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Kara Danvers loves the many parts of her life: Being a sister to Alex, Superfriend with Winn and maybe something more to James.
She’s Supergirl to the world and Kara Zor-El to too few people. Only one small part of her life is starting to bring her down: Being Cat Grant’s assistant. The latest errand feels petty and meaningless, something that could've been accomplished much easier by other means.
As she exits the bookstore where she had to retrieve a hardcover book for Cat, as if on cue, her cell phone vibrate with a new notification.“While you’re in the area, can you get me a latte from Joy’s shop.” a link is helpfully provided in the body of the message.Kara roll her eyes, quickly typing the response “Yes, Miss Grant.” The blonde trace back a few steps to take the proper direction.“She sent me on this errand specifically for her fav latte. :| ” She sends the text to James, sighing heavily as if exhaling her frustration.“♥ Need me to distract her?”A smile, small and soft sweetens her soured mood. “No, thanks for offering. U want anything from the shop?”A notification at the top of the screen indicates she’d received a payment in her bank account from James. A familiar sight from their Game nights arrangement. “Yeah, I want you to get yourself a box of donuts & share one with me.”A gentle warmth reach her cheeks and tints them a rosy color, a single emoji get sent in the reply. “♥”

The shop is warm and full, but the staff work like a well-oiled machine and the orders are processed rapidly.
People chat amongst themselves, creating a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere to the establishment. The smell of coffee and pastry mix to make the experience just that little bit more enjoyable.The woman preceding her in the line is a cop, she’s wearing an oversized NCPD Jacket, her hair is tied into a messy ponytail and her badge is hung at her belt. Kara peeks over her shoulder and notices she’s holding a pen in her mouth, her phone in one hand and an open file in the other. Kara doesn’t mean to read it, but her eyes catch a name she’s familiar with: the victim of a kidnapping she briefly saw at a DEO meeting. As the line moves, the woman tucks the file under her arm to start fishing for her wallet, she struggles to get a good grasp on the object.“Need an extra pair of hands?” Kara swears she see the woman blush at the simple offer.The cop smiles through the pen in her mouth and nods. She gives Kara her phone, uses her free hand to put the pen in her jacket pocket, before
finally pulling her wallet out of her jeans. She reclaims her cellphone, holding it and her wallet together... “Thanks, I got carried away multi-tasking.”“Happy to help...” Kara’s eyes dip to the badge quickly, using her superior vision to see the actual title on it. “...Detective”“Can I get you anything?” she tilts her head towards the menu. “I’m just here because I lost a bet to a colleague and owe them donuts. Might as well make the most of it.”“And I’m just here because my boss wants me to get her a latte, so I can’t stay long, she likes to have it piping hot.” Kara gives an apologetic smile as she refuses the kind offer with a shake of her head. “I’m also getting donuts though, for myself.”Kara misses the mischievous light in the dark eyes of
the detective. She watches as she places her order for a significant number of donuts, pays at the register and then waits at the end of the bench for her order to be finished.Then it’s Kara’s turn and when she gets to the register to pay, the cashier refuses to take her card. “It’s okay, the lady over there already paid for your order.” the aging woman waves her hand casually towards the familiar womanKara makes her way to the bench, sitting next to her. “You really didn’t have to do that.”“No, but you helped me and you actually noticed what my rank is. So I wanted to show my appreciation.” She offers a handshake. “I’m Maggie by the way.”Kara take the offered hand, squeezing maybe just a touch too enthusiastically. “And I’m Kara.” She doesn’t miss the little wiggle of Maggie’s finger once the simple pressure is off. “Speak of which, I noticed what was in your file, I... I think I could help you.
My sister’s a federal agent, I know she had information on that woman, I’m sure.”The detective blinks and seems slightly flustered. “Th--that’d be really great, if you can get her to play nice with the local police.” she chuckles “Or maybe get some media attention on the case, so some people can come forward with information they might have.”“I think I could do both, I work for CatCo.”“Are you a reporter?”“No” Kara fidgets with her glasses, a few second of silence follows before she finally speaks the words at the tip of her tongue. “Not yet.”“Well, with a cop and a fed as contact, maybe you could persuade someone to let you try.” Maggie pats Kara on the shoulder and pulls her phone back out.After exchanging numbers with the dark haired woman,
Kara set the phone back into her pocket. “Thanks again for the donuts, but I really should be going now.” she returns the pat on the shoulder and leaves the shop.
Maggie exits the shop right behind Kara and goes to her patrol car, she sits in the passenger seat with the donut box on her lap. The engine starts, but the car remain stationary for a moment.Kara taps at her phone screen, alerting James that she’s on her way back, she’s about to do the same with Cat when her enhanced hearing picks up the detective’s voice, beneath the grumbling of the police cruiser.
“Sorry this took so long, had to be nice to a lady.”

“Geez Sawyer, don’t you have a girlfriend already?”
Kara’s heartbeat speeds up, her breath catch in her chest.
“No, I’ve been single for a month.”

“Then what was the date last friday?”

“Not super successful? She’s in real estate and spoke about market trends for an hour.”
All plans to fly back to CatCo given up, her head is spinning and there’s just too much danger when that happens. She catches her reflection in the window of Joy’s donut shop, there is an inexplicable smile splitting her face.
“And this one?”

“Well, she dresses the part, she’s cute, got a nice butt and she’s very observant. I got her number and can get me information for the kidnapping case.”
Kara’s face is redder than it’s been in a while, she shakes off the momentary freeze and resumes her hurried trot toward CatCo, but not before catching further bits of the conversation between Maggie and the other cop.
“Nice, but what’s that about dressing the part?”

“Well, if I google ‘soft butch’ her outfit is like, the third image on google.”
The car gets more distant, Kara gets flustered further and she simply hurries away, hoping to block out the rest of the conversation.

The latte and the book are delivered to Cat Grant’s office and Kara is sent back to her desk without further assignment. She pushes into James’s office however, skipping getting to her desk right away.“Hey” He takes the donut box from her hand and sets it on the desk, upon feeling the weight of the box in his hand, a curious frown adorns his usually warm and soft features. “I assumed you’d eat the whole box and watch me eat it.”“That does sound like me.” Kara laughs and she sits in the chair, her heart hasn’t slowed even one bit since she left Joy’s Shop. “I’m going to be honest, I feel really, really weird.”“Something happen?”“Yeah, I think I had an epiphany.”“At the donut shop?”“Yeah.”James smiles warmly. “That sounds like you alright, What’s the epiphany?”The answer catches in her throat, there’s no word she knows, no concept she has for this and the idea is trapped. After a moment of hesitation, she manages to give the only acceptable answer she knows. “I want to be a reporter.”James’ smile grows even brighter, after he grabs himself a donut, he starts picking it apart with his finger and eats it. “You have a lot of people around you who can help with that. What happened, come on spill.”“I saw this detective looking over a file while waiting in line. I recognized the kidnapping victim from something Alex looked over recently.” She smiles a little too wide at the memory. “So, I offered to help with what I knew, she ended up asking me if I was a reporter and I don’t know why, I said: ‘not yet’.”
“You have federal contacts, you come with a pretty impressive exclusivity too, you could probably get what you want from it if you sell it right.” he keeps eating the food.“Exclusivity?”“Well, I don’t think CatCo would be getting a lot of Supergirl coverage if they ever fired you.” He whispers.Kara’s eye widen, the realization brings a smile. “Yeah and I did get the detective’s number too.”James chuckles “Oh, should I be worried?” it’s a sincere joke as he takes more of his own donut.Kara’s heart skip a beat, her stomach ties in knots right there. She puts on a smile, it’s easier than she thought. She leans over the desk to whap James on the shoulder, as if it answered his question. “Thanks for the donuts.”“Are we still on for tomorrow?” The question tightens the knot in her stomach, and she hugs him on the way out.“Yes.”

The desert base is bustling with activity, agents are working around the various rooms and areas, plugging and unplugging several different machines and computers. J’onn is coordinating with a few of them, giving them recommendations and orders about a new location.
Stacks of crates and suitcases are stored in the main hallways, making navigating the base a little slower than usual.The Martian turns around just in time to greet her with a warm smile“Is the Hologram room still active?”“Yes, It’s in the same old room. We haven’t moved it yet.” He follows Kara through an emptier section of the underground complex.“It’s okay.” Kara takes a deep breath, once they’re away from the rest of the agents. “Before I get in there, there’s something I want to ask you.”The tremors in her voice don’t go unnoticed, he pulls her aside, into one of the interrogation rooms. One that doesn’t give her nightmares. “Of course, ask away.”“I’m going to take a step forward and try to become a reporter. I know this is going to make people nervous.” she motions vaguely at their surroundings. “But with what I’ve learned of my people over the past year, I know I have to.”J’onn smiles at her. “I’m proud of you.” he closes the door behind them. “I’m sure there’s going to be a few nervous people, but I think it’ll be worth it.”“Think you could get me a clearance for some information? Like, press conference stuff. Not like, DEO stuff.” She clear her throat. “I have a few specific items of interest in mind.”“This sounds like a pretty reasonable request. I’ll get back to you on that tomorrow.” She can feel his eyes focusing on hers. “Is there something else I can do for you?”“Oh, no, I won’t bother you much longer. Thanks!” She smiles and dismisses him with just a wave of her hand. “You can go back to work!”“I’m not asking because you’re bothering me, I’m asking because I can tell there’s something bothering you.” He steps closer to the door and smiles her way.Kara takes a deep breath. “There is. It’s why I want to talk to Alura and maybe make a visit to the fortress. It’s not a security matter, but personal.”“I’m here if you need me.”They exchange a hug, silence between them before parting ways.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Supergirl comes inside of the room, she closes the door behind her and locks it so that only Alex or J’onn can intrude. The machine that contains the holographic memories of her mother lights up at her approach. She activates it with the push of a button and the ghostly manifestation of her mother emits a soft blue light, coloring the entire room with her ghastly presence.“Hello, Kara.” The artificial voice, a sharp contrast to the warmth of their last hug, a ghost sensation of enveloping warmth across her upper body, but only for the briefest of moment.“I got a question about Kryptonian culture, is there anything in your data that could help me understand some emotional issues.”The synthesized voice responds “Information is available, but it is limited by data storage modality. Do you have a specific inquiry Kara?”She only nods, the words won’t form, she doesn’t know the term in Kryptonese. Her lips part as if she is trying to speak, only short sounds, shards of words and concepts she doesn’t understand.“Please repeat your inquiry, Kara.”Her eyes drop from the hologram. There is not a single memory she can conjure, not a single interaction she recalls from her days on the now-dead planet that makes the words possible to find. More sounds escape past her lips, shapeless, louder and meaningless.“Please repeat your inquiry, Kara.”For a moment, it’s like she’s back in that terrible first English class, the teacher asking the same question to her. Each time she couldn’t answer, the question would come back angrier. “Miss Danvers, what is a prepositional phrase?”She imagines her current facial expression is not much different from back then. She can still hear the sighs given off by her old classmates after each question, with each failure to recall such a simple concept.“Please repeat your inquiry, Kara.” At least the hologram isn’t getting impatient with her.The memories of her English class seems to help her find the words this time. “Were there any known same-gender couples on Krypton?”“I do not have information on that topic, I’m sorry Kara. More data may be available at this location.” Familiar coordinates appear in place of her mother’s ghost. The Fortress of Solitude.“Thank you. I’ll go there soon.” The hologram fades and turns off as she walks back out of the room, it’s a slow walk through the halls of the desert base. It feels like the walk back and forth between the principal’s office and the English class they had sent her out of.“Did your mother have your answers?” J’onn asks as Supergirl meanders into the main hall, heading for the exit.She shakes her head. “I’m going to the fortress, maybe I’ll have more luck there.” a slump in her shoulders betrays her true expectations.The martian walks with her to the exit tunnel. “Do you want me to accompany you?”“Thank you for the offer. I …don’t want to share anything about it right now.” Kara wraps her arms around his human form and holds him. Long enough to replace the ghostly sensation hovering over her with his warmth and presence. She hopes he doesn’t see her tears as she flies away.

Kara lands at the fortress, making her way inside of the carved ice hallways. Her fingers trace along the jagged shapes, a welcome distraction.
She imagines this is what it feels like for people of earth to visit a mausoleum or a funeral home.She enters the main chamber, with the larger than life statues that hold up various screens and machinery. Kelex is nowhere to be seen, but she can hear the hovering robot making its way toward her from deeper inside the Fortress. She reaches for the main console and brings up a screen with the various entries to the database. After a quick cursory glance to the number of avenues, she turns to a different console.“Kelex is there a vocal command system for this computer?”The familiar robot flies to her side and he connects to the console. “There is, Kara Zor-El, I can activate the program for you.”“Please, Kelex.”After a small beeping noise comes from him, The robot delivers what seems to be a pre-programmed message. “Warning, the holographic representation was turned off by Kal-El. The image is a representation of Zor-El, your father.”Kara tries to conjure an image of her father, it takes a few minutes longer than what it should. . Slowly it comes back; the color of his eyes, the gray tones that are a sharp contrast to the jet black hair, and finally the sound of his voice. “Thank you for the warning, Kelex, please activate it.”Another ghost manifest before her, the same cold blue light shining on her face. “Greetings, my daughter. What inquiry may I fulfill for you?”“I will not bother asking for a hug this time.” It’s a response laced with tears and laughter, but it all quiets down when the cold, metallic arm of Kelex clinches around her in an awkward hug.“It is, unfortunately, the best I can do. Is there another inquiry I can fulfill?”Kara nods, she steps closer to the console as the robot releases her, leaving her side. “Yes, I wanted information on Kryptonian culture. Were there any known same-gender couples?”An unexpected silence comes in response. The hologram freezes, while the programs searches through the database his translucent eyes fixate on her. Memories of Jeremiah’s furious eyes after the flying incident are brought back as she stands waiting. The two moments superpose one another as the silence grows uncomfortable.“No results found. It appears we did not have time to archive works of fiction in our haste. My apologies Kara.”Kara works over the console’s command and the hologram disappears, without a look back as she departs from the room. “You’re a work of fiction.”She flies off of the Fortress.

The sun is long lost beneath the horizon when the girl of steel returns to National City, she flies past her sister’s apartment. No lights, no sounds, no one. Her super-hearing catches the familiar voice when she gets closer to her own place, a string of choice curses about the current selection of drinks in her apartment.She lands through the window into her living room and finds her sister mixing herself a drink. “You know you could just bring your own drinks if you don’t like what I have?”“Just like you bring your own food when you drop over without warning?” Her sister leaves the drink preparation and immediately goes over to give her a hug.“Yeah exactly like that.” Her cape wraps partially around Alex as she returns the hug.“J’onn told me you might need company.”“I flew past your place on the way here.” She feels Alex pulling back from her arms, it’s a struggle to let her go. Kara super-speeds into her bedroom right after, coming back out with a set of gray sweats on, loose and warm.
She’s running her finger over her shoulders, over her chest, trying to brush the lingering warmth away.Her sister stands still, at the exact spot where she left her after the hug, her arms still half open. “Are we good?” Alex takes a step toward her, slow and cautious.Not for the first time today, she finds herself without words, Kara makes a heart shape with her hands instead.“Okay.” Alex exhales, her shoulders loosen and her arms drop to her side. “Want me to order pizza? We can talk over it when it gets here?”The silence remains, her skin flushed red and warmer to the touch than it should be. A memory from not so long ago slips in: Alex crying at the harsh, cruel words she couldn’t hold back.“Should I mix you a drink too?” When Kara nods again, Alex puts her hand to her forehead as if to check her temperature, then resumes her work, with one more drink this time.Kara sits on the couch, grabs a cushion and hugs it against her heart, with her eyes shut.After her sister places the order for pizza, she joins her on the couch, leaving Kara’s drink on the table. Her own drink is already half empty. “I can see the threads straining, give the cushion a break.”She drops the cushion on the floor and her drink is downed in one go. “I wish I could get drunk.”Alex puts her unfinished drink on the table, eyes wide at her sister. “Please tell me what’s going on? Because I’m one weird comment away from assuming someone made another Bizarro.”“I don’t know what to say! I tried to ask the holograms about it and they had nothing on it because it wasn’t important enough to save and now I’ll never have answers.”Alex takes a moment to scoot a little closer to her sister, taking one arm between her hands, trying to ground her sister back into reality. “What did you ask?”“If there were any gay couples on Krypton.” She focuses her attention to the warm touch on her arm and yet, she can’t help but hear the sudden increase in her sister’s heartbeat.“Wh-why did you ask that?”“I spoke to a girl at a donut shop and…, she paid for my donuts because I helped her hold stuff so she could get her wallet.” she scratches the back of her head with her free hand. “She’s a detective with the NCPD. I accidentally eavesdropped on her talking about me with her partner, said something about me being a soft butch and having a cute butt. I was smiling like an idiot the whole time.”Alex’s laugh makes all the difference in the world, it’s the sweet, caring warmth she needs now. “I understand there are a lot more things to unpack here, but you getting a crush on someone over donuts is very…you.”She laughs a little, unconvincingly. “Yeah.” Kara leans into her sister’s side. “Hey, why are you crying.”“Just emotional, I wasn’t expecting this when I came over.” Alex rests her head on Kara’s. “Are... are you gay? Or something else?”“I… don’t know, The hologram at the fortress told me same-gender couples were works of fiction.” a shrug of her shoulders. “I guess I’m just a fable.”“You feel pretty real to me.”Silence settles between the sisters, their minds sinking deep into a turmoil of thoughts and forgotten memories. Some of which they share, like that time Kara said she’d date Lucy. Others more personal, like the sleepless sleepovers at Vicky’s for Alex.
The silence shatters when Kara’s phone rings.“Hello?”“Hey, Danvers. Sorry to call you so soon, but there’s been a development with the kidnappings.”She sits up from the cuddling position with her sister. “Oh, what kind?”“Two people went missing today and I’m stuck here reviewing the files, if you could get me the fed help sooner rather than later, it might save people.”“I’m with my sister right now, putting you on speaker.”“I promise I’ll behave.”
Maggie jokes across the speaker.“You better.” Alex threatens, dabbing her face with a tissue.“Maggie, this is my sister and Alex this is Maggie.” she swats her shoulder, which results in a cushion being smacked in her face.“Yeah, I can hear the sisterhood from here, happy to meet your voice.”Alex is already texting with someone, it looks hurried and frantic. “One minute, just checking something with the boss.”“Well, I spoke with him earlier, he seemed amenable. It’s about the Joan Prestwich case in particular.”“Yeah, but I think the case connects to at least five more. I can’t find anything besides a general sense of the pattern.” The disembodied voice in the middle of her living room fills her with more warmth than the ghosts from earlier. She listens, with a fond smile, as the two women exchange words over her phone“Do you have an official E-Mail? Miss Sawyer?”“I do and if we’re going to full polite way, Agent Danvers, it’s Detective.”“Of course, Miss Detective.”“Hey, Danvers, your sister’s a little shit.”Kara laughs “She can be, I know, I should’ve warned you.” She pokes her tongue out and gets a middle finger in return.The phone vibrates, after a short quiet moment. “I sent you a text with my email, you can share it with your sister. Just don’t sign me up for anything with it.”The agent snorts. “All right, I got the okay from Henshaw, the Prestwich case should be on its way in about ten minutes.”“Are you still at work !?” Kara asks once she catches what time it is.“Yep, I’m over-timing in this bitch. Especially with the fresh cases, I might need to take a coffee break soon though.” the detective clears her throat. “Anyway, I’ll let you two have fun, thanks for the hand. Let me know if I can return the favor.”“Don’t worry about that, I’ll make sure Kara doesn’t forget it.” another whack with a cushion, this time from Kara to Alex.“Have a good evening, Maggie.” The phone call ends.“Huh.” Alex set the cushion back on the floor, resuming their comfortable positions. “Who’re you calling?”“Jeremy from Noonan, he owes me a favor.”“Wow, my little sister is smooth.” Alex teases.

Maggie [19:23] [email
protected]

Maggie [19:55] Ok. that was really nice. Thank u for the snack.

You [20:01] :) Np

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

There is a knock on the door and she can already hear the little tune he’s humming, she smiles in spite of herself. She opens the door and his face is hidden behind a bouquet of white flowers.. “Awww.” She takes the flowers and smells them. “Thank you, they smell amazing.”James steps inside, locking the door behind him as they kiss each other on the cheek.“Are you okay?” He pulls her into his arms, giving her a gentle hug. “I thought we were going out tonight?”She looks down at the grey sweats she’s wearing and closes her eyes. “I’d rather we stay in and talk. I’m sorry.”“It’s okay!” He presses a gentle kiss to the top of her head.A minute later, they’re both on the couch. Kara holds on to the same cushion she nearly tore apart the previous evening.“Are you okay? There’s something bothering you.” James asks with obvious concern lacing the tone of his voice.“I’d really appreciate if you would keep what I’m going to tell you a secret.” Kara takes a deep breath, bracing herself.“From everyone.”“I’ll keep the secret, you don’t have to worry about that.” He says moving closer to her.“I’ve had a really, really bad couple of days.” She closes her eyes and the cushion’s threads start to unravel. “I’ve realized...” She drops the cushion to the floor. “That I love you, but that I’m not in love with you. I… I think you know what I mean.”“I do.”
His shoulder slump, his voice heavy, sinking below a whisper“I’ve realized that I never felt attracted to someone. Romantically. Before, because I didn’t know how it was supposed to feel for me.”“For you? Because you’re Kryptonian?” He leans forward, hands joined over his knee.“Yeah” She takes a deep breath. “But yesterday, I definitely felt attracted to someone and I panicked.”“Was it the detective you mentioned?”
He ask in a whisper, slinking back from her, afraid of the answer almost.“It was.” Kara’s expression shifts into a frown as she has to make a physical effort to say it. “I only know that I’m attracted to her.” Her eyes close, her head lowers.Weighed down by an invisible force. “Because I had a sharp and immediate comparison…” She tries to speak further, but words are too hard to form in the moment.“She offered to buy you donuts too?” He provides her with a sober smile. He watches as Kara tries to stifle a giggle, failing to do so and it sets him off. Her laugh has always been contagious to him.The laughter dies down eventually, their faces heated and their eyes hidden behind a thin veil of tears. “I heard her talk with her co-worker, after.” She hides her face behind her hands.“I see.” He stands up and picks up the cushion from the floor and sets it back down on top of Kara’s lap. “I understand that you want to share this with some--” Kara’s exclamation interrupts him.“NO!” she shake her head. “No, I don’t want to share it, but I can’t just end what we have and give you no reason! You deserve better!”“Then don’t share it, Kara.” At first the word seem confrontational in nature, but when she stares his way, his expression is soft and melancholic. “I can fill in the blanks with what you already gave me” He looks out the window for a quick moment. “We can be friends, we can be like we were before. I’ll just need a bit of time to process all of this.” “We’re interrupting our normal programming to report a possible explosion aboard the Venture.” The TV interrupts the moment between them like a cold shock. Both of them laugh. “As far as we know at this time, there are over 200 people on this craft, there are no further details but stay tuned we’ll continue to bring you the details of this event...” The voice drones on as Kara dives into her bedroom to change into the Super-suit and comes back to the words “...I pray she’s watching this.” “She is.” He pats her on the back, they exchange a smile, a faint laugh rushes past their lips as they realize this date was doomed as much as their first kiss was by Myriad.

There’s an ominous pressure looming over her shoulders, it’s hard to tell what it is between the events of the last two days and growing apprehension of meeting her family’s nemesis. A single glance over to Clark has her seeing the questioning look written all over his face.“I know you heard what I said to James, when Cat was giving you the tour.”“I also heard what you told Cat whilst I was catching up with James.” He wraps one of his arms around her shoulder and pulls her in for a side hug.“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” She looks over the various busy people in the lobby. “I had an epiphany a few days ago, Clark. I’m still confused about a lot of it, but that’s part of what came out of it.”“You really don’t have to justify yourself to me, Kara. I’m just curious as to what the epiphany was.” He kisses the side of her head and pats her back.She forces a smile to him and she takes a step backwards, her mind superposing the memories of Zor-El’s hologram with Clark’s presence. “I’m not ready to talk about it.”“Oh, that big huh?” He smiles “I’m here to listen whenever you want to talk.” He points towards a woman coming their way. “There she is.”Kara turns around, her eyes widen at the sight of the raven-haired woman. Her green eyes seize them both up.Oh! Oh no !It seems her attraction to the detective wasn’t just a random occurrence. As it turns out Lex Luthor’s younger sister is a beautiful woman with such a magnetic presence! Kara’s inner monologue begins to spiral Gosh she has beautiful eyes, and oh her hair! It looks so soft! Oh Rao! Is this going to be a thing now? They join the woman in her office. Clarke immediately begins asking her insistently about the Venture explosion and her absence from the aircraft. She loses a bit of the conversation between her cousin and Lena, but manages to keep up with them.She finally snaps out of her strange daze when Lena addresses her. “And who are you exactly?” The C.E.O. asks with an amused, teasing voice, one that makes the laughing gaze of Maggie come back to Kara’s mind.“I’m Kara Danvers, with CatCo magazine.”“A publication not known for it’s hard-hitting journalism, more like High-waisted jeans. Yes or no?”There’s a fierce smile on Kara’s face now. “Well, maybe I can change that, Miss Luthor.”Lena gasps and laughs, to Kara it’s like music. “Well, let’s get on with it then, Mr Kent, Miss Danvers. Ask me what you’re here for! The Venture explosion and my role in it.”“Well, did you have a role in it Miss Luthor?” Clark replies with the question they have been skirting around.“You wouldn’t be asking me this if my last name was Smith, would you?”“No I wouldn’t. But it’s not. It’s Luthor.”“Oh, some steel under that Kansas wheat.” Lena teases back, her eyes narrow at Clark. “It wasn’t always my name, I was adopted into the family. My relationship with Lex was good, until he lost his mind to a war with Superman.” She press a button on a small remote, the screen shows the new logo for L-Corp. “I want to move away from it, start the changes to make this a force for good. I’m trying to make it outside of my family’s shadow. Do you understand that?”Kara looks to Clark for a moment and then back to Lena. “Yes, I can. I hope you achieve it, Miss Luthor.”Clark returns the side look and then gives it to Lena as well. “We’d need something more substantial.”Lena stands from her desk and retrieves a USB stick and hands it over to Clark. “Everything about the parts that exploded on the Venture are on that drive, including the subsidiary company that made it. I hope this helps you.”“Thank you, Miss Luthor.” Clark says

A few minutes after they leave the L-Corp building, Kara gets a call from Alex, for the second time today.“Kara! The venture explosion, Lena wasn’t behind it! Winn figured out she was the intended target and we have reason to believe there’s going to further attempts on her life. Keep an eye out while we dig further!”It’s at this moment that a weird buzzing sound occurs in the skies, drones flying near the L-Corp building. “Kara, I think maybe that’s our cue.”“Alright let’s go.” she looks around quickly.They both duck into an alley and fly up in a rush, coming in extremis to stop the assault on the woman’s life.After the two Supers are done rounding up the last few drones, Lena is whisked away by her security detail. Kara joins her cousin in the sky.“Go check in with Alex and J’onn, I’ve got to stop her from doing that renaming ceremony, it’s too dangerous.” Kara says with determination.

As
it stands, convincing a CEO to put a stop to a project they have been working on, doesn’t go down very well.Kara flew to L-Corp, but even going in as the sunshine reporter Lena first met, she can only get Lena to push it back a day, with increased security provided by the “FBI” (DEO).Even so, minutes before the ceremony, Kara finds herself walking side by side with Lena, trying to convince her to relent, for her safety. As she watches the woman climb up to the pedestal from which she’ll give her speech, her attention slowly begins to return to her surroundings. She catches her sister staring up at Lena, surprise on her face.Before she can process fully what the wide-eyed doe look her sister is giving means, explosions rock the park and the nearby building. She’s forced to fly up, to stop the collapse of the main building.

Alex’s momentary distraction by the young CEO is sudden and is put in sharp contrast by the bubbling thoughts that are on her mind since Kara told her about the detective. The shade of pink on her cheek, the rapid beating of her heart and the warmth she feels are clearer now than they could have been before.When the explosions occurs,
people start evacuating the main plaza and Alex shift into agent mode. The adrenaline rush of her own realization brings her focus in sharp, as the urgency of the situation rises.
She catches sight of Corben moving decisively through the crowd, and follows him.He leads her straight to the Luthor heiress, who looks so relieved to have found a bit of safety. She seems so vulnerable in the moment, her heart breaks a little for the woman when the man’s gun rises making her need for safety more urgent.Alex’s ready for it. She grabs the gun-wielding arm and with one elbow to his face, she disarms him, the gun sliding to the stunned Luthor’s feet.
He recovers fast from the maneuver and lands a few good blows, he maneuvers to grab her by the neck from behind. She braces her body and jumps up, using the downward momentum to throw him over her shoulder.He rolls with it; toward his gun! Lena kicks it away from his grasp, he pulls a knife and lunge for his target. Alex draws her weapon and fires, he drops hard onto the ground, blood pooling under him.“Corben is down, Medical condition critical.” She steps to him and drops to her knees, administering basic first aid.“Thanks, Miss…” Lena slowly steps back, uncertain about her own safety until Supergirl lands nearby and starts checking on people, making her way towards Lena.
Alex looks up at Lena and smiles, flashing the FBI badge. “Next time, listen to my sister, okay? She gives good advice.” She looks to Corben beneath her, and then back to Lena. “Thanks for helping me out, that could’ve gone badly.”“Agent Danvers, are you okay? Miss Luthor?” Kara takes a step closer, bits and dust of concrete clinging to her suit and hair.Lena takes a deep breath and nods. “I’ll be okay, Supergirl.”Paramedics, accompanied by a few FBI agents, take Corben away on a gurney, rushing him to the nearest hospital. Lena, Alex and Supergirl find themselves hanging near the NCPD’s command center as the local police start their investigative work starting with taking
all three of their statements.Kara watches as her sister dotes on every little scratch that appears on Lena’s arms, she keeps a bit of distance from the situation. She watches Lena listen to Alex give her statement, rapt attention from the CEO and there’s a moment where the Luthor’s hand taps Alex on the shoulder to get her attention.“Do you know if your sister made it out okay? I haven’t seen Kara since the conference started.” Concern lacing her tone.She watches Alex’s eyes soften in ways she’s never seen before.
“She evacuated right after the explosions started, she’s fine.”Kara takes a step closer to them, just as silence settles between them. “I’m going to go back, I’m glad you got out of this okay, Miss Luthor.” she extends a hand to the woman.The handshake gets caught in a picture by James, one that make the headlines.

Maggie [17:03] Hey! Are you up for drinks tonight?
You [17:05] I was at the L-Corp conference today.
You [17:05] Can it be tomorrow?
Maggie [17:06] Yes, are you okay? That got crazy fast
You [17:07] I am. Where tomorrow?
Maggie [17:10] Will text you the address tomorrow, around 7?
You [17:10] Works 4 me, tty tomorrow

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Kara leaves the new CatCo editor’s office with a piece of torn paper in her hand and cheek tinted red, without even thinking about it, she burst into Cat Grant’s office, casually dumping the ripped shred of papers into the bin near the door. “So I met the new editor, Mr Carr?”

Cat looks up from the pages laid out on her desk, every inch of her expression demanding to know why she’s being interrupted.
Her gaze softens considerably when it settles on Kara’s fierce glare. “I take it you don’t approve of my choice?”

“Well, it would’ve been nice not to have to do the whole ‘getting my name wrong’ all over again.” The smile offered is dry and sarcastic, flavors that are not usually Kara’s own. “Getting told I’m terrible at English is nothing new either, but since he’s decided to be denigrating about it, I’ve placed a request for private tutor with human resources.”

Cat’s eyes loosen, glassing over as unwanted memories bubble to the surface. “You’re not going to be throwing me off the building again are you, Kara?” She whispers, a flash of worry behind her gaze drains any pretense of control away from Cat.

Kara’s eyes widen for a moment, the revelation hits like a truck and her whole body sinks and slumps into the couch.

Cat moves, heels clicking hurriedly as she closes the door and locks her office. “I never meant to say that, I panicked and it slipped out. I apologize.”
She states, each step of the apology spoken with wavering control.

“I… I think I’m the one who owes you an apology.” A nervous laugh, Kara closes her eyes to avoid looking at Cat, even as the older woman stands before her.

“And I think Maxwell Lord is the one who owes me one.” When met with the confused, almost panicked look of her protégé Cat shrugs the strangely tragic weight of the moment off like it’s a cheap coat from a thrift store. “He explained to me, in no small amount of dreary details, what happened to Supergirl for her to commit these atrocities.”

Kara pulls the glasses off and sets them on top of Cat’s desk, using her other hand to wipe away tears. “I guess the two of me didn’t work then?” She laughs a little bit before it turns into a sob.

“It worked for a time, but there’s only so many times you can sneak out of work to run after Supergirl without it getting suspicious again.” Watching as Cat struggles to keep her own composure is heartbreaking in its own way. She sits on the couch, right next to Kara.

“What brought this on?” Kara asks, drying her tears.

“Cold sarcasm is not something I’ve seen you apart fromunder pretty specific circumstances.” Cat sighs. “I had flashbacks for a moment. Something more to burden my therapist with.” She waves it off. “Do you really need the tutoring in English?”

As she answers the question, Kara feels a sense of relief that almost causes her to choke on her words,“I know several other planets main languages, I know a lot of Earth’s too. English is one of the last I’ve learned. It’s hard to keep track of it. I think a Tutor would help me.”

“Well, I’ll instruct HR to let you take the tutoring. Just make sure to pick a good one.” Cat taps her finger against her chin, an idea dancing under the surface before bubbling out. “With President Marsdin putting her Alien Amnesty plan into action, do you think you could do some translation work for alien locals?”

Kara smiles “I thought about it, maybe we could hire a few of them to do it too?”

Cat roll her eyes with a little smile. “I suppose I could leave a note for that too.”

“A-are you leaving Miss Grant?”

“I am. I need to dive too.”

Alex waits next to her sister’s door, waiting for her to return from work, she’s devouring her third donut of the day. Every nerve ending in her body buzzes with a strange, exciting energy and her thoughts are a mess of conflicting thoughts swimming in a rush of new, unknown feelings.

“What’s wrong, you never eat sugar in the middle of the day?” Kara walks past her and unlocks the door, letting them into the apartment.

“I’ve been nervous and thinking about a lot of things lately, especially since our last conversation.” Her voice almost breaks on the words, but she carries them through nonetheless. Alex can feel Kara stiffen from ten feet away, she can see the way her sister is gathering what she needs to make tea, avoiding any angle that makes her look towards her.

“I’ve started working on the kidnapping article.” Her heat vision speeds the process of boiling the water. “I have to take english tutoring classes, or I’m not going to keep my job.”

“Do you want me to help you?” Alex offers, resting against the kitchen island, watching her sister still avoiding looking at her.

Kara stops her work on the tea and rest her hand on top of the counter, eyes closed as she tries to find the words. “I’d rather not, I’m having HR pay for the tutor and they could use the loss of money.”

“Should I leave?” Alex points to the door and almost takes a step.

“Please don’t.” The answer short, fast, betraying the pace of her breathing.

“Then please look at me.” Alex pleads.

