Work Text:
Maggie winces as the bandage pulls around her arm, extra white across her tan skin.
“Sorry,” Alex says, soothing her hand over her handy work. “All done. Maybe next time you’ll be a bit more careful?”
Maggie grins, despite the semi-seriousness of the situation. “I make no promises.”
“At least take me with you next time?”
She’d been injured during a standard, non-DEO-related incident, just a routine police check that went sideways, nothing that should require Alex’s help.
But she agrees anyway.
“It definitely would’ve been more fun if you’d been there.” And she probably wouldn’t have almost ended up being stabbed either. Alex definitely makes a better partner that the detectives she works with.
Alex blushes at her words and dammit, that sounded almost flirty. She’s trying, she really is, to tamp down her feelings for Alex, but she just makes it so hard sometimes.
Alex makes it hard not to like her more and more with each passing minute they spend together.
She has a girlfriend , Maggie tells herself again, something she tells herself constantly.
Maybe one day her heart will actually listen and she’ll have a chance to get over her.
“How about a drink? On me? After the day you’ve had, I think you deserve one.”
After the day she’s had, she thinks she deserves more than one. Mostly so she can forget what happened. Right now she’s fine, she’s just got a cut on her arm, and Alex has patched her up nicely, but later she’ll focus more on the ‘what if’s’, what if she’d reacted slower, what if he’d tried to stab her a little more to the left, what if she hadn’t gotten the knife out of his hand.
Those thoughts are for later though, right now she’s with Alex and she feels good.
“I think I should be buying you the drink, as a thank you for fixing me up.”
Maggie technically doesn’t have any reason to be at the DEO right now, other than Alex turning up at the scene while the paramedic was looking her over and insisting she come back to the DEO to get her wound cleaned and bandaged properly. There was no way Maggie could say no to Alex’s concerned gaze and she’d much rather have Alex looking after her than some random doctor.
Alex smiles. “Either way, is that a yes to a drink?”
Maggie feels light.
(She didn’t lose that much blood, she knows it’s because of Alex’s smile).
“Lead the way.”
Supergirl intercepts them on they way to the exit and suddenly Maggie doesn’t feel a good as she did before.
“Detective Sawyer, I’m glad to hear you’re okay.”
Maggie smiles, despite the fact that she’s entirely jealous of Supergirl, of her relationship with Alex, she still likes the alien. Who wouldn’t? She’s a literal ray of sunshine, always kind, always smiling, and always putting her life on the line for others. She’s certainly not bad looking either so all in all, she can’t blame Alex for liking her.
“Thank you.”
“And you’re lucky enough to have National City’s best doctor looking after you.”
Maggie glances at Alex again with a smile. “I am.”
Alex’s eyes linger on her and all Maggie can think is that Alex shouldn’t be looking like that when her girlfriend is standing just in front of them.
She turns her head back to Supergirl, who’s still smiling at them, just to break the contact.
“I’m just heading out for a drink with Maggie,” Alex says, addressing Supergirl. “I’ll catch up with you later?”
Supergirl frowns. “Are we still on for…” She trails off, looking at Alex with something Maggie can’t quite recognise as Supergirl’s eyes flick to her and back to Alex again. “Tonight?” she finishes.
Maggie hates the images that pop into her mind, what ‘tonight’ could entail. She knows Supergirl and Alex are dating, she’s accepted it and is trying to get over her stupid crush on Alex, but that doesn’t mean she wants to think about her with another woman.
Alex looks confused for a moment before her eyes widen. “Oh yeah.” She hesitates. “That thing we were going to do.” Why are they talking around the subject? Is it a secret they’re dating or something? Because it’s pretty obvious from where she’s standing. Can’t they just say they have a date tonight? Alex’s eyes glance to Maggie then back to Supergirl again. “Can we postpone? After today, I thought Maggie may want a drink.”
“Yeah, of course, that’s fine,” Supergirl smiles, but Maggie catches the way her shoulders deflate slightly. It’s subtle, but it’s there, and she can tell it’s not fine.
Maggie doesn’t want to come between them, she knows how happy Supergirl makes Alex, and she may not like the idea of being alone tonight, but she’d rather be alone and know that Alex is happy.
God, she’s a sap. It’s only been six months since they met but here she is, already halfway in love with a woman she knows she’s never going to have.
Maggie turns to Alex. “If you already have plans tonight, we can get a drink another time, it’s okay.”
“No, detective, it’s fine, really. I can just see Alex tomorrow night. She’s right, you deserve a drink.”
Maggie looks between the two of them, unsure what to do. “Really, I’ll be fine on my own. Enjoy the night with your girlfriend.”
