CW for canon typical violence. I’ll be off with family for the next several days, so I’m posting this update a little early. It’s nice and long - hope you enjoy! Chapter Text: “Ready to avenge Jocelyn’s death?” Maggie asked. “What are you talking about?” Sam growled, stepping out her front door and shutting it carefully behind her. “You know as well as I do what it means.” “Did Lillian send you? You and your girlfriend feeding her information now?” “Not even close,” Maggie scoffed, letting out a bark of a laugh. “Look, you’re coming with me no matter what. So there’s only one real question left: do you want to help bring down the woman that you know—I know you know deep down—killed your wife?” The way Sam lunged at her, the fact that she was pressed up against the brick wall of Sam’s house with a hand hard against her throat, barely fazed Maggie; she’d dealt with worse. “You can’t know that. Superman killed her.” “Yeah…found some old footage—the way she died? None of it looks like Superman’s doing. But it looks an awful lot like what happens to organisms infected with that early prototype of Project Hydra. Ringing any bells?” Maggie taunted, too far gone to listen to her own self-preservation instincts. “Fuck you.” “I’m offering you the choice one more time. Come with me and see just a little bit of justice done. Or don’t. You’ll still come with me, of course, just without any memories of doing an ounce of good in this world to sustain you while you rot behind bars for domestic terrorism. Or maybe intergalactic terrorism if some of these leads pan out… You wouldn’t believe what Lillian’s gotten up to using your name…” Maggie had their positions reversed and Sam face first against the rough brick before she could think to hurt Maggie in any real way. “Who are you?” Sam growled. “The woman who’s about to put Lillian away once and for all.” She felt the moment Sam’s muscles relaxed ever so slightly, the moment she stopped fighting her grip with all her strength. “I want a deal.” “I imagine so. Your little friend Victor already spilled every dark secret he knew, though, so you’ll have to dig deep.” “What do you mean?” “You remember Officer Haught, don’t you? Cute redhead, hung out at the bar you frequented? Well, seems Victor got a little too friendly chatting with the bartender…ya know, the fine officer’s girlfriend. Said just enough to warrant an arrest, and then he cracked just like that,” Maggie finished, snapping her fingers, a smirk playing about her mouth. “Maybe I don’t have many secrets left you don’t already know from Victor and your little girlfriend,”—Maggie winced at the term, biting back her emotions at the glimmer of suspicion in Sam’s eyes—“but I can help in ways you can’t even imagine. I know how Lillian thinks. I know what it’s like to go up against her in a fight, and you know as well as I do she doesn’t fight fair. You’ll need someone on your side who won’t either.” “I’m listening,” Maggie said, her voice low and her words measured. “If I help you bring her down, you don’t go near Tasha. She doesn’t get prosecuted—now or in the future. Her name isn’t dragged through the press. She’s safe.” “Wait, what?” “You heard me. If you want my help, Tasha walks free. This was never her fight.” Maggie considered it for a moment. Tasha had never been one of her main targets, and they didn’t have too much proof of her involvement outside of aiding and abetting. “Deal.” --- Within the hour, Sam and Maggie were sitting side-by-side in the back of the Kane Agencies helicopter soaring fast enough that even Maggie felt a little unwell. After years in the military, Sam looked relatively at ease. Or as at ease as could be expected when she’d been greeted with a subdermal tracker being shoved into her shoulder and handcuffs being slapped on that wouldn’t come off until they got to the long abandoned factory down at the port where their intel indicated Lillian should be. Sam had cooperated, given them as much information as she had about Project Medusa—an alien virus designed to wipe out almost every species living on earth—and Kane Agencies was able to confirm Sam’s suspicion that Supergirl was not only powerless, having solar flared thanks to Project Helios, but had also been taken hostage. “So where’s your girlfriend?” Sam asked, dropping her head back to rest against the padded wall of the helicopter. “None of your business,” Maggie snarled. “Does she know you’re not Maria?” “You don’t even know whether or not I’m Maria.” “You’re not.” Maggie just shrugged. “They called you Sawyer.” “And?” “So Cat—you already arrest her? What’d you do, cuff her while she slept?” “It’s not like that.” “So she’s on your side?” “I don’t know, okay!” Maggie snapped, rubbing at her temples as she dropped her head into her hands, willing the pulsing tension headache that had been building all day to disappear. “Interesting,” Sam mused. “Think we’ll see her at the raid?” “Probably,” Maggie admitted, figuring there was no use hiding the information now that her cover was blown and Sam was as close to in custody as she would be until the fight was over. “But she’s not going with