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Prime Earth is an adaptation. Alex knew how to deal with aliens, she could handle the occasional meta (with a lot of coffee), but there was a bunch of them now. And magic! It’s ridiculous. So she hadn’t learned how to act around these kinds of threats yet, the closest thing she could think of was Mxyzptlk, and she hoped they dealt with him for good already.
So when a man dressed as a magician barged in the middle of Kara’s apartment in the middle of a game night, Alex was pissed. Kara immediately went into Supergirl mode only for him to wave his hand and send her flying across town. His eyes went to Nia, and he smiled.
“It’s you I’m looking for,” he said.
Immediately, Alex, Brainy, and Lena made a wall in front of Nia. The man just rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. The next second, the three of them were in the middle of the street with a trolley car moving towards them. They moved away just in time, Alex helped Lena to regain her balance gripping her forearm.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked. Lena nodded, and Alex took some seconds to let go of her arm. When she did, Alex turned away and her stomach’s content ended on the pavement.
“Are you okay?” Lena rubbed Alex’s back. Brainy strode from the other side of the street reaching the two of them. “Where are we?”
“Still in National City, but I’m afraid the most suitable question would be when are we.” Lena and Alex turned to Brainy exasperatedly. “According to the newspaper we are on February six, 1931.”
“Fucking magic,” Alex cursed. She straightened herself up. “Tell me you know how to get out of here.”
“Given the current level of technology available, our best chance is to somehow send a message to the future so the Legends can pick us up. It could take them a few hours or…”
“Okay, here’s what we are going to do,” Alex started. “First get out of here because people are starting to stare, and I think our clothes aren’t helping. Second, we are going to send the message. If until tomorrow no one comes then we will come up with something else.” Alex refused to accept that the two smartest people she knew wouldn’t be able to solve this. She was staying optimistic until they ran out of options.
They rent a hotel room just outside of the town. The hotel manager gave them a suspicious look. Two girls dressed weirdly and a dude. It wasn’t too hard to imagine what he was thinking. Alex twisted her nose at the mere thought of it. She was never doing men ever again.
Brainy didn’t wait before taking the first one of the beds saying he needed space to think. He sat cross-legged in the middle of it, which left Alex and Lena having to share the other bed.
Alex offered Lena the shower first, but Lena insisted on waiting until they were back in 2020 to take a shower. Alex just shrugged, she was dying to brush her teeth.
The shower was as clean as she could’ve expected. Alex decided that she had enough on her mind to focus on that. Priority one was getting out of the 20th century. Second, check on Nia (Brainy was probably worried about that as well and calculating the odds that she made it). Third, kick that magic guy’s ass. That sounded easier.
Except if their plan didn’t work.
She hated to think of such an option, but it was a possibility. Maybe they could cause a disruption in time. That would sure get the Legend’s attention. Or change the timeline to a point where the Legends didn’t exist... So maybe avoid doing that.
Alex turned off the water. She already wasted too many minutes going over it. She put on the clothes Lena had gotten for her. Alex was thankful when saw the pair of pants. She had nothing against dresses, but she liked them better when she wasn’t the one wearing them. She didn’t know how Lena found the cash, but she was choosing not to worry about that right now.
She entered the room and Lena looked at her. Her eyebrows rose.
“What? Did I miss a button?” Alex asked looking down at herself. Everything looked in place.
“No. You just look good in those clothes.”
Alex made her way around the bed, lying down and closing her eyes. Lena remained sat on the edge of the bed watching Alex. She wished she could have that calmness, but the prospect of not leaving 1931 scared the hell out of Lena. Lena felt rough fingers taking her hand.
It was Alex. “You’re thinking too loud. It’s all going to be okay.”
“And if it’s not?” Alex stared back at her for a moment. Then she shrugged running her fingers through her hair.
“It’s still going to be okay.”
Lena wasn’t sure exactly when they lost hope.
The first week without any answer felt like a punch to the gut. They say nothing once the seventh day passed. It’s an awfully silent day. They are all thinking the same thing but it’s Alex who first touches the subject.
