Chapter Text
It was a beautiful, sunny, and chilly day in National City, the perfect day to go for a run. Alex had a rare day off from work and decided to take some time for herself and go for a run in National City Park. She had been slacking in the morning run department, but when the city had incident after incident, a woman forgets to go out for exercise. Alex entered National City Park and ran the familiar path she had run many times before. She saw families playing in the open fields, people playing with their dogs, and taking them for a walk. Alex had longed for a family of her own, a partner and a child. It was one of the reasons why she and Maggie had ended their engagement. Alex blamed herself for not talking to Maggie about kids before they got serious; it would have saved them the painful break-up, but everything happens for a reason.
For now, Alex enjoyed casual dating, and put finding a girlfriend, and adopting a child on the back burner as she tries to figure her life out. Her mom had told her that she doesn't have to have everything figured out but to take the time out and figure out Alex and what she wants. Alex wouldn't tell her mother this, but she was right, she needed to figure herself out and focus on that.
Alex continued running at a steady pace, the trail was a winding one, and if she was not careful, an accident might happen. Namely, her tripping and falling on her ass in front of the people in the park. She had stopped for a moment by a bronze statue to stretch her muscles, before continuing a run. Alex did a few stretches where she bent over at the waist to touch her toes, before slowly moving into the upright position. She made sure that she paid attention to her breathing as she did so. After a few more stretches, Alex was ready to continue on her run when she heard a small voice yelling in the distance. She looked up and saw a young girl who looked like she was about seven or eight running behind a little fluffy brown dog with a blue harness and leash.
“George! Get back here,” Jasmine continued running after her puppy. Her mommy had given her a dog as a birthday present after begging, and now the dog was running off.
Alex saw the dog running towards her, so she bent down and picked up the ball of fluff, “I gotcha little guy.” She tried to calm the dog, but the little guy kept wiggling and trying to lick her face. Alex was finally able to get the puppy to relax, and she looked at the collar to learn that his name was George. It was a cute name for an equally cute puppy.
Jasmine slowly approached the woman who was holding George. Her mommy and uncle had told her about talking to strangers, and stranger danger, but the woman had George, and she needed to get him back, "Thank you, for catching my dog, miss," She thanked the woman with the auburn hair holding and playing with her puppy.
Alex smiled as the little girl approached her. She was adorable with her hair in two space puffs with little wisps of hair hanging down. The little girl had on a pair of black and blue Nike cross-trainers, a blue shirt with 'sassy' in black sequin letters, and she had on a pair of blue jean shorts. Alex couldn't take her eyes off the little girl with hazel green eyes and brownish blonde hair.
"It's not a problem. I figured I would catch the little guy before he ran somewhere else, and you would have to chase him some more," Alex handed the dog back to the little girl, she did not want the puppy to try and lick her face.
Jasmine smiled and took George, “Thank you again for catching George. I just got him for my birthday two days ago, and I am already losing him. I want to show my mom that I can handle the responsibility.” She explained as she put George on the ground and held tightly to his leash.
“Well, happy belated birthday. I think you are doing a fine job. Are you here by yourself?” Alex scanned the area for another person running behind her.
Jasmine shook her head, “No, I am here with my Uncle James and Aunt Lucy. I need to get back over there before Uncle James has a stroke.” She remembered the last time she ran off, her uncle and Clark were looking for her all over Metropolis. She was over at a friend’s house, but she learned her lesson that day.
Alex knitted her eyebrows together, “Your uncle is James Olsen?” She asked the little girl. James had mentioned that he had a niece along with a sister.
Jasmine nodded, "Uh-huh. Do you know him?" She cocked her head to the side, trying to get a good look at the woman in front of her. The lady seemed nice, and if she knew her uncle, then that means the pretty lady was a good person.
"Yeah, I'm friends with your aunt and uncle. Do you need me to walk you over?" Alex did not want to have the little girl walk back unaccompanied. National City was low on child abductions, and she wanted to keep it that way.