you.” “No…she’s probably already there.” A flicker of something like guilt, something like pain, flashed across Sam’s features before she schooled her expression back into one of indifference. “Better hope she’s still alive.” Maggie just gritted her teeth, refusing to give Sam the satisfaction of seeing that she’d made her worry, though she called up to the front and asked if they could fly any faster, feeling a sense of satisfaction when they lurched forward. --- “Danvers,” J’onn snapped, stepping in front of her to block her path. “You are not going in like this.” “Like hell I’m not,” Alex growled, pushing her way past and grabbing yet another weapon to strap to herself. “I am your superior officer, Agent.” J’onn rarely pulled rank, and it drew Alex’s full attention to him for a moment. “You go storming in, guns blazing and emotions high, you won’t leave alive, and that’s a guarantee. You think Kara would be proud of that? If she makes it, but you don’t, do you really think she could live with herself?” “She always knew it could end that way—will end that way, even if I live to 90.” “Not like this, Alex.” His voice was softer now. “We’ll get a team together, go in with our wits about us. Lillian isn’t going to kill her hostage before she’s put her plan into effect. She wants everything to work exactly the way she planned it.” “How can you know that?” “If your sister has taught me anything, it’s that sometimes you have to believe, to hope. And, dammit, Alex, I’m giving us the best shot we have.” Alex nodded, swallowing harshly. “I get to pick my team.” “I expected nothing less.” “Lucy’s back, right?” “She is.” “And I want Vasquez to have eyes on the team at all times.” “Of course. And I’ll be right beside you.” “What? No,” Alex scoffed, snapping out of her single-minded focus at that. “Medusa will kill you, J’onn.” “You were ready to die to save Kara.” “That’s different.” “How?” “I…I’m human! Death is—it’s something I’m always prepared for, like it or not. You two—you can do so much more good here than I ever could. You should have so many more years, centuries, in front of you.” “I resigned myself to dying many lifetimes ago, Alex. I let one family die; I won’t let it happen to another—not without fighting right there beside my girls.” Choking back a sob, Alex wiped at her eyes, desperately trying to drive away images of J’onn and Kara’s lifeless bodies, followed by a vivid memory of the stricken look in Maggie’s eyes when she left, guilt gnawing at Alex at the thought that she might have doomed her too by deserting her. --- That night, Maggie crept through the alleyway, a gun pointed at Sam’s back and a team of operatives behind her. She wondered if Alex knew she was coming, wondered if Alex would even realize it was her with the helmet and the tactical gear. The thought that it might already be too late for Alex to know or realize anything was one she couldn’t entertain right now, couldn’t even allow space to in her head. It wasn’t until she spotted the DEO team assembled, until she saw Alex’s telltale profile, that she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. The anger at the woman for leaving didn’t dissipate, but it barely seemed to matter in the face of overwhelming relief. --- “Kane Agencies is here now, ma’am,” one of the newer agents informed Alex, stepping back to let her see the newest arrivals. She glowered at the sight of Sam. “What the hell is she doing here?” Alex demanded, barking at anyone in the Kane group who would listen. Pulling off her helmet, Maggie glared up at her. “She’s here to fight.” “You can’t know that. I want her gone.” “That’s not your call to make,” Maggie growled. “She’ll have an agent with her at all times.” “Oh really? Who’s that?” “Me.” Grabbing one of her own agents to keep a gun trained on Sam, Alex dragged Maggie a few steps away, hissing at her: “What the hell? Do you want to turn this into a suicide mission?” “Oh, I don’t know, I think you were just fine making it a solo suicide mission this morning.” “Mags—” “Just stop, Danvers. I don’t want to hear it.” “You don’t know that she won’t double-cross you.” “Yeah, it’s pretty fucking obvious I don’t have the best taste in partners, but we don’t have a choice right now, and she’s the best hope we’ve got for understanding how Lillian works.” Swallowing harshly and trying to fight the wave of shame and guilt she felt, Alex nodded head once. “Be safe. Please.” --- Even though it was clear Cadmus wasn’t remotely prepared for a strike team as large as their combined forces, they were ready for interference, and Alex found herself falling into soldier mode immediately as soon as the first round of guards came at them. She had hoped to make it further into the factory before alerting everyone to their presence, but there were at least enough of them that they could split up and cover the ground quickly. Within minutes, they had neutralized the first round of guards, and the ones who weren’t dead were quickly zip-tied, disarmed, and dragged out to the waiting vans for transport back to the DEO’s holding cells until they had their full case together. --- Maggie