Kara can hear her sister’s heartbeat rise with a surprising acceleration, she turns to the side and she’s met with a wide, desperate gaze.

Alex can see fear in her sister, not just in her eyes
but in every gesture she’s making, even the way she stands seems to indicate she might run away. “Did I do something wrong?”

The silence that follows is heavy and cold.

Words, concepts and images all fight in Kara’s mind, and her expressions don’t conceal much of it.

“Kara talk to me, say something, please.”
Alex’s voice trembles, a bone-deep shiver course through her arms.

“I know what you mean by what you said. I heard it, I was trying to ignore it.” She takes a deep breath and walks slowly away from her kitchen and rests both of her hands on the back of her couch. “I saw the way you looked at Lena too, I already had an idea.”

“Is that why you seem to feel weird about it?” The tremors leaves Alex’s voice, replaced with something heavy and painful

“No, I don’t think she’s anything like her brother.” she bends a bit further and rests her forehead on top of her hands.

“Then what is it?”

“It’s hard to put into words.” She pulls herself back up.

“Try,” Alex demands but she falters, whispering in desperation. “...for me please?”

“It’s like… I can go to the library and take out several books about..

this

.” She make a vague gesture. “They could be fiction, autobiographical or any number of genre, right?”

“Yes?” She waits for her sister to get to the point, she resists the urge to tap her feet on the floor.

“I could read every book on earth about this and not a single one of them could give me a hint as to what I’m supposed to do with this, for myself.” she wrings her hands together. “I feel like I’m breaking something important and precious, something I won’t be able to fix.”

“You’re home here with us and you know you have people who’ll fight for this every day of their lives.”

Kara nods and takes a deep breath, she forces a smile, which fades immediately when Alex rolls her eyes at her attempt. “What were you going to tell me, before I made it all about me again.”

“I wanted to tell you that I think I’m gay,” tears fall from the corner of Alex’s eyes. “That you’re the first one I thought of telling, that I’m happy that maybe we share something more in common and that I hoped it’d make you feel a little less alone.”

Kara can’t really hold her tears in either as she pulls Alex into her arms. The words rush out without pause.

“I don’t know how to make it better, I don’t know if I feel less alone, but I know that I’m behind you a hundred percent. I’m sorry I didn’t leave you enough space to figure this out sooner, I’m sorry I can’t even say the words, please don’t think I hate you.”

The hug lasts for several minutes, the strength of her sister keeping her there almost immobile. “Kara you’re squeezing too hard.” Alex says after a moment too long in the crushing hold. As she’s released, she reaches for the tissue box and offers one to Kara too. “When you’re ready for it or when you need it, you can talk to me about this, okay?”

Kara nods “Well, I’m not entirely ho---” there’s a knock on the door and Kara quickly surveys who it is with her X-ray vision. A little smirk grows on her. “It’s your future wife.” she teases and backhands her sister’s shoulder.

“Wait what?” Alex rubs the stricken spot and quickly hides the two discarded tissues in her back pocket.

Kara unlocks the door, opens it and behind it is Lena Luthor.

“I’m sorry to drop in on you like this, I just had to make sure you were okay after the mess that conference was ---” she notices Alex, smiles her way and finishes her sentence. “I mean, your sister said you were okay, but, better make sure myself.”

“Thanks, that’s very nice of you, Miss Luthor!” Kara shuts the door behind her, a confused glance to Alex for a short moment.

“I also wanted to ask how to contact your sister, because I didn’t manage to convince my contact in the FBI to give me her number.” She smiles between the two sisters. “I had to make sure to thank her properly.”

Alex tries not to laugh at the wagging eyebrow that her sister makes from behind the CEO’s back. “It’s often a matter of security, i’m sure it wasn’t personal.” Alex digs out her wallet with the intent of giving her card to Lena. The simple gesture makes the used tissues fall out of her pocket and onto the floor. Nervous at the minor blunder, she crouches to grab at them quickly and hits the back of her head on the kitchen island on her way up.

Lena steps forward and helps her get to the nearest chair.
“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I think I’m going to live.” She run her fingers over the sore spot and checks them for blood, finding nothing, she lets out a short laugh.

Kara is laughing, it’s louder and more energetic than the situation truly warrants, as if trying to compensate for the emotional mess they were just a moment ago.

“So, when you catch your breath, Miss Danvers, I’d like to ask for a favor.” Lena seems rather amused by the comical moment.

She stops laughing not long after that. “You can ask me now.” Kara wipes at her eyes again and blows her nose quickly. “I’m listening.”

From behind Lena, Alex is poking her tongue out at her sister.

“Well, quite simply, I’d like to have a word with Supergirl. I’ve been told by most people I know in media circles, that you were the one who could make it happen.”

“Well, I have something already planned tonight, Miss Luthor. I think I can get her to visit you tomorrow.”

“What do you have planned?” Both Lena and Alex ask in unison, sharing an amused smile between them.

“My detective friend invited me for drinks yesterday. I had to put it off until tonight, because, well, explosions.” A soft shrug.

“Oh well, I won’t hold your preparations for much longer.” She turns to Alex. “You literally saved my life yesterday, could I repay you with dinner tonight?”

Alex laughs a little bit, as Kara gives her an approving look. “I can accept the invitation, Miss Luthor but I need to go back to work for the afternoon. So, can you call around 6 to tell me where to go?”

“That’s perfectly fine, I’ll call you.” Lena sets the card into her purse carefully and makes her way out, holding the door for Alex as well. “Miss Danvers, I hope to see you again soon.”

“Actually, before you go, could you lend me one of your leather jackets?” Kara asks toward Alex with a sheepish smile. She grins at Lena. “I look forward to seeing you again soon. Oh and Lena?, Don’t let her have chocolate and expect to get any back.”

Alex gives her a thumbs up. “You know where the jackets are.”

Lena smiles at the blonde. “I’ll get enough for the two of us.”

Maggie watches as the motorcycle rushes down the alleyway, raised eyebrow and a wide smile, her arms uncross and settle on her hips.
As the engine turns off, the detective’s smile softens. “I didn’t expect you to ride in on such a beauty.” She runs her index finger over the front wheel. “You’re full of surprises.”

She knows Maggie is flirting, she can feel the warmth building on her cheeks, she can feel her stomach spin in all directions and her heartbeat increasing. She hangs the helmet on the handle of the bike, shaking her head to get the hair out of her face. “I don’t get to ride too often, I forgot to tie my hair.”

Maggie clears her throat, looking over Kara’s leather outfit: pants, jacket and the white button up underneath. It forms an unexpected image of the meek reporter she met a few days before.

“Let’s get some drinks, alright?”

“I didn’t know National City had a dive bar in this area.” Her x-ray vision doesn’t pick anything weird in the immediate surroundings. She watches intently as the detective knocks on the door and gives the password. The door opens, the doorman hides behind the door and she notices the odd way his fingers bend.

They walk into an old 80s love ballad playing from the jukebox, a waitress walks past them, glancing at Maggie and immediately Kara recognizes the odd jaw structure and the eyes: a Roltikkon. The barmaid that smiles at Maggie when they go find a booth in the back is handing a drink to a Phorian man, the little bone outcrop at the side of his eyes isunmistakable.

As they get to the booth, Maggie gives Kara a cursory glance over her shoulder. “What do you want to drink? My treat.”

“There’s so many off-worlders here.” She whispers carefully, as she notices more patrons from off-world. She grabs the menu at the end of the booth. One look at it and she sees items named after meals she’s had on other planets, spirits and drinks that could make her drunk, along with a selection of human-friendly items.

Maggie appears surprised by the comment, but her smile grows wider, her dimples deepens and her eyes light up. “It’s a safe place for them, takes off the stress of hiding, helps them feel not so alone for a moment.” She taps the menu in a particular area. “They also make a mean peach mojito too, if you want my recommendation.”

Kara nods and sinks into the seat of the booth. “I’ll take that, thanks.” She sets the menu face down in front of herself, fingers drumming on it nervously.

Maggie calls the Roltikkon waitress to their table. “Darla! Two peach mojitos and a basket of chicken wings.”

The waitress, Darla, looks at Kara with a suspicious gleam in her eyes, then back to Maggie and

that

look is downright filthy. “Anything else I can do for you two?”

Kara sees the jealousy play out in Darla’s demeanor and she picks the menu back up. “I had a question, the Aldebaran rum and the basket of Ghorr wings, are they legitimately available or is it just a novelty name to catch tourists?”

Darla blinks a few times, her expression softens, her words come with a slight stutter. “The wings and the drink are available, but you really don’t want any of it as a human, it could kill you.”

Kara’s eyes widen ever so slightly, her cheeks puffs out at the idea of being able to taste something she thought forever lost. “One of my friends will definitely become a regular here, thank you.”

As Darla leaves the table, Maggie sinks a little bit into it. “I thought she didn’t work tonight, sorry about that. She’s my ex, but I think she still has feelings.”

Kara blinks once, her heart beats faster. The small rush of adrenaline is intense enough that the words slip out without her meaning to speak them. “Is that how she learned English?”

Maggie’s smile almost fades and her eyes widen. “How do you know that!?”

“I’m friends with the local Kryptonian. She has a lot of stories to tell.”

Maggie tilts her head, still stunned by Kara’s breadth of knowledge about off-worlders. “To..to answer your question, yes, it’s how Darla learned English.” She clears her throat.

There’s a palpable moment of silence between the two of them before Kara works up the will to ask the question burning in her mind. “So, you date aliens?”

“Not exclusively, but I like them better than most humans. There’s a lot of empathy between us.”

“A lot of things lost forever?”

Maggie nods quietly and Kara knows better than to press her on it.

“Thanks for showing me this place, I never thought I’d ever find something like this in my life.”

The two peach Mojitos are served by the black woman from the bar, while Darla covers for her. The chicken wing basket comes a moment later.

“Thanks M’gann,” the woman just ruffles Maggie’s hair before leaving, she grabs her drink and slowly sips it. “It’s okay, the place benefits from a bit of secrecy, especially in light of the Alien Amnesty act coming up.”

“Do you know how they feel about that?”

“The vast majority of the community are happy about it, but quite a few are scared that it’s just a tactic to keep tabs and kick them off world.” Maggie sips her drink slowly, running her index finger on the rim. “Marsdin is pretty solid on that front, but it’s worrying for future candidates though.”

“I can see why.” Kara tastes the chicken wings, enjoying the momentary quiet moment between them. She watches the detective carefully tear apart a wing, trying to pretend she haven’t noticed her staring.

“Like what you’re seeing, Danvers?” Maggie teases, wiping her fingers on a napkin.

“Yeah, I like it a lot.” It’s barely a whisper and it feels like a scream. Her head spin for just a split second. It feels both right and wrong.

“Enough to make the next time an official date?”
Maggie asks, an hopeful, warm joy in her voice.

The question hits her in the chest, harder than any punch she’s ever gotten, her throat tightens and the words just won’t come out.
Kara reaches across the table and picks up one of Maggie’s hand in hers. She raises a finger, quietly asking for a moment.

“Take your time.” The detective grabs her mojito and drains it in one go, obviously nervous.

She hesitate, words refuse to form for a moment, a rush of heat rise from her chest and it’s somehow enough. “A lot of things changed for me in the last two days. I’ve had a break up, a career change and then realizing that I…” Her gaze lingers heavily, obviously, longingly on their entwined hands. “This.” Kara shakes her head, gently squeezing Maggie’s fingers. “I think next time should also be just as friends.”

Maggie’s shoulders slump a little, it seems equal part disappointment and relief, but her hand squeeze back. “Yeah that’s definitely too much. I understand.”

Kara briefly wishes her Mojito was the glass of rum she really wanted, she takes a sip from it, making Maggie chuckle at the sight. “Tastes pretty good, I like it.”

The detective almost roll her eyes at the attempt to distract her. “Danvers, I just tried to rush you a lot, I’m sorry. I’m just used to Uhauling the shit out of my relationships.” She clears her throat. “I want to give this a chance, so I’m good with keeping us friends.” Even as the words hurt, she find it in herself to smile through the question “What do

you

want?”

“I… I want you to call me Kara.” She smiles and looks at the tangled hands as she speaks. “I want you to know how special tonight is to me.” She takes Maggie’s hand in both of hers. “I want to see you again, I want us to be friends, for now.”

“Alright, Kara.” Maggie smiles softly, she squeeze the hands with both of hers too and for a brief moment, her eyes glisten with unspilled tears. “I’m hopeful, thank you.” Then her gaze turns mischievous as she look at the pool table. “If you feel up to it, we can play pool for a bit. Loser buys the next round of drinks?”

It might not be game night, but the competitive side of her rises to the challenge anyway. “You’re on.” She stands up, releases Maggie’s hand, she finishes her drink before heading to the pool table with her.

Maggie wins easily, deflating, cursing herself as she sinks the last ball, withering under a rather intense pout from her opponent. “You don’t really have to pay for the drinks if you don’t want to.”

Kara laughs and shake her head. “Maggie, I took the bet and I lost, I’m getting us another round.” As she walks past the detective she give her a side hug and whispers. “Are we good?”

Maggie chuckles a little bit, comforted by the gesture. “Yes, I’m just afraid I kind of blew it.”

“You blew it out of the water is what you did.” She squeezes the hug and goes to fetch the next round, leaving Maggie smiling and blushing.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Alex sinks into the couch, shielding her eyes from the slowly rising sun as she send a message to J’onn, alerting him of her absence from work for the day. She expects a bit of a stern talking to, but instead she gets a request to take care of herself. “Well, it

is

my first day off in two years.” She whispers to herself.

Her gaze settles on the sleeping form, hidden beneath the covers of her bed. Lena Luthor is sleeping in her bed. Seeing her laying there ignites something in her heart, something similar to how she used to feel at sleepovers with Vicki. Her heartbeat is accelerated, and her mind is buzzing from the night-long conversation with the smartest woman she’s ever met.

A shadow lingers near the windows for a moment too long, Alex immediately leaves the comfort of her couch to open the door, before her sister has time to knock on it. Her camo pjs elicit a little laugh from her sister, just like it did in Lena last night.

“Shhh, she’s sleeping.”

Kara stands there, a black hoodie and a pair of gray sweats, she clearly didn’t sleep either, her hair wild and untamed. “You slept with her on the first date?!” Kara whispers with a wicked smile.

“No, we talked until we noticed the sun was rising and she panicked, so I let her sleep here. Taking the day off of work by the way.” She lets Kara in and shuts the door quietly. “I tried to sleep, but...I just can’t.”

“So, it went well?” Kara yawns and hugs her sister, nearly falling asleep against her shoulder.

“Uh-huh” Alex nods and kisses her cheek. “You smell like cheap booze, where’d she take you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it with your guest here.” Kara smiles, in spite of herself, she squirms, bashful because of the secret.

Alex’s eyebrows wiggle. “On the first date?!” She teases with a deep whisper, batting her arm repeatedly, eager for details.

“No no no.” She bats Alex’s hands away. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Miss ‘I got a billionaire in my bed like it’s no big deal.’”

Alex chuckles and hugs her sister again, in spite of her protest. “Get here tonight for dinner, we’ll talk about it.”

“If I’m available, sure.” Kara throws a quick look at the sleeping form of Lena in the bed. “I have to make sure Supergirl doesn’t miss her appointment.”

Alex smiles and pats her on the back, leading her to the kitchen. “Coffee?” She begins preparation after her sister gives her a thumb up.

In the bed, Lena stirs with the sounds and the rising morning lights, her arm encircles the other pillow and pulls it firmly against her, an exhausted groan leaves her grin. “Make an extra pot of it to go.”

Alex’s heart accelerates at the sight and her sister’s stifled laugh isn’t helping. “It’s saturday morning, I think you can afford to not rush into work before 7.”

“Right, forgot about that. Days blend together after a while.” Lena sits up, her wild eyes half-closed, clinging to the pillow. “Oh, hi Kara.” She rubs her eyes, trying to free herself from the fatigue.

Kara waves at the sleep-worn woman. “Hi!” she takes the coffee from her sister’s hand and starts sipping it black. “You look as tired as I feel.”

“Well, since no one here got any sleep, should we make a brunch out of it? I can drive Lena to work afterwards. We can all rest until then?” Alex offers as she slides a third mug across the counter, successfully luring Lena out of her bed.

The CEO grabs the hot mug between her fingers, clutching it like it was her very own ‘precious’. “Sure, that sounds great.”

It’s quite a sight for Kara, seeing Lena Luthor go from the high class, powerful woman in suits and magnificent, silk-soft hair to a sleep-deprived, coffee-greedy gremlin in her sister’s PJs with her hair in a messy bun. The sight is magnetic, but she quickly shakes it off. “I’ll leave you two to brunch, I have a bit of a thing to work on today.”

“Press doesn’t stop for anything.” Alex chuckles, amused by the sight of her sister and Lena being sleepy, in her kitchen.

“Oh, okay! You wouldn’t be intruding.” Lena tries to reassure.

“I know. Don’t worry about it.” She finishes her coffee and almost snorts when she watches Lena almost nod off in her coffee.

“Yeah you’re going back to bed.” Alex pries the coffee from Lena’s hand and slowly helps her back into the bed, then closes all the blinds.

“Bossy.”

Kara explodes into laughter as she catches Lena say that. “Alright, see you later Alex, Lena.”

Kara lands on the balcony, boots hitting hard and she knocks on the door to alert the CEO.
After she gets invited in by Lena, she steps inside. “You wanted to see me?” She walks about the office, her head tilting to the side as she speaks the question.

Oh no

, she already picked that habit from Maggie.

Lena is wearing a black skirt suit and has a matching metal cup, filled with coffee most likely. “Yes, I figured we should probably have at least a conversation to clear the air and Agent Danvers recommended I share one of my recent technical innovations with you.”

“Yes, I heard you had a conversation.” Kara raises her eyebrow, watching Lena stumble and

blush,

it’s a surprisingly adorable view. “We can start with the technical innovation and go from there?” She looks at the flowers displayed on Lena’s desk. “Plumerias…”

“You like them?” Lena asks, standing up and reaching for the hidden compartment in the wall next to her desk. She pulls out a small machine, simple looking enough. She unboxes it and sets it on her desk, next to Supergirl.

“They remind me of home, we had similar looking white flowers in my mother’s tree.” She exhales, melancholic thoughts invading every corner of her mind, for just a moment. She picks up the machine in her hands. “What is it?”

Kara is so focused on the flowers and the machine that she’s missed the saddened expression of the Luthor.

“It’s a detection device, allows you to detect aliens by touch.” She quickly points out how to use it. “Alex thought I should ask you what you thought, I agreed.”

Kara presses the button, a soft frown on her face and it lights up green. “It works by picking up skin samples which means it won’t work on me, the needle can’t pierce my skin.”” She hands it back to Lena. “It’s also made of Nth metal, which means you own the refinery just outside of town.” Kara smiles a bit. “I...why are you making something like that?”

“Well, I figured people had a right to know who’s hiding among us?”
There’s already some uncertainty in her words.

“Oh yeah, no. Privacy and secrecy is pretty important. I mean, I know that it’s something that could come in handy in some situations, but, what happens when Cadmus or some other group who hates aliens get their hands on it? What if the next president after Marsdin isn’t as friendly toward Aliens?” She shake her head. “If Aliens become citizens, they’ll have a right to privacy as well. This just seems like a tragedy waiting to happen.” She hands the small device back to Lena.

Lena looks at the detection the device and sets it aside on the desk again. “Well, there goes the first impression.” She scratches at her wrist.

“I’ve been working with the government for a while now, I’ve been tracking down intergalactic criminals and invaders.” She looks at Lena. “This device would’ve helped. I’m not angry you made it, Miss Luthor, I understand the utility.” She takes a step closer to the other woman. “I feel like forethoughts needs to be important when tech like this comes into play.”

“I do believe citizens should have a way to protect themselves from potential treats. Aliens can already buy our weapons to protect themselves, our weapons aren’t always enough against Aliens.” Lena sits against the edge of her desk, stifling a yawn.

“No, I’m aware of that, but I’m also aware that you’d have an easy time finding a way to remediate that.” She looks toward the window and exhales. “I’m not a tech expert, but I trust you can find a way to even the playing field without risking victimizing already vulnerable people.”

“My point is that they aren’t vulnerable.”

“And mine is that there’s many ways to be.” Kara stands her ground, annoyance and irritation rising. “Use the detection device and a family suddenly has to worry about going out. Businesses could refuse their presence or one scared person could hurt them, just for wanting groceries.” Kara gestures a bit aggressively outside.
“Devise a weapon that can hurt tougher aliens and you’ve made a weapon that can hurt weaker ones and humans far worse.” Kara takes a deep breath. “You can’t make sure your tech will be used exactly how you want it to be used.”

Lena grows quiet and looks out the window as well, her arms uncross from her chest and she grabs the detection device. “I’ll stash this for now. I clearly haven’t thought the whole thing through.” She sets it inside of the compartment. “I tend to focus heavily on the goal and I don’t always think of the collaterals. I apologize.”

Kara smiles a little. “Well, apologies aren’t necessary.
You want to protect your people, I understand. I’m happy I could offer a bit of insight? I think that’s what Alex wanted?”

Lena nods in response. Eager to change the topic, she forces it “Why did you shake my hand, after the conference?” She asks, her voice weak with hesitation.

“Because I want people to try and give you a real chance and not just look at the name.” She exhales. “I know it’s hard to step out of a shadow that big and try to shine your own light.”

“People compare you to Superman a lot?” The question is soft, it brings a kind smile to Lena’s face.

“It used to be much worse, but it still happens.” Kara blinks, chasing memories of Maxwell Lord away.

“You have much better hair.” Lena teases.

Kara laughs lightly. “Thank you, but you better keep the compliments for Agent Danvers.”

“Oh really? Agent Danvers would like me to compliment her hair?” Lena raise her eyebrow, in surprise.

Supergirl smiles knowingly. “If what I heard is right, I think it should be obvious. I’ll even slip in a good word for you.”

“I’m surprised you would.” She looks toward where she stashed the device.

“Miss Luthor, I gave you my opinion and feelings on your ideas and you’re taking them into account. It’s all I can ask for.” Supergirl speaks in a soft voice.

“Thank you.” A genuine smile breaks the worried facade.

Supergirl lands in her own apartment, she finds her sister curled up on the couch and she smiles warmly at the strange sight. “I’m surprised you actually didn’t go to work.”

Alex’s eyes open, fluttering against the sudden light and movement around her. “Hey.” her voice is soft and trembling, her arms move to wipe at her eyes. She sits up in a hurry.

Kara tilts her head, sighing a little as she remembers once more, where she got the habit. “Are you okay?” She takes a seat at her sister’s side, wrapping her arm around her shoulders, setting her cape over them like a blanket.

“I spoke with Lena earlier” She wipe at her eyes again slowly. “She told me about how Supergirl helped her understand what her ideas meant for people concretely.” Alex closes her eyes and finally rests against her shoulder.

Kara’s eyes narrow and her expression shifts to ask a silent question. “I’m not making a connection with what you’re saying and you crying.” She kisses the top of her sister’s head.

“Well, I’m touched that you nudged her to compliment my hair, however awkward she was about it.” Both of them giggle. “She also told me what you said about her Alien detection device.” She clears her throat. “I’m sorry I didn’t consider any of it enough to mention it to her.”

Kara squeezes her shoulder and kisses her head again. “Is that all there is to it?”

Alex shakes her head. “Can we talk about you and Maggie?”

Kara nods once, her throat and chest tighten to the point of discomfort. “Yeah.”

“When I came over here to tell you about me being gay.” She takes a deep breath. “You were super cold and awkward about and I… didn’t get it.” Alex wraps her arm around her sister. “I’m sorry I got offended by it, I think I get it a bit better now.”

Kara smiles and shrugs. “I went to see her last night on my bike, trying to impress her, but in the back of my mind. I was already wondering how to mess the whole thing up.” She takes a deep breath. “Do you know where she invited me Alex?” Her eyes water and tears spills.

Alex shakes her head and she squeezes the hug harder.

“She took me to a bar, where the local aliens hang out and play pool and have drinks. They have drinks and food from planets I visited and rum I saw my family enjoy during holidays.” She wipes at her eyes. “Maggie dated the Roltikkon waitress that brought us our drinks.” She chuckles.

Alex blinks and wipes at her eyes. “Wow.”

“I plan on taking J’onn there.” She wipe her eyes. “I feel like I have a place, I feel like she has a place for me in her heart, for the whole of me.” Kara sniffles. “It’s hard to put into words how it feels.”

“Do you still feel like you’re doing something wrong?”

“Yes, I feel like I shouldn’t be letting this happen, I feel like this isn’t okay or a proper thing for a Kryptonian to do but… I can’t articulate why.” She sniffles. “I need a way to make sense of it. I don’t know if there’s a way.”

Alex rubs her sister’s back. “I hope you let the happiness win. I’ll be here for you either way.”

“Look, a lot changed at once and I might be panicking about that too? Reporting, Breaking up with James. Meeting Maggie and then diving into a kidnapping story. It’s a lot.” She closes her eyes. “Plus, I have this weird… hunch about the kidnappings.”

“What kind of hunch?”

“Cadmus.” There’s an unspoken word with that, heavy and painful, neither sister has the will to bring themselves to say it.

Alex sighs heavily and holds Kara in her arms. “Yeah. You got too much on your mind, let me care of a few things.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Maggie:

Hey, I hope im not being too fast, but I need your help

You:

no worries, what do you need?

Maggie:

Need your reporter skills.

You:

Why, what did you find?

Maggie:

come to this address tomorrow morning. Will brief you there.

You:

this is weird?

Maggie:

I know, cant talk over text about it. Will you be there?

You:

Yes!

Kara flies for a while, looking for the address that the detective gave her. It’s a building right at the edge of a warehouse district and a residential area where less fortunate people live. She lands a few blocks away, between buildings and changes to the day’s work outfit: Dark khaki pants with a blue button up and running shoes.

Maggie does a double take when Kara appears around the corner, a little smile brings up the dimples on the familiar face. Black jeans, white button up with the oversized blue jacket over it. “Thanks for coming to my rescue, I appreciate it.”

Kara greets her with a quick hug and a warm smile. “Of course, what do you need?” She looks around at the buildings surrounding them, trying to find the exact address.

“I’ve been blocked in this investigation by someone up in the chain of command.” She sighs and scratches the back of her head. “It might be a problem I can solve, but it’d take quite a while and there are people disappearing.” She nods towards the building. “That building is a common thread in a lot of these kidnappings, or rather, the owners are.”

“Why would someone block you?” Kara asks, her expression twisted in confusion.

“I’m guessing big money or someone who has a hand in this.” Maggie shrugs. “I want to save these people before looking into that.”

Kara gives her a warm smile and pulls her into a side hug, her heart flutters. She peeks over her glasses and scans the building quickly: Nurses anddoctors occupy some of the space. As her gaze shifts to the basement, her eyes widen for just a moment. A large, demi circular machine stands there, guarded by two armed men. “From the outside, It feels like an old medical clinic.”.

“Yes, they drew people here for scientific studies and cheap medical exams, they have a recruiter and all. A suspicious amount of subjects haven’t left the building in a month,
maybe longer” She points at the entrance door. “I need you to investigate it as a reporter and give me a sign if someone’s clearly in distress.” Maggie digs into her jacket’s pocket.

“I’m helping provide a technicality for you to be able to do your job, aren’t I?” Kara teases Maggie with a nod. “How do you want me to give you the signal?”

Maggie rolls her eyes and bumps her hip against Kara’s. “Yep, I need to know if anyone is in immediate distress or if there’s any obvious alien technology. I’m with the science division in the NCPD so if that happens, I can force an immediate investigation.” She pulls out discreet earpieces. “I got this from a government operation I know of, this’ll allow you to speak to me and the lady that lent it to me.”

“Alright, sounds good.” Kara raises her eyebrows at the device, it’s the same earpiece model from the DEO, she puts it in.

The familiar voice of Susan Vasquez comes through the piece.
“This is City roost, Identify yourself.”

Maggie puts her own earpiece on and nods to Kara. “Maggie here.”

“I’m Kara Danvers.” She almost laugh at the situation. “Happy to help.”

“Alright, Maggie you’re Steel Eagle three and Kara you’re Steel Eagle four.” Susan sounds like she finds her own joke funny.

“Why three and four?” Maggie asks as she leans against the wall of the building right next to her civilian police cruiser.

“It’s a call sign allowed for non-personnel members who occasionally help. You’re the third and fourth people.” Susan explains.

Kara pats Maggie on the back, to draw her attention. “Do you have the recruiter’s name?”

“The recruiter’s name is Julia Greene” Maggie smiles at Kara. “I don’t want you to risk your life for this, okay? If something goes south, request our help and run away.”

“I won’t let you down.” Kara steps toward the building, intent on seeking out what she saw in the basement, but she’s stopped by Maggie’s grasp on her arm. She turns around, questioning the gesture with a little tilt of her head.

Maggie pulls Kara closer by the sleeve of her shirt and press her lips against the other woman’s cheek. “For good luck.”

Kara turns a deep shade of red and her heart goes wild. She seems frozen into place until Maggie playfully shoves her toward the building.

Kara approaches the door and takes a deep breath, she uses the doorbell and then pushes on her personal earpiece. “Steel Eagle one to City Roost, Requesting Viper.”

Winn speaks “Alright, transferring you!” The moment after Vasquez’s voice comes in with a palpable joy in it. “I have like, a thousand questions for you!”

“Keep ‘em for later. Scramble a team, alien portal tech in the basement.” The door buzzes and she’s let in, a nurse welcomes her with a curious smile. “Keep my cover on Maggie, please.”

“Welcome miss, what can we do for you?” The nurse sets her hands on Kara’s arms, it’s a gesture she means to comfort with, but it’s really a controlling grip.

“I’ve been told to come here by Julia Greene?” She whispers that and the woman grabs her arm.

“Come with me, we’ll take care of you.” The woman almost drags her down a hallway, and Kara struggles not to pull too hard to give herself away, where a man in a lab coat greets them with a smile.

“What can we do for you miss?” He asks, a warm smile, turning his attention toward the two women entering his office. One look and Kara detects no medical equipment.

“I’m starting to have some issues with my hearing and sight, some lights and sound get overwhelming and I don’t know where that comes from. I’m worried.” Kara explains, knowing she can prove those effects if they scrutinize. “Miss Greene told me I should come here to get checked, that it wouldn’t ruin me.”

“I think we should probably start by a scan, if you’re okay with it miss..” He stands up. “She’s right. Don’t worry about the cost we’re very well funded, we charge a pittance compared to anything else in the US.” The doctor takes her by the shoulder and leads her out of the office. He shoots a look at the nurse over his shoulders. “In the worst case scenario, maybe you’ll be down 100$”

A soft anger wells inside Kara, preying on people’s health scares like this is monstrous at best.

The doctor takes a turn and they head towards an elevator. “We’ll be going down in the basement, that’s where all the heavier equipment is.”

She hears the nurse through the wall speaking on the phone as they walk through the first floor’s hallways.

“We have a reporter here, you need to get rid of her at all cost. We can’t have this out to the public.”

Kara press on the earpiece with Maggie on the line, under the pretense of scratching her ear. “Basement, hate basement.”

“If that was a call for help, say ow.” Maggie speaks as she grabs her badge and gun.

Again with the pretense of scratching herself, she utters an ouch. The elevator door opens and they both get in.

“Are you okay? Miss?”

“Nervous, medical stuff is never fun.”

The door opens as they reach the lower floor, the two armed guards awaits “I’m afraid this won’t be any different, Miss Danvers.”

“I’m afraid you’re not going to like it either.” Kara grabs the doctor by the arm and flings him at one of the two guards. There’s a short flash of light as they revert back to their natural, scaly forms. The other guard steps up to Kara and gets knocked out by a headbutt, the illusion fading from him too.

The doctor struggles back to his feet and towards the demi-circular machine, a swirl of purple energy appears as he approaches and he dives through the portal. Two more of the alien guards step out of the portal already firing their pulse weapon at Kara.

She can hear Maggie kick down the door and fire several warning shots, ordering everyone out. She can hear the engine of the DEO van and the voice of her sister and Vasquez. She can hear Maggie rushing down the stairs.

It’s a split second decision, she lets herself be hit by the pulse weapon once, it’s a strong impact, but it barely make her stumble back. Another blast hits her and she flings herself back into the nearby wall, encasing herself in it.

To her credit, Maggie is a crackshot and the moment she steps out of the staircase, she fires twice and disarms one of the guys and hits the other in the leg, he raises his arms in surrender. “Kara?!” She steps between the alien guards and her, shielding her with her body.

Her heart flutters again at the sight, she struggles not to smile too much. “I’ll be fine.” She coughs a bit, she clings to her stomach, trying to fake pain and a minor injury. “I can’t get out on my own.”

Maggie is tense, watching the portal closely, worry written all over her face. She slowly backs away from the aliens, weapon trained on them. She grabs Kara’s hands with her left one and pulls her out. “Who took these two out?”

“I did…” She chuckles and groans, faking a bit of an injury, holding her ribs. “My sister taught me how to defend myself.” Kara stays kneeling on the ground. “Go cuff them, they’re surrendering.”

As Maggie makes her way carefully toward them, weapon aimed. Kara make her eyes glow bright red from behind Maggie, as a sort of warning to them. Cuffing them is easy enough after that.

Winn, Susan, Alex and J’onn appear out of the staircase a few minutes later. They find Kara sitting on the floor near the hole in the wall and Maggie finishing a bandage on the alien she injured during the arrest.

Alex rushes to Kara’s side, while Susan goes to debrief Maggie and the two men start analyzing the portal, throwing looks toward Kara every other moment.

“Kara are you okay?!” There’s genuine concern in her sister’s voice, but it fades away with Kara’s retort.

“Yes, totally okay, I’m faking! You ass.” Both sisters roll their eyes at the slightly overblown sarcasm..

“Alright, I’ll have Susan escort you to the medical bay and you can call in Supergirl while you’re there.” She shakes her head. “I’ll have a little talk with Miss Detective over there.”

“Be nice, she literally just saved my life.” She uses Alex to help herself up and watches as Susan returns her way.

“Really Kara!? The little shit is DEO?” Maggie teases as she stand back up, once the bandage is finished

“NDAs are a pain.” Kara offers an apologetic smile which Maggie clearly accepts with a smile.

“The little shit is DEO Agent Danvers and this is Director Henshaw.” She points to J’onn and Winn fiddling with the portals, mumbling amongst themselves for now.

They climb the stairs back up in silence and walk out of the building, pretending Kara is in pain and unable to walk on her own. It’s a little odd watching the DEO agents move about.

“I didn’t know that Maggie was aware of the DEO.” Kara finally speaks as they reach the van.

“She’s the NCPD liaison with the DEO.
It’s a secret position and she has level 1 clearances.” Susan explains. “I... wasn’t aware you were the reporter contact she’s been babbling about.”

“She’s been talking about me?” Kara asks in a whisper.

“About a cute reporter girl she met and is trying to take her time with.” Susan says with a very low voice, trying to avoid other people hearing it. “She’s been very good at not letting me know who.”

Kara blushes way too deeply for it to be comfortable.

“Hey, I won’t even say a word to your sister, okay? I know how hard it is to figure yourself out, you don’t have to worry about me spilling anything out.” A hand rest on the Kryptonian’s shoulder.