Her sentence gets a completely different reaction than she expects.
“Girlfriend…what? Girlfriend-who?” Supergirl splutters just as Alex says, in a voice more high-pitched than Maggie has ever heard from her, “Girlfriend? I don’t have a girlfriend?”
“Is it really that big of a secret? I thought everyone knew that you two are together?” They really aren’t subtle. They’re always together at the DEO, always arriving at scenes together. Maggie has seen Supergirl carry Alex on more than one occasion too.
Then there’s the more subtle clues, that maybe not everyone has noticed because they don’t pay as much attention to Alex as she does. But Alex softens around Supergirl, that’s the only word for it, she softens and she smiles more and it’s really cute.
This time it’s Alex that splutters, but much less coherently than Supergirl.
“Ew, Alex?” Supergirl asks. “You think I’m dating Alex?” Supergirl actually shivers and Maggie feels suddenly defensive. Alex is gorgeous, any woman would be lucky to date her.
Alex pulls a face, finding her words again. “You think I’m dating her? I think I might be sick.”
Now Maggie feels indignant on Supergirl’s behalf. She’s pretty glad that Alex doesn’t seem to like Supergirl, but Supergirl’s also not unattractive, and maybe she should be worried about the fact that Alex doesn’t find literally every lesbian’s dream attractive at all.
She looks between them, wondering if this is just a really bad attempt at trying to hide their relationship, but they look earnest, earnest and red-faced, as they look back at her.
“You two really aren’t dating?”
Alex and Supergirl share a look, a silent conversation between them that Maggie wishes she understood.
“You can tell her,” Supergirl says after a moment.
Maggie feels a weight in her stomach drop like lead. She’d been wrong before, clearly they were just trying to cover up an already poorly concealed relationship.
“Are you sure?” Alex asks.
Supergirl nods. “I trust her, and I know you do too. You can tell her.”
Alex reaches out and takes Supergirl’s hand.
Maggie would rather be anywhere but here. There’s always been that little bit of hope, that little voice telling her that maybe they’re just close friends, maybe she’s reading into something that isn’t there.
But with confirmation she loses all hope.
She can feel her heart cracking. Why did she have to fall for someone who is already in love with someone else?
She needs to leave.
“Supergirl’s my sister.”
Alex’s words cut Maggie’s train of thought off, stops her mind coming up with a quick excuse to leave. Actually, they bring her entire brain to a halt.
“She’s your what?” Is all Maggie can manage to get out as she looks between the two woman in front of her.
“She’s my sister,” Alex repeats, her expression earnest again and Maggie would believe her, if the situation made any sense at all.
“Your sister?” Maggie asks, like the word hasn’t already been repeated enough times. She glances between Supergirl and Alex, how could she be-
It happens in a flash, like the information wasn’t in her brain a moment ago and it is now. That’s Kara standing next to Alex, of course that’s Kara. Sure, her hair is down and she’s missing her glasses but that’s Kara. She’s met the girl enough times to see the resemblance suddenly staring her in the face.
How on earth had she not seen that before?
Blue eyes, blonde hair, and a belief from Alex that is unbreakable. Of course that’s Kara, there’s no one else it could be, no one that Alex loves more than her sister.
“Kara?” Maggie asks, even though she already knows the answer. God she feels so stupid.
“Hi.” Supergirl holds up her hand and waves her fingers in such a Kara fashion that she only feels more stupid.
“How did I not see this?” Maggie asks, mostly to herself. Some detective she is.
Supergirl grins. “I told you I was good at keeping my secret.”
Maggie looks at Supergirl with the knowledge that it’s also Kara standing there. She must admit, she’s certainly good at acting. But despite the lack of a ponytail and glasses, that’s definitely Alex’s little sister.
“Whatever,” Alex grumbles, clearly that’s an argument they’ve had before. Alex turns back to her. “Right now, I’m more concerned about the fact that you thought I was dating my sister.”
Maggie blushes. Looking back on it now, it seems so stupid. “I didn’t know she was your sister at the time.” She waves her hand at them. “And you two are literally holding hands right now, you can’t blame me for thinking you two are together.”
“Sister’s can hold hands,” Kara says, holding up their joined hands and waving them between them. “And sisters can kiss each other on the cheek too.” Kara punctuates her words with a kiss on Alex’s cheek, earning an affectionate eye roll from Alex.
“Okay,” Alex says. “Now I’m starting to understand why you think we were dating.”
“But she’s single,” Kara cuts in. “Alex is one hundred percent single.” She looks around, like she’s talking to a crowd even though there’s only a few people scattered around the room. Kara’s voice grows louder with her next words. “So if anyone was thinking about asking Alex out, now would be the time.”