and Sam swept down one of the side corridors, another pair of agents in front of them clearing rooms as they went. “If there’s an upstairs, Lillian will be there,” Sam muttered, trying to get a sense of the building’s layout. “She’ll want to know what’s going on without being in the fight yet.” “We’re looking for stairs, ladders, half-decks,” Maggie ordered into her earpiece, waiting for any response about possible locations. As they cleared the last room of the corridor, finding nothing but dead ends and booby traps, Kate radioed in: “Southwest corner of the building—there’s a stairwell.” “On it,” Maggie replied, turning to Sam. “Show time.” --- “Fuck,” Alex gritted out, managing to get off a shot despite the searing pain in her leg from where she’d been struck by some sort of weapon—definitely not human in origin—that left what felt like scorch marks across her skin. “Fall back, Danvers!” J’onn ordered, stepping up to take point in the attack, while Lucy drew up to his six. “Like hell.” She crouched into a more defensive position, though, and waited until a round of deadly fire from Lucy and J’onn cleared the room. Taking the moment of calm within the storm to assess her wound, Alex pulled out her flashlight and inspected the newly exposed flesh. “Surface level,” she deemed it. With a bit of gauze and a strip of fabric in place, she nodded for them to continue, and for once J’onn let her have it without objection. --- Peering around the doorway from the back stairwell, Maggie squinted, trying to make out anyone in the darkness. “The end there,” Sam whispered, gesturing to where the hallway split off in two directions. Figuring she’d have to trust Sam and hoping like hell it wasn’t a mistake, Maggie nodded and followed her lead, moving stealthily down the corridor until they got to the corner. “My, my, what have we here?” came Lillian’s voice. --- “Kara!” Alex gasped, rushing toward the hospital bed where her sister was strapped down, her skin deathly pale and her breathing shallow. Pulling out her knife, Alex made quick work of the thick straps, freeing Kara’s hands, then her legs. “You’re gonna be okay, you’ll be just fine,” Alex whispered. “She will be,” J’onn insisted, radioing over to Lucy, who had teamed up with another agent to cover for them, to tell her that they’d found Supergirl. Assessing their surroundings, J’onn gestured to what looked like a makeshift lab. “Alex, look.” Forcing herself to look away from Kara, Alex glanced around the room. “Is that…?” J’onn nodded, prodding at what looked like a rocket launcher. He tried prying it free only to pull back when he felt the way it shuddered, as though the whole thing were unstable. While Alex assessed Kara’s vitals, he called over to Vasquez, relaying information about what they’d found until she had a tentative report. “It’s unstable,” J’onn informed Alex. “The isotope Cadmus used to make the virus airborne—it’s not quite stable. I worry…I worry that if I just rip it open, I could kill us all.” Taking in all the information, Alex gritted her teeth, a look of determination hardening on her features. “Get her out of here,” she ordered, not caring about the chain of command, not caring that J’onn was her director, not caring that it wasn’t her place to make demands. “We have a whole team of agents and doctors here for medical evac, Agent.” “J’onn,” Alex said, her voice thick with emotion as she looked down at Kara’s nearly lifeless form, as she looked at the rocket filled with a kind of poison that would kill J’onn before she could do a thing. “Please. Please, just fly her back to the DEO and stay with her. Stay safe. Keep her safe. And if I—if—tell her I love her, okay?” J’onn looked like he wanted to fight her on it, but eventually he dipped his head in agreement. “I’ll see you back at the DEO, Agent. Consider that an order.” “Yes, sir.” The second J’onn had Kara in his arms, Alex turned back to the task at hand, taking a deep breath before looking back at the dispersal mechanism. “Vasquez,” she called through the radio.” “Yes, ma’am?” “I need all the intel you have. Now.” --- “Such loyal agents,” Lillian scoffed, looking at the two women standing before her. “I know how you treat your agents,” Sam bit back. “Doesn’t exactly inspire loyalty.” “What are you on about now?” “You know exactly what I mean, Lillian—Project Hydra.” “Ah, here I thought you were going to bring up that ancient history again… It’s good to see you finally over Jocelyn.” Sam had a gun out and trained on Lillian before Maggie could blink. “Stop!” Maggie ordered. “Lillian, tell us how to stop it. Tell us how to stop it, and maybe you won’t spend every moment until you die in a maximum security isolation cell.” “Oh, I don’t think that’s how I’ll spend the rest of my life regardless of whether or not I say a word right now.” --- Alex could feel sweat dripping down her face as they came down to the wire. She’d done what she could—done all she could do—had been talked through an experiment without having nearly the right equipment to do it—and now all they could do was wait to see if she’d been successful at neutralizing the