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Chapter Text

Sometimes, things are simply out of your control. You can’t change them; you can’t bend them to your will. Today was one of those days for Susan Vasquez. It was the first time she was put in charge of the Emergency Room throughout her whole residency, and it was out of control. Time was a non-existent concept inside the walls of National City Hospital, all things happened at hyper speed. Hours passed in what felt like minutes and chaos ensued.

Susan looked around the ER only to see Winn swiftly walking towards her.

“Hey Vasquez, bed one needs a neuro consult, bed five needs cardio, and you…you need an energy drink… or better yet a vodka” Winn teased her. She was well aware she looked as awful as she felt.

“Shut up Schott, you have no idea what it’s like to be in charge of this mess” she quipped back. Winn shot her a playful look and continued, “I know girl, relax! Today is fairly peaceful compared to how it usually is around here.”

He attempted to hold back the laugh ready to spill from his mouth upon seeing the faces Susan sent his way. “Don’t forget, page cardio and neuro! And don’t die we need you down here” he remarked as he fled for another patients room.

Alex found herself lying on an on-call room bed with some case files. She had been in the library but a pack of interns were too distracting to focus. She tried the cafeteria, which proved to be too loud along with Dr. Lord pulling his normal shtick of being far too forward with her. That is how she found herself locked in this on-call room and was finally able to get a silent minute of thought. Just as she began to focus in she got paged from the ER.

“Oh you look bad… What happened to your face?” Alex questioned the moment she saw her favorite resident who was busy filing charts. “This job is going to kill me” Vasquez said not taking her eyes away from the file cabinet.

She didn’t have to be looking up to know the signature smirk Alex had directed at her, “Well at least you’re in a hospital, the morgue is right down the hall” Alex joked. Causing some surrounding nurses and residents to chuckle.

Vasquez swore she would kill her if she weren’t her superior. Susan shot a look that could kill towards her attending, then forced a smile her way with the parting words, “Bed five needs you.”

-

About an hour had passed in the ER and things had started to calm down. Vasquez had just finished entering in the last chart into the system and satisfied with herself sipped on her coffee.

Just as she was beginning to think the rest of her shift would be bearable the phone rang. Her face flushed of blood completely as she slammed the phone back down on the receiver.

“Page everyone, all personnel to the ER! I need all hands on deck! We’ve got a mass trauma coming in any minute! And alert the blood bank that we are going to need all the O-neg. they’ve got split between us and the OR’s!”

She got up and ran to get a trauma gown and gloves. Rounding the corner at the same time was Dr. Danvers both ripping their lab coats off and tied each other’s gowns.

“What’s the situation Vasquez?” Alex questioned.

“There was a shooting, twenty victims and counting on route here right now.” Vasquez relayed the information that was told to her on the phone.

Doctors all started flowing into the ER and out the door to wait for the ambulances to arrive. Within a few minutes they started flowing into the emergency bay, and were stretchered inside.

The first few were more minor injuries, and handed off to residents. Alex ran up to this next ambulance and the EMT told her this one was a cop, and she was not in good shape. She had a visible head lac, and two gunshots to the right side of her chest.  

“Vasquez you’re with me in trauma 1, Dr. Lane you too. And Schott, page Luthor and J’onn now!” Alex barked her orders while wheeling the stretcher into the room. Immediately the three doctors started to assess the extent of her injuries, Alex went straight to look at the nasty head laceration on her forehead while Lucy and Vasquez checked the rest of her body.

“She has a dislocated shoulder” Vasquez pointed out.

“There is no exit wound on these two shots on her right, and I’m assuming a few broken ribs here as well,” Dr. Lane succinctly stated.

“She needs a head CT, I want to make sure there is nothing more than just this surface wound,” Dr. Danvers said

“I think we can both agree these bullet wounds to the chest are more urgent here Danvers! She won’t make it to CT if we don’t get a chest tube in her stat. And we need a portable chest X-Ray in here now!” Lane quipped.

Dr. Vasquez was setting up for the chest tube when the patient woke up. Of course in shock she was startled and thrashed to get up and whined in pain. Alex gently held her shoulders down and saw her scared and confused eyes staring back at her. The patient stats rang out on the monitor and she was gasping for air.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Danvers, you’re at National City Hospital, you’ve been shot and you’ve got some blood in your chest cavity that is restricting your breathing. I’m sorry this is going to hurt but I need you to lay still so we can put in a tube to drain it and you should be able to breath much better after that.” Alex gently directed at her, and got a nod in response.

The woman let out a scream when they placed the tube, then was able to breath better, but the pain from her other injuries seemed to become more apparent in that moment. She reached her left arm up and grabbed Dr. Danvers wrist hard trying to relay the pain she was in.

"Hey, look at me, let’s talks a little, what's your name?" Alex said, trying to help her take her focus off the pain, "Detective Sawyer, Maggie Sawyer" she gravely chokes out.

“Well Detective, we are going to take good care of you okay?” Alex tries to comfort.

At that moment Lena and J'onn walked in "I'm sorry it took us so long, we were finishing up with some other victims" J'onn said pulling on a new pair of gloves, "Hello miss, I am Dr. J’onzz" Maggie looked at him and then back to Alex, still gripping her wrist tightly.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Luthor, I’m just going to take a quick look at you, alright?" Lena asked, she realized Maggie was afraid and clearly in shock, she tried being as careful as possible with her exam "She's got 4 broken ribs and her shoulder is completely out of place, but she's gonna need surgery anyways so I’ll fix them while you’re in there. Page me when you’re ready for me," Lena said looking at Alex, realizing the patient had grown a bond with her.

"Alright, well you’ve got a pretty good gash on your head here detective. I’m going to have head of plastics take care of that post-op so you don’t get a scar, how about I just do some butterfly tape for now Detective?” Alex tells her. Maggie gets the message and released her grip from the Doctors arm and let her tend to the wound.

“Okay, so I’m going to send you up to get a CT quickly before we take you into surgery. Is there anyone I can call before I meet you up there? Parents, family, friends?" Alex asked looking at Maggie concerned

"James Olsen, you can call him," Maggie said holding back tears from the pain she was feeling in her abdomen. "He's like my brother, call him please," she added. "Okay, I got you. I’ll be right up." Alex smiled, letting Vasquez wheel her off to CT.

