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Chapter Text

She should have known better.

As much as Alex wanted to slam her apartment door in frustration, she closed it quietly, too emotionally drained for theatrics. Turning one deadbolt and then the other, she closed her eyes, leaning against the wood as the tears that had been threatening all the way back to her apartment finally manifested.

She should have known better.

But God... God, it fucking hurt.

“Alex?”

Flinching, Alex straightened and turned, both startled yet unsurprised to find Kara standing there in the relative darkness in full Supergirl attire. Alex cleared her throat and kept to the shadows, not wanting her sister to know how upset she was.

“What are you doing here? You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Kara murmured. “I heard about Roulette being released. I thought…”

Alex tried to discreetly sniffle but apparently she failed. Kara was across the room instantly, dipping her head to study Alex’s features.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Alex…” Kara chided, reaching out and cupping Alex’s cheek, turning her features toward the meager light. “You’re crying.” Her thumb gently wiped away a tear, and, for a moment, Alex was tempted to fall into her sister’s impossibly strong arms and confess everything.

Jerking her head away, Alex shuffled into her apartment. Her plans for the evening were to drink and cry and not necessarily in that order, and she needed Kara gone before she could commence with either.

“Alex,” Kara pleaded this time, trailing after her.

Alex stopped in the middle of her living room, hanging her head in defeat. “I just…” Her voice quivered, fresh tears blurring her view of National City awash in lights beyond her windows. ”I just wonder if I’ll ever be enough for someone.” She turned to face Kara, her sister’s features stricken. “I’m always second best if I’m even any thought at all.”

“What are you talking about?” Kara stepped closer. “What happened?”

Alex waved off her sister’s concerns with a flick of her wrist. “It doesn’t matter.”

“The hell it doesn’t,” Kara snapped, a note of anguish entering her voice. “Nothing matters more.”

Wishing she could believe that, Alex shook her head and slumped on her couch. She grabbed a pillow, drawing it to her chest. “I just need to be alone for a little while.”

Kara drew in a deep breath at the dismissal. For a moment, Alex thought her sister might actually leave. A part of her wanted Kara to, but the rest desperately wanted Kara to choose to stay, to care enough for her to fight back.

Cape fluttering as she flopped on the couch, Kara simply sat there beside her, saying nothing.

A tiny, grateful grin flickered across Alex’s lips even as more tears continued to fall.

“I’m not leaving,” Kara said into the quiet, her voice hoarse. She reached out hesitantly, wrapping an arm around Alex’s shoulders and drawing her into a hug.

It broke something in her, and Alex released a choked sob, the first of many. Kara’s grip on her tightened, holding her while Alex finally surrendered to the pain.

****   

Alex took the pint of rocky road and spoon Kara thrust into her hands with a tired smile. She’d finally cried herself out, and Kara had announced some ice cream therapy was in order. Kara plopped down beside her again, a pint of open Chunky Monkey in her hand, her first bite already in her mouth.

“Talk to me,” Kara said after she swallowed. “Tell me who I need to punch.”

Sighing, Alex took a tentative bite of her own, the cold pleasant on her raw throat. “No one.”

“Someone upset you. That's punch-worthy.”

Smiling grimly, Alex shook her head. “If anyone deserves to be punched, it’s me. I did something tonight I shouldn’t have.”

“That’s hardly new.”

Alex shoved her sister playfully with her shoulder but Kara, of course, didn’t budge.

Closing her eyes, Alex tried to ignore the nerves fluttering like mad in her stomach. “I… I like someone.”

Kara went still, her head rounding on Alex in surprise. “Who?”

Alex shook her head again. “Doesn’t matter. They… they have someone. Someone very attractive as I got to see firsthand tonight.”

Frowning, Kara’s brow furrowed heavily before suddenly relaxing in understanding. “Maggie?” she asked softly.

Alex’s breath caught. She’d never really discussed her sexuality with Kara, never fully sure about it herself until Maggie Sawyer had sauntered into her life. She thought about denying it, but she slowly nodded her head, a measure of relief stealing through her at the admission.

Without a word, Kara snuggled closer, and Alex was suddenly beyond grateful her sister was there. “I’ve never seen you warm up to someone this fast. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you warm up to someone so much, period.”

“I warmed up to you,” Alex grumbled.

“That took years, Alex. You’ve known Maggie for like two weeks.”