Kara looks surprised at the revelations implied. “You’re?...”

“I don’t appreciate the implications that you thought I was straight.” Susan jokes lightly and Kara joins the laugh a bit.

“It’s not something I’m happy with or that I understand yet. I’d prefer if… we didn’t talk about it.” She scratches the back of her head.

“Hey, that’s fine. Just know that when you figure yourself out that there’s a whole bunch of people who are ready to welcome you with open arms and that you’d bring them hope too.” Susan gives Kara quick hug. “Now I think you better change and get back in.”

Kara takes a deep breath and almost cools the temperature in the van as a result.
She changes into the super suit and watches as Vasquez closes the door to the van behind her.

Supergirl appears in the basement, after spending a moment helping the DEO move the rest of the staff to the same room and making sure they’re not hiding any surprises with her X-ray vision.
She’s called to the basement by Alex and J’onn after a while.

“There she is!” Maggie calls as the Kryptonian shows up, arms crossed over her chest as she studies her.

Alex rolls her eyes and smiles towards her sister. “You made it, we almost jumped through that portal without you.”

Winn waves at her and J’onn approaches the ladies. “This portal, as far as we can tell, leads to another planet. Atmospheric analysis says we can send a team to rescue the victims.” He looks over Maggie. “Are you coming with us?”

“Well, Little shit here is arguing jurisdiction to keep me out of it.” Maggie tilts her head towards Alex.

“Excuse me, I’m trying to spare you from unnecessary danger so I don’t have to explain to my little sister that I let her--” Alex air quotes “--’Best friend’ dive into a portal that leads to another planet.”

Supergirl stares at J’onn trying to ignore the growing heat on her cheek. “Will you be coming with us, Director?”

“Unfortunately I have to remain behind to organize our agents. Miss Danvers would lead the team.” J’onn shrugs once.

“Then can I suggest that Detective Sawyer help make sure the portal doesn’t let anything else in? Maybe you could assign someone or stay here with her?” Kara watches Maggie roll her eyes. “Hey it’s a good occasion to work on your contacts.”

“Well, Okay. Is Kara going to be alright?” Maggie sighs, worrying her lower lip between her teeth.

“A few bruised ribs according to Vasquez. Thanks for looking out after her” Alex says, much softer than she was speaking a moment ago. “For all the shit I just gave you, I appreciate you trying to keep her safe.”

Winn approaches the group. “So I’m ready to open the portal, we need to move fast, this thing pulls a lot of power and I’m not sure we have enough funding to pay for the electric bill.”

The group chuckles lightly at the joke. J’onn taps him on the back. “Agent Schott, make sure these people can come back from the other side.” He then looks to Maggie and while the rest of the group goes over to the portal, he mumbles. “Just make sure to keep him safe.”

“Roger that.”

A team of twenty paramilitary soldiers, led by Alex and Supergirl waits for the portal to open. The moment is tense and every second feels longer than the last. The purple swirls appears and Agent Schott gives the go ahead. Supergirl dives in, Alex dives in and then the rest of the armed forces march forward.

There’s a sense of longing building in Maggie’s chest, for the chance to see what’s on the other side. Part of it worries about Kara’s sister, being an FBI agent would be enough for the reporter to worry about, but a Black Ops agent diving into portals is entirely different thing. “Are you sure they’re safe on the other side?”

Winn turns to her and smiles. “The place they’re landing in supports life and has comparable gravity. But it’s also supposed to be a place where aliens keeps human, so I can’t promise it’s safe. Alex and Supergirl are badasses though, so they’ll be fine.” He pats her on the shoulder and then resumes his work on the device.

On the other side of the portal; it’s a wasteland locked between two mountains and only one path forward, An alien fortress perched on the flank casts an ominous shadow over the nearby flatlands.

Supergirl comes out first and is immediately attacked by one of the scaled aliens, two punches and the guy is down.
Alex intercepts the second and takes him down with just one sweep of the leg and an elbow to the face.

Kara exclaims in pain as she sees the blood pours out of her knuckles, one look over her shoulder and a red star looms over the horizon.

Alex is on her while the rest of the team makes sure the immediate area is safe for them to organize around. “Are you okay, what’s happening?”

“Red sun.” Both sisters looks at the darkening sky and the setting, furious red light. Kara takes a stumbling step toward the crimson sunset. “I don’t have my powers here.”

Alex pulls the medkit out of her pack and swiftly apply bandages and disinfectant, a few minutes of intense focus and the wounds are bound and clean. “I’d ask for you to leave, but you might be able to help us if we encounter people who wants to talk it out.”

Kara stares at the sky with her eyes wide and brimming with tears. As the red sun sets, something else rise above another part of the sky, it’s a planet surrounded by a ring. Her mind conjures a distant memory of stargazing with her mother. She let out a choked gasp as the piece of this celestial puzzle assemble easily in her mind.

After casting a glance over her shoulder as the team gathers nearby, Alex turns back to Kara. “What is it?”

Kara’s hand extend toward the horizon, as if trying to catch the dying daylight between her fingers and she’s hit with a strong dizzying spell. She falls to her knees. “Rao!” As the last light disappears behind the horizon, her shoulders slump and her tears fall into the dust. “That was Rao!”

“So the ringed planet is?...” Alex whispers, terrified of the potential answers.

“Daxam isn't supposed to have a ring.” Kara chokes out the answer as her tears falls into the moon dust beneath.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The DEO agents keep a respectful distance from the sisters, watching over the portal and trying to figure out a way to signal Agent Schott at the other end of the portal. A purple swirl of energy appears and he appears through the portal, an expression wrought with fear and worry.

“Gotta be on this side, or I won’t know if there’s someone wanting to come back.”

One of the newer agents pats him on the shoulder. “One of us can stay back to bodyguard you, just ask Danvers when she’s back.” He points to Alex and Supergirl in the distance.

“Woah, what happened?” Winn asks, keeping his voice low as he watches the two sisters.

“See that Asteroid belt in the sky?” The agent points to the impressive line across the sky that passes near a ringed planet. “Apparently that’s Krypton.”

Winn’s heart drops and twists at the sight and the realization, he goes quiet like the rest of the agents there, watching Alex and Kara.

Alex is sitting next to her sister in the dust, her chin resting on her shoulder and whispering into her sister’s ear, unrelentingly reminding the Kryptonian of her love for her.

Kara, for the first time in over ten minutes, moves and makes a sound.
It’s a shake of her head and a groan of protest, she tries to stand up, but her sister keeps her down, in her arms.

“Kara, I know this is painful, I know I have no right to ask this out of you,” Alex swallows thickly, forcing herself to do so as she hears the soldiers behind them rustle around again. “But we’re here to save people, we need you.”

Somehow there’s a laugh from Kara. “No you don’t, no powers.” She sniffles and wipes at her nose.

“We’ll probably meet other aliens, not all of them are going to fight. We’ll need you to translate.” Alex stands, using her sister’s shoulder to help herself up. “Help us understand what we find, who we’re fighting.”

Kara grabs her sister’s offered hand to get up, she leans on Alex to walk back to the group.

“Daxamites look human, they’re hyper-allergic to lead.” She points to their weapons. “But no one here is going to have lethal weapons, they’re slavers not killers. The pulse weaponry will knock you down like a strong punch.”

Alex notices Winn trying to hide his own tears behind the group and she goes to him while Kara briefs the others. “What the fuck are you doing here?!”

“Nothing special.” He retorts with a sniffle. “I have no way to tell if you’re back on the other end of the portal so I have to make it work on this end.”

Alex surprises herself with the hugs she gives him and she shakes her head. “We’ll leave someone with you, make sure we have a way back.”

Supergirl joins them, after spending a short moment gathering her thoughts. “We definitely should get going.” Her hand runs quickly over her eyes and she gives Winn a quick hug. “Holy crap, you’re in space.”

“Yeah well, I’ll keep watch over our door back home.” He looks back at the portal and soon, An armed agent joins him. “By the way, the atmosphere is toxic to J’onn, that’s why he’s not joining us.”

The sisters nod in understanding and wave Winn and the agent off, leaving with the rest of the group, heading toward the obviously high tech complex perched on the mountain side.

The strike team is efficient to say the least, they march fast toward their goals and react in unison when some kind of aircraft takes off from the distant fortress. Alex throws a look at Supergirl, while they’re hiding behind a rocky formation.

“This is the equivalent of a jet fighter, except it can go to space. They’re not evacuating anyone yet.” Kara explains, looking over the vaguely familiar craft. It looks battered and old. “By the way, the scaled people are Maaldorians.”

The jet goes off into space and disappears from view rather quickly, the group resumes their trek towards the fortress. Alex hushes Kara when they come upon a small camp with one of those Aliens, he’s obviously unarmed and he’s roasting pieces of meat over a fire. “And why are they on a Daxam moon?”

“They’re pretty strong and tough, they make good enforcers and they adapt to life everywhere.” Kara walks past the group. “Let me do the talking, this guy is obviously not with them.”

Alex confirms Supergirl’s plan with the rest of the team with only a gesture of her hand. Even as she grasps her weapon firmly, just in case. The rest of the agents keeps a close watch on their surroundings.

The individual watches Supergirl approach his little camp and he keeps roasting his food. “Hungry?” He asks in English, of all languages.

“H-how do you speak english?” Supergirl stands at the edge of the light his fire gives.

“Prisoners escape sometimes, teach me how to speak, I learn fast!” The English is broken but understandable. “Are you looking to escape, Carbon lifeform?”

“No, I’m with an earth military team. We’re looking to rescue our people.” Supergirl approaches the fire. “Do you know how we can get into their prison?”

“I know but, you help me too, please carbon lifeform?” There is a smile on the Maaldorian’s face now, hope and joy rise.

“What kind of help do you need? Do you have a name?” Kara asks, her helpful nature tugging her to accept, but it has to go through her sister and the team with her

“I want out of this place, no food, no good people. Take me back with you.” He asks. “Most escapees call me Jo.” .

Supergirl looks over her shoulder, she sees Alex making big, angry eyes at her and shaking her head at the request. “Sure, that won’t be a problem.” She ignores the middle finger raised at her.

Jo shows them the way to go, leading them from the front, Supergirl right behind with a baleful Alex glowering at her. The rest of the team following and taking point, making sure they’re covered at every turn and from every direction.

“Carbon lifeforms, there is a door in that cavern, they use it for supply from the planet and for secret meetings.” He stops at the cavern.

Alex stares at him. “Wait for us here and warn us if anyone comes in. We’ll leave a soldier with you, okay?”

“No, you’ll need help inside. I can always hide and run.” Jo dismisses the offer for help and he just sits right next to the door. “I hope you find your friends.”

Supergirl is already inside the cave. “There’s a door here I can open.” She calls. It’s a sliding door with a console right next to it. “It’s written in the Daxamite language, which is just an offshoot of Kryptonese.”

The strike team gets into position, ready to assault the slaver’s lair.
The door slides open and reveals an empty corridor that leads to more sliding doors. Alex takes the lead, clearing the hallways before allowing Supergirl to proceed further. The lighting is minimal in the area, half of the strike team activates little lights on their weapons.

“Supergirl, can these computer tell you where we’re going?” Alex asks, standing close to the door with her.

“No, they’re just computers linked to the door.” Supergirl presses a few buttons and the door slides open again, this time it reveals a larger room with several crates in it. Human-looking guards, with a few Maaldorians reach for their weapons.

The strike teams pours in before they can actually fire a shot, Alex knocks a Maaldorian down with a hit to the stomach. The rest of the team fires and force the guards to take cover behind the crate.

Supergirl tackles one of the human-looking guards down, stopping him from activating an alarm. She shouts a warning in Kryptonese and repeats it several times, several of the guards stop firing back in the process. The one she tackled to the floor stops struggling and offers an obvious surrender.

Alex and the strike team secure the guards after they all surrender, they’re cuffed together and hidden behind a crate. Alex and a few of the other members of the strike team claim the pulse weaponry from the guards. “So, Supergirl, what did you scream while we were fighting?”

“I warned them that you were firing lead-based projectiles, I figured they wouldn’t want to risk it.” She helps cuff the one she took down and bring him with the rest of the group. “I think we should hurry up and move on.”

A member of the strike team approach them. “With all due respect, I think Supergirl should try and get the layout of the base from them. This place looks enormous and I don’t think we should try to find things at random.”

Alex looks at Supergirl, grabbing a shoulder in comfort. “Do you think you could speak to them and get them to tell us something about this place?”

“I suppose I could try it. I don’t think they speak English.” She looks over her shoulder at the captive Daxamite and Maaldorian. “They’re not likely to cooperate though, their planet got wrecked because of mine.” She scratches the back of her head, turning to go join the prisoners, sitting in front of them.

“Ma’am?” The agent next to Alex bumps her with his elbow.

“What?” Alex forces herself to look at the man beside him.

“Should we use the pulse weapons we found or our assault gear? It seems to me we might be kicking a hornet’s nest with our lethal weapons.” He seems unsure, nervous.

“I think we should probably carry our lethal options and use them to scare them further, we’re only here to rescue people, not conquer this place.” She looks over her shoulder to Kara as she seems to be arguing with one of the captive Daxamite. “But replace our side arms with the pulse ones, I think that might be as good a field test as any.”

“Understood ma’am.” He salutes her and leaves her side, just as Supergirl returns.

“I know where to find the prisoners, I… I know where they keep some keepsake from Krypton. I’d like to recover them if possible.” The request comes with red faced shame and a heavy gaze that can’t seem to go up from the ground.

“How far apart are the two objectives? We can’t risk the prisoners’ lives over this.” Alex fights hard to keep her composure. The only sign of her internal turmoil is the tremor in her lips.

“The people we’re looking for are all in the same cell, they haven’t processed them further. They don’t know enough about humans yet.” Kara explains vaguely, looking unfocused. “The Kryptonian things are in a storage room with all other ‘alien’ devices taken from their prisoners. It’s in the same wing, in a different hallway.”

“I can’t promise anything, but if it’s feasible, I think we can at least try.” Alex replies. She takes her sister’s arm and guides her towards what appears to be the other side of this room. “Are you ready to go?”

As soon as Supergirl confirms, the rest of the team gathers behind Alex and watches as Kara activates the next door. Behind it is a long corridor with only a door on the other end. The strike teams goes in first.

Reaching the prisoners is ridiculously simple, because the moment it becomes obvious that the intruders are bringing lead-based weaponry, barely any guards stand in their way. A few Maaldorians make an attempt, but they’re no match for an hyper-trained military unit. They secure the hallway where the human prisoners are kept, without major issues.

Alex watches Kara struggle with the device to open the door to the cell, she is almost startled when a member of the strike team pats her shoulder for attention. “What is it Agent Birkeland?” She steps away from the group with the agent.

“I heard what Supergirl requested in the previous checkpoint. I think we should make an effort to recover any earth based tech anyway.” The agent, a woman with short, platinum blonde hair, seems to keep throwing a nervous glance toward the hallway’s entrance. “I don’t think we should let them have stuff that could help them discover how our own tech works.”

“Agent Birkeland, take a team of five toward the next hallway and investigate.” Alex nods once, patting her shoulder with a thankful smile. “Call in for reinforcement, if you are met with any resistance.”

“Understood.” She salutes Alex and gathers the people she’s most familiar with and they leave the hallway at a brisk pace.

Supergirl turns to Alex. “I’m talking with Winn on a private channel, there’s a problem with this console.” She steps aside so her sister can look at it, the remaining agents gather around too. “There’s an English language option, that means this place cooperated with the trafficker we found for long enough and plan to do more.”

Alex frowns and point to two additional member of the teams. “You go guard Agent Birkeland’s six, now.” As the agents take their leave, Alex finishes unlocking the cell. The sliding door opens and reveals about twenty humans, more than either Kara or Maggie had heard of even.

“Supergirl! You came to save us!” A young woman exclaims, dried blood on the right side of her face. The rest of them looks haggard but uninjured. The cell is a square, empty room except for extremely basic necessities.

“With some help.” Supergirl looks to Alex. “Listen to Agent Danvers, she’ll help all of you out of this place.” She places a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back, I’m checking on Birkeland’s progress!”

“You have five minutes, after that we’re evacuating.” Alex calls toward the superhero and starts briefing the people on how they’ll escape. She gives a quick medical look over to each of them as they exit the cell.

Evacuating Slaver’s moon goes like a charm, the strike team, the prisoners and the single Maaldorian make their escape, while Winn keeps the portal open. Alex watches Supergirl linger just a moment before stepping into the portal. Winn dives back in a moment after and then she follows. On the other side, they find the same room they left. The prisoners are all huddled in a corner of the room while J’onn and Maggie take in their story. The strike team is checking their gear and sealing their alien weaponry into special cases.

Supergirl has one of those cases in her hands and has already sealed it. She’s chosen to stand apart from everyone, she’s quiet and her gaze doesn’t rise from the floor. She speaks with a soft voice when Alex approaches her. “I know, I have to let it go to the lab before I can take a look at it.”

Alex’s shoulder slumps, empathetic to her sister’s plights.“Tell you what, Supergirl. I’ll make it a personal priority to get these to you as fast as we can.”

“It’s a broken data crystal, a physical diary with the House of El coats of arms engraved on it and a model of a Kryptonian spaceship.” Supergirl supplies helpfully, handing over the case to her sister. “I’d like if it wouldn’t take over a decade before I’m made aware of it this time.”

Alex smiles sadly. “I promise it’ll be done quick, okay?” she takes the case from Supergirl and keeps it firmly in her grip.

Ask Miss Luthor to help with the portals, I think that might be a good idea. Put Winn on it too.” Supergirl takes a deep breath and walks the stairs. “You know where to find me.”

You:

I heard they recovered a lot of people. It’s all because of you.

Maggie:

Don’t sell yourself short, I’d be fighting bureaucrats if it wasn’t for you.

You:

I’ll need a few days to recover fully.

Maggie:

Want some company?

You:

Maybe? I’ll text you when I’m ready to see people.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

J’onn is walking down the halls of the DEO, a last little tour of the facility before going home for the night. He’s not entirely surprised to see that the lights are on in the labs with Alex pouring over what appears to be a really, really old and battered book. “Shouldn’t you be going home?” He asks, as he opens the door to check on her.

Alex rubs her eyes, exhausted. “Well, I’m meeting someone in about an hour.” A look at the clock shows that it’s 2 AM. “And I promised Kara I’d do this quick. It’s honestly not much we can use.” She points to the three items on the table.

“I think she’d understand if you finished that tomorrow.” J’onn approaches the table and peeks over the open book, noting the handwritten Kryptonese. He sets a hand on her back. ”What do you have so far?”

“J’onn, I’m literally a page away from being done.” She points to the book. “This is a diary from a messenger of the House of El. I have no earthly clue what’s said in this, because I don’t read Kryptonese.”

J’onn looks over the page. “This page describes a visit to a forest.” He smiles, putting his arm over her shoulder.
Alex looks at the small ship and taps a little switch on it and the small model ship starts hovering. “This is a toy Kryptonian spaceship, whatever we could learn from that we already did from Kara’s pod.”

J’onn laughs and Alex joins in. “That’s amazing.”He pushes the button and the toy makes a landing.
Alex then picks up the crystal. “This is a data crystal and it’s not working. It’s not physically damaged, it’s just not activating.”

“Alright, If she’s willing to warn us if there’s anything in the diary that could be of use, I think you can get this to her.” J’onn rubs Alex’s back.
“Well, I got someone I’m meeting, do you think you could get it to her?” Alex blushes deeply. “I think she could use a bit of space dad advice.”

J’onn gives Alex a side hug, smiling at her. “Who are you meeting this late in the night?”

Alex turns a shade of red that J’onn hasn’t seen anywhere and she rests her head on his shoulder. “I’m seeing Lena Luthor” Before J’onn can say anything, Alex adds. “Kara already knows.” She takes a deep breath. “I’m also going to mention we’d appreciate her help with the portal tech.”
J’onn doesn’t look surprised and pats Alex on the back. “I was wondering when you’d figure it out.”

“How long have you known?” She asks, breathing a sigh of relief.
“A few months.” He smiles and starts gathering the items on the table. “I’ll get them to Kara, I think you should go see Miss Luthor and carry our offer at the same time. Dismissed Agent Danvers.”

“Alright, Director Henshaw.” Alex leaves the D.E.O. shortly after.

Kara isn’t sleeping yet, she’s just laid out on her couch with an empty carton of ice cream next to her, she’s not really watching the movie on her TV. She’s looking at it and hearing the somewhat familiar lines. She’s casually scrolling at her phone, her thumb hovers above the call button for Maggie, but she decides against it.

She nearly drops the phone, when J’onn knocks on the door. She knows it’s him, only one look with her X-ray vision. Kara smiles, seeing the little floating spaceship toy next to him. She opens the door. “How late did Alex work on it?”

“Too late, but she had a meeting with a certain Miss Luthor afterward.” J’onn says, walking in with a suitcase in hand, the little spaceship follows. He’s in a leather jacket and jeans.

Kara smiles bright at the mention of Lena and her sister, she closes the door behind him and takes a deep breath. “Thanks for… letting me have these things so fast. I… It’s probably the last things we’ll ever find.”

J’onn turns around, after setting everything down on the coffee table, next to the ice cream and he stands there, watching her, as if expecting Kara to say more.

Kara’s eyes water and her tears spill almost immediately. “I just want to know how I’m supposed to be a good Kryptonian,
a good person to my people. I have so many questions on so many things and I can’t get answers anywhere.”

J’onn takes a few steps closer to Kara and he places a hand on her shoulder, pulling her into his arms. He takes great pains to hide his own tears, just listening to the young woman, his ‘space daughter’, break down in his arms.

“I don’t want the last daughter of Krypton to be a shame to her people, I don’t want to disappoint them.” The sound of her voice is muffled by her crying, by his chest, but he can feel the words in ways very few people can.
“Kara, why would you disappoint them? How could you disappoint them? You’ve saved this world! You’re among the best of your people.” He speaks, knowing his reassurance wouldn’t measure to her pain.
“I went to ask the hologram at the fortress and I had to watch and hear my father’s ghost tell me that gay couples were a work of fiction.” She wipes her eyes.

If Alex’s orientation hadn’t come as a surprise to him, Kara’s hinting at her own certainly did. His eyes widen, but his arms tighten a little harder. Though, with the context now laid bare to him, it’s easy to guess who has earned Kara’s affection. “Is it Detective Sawyer?”

Kara nods and takes a step back, wiping at her face, trying to erase any trace of her tears. “Each time I see her, I just want to grab her stupidly cute face and kiss it so much.” She makes a grabbing motion right in front of her. “And the moment she’s out of sight, everything feels so wrong.”

“I’m not sure how much wisdom I can offer you on this, Kara.” He admits. “I can keep you company for a while? No one’s waiting for me.”
Kara smiles through her emotional conflict and she nods. “I’d appreciate that, but, I want to take you out to drink soon? Just the two of us? Plus maybe Maggie, because she hangs where I wanna go.”

“Sure, I’d love to.” He goes to take a seat on the couch. “Join me, we can finish watching whatever’s on TV. Maybe I can think of something to say while we do that.”

“Honestly J’onn, I’m not sure I know what I’d even want to hear.” She takes a seat next to him and stares at the Kryptonian journal. “I’m not even sure about myself, if this is permanent or real.”

“Weren’t Kryptonian marriages all-important and rarely broken?” J’onn says, as he picks up the TV remote and starts the movie from where Kara left it.
“Yeah. I also can’t remember a single one which involved two women or two men.” She sinks into the couch, staring at the movie.
“You left when you were thirteen, Kara.” J’onn speaks softly, immediately he sees tears form in her eyes. “You remember what your family allowed you to see.”
Kara doesn’t add anything and struggles in vain against her own tears, pretending to watch the movie.
“I think my advice would be to treat your feelings towards the detective the same way as a traditional couple on Krypton would do.” J’onn speak softly, covering the soft muttering sound of the TV.
“I’m going to need time.” She grabs a few tissues, drying her tears and blowing her nose.
“Take as much as you need, me and Alex are going to be there when you figure it out.”

It’s almost 3 AM when Alex makes it to the L-Corp CEO’s office. She’s wearing a leather jacket with jeans and heeled boots. She watches Lena work from the threshold of the door and smirks. “You promised me you’d be done working about half an hour ago.”

Lena smiles, closing the file she’s working on. “I was passing the time while I waited for you.” The CEO stand up, smoothing down the skirt of her little black dress. “These projects are fascinating.”

“Just like my hair is fascinating?” Alex teases her about the awkward compliment from a few days ago. She runs her fingers through it and she winks at Lena.
Lena clears her throat, suppressing an uneasy smile. “I think we should get to the reason why you’re here, Agent Danvers. You had a work-related proposition?”
Alex smiles brighter, the shade of red on Lena’s cheek is lovely, she takes a step closer, walking around the desk to stand right next to the CEO. “That can wait for a few minutes.” A soft, sultry flirting tone.

“How unprofessional.” Lena protests weakly, her gaze dropping to her feet.
“Very unprofessional.” Alex run the tip of her finger over Lena’s forearm and the tone of the moment shifts. “There’s something between you and me, we both know it and I don’t want to pretend like it’s not there.”
Lena can only acquiesce silently, her head tilts toward Alex and finds rest on her shoulder.
It’s all the agent needs to speak again.
“I’ve...I’ve never done anything with a woman, I mean anything, this is new to me.” The flirtatious confidence of the agent is replaced with the soft vulnerability of her raw emotions. “I don’t have a lot of words for what I feel right now, I just want to feel it and let it happen and….” her voice fails her, she can’t seem to form any more words.
Heat blooms in Lena’s chest and the blush on her cheek expands to her neck and her chest. She looks up from Alex’s shoulders and sees the same heat and color reflected in the other woman’s body. “Alex, I don’t have time for a long courtship, I don’t have the patience for the little dance of will we, won’t we. I’m a woman of action.”
Alex takes a single step back from Lena, as if trying to size the woman up from a better angle, surprised by the words.

Lena takes a step toward her, her hands on Alex’s forearm this time. “I really want to kiss you right now. We can figure everything out as it happens.”

They kiss. It’s a little clumsy at first, as Lena almost falls off of her heels and Alex almost trips trying to catch her. The kiss grows passionate and hot, the two women hold each other flush against one another's bodies. As the kiss slowly nears its end, Lena’s back is pressed against the window of her balcony.
Lena is the first to break the kiss. “You’re bossy.”

Alex grins. “You like it.”

“Yeah yeah.” She slaps Alex’s shoulder, pouting. “You had a work proposal?”

Alex laughs and kiss Lena’s cheek. ”I did.”

“Alright, so, let’s recap here.” Lena says with a bit of a theatrical wave of her hand. “You’re part of a secret government operation, specifically made to deal with extra-terrestrial menaces. Which, okay, I guess that makes sense.” She enumerates. “But you’re telling me that you have in your possession technology that makes teleporting, to another planet, possible.”

“I’m also telling you that Supergirl herself wants you to help us understand what to make of this piece of technology.” Alex reminds Lena, leaning against the side of her desk.
“Why me? Is that why you were flirting with me? So I’d jump at the chance to work on this?” Lena raises the concern in a humorous tone.
“You already work with Aliens, you have an Nth metal refinery, you know how to work with it. I can’t think of anyone else who could fit the bill.” She looks at the pile of paper they’d just gone over and signed. “I wasn’t flirting with you for work reasons, I’m flirting with you because I want to.”

“I could tell you were having fun earlier.” Both women laugh and are about to exchange another kiss when the door to the office opens, revealing an older woman with soft brown hair, a stern look and a rather impressive fashion sense.
Lena’s eyes narrow at the intruder and she turns serious in the blink of an eye, her arms crossed over her chest and she stares at the woman. “What can I do for you, Mother?”
The change in tone is fascinating, Alex takes a step away from Lena, just observing the situation. Her eyes go from Lena’s mother and back to her daughter in turn, immediately recognizing how tense the relationship must be.
“I’m only visiting my daughter, Lena. It’s been a while since you’ve called me.” The smile is the most insincere one that Alex has seen in a long time and Lena isn’t buying it either, judging by the irritated eye roll. “Am I interrupting something important?”

“You are, but that’s never stopped you before, now has it?” Lena sits on the edge of her desk and watches her mother carefully, she’s trying to give a more relaxed vibe but completely fails to convince either of them.

Lillian stops ignoring Alex at last and offers a handshake. “A pleasure to meet you, I’m Lillian Luthor.” As Alex accepts the handshake, the older woman’s gaze shifts an inch to the right. “I’m sure you two will make quite a pair. Just clean the lipstick marks will you?”

“I’m Alex Danvers, good to meet you too, Miss Luthor.” Alex blinks and grabs a tissue from the box on Lena’s desk, wiping the lipstick away in an awkward, quiet moment.
“Well that’s something new and refreshing from you.” Lena says, obviously thrown off by the uncharacteristic show of support from the older woman. “But, will you get to the point? I’m pretty sure you’re not here to embarrass me to Alex with cute childhood stories.”

“I’m not, but I also did not think you’d have company. I need your help and some resources from L-Corp to finish a scientific endeavor of mine.” Lillian walks to her daughter again. “You know what it’s for? Of course you do.”

“I’m sorry I already signed one big work contract tonight and I doubt your particular offers would stimulate me the same way.” Lena realizes it too late, only when her mother makes a little disgusted grunt at the same time Alex stifles a laugh. “That came out wrong.”

“You should keep your options open Lena, you never know.” Lillian roll her eyes, mildly amused by her slip-up. “Well, since you won’t work with me, I’ll leave you to it. You know where to find me if you change your mind.” She throws a side-glance to Alex before turning to leave.
“No I don’t, you keep changing numbers and address.” Lena walks Lillian to the door of her office. “Thanks for dropping by, that was actually nicer than most interactions I’ve had with you.”

Lillian smiles, turning around to see Alex and Lena at the same time, once she’s crossed the door’s threshold. “The Danvers make for such great partners, I’d be a fool not to approve.” The smile she gives is positively mocking in nature and Lena pushes her out the door of her office.
Alex gasps making an instant connection, she grabs the stapler from Lena’s desk and barrels out of Lena’s office just in time to see the elevator door closes. As it goes down, Alex shoulders the door open when she finds it locked and she starts running down the stairs of the building, faster than she should, she barely hears Lena shout after her.

She makes it to the ground floor and catches the elevator door closing down, Alex runs out by the front door and only sees the tail light of a limousine in the distance, too far for it to be Lillian’s she guesses. “Fuck!” Alex sits down in the steps leading up to the building. She almost startles when Lena joins her.

“So, what am I missing here?” Lena sits next to Alex, wearing a long magenta coat. “And why did you grab the stapler?”
“Your mother being part of an anti-alien terrorist group named Cadmus. Which holds my father captive.” Alex pokes at her phone screen and there’s a quick reply to her text. “Because I wanted to have something to throw if I needed to defend myself.”

Lena sighs. “Every time I give her a chance…” she sits beside Alex and keeps a bit of distance. “Is there any way I can help?”

“This makes thing complicated.” Alex leans back against the steps and shut her eyes, trying to avoid giving away that she’s tearing up.
“We’re smart enough to figure it out.” She take Alex’s hand between hers and kisses her knuckles in turn.
“I need a drink.” Alex says and Lena nods.
“I have champagne and wine at home, come over.” Lena stands up, pulling Alex with her.”I always need an extra drink when Mother is involved.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The paperwork is filled and filed, stacked high at the left end of her desk, her report is written and annotated with several, terse comments about a high ranking officer of the law trying to hinder the investigation. The scattered remains of a microwave dinner litters the right side of her desk, along with a steaming hot mug of black coffee. The last few of her colleagues in the science division are leaving for the night, making way for the night shift to come in.

She allows herself a peek at her cellphone, she notes quite a few notifications from texts she had received. One from the real estate girl, what was her name again? Two texts from Kara and one she receives as she holds her phone, it’s from a friendly colleague. “Yes Gibson, that’s how I catch all of the bad people, by staring longingly at all the girls that talk to me on my phone.”

“I knew that was your secret Sawyer.” He deadpans, sitting down on the edge of her desk. Gibson is a rotund man with a questionable fashion sense, a mustache and a balding spot amidst his greying hair. He sets his own phone back into his pocket. “Why are you staying so late this time?”

“I hate doing paperwork at home, plus I wanted to have the chance to catch the captain if I could. Piece of my mind to give him.” Maggie smiles a bit dryly. “And maybe I’m trying to avoid thinking about a girl too much.” Her smile softens as she makes the admission.

“Oh yeah, that friend of the commissioner meddling again?” He recalls, scratching his chin. “I think he’s aware of it, I heard him shout from his office today.” He points to the closed door of their captain’s office. “Pining at work, Sawyer? I thought you were a professional.”

The shade of red that Maggie turns, the heat she feels in her cheeks and her chest, it’s too much and she looks away from the other detective and fails to hide her smile completely. “Shut up, I had a good reason to think about her at work. She’s the reporter.”

Gibson’s smile goes from teasing to a wider, deeper smile, he speaks softer too. “I already like this one better than every other one you told me about.” He stands up from her desk, walking around it to pull a chair from a nearby pile, sitting next to her.

Maggie sets her phone face down on her desk and grabs her coffee. She sips it quietly whilst leaning back lazily in her chair, the familiar creaking sends a tingle down her neck, and causes a shiver in her spine. “Really? I barely told you anything about her.”

“I didn’t become a detective by filling up bullshit quotas in traffic tickets, Sawyer.” He playfully scolds. “Normally, what you do when you have a girl you like is that you talk about her like the boys would, you know, just to fit in and that’s how you started with her too.”

“Oh God, please stop me if I ever do that again.” One hand releases the mug, rubbing her fingers over her forehead as she tries not to remember exactly what Gibson means. “What gave me away?”

“Well, after that one time, you only brought her up as the reporter girl or her first name.” He enumerates. “You almost cried when you got her text after that raid on the kidnapper with the feds.” He points a finger accusingly toward Maggie. “I think she caught you in her nets and you’re in too deep to climb out.”

“Hey so, fuck you.” Maggie says softly, setting down her mug on the desk, she sniffles and picks up a tissue from her almost empty box, blowing her nose immediately. “You didn’t have to say any of this like that.” Her phone vibrates with a text notification and then another.

Kara:

Hey, saw this and thought of you! [Picture of a corgi/german shepherd mix]

Kara:

Sorry I’ve been quiet. I have something with a friend tomorrow night, but i’m free for the weekend and monday evening too!

“No, I didn’t.” He concedes with the smuggest smile he can muster. “I just like how you act since you’ve met her and I thought I should say something.” He stands back up, grabbing his vest from the hook near his desk.

“Thanks for being an ass.” Maggie says with a laugh, trying really hard to pretend like she doesn’t have tears on her cheek. “And she’s not my girlfriend yet, Gibson.”

“Yeah, I’m going to put down a full fifty buck on you two getting together eventually.” He says, putting on the vest. “It’s another thing I like about her, whatever she’s doing, she’s making you take your time. It’s good for you.”

“She’s very new at the gay thing. That’s what she’s doing.” Maggie explains, abandoning any pretense that she could work longer, she starts shutting down her computer and close her files, sorting them quickly.