-

“Where is she? Where’s Maggie?” James Olsen frantically questioned the first nurse he could find. He ran straight from CatCo. to the hospital as soon as he had gotten the call from Dr. Danvers. He had saw the news break of the shooting at work, and of course his thoughts went directly to his roommate, but always tells himself he can’t panic until there is a reason for him to when it comes to his best friend.

“Sir, I need you to calm down,” the nurse directed at him.

“Are you kidding me? My friend was in that shooting! I need to know where she is—if she’s okay!” James returned even more out of breath that when he first arrived.

“There are a lot of people here from that shooting Sir, and more still coming. I am going to need you to—“ Winn, who had been headed to the OR, saw this interaction he stepped in and interrupted politely.

“Hi Sir, sorry what did you say her name was again? Maybe I can help you out,” Winn made the motion of James to follow him down the hall

“Margaret Sawyer, she’s a detective,” James huffed out while placing his hand on his forehead in distress.

“Actually I do know who she is, she was brought in about an hour ago. They took her up to surgery a little while ago, and I can assure you she is in great hands Mr.—“ Winn tapered off waiting for the man to introduce himself.

“Olsen, James Olsen. Thank you for the information, but isn’t there anything else you can tell me? I need to know if she is going to be okay,” James said shakily

“You know what, I will go up and get and update for you Mr. Olsen. If you would just go sit in the waiting room I’ll be right back.” Winn put a hand on his shoulder as he pointed in the direction of the lobby.

About ten minutes later Winn returned with Dr. Danvers by his side to give James and update on Maggie.

"Mr. Olsen, this is Dr. Danvers, she's the neuro surgeon taking care of Detective Sawyer." Winn introduced Alex.

“How is she doctor?” James looked up at her with hopeful eyes.

"Well we still have her up in surgery, she came in with a lot of injuries. She was shot two times on the right side of her chest, a few broken ribs, shoulder dislocation, and a laceration to her head. She's stable and we're taking great care of her. Now does she have any family members? Anyone that can come and sit with you?" Alex asked concerned that if something happened James would be alone for the news.

"She only has me,” he said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

“Do you have anyone you could call?” Winn asked this time.

“Yeah…I’ll call her,” James said pulling is phone from his jacket, and leaned his elbows on his knees taking in big shaky breaths.

“I am going to head back up to the OR now Mr. Olsen, I’ll keep you updated,” Alex said comfortingly.

“How about I sit with you until someone is here?” Winn questioned and took a seat next to James

“If it’s not a bother,” James replied.

“Not at all, Mr. Olsen.” Winn smiled, and settled into his chair.

“You can call me James.” He said as he pressed the speed dial in his phone and held it to his ear. A few minutes of explaining the situation on the phone to whom Winn assumed what his girlfriend and he hung of the phone. And not even five minutes passed.

“I came as fast as I could, how is she? Are you okay?”

Chapter Text

There is that feeling, where you are surrounded by people, but still feel completely alone. That is how James felt before he moved to National City. Sure, he had his best friend, but Clark had Lois. After his ex-girlfriend had left, he felt like nothing made sense. While his career soared and his professional life flourished, he felt more lost than ever. Although it was hard, he knew that he needed to leave his life and start new. So when the photojournalists spot at CatCo. opened up he decided that was his next step.

“I came as fast as I could, how is she?” Kara asked and she pulled James into a tight hug. James moved to hug her back, but was completely lost in his thoughts.

James had moved to National City not too long ago now. He found himself a nice apartment, and put out an ad for a roommate. There were a lot of inquisitions about the space, but most that came through James knew would not be a good fit. That was all until a small but tough looking woman knocked on his door. They sat over coffee talking about their routines, and lifestyle habits. Only three minutes into that conversation James knew she was the one.

Kara rubbed her hand on James back trying to coax an answer from him, “It’s bad Kara, she is in surgery still.” He said as he put his head in his hands.

They had connected instantly. She had a very hectic professional life, but always found time in the mess that was her routine to make coffee and do her part. They quickly became close friends and every part of their lives became integrated outside of work. Maggie had become James rock in a matter of months, and he couldn’t imagine it any other way.

Winn stood then and nodded towards Kara, “She’ll be alright, Alex is taking good care of her.” He reassured. Kara smiled and mouthed a thank you in Winn’s direction. “It is all going to be okay James” Kara said, “My sister is one of the best.” At that James looked up at her confused. “What do you mean your sister?” He questioned. Winn chimed in, “Don’t you remember I introduced you to Dr. Danvers before?” Realization set in, and James looked towards Kara, “I honestly was so distracted before that I forgot your sister was a surgeon,” he told her.

Kara was the other person in James life that he connected to right away. They met at work on his first day. There was an instant spark between them, but they both have been too guarded to act on it. James has told Maggie about his feelings, about how Kara made him feel less alone.

Brought from his thoughts by Kara calling his name, James looked up to see Alex walking in their direction. “Mr. Olsen? I have an update on Detective Sawyer” Alex said as she approached giving her sister an odd look in the process. Kara gave her a look indicating they would talk later. “They are just finishing her surgery now. We were able to remove the bullets from her chest cavity and control the bleeding. She has some broken ribs and we set her dislocated shoulder. There was a complication, her lung collapsed so that will need to be monitored. She is stable now, but she will have to stay in the hospital for awhile so we can ensure her full recovery.” Alex reported.

James immediately took a deep breath and visibly calmed down from his earlier frantic state. Kara sighed and smiled up at him, “I told you she’d be okay.” “When can I see her?” James asked.

“When they are finished we’ll take her back to her room and you’ll be able to see her there.” Alex answered with a calming smile.

“Thank you, and it is nice to finally meet you Alex. I didn’t realize before that you were the famous Alex Danvers that Kara is always telling me about.” James said extending a hand out.

“It’s nice to meet you too James, sorry it’s under such unfortunate terms” Alex replied shaking his hand firmly. “I’ll come back to get you when she is back in her room” Alex finished and headed back to the operating room.

James sunk back in his chair and let out a sigh of relief, knowing that his best friend was going to be all right.

-

“Just updated the family, how is she doing?” Alex inquired holding a surgical mask over her mouth.

“All fine here,” J’onn said, “There were no re-bleeds since you left and we are ready to close.”