virus. Eliza had been on the line with Vasquez, had told Alex she believed in her, told her she loved her, told her if anyone could do it, it was her. And she wanted to believe her, wanted so very much for it to be true. Because if it wasn’t—she didn’t think she could deal with the consequences. “The virus might be neutralized, but that’s still gonna blow, Agent,” came J’onn’s booming voice. “We’re evacuating now. Get out of the building.” “There’s nothing more we can do?” Alex asked, her voice strained with worry. “You’ve done all you can. Now we hope.” “Yes, sir.” With a resigned sigh and one last look at what was essentially a ticking timebomb, Alex turned on her heel and made her way quickly to the exit. Outside, she and Lucy counted out their agents, made sure all of them were accounted for before they left. “Wait. Where’s Maggie?” Alex asked, craning her neck around to look over at the Kane Agency team. “I’m sure she’s with her people,” Lucy insisted. “We need to get away from the building now.” “Get everyone loaded into the vans. I’ll be there in a second.” While Lucy began herding everyone in, Alex jogged over to the Kane Agency team. “Did Sawyer already get out?” “Not yet,” someone—she didn’t know who, didn’t care who—told her. She stopped listening after that, turned back to Lucy before they were done speaking. “I’m going back in for her.” “Alex, no—I’m not gonna let you risk your life like that.” “I have to.” “You don’t. What would you tell any one of your other agents? You’d say that they should trust their people to get out. She’s smart and well-trained—you’ve said so yourself. Trust her.” “It’s not about trusting her or not, Lucy,” Alex insisted. “It’s—I’m not abandoning her twice. I need to be there for her.” Ignoring the sound of Lucy’s calls after her, Alex forced her way back into the building, calling over her radio to get Maggie’s last known coordinates. “Southwest corner,” came Kate’s voice. “There’s a stairwell—that’s where I sent them.” “Got it, thanks.” “Be fast, Agent.” And Alex couldn’t be sure, but it sounded an awful lot like pride, like gratitude, in Kate’s tone. She took off running toward the back corner of the building, flying up the stairs two at a time and hurtling down the corridor, skidding to a halt at the sound of gunshots and a muffled cry of pain. --- “Admit it!” Sam shouted, clicking off the safety of her gun. “Admit you killed her!” “What good does it do you to know?” Lillian asked, her voice smooth and deep. “What good would it do you to kill me?” She lazily pointed her own gun over at Maggie. “An eye for an eye justice, does that help? Not that you’ll escape either, of course. The whole place is rigged with explosives set to go off when Medusa launches,” she shrugged. “No proof, no jail time,” Maggie deduced, glaring at the woman and wishing she had heat vision. “Mm, yes, look at that baseline competence.” “I need to know,” Sam insisted, edging closer to Lillian. “Will it bring you solace in your final moments alive?” Sam said nothing, just glared, her body shaking with anger. “I did what I had to do. Maybe she’d still be alive had you learned to do the same.” Maggie and Lillian both saw the moment Sam’s finger curled around the trigger. Time seemed to slow down as the first shot went off, followed closely by Lillian’s fumbling with her own gun. Before Lillian could get her shot off properly, though, Sam was on her, grunting as the bullet found a new target in her stomach. “Maggie,” Alex gasped, rushing around the corner, her heart pounding her chest as she forced herself to look at the damage. But Maggie was still standing, holding a gun and looking slightly dazed. Sam was slumped over Lillian, dark red blood pooling beneath them. “Is she…?” “I think so,” Maggie answered, helping Alex to carefully move the bodies. “Lillian’s dead,” Maggie announced, her fingers against her neck, feeling for even a weak pulse. “Sam’s alive. But I don’t know for how long.” Tearing off her outer layer, Alex balled it up and held it against Sam’s stomach, trying to stem the flow of blood. “We need to get out of here. Now.” “Let’s just call in a med evac.” “No—you don’t understand. The whole building’s about to blow. I sent most of our teams far away.” “Alex, what the fuck?” Maggie gasped, even as they stood and began shuffling down the hallway, Sam held up between the two of them. “Why did you come back?” “I left once, Maggie. I don’t ever want to make that mistake again.” “That’s touching, but stupid,” Maggie grunted, struggling to hold Sam aloft as they stumbled down the stairs. She didn’t dwell on the fact that she’d never had someone who would care enough to come back for her. Hell, her own family left her out in the cold. And here was this woman she’d known for barely a few months who was willing to throw herself into the line of fire just to make sure she made it out alive. “Oh shut up.” “We better make it through this so I can tease you about it forever.” “Forever, huh?” Alex teased, her laugh cut short as the first explosion rocked the stairwell, and they nearly fell the last few steps. “Come on,” Alex urged, trying to