien had done to her.
This was agent-Alex. And her face showed nothing but determination.
"You're not up for field duty yet." Kara reminded Alex, as she glanced at Maggie. "I tried to tell her, but…"
Maggie chuckled weakly. Of course there was nothing stopping Alex.
Maggie wasn't even going to try.
The two of them were going to finish it.
"Tonight, at the Diamond theatre. She's going to sell her artwork to the highest bidder, and we're going to be there to shut it down."
Alex smirked. She and Maggie shared a look that said everything. For a second, the both of them could pretend that none of it had happened. That they were just heading to an undercover mission on a regular work day.
"You're going to need a cover story, a disguise, and a back-up plan." Winn summed up. "Oh, and we're going to need to figure out the time, as well. That's not on the invitation anywhere."
"It's not." Maggie smiled. "But I know when it starts."
"How?"
Maggie looked up at the ceiling, silently thanking the man once again for all he'd done. "Ian's final present."
The last code on the paper she'd found on his body.
0015.
Nine more hours.