“Write an order to keep a close watch on her right lung, she’ll need to do some respiratory therapy to get full strength back.” Dr. Lane spoke to the OR nurse.

“Alright when Dr. Vasquez is done closing I’ll go show the family to the room.” Alex remarked and shuffled out to the scrub room.

Alex had always wanted to be a doctor, and when her father died her purpose seemed clearer than ever. She wanted to help people, save them. The one thing she hated the most was feeling helpless, and that is exactly how she had felt the day her dad died. She couldn’t save him, and she has never forgiven herself. They were in the car, arguing about something so trivial, when he took his eyes off the road for less than a second. The next thing she knew she was on a stretcher at the hospital. Alex screamed out for her dad and he called out to her just on the next stretcher over. They wheeled him off to surgery not long after, leaving Alex alone and confused with doctors poking and prodding her. When her mother and sister arrived all she remembers in the gut wrenching sound her mother made when the doctor took her out in the hall. Her father was brain dead, and it had been all of her fault. So she became a neuro surgeon so that no other person would feel how she did.

"You okay Danvers?" Lucy asked as she entered the scrub room.

"Yeah, I'm glad the patient is okay. You did a good work out there Lane." Alex answered.

"You did too," Lucy said, "Still up for our date?" she added with the flirty smirk aimed at Alex.

"I'll meet you in the on-call room in ten"Alex said as she left the scrub room.

-

Alex showed James and Kara to Maggie’s room, and explained her recovery process thoroughly. Once she was finished she left them there for some private time with

their friend.

If Alex knows one thing it’s that she doesn’t do attached, she hates losing people. She hated losing her father, hated losing her best friend in high school from a stupid fight, hated losing college friends when she got too busy. She couldn’t even fathom the thought of losing Kara; her heart sped up even at the thought.

“Hey Danvers.” Lucy said laying seductively on one of the on-call room beds.

Lucy was someone Alex felt comfortable at the thought of losing her. In the beginning they were purely colleagues, professional partners. Until one day when they had just lost a patient and had gone for some drinks. Alex had woken up the next day in Lucy’s bed, and remembered mostly everything from the previous night. After that, they had mutually agreed to keep that casual dynamic going. Over time they had grown close, having such intimate moments shared between them made it easy to learn about each other.

“Lane,” Alex quipped, as she removed her lab coat and then her dark blue scrub shirt.

Lucy had moved to National City almost a year ago now. She had been serving in the army with her father before she decided her true ambitions could not be accomplished under the commands of her father.

Lucy reached an arm up and pulled Alex right down on top of her. She captured her lips with hunger, as if she had been waiting all day for this moment. Alex reciprocated her actions ten fold, pushing Lucy down harder into the bed, sucking her bottom lip in between her teeth. Alex had just finished removing Lucy’s scrub shirt when both of their pagers beeped with a 911 for room 1002.

“That’s the Detective’s room.” Alex scrambled getting up and throwing her clothes back on as fast as she could.

-

“What do we got?” Alex ordered as she walked in the room. Vasquez was doing chest compressions and floods of crash carts and nurse staff came flooding in.

“She was fine and then her monitors started going off, what is happening?!” James desperately questioned. Kara was holding him back by the arm so the doctors could

work.

“She’s in V-TACH! We need to shock her now!” Vasquez updated Alex.

“Dr. Vasquez, move, I’ll take it from here.” Dr. Lane ordered as she ran into the room.

“Lucy?” James asked confused. What is she doing here? He thought.

“Please get him out of here,” Lucy directed towards the nurses. She looked up at Alex, the pair moving in tandem to get ready to administer the defibrillator shock.

“Push one milligram of Epi!” Dr. Lane called out, and stopped compressions when Dr. Danvers called clear. Maggie’s heart immediately resumed its normal rhythm and her blood pressure normalized. They both let out a sigh of relief, as Alex then moved to check her pupils.

“Equal and reactive” She reported.

“Let’s go talk to them,” Lucy said as her head motioned towards James and Kara.

“What happened? What was that? Dr. Danvers you said she was okay!” James shakily breathed out.

"Her body suffered a lot of trauma James. She was shot two times and then had hours of surgery. It's not uncommon for her body to respond like this. She is okay now, we're keeping a close eye on her." Lucy explained before Alex could even open her mouth.

James was still a bit shocked that Lucy was in front of him. “Can I stay with her tonight?” he asked, still looking extremely concerned.

“Yes, of course.” Lucy assured him.

When Lucy had left for National City, she hadn’t just left her job and house. She had left James, it was an extremely hard decision for her but she knew there was things James couldn’t give her. She had felt stuck with him, with her whole life really, and here in National City she had found herself and everything she had been looking for.

“Can we talk?” James spoke quietly towards Lucy.

James had been heartbroken when Lucy had told him she was leaving. He tried in every way not to lose her. Had made plans for them, a family, a house, maybe a dog too. So when she said they needed to talk, that she was leaving to discover herself and her happiness, it was a surprise for him. She never expressed any discontentment with him, so he had felt completely blindsided at the time.

"Yes, sure" she answered lowering her head and walked in front of him and lead the way to an unoccupied side room.

"How are you?" he asked, surprising her. She thought he would be angry with her, so hearing him with a soft and worried voice surprised her.

"I'm okay, I’m happy,” she answered with a small smile on her lips.

There was a familiarity between them. Feelings still slightly there under the surface,and they would always be there. They were together for years and that doesn’t ever go away.

"I’ve missed you, L" James said right after hugging the smaller girl.

"I missed you too" Lucy said letting her body relax into the hug a bit.

“I don’t know how we both ended up here, but since we are in the same city now.. We should keep in touch.” James probed cautiously.

"Sure, that sounds nice" she said smiling at him and turned to leave indicating that was all the conversation had to offer for now.

-

After every shift Alex liked to go in and check all of her patients' rooms. She wanted to make sure, with her own two eyes that they were all stable. She believed the nurses and her residents were completely capable, but something inside her doesn't let her just leave without checking for herself. She had seen three of her patients already. They were all stable. Then Alex entered the room 1002, the Detective's room. She thought about the woman lying and all she had been through and what was to come. She still managed to look beautifully peaceful through it all.

James had gone to the cafeteria, and was waiting for Kara to come back with clothes for both him and Maggie. They didn't know how long Maggie would be staying at the hospital, so they thought why not bring some of her things, so she would feel more comfortable.