“I was talking to Lucca from the butcher shop. He said he could find me a job if I want. He could get us some papers.
Lena frowned. “What are you talking about?” She crossed her arms.
“I believe she’s contemplating the possibility that we are not getting out of here,” Brainy unhelpfully added. The two of them turned to him. “Oh, of course. Lena already knew that. Perhaps you want to discuss this alone.” With that, he left the room. On other occasions Alex would’ve told Brainy to stay, this had to do with his situation too, but she was afraid his overly rational nature wouldn’t help much in this conversation.
“You are giving up,” Lena stated.
“I’m not giving up, but we have to see things as they are. We are low on money, and we can’t just wait around for someone to save us. If we get papers we can do more stuff. We can go to places and get more information.”
“In the thirties? Maybe Brainy can, but not us. Not significantly, at least.”
“Not if you know the right people. Or the wrong one.” Alex looked down. Lena loosened a bit of her posture. It wasn’t like Alex to lower her head. She was proud like Lena. She fought for what she thought was right. It was the reason why they argued so much, and also the reason why Lena admired her so much. Alex sat down. “They are mafia.”
“Alex,” Lena’s voice cracked.
“I know, but we have no choice. They can get what we need.”
“And the price you’ll pay?”
Alex shrugged. “I stopped regretting things I do to protect those I care about.”
Lena's expression softened. She walked to the bed and sat next to Alex. Her movements were slow as she slipped her fingers between Alex's. The other woman looked at her with short breaths. Lena hates how much emotion there was in those eyes and how she was nowhere close to understanding them.
"You don't need to do this, Alex. There are other ways."
"I know. I want to." Alex pressed her lips together to stop whatever more she was going to say. It wasn't the right moment. Maybe they weren't at the right time.
It takes three days before Alex shows up with three sets of IDs, documents, and keys to a small apartment a few streets away. It wasn't much, but it was better than they had. Their names remained the same, with one small detail: instead of 'Alexandra' in Alex's document, it was 'Alexander'.
"To make things easier," Alex shrugged. "I already draw too much attention between women and this way when I do what I have to do it's more likely I won't be noticed."
Lena wished she didn't know what it meant. She said nothing, although she felt her chest would burst.
Alex took them to their apartment where Lucca was waiting for them at the door. He was a charming lanky young man. He didn't care much for Lena or Brainy, mainly only interacting with Alex, except when he gave Lena an eyeful before asking her to make them a sandwich.
Brainy was quick to notice Alex's hand closing into a fist and interfered.
"I don't mean to brag, but I make the best sandwich you'll ever eat. Allow me."
Alex nodded at Brainy thankfully. She had to get used to maintaining her attitude controlled.
Lucca left after eating half of his sandwich (that wasn't nearly as good as Brainy claimed). Brainy followed a bit after to examine their surroundings, which left Alex and Lena alone. Lena was pacing in the kitchen when Alex took their plates to be washed.
"I'm sorry," Alex said before turning the faucet. "I didn't think he would act like that around you."
"It's not your fault."
"But it's my doing."
"I just feel…" Lena closed her eyes. She felt useless. Powerless. Just like when Lex betrayed her. And when she thought she wouldn't be able to save Sam.
Lena looked at Alex. She'd usually offer Lena comforting words, but now she was just slowly drying an already dry plate. Lena then noticed something she hadn't before. A protuberance on Alex's waist.
"My first job is tonight," Alex said.
It's after dinner when Alex slips out. She does so while Lena is in the shower, and Lena believes she timed it so on purpose.
Lena was unable to go to bed, yet sleep took her while she was reading a book on the couch. She was woken up sometime later by the sound of the door opening. She turned with her heart racing, unsure what she was expecting, but relieved when she saw it was Alex.
Alex locked the door behind her and stopped when she saw Lena.
Lena wanted to ask Alex how she was, but that just sounded wrong. She wanted to know if she was alright, at least physically. Lena didn't have the courage to do anything, but she listened as Alex turned on the shower.
At some point, she got up and found herself waiting by its door.
When Alex opened it, they were face to face. Alex was wearing a tank top and panties and she looked so tired.
