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"So the DEO is trying to create love?"
Jon chuckled and shook his head at Alex's befuddled gaze. They were early arriving to work this morning and most of the other agents were either leaving the night shift or hadn't shown up yet. Jon had taken this rare quiet moment as an opportunity to show Alex one of the DEO's latest experiments.
"No, not quite," he replied. "It's more of a chemical that makes people feel love. It stimulates parts of the brain that are affected when someone is in love but our test's have been less than conclusive."
Alex stared at the vial for a moment longer. It was a translucent liquid that glowed a faint blue colour and she couldn't help but be reminded from something out of a Harry Potter book.
"A love potion," Alex mused. Jon shook his head again but didn't correct her; she'd clearly made up her mind about what she thought of the experiment. "What could the DEO possibly use this for?"
"Love can be a powerful thing," Jon smirked. "A lot of people respond more openly to love that to hate."
Alex thought about that for a second. It made sense, In a strange kind of way. She thought about the people she loved; Kara, her mum, Jon... Maggie. She knew she would do absolutely anything to protect the people she loved.
"Maybe you're onto something here," Alex relented and Jon just smiled at her like she knew exactly what she was thinking about.
Thunder roared overhead, breaking Alex from her thoughts. She glanced up and suddenly sprang into action when a huge gaping hole ripped the ceiling open. She saw Supergirl fly in from the corner of her eye, distracting her from trying to locate whatever was doing this for a second. A second too long, however, because as soon as Alex had turned her head to lock eyes with her sister, a piece of falling debris smacked hard into her side, throwing her back into the room she and Jon had been in.
She heard more than she felt the glass shattering around her. Her body felt numb and cold and when she looked down she saw her shirt was soaked in dark red and translucent blue before she passed out.
Alex awoke to the familiar sound of steady beeping and knew she must've been in the hospital ward before she had opened her eyes. When she did, her guess was proven correct. The heart monitor was simulation the beating of her heart and a plastic tube was connected her to the metal stand with an IV drip hanging from it.
"Thank Rao," Kara whispered from her side. Alex turned her head to look at her, wincing at how painful the action was. Kara stood with debris in her hair and blood on her suit, her hand covering her mouth and her eyebrows pulled together as she watched Alex. It always felt so strange to Alex to see Kara like this, knowing that she could lift buildings and fly into outer space, but still looking so much like her little sister.
"Hey," Alex cooed soothingly. "Hey, I'm okay."
Kara chuckled wetly. "You just got knocked out by an evil alien, I should be comforting you."
Alex smiled gently. "What happened?"
"Rogue alien," Kara said simply, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it, the DEO will take care of it."
"I am the DEO."
"You know what I mean."
Kara rolled her eyes and Alex laughed. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Alex trying to will away the pounding in her head and Kara thanking whoever was out there for saving her sister because she couldn't get there in time. The silence was interrupted by Winn, who not so gracefully barged into the room, holding a cup of water and some aspirin.
Alex sighed with relief, thankful to be given something for the pain, and Winn seemed all too happy to be providing that for her.
"You're awake," Winn said, grinning, sounding as though he'd run to get here. "Jon said you might need some more painkillers. He was going to come himself, but I insisted. I'm so glad you're okay, you had me so worried."
He handed her the glass of water and medicine and stood off to the side, resembling an eager puppy waiting to be told what to do next. As confused as she was, Alex couldn't think through the pain and quickly swallowed down the pill and a gulp of water.
It was only when she glanced up at Kara that she started to pay attention to what was happening. Kara was by her side, same place she'd stood when Alex had woken up, but her eyes were on Winn and she was worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. Alex followed her gaze to where Winn stood, staring at her. She was taken aback by the look on his face because she recognized it as, until quite recently, the look he reserved for Kara. Dopey smile, wide eyes and definitely not as subtle as he thought he was.
"Uh... Winn?" Alex sat up a bit, snapping her fingers in his general direction. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm just -"
"Alex," Kara cut him off. "There's something else you should know." A pause. "Winn, would you mind giving us a sec?"
Winn frowned but didn't take his eyes off of Alex. It took a while, but with a hefty sigh and a promise to be back, he finally left the room.
"What's going on?" Alex asked immediately after Winn had left the room. Jon walked in shortly after him, a grim look on his face. "That was weird, right?"
"Yeah," Kara said, and it looked like she was struggling to keep a straight face.
"You fell into the chemical I was showing you," Jon supplied simply. The look on his face made it clear he thought that this was his fault. "We're working on an antidote as we speak, but it's not clear how long it'll take. I'm sorry Alex, I didn't realize what was happening until -"
Alex held up a hand to stop him. "It's not your fault, I wasn't careful enough... So, what?" Alex asked, glancing between Kara and Jon. "Everyone who comes near me falls in love with me or what?"