Alex pursed her lips and rolled her eyes, but she didn’t dispute the facts. “I went to see her tonight at the station,” she admitted, relieved Kara hadn’t batted an eye at her confession to being attracted to a woman. It made this easier.

“And,” Kara prodded gently.

“I kinda, sort of, asked her out.”

“And,” Kara said again.

“Her hot girlfriend showed up and kissed her right in front of me.”

Kara grimaced dramatically and Alex almost, almost laughed.

“Yeah,” Alex sighed.

“Are they serious?”

“What difference does it make?”

“Plenty!” Kara huffed. “Maggie likes you, Alex. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes, and need I remind you, I have really good eyes.” Kara set her ice cream down and wrapped her arm around her sister, pulling Alex’s closer. “You two… click. You have chemistry.”

Alex gave her sister a look and swallowed another bite of ice cream. “No.” She pointed her spoon at Kara in warning.

“No what?”

“You’re plotting. Even without x-ray vision I can see the wheels turning in your Kryptonian skull. Let it be, Kara.”

Kara pouted slightly. “But you like her.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.” Kara stuck her spoon in Alex’s ice cream. “Operation Sanvers is a go. I will figure this out.”

“Operation Sanvers?”

“Or do you prefer Maglex? Algie? How about…?”

“Stop. Please stop.” Alex shook her head, her mood lightening in the wake of her sister’s silliness. “She’s taken, Kara,” she added sadly.

“Yeah, with you,” Kara shot back. “Look, if I find out she’s serious with this woman, I’ll back off, but if she’s not…”

“I knew I should have kept my mouth shut.”

Kara grinned. “I already have a plan. A foolproof technique, in fact, to get Maggie Sawyer’s full attention.”

Alex stared down into her pint of ice cream. “Maybe it’s time to switch to alcohol…”

Chapter Text

Eyes tired and scratchy, Alex tried to focus on the information Winn had just dropped off on Mon-El’s latest test results. She sighed, squinting at the tablet in her hands under the fluorescent lights of the DEO before giving up and tossing it on the counter to review later.

Kara, bless her, had stayed the night, making sure Alex didn’t fall into a further funk. While Alex sometimes questioned her role in Kara’s life, last night, her sister had reminded Alex that she did matter, and matter a lot. That confirmation had come just when Alex had needed it most.

Her phone buzzed in her back pocket and Alex retrieved it, grateful for a distraction, until she saw who was calling.

Maggie Sawyer.

Hope and anguish soared in equal measure when Alex thought of Maggie’s smile, of those irresistible dimples. She swallowed, wanting desperately to answer and yet afraid to, knowing the sound of Maggie’s voice would bring back the whole utter humiliation Alex had experienced last night.

The decision was taken out of her hands when Kara suddenly materialized and grabbed her phone.

“Where did you…” Alex shook her head and took a step toward her sister. “Kara…”

Kara let the phone ring a few more times before she smirked and pressed answer. “Alex Danvers’ phone,” she greeted cheerily, pivoting on her boot heel, her cape whipping behind her with a snap.

Alex inhaled sharply in surprise, a little terrified of what Kara might do or say. She spread her hands wide in a ‘what the hell’ gesture her sister completely ignored.

“She’s busy at the moment. May I ask who’s calling? Oh,” Kara said, her tone sliding into shockingly believable disinterest. “Hi, Detective.” She rolled her eyes dramatically and Alex scowled.

Alex reached for the phone only to have Kara use a small burst of super speed to cross the room and keep it away from her.

“Yeah, this is her. I’ll let Alex know you called. She’s pretty tied up today, but maybe another agent can come.”

“Kara,” Alex hissed, but her sister just waved her off.

Kara listened for another moment before she said goodbye and hung up.

“What the hell was that?” Alex demanded, crossing her arms and advancing on her sister.

“Part one of The Lighthouse Technique,” Kara replied smugly, “make yourself unavailable. It’s already working like a charm.”

“That was work, Kara.”

“That was work plenty of other agents can handle. It doesn’t have to be you running like an obedient dog to Maggie’s side, Alex.”

Alex opened her mouth to argue only to close it. “You did not just describe me as a dog.”

“Woof,” Kara answered with a sly grin.

“Fine,” Alex grumbled, coming closer and snatching her phone out of her sister’s hand. “Tell me what purpose is served blowing Maggie off like that?”