“I’m alright to walk by myself, but if you want to come along to speak to Uncle James and Aunt Lucy, you can do that too,” Jasmine replied with a shrug.
Alex couldn’t say ‘no’ to a face like the little girl in front of her, “I can walk over with you. What is your name?”
“My name is Jasmine, but everyone calls me Jaz. What’s your name?” She asked as she walked with George and the woman who rescued her dog.
“My name is Alex,” Alex replied.
Jasmine gasped in recognition upon hearing the pretty lady's name, “You’re Kara’s sister!” She exclaimed excitedly. Jasmine had heard a lot of stories about Kara and her sister.
"That's me. You know, Kara?"
Jasmine nodded, "Uh-huh. She's so cool! My mom loves, Kara. My mom and I thought that Kara and James would be together forever, but that didn't happen." She replied glumly. Jasmine liked Lucy, but she was too serious at times, and yes, she made her uncle happy, but Kara made him happier.
Alex covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, leave it to a child to state the obvious, “Fate had other plans. They are still good friends and family.”
“I guess that is better than being together, but one can always hope,” Jasmine added, hoping that someday her Uncle James and Kara would get back together. It wasn't going to happen, but a girl can wish.
They were halfway to the spot when James came running towards them, "Did you lose something?" Alex asked, teasingly.
James chuckled, “Yeah, my wayward niece and nephew. Where did you find them?” He asked.
"I was stretching, and George made a beeline towards me, and Jaz here followed behind,” Alex answered the question.
“Ah, she’s letting you call her Jaz. She must like you. Jaz never lets anyone call her Jaz unless they are family or friends,” James explained a little about his niece. Jasmine was adamant about who could and could not call her Jaz. He was surprised that his niece allowed Alex to call her by her nickname.
Jaz rolled her eyes, “She is a friend, Uncle James. She’s Kara’s sister,” She replied smartly, with her hands on her hips.
Alex looked at Jaz and then at James, “See, I'm a friend. I’ll see you around Jaz,” She knelt down and scratched George behind the ears, “And you quit running away,” Alex told the dog.
George let out a little yip and went back to sniffing the grass.
“Bye, Alex and thanks,” She waved and walked away with George leading the way.
"She seems like a handful," Alex remarked as she watched Jasmine's retreating figure.
James sighed, "Yeah that she is, but that's our baby girl," He loved his niece as if she was his child.
"She's a cute baby girl. Are you and Lucy coming to game night tonight?” Alex had noticed that Lucy and James had been absent from the last game night.
“Yeah, we’ll be there. I’m bringing Jaz with me since Kelly has to work late tonight. Jaz can’t get enough of game night,” James had brought Jaz to game night a few times, and everyone had fallen in love with his niece, especially Nia.
Alex had heard Kara talking about Jaz coming to game night. The little girl would fill in on days that she had to work late. Alex wondered if Jaz’s mom had come to game night as well.
“And on that note, I have to run. I’ll see you later." She took off, running in the opposite direction. James' niece was so cute and full of sass. Alex wondered if Jaz's mom was the same way.
After her run, Alex stopped at her favorite coffee shop to get coffee and a croissant. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going, and ran directly into another woman, spilling her drink all over herself and the other woman.
“Oof!”
Alex looked at the woman she ran into, and her mind went completely blank, the woman was beautiful, "Uh, I'm so sorry. Let me help you," She snapped out of her daze to help the woman in front of her.
The woman chuckled, “Thanks. I should have watched where I was going,” She used some napkins to clean her skirt off, “I should be the one helping you. You took most of my latte.
Alex laughed nervously, "Yeah, I am sure it was a delicious latte. Why don't I buy you a new latte to replace the one that was ruined?" She offered the woman with mesmerizing brown eyes to replace her latte.
“You don’t have to, but thank you for the offer. I am running late for my next meeting, but maybe next time.” The woman replied apologetically before leaving the café.
Alex watched as the other woman walked out of sight and asked herself, "Who's that lady?" Before entering the coffee shop.