"Not exactly," Jon said, and Alex noticed he cracked a smile. "It's not love, just as close to it as we'd managed at the stage in the experiment."
"Winn has a crush on you," Kara exclaimed, as if she'd been waiting to say it the entire time. She couldn't hold it in after that and started laughing in earnest, which was kind of infectious. The idea of Winn having a crush on her and the sight of Kara in fits of giggles by her side set Alex off too, and the two girls spent a few minutes laughing with each other.
When they'd calmed, and Alex had teased Jon for trying to hide his smile, more questions came to mind.
"So, you guys aren't affected then?" Alex asked.
"We think it's because we're aliens. We might be immune," Kara said. "But it could also be that we both have such strong feelings for you anyway that it overpowers the chemical."
Alex smiled at the thought. She chose to believe that that was true, that because Kara loved her so much as a sister and Jon loved her so much as a daughter that manufactured love couldn't interfere with that.
"Get some rest," Jon spoke next. "You must be exhausted. We'll try to keep your gaggle of admirers far away to help you get some peace."
Alex laughed again at the thought of all her "admirers" and how embarrassed Winn was going to be when they solved this, but she was really tired and after Kara and Jon had left, she drifted off quickly.
Waking up for the second time that day had Alex feeling a lot better. The thumping in her head had subsided and she no longer felt any pain in her back. Her joints were stiff, having not really been used since early morning, but she still managed to sit up fully with minimal discomfort.
The first thing she noticed was Kara sitting in the chair by her side. She was now wearing what she would consider her normal attire, a sweater over a plain button down and her hair up in it's familiar ponytail. She straightened as soon as she noticed Alex was awake.
"How are you feeling?"
"A lot better," Alex said, smiling reassuringly. "Less like someone hit me with a bus and more like I've been asleep for half a day."
"Try sixteen hours," her little sister quipped.
"Oh no," Alex groaned. "I had so much I wanted to do today. I've got a pile of paperwork on my desk and – crap, I was meant to meet Maggie at the bar tonight. What time is it? Maybe I can still make it if I -"
"Woah," Kara said, pushing gently on Alex's shoulder so that she would sit back and stop trying to get out of bed. "There's no way I'm letting you go anywhere until Jon gives the all clear. Besides, you think Maggie would still go to that bar when she heard you were hurt?"
"She heard? How – Who -?"
"I called her," Kara shrugged. "She came right over but, um, I wanted to talk to you about that. She wants to come and see you -"
"Well, I'm fine now, she can come in-"
"I just thought," Kara continued, ignoring Alex. "That since everyone who comes near you right now kind of, you know, think they're in love with you, or have a crush on you or whatever. And I know you said you're over Maggie, but I wasn't sure whether or not you'd want to see her if she wasn't acting like herself."
Alex paused. She hadn't thought about that. In all honesty, she'd totally forgotten about the chemical she'd crashed into. She couldn't technically go anywhere until they found an antidote, and they didn't know how long that was going to take. Alex didn't know if she could go without seeing Maggie for an indefinite amount of time and besides, seeing Maggie act a little strange aroung her was better than not seeing her at all.
"I want to see her."
Kara stared at her for a while, her bottom lip between her teeth. She seemed particularly reluctant to the idea and Alex knew she was thinking about the last time Alex had freaked out over Maggie Sawyer.
Alex rolled her eyes and smirked at her sister. "It'll be fine. Please."
Finally, Kara nodded and left the room, presumably to go and retrieve Maggie. Alex lay her head back on her pillow and took a few calming breaths, trying to brace herself for what was coming. Had she made the right choice? Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for Alex to witness Maggie acting like she was in love with her. What was she thinking? Of course it wasn't! She wasn't even close to being over Maggie, and now she was going to let herself be teased with the idea of something that she could never have.
Alex was so close to calling out for Kara to come back, tell her that she'd changed her mind, but because her day was going to well, Maggie chose that exact moment to walk into her room.
The detective was grinning ear to ear and Alex braced herself for whatever was coming next.
"Danvers," Maggie said, a little breathlessly. "Thank God you're okay." Maggie took up residence in the chair that Kara had vacated and reached out to place her hand on top on where Alex's lay on the bed. "How are you feeling?"
Alex blinked. This wasn't exactly what she had been expecting. She'd been hurt in the field before and this reaction resembled the one that Maggie had had previously. Nothing out of the ordinary.
"Uh... yeah, not bad," Alex replied stupidly, because Maggie was just sitting there grinning at her and she was having a hard time breathing. "How are you?"
Maggie laughed and Alex had to look away. "I'm not the one who was knocked out before my morning coffee. What were you doing at the DEO so early anyway?"
