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sapphicscholar · 6 years

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Chapter Text:

By that afternoon, the Metropolis branch of the consulting firm had been transformed. Alex’s lab’s cupboards had been filled, courtesy of a few overnight orders, and the offices, while not bustling yet, filled with a steady stream of people—all thanks to Kate’s quick reassignment of some of her employees not on missions, along with a few of the new recruits who were there to act as new hires—some fresh blood for the company. They’d outfitted the offices with enough technology to ensure that anyone from Cadmus who came or went would be recorded.

Maggie came in early that morning and forced herself to pull out the best that Maria’s wardrobe had to offer. Over the past couple of weeks with Alex, she’d let herself relax—not enough to compromise her identity, but enough that she’d ditched Maria’s stilettos and silk for skinny jeans and boots. Today, though, she and Alex decided that Sam needed to see them as exactly the kind of people she thought she knew. So Maggie spent the morning cursing under her breath as she snagged a first pair of pantyhose, tripped while trying to multitask in Louboutins, and shivered when the first gust of late autumn air sent a chill across her bare legs on her walk to the car.

Meanwhile Alex had let herself get comfortable in the black jeans and hoodies she’d found filling Cat’s closet that first day and pumped up her bike tires, pulling on some of the warmer winter attire J’onn had mailed to her before throwing her bike up on her shoulder and trudging down the stairs and out into the cold air. When she found herself winded halfway to work, she made a mental note to do a better job of keeping up with her fitness. Apparently no amount of sex quite made up for the rigors of sparring back at the DEO and long runs in a city where the weather was at least considerate enough to stay above 50.

By lunch, Alex had managed to get a few formulas from Cat’s past projects scratched across whiteboards and had a couple of tests running that she hoped would distract Sam from the distinct lack of new research happening.

“Cat, wanna come meet the new hires?” Maggie called from the doorway of Alex’s lab. Sure, Cat wouldn’t be a formal employee, even if this were a real business, but she figured even consultants catering to the rich and bigoted would eventually want to know who the random woman in Vans and sweatshirts roaming their office hallways and lurking by the coffee maker was.

“Oh, sure,” Alex answered with a shrug, making sure everything was okay before closing her door and locking it with a satisfying click. “I just have to be back for the meeting at 2.”

“Don’t worry—this is a get-to-know-you lunch only; I’m not about to turn it into some kind of orientation where suddenly everyone is being asked to team up with people they’ve never met and do trust falls.”

Alex let out a small snort of amusement, shaking her head at the image of Maggie turning into some peppy corporate leader. “I don’t think doing trust falls in those shoes would really be the best idea.”

“Mm, probably right. I can think of other games you and I could play in them though,” Maggie added, her voice a low purr as she moved her mouth up to Alex’s ear.

“We’re at work,” Alex hissed.

“I’m the boss!”

“God, the power’s already going to your head,” Alex teased.

“You like it when I have the power.”

Alex’s cheeks flushed a pale pink even as she rolled her eyes. Before she could think of some witty retort, Maggie guided her into the conference room, settling into a seat at the head of the table and motioning for Alex to take the seat next to her. Once a few more people trickled in, Maggie cleared her throat. “Welcome to the Metropolis branch of Bosch Consulting—soon to be Bosch & Sterling! For those of you coming from National City, we’re so glad you accepted the offer to come help us build this new location from the ground up. And for our new hires, welcome! I’m excited to see what fresh new ideas you can bring to the table!” Maggie took a deep breath, having about exhausted her reserve of faux-corporate enthusiasm already. “I thought we could use this lunch as a chance to get to know one another a little better. I ordered sandwiches and drinks for everyone, so eat up and enjoy.”

As everyone swarmed over to the table with the free food—a draw no matter how old people were—Maggie slumped down into her chair. “This is the worst,” she muttered to Alex, careful to keep her voice low even though everyone here knew it wasn’t a real job.

“Just a few more hours before I can go home and make your day a little better.”

“You have to go to the bar from here—don’t get my hopes up,” Maggie grumbled.

“Well, if you can wait up…”

“It’s a Friday—I’d have to wait up until 2 or 3 in the morning.”

“You know I’d make it worth your while…”

“Really? You wouldn’t just pass out in bed while we were making out…again?”