Kara winks at her and. Oh. She’s trying to tell her to ask Alex out.
Supergirl tilts her head. “I hear sirens, duty calls.” She turns to Alex. “We can have sister’s night tomorrow, have fun with Maggie tonight.” This time she winks at Alex while Alex herself looks like she’s ready to strangle her.
And then Kara just walks away, she doesn’t fly off to whatever ‘emergency’ she’d just cited, she simply walks over to Winn and starts talking to him.
Alex is beetroot red when Maggie turns back to her. “Sorry about her. She’s, well, she’s Kara.”
Maggie laughs. “That’s sisters for you.”
“So.” Alex clears her throat. “Did you still want that drink?”
Maggie smiles. They can address whatever Kara may have been implying later, right now she just wants to have a good night with Alex and forget her bad day.
---
A drink is all they do end up having at the bar, only because Maggie invites Alex back to her place. She really doesn’t feel like being around people but she doesn’t want her night with Alex to end either.
Alex accepts with a smile that warms Maggie’s heart.
So now Maggie is warm and content, sitting next to Alex on her couch. Her arm may hurt a little, but a small injury is worth how this day has ended up.
If she had to get hurt to find out Alex is single, then sobeit.
“Can I just say, I, for one, am glad that you’re not dating Supergirl.”
They’ve circled back to the topic a few times already, the thought that Alex and her sister are dating getting funnier with every drink. Not that they’ve had many, but enough to make Maggie’s tongue a little looser.
“I feel like I should tell you that my sister is seeing someone. I can’t tell you who, because it’s a secret, but she’s taken sorry.”
Maggie laughs. “It wasn’t Supergirl who I was hoping was single.”
Alex’s blush only makes her feel braver.
Kara had definitely been hinting she ask Alex out, but there was definitely some hinting going on aimed at Alex too. Before tonight, Maggie would’ve said she didn’t have a chance in hell with Alex. But now, with Kara’s words, with Alex’s warm smile and a look Maggie had always just read as friendship before, Maggie thinks she may have more than a chance.
“I almost died today.”
There’s no time like the present to take that chance.
Alex laughs. “No you didn’t.”
“Okay,” Maggie concedes. “No I didn’t. But it definitely had the potential to be a lot worse than it was.”
“It did.” Alex agrees. She places a gentle hand on Maggie’s. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
Maggie smiles. “Do you remember what Kara said earlier?”
“Which part?”
Alex bites her lip, which is entirely distracting but she needs to stay focused on the conversation at hand. “She said that if anyone wanted to ask you out, now would be the time.”
“Are you saying you want to ask me out?”
Maggie flips her hand under Alex’s, threads their fingers together.
She’s really glad she’s not dating Supergirl.
“I’m saying that something could’ve gone wrong today, something could go wrong any day with the jobs we have. So why wait any longer? Because I’ve been thinking about kissing you for months and I don’t want to wait another day when who knows what could happen tomorrow.”
“You thought about kissing me when I had a girlfriend?”
Maggie shakes her head with a laugh. This isn’t how she saw this conversation going. For one, she thought she’d feel more nervous, that Alex would be more nervous. But it mostly just feels comfortable, feels right, to be here with Alex. “I didn’t say I didn’t feel guilty about thinking about you while you were with someone else, but yes, I thought about kissing you when I thought you weren’t single.”
Alex squeezes her hand. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about kissing you since we met.”
Maggie shifts closer. “What’s stopping you now?”
Alex shifts closer too. “Nothing now.”
Closer. “Was there something before?”
Alex’s looks suddenly nervous, unsure. “I just thought you could never like someone like me.”
“Hey.” Maggie untangles their hands, cups Alex’s cheek. “For the record, I like you. I like you a lot. I like you so much that I spent months trying to get over you and yet I only ended up falling for you more.”
“We’re idiots,” Alex laughs, a breathless quality to it that Maggie definitely wants to hear again. “We could’ve been doing this months ago.” She tilts forward and Maggie’s breath catches, their lips so close Maggie can almost feel them touching.
It’s electrifying.
Alex’s nose brushes against hers and Maggie could happily stay in this moment forever.
“For the record,” Alex says. Maggie can feel her breath ghost over her face she’s so close. “I like you too.”
Four small words, and Maggie is sure she’ll never be the same.
And then Alex kisses her and she knows she’ll never be the same.
A single kiss, throughout her entire life, has never felt this good, this right .
It’s a little awkward at first, both still tentative, but then Alex sighs and Maggie shifts forward and she knows right then and there, that this will be the last first kiss of her life.
And the beginning of a whole lot more firsts with Alex.