“You can’t be at her beck and call. You need to play hard to get. Shine your light and let her come to you.”

“Shine my what?”

“I told you,” Kara said, “it’s called The Lighthouse Technique. Cat wrote this book several years ago about attracting the person you want. It sounds crazy, but it works.”

“Cat gave you this advice? Cat Grant?”

“That’s how I finally got James to admit he liked me.”

“James. The guy you decided you didn’t want to date.”

“It’s the principle of the thing,” Kara huffed. “Work with me on this.”

“Shoot me,” Alex mumbled under her breath, turning and wandering back to the counter to scoop up her tablet again.

“Alex…” Kara trailed after her. “What have you got to lose?”

“I’m an adult, Kara. I can handle this thing with Maggie.”

“This thing with Maggie is causing you pain, and I’m not okay with that. Can you really tell me seeing her right now wouldn’t hurt like hell?” Kara put her hands on her hips, quietly daring Alex to say otherwise.

Alex considered arguing, but there was no point, especially when Kara was right. “Fine,” she said again, waving Kara off. “Go find Agent Aquino. Tell him to offer whatever assistance the DEO can provide.”

Kara stepped forward and pulled Alex into a hug. “For what it’s worth, Maggie said she prefers to work with you.”

Brow furrowing, Alex took that in, savoring that morsel of information more than she thought she should. “Really?”

“Uh-huh.” Kara leaned back, her hands resting warmly on Alex’s biceps. “Trust me, Alex. This is only phase one. We’re going to make this work. All you have to do with Maggie is try less and shine more.”

“You’re crazy,” Alex told her. “I love you, but you’re crazy.”

“We’ll see,” Kara said with a smile and a wink.

****

“You avoiding me, Danvers?”

Alex sat back on her haunches, squinting into the sun to see Maggie Sawyer standing over her. It had been more than a week since she’d seen or spoken to the detective, thanks to Kara’s persistent interference, and sadly Maggie seemed to have only grown more attractive with time and distance. Alex pursed her lips. “You crashing my crime scene, Sawyer?”

Maggie stepped back as Alex stood. For a moment, her confidence faltered as her gaze darted over Alex’s features, trying to discern her footing with the agent. Alex was surprised by the glimpse of vulnerability before Maggie’s swagger returned in full force. “My jurisdiction, too. I thought we’d come to some sort of arrangement. Has that changed?”

Alex shrugged a disinterested shoulder. “We should have called,” she allowed. “Sorry.”

Maggie’s brow furrowed. “We?”

“The DEO.”

“I don’t work with the DEO,” Maggie muttered. “I work with you.”

Alex swallowed, hoping she was keeping her features neutral when the words made her spirits soar more than a little. “There’s a difference?”

“I thought there was.” Maggie looked away.

Alex sighed, feeling guilty. “I’ve just been… busy this past week.” Kara would give her grief for extending the olive branch, but Alex couldn’t handle the idea that she was making Maggie upset. Even if the other woman had no interest in her, they’d been forming a nice friendship, and Alex didn’t want to lose that.

“That why Supergirl keeps answering your phone?” Maggie smiled tightly.

Alex blinked, realizing with a start that Maggie might actually be a little jealous. She should not be happy about that. She really should not be happy about that.

She was happy about that.

Sliding her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, Alex shrugged again. “We work together a lot.”

Maggie nodded slowly, her gaze lingering on Alex’s features for a moment. “So… what do we have?”

“What do we have?” Alex repeated, her heart rate increasing in tempo.

Maggie gestured at the crime scene. “Want to bring me up to speed?”

“Oh. Right.”

Try less, shine more, Kara had said, and Alex was disappointed to realize she was actually thinking about taking the advice to heart. Her love life had clearly hit a new low.

Chapter Text

“So…” Alex began slowly as she watched her sister stuff her face full of pot stickers. “I… saw Maggie today.”

Kara paused mid-chew. Alex was settled on the couch, Kara in a chair, their order of Chinese takeout in ruins on the coffee table between them. Her sister lifted one eyebrow in a wordless prompt to continue.

“She was… kind of mad.”

“Mad?” Kara asked after she swallowed.

“That I hadn’t been taking her calls.”

A flicker of something that looked suspiciously like guilt ghosted over Kara’s features before disappearing. “Good.” Kara grabbed a piece of beef and broccoli with her chopsticks and brought it to her lips. “That means it’s working.”