"Sorry," Alex said. "You can use the bathroom now."
Alex made her way to her room.
During most of the day, Alex either helped Lucca at the shop or stayed home doing house chores and occasional workouts.
She was the one that kept Lena and Brainy going. After the first month at the apartment, Alex brought Brainy application forms for university.
"I don't understand. My knowledge is far beyond this time. If anything I should be the one teaching them," Brainy said.
"I know. But you won't, unless you want to break time. You'll go, get good grades, and have access to resources that might help us get out of her. It should help you at not being bored too."
For Lena, it was harder. Lena offered to work, maybe get them some more income so Alex could stop the mafia thing, but Alex just shrugged and said that there was no getting out. Most days she was working on theories to get them back to their time. Others, she just kept Alex company. Alex did her best to keep Lena entertained and happy. She brought her clothes, books, anything she could want.
As the month passed they started to get used to it.
It was another late night for Alex. She was now used to coming home to find Lena half asleep on the couch. Now Lena left her a sandwich by the table that Alex would eat after the shower.
This time when Alex came inside, Lena knew that something was wrong. There were tears in Alex's eyes.
Lena stood up and walked until she was right in front of Alex. She just cupped her face and Alex started to cry. Lena pulled her closer so she'd lean on her.
"I killed a good man today," Alex whispered later when she found herself in Lena's bed, being held by the other woman.
She remembered Astra. She wasn't innocent, but it didn't feel right to kill her. She spent several nights awake thinking of different ways she could've stopped her without robbing Kara of her aunt. It was the first life Alex took sure that it wasn't for good reasons.
That night was the second.
Lena pulled Alex's face until their foreheads were resting together. She took the opportunity to clean the most recent tears running down Alex's cheek.
"You can stop it, Alex. We can find another way."
Alex shook her head. Lena wondered why she chose to carry all of this weight alone. If she wasn't ready to share it yet, Lena would hold her until she was.
Brainy stops coming home every night. He was either working late at University or sleeping in someone's dorm.
At first, it was weird to be in that tiny apartment without him. With only Alex and Lena it didn't feel so tiny. It felt right. Awkward dinners at the table where Brainy would go on about his "progress" (more to keep their hope alive, than actual progress), got replaced by the laugh-filled dinner by the couch.
There's some guilty when they realize it, but when they try to force themselves to go back to eating at the table and having serious conversations, it felt wrong.
Alex still came home late sometimes, and each time she did she ended up being cuddled by Lena. Not all of these were necessarily bad nights, but Alex found out she liked the closeness. Every now and then she wondered if Lena enjoyed it too.
Brainy stopped going shopping with them, and without Brainy around, Lena found herself unable to say no to Alex's request as she grabbed the most sugar-filled foods and looked at Lena with puppy eyes. Accepting the first was the hardest. Lena was fighting the 'yes' that was ready to come out of her mouth before Alex even asked.
"Those are pure sugar, you know," Lena said as Alex put a box of donuts on their chart.
"You are pure sugar, and I don't complain." Alex stopped in front of Lena with a smirk.
"That was awful, you know?"
"Yeah, but you are stuck with me either way." Lena smiled against her will. It enlarged Alex's smirk further. Lena wasn't sure if she wanted to push her away or pull her closer.
It was when Lena realized she might like Alex more than she anticipated.
Alex hadn't care much for clothes since she arrived at that time. She wore male second hands pieces, always a bit too big for her, but that helped her to pass as a man.
She was surprised when one day Lena took her to a tailor. Alex was making enough money for them to afford that. (She hated how well Mafia paid in the 30s).
Alex tried to argue and protest, but Lena was having none of it as she told the tailor what she was thinking for Alex. He gathered the pieces she wanted, and Lena pushed them into Alex's arms.
Alex stepped out of the closet a few moments later. She looked awkward and yet so good. Lena let her eyes roam shamelessly.
"I don't know," Alex said adjusting her sleeves.
"We'll take it," Lena said. She missed using that tone.
"I wouldn't argue with your woman," the tailor said. Lena looked at Alex with a 'see?' expression.