“Didn’t stop you with that Real Estate lady, Erin was it?” Gibson says, trying to confirm the name at the same time.

“It didn’t, but she wasn’t wanting it to go slow, she wanted to dive in before getting cold feet.” Maggie scratches the back of her head. “It was also, only one date. I told her I didn’t want to continue.”

“I wonder why.” Gibson asks, as if he already knows the answer.

“Because she talked about boring stuff through our date and complained about how my schedule looks like.” Maggie shrugs.

“And?” Gibson smiles, urging her to continue the list of reasons.

“And I met Kara.” Maggie admits with a roll of her eyes. “Why do you have to make me say these things out loud!”

“Because I’m an insufferable dick, that’s why.” he waves at her, leaving the precinct a moment later.

“That you are.” Maggie exhales loudly, shaking her head as her attention shift back to her phone.

You:

I’d love to do something. Movies?

Kara:

That’d be fun! I’m in! Let’s try Saturday evening!

You:

Great!

The next day is different, slower and calmer, with a lot more time between calls. Her meeting with the Science Division captain, which she dreaded for days now, goes smoothly and she comes out of his office with the reassurance that her captain is personally interfering with the meddling from the higher up.

Gibson doesn’t tease her as much, except when he catches her smiling a little too much at the cute puppy videos that Kara keeps sending her.

The rest of the boys in the Science division, all three of them, spend the day in training. It’s a new course that the division offers to any officers that wants to learn how to deal with the realities of Aliens living in their cities.

As it happens sometimes, Nothing makes Maggie to rush to a crime scene and there’s no immediate crisis that requires she stays at work late. She clocks out at around six and leaves even before Gibson.

With the whole evening free of any obligations, she finds her mind wandering a little toward Kara and she decides that, since today is friday, she’ll go celebrate her crush and maybe share a drink with M’gann at the bar, maybe talk to Darla and make sure they’re on good terms too.

Maggie makes a quick stop at home, putting on something a little more casual than the suit she decided on this morning: Blue jeans, that white button up and her heeled boots. She makes it to the bar around 8PM.

Darla doesn’t work today and M’gann starts her shift in about an hour. Maggie decides to claim a booth in the back for herself and grabs herself a peach mojito with a pile of fries. She has a view on the entrance and on most table, a good place to spot M’gann when she comes in.

Maggie doesn’t really know when the change happens, but at some point during the hour before her friend shows up for her shift, she starts to hope that Kara will be the next person to come in instead. When the realization hits, she exhales loudly.
“Fuck, I got it bad.” She sips her mojito, settling into her seat.

She daydreams, remembering the game of pool she had with Kara, reminiscing about her pout and groaning at how much she’d want to kiss it better if she ever was to see it again. Maggie doesn’t notice M’gann entering the establishment, only noting her presence when a second round of Mojito lands at her table.

Maggie’s about to stand up and go to the bar, to pay for her drinks, to chat with M’gann a bit. As she finishes grabbing her wallet out of her leather jacket, she catches someone new entering the bar from the corner of her eyes, one quick glance that way and it feels like a punch in the stomach.

Kara just entered the bar, flanked with the DEO director. Of all the people she could’ve brought here, this is the worst possible one. She quickly slides out of her booth, anger slowly boiling at the pit of her stomach, intent on giving each of them a piece of her mind.

Kara leans in closer to the DEO director, whispering something into his ear and pats his back.

Before Maggie can even move past one of the smaller tables, before Kara even notice her, the man she knows as Hank Henshaw, director of the D.E.O. transforms into a green-skinned alien.

M’gann drops the glass she was cleaning on the counter, the whole bar startles at the noise and now their attention shift toward the green man in the room. She takes a step away and clumsily catch herself on the counter.

“I can transform back, it’s no problem…” He seems frozen in place, staring at the woman in front of him, frowning as if making some form of effort.

Kara is staring at M’gann, eyes wide, curious at the reaction J’onn provokes in her.

“No- no It’s okay, I…” M’gann looks around frantically, eyes crossing over Maggie and a few other staff members. “Can I get you anything?” She leans on the bar, her strength failing her momentarily.

“Do I know you?” The green martian asks, taking one step closer to the counter, a carefully calculated gesture.

Maggie stares at the events, eyes wide and she stays out of it for now, the anger knocked out of her in an instant.

M’gann takes a deep, deep breath and as she exhales, a red filter of light flashes over her body as she transform too. “My name is M’gann M’orzz. I’m the Last Daughter of Mars.”

J’onn is left speechless and wide eyed. He almost stumbles back, but manages to control the shock long enough to sit down, hard, onto the barstool in front of M’gann.

M’gann remains still for a long moment, before she decides to sit down on the one chair they keep behind the bar. The silence between them remains, like an oasis of quietude in the slowly returning buzz of the crowd.

Kara covers her mouth and tears flow, dropping from her cheek and onto her shoes, but it’s easy to see the smile from behind the hands.

As the bar resume a normal level of activity, Maggie approaches Kara slowly, she set her hand over her forearm, carefully. “Are you going to be okay, Kara?” Her other hand offers a tissue pack.

Kara blinks and more tears spill down her cheeks, after drying them a bit and blowing her nose, she finally finds it in herself to talk. “I’ll be okay, thanks for the tissues.”

“So, I think our friends are going to be busy for a bit. Want to try for a rematch at pool while they sort things out? I’m already one mojito in, so you have the advantage this time.” Maggie teases, her attention switching between the two Martians and Kara.

“Did you know about her?” Kara asks, moving closer to the pool table and picking the cue stick up.

“I knew she wasn’t human, but, I typically don’t push for details.” Maggie begins setting the game up, as she finishes it, she almost catches Kara staring at her. Maybe the Mojito won’t be such a handicap after all.

Kara smiles. “Before we start, I… I wanted to ask you something.” She clears her throat, nervously. “You asked me what I wanted out of this and I feel bad that I didn’t ask back.”

There’s a moment of silence, as she considers the answer. “Give me until we see the movie and I’ll answer you then, okay?” Maggie leans against the pool table. “Your turn to start, Kara.”

Maggie wins easily, as Kara is entirely too easy to distract. “And you don’t even owe me any drinks this time.” Maggie winks.

Kara doesn’t even pout, she gives Maggie a shy smile. “I know what you did. I’ll have my sister wreck you at pool for it.”

“She’s welcome to try.” Maggie set the cue sticks back on the rack, smiling as she noticed the Martians are back to their human shape. “Want to go share a drink with them?”

Kara nods. “Yes, let’s do that.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Supergirl comes through the window of her sister’s apartment, she immediately goes into the bathroom upon arrival, then comes out in her day’s outfit: White button up with a pair of black pants and shiny, black flats. “So, I have a lot to catch you up on!” Kara claps her hands together and bounces closer to her sister, hugging her.

Alex welcomes her sister’s hug and holds it for a while too. “I have a thing or two myself.” she forces a smile, pushing down the gnawing worries beneath the surface. “Why don’t you start ?” Alex tugs down on her orange t-shirt and takes a seat on the couch, laying her legs on her sister’s lap when she joins her.

“Well, remember the Alien bar I told you about? The one Maggie took me to?” Kara says, her voice trembling with joy and her smile bright.

“Yeah, I remember!” Alex throws a cushion at Kara and hits her in the face. “What about it?”

“I took J’onn out to drink there last night.” Kara takes a deep breath. Her smile brightening a touch and she almost mumbles when she speaks again. “He felt safe enough to turn into his martian shape.” Kara fiddles with the cushion, picking strands off. “The barmaid turned out to be a Green Martian in hiding too.”

Alex actually sits back up, eyes wide, her troubles forgotten, buried beneath the surprise.“What!? Are you for real!? Is that why he wasn’t at the DEO today?”

“I think him and M’gann might have spent the day talking or something!” She takes her phone out and shows a picture of the two at the bar. “I think I spent half the evening crying for them.” even now, Kara has to wipe a tear off of her cheek. “Maggie was there too, so she knows about J’onn.”

“Well now I have to meet her! Do you think it’d be okay for me to go there?” Alex asks, curious.

“I didn’t come out as an alien there yet so, I couldn’t bring you there without seriously annoying the doorman, but Maggie could.” she smiles “Which leads me to my other thing, I’m going to the movies with her Saturday and I would like to ask something from you, about her.”

Alex nods and encourages her sister to speak with a quick gesture of her hand.

“Could you try to be Maggie’s friend? Or get to know her?” Kara shrinks a little from the curious look she gets from Alex. “J’onn advised me to treat this like a Kryptonian would treat a relationship.” she looks at Alex, from behind the cushion now. “Which mean, I’d like to know what you think of Maggie.”

Alex nods at the request. “Of course, do I need to be subtle about it or can I just interrogate the shit out of her?” she gives Kara a dangerous smile.

“Be subtle and gentle, except when she challenges you at pool, she trounced me both times we played.” Kara pouts

“I’ll avenge your honor, Kara.” Alex laugh there but her smile vanishes behind her own surging worries. “I kissed Lena--”

Kara grabs her sister in a firm, loving hug and lets out a gleeful sound. “Oh my god! I’m so happy! Are you two officially together now!?”

“We are but, there’s been a few problems.” She takes a deep breath. “Which you should definitely be aware of.”

Kara tilts her head to the side. “Alright, who do I need to beat up?” She slams her fist into her palm, exaggerating the gesture.

“Well, it’s more complicated than that.” Alex winces, pulling slightly away from Kara’s hug. “Her mother visited and she is very much in the Lex camp of things and she’s part of Cadmus.” She announces a bit dryly.

“How do you know she’s part of Cadmus, did she just assume you were going to be okay with that?” Kara frowns and curls in on herself, resting her chin on her knee.

“The reason I know why she’s part of Cadmus is because… she mentioned dad.” Alex scratches the back of her head, biting the inside of her cheek. “Said he was a great partner and that it was why she approved of me and Lena.”

Kara blinks at the barrage of unwelcome news and she takes a deep, weary sigh and pulls Alex into a warm hug. “Do you want me to tell Lena about my secret?”

“What would that do?” Alex mumbles, pressing her face against Kara’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, I just don’t see what’s this about?”

“If Jeremiah’s working with her mother and Cadmus, they probably already know who I am. They could use the secret to ruin everything.” Kara explains her throughs, a strange weight form over her chest, making her breathing laborious.

“Dad wouldn’t do that.” Alex rebuff, a frown and smack against Kara’s shoulder. “Why would you think that!? He’d never put you in danger like that!”

Kara close her eyes, refusing to look at her sister. “Because it’s my fault he’s in there in the first place. He probably hates me.”

Alex’s expression freezes for just a moment before she pulls her sister against her, wordless.

The bar is definitely not what Alex expected, though in hindsight, a group of people who aren’t yet completely legal in an area wouldn’t be able to afford a ritzy establishment.
She finds the detective right next to the door, waiting for her with a beautiful, sharp laugh in her voice. Something that brings a warmth in her chest.

I’m so gay

, she thinks.

Maggie’s waiting next to the door, leather jacket, jeans and boots. “Agent Danvers.” she greets with a pat on the shoulder. She turns around, give the password and leads the elder sister inside.

“Miss Detective.” Alex return the teasing, playfully shoving at her shoulder. She gets shoved back almost immediately. It’s all playful, of course, but Alex spends a moment thinking about what could’ve been, under different circumstances. “Before we proceed for drinks…” she points to the pool table with a meaningful grin.

“Oh, so your sister put you up to this just so she could get revenge through you?” Maggie stops at the pool table, she picks a stick and smirk, looking at Alex. “Or is it for your personal enjoyment?”

“Kara definitely put me up to this.” Alex picks her own stick and watches on as what seems to be her newest friend sets up the table. “Amongst other things.”

“Huh, uh, so I’m getting the shovel talk then?” Maggie raises her eyebrows, tilting her head to the side. A silent, unknown question writing itself in her expression.

“No, not really anyway.” Alex says, stepping closer to the table and lining the opening shot with a calm focus. “More like, I want to know you better and I have things to say too.” she takes the shot and makes for a rather strong opening.

Maggie watches the pool table more than Alex, focusing on the game and the play she’s making. “Well, that’s Ominous.”

Alex sinks two more before missing one and ceding her spot at the table. “I wouldn’t worry too much.” she watches the detective takes her first shot, sinking one, then another. “Not bad, I’m actually going to have to try.”

“Yeah, Kara’s pretty easy to beat at this, she’s too nervous and strikes either too hard or too soft. No middle ground.” Maggie says, letting Alex take her turn when she misses her shot. “I think she plays to humor me more than because she likes the game.”

“Do you have to drag her to the table to play?” Alex asks, studying the table before sinking one with a loud clacking sound.

“Nah, she’s usually pretty bouncy when we start.” Maggie groans in frustration and Alex sinks one more. “Damn, pulling out the big sister guns already?”

“If you don’t have to insist or drag her somewhere, she’s not humoring you. If she’s bouncy, she’s actually enjoying it.” Alex explains and grins. “Or she’s nervous, but there’s obvious differences.” she shrugs and sink the rest of hers balls and grins victoriously. “No, but I am actually good at this and you made me try, so.” she sticks out her tongue at Maggie.

“It’s okay, not like I bet money or drinks on the game or anything this time.” Maggie teases and set the cue back on the wall. “What about we get that talk you wanted to have out of the way and then maybe make things interesting on the battlefield.” she slaps the edge of the pool table.

“Fine! Let’s grab the empty booth over there.” Alex makes her way to it, as Maggie walks by the counter to grab them drinks, beers.

Two beers later and a strangely satisfying silence between them has settled, their attention slowly fading away from the various alien patrons and back to their oncoming conversation. Alex gives a quick glance to her phone, then setting the whole thing to DND mode. Maggie just shut hers off.

“In all seriousness, I’m not here to do a shovel talk.” Alex speaks first, setting her drinks aside. “In fact, I kind of wanted to thank you.” her voice grows a specific shade of soft, her eyes fixating on her own hands.

“You’re welcome, but, I’m curious as to why though.” Maggie speaks teasingly, shrugging off her jacket at last, to reveal a white button up.

“I wouldn’t have figured myself out and wouldn’t have a girlfriend if not for you.” Alex says with a little blush settling on her cheek. “Because when Kara came to me and told me about all this, I just flicked the switch on. So, thank you.”

“Happy to provide you with the lightbulb moment.” Maggie smiles, brightly, to Alex and reach across the table to tap on her forearm. “Is that the only thing though?”

“No, no. I’m curious about you, about who you are and where you’re from and all that.” Alex leans forward. “My sister kind of wanted a second opinion, just in case.”

Maggie laughs lightly and leans back in the seat, enjoying the moment. “I’m a gay detective in the NCPD Science Division. Originally from Blue Springs, Nebraska. I had a short stint in Gotham but decided to move to sunnier shores.”

“Oh, Gotham. Not a fun place to be as a police officer.” Alex winces a little.

“No, it wasn’t fun, but I did earn a few accolades there that served me here.” Maggie smiles and shrugs.

“Do you have any family?” Alex asks, using her thumb to pick the label from her bottle.

Maggie stiffens and clears her throat. “Like a lot of things in my life, that’s… complicated.”

Alex nods. “Yeah I get that, family gets complicated fast. I won’t prod further on it.” she stops picking at the label.

“Thanks, It’s really a weird sore spot for me. And kind of the reason I hate valentine’s day.” Maggie admits.

“Hmm, are you the kind of grump who hates all of the holidays?” Alex teases.

“Kind of yeah. I try to make an effort for partners sometimes, but some are just too much. Do you think it could be a problem?” Maggie asks, half-frowns, maybe a bit of worry seeping into her expression.

“If you give her a heads up and maybe explain a bit, I don’t see it being a major problem.” Alex crosses her legs. “Well, you might run into problems with the winter holidays and your birthday though. Those are actively important things for her.”

Maggie laughs a little bit. “Alright, I’ll be sure to have that conversation with her, but thank you for the heads up, Alex, that’s very much appreciated.”

“Do you celebrate pride at all?” Alex asks, curiosity brought by the current topic.

“I’m not really a rainbow kind of girl, Danvers. And since I’m a cop, not very welcome at Pride.” Maggie explains, glancing towards the bar for a moment.

Alex on the other hand seems pretty confused by the answer. “I’m not sure I see the link between these things.”

“Right, new gay.” Maggie snaps her fingers. “Pride was started as a riot against police brutality and in general, police department targeting minorities. So they’re not generally welcome to participate in pride. I happen to not feel the need to participate in the festivities, so it works out for me.”

Alex nods. “Okay, that make sense. Any particular reason?”

“I’ve had the luxury of being aware of my own orientation from a pretty young age. I’ve been out for more than half my life, it’s never really been a secret.” Maggie explains and shrugs. “So I don’t feel the need to throw confetti and be loud about it.” She smiles. “I understand why they do, I can even appreciate it a bit.”

“Did you pick the job because of that?” Alex tilts her head to the side.

“No, well, not entirely. Let’s say I’m following in my father’s footsteps.”
She takes a deep, deep breath and closes her eyes. “You know that police work isn’t exactly always about the right thing, right?”

“I work for a black ops, I’m aware.” Alex whispers, regretting the lack of beer in the nearest bottle.

“Well, as much as I don’t really like the political part of the whole deal, until there’s a good alternative ready to go?” Maggie taps her fingers on the table. “It’s me, a gay mexican girl taking the spot. Instead of a dudebro with an iron cross tattoo. So I’ll keep my hands on it as long as I can, even if it means I can’t dress up in rainbows.”

Alex smiles. “Huh, now I think I can see why J’onn decided to keep the job.” she leans back into her seat.

“Is that Henshaw?” Maggie asks.

“Yep, that’s who I’m talking about. He’s sort of a surrogate father figure to me and Kara, sometimes.” Alex admits. “He gives good advice.”

“Speaking of which, M’gann comes in, in about an hour, if you want to meet her. In the meantime, think I can try to beat you again at pool?” Maggie smiles.

“And take money out of your pocket with which you could treat my sister? No, I don’t think so.” Alex teases and gets a middle finger raised her way in response. “Alright, alright, if you’re going to be rude about it.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Attempting to book a meeting with the Luthor heiress is a breeze in itself, finding a time in a schedule that allows enough time for something as big as revealing her secret however takes a little convincing and a promise made to Jess to feed Lena. This results in a meeting being scheduled for the next day, Sunday.

After that, Saturday is near-eventless, her work is done and complete, Supergirl is barely needed throughout the day and the movie night with Maggie is looming ever closer. She’s stuck in her apartment, staring at her clothes rack, trying to think of an outfit before the detective picks her up. Somehow, her grey sweats don’t feel like an appropriate choice for a movie night with the girl you’re into.

Kara looks over the various choices she has, dropping a few choices on top of her bed. A little black dress, a red one too. She picks up a pair of jeans and her leather jacket too, smiling at this choice. “Seems a little too obvious.” she puts it in the choice pile nonetheless. She decides an idea might come to her whilst she’s in the shower.

She lets the hot water run out, letting the heat sink into her skin and her soul and yet, there’s still this unease clinging to her. It grows ever closer to her heart as the minutes tick by towards Maggie’s arrival. It makes a knot out of her stomach as the water turns cold. For just a flash of a moment, it feels like she’s back in her pod, trapped in a void with only grief to nourish her soul. Except now there’s also the looming cloud of disapproval raining on her.

The knock on her door drags her back to reality. Kara uses her super-speed to dry herself and get to the door in record time. She’s still in her grey sweat with her damp hair. She doesn’t even peek through the walls before opening the door. It’s Maggie, of course, in her leather and denim glory. “Hey! Sorry I was in the shower!”

“It’s okay, I got here a little early.” She steps inside when Kara quietly invites her. Her first glimpse into Kara’s universe brings a little smile, revealing her dimples. “It was a pretty slow day today. I didn’t get too much overflow work. Didn’t expect it today of all days.”

The universe, it seems, has decided to grant her a little respite from the cold void settling over her. The sight of Maggie’s smile, the sound of her voice and the warmth that now blooms in her chest eclipse a lot of the weight on her chest. She welcomes her with a hug and the heat feels so welcoming.

"Oof, you’re cold. Are you okay?” Maggie asks, upon the first few seconds of the hug.

Kara’s quiet, internally struggling with the answer. She offers a heavy sigh, even as she clings to Maggie a little tighter than she should.

“Oof, rough day?” Maggie’s voice strain under the pressure of Kara’s lingering, powerful hug. “Wanna talk about any of it?”

“Maybe? Help me pick out an outfit for tonight too? I’ve been struggling all day with that.” Kara finally releases the hug and shivers at the loss of warmth. “I don’t think this is exactly appropriate for a movie theater.”

“Sure, I can help you pick out your gayest self.” Maggie shrugs off her leather jacket and sets it on the back of a chair. “Show me what you got.”

Kara nods and goes into her room, hiding the Super suit into her wardrobe quickly before Maggie can see it. “I have this pile here that I thought might work.”

Maggie smiles at the art supplies, at the selection of decor and the purposeful messy side of the bedroom when she steps past the curtains to Kara’s bedroom. Her gaze lingers on the pile and she runs her fingers over her chin. “Hmm, I think I have an idea.”

“Really? So fast?” Kara asks incredulously.

“Yep.” Maggie puffs her chest out, proud of the comment. “Do you have little work boots?”

“I do! They’re a bit worn out.” Kara reaches for the rack inside of her closet and holds up a pair of small boots. Dark brown, almost flats.

Maggie grabs the rest of her ideas and drops them in Kara’s arm. “Put this on!” she grins, stepping out of the bedroom, she leans against the counter in the kitchen, looking over to the bedroom, waiting for Kara.

Kara comes out, a few minutes later, wearing her red dress, leather jacket over her shoulders, her hair loose and clutching a tiny purse in her hands, feet stomping in slightly oversized boots for the outfit. She gives a little playful twirl while Maggie smiles so brightly, so full, that her eyes shine and her dimples deepens and all she can think about is kissing her right there.
Kara sits down on the couch, hiding her face in her hands.

“Oh boy.” Maggie walks closer, slowly and places her hand on her shoulder. “Is everything alright?”

“This must be such a pain in the ass for you, I can’t even imagine.” Kara leans back and slumps on the couch, fighting against tears.

“No, really not.” Maggie sits on the other end of the couch, tense but still smiling. “I like this ‘taking my time’ thing you’re doing, it’s helping me out.” Maggie gives a little look toward the nearest clock and back to Kara. “We can go to a later showing at the movies, I don’t mind. If you want to talk that is? It’s what friends do.”

“Did Alex tell you I’m adopted?” Kara asks.

“She didn’t mention that, no.” Maggie shakes her head.

“My parents died in an explosion and the Danvers took me in.” Kara makes a little gesture of her hand to indicate she’s accelerating the story to a relevant point. “And all my life I’ve tried to ... make sure they’d be proud of me.” she clears her throat. “But, the more I learn about them… the more I realize they probably wouldn’t approve of …” Kara gestures between her and Maggie.

“Oof.” Maggie reaches out, tentatively, taking Kara’s hand between hers. “That’s a spot no one wants to be in, I’m sorry.” she squeezes the arm. “Conflicting feelings about your parents are never easy to find your way through.”

“It’s so hard, because when I’m alone. It creeps in slowly and builds up and builds up.” She points to Maggie and pokes her nose. “Then you show up and…” Kara takes a deep breath “And I feel so …”

“Gay?” Maggie helpfully supplies, with an empathic shit eating grin.

“Gay.” Kara confirms and her eyes waters considerably.
“I haven’t been able to say that word about me until now.”

Maggie smiles. “You’re not alone, Kara. Not in having disapproving parents, not in being gay or anything.”

“Thank you, that’s very comforting.” Kara smiles through the turmoil “How were yours? I haven’t spoken about this to my adopted mom yet. Kinda waiting for thanksgiving.”

Maggie puts on a face, but it falls down pretty quickly in the face of the rather genuine moment they’re having. “Did Alex tell you about what we talked about?”

“Yes, I got the full report.” Kara dabs her face with a tissue, trying to dry her tears.

“I asked a girl out for Valentine’s day when I was 14. I got kicked out of my house.” Maggie clears her throat. “Lived with an aunt after that.”

Kara looks to Maggie and she offers a fierce smile, even though her heart ache. “Your aunt sounds awesome.”

Maggie laughs with a bit of tears in her eyes. “That’s the best reaction to that story I’ve had so far.”

As the conversation dies down, Kara feels her heart squeezes with the growing silence. “Movies?” she points to the door.

“Yeah that’s enough emotions for the moment.” Maggie jokes, standing up, helping Kara up from the couch and dragging her backwards to the door.

The movie theater is crowded heavily, with children going to see Moana and there’s also a sizeable alien presence to view the Arrival movie. The moment they cross the door, the atmosphere is much like that of the alien bar, but taken up a little up in class and the interactions between the children and aliens are particularly endearing.
Both Maggie and Kara look at each other with surprise and an intense sense of glee.

As Kara holds her ticket in her hands, she already knows she’ll be framing this one. So she keeps herself from fiddling with it so much. “Thank you, Maggie.”

“What for? The popcorn?” Maggie seems mildly confused, having been distracted by the crowd as they slowly head toward their particular theater room.

“Just, helping me see all of this.” Kara waves around her and finish the gesture by landing it on her heart.

“I thought we said no more emotions.” Maggie teases and bump against her side. “Also, you got to give me gym pointers, you are made out of stone.”

Kara giggles. “Ask my sister, she’s the one who figured it out!”

They’re let into the theater and they find nice seats at the back, next to each other and they watch people take their seats, having a conversation before the lights dim. Maggie taps Kara’s arm to draw her attention, toward a Phorian man snuggling up with a clearly human woman.

Kara almost says it right there, that she’s happy to see other Alien/human couples. Her heart beats hard in her chest as she realizes the words that formed so very clear in her mind. Her vision blurs with the weight of the many thoughts she almost made real. She sinks in her seat as the lights dim, thinking herself discreet when she wipes her eyes.

They leave the theater after the larger mass of people have already left, lingering around the city block where it’s found. They walk side by side down the street, they’ve already passed Maggie’s car by a lot. Eventually they walk through a park, heading toward the swings, words replaced momentarily with little gestures to indicate a suggestion or an idea.

Kara sits on a swing, letting herself sway a little with her legs folded beneath her.

Maggie stand behind her, hands settled on top of her shoulders. “Want a little push there, Kara?”

She shakes her head in response, instead tapping the swing next to her. “I was hoping we could talk a bit. Maybe get an answer to the question I asked you the other night.”

“I was thinking of keeping that as my closing statement tonight.” Maggie takes the suggested swing, she makes it sway from left to right slightly. “But if you want the answer now.” she clears her throat. “What I want out of this thing is to keep following your pace. It’s been difficult to adapt, but also ...good.” she seems to hesitate to call it that.

“What do you mean?” Kara asks.

“I haven’t really let myself take things slow in a long time. I like that I suddenly start thinking about you when the day gets slow. I like that I’m so happy that I could use my day off this just to end up sitting on a normal swing beside you.” Maggie explains, a cheeky smile adorning her lips. “And it’s been difficult to not think further than that.”

Kara’s reddened cheeks gives away that she understands the underlying sentiment behind Maggie’s words and she can’t stop herself from smiling nonetheless. “You don’t have to dance around that, I won’t run away because you talk about sex. My sister probably exaggerated it a bit.”

Maggie snort laughs and looks away for a moment, at least pretending to be embarrassed. “I’m a very physical person when it comes to showing affection, Kara. I know that it’s not on the table tonight, or not the next time or the time after that. But sex is something I’d need in a relationship.”

“I don’t think I’m asexual. I might be demi, though but…” Kara stops herself short from rambling. “The point is, that won’t be a problem.” She reaches out and pokes at her arm. “What might be a problem is how you kept looking at the time during the movie. You didn’t like a disney movie.”

“I’m more of an action or horror flick kind of girl.” Maggie admits and bats the poking finger away.

“Well, we might find something in the horror section then. And I’ve grown up with Alex so, compromising on movies won’t be an issue, I’m used to it.” Kara says with a smile.

“What about the holidays?” Maggie asks, curious.

“With what you told me, I understand why you don’t like some of them.” Kara stands up from the swing, stretching out her arms. “In my defense, the winter holidays are how I managed to keep myself connected to my adopted family, so that’s kind of why I find it important.” She stops in front of Maggie. “And I know my sister mentioned birthdays too. I like to celebrate people I care about and that seems like a perfect occasion.”

“March 29th. 1987” Maggie responds with a soft smile. “You’re welcome.” she winks

Kara smiles at the quick response. She notes the date in her phone and stashes it back into her purse. “For the tide, the sun, the sky!” Kara immediately starts singing, standing up from the swing and even takes a few light dance steps.

“I don’t remember the words!” Maggie exclaims with an embarrassed smile.

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay, you’re welcome!” Kara sings.

“You have a beautiful singing voice. I’ll see if I can get you to come to my workplace Karaoke night.” Maggie offers.

Kara stops singing and stare at Maggie. “I’m the one who put the Kara in Karaoke.”

Maggie laughs. “I suck at singing, but it’s fun to do in the shower.”

“But there’s no audience there!” Kara says, grabbing onto Maggie’s arm and starts to walk back to the car with her.

“Oh but sometimes there are.” Maggie smiles.

“Yeah I walked right into that one.” Kara laughs and rests her forehead against Maggie’s shoulder.

“Speaking of which, let’s get you home.” Maggie bumps shoulder with Kara.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

A knock on her office’s doors and Lena’s attention is torn from her work, she realizes it’s already dark outside. She presses on the intercom button, clearing her throat. “Who is it?” Simply asking the question draws a cold shiver down her spine and she opens a drawer with a small, custom designed firearm in it.

The intercom flares to life and Kara’s voice comes through. “Your sister in law.” the tone is teasing and light, followed by the rattling of a brown paper bag. “I really need to speak with you.”

Lena closes the drawer and presses the button to unlock her door and smiles at the woman that comes into her office. “I’d protest on legal technicalities but that probably wouldn’t get me very far.” she stands behind her desk. “What can I do for you Kara?”

“Do you eat donuts?” Kara holds up the bag, letting it get snatched from her grasp by the CEO, who opens it on top of the pile of paper laying on her desk.

“Well, I’m only human.” She opens the bag and pluck one of the pastry from it, before lounging back into her chair, abandoning the concept of finishing the work tonight. “I’m guessing this is some form of shovel talk?”

“Not quite. I don’t think that would be the way to go about it.” Kara takes one of the remaining donuts for herself. “It has something to do with Cadmus, your mother and… Jeremiah.”

Lena’s eyebrow twitch a little and she swallows a bit of donut, barely avoiding choking on it. “Oh, okay. I totally should’ve seen this coming and not made light of the situation, I apologize.” her green eyes softening almost to the point of tears.

Kara waves it off lightly with a hand. “Did Alex ever tell you about how I came into the Danvers family? That I was adopted?”

Somehow, the softness deepens and Lena reaches across the desk, setting her hand on Kara’s for just a moment, for comfort. “She didn’t.
At the risk of over-sharing, we haven’t spent most of our time together talking.”

Kara lets out a long-suffering sigh, stuffing her face with another donut before speaking up again. “You two are impossible and you should feel bad.” the statement is made with no amount of seriousness behind it. “Anyway. With your mother in Cadmus, with my adoptive father in Cadmus and their approach to the alien population in general…”

Lena’s smile fades and some of the softness dissipates, though she still eats pieces of her donut. “You’re worried I might have some secret connection too.” her voice can barely carry the words.

“No.” Kara states firmly. “I feel like it’s a bad idea for you to wade into that situation without knowing the whole story.” she leans back into her own seat, mirroring Lena’s gesture. “I’m afraid your mother and my adopted father might try to manipulate or hurt you and Alex.”

“That would certainly be within her modus operandi. Alex did mention the general ideals behind Cadmus and their known methods.” Lena rests her chin in her hand, observing Kara with a keen interest.

Kara finds herself, not for the first time in recent times, completely word-less in the face of a concept she desires to express with precision. She holds up a finger as if to indicate she needs a moment.

“Are you okay Kara? You seem a little out of sorts, all of a sudden?” Lena straightens up in her chair and leans forward.

“There’s been a few things lately that I can’t quite put words to.” Kara meets Lena’s concerned gaze and finds some inspiration. “Jeremiah was forced to joined the D.E.O. when I made a mistake after I had been in the family for only a few months.” she scratches the back of her neck. “He disappeared during a mission and we realized he was alive just a few months ago.”

“What kind of mistake would warrant that kind of thing?” Lena almost recoils from the jarring statement.

Another moment of silent passes and Kara struggles, clearing her throat a few too many times. “I went outside flying with Alex.” she removes her glasses and sets them on top of the desk and undoes her ponytail. “We were spotted by the D.E.O.” she clears her throat again. “I’m Supergirl and the Danvers adopted me when I came to earth.”

Lena stares at Kara as she processes the reveal, her eyes only widen further. She tries to form a few words, but she too finds herself speechless.

“I’m telling you because I trust you, because I don’t want your mother or Jeremiah to use that to break either you or Alex’s hearts.” Kara shrugs and she makes her eyes shine, as if to provide proof. ”Because then that would be my fault and I couldn’t bear that.”

“Would you like a drink? Because I feel like I might need one.” Lena offers, clearing her throat.

“Just water, I couldn’t get drunk from any of what you have.” Kara informs.

Lena stands and goes to the minibar in her office, pouring herself two fingers of scotch and giving Kara a bottle of bubbly water. Instead of returning to her desk, she sits down hard on her couch. “So, why did you stick around me as both of your personas?”

“Well, wouldn’t be much of a secret if I went around revealing it to anyone I meet.” Kara picks up her glasses and puts them in the pocket of her button up. “Plus I felt like we had connective fibers, what with us trying to get out of someone else’s shadow. Also, giving aliens employment opportunities was pretty good. And also, you’re kind of dating my sister?”

Lena chuckles. “And to think I was worried when things began exploding at the the rebranding ceremony.” She downs her drink in one go.

“Well, that worry might have been what gave you a shot with Alex.” Kara smiles.

Both of them grow quiet and calm, only the quiet hush of their breathing between them. It’s a comfortable silence in which each dive into thoughts. Lena is the first one to break it, unable to contain the burning questions in her mind.

“Is Kara even your real name?” Lena looks up from the couch. “What should I call you?”

“Hi, I’m Kara Zor-El. I took my adopted family’s last name for legal purposes.” Kara leaves the chair in front of Lena’s desk to join her on the couch, offering a handshake to Lena. “So you can call me Kara when I’m out of the suit and Supergirl when I’m in.”

Lena shakes the hand, it’s humorously awkward. “I never quite thought I’d end up having things in common with a Super. Strange how life gets.”

“It’s always full of hope and surprises.” Kara plucks another donut from her bag and offers one to Lena.

“What’s a good idea for a gift to Alex?” Lena asks, a little out of the blue.

Kara smiles and reaches to pat Lena’s hand. “Both of you are really busy people. I think what you need to impress her, is to find time for her, no matter how short it is.”
She squeezes the hand and retrieve hers. “But if you’re really bent on dropping money, she’s a big fan of scotch.”

Lena chuckles. A touch of mischief in her replies. “I’ve noticed that. She’s also pretty fond of her sister. Made it clear you wouldn’t go away no matter how annoying you’d get.”