"Dr. Danvers" a weak voice choked out from the other side of the bed.

"Well hello Detective, I’m surprised you remember me." Alex remarked with a playful tone, happy to see her patient awake and responsive.

"With a pretty face like yours, how could I forget?" Maggie said with a small smirk on her face.

Chapter Text

“Dr. Danvers, what a nice surprise.” Maggie said as she sat up in her hospital bed.

Maggie had been in the hospital for a week now; there have been no more post-op complications since the first day she arrived. The process of re-strengthening her lung however she is finding to be a rather unpleasant one. Every few hours doctors and nurses came in to give exams and forced her to breathe into these pressurized tubes measuring her progress. She hated hospitals and stayed away from them as much as possible, so this extended visit was one she hoped would end soon. However, her stay in ‘National City Hell’ her preferred name for this place, was made more enjoyable by flirting with one Dr. Danvers who checked in on Maggie quite a lot.

“Please, you know exactly what time we round on you. You were dying for Dr. Danvers to come, you wouldn’t shut up about it!” James teased her, and was gifted with a pillow hurled at his face.

Alex had visited room 1002 a bit more frequently than she normally would with her patients, well actually, a lot more than she normally would. She couldn’t help herself though, Maggie was different than any patient, any person, she had ever met. Maggie brought much needed light to her days, constantly making her smile and laugh in a way no one has before. When the days passed their banter grew more comfortable, Alex was definitely aware of how Maggie flirted with her, but couldn’t help herself from doing anything but enjoy it.

“Sawyer,” Alex smirked at her with soft eyes. Dr. Lane then cleared her throat ready to begin rounding.

“Okay, so who will present for Detective Sawyer’s case?” Lucy questioned to the few residents trailing behind her.

“Margaret Sawyer, 26, came in with a GSW to the chest. Developed a tension pneumothorax upon arrival, which we treated with a chest tube. Had a few broken ribs, dislocated shoulder, and a head laceration. All treated in surgery, had complications of her right lung collapsing, and runs of VTACH post-op. And has been under close observation for the past week.” Dr. Vasquez reported with a smile.

Maggie smiled up excitedly at Dr. Vasquez and added, “Anddd, something special is happening today, that you forgot to mention.”

“Oh yes, and has the potential for release today-“ Susan starts to say but interrupted by Maggie before she could finish.

“Wait, what do you mean potential? I thought I was leaving today.” Maggie asked confused and a little upset.
Dr. Lane stepped in at this point and softly smiled towards Maggie, “If you manage to complete all of your breathing exercises today to their full capacity you can be released. We want to be very cautious here because we don’t need your lung collapsing on you when you’re alone and unable to get up to call us for help.”

“Fine, deal..” Maggie grumbled wanting the conversation to be over.

-

“Alex,” Lucy called her over to the nurses’ desk after they left the Detectives room, “What was that?” she questioned.

“What do you mean?” Alex answered feigning ignorance.

“You know what Danvers.” Lucy said with a smirk, loving to see Alex get a bit embarrassed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Lucy.” Alex attempted to brush her off and looked down scribbling something in a chart.

“I’m talking about you and our patient! Her flirting and your schoolgirl smiling! I have never seen you like that before.” Lucy pushed a little more, pulling Alex’s arm so she’d turn to face her.

“What?! Yes you have!” Alex defends while her cheeks turned pink.

"Oh yeah? Enlighten me then. When was that?" Lucy mocked, receiving a blank stare in response from her friend.

Alex couldn’t come up with anything so she just kept looking down at the chart in front of her.

“I knew it!” Lucy whispered while smacking Alex on the shoulder.

“Okay, okay, stop with the smile and the face,” Alex said straightening her posture and cleared her throat. She handed off the chart in her hands to the nurse behind the desk and started to walk towards the attending’s lounge with Lucy following right behind her.

“When did this start? Do you like her back? You do know we can’t have relationships with are patients, right?” Lucy rambled question after question until Alex gave her a look.

“Is this an interrogation” Alex quipped getting a hard look in return from her friend. “Look, I know we cannot have relationships with our patients, I don’t think it’s anything more than harmless flirting.” She added so that Lucy would stop with the badgering. It seemed to do the trick, and Lucy gave her a small supportive smile.

“I’m most likely releasing her today. If she is able to finish all of her breathing exercises I don’t see any reason we should keep her here. Is there any reason you could think of to not release her?” Lucy asked.

“Nothing on my end,” Alex answered with a smirk on her lips.

“All right, then it’s settled.” Lucy said as she began unpeeling a banana.

“She’ll be excited,” Alex smiled out. Then her hands moved to grab for her pager than started to beep. “I’m needed for a consult, I’ll see you later.” She blurted out as she started to move in the direction of the E.R.

-

Maggie sat alone in her room as James had things he had to get done at work today, which Maggie insisted he go get done. She was bored herself, and mulling over when she thought her Chief would let her return to work. Maggie had asked James if he would swing past the station to bring her some case files to look over. Unfortunately James reported that her Chief directed her to focus on her recovery because she was needed back at full health.

“Hey Detective,” Dr. Vasquez greeted as she entered the room. “I’m here for your first exercise,” she said handing Maggie the incentive spirometer for her to breathe into.

“Hello, Dr. Vasquez.” Maggie groaned as she moved to sit up, “So how is your day? And that mysterious doctor you’re crushing on?” Maggie wiggled her eyebrows at her willing to try anything to stall her exam.

“She’s cool, still my boss, still unreachable.” Vasquez answered playfully. Maggie put up the tube up to her mouth but was too nervous to release her breath, afraid that the piston wouldn’t reach the top. “You do have to breath out for it to work, you know?” Vasquez teased receiving a glare from the Detective.

Maggie closed her eyes, and finally pushed all the air she had in her lungs out. It still hurt a bit, but immediately her eyes popped open when she heard it ping the top of the device.

“Great work Sawyer, now we only need you to do it once more until the final set later. Then you’ll finally be able to get out of hell,” Susan joked getting a big smile from the woman on the bed.

The prospect of being that much closer to returning to work had her smiling like a child. However, her mind also took her back to the reason she ended up in National City Hell in the first place. The mission that got her there, she could feel her heart rate increase and she started to sweat. She almost feels as if she is back in that moment, tied down on that chair with a gun pushed into the side of her head.