Alex gave in, not for the last time.
Lena doesn't even let her change out of the suit.
"You don't have to wear it if you're not comfortable with it," Lena told her when they were back at the apartment. "But you should, you look good in it." Lena ran her hand through the fabric of Alex's suit.
Alex did not argue against that.
She got used to it quickly, wearing it already on the dinner they had with Lucca the next day. His uncle (one of the big chairs of the Mafia, her padrino ). Lena wore a dress that drew looks from too many men for Alex's liking (none of the mafia). She was thankful it was a chill night, so she had an excuse to put her suit jacket over Lena's shoulder (with her permission, but Lena didn't accept anything she didn't want).
They didn't talk about business until after the dessert when the women went to the living room. Lucca got a set of cards for them to play Cu cu , and their padrino pulled a cigar box from one of the closets nearby.
Alex had fully accepted her probable lung cancer from being around toxic smoke for so long.
"It's a good one, son. Take it," her padrino said.
Alex knew that if he insisted, she practically had to do it. He wasn't someone she could pick a fight against.
"Her girl doesn't like it," Lucca said when he was done distributing the cards. "You have to see the way she looks at me when I'm smoking near Alex." Alex let her eyes wander to the other room. She didn't have a view of Lena, but it was an automatic movement.
Her padrino laughed. "Woman, huh?" Alex nodded, fighting her want to twist her nose. "How long are you two together?"
Alex opened her mouth. She never thought they would see Lena that way. Strangers, okay, but she assumed that Lucca knew they weren't together. There was nothing that indicated otherwise. Or was there?
"Not that long," Alex lied.
Lucca shook his head. "They've been together since I've known Alex, and that was over a year ago."
A year. Had it been that long? Alex lost track of time. A year.
"If I had a woman like that in my arms for a week I would've already asked her to marry me," Lucca's brother, Pietro, said winning laughs all around the table. "What's holding you back?"
Alex turned down to her glass looking at her cards. It was a bad hand.
"I don't want to rush into it." Alex realized how she might have drunk too much when she noticed how true that sounded. How true it was. "I rushed into things once and it didn't end well."
"You still got your dick so I mustn't have been that bad," Pietro said. When Alex didn't laugh along he stopped. "You still have your dick, right?"
Alex smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it wasn't bad to this point. I almost married this girl, and I thought she was it, but right before we did it, we realized we wanted different things."
"Don't focus on the past, son," her padrino said. "And if the way your girl looks at you is anything to go by, I think she'll say yes. Either to you or the diamond you'll put on her finger," he winked at Alex.
Don't focus on the past.
It was almost ironic.
"Where are you?" Lena's voice brought her back.
"Just thinking," Alex shrugged. She looked at Lena. She was slipping out of her dress, which made Alex immediately look away.
"Did something happen?"
"Nothing bad. They said some things that got me thinking..." Alex wanted to say it. To tell Lena about the growing feeling in her chest for the last few months. Maybe even tell how it was always there since they met, but back then much smaller and quite repressed. Yet, the idea of scarring Lena away made Alex close her mouth.
Lena had changed into her nightgown. Alex saw her standing by her bedroom door, hands on her hips, and a determined face. Alex knew by that face that she was doomed.
"Don't keep things from me. I thought we were past this, Alex."
"I'm afraid of saying it."
"Do you trust me?"
"It's not a matter of trust. There's no one I trust more at this moment, which is why I'm afraid. What if I lose you?"
Lena walked to Alex. She rested her hand on Alex's cheek. "You won't. I promise." Lena let out a short breath. "You're the only one I have as well."
"Is that why you're here? With me?"
Lena squinted her eyes. "Not only because of that."
She tried to focus on the feeling of Lena's hand to ground her. They were so soft over her scarred features.
"I like you," Alex says with some regret. But it was said. There was no more taking it back. "I like you. More than I should." The second time is easier to say it. The regret doesn't vanish. It only grows as the silence takes over as Lena doesn't react.
Before the ambiguity of Lena's silence forced an apology out of her (because she didn't want to apologize for how she felt; Leva was incredible, how could she not like her?), any doubt was erased by the feeling of Lena's lips on her. Alex gasped in surprise but returned the kiss, sure she was dreaming.