“See, you’re not only befriending a Super, you’re stuck with one.” Kara presents her donut, as if toasting her.

“To being stuck with you.”
Lena knocks her own donut against Kara’s.

The alarm sounds just as Kara is heading for the door, One of the screens mounted on the back wall of Lena’s office turns out, displaying a security feed. A group of armed men just broke down the front door and are marching through the lobby, heading toward the elevators and staircases. They move in short bursts, clearing each area with military precision.

Lena groans in frustration, her body tensing as she studies the security feed. She grabs her phone and quickly activates her security system, sending an alert to the NCPD confirming the threat. She turns around just in time to see Kara change into Supergirl. “They have custom-made weaponry, be careful with them Supergirl.”

The Kryptonian nods. “I’m pretty sure I can handle them. Make sure to warn my sister too, she’ll get a team sent here too.” she approaches the balcony door and opens it. “You’re an affiliated contractor as far as I know, it’s perfectly reasonable for her to send help.” With that said, Kara jumps off of the balcony and flies down towards the lobby, the sounds of Lena’s call to Alex fading fast with the distance and wind rushing in her ear and the distant sound of police sirens growing closer.

Two armed men were left behind to guard the door, Supergirl lands on one, knocking him out cold. As she rise back to her feet, she picks up the second guard and throws him down the flight of stairs leading to this door. She keeps him down by covering his leg with a thick layer of ice, using her freeze breath.

She walks into the lobby and immediately weathers a hail of bullets, all of them bouncing off of her harmlessly. Supergirl reaches a group of three men, hiding behind a reception desk. She takes one of their assault rifles and breaks it in half on her knee. She throws the first half to the one trying to run, the other half is used to knock down the third man.

Supergirl grabs the assailant she disarmed and throws him in another small squad, scattering them about, none of them get back up. The sound of the elevator rings and she quickly realizes that a small group managed to overcome security on the elevators and they’re about to escape into it. She super speeds right to the elevator and uses her heat-vision to weld the door shut, trapping them inside.

She does a quick mental countdown of how many armed men she fought and comes up a few short. She uses her X-ray vision to scout the area carefully, noticing a few of those she knocked down running back outside, only to be caught by the NCPD and S.W.A.T.
She notices Lena coming down, using her private elevator, she also notices a humanoid form with abnormally hidden areas on their person, lurking within one of the security offices in the lobby. .

Lena slowly steps out of the elevator, carefully approaching Supergirl. “I figured I’d better be down here, before the cops assume you’re with them.” Lena seems a little surprised at the relatively low amount of property damage caused by the fighting. She stops, however, when Supergirl raises her hand toward her.

Lena’s enough of a distraction for her to miss the little metallic clink the security office door does when it opens. She hears the steps seconds too late to prevent it: The figure emerging from the security offices fires at her.

It’s a fist-sized missile coming her way, she quickly shoves Lena out of the way, sending her sliding across the floor, away from the explosion! Supergirl gets caught right in the center mass, the impact is powerful enough to knock her back a few feet. Her suit is damaged, torn in small places and her breathing is laborious, like she got punched in the gut. She barely gets to her feet before another missile flies through the smoke and against her. This time she blocks with her arms and the suits is torn from her elbow down.

Supergirl immediately blows a burst of freezing breath across the lobby to clear it from the smoke and makes the ground a little harder to navigate. Once the smoke clears, she sees the hostile silhouette shouldering a missile launcher, large enough to warrant caution. Another shot comes her way. This time she uses her heat-vision to destroy it before it reaches her. She dives forward, through the fire, intent on not letting the assailant fire another time.

She only realizes who’s fighting her when she’s floating a mere few feet from him! Her strength drains from her body and she’s too stunned to even try to block the retort. Jeremiah sweeps the overly large missile launcher off of his shoulder and arcs it toward her, like it’s a large hammer. The weapon breaks and bends against her, but she’s knocked out of the air and lands hard, through a stonewrought sculpture of the new L-Corp logo, shattering it.

Supergirl watches him discard the broken weapon to the side, she holds her stomach, her ribcage rattled solidly by the improvised weapon. He walks toward her with fury written in his eyes. She feels every bit of the transition from the momentary euphoria of seeing him alive, to the soul crushing dread of having angered a parent, to the distant, guilt-ridden sting of betrayal. “It’s really you! You’re alive!” her voice trembles.

“No thanks to you!” He runs the last few steps and kicks her, sending her rolling back toward the middle of the lobby, she slides a short distance afterward too. He draws a strange syringe gun with a green gleaming liquid in it. He takes aim and fires it.

He hits her in the thigh, she screams in pain, loudly. She pulls the syringe out before it’s completely empty and she stumbles back onto her feet. She throws it back at him, missing by about a full three feet. “WHY!?”

The screams are enough to prompt the police forces outside to come in, even without their promised federal back up. Maggie comes into the lobby alongside the S.W.A.T. team, all of them stunned by the sight of Supergirl with several green veins popping all over her face, arms and legs. “FREEZE!”

Jeremiah remains quiet, ducking away from the thrown Syringe, he loads an empty one into the gun and fires again, hitting her leg again, as the Kryptonite makes it hard for Supergirl to dodge away from his shot. He discards the gun almost immediately and charges at Kara, ignoring the police’s order completely.

The S.W.A.T. team opens fire, Supergirl almost screams in panic trying to stop them, but it’s cut short by the force of impact from his charge and the conflicting relief that he seems to be entirely bulletproof.

He puts a hand around her throat and squeezes, fortunately he’s not strong enough to truly choke her out but she can’t quite bring herself to shake him off of her. He grabs at the Syringe in her leg and draws blood, pulling it out in the process. “None of that would’ve happened without you.” he whispers with spite.

At the request of Maggie, one of the S.W.A.T. team member throws something and a flashbang grenade lands right next to them, forcing him to cover his ears and closes his eyes, when he sees it touch down.

Supergirl uses the split second distraction to shove him off of her and she rolls away, wrapping herself in her cape, bracing herself against the oncoming blast of light and sound. Even through that, she loses her sight for a few moments and her ears stop functioning. She tries to stand up, but falls back down, unable to find her footing.

She fires her heat-vision in his direction, but a surge of fear and guilt makes her avert the blast to the floor instead. She punches the ground in frustration after failing to stand up again.

Maggie and a few member of the S.W.A.T. team jump in front of Jeremiah in an attempt to hold him back, only to be thrown back when he tackles two of them down.

Jeremiah grabs one of their guns and fires at the remaining team members, he hits a few of them, though they have kevlar vests, but hits Maggie square in the shoulder.

Supergirl lets out a shriek of fury and fires her heat vision at him, this time she doesn’t avert it.

Jeremiah raises his left arm and blocks the beams with his hand, the fake epidermis burns away to reveal an enhanced cybernetic arm. The arm grows a little red from the heat and sparks of electricity fly around when the heat-beams ends. He turns around and start running deeper into the building.

Supergirl stumbles as fast as she can toward her fallen friend, she screams her name, barely able to hear the sound of her own voice. “MAGGIE!”

“The fuck was that?” Maggie asks, pinching the bullet between her fingers, showing that it’s actually out of the wound.

A bunch of men and women come into the L-Corp lobby, Vasquez runs to their side, bringing a suitcase with her. “Hey, Steel Eagle Two and Four.” she grins a little bit. “Supergirl, can you give us a read on the building, we’re walking in blind. Security’s been shut off.”

“Make sure she’s okay!” She pats Vasquez on the back and looks to Maggie. “Thanks, I owe you.” then moves outside to examine the building with her X-rays, feeding the results to the D.E.O. and NCPD.

Once Supergirl leaves the building, Maggie looks to Vasquez. “I’m probably going to get in trouble for getting shot.”

“With who? Your girlfriend?” Vasquez disinfects the wound and apply some bandages to the shoulder. “I’m taking you back to our headquarters. Resident doctors will patch you up.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend, but with Kara yes.” Maggie states a little dryly. “My insurance too probably.”

“Won’t have much to cover, it’s part of the perks of working there. Free medical treatment, also pretty discreet. Since you’re an asset, you’re cleared to go there.” Vasquez teases.

Maggie laughs a bit through the pain.

It’s Alex who ends up patching Maggie’s shoulders, of all people. It’s a little awkward since she has to be shirtless for most of the proceedings. “I’d expect Kara to drop by your place or your work by tomorrow with food and probably an earful about being careful.”

“Yeah I’m pretty sure something like that’s going to happen.” She winces a little bit, as the various disinfecting agent on her wound seems to make it itch. “I’d check up on Supergirl if I were you. She was really, really off.”

“What do you mean?” Alex pulls off the surgical gloves, discards a few bloodied tools and washes her hand with a bottle of disinfectant, trying to appear partially disinterested.

“I’ve watched the news and I’ve been around this town for a while, I know what it looks like when she fights. It feels like this was someone she didn’t want to fight.” Maggie assesses.

“I’ll definitely write this in my report of the situation.” Alex nods and smiles. “You’re cleared to go, you can stay around for a bit, or you can call a cab back home and you don’t even owe anything! Maybe a drink next time we’re out in the same space.”

“Alright, sounds fair Danvers.” Maggie struggles to put on her leather jacket, which Alex gently helps her with. “Fuck me, this hurts.”

“Take a few tylenol, that might help. If it gets too bad, call me, I might have something to help with it.” Alex steps out of the medbay with Maggie and helpfully shows her the way out. “You can’t really miss the exit.”

Maggie smiles and pats Alex on the shoulder, with her good arm, before heading out in that direction. The way outside isn’t hard to find, but it seems she’s not the only one leaving the building, she finds herself exiting the building at the same time as Lena Luthor, of all people. “You didn’t get shot or anything?”

Lena seems a little out of it and startles when Maggie asks her the question. “Oh, no, but I had to write a report and help them navigate the security footage.” the C.E.O. stops walking once she’s outside of the building, quickly checking her phone. “Thank you, by the way for your service tonight.”

Maggie blinks a little bit and she feels just a touch of warm dancing over her cheek. “It would’ve looked pretty bad on my resume to let Supergirl get her ass kicked.” she responds with a nervous laugh.

“Oh, but it would've happened in my company’s building, the public would absolutely have blamed me.” Lena laughs too. “Don’t let me hold you back from going to rest, I’m waiting for my ride home to come out of work.” Lena points to the door just as Alex and Vasquez make their way out.

Maggie’s eyes widen hard when Alex grabs Lena’s arm and kiss her cheek in greeting. “Holy shit.”

“What?” Alex seems a little perplexed, Lena on the other hand seems amused.

“I really didn’t expect Miss Luthor’s ride to be Agent Danvers is all.” Maggie teases them, trying to shove Alex playfully, but strains her bad arm a little doing it.

Lena laughs a little loudly. “Oh she’s my ride alright. Do you need help going home?”

Alex blushes and rests her chin on Lena’s shoulder. “Yeah, we can help.”

Maggie’s phone rings and she spend a few moments struggling to get to her phone. It’s a quick conversation, mostly one sided with Maggie occasionally responding uninterested. “I’ll get to it tomorrow, doctor’s order are to rest. Leave it on my desk.” She shuts the phone off before the other person can respond. “I’ll grab a cab home, but thanks for offering. I’ll see you girls again later.”

Lena and Alex leave the D.E.O. once Maggie leaves in a cab.

Lena stares at Alex throughout the drive toward her apartment, it’s halfway between amusement and judgement too. “So, Supergirl is your sister.” she says, just ask Alex takes a turn on a major avenue. “That was quite… a revelation.”

Alex takes a deep breath, her hands wrap tighter around the steering wheel and she forces herself to focus on the road. “Does this change something between us?” she almost exhales the question.

“Maybe, but I don’t think you should be worried. I appreciate the honesty. Plus, to put it in yours and her words. I’m stuck with her.” Lena reaches to squeeze Alex’s leg.

“So, just so you know, the person who had the FIM-92 Missile launcher was our father. Jeremiah.” Alex steers the car to park it on a street corner, still a bit away from her own apartment.

“I didn’t see him, after Kara push me out of the way I went and hid in the staircase where Miss Vasquez found me.” Lena explains. “You’re worried about Kara?”

Alex nods. “I just…I kept telling myself she’d call if she needed me around but... “ She looks at Lena, tears stinging the corner of her eyes. “I know she won’t and I just feel bad going home right now.”

“Let’s go see your sister then? If you don’t mind me tagging along.” Lena offers.

“You wouldn’t mind?” Alex asks, hopeful.

“Of course not, you care for your sister! I don’t care what planet she’s from! Let’s go.” Lena taps Alex on the thigh and kisses her cheek.

Alex turns the car around and drives to her sister’s apartment, several times during the trip, she bites her tongue to stop herself from mentioning how Maggie and her sister are basically set to be dating.

Lena on the other end seems to enjoy the driving around and constantly leans in to Alex, kissing her cheek when they’re waiting for stoplights to change colors.

When they finally make it to Kara’s apartment, Alex unlocks the door with her actual keys. “Kara?”

There’s no answer. Lena peeks around the apartment casually, into the bedroom too, finding no one. She steps back into the kitchen to find Alex toying with a phone.

“Kara’s phone, it’s set to DND.” She set it back down on the kitchen island. “There’s no plan anywhere in her text messages. “Any idea where she could’ve gone?”

“Maybe with the detective she mentioned last time I was here?” Lena suggests.

“I don’t think so, but it doesn’t hurt to check.” Alex sends a few text from her own phone and gets a reply fairly quickly. “Nope, she’s not with Winn and James either…” Alex takes a deep breath. “Damn it, where is she!”

Lena moves closer to Alex and pulls her into her arms. “I don’t know for sure, but we’ll find her.” she retrieves her own phone from her purse, ready to investigate from her side too as she holds Alex close to her.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Kara knock on the door, the rattling of metal against her knuckles strangely satisfying, a small distraction from the screaming in her mind. The slit opens and a wide-eyed doorman looks through it.

“Do you have a battering ram?! Jeez. Password.” He whispers harshly.

“Dollywood, Sorry.” Kara recoils from the door, cursing her strength
under her breath. She steps in when the door opens.

“It’s okay, you just startled me.” He says, towering over her, closing the door right after.
He takes his seat again, reading a local newspaper.

Kara walks into the main room, not a lot of people are there tonight. A few of the regulars looks her way, eyes narrowed. She goes to the bar, sitting on the stool there, waiting for M’gann to join her.

“Hey there, what can I get you? Cream Soda or something a little harder?” She smiles warmly, reaching over the counter to welcome Kara with a gentle squeeze of her arm.

“Aldebaran Rum, just leave the bottle.” She whispers, sliding her card across the counter for payment, it’s barely audible, even with the soft music and low crowd volume.

M’gann hears it and shakes her head. “I can’t serve you something that’ll kill you, Kara. J’onn and
Maggie would never forgive me.”

She smiles a little, not a small exploit with the dark clouds roaming in her mind. A small ray of sunlight piercing through them for a brief moment. Again, she finds herself without words to express a growing, intense feeling in her gut.

“So, Cream Soda?” M’gann insists, still holding on to Kara’s arm.

Kara shakes her head and leans over the counter to whisper. “I

know

I’ll be fine with the rum, nothing human is going to work.”

M’gann eyes gleam with a red hue for a short moment, as she reaches out with her mind, trying to read what thoughts dance about Kara’s head. It fails, the mind too different, too un-usual to connect. She takes a step back, as if shoved by the realization. “Are you…?” the question doesn’t fully materialize.

Kara shrugs. “I don’t want to go into details. I just want to drink.”

M’gann smiles, it’s strangely the most heartwarming smile Kara’s gotten lately. “Alright. I’ll get your rum.” she runs Kara’s card, returning it along with the bottle. “Secret’s safe with me.”
M’gann whispers.

Kara drinks, she pours from the bottle and onto her glass and refills it until she’s not able to pour without spilling. Her super-hearing muddled, she barely realizes that she’s not humming along the right song. Brian heads out, squeezing her shoulder on the way out, not a word between them.

Darla stops her trying to pour another glass, leaving behind a glass of water with ice cubes filling it to the brim. “I’ll give it back when you come back alone next time.” she whispers.

The ice-cold water becomes an oasis of focus, an anchor that stops her mind from drifting deeper into the void. Blissfully, she remains drunk enough that her mind is too mired in itself to conjure any real thoughts about the events of the day.

Her mind flashes back to the harsh bite of fire on her fingertips from the rockets and she dips her fingers in the glass, soothing the memory with the overwhelming physical sensation.

A shadow looms over to her side and her attention is drawn to it. Alex stands there, hands on hips with a confused look. “Hey? You forgot your phone home.” she dangles said phone in front of Kara.

“Hey! You look like my sister.” Kara makes the statement, amusing herself in the moment.

“Are you slurring your words?” The Alex-like blur asks, incredulous at the sight before her.

“Am I?” Kara takes a moment to recite the syllables. “Cho-cooo-latt.”

“Wow, Kara Danvers’ drunk. That’s a first.” She slides into the other side of the booth, sliding her sister’ phone across the table.

“It’s just waaater.” she elongates the word, pushing the glass toward her sister, like she’s trading for her phone, droplets of water everywhere on the table. “Touch it, it’s super cold!”

Alex doesn’t touch the glass, instead grabs her sister’s hand. “Kara.”

The Kryptonian goes quiet and she lowers her whole body, resting her chin on the table. “Oh don’t be like that, you drink your bad days away all the time.”

“I know, but you don’t.” Alex speaks, softening her voice. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

Kara is quiet for a moment, her head sways from right to left. “How’s Maggie?”

“I think you should be asking her, I can’t be giving you out medical information like that.” Alex offers with a little bit of a smirk.

Kara pulls her hand away from her sister and starts typing at her phone, though she set it back down rapidly. “Ugh, too hard to type.”

“So, I have my girlfriend waiting in a Limo not far from here, do you want a ride home from her?” Alex asks.

Kara nods to Alex’s offer, but hands over her phone to her. “Ask Maggie for me.”

Alex rolls her eyes, she starts typing on her sister’s phone.

Kara:

Kara wants 2 know if ur doing okay - alex

Maggie:

I’m trying to sleep, not working too well with the shoulder.

Kara:

she’s very drunk, so i’m typing in her stead.

Maggie

: :) what’s she drinking?

Kara:

half a bottle of rum is gone.

Maggie:

tell her i’ll call her tomorrow, make her drink water.

Kara:

I will. Now go rest.

Maggie

: night.

Kara is sprawled messily over the seat opposite to Alex and Lena, vocalizing silly sounds as the limousine bumps in the road, giggling to herself as she curls up in a semi sleeping state. Lena and Alex use a blanket stashed in a small compartment to cover her up. Soon, the girl of steel is snoring.

Lena rests her head on Alex’s shoulder. “How did she get drunk? She told me she couldn’t get drunk off of my own stock.”

“The bar she was at? They serve aliens, they have food and drinks from other worlds. Those, apparently, can affect her.” Alex explains, turning her head and burying her face right into Lena’s hair, kissing her scalp.

“It’s hard to wrap my head around something like that, do you think I could visit eventually?” Lena asks.

Alex shrugs. “I don’t know for sure, they might not be very understanding of your last name.” she kisses her cheek. “Or they might not mind, ask Kara or Maggie when you get the chance.”
Alex freezes for a moment, as if having a dreadful lightbulb moment.

“What’s the matter? You look terrified.” Lena asks, her face twisting in a curious expression.

Alex reaches for her sister and shove her a little bit. “Kara? Kara!”

“What?” Kara sleepily mumbles, grabbing her sister’s hand and pushing it a little further away.

“You told someone at the bar you were supergirl!” Alex accuses.

Kara frowns and her expression sours considerably. “No, I didn’t!”

“Kara, you drank alien rum! They know!” Alex insists

“I didn’t tell them I was Supergirl!” she throws the blanket at her sister. She tries to sit up, but loses balance, falling on the bench again.

Alex takes the blanket from the floor and throws it back at Kara. “Then how did they give you something that work on you?”

“I told M’gann the rum would be safe for me. She got the message. Also Darla stopped me from finishing the bottle.” Kara puts the blanket under her head, using it as a makeshift pillow. “They just know I’m an alien.”

Lena, meanwhile is just watching their interaction, a longing smile on her lips as she observes Alex doting on Kara. When the minor spat seems to de-escalate, she grabs onto Alex’s arm and kisses her cheek.

“I suppose they could think you’re just a random alien hiding your antennas.” Alex teases, leaning into Lena a bit.

“Don’t kiss too loud, I wanna sleep.” Kara hides her face in her blanket.

Lena stifles a laugh both at Kara’s request and Alex’s mischievous smile.

She dreams that night, it’s messy and unfocused. It’s multiple little flashes of little moments. A dark pit of unbearable silence and darkness with echoes of Alex’s angry shouts. Replaced with Eliza’s muffled crying, a relic of when she’d hide in her room to cry about her husband. The terror grows older, ancient, a flash to the moment she left Krypton, begging for more time with her mother. “What would have happened if you didn’t linger?”

Kara tries to wake up, stirring in her sleep, but the nightmare traps her in it. A flash of heat at her fingertips. She hears a gunshot, she turns around and she sees Maggie fall, lifeless on the cold floor.
A raging whisper rise from the darkness. “None of that would’ve happened without you.”

She drags herself out of bed, when finally the nightmare’s done with her. Stumbling through her apartment, still half drunk, sleep dripping from every ounce of her consciousness. She turns the TV on. She’s not really watching, only staring at the moving imagery and listening vaguely to the sounds it makes, actively trying not to make sense of it.

The sun rises on National City and the day starts, it would’ve moved on without her if it wasn’t for the knock on her door.
Kara startles at the sudden noise, she slips down the couch and rushes to the door, opening it.

Maggie’s there, carrying a small brown bag with Joy’s Shop donuts in it. The logo printed on the bag gives it away: A donut with a big smiley face and sprinkles for hair. Her right arm is in a sling, but holding the bag, her left one is holding a tray with coffees. “Sorry for not calling, I thought maybe donuts might make up for it?”

Kara pulls the door open and relieves her guest from the coffee and donuts, setting them on the kitchen counter rapidly. “I don’t mind you showing up without calling.” quickly she returns to Maggie’s side, to help her remove the leather jacket.

The help’s needed, removing the jacket proves to be more strain on her shoulder than she’d like. “Thank you.” she watches Kara, a thin smile on her lips, hangs her jacket and then pulls a chair out for her at the kitchen island. Maggie steps closer, stopping her from going further in the apartment, to the bedroom. “Kara?”

There’s no verbal answer, but she turns around, a question written in her expression, her body angled with impatience, fear. Her eyes are shining with tears.

“I know who shot at me.” Maggie keeps her voice soft and tender. “I couldn’t sleep, so I worked a bit over night. I found out who he was.” There’s a bit of silence and the pain and terror that blooms in Kara’s eyes is too much to bear for even one more moment of hung silence. “It’s my first time getting shot by the father of a girl I’m flirting with. And I wasn’t even improper!”

Kara’s giggles and the giggling breaks out in a loud laugh which has her bent forward a bit, but it’s broken up by a sob.
Kara sits on the floor and hides her face behind her hands.

Maggie sits on Kara’s lap and wraps her good arm around her neck, holding the woman against her. “Oof, squeeze a little softer.”

“No.” Kara mumbles against her shoulder, though in spite of her answer, she does release the hold a little.

Kara’s phone buzzes with a notification nearby and Maggie retrieves it for her, just a within her arm’s reach, on the kitchen counter. “Just in case it’s important.”

Kara opens the phone, it’s a text from James, linking to a tabloid article from the morning.

James

: Can you verify this is bs?

The link leads to an article with a picture of Lena Luthor walking in town with many, many hickeys on her neck. Local Luthor Heiress has a mysterious new suitor All details inside!

“Ugh, Alex damnit.” she reads the article in quick overview and she starts laughing too. “Oh my god, they think it’s Supergirl!”

Maggie slides off of Kara’s lap and lies on her back, on the floor, laughing out loud.

The laughter dies down a few moment later and they just lie there on the floor, their hands twining together. Silence covers the apartment like a soothing blanket for a blissful moment of peace.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Alex sneaks into the CatCo building and weaves through the crowd of people waiting for the elevator. She stops by her sister’s office to find it empty with a note hanging on her door announcing the general time of her return.
She makes her way to James’ new office and knocks on the door, drawing his attention away from his computer. He seems both surprised and afraid to see her stand at his door. He waves her in.
Alex sighs, her heart twisting in her chest. “Hey, James.” She closes the door behind her. “Are you free for a little while, I need to speak to you about things.” Alex clears her throat, betraying her worries.
“Yeah sure, can I get you anything to drink?” He leaves his desk, opening a mini-fridge on the way to the two couches in the middle of the room.
“If you have a water bottle, that’ll do.” Alex shrugs her jacket off and sets it on the couch’s arm, before taking a seat.

He grabs two bottles from the fridge; he throws one at her as he sits opposite to her. “So, what can I do for you?”

“I wanted to apologize, catch you up and maybe ask for a favor.” Alex clears her throat again. “The apologies are because I feel like I’m about to pile on some news you don’t want to hear.”

James remains calm even as his confusion rises. “I’m listening?”

“That story going around of Lena Luthor dating Supergirl?” Alex drinks half of her bottle, trying to gain just a moment more, before she has to say it.

“Yeah, I’m aware. Kara confirmed it as bullshit.” James explains. “In her own words, of course.”

“Yeah, she didn’t give you the full story on that one.” Alex grins nervously. “Lena is my girlfriend, I’m the one who gave her the hickeys.”
James blinks once. “Does that complicate things with Kara?”

“There are a few things I should catch you up with about that.” She downs half the bottle of water in one go. “There is also the problem that the rumors are causing, which I’d like your help with.”
James guesses. “You want CatCo to quash the rumors surrounding the whole thing to avoid drawing attention to Kara and the D.E.O.”

“That’s the favor I’m here to ask, yes.” Alex gives him a side smile. “I’d prefer to avoid scrutiny on anyone, really.”
she fiddles with the cap of her water bottle.
“Yeah, I understand, I think we should send Kara for this one, I don’t think anyone else on staff would treat this the right way.” James says, making a mental note. “You said you had stuff to catch me up with, was that all of it?”

Alex shakes her head. “No, the important, life-saving stuff is a little rougher.” She frowns. “Lena’s mother is likely the head of Cadmus and she let it slip that she might be with Jeremiah.” Alex makes a gagging noise. “Kara might want to share some stuff that happened there too, if you’re so inclined.”
“Do you know if Kara has issues with you being with Lena?” James asks, brow furrowing.
She shakes her head “You know how Kara is.” Alex smile fondly. “She told Lena about her secret, to avoid Jeremiah and Lillian using it against us. It was two interesting conversations afterwards.” the smile fades. “I know you have a history with the family, with Lex. I don’t know what you think about gay people either and I guess I’m hoping to find out where you and I stand now.”

“Obviously it’s been a little heavy on my ego about your sister, but I know it’s not about me.” James explain. “You and Kara being gay isn’t an issue at all for me, I promise.” He clears his throat. “Her being a Luthor though? I might be dealing with some trauma there. Lex is a vicious bastard and just the name triggers flashbacks.”

“Have you been seeing a therapist, James?”
Alex asks, smiling. ”That’s pretty specific language you’re using.”
“In a way.” He taps his finger on his knee. “I’ve been talking with my sister recently, she’s finishing her last tour of service and she studied psychology while abroad.” James explains. “She doesn’t really hold back when we talk.”

Alex’s smile lights up. “I never heard you talk about your sister, do you think you could show me a picture?”

“We aren’t close like you and Kara are, but she’s been reaching out more lately.” James pulls his phone out and swipes through a few of the pictures saved on his phone. He shows Alex his most recent picture of Kelly, she’s with another woman, both are in full uniform.

“I’m so gay .” Alex says, after studying the picture of James’ sister. “She got big, bright eyes and I think I can hear her laughing in my head.”

James takes the cellphone back. “I’ll let her know that my gay lady friend finds her eyes pretty. Not sure if she’ll return the flirting.”

“You never know, James. I thought I was straight just last month.” Alex grins. “How’s she able to communicate with you? If she’s on tour, her comms are probably monitored like hell.”

“I know she got special permission to organize some personal affairs with our mom.” James explains. “And she mentioned being on some kind of short temporary leave because of her studies, I assume that allows for some freedom.”

“Her superiors not being entire bags of dicks probably helps too.” Alex comments. “Dealing with the army never really goes well with the D.E.O.” Alex shakes her head, trying to chase away the terrible memories. “Anyway, we’re planning on a game night next Saturday and I’d appreciate if you’d be there. Lena’s invited too.”

“I’ll think about it, I’ll speak with Kara too.” He looks at the clock and the people outside of the office. “And for the tabloid stories, I’ll do what I can to run the story Kara comes back with. If I were you I’d get my story straight with Lena before Kara makes it there.”
“All right, thanks.” Alex stands up. “I’ll contact you later today, I‘ll go bother Lena at work now.”

After Alex leaves, James sits behind his desk and just as he’s about to resume his work on an article, his phone vibrates with a new notification.

Kelly: Hi.

James: Hey, was just talking aboutu w/ a friend

Kelly: Oh?

James: Yeah, Kara’s sister. Hadn’t mentioned any sibling to her before, so she asked to see a picture.

Kelly: Oh god, which one did you show her.

James: The one you sent me yesterday.

Kelly: What did she say?
James: To paraphrase ‘I’m so gay. She has pretty eyes.’

Kelly: You have a gay friend?
James: 2 or 3 yeah, why?
Kelly: The person I mentioned losing a few days ago. The picture I sent you yesterday.

James: Kelly, come by National City whenever you can, okay?

Kelly: I will. Do you get what I’m saying?
James: I do.

Kelly: I gtg.

“Well, fuck.” James set his phone down and opens a new page on his browser.

The door to Lena’s office opens and Alex walks through. “You wanted to see me, Miss. Luthor?” she tries hard not to burst out laughing, but ends up snorting when Lena glares at her.
Lena’s wearing a black turtleneck sweater, and even that doesn’t cover over every hickey, her fingertips dances on the edge of her desk. “Yes, you’re in a lot of trouble.” she points her chin to the guest chair, on the other side of the desk.

“Keep that tone going, Miss. Luthor and you’ll be the one in trouble.” Alex takes the seat and watches as Lena’s facial expression tightens. She watches Lena’s anger dance on every detail of her face, the color painting her skin a deep shade of pink. Alex stifles a laugh “I assume this is about the tabloid stories?”

“Yes, it is about the tabloid stories.” Lena drops her pen on the desk. “Situations like this one can cause a lot of damage to what I’m trying to do. So I’d appreciate if you took it seriously and avoid making light of it.”

Alex sobers up, but there’s still the edge of a smile on her. “I’ve already spoken with James Olsen about the situation. We just need to have our stories straightened out. It’ll be Kara doing the interviews. Since she’s their resident Supergirl expert.” Alex reaches across the desk to take Lena’s hand in hers, only to get rebuffed with a sharp smack on it.
“What should be my story? That I’m sleeping with Supergirl? That I have a paramour in the FBI? Or something else?” Lena asks, reaching for Alex’s legs with her foot under the desk. The cold demeanor melts.
Alex smiles and grabs the errant foot, freeing it from the heeled shoe it’s trapped in. “Denying everything or pretending it was only a one-night stand would be a little better.”

“Why? Afraid of being associated with a Luthor?” Lena raises her eyebrow, relaxing into her seat, soothed by Alex’s warmth on her foot.

“If you say you’re dating Supergirl, the press will never stop looking for blonde women hanging around you. It could lead to Kara or worse, to someone who can’t deal with the issues that come with it.” Alex explains. “If you reveal the truth, then I’m stuck with scrutiny a secret agent shouldn’t have and I lose the ability to go undercover, probably forever.” Her expression softens considerably. “It has nothing to do with me being ashamed of you or myself. It’s a purely pragmatic solution.”

“I can get behind pragmatism.” Lena makes the statement. “Makes me wonder why you were so insistent on giving me all these marks.”

Alex smiles a little there and blushes. “There’s something incredibly liberating about being careless with something like that.”

“And, does that mean that we don’t get to act like girlfriends in front of your friends?” Lena’s smile fades a little.
“To be quite honest, not really. I’d prefer if we didn’t fully tongue each other’s throats in front of them, though.” Both of them laugh. “James is the only one who’d have issues, and it has more to do with traumas Lex caused than you. He’s being reasonable about all of this.”

“I’ll do my best to make it easy for him, then.” Lena ponders her options, basking in the quiet little moment. “I’ll agree to an interview with Kara and say it was flighty fun with a one night flame. There’s no point in denying what people saw.”

“Good, now how long do you have before your next meeting?” Alex raises her eyebrow.

Lena looks at the clock. “Not enough time.” She gives Alex a heart wrenching pout, almost as good as Kara’s.

Alex smiles, she moves around the desk and places a soft, warm kiss on her lips. “Call me when you’re done working for tonight.”

“It might be very late, so don’t expect a miracle.” Lena stands from her seat and shoos Alex out of her office.

Kara shows up at L-Corp to do the interview two days later, right after another surge of speculation goes through the tabloids. The interview process is simple enough, it’s mostly an exercise in sticking to a script. Both of them are familiar enough with the concept to make the whole thing convincing.

The problems, however, come after. Kara submits the interview and follow-up article to Snapper and it gets thrown back into her face, almost literally. The writing, apparently, is atrocious.

She tries it again the next day, after running the text through grammarly and she gets berated for the way her sentences run on and how they’re built.

She gets sent to a meeting with human resources about the tutoring she’s been following; she leaves the meeting red in the face.

It’s dark outside when Kara comes back from that meeting and she sees James still in the main office. The light from his computer illuminates his focused expression, she notes an empty glass with melting ice inside next to him.
She knocks on the door and he waves her in. “Do you have a few minutes?”

“Sure, I’m not really working right now. Just poking around for information for my sister.” James says, clicking away from the tab.

She drops her whole body in one couch, hard, throwing her head back lazily against the back of it, arms akimbo. “I am so done with Snapper, you don’t even understand.”
“Yeah, I heard the yelling from here. What was it about this time?” James hits sleep mode on his computer and turns his attention to Kara in full.

“Oh, today was about run-on sentences and how I structure my sentences.” Kara explains, irritation dripping from the words. “He could be less of a dick about it.”

The swearing takes James by surprise, but he says nothing of it. “Weren’t you seeing a tutor for English? Or did that not start yet?” He leaves his seat and takes a seat on the other end of the couch.
“Oh, it started all right, but so far the only thing the tutor’s done is to tell me I should know all of this already.” Kara shrugs. “And apparently saying that English is my 20th language and that she should do her job is impolite.”

“Yeah, your secret doesn’t make things easier for you does it.” James says, sympathetic.
Kara runs her fingers over the rim of her glasses. “It took me a while to make HR realize I’m not being difficult with the classes. To make them see that the teacher is really unwilling to move past my issues.”

