Work Text:
Alex and Maggie were at the bar waiting for Kara to show up. Apparently, Alex was excited to introduce her to her sister, but really introduce her, that time didn’t count, Maggie, you barely exchanged 3 words with each other.
And Maggie knew how much Kara meant to Alex, it wasn’t hard to learn that when she saw how big Alex’s smile got when she was talking about her little sister. They’d just started… well, not exactly dating, since they hadn’t really been on a date since she showed up at Alex’s with pizza and beer, but they were together, since the last few days, and maybe it was a little too soon to start introducing each other to the other’s family, but Kara was in Alex’s everyday life, she was a special case, it wasn’t the same thing as if she were bringing Alex to Nebraska.
So, there they were, waiting for Kara while nursing their beers. If she were to be honest, Maggie would say that she was a little nervous, she’d gotten a weird vibe from Kara the last (and first) time that she saw her. She just hoped that now that things with Alex were clear, maybe they’d be clear with Kara as well.
“She’s here.” Alex said, smiling wide for her sister while going for Maggie’s hand. She gave it a little squeeze in reassurance. “It’ll be ok, you’ll see, Kara will love you.”
Maggie gave her a small smile. “Yea, I know, I’m irresistible like that.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “Maybe don’t turn the charm on too much.”
Alex stepped away from their table as Kara reached them, hugging her sister with one arm and kissing her forehead.
“Hey, Alex, sorry, I know I’m a bit late. I had a… thing… to do… on my way over.”
“It’s ok” she smiled, “I know you two have met briefly before, but, hum, this is Maggie. Maggie, this is my sister, Kara.”
Maggie smiled and shook Kara’s hand, “nice to meet you again.”
Kara smiled, lowering her head a bit, “yea, you too.”
“What are you having, Kara? A beer?”
“Yea, sure.”
“Ok, I’ll get us all another round,” Alex smiled, pecking Maggie’s lips before heading to the bar.
It was nice. Maggie was having a good time watching the sisters interact and learning about the fights Alex would get into in her teenage years when kids at school pushed a shy Kara around. And learning about Alex’s punkrock phase – “Please tell me there are pictures.”
“I think that’s more of a one-year anniversary kind of story than a first-week, wouldn’t you say so, Kara?” Alex asked narrowing her eyes at her sister.
“Well, what else am I supposed to talk about? Work?”
Alex jumped at the opportunity. “Yes, please, how’s work, tell Maggie how much of a jerk your boss is while I go to the bathroom.”
Kara looked straight at Maggie as Alex walked away. “He is a jerk.”
Maggie laughed at Kara’s serious tone. “Well, do elaborate.”
Kara smiled and looked over her shoulder, checking for her sister, and then looked back at Maggie, smile disappearing.
“Listen, Maggie, I’ll go straight to the point. One week you say you want to be friends, the next you decide that you do want her. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. So, basically, what I’m saying is: you broke her heart once, you do it again and we’ll have a problem.”
Maggie wasn’t breathing. Okay, so I’d say that the vibe that I got last time wasn’t only in my head.
“I… I like her, I don’t intend on-
“Good,” Kara said while keeping an eye on the bathroom door, Alex was coming back. “Then we don’t have a problem.” She let a smile take her face again as Alex sat down.
“So, what did I miss?”
“Get home safe.”
“I will,” Kara said turning to Maggie, “it was nice meeting you, it’s good to have someone to share Alex’s embarrassing stories with.”
Maggie laughed nervously, her stomach tense since the shovel talk. “I look forward to hearing them all.”
As Kara walked away, Alex swung their hands, eyes clear with hope staring at Maggie. “Come over for a bit? Haven’t had the opportunity to kiss you properly today.”
Maggie took a deep breath in, starting to relax for the first time in two hours. “Yea,” she said, bringing the hand connected to Alex’s behind her back, pulling Alex close, “I’d like that.” She kissed her lightly, lips holding Alex’s bottom lip, taking her time when leaving the kiss. “I’d like that a lot.”
For the next three weeks, Maggie avoided meeting Kara again. The 3 or 4 times Alex invited her to have a few drinks with Kara and their friends or to have dinner with them at Kara’s and watch something on Netflix, she refused. I don’t want to take you away from spending time with your sister. We can have dinner tomorrow. Plus, I see you almost every day on crime scenes and whatnot, she doesn’t have the same privilege. Alex would always smile, but Maggie could see that she was starting to get suspicious of something. So, when she was invited to meet the whole crew at the bar – apparently there were band nights now –, Maggie found herself out of excuses to give. She would have to face Little Danvers sooner or later anyway, since she had no intention of walking away from Alex any time soon.
Arriving at the bar, Alex guided Maggie to the table where Kara, Winn and James awaited for them.
As the night went on, the drinks and the slow music the band performing that day was playing lulled Maggie. She relaxed, enjoying Alex’s warm presence at her side, her easy smile, her laughter whenever she interacted with Winn. Maggie enjoyed the company of Alex’s friends as well, of course, but watching Alex in her off-work element was captivating. And here, with 3 more of them to capture Alex’s attention, she could watch her without fear of making Alex self-conscious. Every now and then Alex would look at her, eyes sparkling, hand reaching for hers under the table and bringing it to her lap. Sometimes Alex would not only pull her hand towards her, but her whole body, angling herself towards Maggie too to whisper something to her. Her nose pressing lightly against her cheek and trailing towards her ear, brushing her hair back so her lips could touch skin as she whispered, you okay?
More often than not, Maggie would not answer, eyes closed, simply enjoying the woman’s touch, smiling at her when she pulled back, her attention divided between Alex’s lips and eyes.
And then she would turn her attention back to the table, Winn arguing fervently with James, sometimes about something to do with sidekicks, Would you say that Richie Foley is Static Shock’s sidekick? Because I wouldn’t, they’re equals. And Kara… Kara would be looking at her from behind her bottle of beer, a small smile adorning her face and eyes crinkled, as if she knew a secret and didn’t intend to share.
Much later, when the band had already gone through their original songs and were taking requests from the audience, she felt Alex squeeze her hand to capture her eyes. “Dance with me?” she asked, already standing up, the tips of her fingers bringing Maggie after her.
Alex stopped and turned to her, Maggie’s hands heading naturally to her waist and bringing her closer, thumbs skimming each of her hipbones in time with the music. One of Alex’s hand brushed her hair behind her shoulder and rested against the back of her neck, while the other brushed her cheek, traced her throat, played with the buttons of her shirt, their foreheads touching.
The song ended and she smiled, pulling back a little to look into Alex’s eyes. Alex smiled back, eyes shining and mapping Maggie’s face, stopping at her lips. She brought her lips to Maggie’s, one hand back on her cheek. As she drew back, only enough for air to go past their lips, their noses still touching, her thumb traced Maggie’s lower lip. Maggie kissed it once, then twice, pressing forward to reach Alex’s lips again. Alex smiled through the kiss, breaking it sooner than either of them would like, eyes sparkling and smile wide on her face. Maggie diverted her eyes, hoping to control her blush, and saw their table behind Alex’s shoulder, Kara’s eyes soft on them again, shining not with mischief this time, but with fondness, and Maggie now thought that she might know what secret she'd been keeping before.