Lena pulled away, looking up at Alex searching for an answer. Alex just kissed her again softly and slowly, her hands trying to gently press Lena closer to her. How deliciously sinful it was the feeling of Lena against her. Lena smiled into the kiss. Alex then thought Lena began to pull away, but soon she realized she was being pulled along and they both sat on the bed, Alex practically on Lena's lap.
Their kisses slowed down becoming each time more sensual and intimate.
They pulled away briefly, looking at each other with silly smiles and satisfied expressions.
"I should've done this before," Alex whispered with a smile, and her eyes closed. "You're so incredible."
Lena let Alex whisper sweet nothings in her ear. It was harmless, and she would be lying if she said it did nothing to her.
They only pulled away from each other when they heard the door opening and Brainy entering, yet they weren't even an arm's length apart. He looked between them for half a minute without saying anything.
"Took you two long enough," he concluded finally, before turning back 180o degrees and leaving.
Most of their dynamics stayed the same, which helped Alex to understand why Lucca would think they were already together.
The biggest difference was that they would kiss when no one else was around and that Alex had finally moved to Lena's bedroom.
The only big change that appeared a few months from there was a job opportunity for Lena at their local university. Alex had no doubt Lena would get. This way she wouldn't have to worry so much about Lena going crazy doing nothing, and if there was anyone who could make use of any situation was Lena.
"Why is she going if you don't need it? If you need the extra money, I can talk to my uncle," Lucca said after Lena left.
"She wants to and she'll like it more than staying home."
Lena got the job as if there was any doubt.
They were to complete two years stuck in the past when Brainy gave them the address and instructed them to meet him at it in a few hours. The idea that Brainy made some actual progress occurred through her mind, but after two years it was too dangerous to get her hopes up.
When Lena and Alex arrived at the said address there was confusion on their face when they encountered a common house. Brainy was waiting by the door.
He led them inside, and the hope for something remained in Alex and Lena until they were back at the entrance hall after Brainy gave them a tour through the house.
"Brainy, what is this?" Alex asked finally.
"Your new house." They both had blank faces staring at him. "As much we have been avoiding to admit, our chances of being rescued at this point are small and it's no secret you've been… moving on- Which is great-" he quickly added. "With that in mind, I believe you'd be more comfortable with a space of your own that attends to your present and… future needs."
They looked at him unable to form a response.
"I'll let you two think about it." He left after saying that.
Lena bit her lip looking at Alex. It was a nice house. With enough space in there for them and at least two more and of course Brainy knew that. It was hard to miss the way Alex's eyes would glimmer when she saw a baby. Whenever Lucca's wife brought their nine months old Leo to visit, Alex wouldn't let go of him easily.
Maybe they could have that.
Not now, but in the future like Brainy said. And each time more their future looked like the past.
Some days Lena was fine with this, others she felt like screaming her lungs out.
That day was a 'fine' day and Alex seemed to be able to read it in the smile that slipped from Lena's control.
They didn't have that many boxes. Only five of them. Lucca helped with the move. He got his cousin's truck and they tied the mattress and the couch to it. By the state of it, Lena expected it not to survive the journey, but it did.
They didn't stay long, leaving right after getting all their things inside.
Lena was kind of glad for it. She was glad for their friends' help, but it felt nicer to be able to put their house together with Alex.
"Want to start with this one?" Alex asked with a knife in hand. She opened the box marked as 'kitchen'.
They had brought a lot from their former apartment at Brainy's insistence that he had little need for those things. He was barely there at all.
Unpacking was fun. They would twist their faces at the ugly china and used forks. Putting those things in place wasn't so fun. They made it to the third box until their bottle of wine was over and Alex fell asleep on a pile of clothes.
The first night Alex came back seriously hurt was the only time Alex thought Lena would leave her.
Lucca carried her inside while Alex tried to keep the pressure on her wound. The fact that the same hand that she using to keep the pressure was also the hand she was using to hold a gun didn't help.
