Chapter Text
It was so bloody obvious.
She’s kicking herself that it’s taken so long to notice.
Admittedly she can fully blame her poor detective skills on a serious attack of the green-eyed monster.
Because who wouldn’t be intimidated by Supergirl!
The first few times she sees the Girl of Steel at crime scenes she’s not really paying attention to how the hero is standing, she’s more concerned with where she’s standing.
I.e. next to her girlfriend.
Her girlfriend, who’s eyes light up every single time she sees the blonde, even when she tries her best to hide it behind a stoic professional expression, eyebrows knitting in an exaggerated fashion to avoid the smile Maggie knows is threatening to break out.
It’s a convincing act, one that might have had her fooled if she hadn’t literally spent hours studying Alex Danvers face.
It’s not just the looks, it’s the touches too. Alex will lay a hand on Supergirl’s shoulder, fingers tightening gently if an op hasn’t gone their way. Supergirl will hip check Alex when they’re talking, sometimes too hard, on one memorable occasion the agent had been thrown into the side of a nearby SUV. Maggie had been moving before she could stop herself, hand reaching for her gun without thought, although she’s brought to a shuddering halt by the sight of Alex laughing, patting a horrified looking Supergirl on the shoulder.
Alex Danvers laughing is the most beautiful thing Maggie has ever seen.
She hates that Supergirl can make Alex laugh more than she can.
She’s not usually one to wallow in self-pity, but it’s hard to turn the other cheek when your competition is an alien!
A beautiful, charming, funny alien if the way Alex talks about her is anything to go by.
Jealously does not sit well with Maggie Sawyer.
It takes weeks, and more than one occasion of Alex assuring her that there is nothing going on between her and the superhero, often accompanied by passionate kisses and wandering hands, but eventually Maggie is able to move past her own insecurities.
She still watches them both though, there’s no harm in being alert.
She knows the pose, of course she does. There’s not a person in National City who doesn’t instantly recognise it, it’s been plastered on posters, the front page of the newspapers more times than she can count and on all kinds of different merchandise. The pose is as much a symbol as the S blazed across her chest. It stands for everything that makes Supergirl a force of good in the world, the shinning beacon that lifts the hopes and dreams of so many people.
Maggie has always thought there was something familiar about the pose, something that transcended the iconic Supergirl persona, she’s convinced she’s seen it before, but for the life of her cannot place where.
When the penny finally drops, it hits her like a sledgehammer.
It happens completely by accident. It’s just like any other crime scene, Maggie’s team wait on standby whilst Alex and her ‘nerd patrol’ as Maggie has taken to calling them inspect the scene. There’s a dead alien so Maggie knows that at any moment they’re going to be graced with National City’s beloved daughter’s presence.
Sure enough she hears the tell-tale whoosh as Supergirl descends, coming to land next to Alex (as usual) the two immediately start talking in low voices and Maggie would be lying if she said she didn’t strain her ears trying to listen to what they were saying. She’s deliberately standing side on, keeping them in her peripheral vision, staring down at her notes, all the while listening intently.
When it happens it’s Alex who does it first, tutting loud enough for most people to hear her, arms unfurling from their position crossed over her chest she jabs them downwards towards her hips, fingers resting atop her tactical belt, the one that always makes Maggie go a little bit weak at the knees.
Out of the corner of her eye Maggie notices the pose, legs planted firmly apart, hands on hips, and recognition sparks in her brain.
Then Supergirl makes the same pose.
Alex Danvers and Supergirl, standing side by side, hands on hips, faces set in determined contemplation. Two peas in a proverbial pod.
Maggie drops her notebook with a yelp.
How could she have not seen it?!
Supergirl is Kara Danvers.
Supergirl.
National City’s treasure.
Is her girlfriend’s sister.
Both Alex and Supergirl (Kara!) are looking her way with confusion. Waving them away with a scoff and flapping hand Maggie bids a hasty retreat to a safe distance, hidden behind one of the SUVs so she can freak out in peace.
It’s a strange feeling, simultaneously feeling as if nothing makes sense, but at the same time everything slotting into place. The magnitude of what she’s just figured out forcing the breath from her lungs, leaning forward she braces her hands on her knees.
Suddenly every interaction she’s had with Alex, Kara and Supergirl all make sense, the pieces of the jigsaw slot together so loudly she almost winces.
Glasses. She has been fooled by glasses and a ponytail.
A muttered curse at her own stupidity is followed by a deep shuddering breath.
After a few more deep breaths she suddenly remembers that Supergirl has x-ray vision and super hearing. A sneaky glance round the side of the car luckily reveals the hero and Alex still deep in conversation, their backs to her.
Studying them closely Maggie shakes her head, seeing for the first time not the Girl of Steel, but the dorky reporter underneath. Kara Danvers whose smile is equal to the force of the sun, who has an incredibly unhealthy obsession with takeout food, who cries at Disney movies and puppy videos.
Kara Danvers, who is currently staring at her sister like she’s the only thing in the world.
It’s in that moment that the importance of Kara’s signature pose hits Maggie and its implications have her heart thumping so rapidly in her chest that it almost hurts.
Supergirl is a symbol, Supergirl is an inspiration, Supergirl is the hope that survives when all else seems lost, Supergirl is a hero.
Her pose is the physical embodiment of her best traits, it is the rock-solid presence that calms people in times of panic and despair, it weathers the storm, unbreakable, unblinking and always, always, there without question.
That’s because everything Kara knows Supergirl should be, everything the hero stands for and inspires in people, she has learnt and channelled from her very own superhero.
Alex.
Kara’s finest qualities have been learnt from the one person who has been infallible in her eyes, who has been the rock by her side ever since she landed on earth all those years ago. Everything that Kara knows about giving hope to people is because Alex gave her that hope first, gave her the love and support, gave her the chance to be the hero she always knew she could be. Alex who has dedicated her entire life to protecting this ball of sunshine, shouldering the heavier burdens, shielding her from the pain that would dim the fire that burns so fiercely inside both Danvers sisters.
Because Maggie knows, that when Kara assumes that pose she is reminded of the woman who would throw her fragile, breakable, human body in front of her bullet proof Kryptonian one without a second thought, and it’s that courage that she channels every time she puts the suit on.
Because Alex is Kara’s Supergirl and the world deserves to see that, even if it’s through something as simple as a pose.
All of these thoughts flood her mind at once, all jostling for position and Maggie doesn’t honestly believe it’s possible for her heart to be as filled with love as it is now for Alex.
The sob that catches in her throat is soft but she knows Kara has heard it, her head twitching to the left eyes narrowing as she zones in on the SUV. Maggie coughs loudly and tries to calm her thudding heart, she’s not ready to confront either of them about this, she’s too emotional.
Besides, she wants to have some fun with telling them.
It’ll make her feel better about taking so long to figure this out.
Her opportunity comes that night.
Kara is joining them for dinner and Maggie has already placed a large order of potstickers, more than she usually would. She has a feeling Kara will not be too happy about having Maggie’s new knowledge sprung on her, so maybe a bribe of food will result in her not having her face melted.
She spends most of the evening watching the two of them, heart swelling with every moment that passes and it becomes so much more obvious.
How had she missed it?
She takes her chance halfway through dinner.
“So, Little Danvers?” she’s asks nonchalantly, waiting until both Danvers sisters have disgustingly large mouthfuls of food. “Did you get Danvers to give you lessons on how to stand like her when you became Supergirl, or did it just happen?”
Watching both Alex and Kara choke simultaneously on potstickers is incredibly satisfying.