run as best as they could while keeping pressure on Sam’s gunshot wound. Another explosion shook the ground beneath them, sending the room a few yards in front of them and to the left up in flames. Alex choked on the smoke, trying to shield her eyes from the dust of the crumbling walls. The feeling of something larger that seemed to shake the foundations of the whole building sent a surge of adrenaline through Alex. Grabbing Sam and throwing her over her shoulder, hoping the pressure of her own body would work as a makeshift compress for a minute, Alex ordered, “Clear the way!” Understanding the urgency of the situation, Maggie charged forward, diverting them down a side hallway when it became clear that the second explosion had made it impossible to get through the main corridor, crumbling concrete strewn across the way. Her lungs burned with the sheer amount of smoke and dust she had inhaled, and her eyes were watering, but she kept running, yelling encouragements when she could finally see the entrance. Just a few feet away, Alex felt the ground seem to lurch beneath her as the rocket went off with a loud boom that echoed in her ears, followed by a series of smaller explosions that left walls crumbling all around her. Before she could give up, overwhelmed by the dead weight on her shoulder, the smoke filling her lungs and clouding her vision, the wound still burning at her thigh, and the exhaustion that seemed to seep deep into her bones, she felt a warm hand reaching out for her, curling around her waist and dragging her out of the building. --- When Alex woke up, she panicked for a moment at the heavy weight on her shoulder, flashing right back to the last moments she remembered. “Hey, you’re okay,” Kara whispered, carding her fingers through Alex’s hair and hitting the button to page one of the DEO’s doctors. “You’re good. You’re alive.” “And you? And Maggie?” “We’re both alive. She’ll be happy to see you up. She asks about you every time she wakes up.” “Oh god, how long have I been out?” “Not long—maybe ten hours.” Seeing the look of confusion on Alex’s face, Kara explained: “They gave her some pretty heavy duty painkillers…she keeps falling asleep then waking up half an hour later desperate to know where you are.” Alex felt warmth bloom within her chest as she looked to her side and saw Maggie passed out in the bed next to her, gauze wrapped around her bicep, bruises and scrapes all across her upper body, and a brace on her wrist, but otherwise looking safe—alive. “It was actually pretty cute,” Kara admitted, shrugging and nodding in Maggie’s direction. “She insisted on getting up to take your pulse herself each time. Of course, she was too drugged up on the pain medicine to actually know what she was doing, so she just put her ear to your heart until she decided she had heard it beating.” “I wish I could have seen it.” “Don’t worry—Lucy and I took a video.” “Oh shit…” “Yeah, she’s about ready to kill you—since you’re alive and all.” Alex groaned, dropping her head back to the pillow and wincing as it seemed to send pain radiating through her skull. “Got a pretty good whack to the head in there… You should probably be careful.” “And you?” “Human…for a few more days. Lots of lounging in the sunbed in order.” “I’m so sorry, Kara,” Alex apologized, tears prickling at the edge of her eyes. “I should’ve—god, I could never have forgiven myself.” “Hey, you did what you had to do. You had no way of knowing.” “But if I had…I could never have lived with myself.” “Oh,” came a quiet sigh from Alex’s side. “Maggie! You’re awake!” “She’s your sister.” “Yeah… Kara, this is Maggie. I think you met, but you’re a little loopy still,” she teased. “No, no,” Maggie insisted, her eyes slightly unfocused but her tone certain. “Your sister—she’s Supergirl.” “Congratulations, you just won yourself so much paperwork,” Kara snorted. “That’s why you left.” “I’m gonna…yeah,” Kara trailed off, motioning for the door as she quickly excused herself, figuring she could hurry the doctors up on her way out. “I’m really sorry. I just—” “I get it. I, well, I heard the speech. When it was my life on the line, you came for me too.” “Of course. I love you, Maggie.” “Totally getting soft on me,” Maggie teased, even as she felt the warm “Maybe a little.” “How are the patients doing this morning?” one of the DEO doctors asked. “Little banged up,” Alex admitted. “But alive.” “That you are, Agent Danvers.” Alex stayed fairly quiet as a team of doctors and nurses checked her vitals and Maggie’s, deeming them both okay but in need of quite a bit of rest and relaxation. “Hey, um, what about Sam?” Alex asked. Despite everything, she’d still saved Maggie’s life. J’onn strode in then, dismissing the doctors. “She didn’t make it,” he told Alex, his voice low and soothing. “Oh.” “You should be proud, though—both of you.” “She still died,” Alex scoffed. “Yes…but you bought her enough time to make her peace. She got to talk to Tasha, even told us where we could find everything she had on Lillian.” Alex nodded, careful not to shake her head too much. “Still believed in Cadmus, though?” “To her last.”