“C’mon Detective, we all know you’ll eventually break!” that voice echoed in her head. She remembers the copper taste from the blood that filled her mouth from the beatings she was subjected to.

“So are we going to do this the hard way, or the easy way?” He sneered at her moving close to her face. Maggie took the opportunity to spit at him.

“Okay then, lets have it your way then.” He turned and signaled to his men.

-

Alex was in the cafeteria, getting coffee before she had to start her research for a big case she had coming up. She was more distracted than normal her brain clouded with thoughts of a certain brown haired Detective. Then an unwanted presence cut through her daydreaming.

“Dr. Danvers, what a coincidence.” Maxwell Lord said sidling up next to her in the coffee line.

Dr. Lord was Alex’s boss; he was the head of the Neuro department at National City Hospital. He was in fact a brilliant surgeon, and had the ego to match. He had been pining after Alex for as long as she could remember, and she tries as hard as she can to avoid him at all costs.

“Dr. Lord,” Alex answered coldly. Thankfully her coffee was ready, and she paid the cashier and went to sit back at her table. To soon after Max came and was standing next to her chair.

“May I?” he asked pointing at the chair in front of him. She nodded at him with a purely cordial smile.

“So, Alex, how has your week been?” he questioned her.

“Same old, same old.” Alex replied attempting to make it clear she was trying to work.

“Well that’s great, I was actually wondering if you—“ Max was interrupted by Alex’s pager going off.

“Excuse me, I’ve got to go check on a patient.” Alex practically ran out of the cafeteria.

Alex sped walked to Maggie’s room, it wasn’t an urgent page but she was more than happy to have an excuse to leave her boss. She wishes she could just tell him off, but she knows that wouldn’t be doing herself any favors.

“Hey Danvers, you came fast,” Maggie welcomed giving the doctor her signature smile. Maggie really liked spending time with Alex, they clicked right away and whenever they talked hours felt like they were minutes. Once Alex spent an hour telling her all about bees, she had taken a class on them in college, and Maggie hung on her every word and by the end she was sure they were her new favorite animal.

“Well you just saved me from my boss,” Alex puffed out air and sat in the chair next to Maggie’s bed.

“The walking personification of white male privilege?” Maggie asked

“God, yes” Alex replied while rolling her eyes.

“What did he want this time?” Maggie continued.

“I think he was about to ask me out for the tenth time this month..” Alex answered while opening up her research again.

“Have you ever told him you’re gay?” Maggie chuckled.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Alex quipped giving her a playful look.

“Yeah, you’re pretty gay, he’s blind” Maggie teases her. Alex began sifting through the old case file in front of her. It was a girl that had suffered similar things that Maggie had, only difference being this patient had a large subdural hematoma.

“I passed my first set of breathing exercises today.” Maggie chimed in drawing back Alex’s attention. When she looked up, her breath was taken away from the smile the Detective had on her face, full dimples on display.

“That is great Maggie, I’m really proud of you! I know you are itching to get out of here. So just one more today then you’re free right?” Alex smiled just as big back at her.

“Yup, the next one is in a couple of hours I guess” Maggie replied.

“Do you mind if I study in here until then? I don’t think there is anywhere else I can go without Dr. Lord interrupting me.” Alex asked even though she knew Maggie wouldn’t mind.

This wasn’t the first time Alex has studied in Maggie’s room. Alex liked the peace she felt when she was around Maggie, she felt completely at ease. Normally when she had to research cases like this, she felt stressed and could never get comfortable, but with Maggie that feeling has gone away.

“You know it Danvers” Maggie winked at her. Maggie enjoyed watching Alex work; she loved that when she was super focused in she would slightly bit her bottom lip. They had become close fast, much faster than either of them was used to. Some loose strands of hair fell into Alex’s face and all Maggie could think about doing was tucking them behind her ear.

They stayed like this for about thirty minutes, Alex studying and Maggie watching her, until Alex glanced up and caught Maggie staring.

“You know, it’s creepy to stare at people when they’re not looking” Alex said teasingly, placing her pen down on the table.

“Sorry doctor, I can’t help it, your beauty caught my eyes and it won’t let them go.” Maggie played innocent a smirk gracing her features.

Alex smiled and pulled her hair behind her ears. They were gazing at each other, a moment was building between them and they both felt its intensity.

Alex’s paged broke through the silence in the room causing them both to jump a little bit.

“911, it’s an emergency, I’ll be back.” Alex said leaving her things on the table and quickly left the room.

“See you around Danvers,” Maggie smiled.

-

“Okay Sawyer, this is the last one, I wanted to be here for it myself since Dr. Vasquez here is telling me you excelled at your first test this morning.” Dr. Lane smiled in her direction and motioned for Dr. Vasquez to give the patient the spirometer.

“I did, I’ll prove it.” Maggie said excitedly stretching her hands out to grab the device. She inhaled as deep as she could, and pushed her breath out hard. The piston did bounce right to the top, and Maggie instantly pumped her fists in the air.

“Wow, Dr. Vasquez was right you have really improved. I feel comfortable sending you home now, if you’re comfortable with that.” Lucy gave her a knowing smile.

“Um, Dr. Lane, before you leave… You’re friends with Dr. Danvers right?” Maggie asked a bit nervously. Lucy gave her a puzzling look, confused what she was getting at.
“She talks about you a lot,” Maggie admitted, “ And, I was wondering… If now that I’m no longer her patient, since you know I’m getting released, if… it would be okay that I asked her out? Like on a date?” Maggie rambled cheeks pink, with her fists balled up in her bed sheets.

“Now that I’m releasing you, I think that she would love if you asked her.” Lucy replied with a soft smile.

Maggie nodded at Lucy, and smiled back at her. Vasquez had the nurses start to prepare Maggie for discharge, taking the leads off her chest and back, and getting all of her paperwork in order. Lucy returned within ten minutes and signed the paper, handing them to Maggie.

All Maggie could think about besides her excitement to go home was how she would ask Alex out. She can’t remember the last time she felt this nervous asking someone out. She was just finishing packing her things up when Alex walked back into the room.

“Sawyer, I heard you’re officially released!” Alex congratulated, walking to the table beside Maggie to grab all of her files.