Rain tapped lightly on the windows as Alex frowned, setting her half-eaten carton of General Tso’s chicken on the table. “I don’t know, Kara. She seemed… hurt.”

Blue eyes studied Alex knowingly, and Kara sighed. “Yeah?”

Alex nodded. “So what does The Lighthouse Technique say about that?”

Kara stood and came around the corner of the table, flopping down next to Alex on her couch. “I don’t like it, either, Alex, but it does mean that it’s working. Maggie isn’t taking you for granted anymore. She’s noticing you.”

“She noticed me before.”

“Professionally but not personally.”

Alex grabbed a throw pillow and brought it to her chest. “This just feels so manipulative.”

Kara considered that. “Was she really hurt?”

“Confused is probably the best word for it. We were getting closer, becoming friends, and then I just started ignoring her. She doesn’t know what to think.”

“She noticed you were ignoring her at least.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “Progress. We’ll be send out wedding invitations in no time.”

Kara effortlessly ripped the pillow out of Alex’s hands and lightly bopped her sister in the face with it. “Knock it off,” she muttered. “She’d be damn lucky to have you.”

“Hey!” Alex grabbed the pillow and returned it to her chest, but she smiled sadly. “I don’t know about that.”

“I do. If you weren’t my sister, I’d date you,” Kara teased.

“Uh huh. I’d have to get in line behind all your other suitors,” Alex snarked back.

Brow furrowing, Kara gaped at her. “What other suitors?”

“Oh c’mon, Kara, where should I even start? Winn, James, Mon-El?”

It was Kara’s turn to roll her eyes.

“Or how about Lena Luthor? She’s been hanging around a lot lately. Or maybe you’re still crushing on Cat Grant? Maybe you’d like your former boss ‘docked in your port.’”

“I hate you,” Kara huffed. “I’m trying to help you, and you’re being a brat.”

“Learned it from you,” Alex mumbled, but their teasing made her feel better.

“Sounds like we’re ready for phase two,” Kara murmured before setting her carton on the table next to Alex’s.

“Do I want to know?”

“We make Maggie jealous.”

Alex thought of the way Maggie reacted to Kara always answering her phone. “I think phase two is already in progress then.”

Tucking one knee under her, Kara turned toward her sister. “Why is that?”

“She thinks I’m already seeing someone.”

Brow furrowing, Kara mentally sorted through all her options and obviously came up empty. “Who?” she blurted.

Alex leaned her head back on the couch and pretended to look at her sister adoringly, even playfully batting her eyelashes.

Kara blinked. “Me?”

“Supergirl you, yeah.”

“That’s… huh.” Kara tilted her head, thinking. “But she was jealous, of me I mean?”

“Seemed to be. Maybe it was just wishful thinking.”

“This might be even easier than I thought. I figured I was going to have to recruit Winn or Vasquez to hit on you.”

“Excuse me?” Alex muttered. “Winn??”

“Or maybe Lucy. I’ll bet she would have fun hitting on you.”

Alex scrubbed a hand through her hair. She’d had a tiny little crush on Lucy for a spell so that probably wasn’t the best idea. “Kara…”

“But this is definitely easier.”

“What’s easier?” Alex asked, worried.

Kara just smiled. “Nothing. Enough about Maggie tonight. Let’s watch Orphan Black.”

****

Another day, another crime scene. Alex sighed, her gaze drawn to Maggie as she talked with one of the NCPD crime scene techs. It was almost unfair how beautiful the detective looked, the late afternoon sun at her back, her dimples on dazzling display. Things had been easier between them today, and Alex was torn between reinforcing that and capitulating to Kara’s damn plan.

Alex twitched when an arm suddenly draped over her shoulders.

“Can you try to be a little less obvious,” Kara murmured, seemingly materializing out of thin air, which was probably at least partially what she’d done.

Glancing at her sister, Alex huffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re practically drooling.”

Glaring, Alex nevertheless wiped a palm across her chin as she turned back to the scene, lifting her cell phone to take a few snapshots. “What are you doing here?”

“Phase two,” Kara reminded her cheerfully. She squeezed Alex’s shoulders, nuzzling closer to peer with interest at the photo Alex was taking with her phone. Alex went still at the contact, surprise rippling through her.

“What in the hell are you doing?”