Alex smirked. "Worried about me, were you, Sawyer?" Maggie just rolled her eyes. "Jon wanted to show me something the chem lab had been working on and we had some free time."
"I heard," Maggie chuckled. "Winn's been trying to break his way into here since he last saw you and Lucy Lane seems to be taking an awful interest in your security."
Alex's eyes widened. "Lucy Lane? No way!"
They laughed together and Maggie pointed a playfully accusing finger at Alex and said, "Now don't get any ideas."
It was Alex's turn to roll her eyes at her friend and she shook her head. "Trust me, she's not my type."
"What? Small, attractive brunettes who fight crime not appealing to you, Danvers?" Maggie asked jokingly.
Alex sobered a bit and gazed at Maggie meaningfully. Feeling a surge of confidence, she replied, "Okay, maybe she's exactly my type."
Maggie was surprised into silence. A small smile and blush crept onto her face as she looked down at the agent on the bed.
They sat like that, gazing at each other, for a few minutes before a more pressing question came into Alex's mind.
"Wait... how are you not affected by the chemical?" Alex wondered out loud.
"What do you mean?" Maggie replied, obviously deflecting.
"Well, you're not acting weird like Winn so it's not affecting you," Alex said simply. She looked around the room, as if hoping Jon or someone would turn up with the answer. "Did they make the antidote already? That was fast."
Maggie broke her gaze for the first time since entering the room. "Uh, no... But the good news is that they've got a time scale of how long it'll take. Jon has the chem lab working non stop and it should be ready for tomorrow."
"So..." Alex pressed.
"So, what?"
"Don't play dumb," Alex smirked. "It doesn't suit you."
Maggie cracked a smile at that. "Jon and Kara have a couple theories... They think maybe they're immune because they're aliens."
"Yeah, they told me. That doesn't explain how you’re normal. Unless there's something you want to tell me."
"Actually there is," Maggie said, taking a breath. At the sight of Alex's eyes widening, she laughed and corrected herself. "I'm not an alien! It's just – there is something I want to tell you.
Kara and Jon have another theory, and since I didn't feel any differently towards you when I came into the room, I think I believe this one. Kara loves you more than anyone, which overpowers the chemical, allowing her to feel the exact same as she's always felt toward you. Jon loves you like you're his own, which also overpowers the chemical. They're theory is that if a person already felt strongly towards you then the chemical isn't able to erase that to rewrite a new type of love on top of it."
Alex sat for a while, processing this information. She nodded. "That makes sense. But that still doesn't explain how you're not acting any differently."
Maggie frowned at her. "Okay, Danvers, I know you were hit on the head, but you're smarter than that. Do I really need to spell it out for you?"
Alex stared at her blankly. Maggie rolled his eyes, taking a deep breath.
"The chemical didn't make me fall in love with you because I'm already in love with you."
If Alex had been drinking water, she would have most definitely sprayed everywhere. She wasn't, though, so that just left her to gape helplessly at the detective.
"You – You're – What? When?"
Maggie laughed, reaching forward to lift Alex's chin back to it regular position. She sat back and shrugged. "I have been for a while, I guess. I've been waiting for the right time to tell you. And after you almost died today, seemed like it would be pointless trying to hide it."
"And you couldn't think of an excuse for why the chemical didn't work on you," Alex teased, finding her voice again.
"Shut up," Maggie laughed, pushing on Alex's shoulder. "I was gonna tell you. We both have jobs where our lives are constantly at risk and it's silly... Life's too short to not be true to yourself. We should kiss the girls we want to kiss."
There was a long stretch of silence where the two gazed at each other, a million thoughts communicating wordlessly between them.
"I really want to kiss you," Maggie said simply.
Alex barely managed what was sure to be an overly eager nod before Maggie's lips where on hers. It was everything she'd imagined and more. Her lips were soft and her hair was falling just so, tickling Alex's face. Maggie's hand was still over her own on the bed, but she was squeezing it now. Alex's hand founds it's way into Maggie's hair, settling at the base of her skull. Feeling empowered by Maggie's speech and confession – life was too short – Alex deepened the kiss, pulling the detective further into the embrace. Maggie responded immediately, moaning a little before they both broke out into smile and giggles, breaking apart.
"That was -" Alex couldn't find the words. She couldn't believe that this is what she'd been missing out on all these years trying to suppress her feelings. And she couldn't believe that she and Maggie had been missing out on this by not being honest with each other. It wasn't a mistake she'd ever make again.
"I know," Maggie finished, understanding that there wasn't a word to describe the sparks between them.
"So," Alex grinned. "What I'm getting from this is that ya like me."
Maggie chuckled, shaking her head. She was still leaning over Alex so the movement made her dark hair trace pleasantly over Alex's face. "God, you're such a dork," she whispered before capturing Alex's lips once more.