Maggie’s heart was beating so far, she was grateful that she wasn’t hooked up to the monitors anymore to give herself away.

“Do you want to go on a date with me?” Maggie blurted out.

Chapter Text

“She did what?!” Kara squealed from the kitchen. Alex went directly to her sister’s house once her shift at the hospital was over. The sound of Maggie asking her out still ringing in her ears.

“She asked me out!” Alex repeated while she nervously pulled at her fingertips.

When Maggie had asked her out Alex was ecstatic, but then she grew nervous. The last time she had been on a real date was two years ago, and she hasn’t been able to let herself think of someone in that way since her last relationship. Maggie was incredible, and there was a spark with her that Alex didn’t think she would ever feel again.

“And… What did you say?!” Kara stood in front of her impatiently waiting for her answer.

Alex truly enjoyed the flirty banter and playful looks that her and Maggie had been exchanging during her stay at the hospital. She liked the way it made her feel, giddy and excited about someone again. But most of all she was afraid—afraid that it could only end in heartbreak.

“I couldn’t say no.” Alex answered, while she sat on the stool in front of her.

Alex couldn’t deny the connection they have developed throughout the week. It was electric every time she walked into her room, you could feel it between them. But would it be the same outside the walls of the hospital? What if their dynamic wasn’t the same, if that spark wasn’t there?

“WHAT! You never accept when women ask you out at work… or anywhere for that matter.” Kara said a little shocked.

“Kara I don’t know what to do,” Alex whined and laid her head on her hands.

“Well first off you should probably take a breath otherwise I’ll be taking you back to the hospital… as the patient.” Kara nudged her trying to make her smile.

Alex took a breath and her insecurities and anxieties all flooded her mind. Taking another she allowed herself to think of Maggie and how beautiful her smile was when she accepted, and how excited she seemed.

“Okay, now, what are you worried about?” Kara soothed and she rubbed her back.

“She is my patient first off.” Alex quipped coming up with a reason attempting to not reveal her actual feelings.

“Was. She was your patient for all of an hour Alex, she hasn’t had any neuro issues since she first came in.” Kara answered matter of fact and gave her sister a knowing look.  

Alex’s resolve crumbled and she looked up at her sister. “I’m scared Kara…” she whispered weakly, “What if I’m not ready?”

Alex’s last relationship didn’t end well. She had been completely head over heels in love with her girlfriend, even ready to propose. Everything had been going great, but then one day—that day—out of seemingly nowhere Vicky left. With no more explanation than, This is too much, I can’t do this.. I’m sorry left Alex numb to everything around her. Alex knows what loss feels like; she has had to endure a lot of it. Her father died when she was young, and her relationship with her mother is strained, then the woman she thought she would spend forever with had left her with no explanation. It has been two years past now, but those wounds cut her deep and she hasn’t found herself able to open up with anyone again since.

“Alex, you can’t be afraid to live your life. You will never know unless you give her a chance, unless you give yourself the chance.” Kara smiled at her, smoothing some hair behind her ear.

Kara had only seen her sister devastated once before the time with Vicky and that was when their father died. Alex called Kara the moment she was able to choke out the words “Kara she left..” And she was at her apartment in less than ten minutes. The door had been left open so she had closed it behind her and went straight for her sister’s room. Upon entering her heart broke right there seeing her sister heart wrenchingly sob into her pillow. “Shh I’ve got you Alex… I’m here..” Kara continually repeated as she held Alex tightly. By the time morning had rolled around Alex had finally passed out with tears still streaming down her face. Kara has never hated anyone more for making her sister feel that pain.

“I know you’re right, but.. all I can think about is the baggage I have.. I don’t know who would want to deal with that..” Alex stood and started to pace.

“Okay, lets do this; you stop overthinking things for one night, you go out with her, you enjoy the night and get to know her better, and if after that you still don’t feel like you’re ready you can call me and we will do sister night. Everything on me, what do you say?” Kara suggested with a small smile gracing her lips.

“All right, deal.” Alex reached out and pulled her sister in for a hug. “Thanks for always talking me down.”

-

"Wait... What? You asked her out?" James asked, surprised.

"You seem surprised" Maggie said, sitting down on their couch, with a glass of water in hand, she wanted a beer but with her meds she wasn’t allowed.

"I am, I didn't think you had it in you Sawyer" James said, sitting next to his friend.

They had been living together for almost six months now, both had their fair share of hook-ups in that time period. However, they had a rule; no one-night stands are to be brought home. They only knew about each other’s affairs because one of them would show up in the middle of breakfast with the same clothes from the previous night.

"I'm offended" Maggie answered, a playful hurt look on her face.

Maggie wanted to ask Alex out since the first conscious time she saw her. She had been clearly hitting on her every time they'd see each other, the sexual tension every time they were together in a room, alone or not, was obvious. Maggie was the romantic kind of girl though, she wanted their first date to be beautiful and unforgettable, and had planed a lot of things for their date even before she had asked.

"So, have you texted her yet?" James asked changing channels on the TV.

Maggie had never really had issues when it came to dating, she was by nature more of a flirt. It came naturally to her; confidence was something that she did not lack. But with Alex it felt different, she wanted it all to be perfect for her. When she asked her out that was the most nervous she could remember ever feeling asking someone out, and she hasn’t even texted her to confirm she got the right number.

“Not yet.” Maggie said opening her phone’s lock screen, she pulled up Alex’s contact and hovered her thumb over the message button.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” James teased giving his friend a hard time.

“I don’t know, I’m kind of nervous,” she said turning to James, “What is she just said yes to be nice? What if this isn’t even the right number?” she started rambling.

“Don’t be stupid Maggie, she was super into you.” James stated clapping a hand to her shoulder for some confidence.

Maggie smirked at him and then looked back to her phone and began to type up a message. She re-wrote it probably four times before James started to pester her.

“Oh come on Sawyer, hit send already.” He joked wit her, moving like he was going to try and push it for her.

“Hey! No! Okay, I’m doing it!” She squealed and moved away from him.

Hey Danvers, it’s Maggie she looked at it one last time and hit send. She threw her phone to the other side of the couch and focused in on the sports game James had flipped to.

They watched the game until Maggie’s alarm sounded for her to take more of her meds. James hopped up and told her to relax. Maggie reached over and grabbed her phone to turn off the alarm and she sees that she has three new messages. Her heart rate picked up hoping one was from Alex.