“It happened once,” Alex huffed, straightening back up as some of the employees made their way back to the table. “I’m gonna go grab a sandwich. Want something?”

“I’ll come get it.”

Over lunch, Maggie forced herself to branch out and talk to some of the employees about their plans for setting up operations in Metropolis. They brainstormed names of possible new clients and ways of recruiting them. At one point she moved down the table to talk PR with some of the younger folks, asking if they’d be up for some community engagement. Even if the consulting firm would mysteriously disappear soon enough, it couldn’t hurt to cement their image as an institution really attempting to settle into the neighborhood and attract the attention of Metropolis’ wealthiest elite.

Around 1:30, Alex tapped Maggie on the arm. “I’m gonna head back to the lab, get a few things straightened up.”

“Perfect, I’ll meet Sam when she gets here, give her a little tour of the space if she wants it, then bring her down to you.”

“Sounds good.”

Once Alex got back to her lab, she tried to calm her nerves by methodically checking each of her cupboards against the checklists and guides she had prepared, having even gone so far as to channel her inner Kara and laminate them. She paced back and forth, trying not to dwell on what it might mean that Sam had texted her immediately after her moved meeting with Lillian. No matter how often Maggie tried to reassure her that they were making the best of the situation by staying calm and in character, she couldn’t help but feel her anxiety spike, fear twisting in her gut whenever Lillian was involved. She knew all of the problems she had wrought in National City, and she’d be damned if Kara were harmed again—especially if it was her fault.

Down the hall, Maggie kept an eye trained on the security camera pointed at the front entrance to the building, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for Sam’s arrival. As much as she insisted to Alex that everything was fine, she knew neither of them quite believed it, but she had long ago accepted a constant feeling of creeping unease as part of the job. Only, this time, no matter how wary she was of Lillian, she couldn’t help but feel more confident. She had a brilliant, capable agent by her side, and no matter how tough and shrewd Cadmus was, she couldn’t help but trust that together, they were better.

As soon as she saw Sam striding toward the front door, she minimized the security feed and pulled back up her email on one monitor and a spreadsheet of potential clients in Metropolis on another. After a few minutes, her secretary’s voice came over the intercom: “Ms. Sterling? There’s a Ms. Wheeler here to see you and Ms. Sullivan.”

“I’ll be right out.” With a deep breath, Maggie straightened her suit jacket, plastered a friendly enough smile on her face, and strode out to greet Sam.

“Maria,” Sam called out. “The office looks wonderful. It’s nice to see what you’ve done with the place.”

Maggie smiled, remembering just how different Sam’s public persona could be. “It’s great to see you, Sam. How about a quick tour before we go see Cat? I’m sure she’d love a couple of extra minutes alone in her lab—you know how scientist types can get!”

Sam forced a smile, forced herself not to point out that she’d already been waiting an exceptionally long time to see any progress from Cat and that she reported to someone who thought waiting was an offense worthy of punishment by execution. “Of course, though I am in a bit of a hurry today.”

“Sure, sure,” Maggie agreed, guiding Sam to the far end of the offices as she went over the basics, introducing her to a few of the agents she had worked with at Kane Agencies long enough to know that they would do a good job of keeping their covers. Sam was duly impressed with the staff and how knowledgeable they all seemed to be about the area already, complimenting Maria on finding them and getting them trained and up to speed in such a timely manner.

Eventually Maggie figured she could put off the inevitable no longer and led Sam down to Alex’s lab. “Cat?” Maggie called out, finding Alex hunched over a microscope and looking fairly adorable in the dorkiest of ways.

“Hey,” Alex said, looking up and blinking a few times as her vision readjusted. “Good to see you, Sam. How was your week?”

“Oh, not particularly eventful,” Sam lied. “And yours?”

“Lots of work getting the lab set up—finally feel like I’m settling in, though.”

“We managed to squeeze in a few nights out for us too, babe,” Maggie added with an ostentatious wink, figuring they should keep their cover secure on all accounts. “Now, should I leave you two to it? Or did you have questions about funding? I’m happy to be as supportive as I can, but if you’ll need funding, any and all projects will need to be run through me first—I’ll need to have some justifications, at least on paper, for why company funds are being used.”

“There will be no need for that. As much as we appreciate your generosity in giving Cat space and equipment, I come bearing the rest that she’ll need. Of course, any time not spent on these projects can be used however you see fit—or whatever your personal arrangement is,” Sam clarified.