Lena was half awake when they knocked on the door. She was scared at first. She knew every so often one Mafioso turned on another. Shaking she approached the door and when she saw Lucca struggling to hold Alex, Lena rushed them both inside.
Lucca was familiar enough with the house that he laid Alex on the couch.
Lena’s brain short-circuited. She just wanted to be near Alex. She kneeled next to the running her hands through Alex’s hair. Lucca stood up after placing Lena’s hand to put pressure on the wound. Feeling the slippery blood under her fingers, Lena felt her chest tighten. It was a lot of blood. It probably hit something.
“Don’t cry. It’s going to be fine,” Alex said. She reached for Lena’s face but stopped at the sight of her bloodied hands.
Lucca screamed something in Italian from the kitchen, coming back with several cloths and alcohol. He put one of those in Alex's mouth and moved Lena’s hand away from the injury before pouring the alcohol on the would.
Alex bit onto de cloth and clenched her fists.
Things only fully calmed down a few minutes later when Alex finally passed out from exhaustion. The only reason why Lena wasn’t freaking out was because of the steady movement of Alex’s chest.
Rationally, she knew the worst part of it was over, but she refused to leave Alex’s side.
Lucca slept in the guest room. Lena didn’t sleep at all.
The men stayed just long enough to see Alex wake up, and to tell Alex she was an idiot. Lena accompanied him to the door.
She turned to see Alex grunting as she sat up.
“You better not be thinking about getting your butt out of the couch or I swear to god I will walk out of that door, Alex Danvers.” Alex stopped halfway.
“I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t sign up for this shit. Do you want to get yourself killed? Go ahead, but don’t expect me to be here to cry and mourn you.”
“I didn’t intentionally get shot, you know that.”
“You aren’t trying to avoid being shot either.”
“You knew from the start what kind of job this was. It’s the same thing I did two days ago and last week.”
“And I was against it from the start.” Lena shook her head. “I’m not doing this. I’m not going to wait for you every night unsure if Lucca is going to bring you alive or not. I can’t-“
Lena left the house. Alex tried to stand up to go after her, the pain of her wound made her sit back down again. She tried to scream Lena’s name, but it was of no use.
Lena came back.
It was around lunchtime, and she found Alex by the kitchen, gripping her wound and looking at the fridge.
“I told you not to leave the couch,” Lena said.
“I wasn’t sure you were coming back.” Alex swallowed. She had cried a lot, she wasn’t sure if Lena could see it in her face. She couldn’t fuck up the only good thing she truly had.
“Go back to the couch.”
“Come with me. I don’t want to lose you.”
It takes a whole year for them to truly go back to normal. Alex barely did late-night jobs anymore. She went on some trips with Lucca and some guys. Lena worried, but her job helped to keep her distracted.
During that time, one of the college professors noticed she wasn’t just a pretty face.
He gave her lab access.
“Be careful with him. I don’t trust men of this time,” Alex told Lena.
“Has anyone ever forced me to do something I didn’t want?”
Alex chuckled.
Alex showed up to pick Lena up, which was a surprise. Lena introduced Alex to professor M. He didn’t stick around for long, it was clear that Alex cared very little for his company. It wasn’t personal, but Alex looked like a person on a mission.
“So, any ideas for dinner today?” Lena asked entering the car.
“I got us covered, I was thinking we could have a night out today.”
Lucca hit her arm hard.
“What do you mean you didn’t do it? Are you getting cold feet?”
“No! It’s not that. I was going to, but it didn’t feel right. And everything was perfect, we had just ordered dessert and the restaurant was full. Diego even had the champagne ready – remind me to thank him for that -, but when I looked around I wasn’t sure if Lena would want to be proposed to in the middle of so many people.”
Lucca shook his head, obviously out of patience.
“I will do it.”
“Uhu. You better, or I’ll do it for you.”
It was Kara’s birthday.
It was kind of silly, but Alex made sure to celebrate every year. The previous year when she forgot, she barely spoke to anyone in three days. It felt like she was forgetting her old life and she couldn’t afford that.