James rolls his eyes. “Cat always had a way to surround herself with talented people, but I don’t know how she tolerated half of these people.”
“To be fair, I think they might say the same thing about her. It’s not like she never was rough.” Kara says, almost laughing. “I don’t want to put up with Snapper anymore, I don’t really care how good he is.”
“Not a lot I can do about him, sadly.” James scratches the back of his head.
Kara’s eyes narrow at James and she protests rather vividly. “Oh, so he can scream at me for five minutes straight over mistakes in my job, but he can’t take James Olsen asking him to stop screaming? Am I the only one who has to take criticism here?!”
James shakes his head. “No, I mean in terms of consequences. His contract is pretty solid and I’m stuck with more rules to follow than Cat ever was.” He leans over to Kara, as if to say something discreet. “It’d help if there was a formal complaint.”
Kara gets the idea James is trying to convey, her expression shifts from annoyed to uncertain. She finds no words however, sighing in frustration, she nods to James’ suggestion.
“Come and see me first thing in the morning, we’ll work on filing that paperwork together.” He smiles at her. “Do you want me to help with HR for the tutoring part?”

“No. HR is letting me change to a different tutor, since this one can’t seem to help me. Bad news is, that I might have to pay out of pocket if the cost of the new one exceeds the budget.” Kara shrugs. “I don’t know how they’ll take a complaint against Snapper, but at this point I don’t care.”
“Well, if you have problems paying for food, you can always call more game nights or sister nights. You know, give Alex an excuse to pay for the food without you getting grumpy about it.” James teases.
Kara sticks her tongue out at him. “At least then other people get to eat it too.” She shakes her head. “Speaking of Alex, I know she came to see you. I hope she wasn’t too rough?”
“No, actually. It went well!” He chuckles. “She talked to me about setting up the interview with Miss. Luthor. I showed her a picture of my sister.”
“And how’s Kelly doing?”

“I can’t tell you why, but she’s not doing good. I’m looking for a way to make life a little easier for her.” James points to the computer. “It’s what I was doing when you came in.”

“Let me know if I can help.” Kara says with a smile.
“I think I might have something you can do a bit later.” He offers a fist bump to Kara. “I think she might like to meet Supergirl.”
“I’d be happy to do it. Just let me know.” She stands up. “I’m really glad we can talk like this again. I’ve missed it.” tears sting at the corner of her eyes.“Me too.” He stands up and gives her a quick hug. “You want to tell me what’s the matter?”
“You ever fuck up so bad, someone you thought loved you ends up firing missiles at you?” Kara exhales her response.
James blinks. “For the record, no, but I gotta ask. Since when do you swear this much?”

Kara chuckles and blush a deep, deep shade of red. “I’m pretty sure I picked up the habit from Maggie.”

James laugh. “I think she’s good for you.” He grows a little more serious. “So, about the missile thing?”
“Jeremiah fired a missile launcher at me. He also used Kryptonite to steal my blood and shot Maggie. She’s fine, by the way, Alex patched her.” She enumerates and wipes a tear quickly. “He’s blaming me for everything that’s happened to him.”
“When did this happen?”

“He led the attack on L-Corp. The one from a few days ago.” Kara explains.
“Now that’s some bullshit.” James makes the statement firmly. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I will. Alex and Lena got me back home after I got drunk at that Alien bar.” Kara then looks over at her phone when it buzzes with a text. “And Maggie brought me donuts in the morning when she found out who shot her.”

“I heard some things about an alien bar, I’m glad you found a place for you like that.” James pauses when she mentions Maggie again. “I gotta get back to what I was doing, but please take care of yourself.”
“I’ll try to get you the article tomorrow morning.” Kara smiles, leaving through the door. Her cheek burns red again as she reaches her office.

Kara: I’m picking up some bad habits from you!
Maggie: Which one did you pick up this time?
Kara: I’m swearing at work now!

Maggie: I’m so proud! ♥

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Kara flies over the city, early in the morning, torn away from her bed by the sound of police sirens and all the notifications on her phone.
The traffic below seems slower than usual, heavier. She finds the source of both the sirens and traffic near downtown, it’s a situation with several police cars, an ambulance and guns drawn.

She focuses her super-hearing and X-ray vision. She hears the police chatter, Maggie’s voice among the cacophony of noise. She’s speaking on the phone, an even, calm voice asking for information. Her super-hearing picks up the other side of the conversation as well, it's negotiations to free several hostages.

Through the walls of the building, she catches sight of the situation: Four armed men with strange weaponry. Something that would definitely be of interest to the D.E.O. at least. A group of Phorians are huddled in the corner, she can tell by the little outgrowth near their eyes, kept there by a man at gunpoint. They look terrified and there’s a child with them. That’s what spurs her into action, she dives and almost breaks the sound barrier before she crashes through the roof. She lands right on top of the one aiming the gun at the hostages.

She uses the confusion to analyze the situation, the guy she just took out has a gravity gun and so does one of the other men. The other two have kinetic weaponry, it’s easy to tell by the make and size of the weapons. She fires her heat-vision at the gravity gun and lets the guy deal with the laws of physics temporarily ignoring him. The DEO will still have the other gravity weapon on the floor to analyze.

The two men raise their guns her way and Supergirl meets the beams with her own heat vision. She matches them in power and she slowly gains ground. The struggle is cut short when the Phorian family uses their telekinesis ability to rip the guns from their hands. She uses the opportunity to knock both assailants down, one with a headbutt and the other by tripping him when he tries to run.

She high-fives the child, checks in on the family quickly and then delivers the captured men to the police around the building. She addresses Maggie in particular. “Detective? There’s advanced weaponry up there, they were carrying it. I think contacting the D.E.O. might be a good idea. The Hostages are Phorians and are safe.”

Maggie offers a tight-lipped smile and a nod of her head. “Thanks.” she looks behind her. “Round the fuckers, boys. Tech team, medical, let’s get up there.”

Maggie marches her small team inside of the building, keeping her lips sealed, while other officers cuff and bring the guys into their squad car. Supergirl helps the officer stuck with the perp affected by the gravity gun. “He will be floating for a while, he can’t help it.”

“This job is weird.” The officer comments.

Kara takes a picture with him before flying off of the scene, speeding toward the D.E.O. to brief Winn and Alex about the upcoming situation, in person.

The D.E.O. spends the better part of the day dealing with the alien guns. While it might not be immediately critical, the implications of their presence are far reaching. J’onn directs a lot of agents to carry out an investigation, Alex and Winn are in the labs the moment they get the guns *and* the gravity-less perp.

Kara is in the lab with her sister and Winn most of the day, helping with some technical questions about the weaponry. A new agent comes into the lab after a while and she clears her throat to get their attention.

“Director J’onzz delegated this situation to Agent Danvers. It appears that gravity guy’s lawyers have secured release from a court of law for him.”
The young woman seems midway terrified to be speaking to Alex.

“He’s still floating, we can’t release him, if only for that reason.” Alex almost laughs saying it “And since I assume that goes for all of his friends in NCPD custody, he’s our only lead. We need to find out how these weapons got on earth at all.” Alex shakes her head. “So, he’s not under arrest, he’s in threat containment. Take it to Pam and specifically say the suspect is in level 2 threat containment.”

Alex turns toward Kara. “Supergirl, use your contact in the NCPD to find what exactly happened with the others who were with him and why or how they got releases. Report any significant findings to me or Director J’onzz.”

Winn teases Kara with a surprised grin. “Contacts in the NCPD? You’ve been hard at work girl of steel!”

“I have, we really need to catch up soon.” She gives him a one-armed hug and leaves the room with a bright smile on her face as she flies out of the D.E.O.’s central balcony.

She finds Maggie again with relative ease. Kara knows which station Maggie works at and expects her to be at the front lines to stop any meddling in this case. Supergirl finds Maggie sitting on the hood of her personal car, looking over her phone and drinking a cup of coffee.

Her hair tightly wound up in a messy bun, leather jacket and black jeans. Kara has to force herself out of the mini dream-sequence she finds herself in at the sight. “Just the person I need to speak to!”

Maggie forces a smile and sets her coffee down on the hood, a bit splashes from the cup and droplets run down the sleek paint. “What can I do for you?” it’s a little dry of a tone.

“Do you know how the suspects apprehended earlier today got released so quickly?” Supergirl elects to ignore the mood for now.

“Yeah, I know and it’s your god damned fault!” Maggie slides off of the hood of the car and points at the fabled House of El sigil on the Kryptonian’s chest.

Kara’s heart twist, her stomach squeezes at the sight of Maggie, normally gentle and understanding, suddenly unleashing a full load of fury at her. She pushes down the hurt and confusion, taking the hands-on-hips stance as she meets Maggie’s gaze head-on. Her cape flutters in the wind.

“You broke a guy’s arm, you gave the others a concussion and your entrance in the building completely fucked up the crime scene. We had nothing legal to hold them with!” Maggie keeps pointing the accusing finger towards Supergirl. “And it happens all the fucking time when you get involved!” her finger moves away, as if to show something. “Criminals,

dangerous

criminals who we

know

will hurt people again walk free, because you did everything the wrong way!”

Maggie’s angry shouting seem to cast a cold with the surrounding people and a few people go back into the station, to avoid any potential escalation. People walking by sneer at Maggie but move on, just in case. One of the other detectives walks out and just watches like it’s a soap opera.

“I think I find securing the safety of the innocents a little more important.” Supergirl stands strong in front of Maggie, staring her in the eyes.

“Oh my fucking god, like that’s not what I was trying to do! I was with the guy on the phone and I was getting to him! I was getting him to drop the hostages!” Maggie narrows her eyes at Supergirl and steps closer. “And he would still be in custody if that had happened!”

Kara’s mind flashes back to her aunt, to the day she solar-flared. She blinks a few times, trying to chase the painful thoughts away. When she speaks it’s with a much softer voice, she almost fears Maggie might guesses her secret. “The D.E.O. still has the floating suspect, if you need him for your investigation, I’m sure you can get Agent Danvers to agree to cooperate.” She lowers her head. “I apologize for the trouble, I’ll be more careful in the future, Detective.”

“Careful isn’t going to cut it Supergirl, there’ are a lot of things about these situations that makes it easier for people like them to walk away free.” Maggie takes a step back from the girl of steel, anger slowly simmering down.

Supergirl nods and quietly lifts from the ground, rising through the air until she’s above the city’s skyline. She hears Maggie’s colleague start a slow clap, and that’s almost enough to get her to smile again. She texts an abridged version of the results to Alex and J’onn.

“Oh, fuck off Gibson!” Maggie throws a double-barrel salute his way.

“I’m getting you a drink, Sawyer.” Gibson laughs.

Kara comes into CatCo just a few minutes later, fury etched in every aspect of her expression. Snapper comes into view, trying to speak with her. She raises her hand in a stopping motion. “I got busy with the alien hostage situation, I’m not here for you.” She walks past him, leaving him confused and strangely enough, amused. She enters James’ office and closes the door behind her, locking it.

“I imagine you got caught up with the police standoff earlier today?” James comments, closing a file he’s working on and he puts down a thick pile of papers on the desk. “I got the papers from HR for the complaint and I also tried to look for a new tutor for you.”

She makes her way to his desk and looks over the papers he’s pointed at. “Yeah and I got yelled at by Maggie, which was super-fun.” She forces a grin. “At least I’m in the right mood to fill in these papers.” She smiles softly. “Thanks for everything, James.”

“Maggie? Is that the detective?” James asks.

“Yeah.” Kara clears her throat. “Turns out, I don’t really help all that much when I dive in to help them and she got fed up with it.” She looks at James “How did Clark deal with that?”

“Clark never really gave it that much thought, he just comes in and saves people who are in danger. Maybe he had a method to it?” James admits laughing a bit. “I think maybe you could ask for a bit of legal advice? I was just on the phone with Lucy today about something for Kelly.”

“Oh, that would be great, I miss Lucy. I’ll call her, or maybe I’ll just show up.” Kara sighs. “Is your sister in trouble?”

“Not like that, but I’m trying to help her out with a problem. Lucy told me she’d help.” James smiles, but it fades quickly.

“Do you need me to do a rescue?” Kara offers.

“Not to diminish your offer, but Alex can help me way more than you can on this one.” James says.

“Okay, what’s happening?” Kara just looks entirely confused.

“Kelly got engaged to someone in the force. That someone died during their latest tour.” James explains. “I’m hoping to get Kelly transferred to a place where she can mourn in peace.”

Kara smiles sadly. “I think I know what you’re doing, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. Even if it’s just delivering some fancy food to her unit.”

“I might ask you to convince J’onn if it comes down to it.” James takes a deep breath and waves the topic off. “So, what are you going to do about Maggie now?”

Kara offers him a hug, when she notices how emotional the conversation about Kelly makes him. When it ends, Kara steps back and grabs the paper. “She had a few good points, things I didn’t know I needed to consider. There’s three dangerous people who walked free today because I didn’t approach the situation right.” She looks to the window. “I‘ll ask Lucy to help me make things a little easier with the law. Hopefully that’ll be enough.”

James smiles. “Good on you! Should we start with the paperwork?”

“I think so.” She picks up a pen from his desk.

The D.E.O. get a lot of information out of the man, while they still try to figure out how to make him be affected by gravitation still. He gives up the location where he picked up the weapons in particular. It’s quickly corroborated by another agent’s investigation and within the hour, a full team of agents is rolling out.

Alex leads the team, they breach the entrance, cover the whole building room by room, finding the remnant of a lab with several engineering tools. “Director?” she calls in her comms.

“Yes?”
Hank responds immediately.

“Director? Can you hear me?”
The communication cuts.

Alex curses under her breath and sound the evacuation of the building immediately. “We’ve been lured here, clear the rooms on our way back, expect resistance.”

Her predictions are right, there’s several hostiles invading the building, all of them wielding some kind of altered weaponry that outmatches their own. The D.E.O. agents quickly get boxed into the lab and engineering room, though with no loss thanks to Alex’s rapid reaction.

“Team A, cover the doors, Team C, cover the ceiling they have drones incoming. Vasquez, come with me, we’re circling around.”

One agent from team A respond. “There’s only one door?”

Alex responds by firing the pulse gun against the wall and making a second one, Vasquez rolls her eyes and follows Alex into the breach.

“Roger that ma’am!” The agent quickly switches from the main door to the breach that Alex just created, along with another agent.

“Movement detected!” Team C calls and open fires, destroying a few drones, the debris rains down around the DEO agents, inert. “How’d she know!?” one the agents asks aloud.

Alex and Vasquez run the length of the empty storage space, following the noise and gunfire they hear further in the building.
Vasquez climbs a small flight of stairs and kicks that door open, then fires at the people she finds in the room, taking down two.

Vasquez reloads and Alex dives in, taking one down by slamming his face into the wall hard enough to crack his nose open. The last two get blasted away with her alien gun when they get out of their covers.

“We can get them in a pincer.” Vasquez calls and she opens the door that lead back where the team is holding out.

Alex runs into the room and ducks behind cover when two drones open fire towards her. Two large metal crates.
Vasquez doesn’t make it into the room before having to take cover behind the door.

“Hold fire!” A man’s voice rises and the drone stop immediately. “All Units, Hold Fire.”

“But sir--” A metallic-sounding punch is delivered, cutting the man’s protests. “All. Units, Hold Fire.”

Alex blinks as the voices triggers quite a few flashbacks to her youth. She peeks from behind the metal crate. Jeremiah is glaring down at a Cadmus agent who’s holding his face in pain.

Vasquez peeks around her cover but doesn’t come out, not yet.

Alex comes out, slowly from behind the crate, her weapon trained directly at her father. “You lured us here. Why?”

Jeremiah looks upon Alex and shakes his head slowly. “I didn’t know you would be here. I just needed to confirm something.”

“Don’t act like you care, I know what you said to my sister, I know what you did to her.” Alex tries hard to sound angry. “How am I supposed to think you care about me?”

“Alex, I’m only doing this for you. I’m done here, I’m retreating with my men and you can retreat with yours.” Jeremiah glares at the guy, still on the ground, then back to his daughter.

“Not without you telling me what you needed her blood for!” The tip of the gun lights up blue.

“I can offer you a deal.” Jeremiah says. “I will let you know exactly what I need your sister’s blood for if you bring me a vial of blood from Lena Luthor. Otherwise, I’m afraid I can’t let the information out, not even for you.” He speaks into his own comms. “We’re leaving, we got what we came here for!”

Alex tries to kick at her father in an attempt to take him down and he blocks it. The kick hurts her shin as there seems to be some kind of metal in his arm now.
She raises her arms defensively, expecting a counterattack.

Jeremiah pulls her into a quick hug, no words, nothing, before he pushes her away so hard she tumbles down on her ass. Vasquez comes into the room after the few remaining Cadmus operatives leave. “Is everything okay?”

Alex shakes her head, she stands up with Susan’s help. “We’re getting out of here right the fuck now.”

“Roger that, let’s move.”

Maggie:

Kara, can I drop by your place tomorrow morning?

Kara:

Sure? Something happen?

Maggie:

Kind of. Rn isn’t a good time for it, i need to cool off.

Maggie:

give a call to ur super-pal.

Kara:

ok. Ill be here until 9.

Maggie:

ok, ty.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Kara’s working on the second part of her breakfast, which has a stack of bacon piling up in her plate along with a few eggs. She looks at her phone to find a few messages from Alex that weren’t there when she went to bed and there’s just a touch of a frown on her brow when she puts the phone down.

Alex:

I know youre asleep, i just wanted to text you, i met dad during the lab assault today

Alex:

it almost went tits up, we got a spy at the deo, jonn is grounding me from field work

Alex:

i tried to ask dad why he needed your blood. He offered to tell me in exchange for Lena’s blood.

Alex:

so we're going to talk to Lena about it today. I would ask you to be there.

Alex:

but i just saw your message that youd be in metropolis.
Say hi to Clark & Lois for me

Kara:

♥ why are you grounded?

Alex:

to make it look like im a suspect for the spy. Because if anyone up the chain of command looks at the situation, im the obvious suspect.

Alex:

I cant leave town either, but thats not really an issue for everyday stuff.

Kara:

idk what to say.

Alex

: call me tonight, well talk?

Kara:

I will.

Kara is so focused on her conversation with her sister she doesn’t hear footsteps up the stairs. She startles when someone knocks on the door; she looks at it with her X-ray vision and it’s Maggie. Her heart flutters, there’s a sense of unease in the pit of her stomach. She unlocks and opens the door. “Come in! I was just finishing breakfast.”

Maggie smiles at the sight of Kara, stepping inside as she’s invited to do so, she holds out an envelope the moment the door shuts behind her. “Something for Supergirl when you get the chance to see her again.”

“Does that have anything to do with how evasive she was about yesterday?” Kara smirks, setting the envelope down on the arm of the couch. She sits at her kitchen island, after pulling a chair out for Maggie.

Maggie nods. “It’s an apology letter, but I kind of wanted to apologize to you too.” she sits across from Kara and looks at her hand, uneasy about the situation.

“Why?” Kara’s eyes open wide, had Maggie figured out her secret!?

“Because I know Supergirl’s your friend and I went off on her yesterday and I went off pretty bad.” Maggie shakes her head at the offered strip of bacon, almost laugh at the mildly offended look from Kara.

“She vaguely told me what happened, but… what’s your side of it?” Kara asks, leaning over her island.

“So, I learned that the people who kidnapped the phorian family were released because their lawyer used Supergirl’s intervention to invalidate a lot of the evidence. What we had left was too flimsy to hold them until their trial.” Maggie shrugs. “Supergirl learned about their release, and she came to ask me why. But she came while I was outside trying to cool off from hearing the news from the captain. I yelled at her about it.”

Kara’s smile brighten. “I’m sure she understands. Criticism is useful to how we get better.”

Maggie shakes her head. “Kara, that wasn’t criticism, that was me venting my anger at her. I didn’t take time to explain, I didn’t show much empathy for the good she actually did. I shouldn’t have done it this way.” She looks at Kara with a half smile. “She’s your friend, you should probably be mad on her behalf.”

There’s some kind of soothing peace that settles in Kara’s chest in that moment. “Yesterday, I filed a formal complaint against my editor because he keeps screaming at me. I can usually see the point in what he says but…” Kara shakes her head, chasing some darker thoughts. “I guess you’re right, but I don’t really want to be mad at you. Can you promise you’ll do better?”

“I think I can promise you that.” Maggie slides off of her seat and walks around the island to give Kara a hug. It’s a quick, but intense one. “I have a bit of a peace offering.” When Kara seems curious about it, she continues. “There’s going to be a karaoke night with the boys at the precinct soon. Not usually something I’d attend, but you can bring a plus one…”

“Give me the date and time, I’ll tell you if I can save it.” Kara grins brightly. “I love Karaoke so much I put my name in it.”

“Yeah, you might change your tune and regret showing up when you hear me sing.” Maggie laughs, her gaze falls on a suitcase near the couch. “Going out of town?”

“Yes, I’m leaving later today to visit family in Metropolis. I should be back like, tomorrow evening or the next day.” Kara bounces in place, eating pieces of her breakfast slowly. “I kind of need the distance after the stuff with Jeremiah.”

“Yeah, still feeling that one.” Maggie rolls her shoulders, the topic bringing back some pain flashes. “Will you be available for calls or text?”

“Only from you and My sister.” Kara says, a faint blush rising on her cheek at the flirting retort.

“You know how to make a lady feel special.” Maggie teases back.

“I feel the same about you.” Kara clears her throat. “Do… do you want to make the Karaoke thing a date?”

Maggie’s eyes widen. “That’s not what I expected when I came here this morning.”

“What were you expecting?” Kara takes Maggie’s hands in hers.

“Getting told off for being a bitch to one of your friends?” Maggie seems a bit uneasy.

“I think she was a little embarrassed she hadn’t considered what you brought up more than she was rattled by you being angry. I’m sure she’ll appreciate the apology letter.” Kara says. “So, is it a date?”

“It’s a date!” Maggie squeezes Kara’s hands.

J’onn and Alex walk into Lena’s office, after being ushered in by Jess, both of them in a black uniform with the small D.E.O. insignia on the shoulder. There’s an uneasy smile in greeting from Alex, but it turns into something a little more playful when she catches sight of Lena’s smile. “Hey, I’m afraid this isn’t a social call.”

“I suspected as much when I got the memo from Jess.” Lena closes her computer and gives them both her attention. “Have a seat. What can I do for you?”

J’onn offers a handshake to Lena, which she takes. “I’m Director of the D.E.O. Hank Henshaw.” He sits next to Alex “We’re here because we have a few questions regarding a situation that arose in the last few days.”

“Kara got a vial of blood forcibly drawn in the Lobby of L-Corp, by Jeremiah. I already told you the story. We still have no idea why they wanted it.” Alex explains. “But after the hostage situation that arose, we found a Cadmus lab with the information we gained from it and I encountered Jeremiah myself. Did you have any other contact with your mother since then?”

Lena shakes her head, her brow furrowing with a touch of worry. “No, I don’t really reach out to her either. I have a number, but it won’t reach her. She changes it often and barely, if ever, notifies me of it.”

“We believe they may be after you or trying to harm you. Their intents are difficult to plan around.” J’onn explains. “We’ve signed a work contract with L-corp and you specifically and
the DEO would like to protect the investment they made.” He looks at Alex, as if to confirm something. She nods, and he goes on. “Which is why we’re here today.”

“Jeremiah offered me a deal, actually. He wants a vial of your blood in exchange for telling us why they need Supergirl’s blood.” Alex wrings her hands nervously. “We were wondering if you knew anything about why Cadmus would want any of that.”

Lena’s eyes widen. “Are you here to ask for my blood?”

Both Alex and Hank shake their head, the surprise in their face seems to convince Lena enough to continue.

“I have no idea why they’d want my blood in particular. I could list a lot of reasons you’d want blood from any aliens, but I suspect there’s something pretty specific about Supergirl’s.” Lena sinks in her chair and she goes deep into her thoughts. “I know my mother wouldn’t need something like that just for random testing, it’s for a specific purpose, but I don’t know what it is.”

“You said the Luthors adopted you, maybe she needs it because she needs some DNA from that bloodline?” Alex risks a suggestion. “I know it’s possible to key some locks with DNA.”

“That would suppose some kind of sentimentality from Lionel… which isn’t entirely out of the question.” Lena whispers. “Maybe that could be it? I’m not convinced though.”

Hank shakes his head. ”I’ve dealt with a few of your brother’s machination before and I feel like there’s something there that suggest it’s an entirely Luthor-esque affair.”

Lena stares at him. “What do you mean you’ve dealt with my brother’s machinations before?”

“Superman and I have a history together. I know how deep Lex can go. I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew things you don’t.” Hank says.

Alex looks to Lena. “Maybe you have Luthor blood? Maybe Lionel was really your father?”

“And I’d have to take a blood test to know about it.” Lena suspiciously narrow her eyes at them both. “Is that what you were planning on me to do? Agree to do a blood test so you can steal the blood to complete the deal?”

Hank tilts his head to the side and narrows his eyes at her, suspicion written on his furrowed brow.

Alex snaps back, anger and hurt in equal measures. “What the hell? How did you even get to that? Neither of us is here to force medical procedures on you! We came here to warn you about potential dangers and ask for your insight about Lillian! We were talking about why they’d want your blood.”

Lena takes a deep breath and clench her fist, her neck tenses, revealing veins, tendons and bones. “I’m just seeing a lot of coincidences here. To confirm anything, I’d need to give up the one thing you need to understand why your sister got attacked. You’re asking me to believe that my family hid from me the fact that I’m blood related to them for years, that’s not exactly a sensible theory if you ask me.”

“It is sensible when one of your brother’s plans was to bring red star radiation to earth to stop a single person.” Hank admonishes. “It is sensible, I feel, when your family is part of a domestic terror organisation with the ability to manufacture alien weaponry, or when they’re likely linked to inter-galactic abductions.”

“You say you want to get away from what your family did, the damage they did to the name. You want to turn this place into a force for good.” Alex plead, though she still seems rather upset. “Why do you say you want to do that if you don’t think they’d hide something from you?”

“My family are no saints, I know that, but you’re accusing them of…”

Alex interrupts. “Not being saints! My father literally fired rockets at my sister in your lobby. He’s working with your mother, maybe your brother even. Whatever we’re saying about your family, it’s being said about mine too!”

“Fine, I’ll do the trade.” Lena says with a drop of her shoulders.

Hank shakes his head. “No, we do a blood test and compare DNAs. Nothing else, there was no intent on our part to make a deal with a Cadmus operative.” He stands up. “Maybe we can figure the reason they want blood from there.”

Alex offer her arms to Lena, she takes it.

Lena leans in to whisper. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Alex whispers back, they leave, followed by Hank.

Lucy:

Hi, I have a favor to ask.

Kara:

Hi! Flying now! What can I do?

Lucy:

Can you get to my office as SG?

Lucy:

I got a younger fan spending some time with me here!

Kara:

OK! Floor of the office?

Lucy:

5th.

Kara:

ETA 20 minutes Major.

Lucy:

Roger that SG.

Kara flies into Metropolis and immediately sees a few cameras and phone turn her ways as she flies through the building, she speeds up to lose them after a while and makes an approach for Lucy’s building. She counts the floors, adjust her flight altitude and uses her x-ray vision to find which side of the building she’s on.

Three people in the office: A woman in a business suit, sitting at the desk reviewing some papers with Lucy watching right over her shoulders. And a child, sitting in the office's corner, working on what appears to be homework.

Kara enters through the window that Lucy left open just for her and touches down on the ground with a thud. She goes theatrical with both hands on her hips and cape billowing softly in the soft wind running through the room.

The woman at the desk stares at her, almost afraid, though a smile appears rather quickly, she gives the uneasy waves.

Lucy grins at her and waves. “You got here a little faster than I expected, Supergirl. Long time no see.”

The young girl stares at her with mouth agape and she runs to her immediately. “Oh my god Hi! Is this real!?”

“Always nice seeing you major.” She nods to Lucy and then looks to her younger fan, she can’t be over 11. “What's your name?”

“I’m Ruby!” The girl bounces into place. ”I’m so happy to meet you!”

“It’s so nice to meet you Ruby.” Kara lowers herself a little to give the girl a big hug.

Lucy watches the interaction between the child and the superhero with a bright smile, throwing a little glance to the mother still staring in shock.

Kara let go of the hug they both move closer to the desk. “And you are?” she asks the mother.

This seems to draw her out of her momentary shock and she gives a firm handshake to the Superhero. “Hi, I’m Samantha Arias. This feels a little surreal.”

“Want to make sure it’s real? I think we could take a picture with you and your daughter and have Lucy take it.” Supergirl offers.

Ruby, of course is ecstatic about the offer, Samantha nods almost incoherently and Lucy looks too proud of herself to refuse the role of the photographer.

“All right, Ruby on the left, Sam on the right. Supergirl, arms over their shoulders. Gotta flex those picture taking skills once in a while.” Lucy grins and takes a few pictures with Ruby’s, Sam’s and her own phone. “You know your boss would love that PR boost Sam.”

“She got it herself as I recall.” Sam says, giving Lucy some serious stink eyes.

“Oh, I heard

things

about that.” Lucy teases.

Sam looks to Supergirl and with a nervous smile. “I’m the COO of the Metropolis L-Corp offices. I talk with Miss. Luthor daily.”

Ruby grins, proud and happy beside, missing the slight tension in her mother’s words and demeanor.

“I know Lena made a great choice for the position.” Supergirl’s words seem to ease much of the tension.

Lucy smiles from her desk. “We could all meet for dinner if you want?”

Supergirl looks to Lucy, a mischievous glint in her eyes.. “If you can find a place for Superman and his plus one, I’m sure that’d be lovely.”

There’s an awkward little stare from Lucy.. “Yeah no, suddenly I remembered I have something else planned. Like, specifically not doing that.”

Sam seems thoroughly amused by the exchange between Lucy and Supergirl “You two make for great entertainment, but me and Ruby should really go for the evening. We both have a show to catch and some dinner to cook tonight.”

“I’ll help you!” Ruby declares loudly.

“Good to know.” Sam smiles.

Samantha gathers all the files on Lucy’s desk, whilst setting her next appointment. Ruby places her homework back into the backpack, she sneaks another picture of Supergirl too. They all exchange another round of hugs with Supergirl and leave the office.

“Why did you have to bring Clark and Lois into this? I was having fun up until then!” Lucy stares.

“What was the deal about bringing up a sex scandal with a child in the room?” Kara retorts, as she takes a seat.

“Damn! you got some backbone on you in that costume.” Lucy comments, wagging her eyebrows.

Kara blushes and sticks her tongue out at Lucy.

Lucy goes in for the kill “Well, was the scandal true? Was Livewire right?” she fakes a scandalized gasp.

“No, and Yes.” Kara smiles, though it’s a little more raw.

“Oh... “ Lucy sits down behind her desk. “I didn’t mean to make light of that.”

“I know, but you shouldn’t spread that story, anyway. I know where those hickeys come from.” Kara teases.

“Oh boy, I suppose we should keep some chatter for after the whole business thing we got?” Lucy asks.

“Yeah! Let me change into something a little more normal though.”

When Kara returns from changing out of the Super-suit, Lucy is reviewing a pile of documents from a file labeled as K.O. Transfer. She’s signing at the bottom of a few pages.

When Kara sits down at the desk again, Lucy places several of the documents she just signed into an envelope and seals it. “James asked me to tell you to transfer this to ‘Director Henshaw’.”

“All right, what are these exactly?” Kara asks.

“So, basically as soon as J’onn sign these papers. Kelly can get transferred to the D.E.O., keep her rank and her service record intact.” Lucy slides the envelope across the desk. “And have the full month of leave that James insisted on. Do you know why?”

“I don’t know the details, but I know Kelly lost someone over there and he wants her to have the space to mourn.” Kara speaks in a hushed tone.

Lucy’s demeanor sobers up quite a bit there, it’s clear she clicked onto something there that Kara didn’t. “It should be okay the moment this gets signed.” Lucy clears her throat. “You also had something you wanted me to help you with?”

Kara nods. “Yeah, I kind of got in trouble and I’ve wanted to make a show of trying to do better.”

“Supergirl getting in trouble? I should’ve stayed in the media world with all the scoops you’re feeding me.” Lucy quips.

She sticks her tongue out at Lucy. “I got told by a police officer recently that my interventions sometimes cause an issue where it makes it possible for dangerous people to be released when they shouldn’t.” Kara explains. “I don’t want to rely on the D.E.O. too much, so I hoped you could help me understand how to approach the situation.”

“Why are you this fucking red right now?” Lucy laughs at her deep the color run on Kara’s cheek.

Kara tries hard to suppress the smile, but cannot do so. “Because I’m doing this to impress a lady, mostly.”

“Am I being a wing woman right now?” Lucy pulls out a book from a drawer on her desk.

Kara draws in a shuddering breath and there’s a touch of fear seeping in her expression. “This is getting a little too real right now.”

Lucy shakes her head. “Focus, Kara. I’ll walk you through a few procedures that might help you and suggestions.”

“What about we talk about payment first?” Kara shakes her head.

“What about you show me a picture of the girl you’re trying to impress and pay for lunch tomorrow?” Lucy says.

Kara opens her phone, searching through her camera rolls and finds a suspicious picture of Maggie. “Oh, you little shit.”

“What?!” Lucy blinks at the sudden exclamation

“She took me to a bar one night and I think she asked someone to take this picture of her on my phone.” Kara smiles “Probably while I was getting us a round of drinks.”

Lucy looks over at the picture on the phone and laughs. “Good, let’s get to work.”

The rest of the day goes off the rail a little. Clark is too busy with mundane work to be home on time and they move the dinner to the next evening, she ends up spending some time with Alex on video chat.

“So, the meeting with Lena didn’t go well?”
Kara asks.

“I think she just panicked a bit when J’onn showed up with me. She misunderstood what the D.E.O. is like and got defensive.”

“Is that why you have marks all over your neck and face?” Kara traces the areas on her own face to show what she’s talking about.

“Oh, no, that’s just… we got rough in bed afterward.” Alex blushes and clear her throat. Lena’s distant laughter is heard.

“Ah so you solved the problem?” Kara smirks.

Alex’s hesitation to answer is very short but obvious to Kara. “I think we worked it out of our system.”

“Good, can you get her on the screen, I have something to tell her.” Kara pokes her tongue out.

Lena shows up, and she looks pretty similarly marked as her sister, her hair wild and unkempt. “Hi Kara!”

“So, I met your COO Samantha today!” Kara announces.

Lena’s eyes widen “Oh? How’d that happen!?”

“She was visiting the same lawyer I was, so I even took a few pictures with her and her daughter.” Kara smiles. “I’ll send you the picture.”

“Hey Supergirl,

I’m sorry I went off on you like I did. I lost my temper because of me, because it was only a few minutes since I’ve been told when you asked. I didn’t lose my cool because you did something wrong or terrible. You saved a family of aliens from a dangerous, uncertain situation. I shouldn't have let my anger blind me to the good you actually did.

There’s a thousand ways I could’ve just let you know my thoughts and I just let it happen in the worst way. I promise I’ll work on not repeating this.

Detective Maggie Sawyer, NCPD

P.S.: hug Kara for me. If you’re on a hugging basis, you seem like you’re on a hugging basis.”

Kara smiles at the letter and falls asleep after holding it to her chest.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The medical labs at the D.E.O. are top of the line. The machines and programs running there are state-of-the art. Enough to make hospitals green with envy. J’onn is in the room, supervising the various processes and screening who comes in and out of the room with strong vetting.

Alex is the one running the tests. “So, unlike most hospitals where they’d have to wait for quite a while before producing some results. We have a database where we can compare your DNA to see if it matches something in it.”