Kara laid her head on Alex’s shoulder. “Trying to make Maggie jealous. Is it working?”

“Oh God.” Alex rolled her eyes and slipped out from under Kara’s arm, heading back to the DEO-issued SUV to retrieve some additional gear. “You know what? Enough. This is getting ridiculous.”

Kara hurried after her, shooting a quick look over her shoulder to make sure Maggie was keeping an interested eye on them. She smirked. “Yeah, well, Maggie’s watching us.”

“Probably because she thinks you’ve lost your mind. Which you have,” Alex grumbled. She opened the hatch and reached for a case, but Kara grabbed her sister’s elbow and lightly spun her around.

“Just hear me out.”

“Kara, I’m at a crime scene.”

“Which is about the only place where you and Maggie regularly meet, sadly.”

Alex sighed forcefully before glancing at Maggie only to see the detective’s gaze skitter away. She hesitated.

“She was totally watching us again, wasn’t she?” Kara smiled knowingly.

“This is… I’m not…” Alex twisted her mouth before heaving a heavy sigh. “I can’t believe I’m considering this.”

Kara gave a little hop of excitement. “It’ll be a piece of cake. We’re always trying to act like colleagues instead of sisters around each other. For the next few days, we don’t have to pretend like we’re strangers. I can hug you. You can put your arm around me…”

“But that’s not going to look like we’re dating. It’s going to look like we’re sisters. Which we are,” Alex felt the need to remind her.

“Not to Maggie, it won’t.”

“You’re crazy. Kara…”

Kara stepped forward and pulled her sister into a hug, letting it linger. “Trust me, Alex,” she whispered.

“You’re talking about pretending to date me, and you want me to trust you?”

“Alex?” Kara murmured, a smile in her voice.

“What?”

“Is Maggie watching?”

Alex glanced at the detective again and saw Maggie look away, her jaw clenching. “Yeah,” she answered softly.

“Doesn’t look happy, does she?”

“No,” Alex murmured speculatively. “She doesn’t.”

With a smirk, Kara leaned over and kissed her sister on the cheek before shooting toward the sky.  

Alex tried not to feel just the tiniest bit pleased that Maggie was grumpy during the rest of the investigation.

Chapter Text

“You and the Girl of Steel seem chummy.”

Alex glanced up in surprise, butterflies instantly taking flight in her stomach when she realized Maggie Sawyer was standing over her table at the bar. “What?”

Maggie sat down, and Alex straightened slightly. “You and Supergirl. How long has that been going on?”

“Um…” Alex stalled while her brain sorted through several inputs simultaneously. One, Kara’s insane plan was apparently working; two, Maggie actually seemed jealous; and three, Alex needed to figure out how to lie her way out of this situation without suggesting she was dating her own sister.

Alex’s phone buzzed, and she slipped it out of her jacket pocket, seeing a message from Kara.

Act disinterested.

Alex frowned, glancing around, wondering if Kara was somehow keeping tabs on her from CatCo, or worse, she was hovering over the damn bar, following her sister in case of a Maggie Sawyer encounter.

“We’ve been… close… for years,” Alex drawled slowly.

“Really?” Maggie seemed surprised and a little crestfallen at the news.

Alex swallowed nervously, but she refused to read anything into Maggie’s expression. Her phone buzzed again.

Disinterested!

Alex shrugged one shoulder, complying with her sister’s order as she put the phone face down on the table.

“I thought Supergirl had only been around for a year or so.”

Pausing, Alex picked up her beer and took a sip as she gave herself a moment to think. “She had to be ready before she… came out.” She winced at the term.

Maggie lifted one eyebrow. “So you’re… what, exactly? Girlfriends? Partners?”

Alex wanted to scream in frustration. “We… um…” She glanced at her phone, but Kara had gone mysteriously silent. “It’s… hard to explain.”

The waitress set a beer down in front of Maggie and a basket of french fries. Maggie ignored them both, cocking her head and studying Alex curiously. “I read you wrong.”

“Wrong?”

“I didn’t think you were into girls.”

Shrugging again, Alex filched a fry. “I’ve… recently gotten comfortable with the fact.”

“Recently?”

“You ask a lot of questions, Sawyer.”

“It’s my job, Danvers.”

They smiled, each quietly assessing the other.