She wondered what they were doing, how they felt…
She hoped Kara was taking care of herself. Kara was the one she missed the most (she was her sister, after all), but she missed the others almost as much. Eliza, J’onn, Nia…
Alex knew Lena missed them too. Every now and then she’d charge her 2020 phone and look at old photos at the gang.
Neither could remember when they stopped saying someone would come for them or that they would find some way to do back to their time. Yet they did. And they thought less about it every single year.
They barely saw Brainy anymore.
He was the fastest student ever to finish his course already starting his first year as a professor.
They went out to celebrate. It had been weeks since Lena and Alex saw him. Alex threw him a box wrapped with a bow. Brainy opened in to find a pair of glasses inside.
“Every professor I know uses glasses,” Alex shrugged and they laughed.
“It’s getting late, and we don’t want to make the professor late for his first day,” Lena said getting up. “I’m going to the bathroom while you two wrap this up.”
“I got this,” Brainy said when Alex was reaching for the check. “You already did a lot for all of us. The real question is when are you planning on showing Lena that little box you have there.”
“How-?” It was Brainy, Alex stopped herself mid-sentence. Of course, he knew.
“What are you waiting for?”
“I guess I’m just kind of scared. I didn’t imagine being here when this started.”
“It’s not the type of thing one should think about during their first day. I would know, Nia told me that.” Alex smiled not quite reached her eyes, due to the underlying nostalgia of that moment.
Lucca showing up unannounced was never good news. Usually, it meant Alex had a late-night job to do, but not that day. There was something off in his eyes, a look Lena only saw the day he brought home a bloodied Alex.
“What happened?” Alex asked after he came inside.
“Things aren’t looking good for us right now. Remember that new guy in town? Apparently, he’s been talking to some cops, he’s got most of the west side and the big guys are pissed.”
“Do they want us to deal with him?”
“He’s too big of a player. We wouldn’t be able to even get close to him.” Alex tilted her head. Lena knew very well that if she was given the chance, Alex would try. “They are afraid he’s buying off our cops.”
Lena chuckled. “That’s easy to solve.”
“You’re telling me you know how to deal with it while no one else does?” Lena nodded. “Alright, the boss is probably going to want to have a meeting with you.”
“Just like that?” Alex asked.
“I know better by now than to argue with your woman. She’s got the brains of this relationship.”
And that was how Lena made it to the big boss's table.
They didn’t like being told what to do, and by a woman least of all, but when they noticed that she was right (and that Alex would kill anyone in that room if they as much as coughed at her), they decided to ignore it.
With time Lena became a constant on that table. Alex was never too far away, although Lucca’s reassurance that nothing would happen to Lena. While Alex was more stressed than before, Lena the happiest Alex had seen since they were thrown back in time.
Suddenly that ring in her pocket didn’t feel as right anymore.
Lena came home to find her house smelling something divine. Her nose guided her to the kitchen where Alex was taking out of the oven a pumpkin pie.
“Mmm, what you got there?” Lena asked leaning against the door frame.
“That’s dessert, so don’t even think about it.”
“We could eat it now, I find myself wanting a different kind of dessert.” Lena walked towards Alex hugging her from behind by the waist.
Alex nodded, there was a smile on her lips, but the rest of her body lacked a reaction under Lena’s touch. “I guess that means you already ate.”
Lena pulled away. “I didn’t mean to. They ordered it and refused to listen to me.” Alex chuckled, still focused on cleaning the mess she had made in the kitchen. “Al, talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. You should go take a bath. You smell like cigarettes.”
“There’s something wrong.”
“There’s not.”
“Don’t lie to me. If there’s nothing wrong, then tell me how you are feeling.”
“I’m feeling annoyed by the way you smell.”
Lena snorted. “Okay, if you won’t talk I will.” Instead of talking, Lena made her way to the second floor. Alex went back to tidying up the kitchen, assuming Lena had decided to take her advice and take a bath. Her hopes were short-lived. Lena came back down the stairs and put the small black box in front of Alex. There was no surprise on Alex’s face, and Lena found herself more annoyed by it. “4 months since I know about it, and every day I wait for you to do something, to say something. What is it? Do you regret buying it? Do you regret being with me?”