“Is that why the analysis machine is twice as big as it should be?” Lena comments, staring at said machine with a curious glint dancing in her smaragdine gaze. Fingers idly running over the little bump in her skin where the needle pierced the skin the day before.

“Yep, it’s compiling the data and transferring it into a digital version.” Alex takes off the thin plastic gloves and throws them into the disposal bin. She takes out a USB Key from the machine and goes to the main computer and plugs it in.

“This is kind of a bad episode of Dr. Phil. Like, the boring kind.” Lena tries to joke, hands wringing.

The screen of the computer flashes and goes through a few images before settling on Lex Luthor’s mugshot and announcing a familial match with him. “Congratulations, you’re a Luthor.” Alex quips.

“Well, that… probably means the DNA lock idea is right. That sounds like something my brother would do.” Lena leans against the nearest table, shaky on her legs as she feels the weight of the revelation on her shoulders. She wipes at her eyes.

Alex gives Lena a hug. It’s quiet for a few moments before Vasquez comes into the room.

“The samples from yesterday disappeared, someone took them! Security didn’t work or anything.”
She seems a little alarmed.

Lena breaks away from the hugs, her gaze switching between Alex and Vasquez.

Alex nods. “What they got is a tray full of corn syrup and red artificial coloring with a tracker lodged in them. Warn Agent Schott and notify team A.”

J’onn leaves the laboratory with Vasquez, but not without a friendly word toward his adopted daughter. “Fantastic work, Agent Danvers.”

“You set my blood up as a trap!? Without telling me?!” Lena asks, almost spitting the words.

Alex forces a smile and she speaks in her best customer service voice. “Miss. Luthor, I know there may be some blurred lines between us. I assure you I am bound by medical oaths, my affection for you and the complex yet strictly enforced level of classifications for various actions this organisation undertakes.”
Alex points to Lena “Your level of clearances aren’t enough for you to be made aware of a classified operation. Especially one where there is absolutely no danger to you, all of your unused samples are.” Alex withdraws a half-empty vial from a nearby container. “Right here.” She hands the vial over.

“Alex… I.” Lena takes the sample and exhales loudly.

“Your life is in danger, you know it is. I know it is.” Alex opens another box, a small black one, and offers a tiny black device. “This is a tracker and a mic. I was asked to plant it on you. There was a suspicious lack of specific demands about secrecy about that action in particular.”

Lena takes the tracker and looks over it, but it blurs behind a thin veil of tears. “What do you know that I don’t?”

“We think your mother might come and visit soon. Or someone from Cadmus. The D.E.O. detected some intrusion in L-Corp’s programs, the ones you gave us access to.” Alex explains. “They’re looking for something specific.”

“Why wasn’t I warned?” Lena narrow her eyes.
“The fuck do you think this is!?” Alex points to the tracker, no trace of her customer service voice now.

“A little belated! I assume this isn’t just a ten minutes ago thing?” Lena gesture to the tracker in her hand.

“Why didn’t your team warn you?! D.E.O. experts had to make sure about the safety of our data first!” Alex retorts.

Lena closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I understand, maybe that’s where the problem is.”

“Do you want me to give you a ride to L-Corp?” Alex suggests, in a weak voice.

“No, I think it’s better if you just monitor the situation on your end and pick a course of action from there. I… I need to go.” Lena turns around and walks out of the lab.

Alex sits down hard in a seat, breathing a heavy sigh once Lena is out of the room.

There’s someone in the company, at least one person, that’s working with her mother and with Cadmus. That realization comes to her when her security experts give her their reports.
Her breathing is heavy and laborious and she’s hit with some intense dizziness.
Lena sinks into her chair, an empty stare locked with the screen of her computer. The words blur together and the world seems like a distant place. Her computer is barely more than a square of light in front of her, her shoes feel like a prison. The city behind her feels like a void ready to embrace her.

Was this the DEO’s plan all along? Trick her into helping them with Alex as the Honey Trap?

Was her blood really safe? Were Supergirl and Alex really sisters?

Was her mother so terrible she’d align with a genocidal organisation?

The questions don’t stop coming, soon they blend in a strange, distant crowd-like buzz.

Movement draws her attention, she sits up before she realizes she’s even doing it. Her mother is walking into her office, long coat folded over her arm, impeccable fashion in red tonight. “Late night work doesn’t sit well with you, how are you going to keep your partner looking this haggard?”

“Mind your own business.” Lena snaps. “What are you here for?”

“Straight to the point, I see.” Lillian recoils from the sudden shift in tone. “I need something that only L-Corp can manufacture, for a classified project.” The older woman produces a piece of paper with various specifications.

“Isotope 454.” Lena takes one look at the paper and knows what her mother wants. Her mind races through the possibilities. “That’s used for advanced bio-engineering. What do you need this for?”

“Adjusting the parameters on my project. To make it safer.” Lillian smiles.

The smile sets off alarm bells in Lena’s mind. “Is that why you need my blood? Or Supergirl’s?”

Lillian has a fantastic poker face, but at the moment, she’s stunned by the claims. “Keys.”

“Did you find one of Lex’s vaults then?” Lena asks, a smug grin twisting her expression. “I wonder if it’s the same for Supergirl’s blood.”

“How cold of you Lena. Don’t bother me with something you already have the answers for.” Lillian smirks. “Will you help me or not?”

“You mean you’re asking?”
Lena cocks an eyebrow. “No death squads this time, Mother?”

“That depends on your answer, Dear daughter.” The older woman’s smile widen.
“You’re just looking for a reason to kill me. Aren’t you? Finally, get rid of the annoying little gnat that fell into your lap.” Lena rises from her seat, staring right in Lillian’s eyes. “But you can’t. As long as Lex is trapped in that cell, I’m your only way into his vaults, into his work. Because I’m a Luthor, more than you are, in his eyes.” She points to the door. “Get out of my office and while you’re at it, get out of my life.”

“As you wish.” Lillian speaks dryly and leaves her office.

Lena locks the door, bars the elevator from reaching her floor and sits at her desk. She tries to fire up her computer but immediately closes it again when her vision blurs again. She tries to reach for her phone, she can’t bring herself to press the call button.

She picks the tracker from her pocket and sets it onto the desk too. She yells and punches her desk right where it is, shattering it, cutting her hand open and staining her desk with a few spots of red.

“Kara?” Alex speaks, the strain in her voice easily audible through the phone. “Are you on your way back?”

“I’m with Clark and Lois. What’s the matter?” Kara looks at her cousin with a touch of a worried look.

“They needed your blood to access the Fortress of Solitude! I need you to go look and see if they already went there.” Alex speaks. “Check for any kind of biological stuff first. We have clues that points that way.”

“How do you know any of that!?” Kara stands up and both her and Clark dash into an adjacent room to change into their super-suits.

“Lena got her mom talking into a tracker-mic I gave to her.” Alex sighs.
“We’re going to the fortress to investigate, I’ll be in contact.” Kara shuts the phone and places it in the small pocket near her cape. “Sorry to cut it short Lois!”

“Oh please, Kara. I know how this works.“ Lois laughs and gives both Kryptonians a hug. “Be safe!”

As they fly above the sky-line of the city, Clark smiles her way. “So, you and Lena?”

“You know, Lois would probably be mad you’re the one asking this when she’s kept herself in check for the whole evening!” Kara chuckles. “The hickeys weren’t from me, they were from Alex.”

Clark smiles brightly. “Are they good together?”

“I don’t think they’ll last very long.” Kara sighs a bit. “Lena has serious trust issues. They’ve been fighting a lot over it, but I think Lena’ll stick around. I did tell her my secret.”

“That’s...courageous.” Clark clears his throat.

“More like practical, her mother works with Jeremiah. There’s no point in hiding from her. They’d just tell her in the worst way.” Kara speed ups once they go past Metropolis’ city limits.
“Well, just let them both know I’m happy they found each other, even if it’s only for a time.” Clark says.

For a moment, the wind whistling in their ears is the only thing between them. As the air grows cold, they slow down their approach as to no overshoot the Fortress.

“Kal… you remember when you came to visit National City and… I talked to you about an epiphany?”
Kara says, her face heating up intensely despite the cold air.
“I do.” Clark flies just a touch closer, bumping shoulders with her.

“My Karaoke date I spoke about at dinner? With the detective?” Kara exhales, pushing through the fear growing in her heart. “Her name’s Maggie.”

“Invite her for dinner with us in Smallville at some point. We’d be thrilled to meet her.” He pats Kara on the back as they approach the Fortress.

They land at the Fortress of Solitude. The door is busted open, one step inside and Kellex lies broken down on the ground.
It’s cold and there’s an alarm going on that only they can hear. The central computer is turned on with various lines of data floating in 3D right above it. There are blood splatters around the console.

They reach it, scanning the fortress with their X-ray vision and find that no one remains. Clark examines the blood on the floor “It’s only starting to freeze.” He collects some with a tissue. “The D.E.O. can find out who bled here.”

Kara works on the console and after a few attempts, the image of her father instead of the data. “Zor-El, do you know what the intruder took from the Fortress?”

“Hello Kara.” The synthetic greeting echoes into the vast chamber. “The intruders requested knowledge of Project Medusa.”

Clark shrugs and comes around, after securely stashing the blood sample. “What’s project Medusa?”

“A joint project between the Military and Science guilds on Krypton.” There is a short pause. “I led the project so that, in the event of an invasion of Krypton, we could defend our planet with minimal damage to our civilians and infrastructure.”

Kara’s eyes widen and she takes one step back as she asks the question. “By what means?”

“Medusa is a weaponized virus that affect only non-Kryptonians. It would kill enemy combatants with no harm done to ours.” The barytone, synthetic voice drones on.

“You told me your work saved lives!” Kara’s indignant response chases the echoes of the ghostly voice.
“I was saving Kryptonian lives. It was the perfect weapon.” The way Zor-El’s synthetic voice inflects when it speaks the name of their people makes Kara grits her teeth. .

Kara clenches her fist, grits her teeth and ice cracks under her left foot. “What is the project doing on earth ?” it sounds more like a threat than a question.
“Preservation of knowledge, another tool for you to use in case it proved necessary.”
The ensuing silence is deafening, Kal-El and Kara stand there, stunned by the implications of the synthetic words.

He takes a single step closer to his cousin, trying to reach out to offer a comforting touch. He retracts it when he sees the expression shift in Kara, giving her just a step more of space.
“A tool for us to use?” Tears well in her eyes, her heart sinks and it’s audibly laborious for her to breathe. “You thought we’d be okay with the genocide of our home?” Kara points toward the sky. “My enemies stole my blood and came here to steal this project and that was enough for you to give it up?” she points again to the sky. “If they make a mistake just carrying it or Rao forbid, making more of it? That could mean that Kal and I would be left alone forever on this planet, with its blood on our hands?”

“Security was limited by circumstances. The loss of the inhabitants of planet Earth was deemed within acceptable parameters.”

The words, at first, add more weight to her sinking heart. It feels like gravity is pulling her down to her knees. Her mind catches up to the full extent of the horrors that were just admitted, spoken plainly. She stares at the ugliest truth as it bears the form of her father. It’s just a little, dull, familiar sting at first.

The weight disappears from her heart as the pain grows and shoots through her entire body. From toes to scalp her skin itches, heat builds up and gathers in her eyes, vaporizing the tears in a short-lived sizzling sound. The gleam in her eyes grows from blue to orange and it turns red the moment she realizes the physical pain is merely one manifestation of her anger. “Udol dokhahsh!” her voice trembles, at first with pain and sadness, but the venom that follows is nothing but her wrath. “DHERHIV!”

The blast from her heat vision crackles as it fires in a red, erratic beam. It hits the holograms and disturbs its consistency. It hits a distant black wall and melts a large chunk of it. When she tries to take a step toward the computer, she realizes that Kal-El is holding her back.
“Kara, we have to stop them.” He speaks firmly, trying to appeal to the sense of heroism in his cousin. There is no surprise for him when he has to struggle to stop her from rushing the console again.

“CHALAHM!” She fires another blast of red heat right at the console, a synthetic voice announces unacceptable parameters and shuts down the computer protectively. Kara pulls and struggles to get away from Kal, trying to reach for the console and break it with her hands.

Clark does his best to restrain her, stopping her from stomping the machine apart when she gets too close. “Kara, I know you don’t want to hear it. But we have to warn your sister, we have to stop the virus from being used.”

The heat dissipate from her eyes and tears finally pour out. “Why do I even wear this fucking crest!?”

“Because it gives people hope, because of the meaning we give it. You know that already.” Clark loosens the hold on her.
Kara uses the bit of clemency to shove Clark away from her. It’s done so hard that he lands on his back and slides a few meters. “I’m tired of people wearing it and letting me down.”

Clark stands back up, just in time to catch Kara trying to tackle him. “Kara!” They match strength and Kara is winning slowly, pushing him backward.
“You weren’t supposed to abandon me!” Kara’s expression twists in pain and raw emotions.
“I wasn’t, but I did what was best for you.” Clark is losing ground and getting closer and closer to a gigantic wall of ice.

“How was leaving me behind best for me!?”
Kara slams him into the ice so hard it cracks.

“I couldn’t feed you, I couldn’t provide for you. You know what a reporter’s salary is like, Kara. There was no way I could provide for both of us.” Clark pushes back until they’re matching strength again. “So I left you with a family that could provide you with what you’d need. Even if it’s not what should have happened, even if it’s not what you wanted.”

She slams him again into the wall of ice, this time with a loud scream. “I hate... everything!”

“No, you don’t!” Clark traps Kara into a bear hug, catching her arms in it. “You love your sister, you love J’onn, you love Eliza and I’m sure you’ll get there with your girlfriend. Don’t let our people’s past turn you away from all of this. I can’t watch it happen again, not to you.” His eyes shine with tears.

Kara closes her eyes, thinking of everyone, even those un-named by Clark. Her thoughts drifts back to the reality of her life slowly with the words. Soothing thoughts returns: The warmth of her sister’s hugs, the solid presence of J’onn at her side. Memories of Eliza’s cooking, the upcoming thanksgiving dinner. She imagines Maggie holding her hand while her family and friends all share a meal. Kara drops her arms and wraps them around his neck, pressing her face against his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Kara. The walls are broken, not me.” He rubs her back, sighing in relief.

“I spent all this time feeling terrible that I was falling for a woman, terrible that I might tarnish the honor of my house. Betraying their memories.” Kara grit her teeth and steps away from Clark. “I wish I knew what it truly meant before.” she shakes her head. “Thank you Kal. For bringing me back from there.”
Clark takes a step closer to Kara and holds her in a hug. “To be honest, I was about to break the computer myself before leaving, but you looked way angrier than me.” They both laugh and he looks toward the exit. “We should go.”

Both Supers fly above National City at high speeds, Kara contacts the D.E.O. “Steel Eagle one and Two on approach. This is a big emergency.”

J’onn responds into Kara’s comm. “Come into the city nest, we’re ready for your report.”

They fly in through the window and land at the bottom of the stairs. Alex is there with J’onn and Winn.

“What happened at the Fortress?” Alex immediately notices something with Kara.

“It was broken into, probably by Cadmus.” Kal gives Alex a Ziploc bag with bloody tissues. “There was blood on the console, it wasn’t even frozen when we got there.”

“They stole a weaponized virus that can kill every non Kryptonian and have all the project data.” Kara speaks, dejectedly. “They can do anything they want with it.”
“Not quite.” J’onn says. “According to the data Miss. Luthor provided us, they can’t use it without a specialized isotope that only L-corp makes and she refused to give it to her mother when she asked for it.”

The Kryptonians have a heavy sigh of relief, with Kara almost stumbling off balance. Clark catches her.

Winn pulls a computer chair from a nearby desk and offers it to Kara, who sits down hard in it. “Hey you look pretty beat, what happened?”

Kara looks unfocused for a moment before she hands J’onn an envelope. “The other thing I went to Metropolis for. For Kelly.”

J’onn takes it and smiles. “I’ll go deal with this, Kal, If you’d come with me I want to show you something.”

One look at Alex and Kara and he nods, going with him.

“What happened?” Alex crouches in front of her.

Winn gives her a glass of water, which she drinks in one go.

“My father created the virus. Said that killing every human was… within acceptable parameters… it’s been stolen by Jeremiah, I’m sure of it.” she points to the bloody tissue. “That’s probably my stolen blood.” She looks at Alex. “I got so angry Kal had to restrain me... “ she shakes her head. “I think they’ll try to alter the virus so it doesn’t affect humans, we need to warn Maggie so she can warn the aliens not to go in public spaces.”

Alex grins a little. “Sure, why don’t you do that, while I make sure this is yours? Okay?” she looks to Winn. “Keep an eye on her.” she rushes back to her lab.
Kara smiles weakly. “You still have the heart-eyes for Clark.” She takes her phone from her suit’s pocket.
Winn blushes. “I would kindly invite you to not mention that.”

“I won’t!” Kara pokes her tongue out at him.

Kara: Maggie, Supergirl just got me some vital information about Cadmus.

Maggie: what a nice thing to wake me up at 2 am for!

Kara: they potentially have access to a weaponized virus that could target aliens and kill them. They stole it from Kryptonian tech.

Maggie: shit fuck damnit. How imminent?

Kara: No ETA at all. We know they’re missing a component to make it viable.

Maggie: I’ll rush to the bar and talk to the owner

Kara notices another text notification pop-in. “Oh god. Lena.”

Lena: i need help. Nothing urgent, i just really need help. Come to see me tomorrow, please.

Kara: im going to bed in like an hour, i could be at lcorp at noon?

Lena: ok, ty

Winn looks to Kara curiously. “What about her?”

“Well, she got confirmation her mom intends on committing a genocide so, I can sort of relate.” Kara gives a dry smile. “She’s asking to see me tomorrow.”

“Want us to go grab something to eat? I was supposed to be off three hours ago.” Winn chuckles.

“I think maybe we wait until Alex comes back and we can go from there?” She smiles at him. “Plus, I think I can update you on a few things.” “Sounds terrifying, I’m in.” Winn smiles.

Kara frowns and pouts
“I meant terrific but I’m sleep deprived.” Winn gives a sheepish smile.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Supergirl lands on the L-Corp balcony as her phone hits noon exactly, she pushes the door open to enter the office. Lena is sitting at her office with a bottle of wine and an empty glass in her hand. “Is that all you’re having for lunch Lena? Wine?”

Lena throws her a baleful, withering look. She snaps. “Mind your own business.”

Without missing a beat, Kara pries the glass of wine from Lena’s fingers and with the same motion, takes the bottle from the top of the desk. She goes right to the vault hidden in the wall and stuff both inside, shutting the door. When Lena tries to stand up, Kara makes a not-so-playful threat. “If you even go close to this vault while I’m here, I’m welding it shut.”

Lena sits back down heavily. “Ugh.”

Supergirl then takes the seat opposite Lena on the other side of the desk. “What did you need help with?”

Lena shrugs, sinking in her chair, her gaze goes unfocused for a moment.

“Yeah, words are hard.” Kara empathizes, offering a thin smile.

“Alex and I, it’s not going well…” Lena breathes the words out.

Supergirl offers a bit of a sympathetic smile. “I kind of figured that out yeah. What went wrong?”

“I can’t seem to stop annoying her. And I want to stop annoying her.” Lena sighs.

“You want my honest thoughts on this, Lena? Or are you just looking for someone to rant to?” Supergirl asks. “I’m okay with both roles, I just want to know which I’m supposed to play.”

“Thoughts welcome” Lena’s gaze goes unfocused again as she can’t find anything alcoholic to drink within reach.

“Alex wants something from you that you can’t give her.”
Supergirl shakes her head.

“And what is that?”

“I think it’s your trust.” Supergirl suggests. “I think you can’t look at her, with the job she has, with the way things went between you two and see someone you can give your trust to.” Kara leans forward. “You’re wrong, but me saying it won’t be enough to go through how you see the world.”

“And how do I see the world? Huh?” Lena spits, growing more bitter by the minute.

“Through the lense of someone who’s been living with cruel and manipulative people. Who got told that it would make her a better person.” Supergirl speaks frankly.

Lena’s expression softens. “My mother came to visit, I’m sure Alex told you.” She points to the shattered mic parts. “She’s engineering a bio weapon, probably to kill you.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, the bio-weaponry she got her hand on can’t kill a Kryptonian. My biological father made it and Jeremiah probably stole it from the Fortress.” Supergirl shrugs. “The rest of the alien population though? Maybe even humans if Cadmus isn’t careful? They won’t be so lucky.”

“How are you not drunk already?” Lena asks, baffled by the chain of events wrapped around the woman before her.

“I didn’t have my drinking partner with me last night.” Supergirl smirks, her mind wandering back to the picture Maggie left in her phone.

“Detective Sawyer?” Lena smirks.

“Yep.” Supergirl shrugs. “Look, I know what it’s like to have parents and family who commit atrocious acts.” She looks to Lena. “You can’t go at this alone. I don’t want you to, Alex won’t want you to and I’m sure the rest of our friends won’t either when they warm up to you.”

“If.” Lena corrects.

“When.” Kara insists.

The silence between them feels oppressive and loud, purposeful and heavy. Lena’s turmoil, faced with Supergirl’s unmoving certainty seems to recede somewhat.

“How?”
Lena asks

“Talk to someone, a therapist. The D.E.O. are hiring a few, for their agents.” Kara explains. “It’s part of why I went to Metropolis.”

“How am I supposed to trust them?” Lena grips the arm of her chair.

“Lena, I can’t make you trust people. All I can tell you is that if you don’t take the risk, you’ll only end up hurting yourself.” Supergirl pleads. “Dive despite the fear.” Cat’s words resonate in her mind, making other words resurface. “A friend of mine once said that, all the worst decisions of her life were made because of fear.”

“She sounds like a brave one.” Lena says.

Brave one

. The words bring the voice of her aunt back into her mind, tears sting at the corner of her eyes. “She is!”

“I guess I should probably go speak with Alex before anything else.” Lena deflates and hides her face behind her hands. “I’ll try to do something about this.”

“Do you want me to fly you to the D.E.O.?”

“I would much prefer someone drives me there, I don’t enjoy flying while sober. Doing it while wine drunk seems like a bad idea.” Lena smiles weakly.

“I can call you an Uber!” Supergirl offers

“Or I can handle this on my own.”

“I’m not saying you can’t, but I’m saying you shouldn’t.” Supergirl sighs. “El Mayarah.”

“What does that mean?”

“Stronger together, it’s something important to my family.” She traces the symbol on her chest. “I’ll tell you about it if you want to hear it.”

Lena gives a glance at the screen of her computer, shrugging. “Beats the hell out of reading financial reports from Maxwell Lord.”

“Sweet Rao, fuck that guy.” Supergirl shivers over-dramatically.

Lena laughs at the sudden swearing. “Oh, there’s definitely a story there, but tell me about the saying first.”

“Of course!”

It’s late at night, Alex is still in her lab, reviewing several of the tech files about the Medusa virus alongside some diagrams for different alien viruses. She’s taking notes over a little notebook, eyes narrowed.

The door to the lab opens and closes. “Alex?” Lena’s voice is soft, exhausted, hoarse.

Alex turns around, her heart twisting in all the worst ways, sinking deeper. The sight of her still as breathtaking as the first time, yet the flutter of butterflies in her stomach brings a jolt of discomfort down her spine. “Hey.”

Lena looks as tired and done as she sounds: She’s wearing slacks and a white shirt, her hair loose. The hair tie is around her wrist. “I think we need to talk.”

Alex set her notebook down on the desk and she rests against it. “I’m listening.”

“I made up a dozen speeches in my head on my way here.” Lena approaches, but keeps a certain distance. “I think it’s better if we stop pretending like this can work.”

Alex’s eyes shine with tears and she reaches to take Lena’s arms. In her hand.

“Each time you asked for trust, each time you’ve wanted it, I couldn’t. I didn’t. I hurt you because of it.” The woman takes the hand from her arms and squeezes it in both hands. “I don’t even know how to apologize for that.”

Alex narrows her eyes at Lena, sniffling. “Thanks that’s thoughtful of you.” she winces and rolls her eyes. “Wow, am I smooth or what.” She takes a deep breath.

Lena laughs a little. “You’re smoother than you give yourself credit for.” she shakes her head.

“I can’t help you with that, not much.” Alex’s voice trembles. “But the D.E.O. can, if you can be patient.”

“I’m hoping to give that option a chance, but I’m not optimistic about it.” Lena looks at the hand on her arms, she takes it between her hands.

Alex smiles at the sight and feelings. “I know you won’t show up, but you’re still invited to game night.”

Lena makes a sound that’s a mix between a laugh and a sob, nodding in response.

Alex laughs, even as tears run down her cheeks. “Maybe even Thanksgiving, if you can make time for it.”

“Thank you.” Lena looks to the door. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything, just go talk to Henshaw about asking for psych help.” Alex’s voice breaks and she’s trying hard to pretend it’s not.

Their hands parts and Lena leaves the lab.

Alex follows about two minutes later.

Kara opens the door to her apartment to find Alex already curled up on her couch, watching TV. There isn’t even a word between them and the world already feels half as heavy as it was a moment ago.
She super-speeds the groceries into her fridge, picks two spoons and brings her newly acquired boxes of ice cream to the couch.

Alex cries quietly, setting the ice cream aside after just one bite. She wraps her arms around her sister and holds her against her heart, ignoring the fact that Kara has not yet given up on her own ice cream.

Kara cant her head to the side, resting it against Alex’s. “I’m sorry about Lena.” She feels her sister shrug.

“Don’t be.” Alex squeezes her sister in her arms. “I'm sad about her, but it's probably for the best right now. I'm upset about a lot of other stuff too.”

“Jeremiah?” Kara asks, whispering the name

Alex nods. “And your dad too, I’m sad about how they both hurt you.”

Kara takes a deep breath, and it turns into a soft, yet angry groan. “If it hadn’t been for Kal, I’d have ripped the crest from my suit.” she admits. “I don’t care what they’d think anymore.”

Alex smiles through her pain. “Does that mean a certain detective is about to get Lucky?”

Kara blushes. “That’s the thing I’m the angriest about. I can’t… just get together with her without telling her about my secret.” She set the ice cream down after taking another bite. “And that means telling her that my birth family put her world in danger in the worst way.”

“Are you saying you want to be with her? For real?” Alex whispers, hope shining through the pain.

Kara nods. “I have an actual date with her soon.”

“Go on the date and tell her, please. You can’t torture yourself with that.” Alex says.

Kara can feel a tear hit her shoulder. “What about you?”

“Lena and I are still friendly, she’s willing to seek help.” Alex shrugs. “I might take a hint from you and Maggie next time I have a crush on a girl.”

“Have dad try to kill her?” Kara jokes grimly.

“No, take my time and get to know her before jumping in with the sex.” Alex scoffs.

Kara chuckles. “Clark and Lois both thought it was me too.”

Alex’s grin turns into a laugh.

“Clark says he’s happy you two had each other, even if it was just for a short time.”
Kara whispers.

“Does he know about you too?” Alex asks with a soft, fading smile.

Kara nods. “Yeah, he invited me over to Smallville for a meal, when we’re ready.”

“By the way! James’ sister is coming in tomorrow.”

“I know, I think J’onn wants me to meet her. As Supergirl.”

Alex smiles. “Can’t wait to make our circle of friends grow.”

Kara grins. “You’re getting soft Alex, I like it.”

“Only because I’m stealing your ice cream.” Alex snatches Kara’s box with a fast grab and starts eating from it.

Kara sticks her tongue out at her sister, getting a middle finger in return. “I’ll just melt your whole box then.”
Kara looks toward her sister’s box of ice cream with glowing eyes.

“Scorched earth response much?” Alex seems unimpressed.

“Fine, but I‘ll pout.”

Alex laughs out loud. “I love you Kara.”

“Me too, Alex.”

She stands in front of the imposing building, in her full dress blues and carrying a bag that looks too heavy for her thin frame. She’s so focused on analyzing the building in front of her she doesn’t see the man approaching.

“Corporal Olsen?” He asks, a warm smile on his lips. His skin darker than hers. His voice gruff, yet warm at the same time.

“Yes.” A short, simple reply. Her nerves seize her body at the sight of the man before her.

“Director Henshaw, a pleasure to welcome you to National City.” He extends his hand to shake.

Kelly’s eyes widens, and she seizes again, surprised by at least three different things. She awkwardly grabs the hand and shakes it. “Thank you, sir.”

“At ease, Corporal.” He speaks again. “We’ll give you a tour.” he releases the handshake and walks with her inside of the building. By the time they make it to the guarded elevator at the back of the lobby, he’s relieved the woman of her bag. “We’ll start with the lockers, I think.”

“Yes, sir.” She stands straight as a steel rod beside him, her gaze constantly drawn to her bag. “I can carry it sir, it’s no problem.”

“So can I, Corporal.” They walk through a hallway with several sliding doors, he points to the various doors. “This is the men’s locker room.” they reach another corridor. “Those doors are the women’s locker room, yours is 5890. There are showers and other amenities, drop off your bag and we’ll move on.”

“Yes, Sir.” She takes her bag back from him and goes inside. A few agents are there and each of them gives her the weirdest look, but they don’t engage with her. She walks past the shower to find her locker and opens it. She finds a small note, folded and written by a familiar hand.

Welcome to National City, Kelly.
I got too busy to do the tour of the place with you today. I’m happy we got you out of Afghanistan and closer to home, give yourself some space to heal. - James Olsen.

She walks away from her locker after unloading it and leaves the note there. This time the other three agents stop her with just a little gesture to draw her attention. “Yes?”

“Hey, are you one of the new agents or are you running an inspection?” There’s definitely a tint of worry in the question.

Kelly offers a smile. “I’m just here to claim my locker and get the tour of the place.” the smile widens when they seem to relax.

“Well, welcome aboard then.” They all offer a handshake.

“Any advice?”
Kelly asks, accepting the handshakes.

“It depends what your job is, but the general advice is to stay clear of Agent Danvers. She’s the hardass around here. Just one grade below Henshaw.” The girls laugh a bit at that.

Kelly exchange a few more pleasantries and leaves the locker room. “My apologies for the delay, some agents wanted to greet me.”

“No problem.” Henshaw starts walking and head toward a double door to the end of the corridor. “This is the armory, the load out changes with every mission and situation. I suggest you get familiar with the weapons we have here, just in case. We don’t plan to assign you in the field, but it never hurts to be ready.”

“What’s the process for that, sir?” Kelly asks as they move through the armory. The whole room is full with heavy duty equipment. A few agents going over some plans nods to them as they walk past.

“You check out at the front counter and you get to the simulation room, or the shooting range.” He shows where all of it is on a map on the wall. “Some weapons may require a certain clearance level or permission to use.”

“Which is what tomorrow’s meetings are all about, right?” Kelly asks, getting just a touch more comfortable with the situation.

“Yes, we have about six other newcomers starting tomorrow, it was a little simpler for those meetings to be tomorrow.” He points to her. “We invited you today because of the special assignment we have for you.”

They walk another corridor and they cross paths with more agents, some of them armed and others in body armor. “Is that why I have a whole month off? Or a note from my brother in my locker?”

“Your brother worked with us frequently, because of his friendship with Supergirl and his general ability to influence the media to avoid unnecessary panics.” Henshaw smiles, as they stop right before another large door. “He’s the one who had the idea for the special assignment and you’re here to work on it because you have the exact mix of skills we need for it.”

“And the month off?”

“Major Lucy Lane, Former D.E.O. Assistant Director approved of the month of vacation as a transitionary period.” Henshaw nods to Kelly. “As for the real reason, I don’t know if you’re comfortable with that conversation being held in a public area.”

Kelly shakes her head. “No sir, I am not.”

“I will respect it, but I’ll say this: you’re not alone here.” He nods and pushes the door open. The command center bustling with activity, screens and computers everywhere. A large window with a balcony.

She sees a familiar face, one she’s seen with her brother in some pictures. “Is that Winn Schott?”

“Agent Schott, yes.” Henshaw stops by his desk. “Have you met our recruit, Corporal Olsen?”

Winn smiles at her and nods. “I heard about her a bit.” They shake hands. “Welcome to National City and to the D.E.O. I’m the resident tech monkey.”

“Thank you, Agent Schott. Can I make a request?” Kelly has a little mischievous smile.

“Sure, ask away.”
Winn says.

“Tell James I got his note and to stop asking favor from his ex.” Kelly seems a little more playful there.

Henshaw seems amused. “There weren't a lot of options for him.”

“All right, I gotta get back to tracking these people. I’ll get your message sent, Corporal Olsen.” Winn makes a mock official tone.

As they leave and begin climbing the stairs up to another floor, Kelly seems distracted for a moment. “So, I get that relation with the army is sort of tense around here?”

“The few times we interacted were unpleasant, but it’s been improving slowly.” Henshaw walks into a medical bay. “We don’t really use the ranks and salute, though we have strict clearance levels.” He sits at a table in the medical lab and invites her to join him too.

“So, this is the special assignment part I presume?” Kelly asks, hands twisting nervously.

“Yes, we’re waiting for a few other collaborators first. Do you have questions?” Henshaw asks

“Yes. Why pick me? I’m not done with my psychological studies and I’m not sure what skills I have that could be valuable in that regard that others don’t.” Kelly speaks, a skeptical look in her eyes.

“Because according to your results and your choices, you’ll be specializing in PTSD care. We need that. Our agents face terrifying circumstances and we’d like to provide better care.” Henshaw speaks seriously. “Because you’ve shown interest in new development of the discipline, we thought to offer you a rather unique chance to acquire a skill and be at the forefront of it. We were looking for potential more than anything and you’ve shown plenty.”

“I’m guessing that’s the ‘special’ part.” Kelly looks over at the door, a few people seem to gather there.

“Alien psychology to be specific.”

Kelly stares in both awe and terror. “That is an incredible opportunity, but I’m curious to what end you need the skill?”

“We’ll get to that.” He turns around and nods. Signaling the people at the door to come in.

The door opens and a few people walk in. a man, three women. The most surprising of which is Supergirl.

“Hi, Supergirl. I never thought this would be how I met you first.” Kelly shakes the girl of steel’s hand.

“Me neither, Miss. Olsen, but I’m happy to meet you.” She sits at the table, watching the other join too.

Henshaw introduces the rest of the people from there. “This is Dr. Hamilton, She’ll be one consultant you’ll be working with.” His hand shifts from person to person. “This is Dr. Luzano, from the National City observatory.” He smiles toward the last woman to sit down. “And this is Detective Maggie Sawyer, from the NCPD science division.”

“A pleasure to meet all of you.” Kelly shakes their hands.

“You were just asking me to what end is it we need you to learn Alien psychology.” Henshaw smiles “And I understand the worry, we are a Black Ops. But we strive to do good, of our own accord and at the behest of President Marsdin.”

Dr. Hamilton speaks up next. “We have a lot of Alien prisoners and captive at the D.E.O.” She pauses. “With the Alien Amnesty at our door and a shift in policy from the President and from Congress, we need to assess and help these aliens to integrate society one way or another. I’m here to provide important biological context and potential medication, so is the rest of the medical staff.”