Hey Sawyer she read Alex’s response. Maggie’s lips turned up into a smile and she started up a conversation, appreciating Alex’s quick replies.

James came back with her meds and some water and noticed her smiling widely at her phone screen.

“I see someone texted back” he winked teasingly and handed her the pills and water.

“Shut it Olsen.”

Chapter Text

National City Hospital was like a second home to Alex. She loved it there, she felt comfortable there, her best friends were there. She loved the rush, the smiles on the families' faces after the news that their loved ones would be okay, even the smell of the halls made her feel at ease. Her favorite place was the OR, holding the scalpel and saving someone. But sometimes, even if it’s her favorite place, she needs a break from it, which was exactly what she was not getting.

The moment Alex sat at the end of her bed, prepared to finally rest after a very tumultuous week of surgeries and a lot of studying, she heard the very peachy and quite loud sound of her page. Getting up and already changing from her very comfortable pajamas to her not so comfortable jeans she read '911' written on her pager. Quickly re-dressing herself and leaving the house she went back to the hospital. 

Maxwell Lord was already at the hospital when she got there. He probably had not even gone back home that night, so why would they page her? She then read her page came from the chief of surgery. Questions floured her mind as she almost ran to the Jonn's office. Something was wrong, a bad sensation made her head start to pound and her bones ache. The door in front of her was closed, her hands were shaky and she could feel the tiredness of not sleeping for 29 hours hitting her like a truck. Barely after her knocks, J'onnz opened the door as if he already knew she was there and was just waiting for her to take the initiative. 

"Doctor Danvers, please come on in" the deep voice of the man in front of her said. Walking in she saw it was only the two of them in the room. Her heartbeat fastened. 

Chapter Text

How had she not seen this before? How could she have let it get to this point? Maggie’s scans were ready, she had a brain bleed that had been clearly growing for days. How could she not have seen this? It's her job. She's now the head of neuro and she's let something this important pass. 

"Dr. Tomaz, could you please get me Margarita Sawyer's scans from last week please?" Alex asked the intern, the moment Zari left the room Alex covered her face with both her hands and let out a sight "How did I miss this?" she asked out loud after repeating it several times in her head "When we got her MRI's last week there was nothing wrong with her, don't blame yourself for this" Vasquez said sitting down next to her favorite attending "I should've done something though, I should have done my job better. How am I supposed to be the new head of neuro if I miss small things such a macroscopic brain bleed?" Alex said disappointed in herself, "Wait... Head of -" Vasquez was cut off before she could finish her sentence by her boss asking her to book an OR and to prep Maggie for surgery while she was going to update James on the detective's situation. 

All the worst thoughts running around her head, Alex walked to the waiting room where the families stayed while their loved ones were in surgery, meeting the photographer's eyes the moment she stepped foot in the room "How is she, Doctor Danvers? What happened to her? I thought she was okay" James shoot out the questions in a single breath, Lucy stood right next to him with her hand on his back giving him support "Good, you're not alone. Maggie has a brain bleeding which caused her to have a stroke, the brain bleed has been growing for a few days now. It was probably caused when she got the head laceration during the shooting, but since it was a small bleeding it did not show up at her CT and MRI scans last week. She's being prepped for surgery as we speak and I'll be performing the surgery. It's six in the morning, Kara is probably awake already, I know my sister means a lot you so you should probably call her and tell her what happened. The surgery takes around four and a half hours, I'll be sending my intern every hour to update you on how the procedure is going. Do you have any questions?" although Alex's voice was calm and smooth when explaining everything to James she sure did not feel calm and smooth. She had to be though. A life was in her hands, Maggie's life was in her hands. 

"Alex!" Lucy called for her, rushing to reach her friend "Hey! Talk to me Danvers" the woman persisted. Alex was hard to read, after her father's death, she made it her priority to not let anyone close enough to know how exactly she was feeling. There were only three people that always knew, those people were Kara, her mom and, recently, Lucy. Having a military background helped the cardio doctor know how people felt and thought, although it was hard at the beginning with Alex, she still knew at least a little bit, how her friend was. "Danvers, if you're not good to perform this surgery you need to step out, you know this" Lucy said stopping Alex right before she could enter OR2, for the first time since they left the waiting room Alex looked up to meet Lane's eyes "I have done surgeries without any lights on, I have done surgeries in people that were as close as family to me, I have even done a surgery on you, Lane, don't forget that. I am perfectly capable of separating feelings from my job, I work perfectly fine under pressure, the moment I enter that OR I am a completely different person and you know this. I am good at my job and I will not have you second guessing me right before such an important procedure. So if you don't mind, I need to go save a life" with every word Alex not only convinced Lucy, but she also convinced herself that she was capable of performing this surgery "You're right. I'm sorry. Do your job." Lucy apologized, resting a hand on Alex's shoulder in reassurance. 

Walking in the OR Alex had just finished fixing her cap on her head. She grabbed a mask and started tying it on the back of her head when Zari walked in holding the scans Alex had asked, handing it to her superior Zari had a worried look in her eyes "In both scans, it doesn't show any bleeding, Dr. Danvers. It must have started to grow on her last days at the ICU" the intern said while scrubbing in for the surgery. Alex annalized the scans from different days in her hands, one from the day of the shooting and the other the day before Maggie was released. 

"It really didn't show" Alex annalized every single inch of the scan in her hands, putting the papers aside, she finished the process of scrubbing in for the procedure and entered the room. With the glasses already perfectly positioned on her face, she asked "Scalpel" then made the first cut. 

-

Four and a half hours. Kara locked her fingers with his. Four and a half hours. His leg was bouncing up and down impatient. Four and a half hours. That's just a really long time. Dr. Danvers said she would keep him updated every hour and she did keep her promise, an intern and a resident had gone to the waiting room like clockwise to say everything was going perfectly good, but that was about it. Nothing more than just "The surgery is doing fine, Dr. Danvers is the best neurosurgeon of this hospital, Detective Sawyer is in good hands". That was just not enough to help him not lose his mind.

'Mags it's like my sister, I can't lose her. I'm not that strong' was James could think about. Kara hugged his right arm and rubbed her hand on his back in support. It felt like an eternity waiting for the surgery to be over. minutes felt like hours and hours felt like days, but it finally came to an end. Alex walked slowly through the waiting room, accompanied by the resident and intern who helped her during the surgery, finally coming to stop when James stood up in front of her, Kara as nervous and eager to know how the procedure went. 