“No. You’re the only thing I’m sure about after everything that happened. I’m just- I’m not sure if you could say the same. I once proposed too soon, and the heartache… I thought I would never be in love again. I don’t want to do it again. I don’t want to propose too soon and a while from now we find out that this doesn’t work.” Alex pointed between them. “You don’t need me anymore. You got them eating out of the palm of your hand. I don’t want you to be with me just out of convenience or obligation, and I guess that until now I hadn’t given you that option, because I’m terrified of losing you.”
Lena shook her head. “Do you think that little of me?”
“No. I think the world of you. I’m just saying that the circumstances we were put in might have made you do things you wouldn’t have done. We wouldn’t be together if all of this hadn’t happened."
“That doesn’t make any of it less real. It doesn’t make what I feel about you any less real.”
“You wouldn’t feel this way if we hadn’t-”
“You can’t know that. And what’s the point of living off what could have been? It happened. And we are here, and I’m in love with you and I want to be with you, and if somehow we managed to go back to our friends and family, I’d still be in love with you and I’d still want to be with you. Isn’t that what matters?” Alex’s eyes drifted from Lena’s for the first time since they started talking. They drifted towards the little black box in Lena’s hand. Lena took a step closer grabbing Alex’s face. “I know you are afraid of getting hurt, but you have to trust me.”
Lena joined their foreheads, but she met Alex halfway to join their lips. Her thigh fit between Alex’s as their bodies pressed to one another, and they pressed Alex’s against the kitchen balcony.
It was hard to say who was more sparkling in the week to come. Alex couldn’t stop smile - and Luca’s teasing did nothing to stop that -, and there was a certain distraction to Lena’s behavior - not that it affected her work quality at all.
The ring didn’t go unnoticed, nor did the claps on Alex’s back.
Little Leo loved Alex. Lucca dropped his one-year-old on a Sunday night so he could spend it with his wife. Alex got him from his father’s arms while Lucca winked at Alex. He was expecting that night for a long time.
“You might want to change his diaper,” Lucca said getting into the car.
“Idiot,” Alex murmured under her breath. Leo smiled at Alex. He was too cute for Alex to stay mad at him. “I guess we gotta change your diapers.” Alex looked at Lena and she just shook her head.
“Your friend, your responsibility. I’ll get started on dinner.”
He passed out around ten and Alex felt like she was a few minutes from doing so as well. She was lying on a big blanket on the floor along with Leo and Lena.
“They are much cuter when they are sleeping. I don’t know how Lucca does it.”
“I wouldn’t mind having some of my own,” Lena said making Alex look at her. Of course, Lena knew about how she wanted to have kids. It was one of their topics on their engagement night, but hear Lena saying something like that made Alex feel butterflies in her stomach.
“You do know that getting engaged usually means getting married at some point, right?” Lucca said to her on one of their late-night jobs. There weren’t many of them since Lena started being a member of the big guy's table, but there was a preference for Alex and Lucca for some high-profile targets. “It’s been a year. Are you getting cold feet? Because those never really go away.” Lucca laughed.
Alex rolled her eyes. “It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s not the right time .”
He couldn't understand what Alex actually meant.
“Hey beautiful,” Lena heard coming from behind her as she was finishing putting the groceries on the trunk. She aggressively turned knowing very well that wasn’t Alex’s voice.
Her voice died on the throat. “Took you long enough, Sara Lance.”
“The thirties fit you, Miss Luthor,” Sara smirked.
As soon as Alex stepped into the Waverider she was swapped in a hug by Kara. The superhero managed to fit Lena and Brainy into that hug as well.
“Brainy,” Nia called not far behind, and Kara finally remembered to let go so other people could have their reunions.
It took them an hour until everything calmed down and they finally noticed something was wrong.
“This scar is new,” Kara said noticing the mark that ran on her sister’s jaw. “What kind of trouble did you get in one day?”
“That is new too,” Sara said pointing to the ring on Lena’s hand, but it was Alex’s eyes she met after all Alex had a matching ring. “It hasn’t been one day, has it?”