Popping the fry into her mouth, Alex chewed as she weighed her options. “What about you?” She decided to flip the tables, get a little more intel about the woman she was up against for Maggie’s affections.

“Me?”

“Tell me about the leggy blonde in your life,” Alex teased as Maggie took her first sip of beer.

“Well, I can tell you that I don’t have one. Not anymore.” Maggie dunked a few fries in ketchup and ate them unenthusiastically.

Brow furrowing, Alex leaned forward slightly. “Who was that woman you kissed the other night then?”

“Someone who used to be in my life and decided she didn’t want to be any longer.”

“Oh,” Alex breathed, strangely relieved she felt worse for Maggie than elated for herself. Maybe she hadn’t chucked her whole moral compass following Cat Grant’s advice. “Sorry.”

Maggie shrugged, but she wouldn’t meet Alex’s gaze. “It wasn’t working. She was right to dump me.”

“She dumped you?” Alex scoffed in disbelief.

Hesitantly, Maggie looked up at her, something vulnerable in her gaze. “That so hard to believe?”

“Yes,” Alex grumbled.

“Why?”

“Because… because you’re smart, and funny, and kind, and you have the hair, and the… the dimples… and the…” Alex gestured at Maggie’s body with a wave of her hand before dropping the offending appendage back to the table. “You seem pretty perfect to me, Sawyer.”

The corners of Maggie’s eyes crinkled adorably when she smiled, Alex realized, and those dimples… those damn dimples...

“Thanks, Danvers.”

Alex took another sip of her beer, trying to act casual as Maggie snacked on a few more fries.

“But I guess it’s not enough,” Maggie said after a moment, her tone so low Alex wondered if she’d heard the other woman correctly.

“Just because that blonde couldn’t figure out how good she had it doesn’t mean she didn’t have it good.”

“I wasn’t talking about her.”

Alex glanced up again, finding Maggie’s dark eyes watching her, a soft, sad smile on her lips. For a moment, Alex couldn’t breathe, her heart thundering so hard in her chest she was afraid it might give out. “Oh,” she breathed again.

“Yeah,” Maggie muttered. “That was smooth.” She sighed. “Maybe I should just go…” She started to stand but Alex reached out, grabbing Maggie gently by the wrist.

“Don’t,” Alex nearly whispered, her voice lost to the music pumping from the jukebox in the corner.

The corner of Maggie’s mouth turned up in a half smile. “If I wasn’t up against some otherworldly competition, I might have taken you up on that.” She tossed a few bills on the table. “Night, Danvers.”

Turning Maggie loose was painful. Alex sat there, wanting desperately to follow, but her feet seemed rooted to the floor.

Her phone buzzed and Alex glanced at it, her jaw clenching.

Go after her, you dummy!

It was all the encouragement Alex needed.

****

“Sawyer!” Boots splashing through standing water from the recent rains, Alex chased after the detective but Maggie’s determined stride didn’t slow. “Maggie!”

Maggie reached her bike and Alex picked up speed, reaching her before she could put her helmet on.

“Will you wait?” Alex huffed.

“What’s to wait on, Danvers? Figure I’ve made enough of a fool of myself for one night.”

Alex grimaced as guilt settled cold and hard in the center of her chest. Her hand rested on the bike, hoping she could keep Maggie from bolting before she had a chance to explain. “I’m not dating Supergirl.”

Maggie hesitated, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her helmet. “Could have fooled me.”

“I…” Alex took a breath, her heart rate kicking into overdrive and not because of her jog after the detective. She ducked her head, her hair falling forward to curtain her features, to make her admission just the tiniest bit easier. “I like you.”

The detective stilled, looking at Alex warily. “But?”

“No buts,” Alex murmured. “I… maybe… more than like you.” She tried to draw in another breath, wondering, with no small amount of mortification, if her sudden bout of nerves was going to make her sick or pass out. With effort, Alex met Maggie’s gaze again.

Dark eyes searched Alex’s in the low light before Maggie set her helmet on the bike, taking a step closer. “Then why all the games, Danvers? You froze me out. You’ve been all touchy feely with Supergirl…”

“Supergirl is always touchy feely.” Alex’s phone buzzed in her pocket a moment later. She winced and ignored it, but her gaze drifted skyward, looking into the black for a glimpse of red, blue, and blonde before shaking her head.

“Because you’ve known each other for years,” Maggie groused, an edge re-entering her voice Alex couldn’t bear to hear.