Maggie nodded, wondering at what point these suggested projects had become orders. “Well, call if you need anything.”

Once Maggie left, Sam pulled out one of the lab stools and sat down, setting a small binder Lillian had given her at their meeting the night before on the table. “Now, of course you’ll have freedom to choose from these projects, but I thought, based on your previous work, these ones might be of particular interest to you.”

“Great.” Alex forced herself to smile as Sam slid the binder down to her. She flipped through, while Sam went through them.

“Ah, Project Medusa,” Sam remarked, looking over Alex’s shoulder at the page where she had stopped. “I remember you mentioning something about bioengineering, so this might be right up your alley. Of course, some chemistry will be needed as well—we’ll need to synthesize Isotope 454.”

“What for?” Alex asked, hoping she sounded more curious than upset. Skimming through the page, she could tell it was a plan some kind of airborne pathogen, though she didn’t have time for a thorough read with Sam hovering.

“Unfortunately the compound some of our other scientists have been developing can’t be distributed long-range as is, but this Isotope would function as a dispersal agent,” Sam answered, reciting what she remembered of Lillian’s all too brief descriptions.

“And Project Hydra?” Alex wondered who the former Classics major was working for Cadmus.

Sam bit back her own reaction—it was one thing to control the alien menace, to wipe them out, but she knew Lillian intended for this to be used on humans—specifically on Cadmus agents. Affecting an air of nonchalance, Sam shrugged. “It’s a type of microbe that we’d like to see introduced into…sometimes inhospitable environments. As it stands, it doesn’t reproduce quickly enough to stay viable.”

“Viable for…?” Alex trailed off, looking expectantly back at Sam. This one had almost no information about project aims.

Mind control, Sam thought. A way for Lillian to control her agents, even killing them, from a distance. “Life in human hosts,” she answered simply.

Alex barely repressed a shudder, wondering why Cadmus would need something to reproduce quickly enough to, she assumed, colonize a living host. “Mm, I don’t know that’s exactly my area of expertise…”

Nodding, Sam flipped the page, glad to see that Alex seemed to have mimicked her own affected apathy to the project. “Next up is Project Helios. We’re hoping to create a substance that could absorb vast quantities of heat and energy.”

Alex nodded, making a mental note to come back to that project. None of the projects were things she wanted to hand over to Cadmus, but something defensive was far preferable to a weapon, especially to some of the ones she skimmed past—much of it clearly appropriated alien technology, and a few pages that seemed devoted to different agents of mind control, whether they were the microbes or synthetic hormones meant to mimic the body’s fear response, among others.

Noting how interested Cat seemed to be in the binder, Sam cleared her throat, drawing the woman’s attention back to her. “It looks like something’s caught your fancy.”

“Oh plenty,” Alex replied. And it was true enough—J’onn would definitely be getting briefed on all of it once they could get a secure line.

“Now, we’ll supply you with whatever you need, but I’ll need to know which projects you plan to start with.”

“Ah, right. Project Helios, for sure,” Alex began, figuring that would be her best bet for something she could show demonstrable progress on without having to worry too much about actively harming the alien populace. Sam nodded and made a quick note before looking back up at her. “Um, let’s see…Project Proteus sounds interesting.” In fact it sounded absolutely horrifying, taking White Martian stem cells and finding a way to harness their mutability and, presumably, weaponize it.

“Anything else?”

“What about the synthetic kryptonite?” Alex had absolutely no desire to perfect it, but she would do anything to get her hands on the research Cadmus already had. If she could introduce a flaw—something that Kara and Clark could be ready to combat before Cadmus even got it out in the streets…

“A fitting choice for this city,” Sam remarked. “I’ll have the materials you’ll need and the research we have delivered here Monday morning. If you need anything—materials, money, assistance—just say the word.” The assumption of a show of good faith, of progress being made and deliverables being produced, went unstated.

“Thank you.”

“Anything for the cause, right?”

Alex gulped and nodded, hoping she was just letting her imagination run wild, conjuring up the look of suspicion she swore she caught in Sam’s expression. “Everything for the greater good.”

#undercover(s)#fanfic #spy au #sanvers #alex x maggie #alex danvers #maggie sawyer #ofc #ao3feed

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