"Detective Sawyer will be okay. The surgery went perfectly and the pressure on her brain was released" Alex said with a smile on her face. James let out a sight taking all of the tension he had inside with a small laugh. Right after hugging Kara James turned back to face Alex "Thank you, Dr. Danvers" he said arms wide open to hug the doctors in front of him "Can I see her?" James then asked, Vasquez finally spoke "Absolutely, she's being taken to her room right now, Dr. Tomaz will be taking you" pointing to the intern next to her, who had been entering the waiting room for the last four hours to update the couple in front of them. Zari smiled and asked for them to follow her. 

Stopping at the door of Maggie's room James smiled to see his friend. He sat down in the chair by the woman's bed and held her hand. He was happy to know his roommate was okay and could barely wait to see her waking up and to hear her calm and not in agony voice again. "Thank you for staying with me, Kara. I wouldn't have been able to handle all of this without you and your support" James said, holding one of Kara's hands with his free hand. She smiled at him "I'm gonna go and grab us some coffee and food, you haven't eaten and I'm sure you're hungry. I know I am" Kara said already by the door of the room on her way to the hospital's cafeteria. 

-

Kara came to National City when she got accepted to University. She was scared, it was all so new and so different, not just the school, but the big city, the people, hell... Even the coffee was different. But having her sister already live there and also work at one of the biggest hospitals in town sure helped. When Kara moved to National City Alex was on her last years of residency, it was a hard time for the both of them, they wanted to be close to each other again, they missed each other like crazy. Alex only went back home once a year, but it was harder on Kara then it was on their mom. When Kara was adopted, Alex didn't take it very well, they would fight constantly, compete in every single way possible at home. Alex missed being n only child, having all the attention to herself, but with Kara also living with them it was like Alex didn't even exist anymore, she was only noticed when she made a mistake or when she fought with Kara. Which she started to do constantly, bad attention was better than no attention at all. 

But then Jeremiah died, Alex felt completely lost. She was angrier than she used to be, mostly because she felt like it was her fault that the accident even happened. But that was when she and Kara finally found something in common. Something they could talk about and maybe even stop hating each other. Kara's parents died in a fire when she was 11, she wasn't home when it happened. Kara was walking back from school, she was happy, it was a really good day. She had gotten an A on her English test, she hadn't been shoved into a locker in two weeks, her friend group grew a little when she met a sweet girl in one of her classes that she hadn't talked to before. It was a great day for her, she felt happy until she was less than a block away from her house and there were several police cars and firefighters tucks on the street. Her neighbors saw her and tried to keep her close to them, so she wouldn't see her house on fire and her parents being carried to ambulances, but Kara found a way to slip away from her neighbor's arms and saw it all. 

She cried for months. She felt alone and like life was hopeless. Until Eliza and Jeremiah. They were old friends' of her parents, and when they found out about what happened to Kara they fought everyone they had to, to take her in. She felt safe with them, they treated her like a daughter, they did everything they possibly could to help her feel at home. "We will never try and replace your parents or would ever want for you to forget about them. We're here for you for whatever you need and whatever you want. We're here to take care of you and love you unconditionally" was what they told Kara when she moved in with them. Kara loved them, she was grateful for them and everything they had done for her.

Kara knew exactly how Alex felt when they lost Jeremiah, so she did everything she could to show Alex that she wasn't alone, that she had Kara, and that Kara understood her and felt for her. And Alex knew. That was when the Danvers sisters became inseparable, it was like they never even fought for three years nonstop. Whenever Kara needed someone she went to Alex, her sister was also the first person she thought about when something great happened, and Alex felt the same towards Kara. They were best friends. So when Alex moved to National City it was hard for both of them to adjust to their new lives without seeing each other every day. When Kara moved years later to her sister's apartment they had gotten used to being away from each other, so it was hard adjusting back. Mostly because Kara was a little lost in the new city and Alex was almost never home, but with time Alex becoming an attending she didn't have to be 24 hours a day at the hospital and eventually went home.

-

It had been three hours after the surgery and Maggie still hadn't woken up. Zari went by the room every thirty minutes to check on her patient, make sure her heartbeat was frequent and steady and her brain activity was normal, and it always was, but Maggie still didn't wake up. Worried, Zari paged for Vasquez, her resident on the case. Vasquez then checked for basically everything that the intern had already checked, but then Vasquez checked Maggie's eyes. They weren't responding quite as expected "Dr. Tomaz, page Dr. Danvers, please" Vasquez asked. Immediately leaving the room, Zari paged her attending and in less than five minutes Alex was by Maggie's room door. "Vasquez, what happened?" Alex asked she looked in James direction seeing his concerned expression. "Dr. Danvers, what is happening? Didn't the surgery go well? That doctor over there is coming here every thirty minutes for the past three hours and now she called for you and this other doctor" James said standing up, pointing to Dr. Tomaz first and then to Dr. Vasquez. "Let me tell a look" Alex said putting on some gloves, she took out a small lantern from one of her pockets and slightly opened Maggie's eyes, examining to see if her pupils would respond as expected to the light. They didn't. Later then by the end of the bed, Alex pricked one of  Maggie's big toes, not getting any pain response. "I was not expecting this, but Maggie is not responding to this physical tests. I'll be taking her to get an MRI to make sure what is happening" Alex said calmly to James so he would also be calm "You can wait here, we'll bring her back in a few minutes" she said turning to face both doctors who were with her on the case. "Let's take her to get a scan, I think she may be in a coma" Alex said, concern clear on her face.

Her guess, unfortunately, was right, Maggie was in a coma. Taking the woman back to her room, accompanied by the other doctors, Alex tried as hard as she could to keep a straight face when telling the news to James. 

"James, I'm sorry, but Maggie is in a coma" with every word that came out of her mouth made her heart skipped a beat "But, we know the probability of her waking up is high, because I did the surgery there is no more bleeding on her brain, which means the pressure in her brain is stabilizing" when Alex finished, James sat back down on the chair next to Maggie's bed, shocked he couldn't say anything, he then held her hand, kissed it gently and whispered on his friend's ear "Fight, Mags!"