“Since we were kids, actually.”

Maggie frowned. “Kids?”

Alex took a deep breath, knowing in her heart she had Kara's blessing to do this. “Supergirl is my sister.”

Maggie rocked back slightly on her heels in surprise, but the detective said nothing.

“Adoptive sister,” Alex clarified. “I’m… painfully and pathetically human - especially at the moment.”

“But she was all over you at the crime scene the other day. She keeps answering your phone…”

Alex sighed, her lips pressing into a tight line. “She was trying to make you notice me. To make you jealous.”

Maggie’s jaw clenched, and for a second, Alex thought she was going to leave, that Maggie was never going to speak to her again.

“Never met someone who’s wingman could actually fly,” Maggie muttered.

“It’s this stupid book Kara read,” Alex rushed to explain. “It’s called the…”

“Lighthouse Technique.”

Alex blinked. “You’ve heard of it?”

Shaking her head, Maggie chuckled softly.

“What?” Alex drew closer.

“You weren’t the only one who was trying to make someone jealous, Danvers.” Maggie looked up at her with a self-deprecating smile. “Apparently the Danvers sisters are better at pulling it off than me, though.”

“You…” Alex’s heart fluttered in her chest. “You don’t strike me as the sort to read self-help books, Sawyer.”

"My sister does. And when I told her there was this hot, badass agent I couldn't get out of my head, she insisted I try this thing." Maggie shrugged. "I didn't even know if you were into woman, until suddenly Supergirl was draped all over you and I was jealous."

“Oh,” Alex murmured with a growing smile. “So our sisters are getting both of us in trouble.”

“Something like that. Aren’t we mature, high-functioning adults?” Maggie smiled though, dimples and all, and Alex felt herself fall harder than she ever had for anyone in her life.

“For what it’s worth, it worked,” Alex said. “I was jealous of your leggy blonde friend.”

“Yeah?” Maggie asked softly, her fingers fisting low on the lapel of Alex’s leather jacket, tugging her closer. “And we’ve established I was jealous of yours.”

Alex licked her lips, taking a shaky breath as their bodies brushed. “She’s probably listening to us right now. Maybe even…”

“Fine by me,” Maggie muttered. “And just in case you’re lying to me about her being your sister…” She tipped her head back and glanced skyward. “Suck it, Supergirl.”

Alex huffed out a laugh only to have it catch in her throat as Maggie’s lips covered hers. The kiss was achingly slow, dizzyingly hot, curling Alex’s toes in her boots as fireworks went off inside her chest.

When they finally eased apart, breathless, Alex stared at Maggie in wonder. “So that’s what I’ve been missing,” she whispered.

Maggie smiled, her thumb tracing the small dent on Alex’s chin and sending delicious tingles through Alex’s body. “Want to get out of here? Find a real place to eat?”

“You asking me on a date, Sawyer?”

“Only if you’re saying yes, Danvers.”

“Yes.” Alex grinned.

Her phone buzzed again, and Alex sighed, retrieving it from her pocket.

YOU’RE BOTH SO CUTE AND I’M SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!

Alex rolled her eyes and showed Maggie the text. The detective snorted.

“Guess I better take you some place nice. My sister would slash your tires if you hurt me. Your sister can throw me into space.”

Smirking, Alex blushed faintly. “Your bike or mine?”

“Mine. I like the idea of you holding on to me.” Maggie’s gaze was dark and warm, and Alex shivered slightly in anticipation.

Fetching her helmet from her own motorcycle, Alex waited to slip it on until she was nestled behind the detective, the motorcycle purring beneath them.

“Ready?” Maggie asked.

“I’m in your hands, Sawyer.”

Maggie turned her head further and Alex caught a glimpse of a slow, sensual smile and one very sexy dimple. “Not yet,” Maggie said smoothly. “But maybe if I play my cards right tonight.”

Alex snorted out another laugh, but she bit her lip as she eased closer, Maggie’s warm body between her legs as she wrapped her arm’s around the shorter woman’s waist. They both sat there for a moment, savoring the contact and the distracting heat that came with it.

“I could make a joke about you docking in my port, but I really don’t want to think about that damn book ever again.”

Maggie’s frame shook with a silent chuckle. “I don’t know, Danvers. It worked, didn’t it?”

Alex grinned, hanging on tight as they drove off into the night.