Dr. Luzano offers a warm smile. “I’m a former prisoner of the D.E.O. and before that, Fort Rozz. I’m an Alien from Starhaven, I’m here to provide information of my travels before my capture, provide environmental information and cultural clues from a criminal perspective. I’m also an astronomy professor at NCU.”

Kelly smiles at them. “Okay, that pretty much sells it for me, I’m happy to be a part of something like that.”

Maggie seems like she already knows about Luzano and her smile is bright and adorable, Kelly is momentarily distracted. “I’m Maggie Sawyer, I’m a human. And I’m involved with the local alien community, I’m here to help you get a closer perspective on alien culture and how they often interact with humans.”

Henshaw smiles at Maggie, fondly and nods her way. “Miss. Olsen, most Agents know me as Hank Henshaw, but you may call me by my real name.” J’onn changes his form, red light dancing over his body as he changes to his martian form. “I’m J’onn J’onzz. President Marsdin put me in charge of this place knowing the truth.”

Kelly stares at the green martian, surprised at the sight before her, at the change in form. “I have no idea what to say or ask.”

J’onn smiles and shifts his image back to Hank Henshaw. “I am a Green Martian, I’m the last Son of my kind.” he looks to Supergirl and nods. “Supergirl has a role to play in this project too.”

Supergirl smiles at Kelly. “So, Kelly. A lot of the prisoners held by the D.E.O. were given prison sentences by a Kryptonian high judge. I’m here to provide insights and knowledge as to the sentencing and reasoning behind it.”

“I think Olsen will need a drink. Which is my specialty.” Maggie offers with a matching smile.

“You know, I think I’m going to need the month off to absorb all of this. But I’m in, this is a great thing to be a part of.” Kelly sounds excited, if slightly overwhelmed. “And also the drink Detective Sawyer is offering.”

“My pleasure, I know a place I think might be to your liking.” Maggie grins.

“So, read and sign those.” J’onn slides a stack of paper to Kelly across the paper. “And tomorrow, you’ll be Agent Olsen.”

Dr. Hamilton stands up. “I’ll see you tomorrow during the meetings.” and she leaves.

Supergirl looks at Maggie with a confused look. “You didn’t get the owner to keep it closed?”

“I got them to hire vicious security and to be strict with who they let in. Lucky for Olsen here, I got them to accept the new customer.” Maggie nods. “Just keep me up to date with the situation.”

J’onn nods. “We’re monitoring closely, we got them on the run for the moment. Agent Danvers and our collaborator tracked a few key members of Cadmus personnel and a high tech hidden lab. Their work on it is likely limited.”

Kelly focuses on J’onn. “Do my level of clearances allow me to know what this is about?”

“A terrorist, anti-alien organization known as Cadmus got their hands on a weaponized virus that could affect all aliens on earth and potentially humans.” J’onn explains.

Maggie continues. “The bar I’m taking you to for drinks is an alien-run and owned bar. It’s one of the very few public places where these people hang out. So it’s likely a good target for a biological attack.”

Supergirl nods. “Cadmus lacks some important elements to adjust the virus to their agenda too. Elements that I believe are under heavy surveillance.”

“The whole of L-corp security, plus Viper team.” J’onn explains. “It’s as safe as we can make it.”

“You work with L-corp?” Kelly seems taken aback, mostly looking toward Supergirl on this one. “Are the rumors true.”

Kara roll her eyes. “No, the rumors aren’t true. Ask James to tell you about that. I’m friends with Miss Luthor, nothing more.”

“Viper team? Is that Vasquez’s call sign?” Maggie asks.

J’onn agrees. “It is.” he looks then to Kelly. “You’ll get all the details about our communication tomorrow, but to give you a short run down, Corporal. External assistance is ‘steel eagles.”
he points to both Maggie and Supergirl. “This base is City Nest, we also have the Sand Nest.”

“You have an agent called Vasquez? I’m guessing there are a lot of jokes about the movie.” Kelly joins the more casual tone of the conversation.

Supergirl chuckles at Kelly’s comment. “You know that kind of fit given she’s sort of the…” she makes an unclear gesture to the hair.

Maggie complete. “The butchiest agent the D.E.O. has. Close second with Steel Eagle Four and Agent Danvers.”

J’onn takes stock of the little moment of shock on Kelly’s face and his eye gleam a little red for a moment.

“I told you you weren’t alone here.” The words resonate in her mind, his voice and his thoughts, warm and encompassing.

Kelly smiles and pretends really hard that she’s reading her contract.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The D.E.O. is on high alert when Kelly shows up the next day, agents run around the hallways in full gear, others look absolutely spent and some are even hurt, heading to the medical bay.
There’s twenty people in the locker room and no one pays her any mind as she changes out of her regular clothes and into the soft uniform they gave her the day before.

She picks up the chatter from a few rows of locker away and some from across the showers. A Cadmus location has been discovered and agents are preparing an assault on another one. When she walks out of the locker room, she’s met with the same 3 agents that met her the day before, who seem like they’re on their way back from a mission, bruised and battered.

“Hey, Olsen. You sure pick an interesting time to come in.” One of them teases.

Kelly surmises the agent’s situation rapidly. “You’re limping and bleeding, are you alright?”

The agent gives her a weak smile, nodding. When she speaks, her voice fades into almost a whisper. “Yeah, getting it looked over by Hamilton, got hit by…” It’s almost like she falls asleep on her feet as she crumbles to the floor, breathing becoming laborious, body trembling like a leaf.

Kelly looks at the other two. “Get Dr. Hamilton, I’ll provide first aid.” she rushes back inside of the locker room, picks the first aid kit on the wall and rushes back out, kneeling by the wounded agent’s side.

The agent’s breathing is causing a lot of pain, if the expression on the woman’s face is anything to go by. Kelly finds the wound on her leg, extract the bullet with the pliers and stem the flow of blood. Her mind goes by to the conversation yesterday. “Oh, no.”

She grabs the earpiece from the fallen agent and puts it on, pressing the button. “Olsen to City Nest, Olsen to City Nest?”

“Viper one here, What’s the situation?” Susan answers the comm, stern and annoyed.

“Agent Brown is down and presents severe respiratory difficulties from a hit in the leg. I suspect bio-weaponry.” Kelly takes off her black zip-up hoodie and covers the other woman’s torso to keep her body heat, leaving herself in a white tank top.

“Viper one to all wounded personnel, report to medical bay A immediately.” Susan’s voice comes over the intercom. “Consider yourselves under quarantine, priority Alpha.”

The door to the hallway opens and Supergirl and another Agent wearing the black D.E.O. tracksuit come rushing to them.
Supergirl grabs onto the wounded agent and informs the other woman with her. “Alex, her vitals are all over the place, I’m speeding her to the medical bay.”

As soon as that’s said, Supergirl super-speeds away and leaves Alex and Kelly alone in the hallway. “Did you come into contact with the blood? Are you having any respiratory issues right now?”

“I have gloves from the Medkit on and I’m breathing okay.” Kelly stand up with the other woman’s help.

“Then you’re in quarantine, priority Charlie. I’ll take you to the med bay you went to yesterday. We’ll run a battery of medical tests just to make sure.” Alex walks back down the hallway, urging Kelly to follow rapidly.

Kelly follows as fast as she can. “I haven’t got my meetings and official clearances yet, so I might ring a few alarms on the way.”

“If I’m with you, those alarms are going to shut up.” Alex stops at the armory door. “Respiratory situation?”

“I’m good.” Kelly confirms.

Alex opens the door and they make it through the armory, then the hallways to the command center. She leads them to the medical bay that oversees the CC and even catches sight of Winn and J’onn working together on something. She helps Kelly onto one of the med bay beds and immediately hook her on the monitoring equipment. There are blood tests, ocular tests, blood pressure checks.

“Viper One to all personnel, report any respiratory issues to Medical bay A immediately, Priority Alpha.” Susan’s voice comes over the intercom again.

“How long am I going to be here?” Kelly asks, casually, watching the woman work

“Since you’re breathing fine, I’m thinking just the shift you were supposed to do.” Alex turns around after using one machine in the room, filling a small tank with the blood sample she just collected. “I’m Agent Alex Danvers, I think you might have heard of me.”

Kelly opens her eyes a little wider. “Yeah, two counts, actually.”

“From James and?” Alex smiles.

“The agent that went down in the locker room hallway. She called you a hardass.” Kelly reports with a smile.

Alex roll her eyes. “Well yeah, I’m a hardass when you spend twice the time showering than every other agent and consistently come in work late.” she sighs. “Otherwise, I’m just in work mode.”

“You have bruises too, did you get hurt on the field?” Kelly points out something on Alex’s neck.

Alex turns red and clears her throat “No, that’s from an entirely different kind of encounter.”

“My bad, I won’t pry for more classified information.” Kelly says, going silent.

It gives Alex a little, short-lived smile. “I diagnose you with the ‘little shit’ sibling disease.”

Kelly almost snorts laughing. “Kara giving you a hard time, Agent Danvers? I think you’re projecting your issues on my and James’ situation.”

“Right, Shrink in training.” Alex recoils from Kelly’s retort with a sideway pout.

The machine Alex used to analyze Kelly’s blood beeps, drawing Alex away from Kelly’s bedside. She leans over to examine the data displaying on the screen with a strong focus.

Kelly watches Alex leaves and she can’t help taking sights of the woman in less than exemplary ways. It doesn’t take long before a veil of tears obscure the lovely sight, which Kelly quickly wipe away. “What kind of machine is that?” she asks, hoping the change of topic would sooth her mind and allow her to remain in Alex’s good graces.

“It’s an advanced hemo-testing technology we’ve been testing for two years.” Alex explains, working “Right now, I’m seeing no trace of any virus or anything, but we’ll still keep you here through your shift, to be sure.”

“Yeah, you’re worried it might be the bio-weapon Director Henshaw mentioned yesterday?”

Alex nods. “Well, yes, but I’m not that worried, I’ve seen the plan for the bio weapon myself. It affects every step of the respiratory system, including cellular oxygen distribution.”

“Viper One to All personnel, Medical Bay A is under strict quarantine, priority Alpha, avoid Hallway F.” Susan’s voice resonates through the intercom.

Then Susan’s voice comes up in Alex’s and Kelly’s comm. “Agent Brown got infected by a modified version of Medusa. Dr. Hamilton says it’s only transmissible by blood. We have diagnosed 3 Agents, their situation is stable, but we need a Xeno-biologist on staff, according to Dr. Hamilton.”

“I’ll ask the one Xeno-biologist we know of. Have J’onn join me in the command med bay.” Alex shakes her head.

“There’s already a Xeno-Biologist? You mean for aliens and extraterrestrial life?” Kelly looks incredulous.

“Yeah, er… that will require some explaining.” Alex uses her comm again. “Supergirl, I need you in the command med bay.”

J’onn and Kara show up a few minutes later, with Alex immediately taking Kara aside to have a conversation just outside of the med bay.
J’onn sits at her bedside and smiles at her. “I appreciate the risk you took by taking care of Agent Brown.”

“I remembered we spoke about a bio-weapon, so it made sense to make the call. I’m not entirely happy I was right.” Kelly sits up in the bed. “Unfortunately, I’m missing the appointments.”

“All the personnel involved in overseeing it are busy with the situation.” J’onn chuckles. “But I can give you a rundown of everything myself after Alex and Supergirl are done talking?”

Alex remains outside and uses her phone as she paces near the door, but Supergirl comes into the room with an exhausted, melancholic look about her. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Thank you for acting so fast with Agent Brown.”

Kelly smiles at the Superhero. “Not a problem, I’m not sure why Alex called you here, however?”

“Because you asked a question, and she needed to check with me to know what to tell you.” Kara sits on the edge of the bed. “Dr. Eliza Danvers is the Xeno-biologist we’re contacting. It’s Alex’s mom and my adopted mother.”

Kelly clicks in the blink of an eye, there’s a tear down her cheek the next instant.

“What’s the matter?” Supergirl seems a little surprised.

“I’m being emotional.” Kelly says with a shrug. “No one told on you, but I sort of figured what happened between you & James and then with Detective Sawyer. It’s pretty awesome knowing the local superhero plays for your team.”

Kara smiles and nods. “Anyone gives you trouble, call me, I’ll wreck ‘em. If James can’t.”

Kelly nods, wiping her tears. Then she gets this little mischievous gleam in her eyes. “Speaking of, I owe you an apology.”

“What for?” Kara quirks an eyebrow.

“For hitting on your girl while she took me out to the alien bar, last night.” Kelly laughs a bit nervously.

J’onn laughs out loud.

Kara laughs. “Yeah, all forgiven, I hope she let you down gently.”

“She did.” Kelly nods. “Does she know?”

“Not yet, but I’m going to tell her.” Kara explains. “That’s if she hasn’t figured it out already and is just humoring me.”

“I don’t think so, I saw you talk about gay stuff together last night and I don’t think she clicked.” Kelly says.

“She hasn’t.” J’onn shakes his head. “Her thoughts were mostly on work and Kara, not Supergirl. You being in the room didn’t change anything.”

“You read people’s mind just like that?”

“It’s more like you people think really loud.” J’onn explains.

The same night, After Kelly’s sent home, while Kara is away doing some minor rescue things around the city.
Eliza Danvers arrives at the D.E.O., escorted by Alex to the command medical bay.

“So, is this a good time or place to ask what’s happening, Alex?” Eliza asks, insistently. “It’s been thirty minutes of you being evasive.”

“Just let me secure the Med bay and I can talk. I can’t risk civilians and the public knowing what I have to tell you.” Alex tries to keep her exasperation from showing. She applies a password to the med bay door, then sweeps for bugs around the place..

“While you make sure we’re alone, do you have any guests I should know about for thanksgiving?” Eliza sits on one of the chairs, watching her daughter work.

Alex smirks. “James, James’ sister, Winn. Kara’s new friend Maggie and probably an empty seater but firmly invited friend Lena. J’onn too.” She looks behind a table against the wall.

“Who are Maggie and Lena?” Eliza takes interest, leaning forward.

“Maggie’s more of Kara’s friend, so I’ll let her tell you when she comes back from her Cat-saving spree.” Alex clears her throat, nervous. “Lena is… Lena Luthor.”

Eliza blinks. “I was going to ask Kara about her earlier, given the rumors about her and Supergirl.”

Alex laughs as she pries open a box and check the circuitry, plucking something out and replacing it. “Lena isn’t dating Supergirl.”

“How do you know?” Eliza shrugs. “Kara could be in the closet for all you know.”

Alex laughs louder, too loud. “I know it’s not her, because…” a deep breath, she pushes down a craving for a shot of whiskey. “Because I’m the one who did it.” She closes the electric box and taps her fist on the wall, almost instantly regretting the way she said it. “I gave Lena the hickeys.”

Eliza freezes for a bit and her gaze becomes inquisitive. “Why haven’t you told me?”

“Because it feels like a weird thing to pair up with the update about dad.” Alex shrugs. “Plus, last time I talked to you was just right after we broke up, I wanted to tell you but I chickened out. I told you about dad instead.”

Eliza stands back up and pulls Alex into a hug. “What does Kara think?”

“Lena’s helping us against Cadmus and since Cadmus knows about Supergirl, Kara told her so they wouldn’t use it against us.” Alex wipes at her eyes, sighing with mild frustration. “I think that was the right move.”

“Why?!” Eliza seems firmly convinced of the contrary.

“Lena has trust issues, like, going to a therapist kind of level of trust issues.” Alex shrugs her shoulders and sits down on the bed Kelly used earlier. “Me and J’onn had to work hard to convince her I wasn’t a honey trap.”

Eliza settles down a bit and takes a deep breath. “And the reason for the secrecy right now?”

“Dad broke into the Fortress of Solitude with his cybernetic upgrades and stole a project that Kara’s biological father worked on.” She points to a screen of the medical bay. “Cadmus has the virus and used it to enhance their weapons during a raid against us. We need help to work on a cure and you’re the only one with any valuable expertise.”

Eliza runs her hand down her face and sighs heavily. “Which means Jeremiah helped create a bio weapon, great.” She shakes her head.

“No, Zor-El did that. The virus is already a weapon.” Alex explains. “Cadmus lacks something to use it safely on a large scale, an Isotope we have a full security details on.” she points to the screen. “They want to eradicate all alien life on earth, but since Zor El designed it, it also includes humans.”

“How did Kara take it?” Eliza runs her hand down and up Alex’s back

“She started saying fuck a lot.”

Eliza laughs a little. “Alex…”

“I am not to blame for this.” She shoulder-bumps Eliza.

“Do you think you could have a sample of the special isotope? I think we’ll need it to do anything with the virus or the cure.” Eliza narrow her eyes at the screen.

“I’ll contact Lena, she has it back at L-Corp. We can have it here in an hour.” Alex picks her phone up, dialing Lena’s number.

“Is she even at work at this hour?” Eliza wonders.

Alex just laughs at the idea. “Not a chance she went home yet.”

Kara is laid down onto her couch, wrapped in her blankets and resting against a pile of cushions and pillows, her eyes focused straight to the screen of her phone. She’s been keeping a few conversations going with a few people, but as the night goes on, several of them stop with each of her friends’ bed time.

Maggie:

I’m about to go to bed, still on for the Karaoke?

Kara:

Yep. I’m a little nervous

Maggie:

Whatever happens, you’ll sing better than me.

Kara:

Oh I know that, I’m more worried about what comes after.

Maggie:

Why r u roasting me like this?.

Maggie:

w/e what got you nervous?

Kara:

After the date, when I take you back home.

Maggie:

We’ll at your pace, Kara.

Kara:

Maybe I’ll want to try yours, but, I’ll cross that bridge when we get to it

.

Maggie:

Night ;)

Kara:

Night! ♥

Just as she’s about to put her phone down, another notification comes in from Alex. One look at the clock and her eyes narrow. “Okay, what’s the matter Alex?” she asks herself.

Alex:

Hey, are you still awake, if so, can I call you?

Kara:

Yes

As soon as the phone rings, Kara answers it. “Yes?”

Alex sounds exhausted the moment she speaks. “I worked with mom and Lena until like, 3 am. We found a cure for the specific strain that infected agent Brown.”

Kara squeaks loudly and giggles. “I’m very happy about Agent Brown and the fact that you all worked together, how did it go?”

“Lena will probably show up at Thanksgiving.” Alex sighs “Mom knows about Lena and me. I think she suspects something with you, but I don’t think she knows for sure.” Alex almost rambles and yawns. “Maggie’s invited too.”

“Are you okay?” Kara asks.

“I’m worried about you Kara.”
Alex’s voice tremble

“What about?”

“Dad, your father, your mother, your aunt.” She takes a deep breath. “It’s a lot, on top of already a lot of things.”

“It is.” Kara admits.

“I’d like it if you could take advantage of the D.E.O. 's new medical staff.” Alex whispers.

“I’ll consider it once we’ve dealt with the Medusa situation.” Kara smiles. “But, I do feel less alone now than I did before. With the other aliens in town. With Maggie. I feel stronger than I ever did.”
Kara whispers. “I’m keeping you a special place in my thank you during thanksgiving dinner.”

Alex laughs a little. “I love you Kara.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Kara is looking through her wardrobe as the sun slowly sets over the horizon, expression furrowed in deep thought, reviewing each of the options available to her. “Hmm, I don’t want to be too girly so maybe not the dress.” she tosses the red garment to the side, just in case. “...and it doesn’t quite feel right to just dress like I do every day either.” she eyes the outfit she’d been wearing the first time she met Maggie. Khaki-green pants and dotted button up, she moves the outfit to the side.

A knock on her door stops the outfit dilemma in its track and she super-speeds to the door, opening it rapidly, peeking out. Eliza stands there, warm smile and open arms.
The hug is soft, warm and oh so needed. She drags her adopted mother inside while still trapped in her arms and closes the door with just a little push of her foot. “Hi!”

“Is everything okay, Kara?” Eliza asks, whilst still lodged in the hug. “I know it’s been a rough few weeks.”

Kara laughs a little, refusing to let Eliza out of the hug. “It depends on the day. Today’s good, tomorrow too.”

“Oh? I like that way you look at things!” Eliza laughs. “What has got you feeling good about today and tomorrow?”

Kara blushes. “I’m seeing someone on a date tomorrow and I’m trying to pick an outfit right now.”

“Want me to help you pick something?” Eliza suggests, hoping it might help her out of her hugging predicament.

“Only if you tell me why you’re really here” Kara whispers and holds Eliza a little tighter before releasing her.

“I heard about Miss. Luthor, Miss. Olsen and possibly your friend Maggie and I was a little worried.” Eliza steps back, sets her bag down and walks with Kara into her bedroom. “About your secret and the reason you’ve been so free with it lately.”

“Lena was a practical reason, Kelly figured it out by herself and Maggie…” Kara takes a deep breath. “She’ll know tomorrow night.”

“Is she your date?” Eliza smiles.

Kara nods and turns a special shade of red. “We’ve been hanging around for a while, there’s been something going on for a while. But tomorrow is the first time we’re doing something official.”

Eliza smiles brightly “Are you sure she’s safe for your secret?”

“Maggie knows about Aliens, she’s dated them before. She’s the one who showed me where they hang out, I even got drunk and eat food from a world I’ve visited with my family.” Kara explains and sighs gently. “It’s like… It’s like realizing there’s a place for my heart, for the whole of me at once. I’m going to trust her with my secret because a lot of others trust her with theirs.”

Eliza smiles, and there are tears in her eyes. “I’m so happy.”

“Since meeting with Maggie I’ve been struggling with words, with being a good Kryptonian, with what my family would think of me loving a woman.” Kara shakes her head. “But they never worried about what I’d think of them, not when all I’ve discovered about them brought me shame.” She looks at Eliza. “So I‘ll look her in the eyes and tell her who I am.”

“I’m sure she’ll like what she sees.” Eliza smiles and sighs. “Now, picking an outfit for a gay date is a little out of my field of expertise, so, would you tell me what you have so far?”

Kara smiles and points to the potential outfits she has so far. “I don’t want to be too girly, but I feel like my normal wardrobe isn’t exactly the right choice either.”

“Hmm, a fancy suit?” Eliza mimes a tie.

“It’s for Karaoke night with the boys, so that would be seriously overdressing.” Kara pokes at more options in her wardrobe.

The next evening

Staring into the mirror as she prepares to leave for her date, there’s a shine to her gaze and a song in her heart. Eliza’s wise words still dance in her mind from their time together the evening prior. “Sometimes what makes the ordinary special, is just a little touch.” It's perfect wisdom for her dilemma about her outfit.

She’s wearing her blue striped buttoned up with the sleeves rolled up to her elbow, being held there with a small set of pins. She’s wearing a pair of tight fitted black slacks with a matching belt and flat shoes, her hair tied back into a severe-looking bun. The outfit changes almost entirely the moment she puts on the dark blue tie.

One glance in the mirror and she can’t help the smile that comes to her. “Okay, this is good.” She takes a short breath, grabs her keys and her wallet and makes her way out of her apartment, almost running out of the apartment.

She takes about twenty minutes to make it to the bar, a little longer than she would’ve liked, she’s almost late by the time she gets inside. One waitress greets Kara with a bright smile “Hello Miss! Are you here with the NCPD?”

“I am someone’s plus one, actually!” Kara says, tugging her sleeves upward just a bit

“What’s your name, sweetheart?” She grabs a pad nearby and looks over the name.

“I’m Kara Danvers.” She looks over the pad and sees her name in the middle of the first page with a little star drawn to the side.

“All right! You get a free drink, courtesy of Detective Gibson.” The waitress moves so she stands right next to Kara and points to the table at the back of the room. “That’s Mr. Gibson and you and your date are at the same table, I think she’s about to get on stage for her song!”

“I’ll take a bubbly club soda if you please.” Kara asks as she makes her way through the crowd, dodging the various people. She makes it to the area with the other police officers, all of them stunned at her arrival. She takes a seat at the table with Gibson and another, older guy. “I was told this is my table.”

Gibson laughs loudly. “Damn she really has a type.” He looks at the older man at the table. “That’s Captain Anders and I’m detective Gibson, glad to have you at our table.” They both shake her hands.

“She’s prepping for her turn on the stage, picking her song and shit over there.” He points toward the little booth. “Pleasure to meet you, Miss. Danvers.”

“Please, Call me Kara. It’s a pleasure to meet you too.” Kara can’t help but look over to the booth, she hears Maggie’s laugh, her heartbeat suggests she’s nervous. “Thanks for the drink, Gibson.”

“No problem, consider it my way to thank you for what you’ve done to her. She’s all up in romance now, it’s really nice to see.” He chuckles.

“I promise I won’t tell her you said it.” Kara laughs along.

“I like her.” The captain chimes in, pointing to Kara.

Maggie gets onto the stage and walks about nervously as they announce the next song, she’s wearing jeans and a white button up with a loose black blazer over it. Her eyes snap onto Kara and widen in what Kara can only describe as a momentary gay panic attack.

The song plays over the speakers and the rest of the NCPD people who are already there, seems amused by it. It sounds like an older song; it has got a swing to it. Kara looks at the screen above the stage, the title appears after a moment: Zoot suit riot.

“Who’s that whisperin’ in the trees? It’s two sailors and they’re on leave!” Maggie even goes along with a little dance. “Pipes and chain and swinging hands!” She points at Kara and winks “Who’s your daddy, yes I am.”

Kara bursts out laughing at the display of bravado, if not singing talent, from Maggie. She snaps her fingers along to the music too.

“Fat cat came to play, noooow, he can’t run fast enough. You’d best stay away when the pushers come to shove!” Maggie is enjoying herself, trying to ignore the visibly growing red splotches on her cheeks and neck.
“Zoot suit riot, throw back a bottle of beer, Zoot suit riooot!” Maggie runs her hands through her loose hair. “Run a comb through your coal black haiir”

She continues on with the song, dancing and singing along to the lyrics with a good timing, it’s even getting better with the singing voice. The rest of the group is enjoying the performance, though for different reasons.

Kara leans in toward Gibson. “Is she living this down at the office?”

“Yeah, I mean, she’s the first one to go, people will do worse than that with a lot more beer in them.” He chuckles.

“A whipped up jitterbuggin' brown-eyed man! A stray cat frontin' up an eight-piece band!” She points to her captain with a fake threatening look.
“Cut me Sammy and you'll understand In my veins hot music ran.”

She dances a little to the music, and that’s when Kara knows why Maggie picked the song. When the lyrics show up on the screen, a split second before Maggie belts them out.

“You got me in a sway aaaaand I want to swing ya doooove!” She winks at Kara, but makes a sweeping gesture around her colleagues. “Now you sailors know where your women come for looove.”

The crowd erupts with laughter, it almost covers up the song.

Kara applauds Maggie as she takes in the reaction for a moment, nodding a little touch salaciously when some people look her way.

That’s enough to make Maggie go redder in the face than she was a moment before. The song continues for a little while before fading away under a round of applause from the department.

Maggie steps down from the stage, gives back the microphone to the staff, then moves toward the booth she’s at. “Hey Kara, give me a bit of space to sit?”

Kara scoots over, helping Maggie sit down next to her. But she leaves almost no space between them, their shoulders, arms and legs touch and she can feel the warmth of her date against her skin. “Is that enough?”

Maggie smiles her way and nods. “Yeah, I think so.” She takes Kara’s hand in hers and it feels like electricity already. “I sing like shit.”

Gibson and the Captain laugh a little. “Hey, you put on a good show Sawyer, don’t sell yourself short in front of your lady.”

“If you make a goddamn short joke out of this, Kara I am letting you go back home alone tonight.” Maggie threatens when she sees the smirk pulling at the corner of her ...oh god, of her

girlfriend

.

“I’ll refrain from it tonight then.” Kara teases and squeezes the hand she’s holding.

“So, Kara.” Gibson says. “What song are you going to sing?”

“I’m not sure yet, I imagine there’s a catalogue, I might pick something like the song to the never-ending story.” She pokes at her own cheek, her bubbly club soda comes at last and she drinks from it.

“I’m paying you with another one of those if you let me pick your song, how about that?” Gibson speaks with a little challenge in his voice.

Maggie laughs. “Oh boy, you don’t have to play his game, Kara. He’s just a dick like that.”

“No, it’s fine. Pick the song, I’m happy with another free drink.”

Gibson nods and quickly leaves the booth to speak with a waitress and disappears to the booth Maggie was at earlier. A few other people are there already and by the time Gibson comes back, with another club soda, there’s already two officers singing an ACDC song on stage.

“You’ll be up after the next singer.” Gibson smirks.

“What did you pick for her?” Maggie asks, raising her eyebrow.

“A bit of George Michael, for the mood.” Gibson grins.

“Careless whispers? Or Faith?” Kara asks, tapping her free hand onto the table. “Didn’t expect a young timer to know about those?”

Gibson laughs a bit. “You got some bite to you.”

“All Maggie’s doing.” Kara leans a little into her. “I’m an angel normally.”

“That you are.” Maggie narrow her eyes right at Kara and the urge to kiss her has never been quite this strong.

“Ladies, I’d like to remind you that this is a work function.” The captain clears his throat. “Keep the PDAs to a reasonable level.”

Maggie roll her eyes “Fine, I’ll wait until we’re all drunk.”

A waitress drops by with the club soda for Kara from Gibson and she alerts her that she’ll be up next for the Karaoke.

Maggie steps out of the booth to let Kara go up there. “Good luck, show them how it’s done!”
She kisses her on the cheek. “For good luck.”

Kara climbs onto the stage and takes the mic from the stand, she signals the woman at the Karaoke booth. Soon after, the song plays, with just the starting drumline and saxophone, Kara knows what she’s up against.

“Oh ohh ooooh” Kara performs the vocals almost perfectly, drawing gasps and gazes from the crowd. “I feel so un-sure... as I take your hand and take you to the dance floor.”
She closes her eyes and puts her soul into the lyrics, realizing just a moment later that she’s swaying to the music too. “As the music dies, something in your eyes… call to mind a silver screen and all its sad goodbyes.”

She pumps up the volume and theatrics when the next lyrics comes. “I’m never gonna dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm. Though it’s easy to pretend, I know you’re not a fool. I should’ve known better than to cheat a friend and waste the chance that I’ve been given” She drops to her knees and reaches out toward Maggie, over-dramatic. “So I’m never gonna dance again, the way I danced with youuuu”

Maggie fans herself a little there, having Kara sing a song to her, no matter what the song is about, makes her heartbeat rush to an unpleasant speed. “It’s hot in here.” there’s a touch of tremor to her voice, but thankfully, none of her colleagues notices.

The rest of the night is filled with laughter and drinks, songs and a bit of dance. Maggie and Kara leave the karaoke bar along with a few of her colleagues. They make it to Maggie’s apartment building, using an Uber. The whole of the way, Maggie is wrapped around Kara’s left arm, her head resting on her shoulder.

Even when they exit the car and reach the building, Maggie still holds onto Kara’s arm. “Tonight’s been amazing so far.” Kara speaks softly, stopping right in front of the door into the building.

Maggie nods and finally releases the arm, but only to stand right in front of Kara, just a little closer than they’re both used to. Both only smile wider. “I really want to kiss you.”

Kara dips her head forward, pressing her forehead against Maggie’s. “I don’t think I could want it more than I do right now, but I have to tell you something, before.”
her words all whispers and sweetness.

“I’m all ears.” Maggie replies, wrapping her arms around Kara’s neck.

“Can we go up? It’s not something I want other people to hear.” Kara blushes. “I’m not trying to be smooth or anything.”

Maggie smiles, brighter than she was a moment ago. She gently pulls Kara backwards into her apartment building, unlocking the lobby door with only her left hand. She leads her to a ground level apartment, with no real view and rather small. Every wall is decorated with framed pictures from all over the world, every shelf has a bonsai tree on it, the bedroom is small and contains a small bed.

“So, what did you want to tell me?” Maggie’s smile is lit by her joy, by the affection dancing through her mind for the woman before her.

Kara takes a few steps away from Maggie, her gaze focuses on her quickly, right in the eyes. She clears her throat, trying to ignore the fear, the nerves and the potential risk she is taking. She opens her mouth to speak and where she expects words to fail her again, this time, they find their way easily. “I’ve replayed this conversation in my head about a thousand times
already, trying to find the words for what I want to tell you.”

“That’s what it’s been like for me since I met you at Joy’s shop. I’ve been having trouble to find words and concepts to what you brought into my life.” Kara says with a little smile. “I wanted to make this fit into a mold that had a place for it.” She takes a deep breath. “I have the words now.”

Maggie smiles, watching Kara pour her soul out to her, there’s a bit of nerves and a lot of joy in her eyes.
She’s quiet, she listens.

“I’m an Alien.” Kara says, ignoring the dizzy spell that washes over her. “I escaped my world’s destruction and ended up here, with the Danvers.”
She looks off in the distance. “Alex has always been my only home.” She points to Maggie. “Until you showed me that Alex was just the start.” her eyes fill with tears, and her smile grows. “You made my life bigger.”
Kara chokes up and wipes a tear from her eyes.

Maggie seems surprised for a moment, but her smile remains. Steadfast and stubborn. “Where are you from? What’s your real name?” The questions come with affection and care, Maggie takes a step closer to Kara.

“That’s… That’s the part why I needed to tell you before we moved forward.” Kara says, her face scrunching up as she lets her secret out. “My name is Kara Zor-El, I’m from Krypton.”

Maggie blinks once and it clicks in her mind. Her eyes widen, her body tenses hard and her mouth opens, several times, to formulate some responses but she comes short. Her breathing goes faster, shallower for a moment.

“I should leave.” Kara takes exactly one step toward the door.

The movement startles Maggie into action; she reaches for Kara’s arms and squeezes it. “Don’t go.” she steps in a little closer, reaching up for the glasses and taking them off, then puts them down by the nearest bonsai tree. “I don’t think you need these.”

“They’re lead-lined. It stops the sensory overload.” Kara whispers, smiling nervously.

Maggie steps a little closer again, she cups Kara’s face with both of her hands. “Kiss me.”

“You sound angry.” Kara steps closer, welcoming Maggie in her arms, bringing her closer.

“Not with you.” Maggie moves her arms around Kara’s neck to pull her into the kiss they both so desperately want. It’s a passion like fire, a shock that goes down both of their spines. It’s sweet and bitter in taste, and the warmest their hearts have felt in decades.
It almost ends twice, but it continues and lingers.

Kara smiles as it ends, but her gaze can’t quite rise to meet with Maggie’s “Do you even believe me?”

Maggie shrugs. “I don’t know. It’s a lot to take in one night.”

Kara pulls Maggie in again, for another kiss. It’s much softer, gentler than the first one. She flies up a foot in the air and Maggie gasps into the kiss and grasps at her shirt by the collar. “And now?”

Maggie has a smile now, but her eyes are still wide open in awe and terror. “Kara?”

“Yes?”

“I’m going to need time to deal with this.” Maggie doesn’t let go of Kara’s shirt, even after they touch the ground again.

Kara nods, and her expression shifts from joy to melancholy. “Just let me know when you want to talk aga--”

Maggie interrupts her with a fierce, yet short kiss. “No, I’m not breaking up. I’m not even asking for a break. I just need a day or two. Maybe someone who I can speak with about this.”

Kara laughs a little. “Alex could work, Kelly and Lena might too, but I wouldn’t impose anything on them for a while.” she considers for a bit. “If you’re up to it, I’m sure my adopted mother would be happy to have a word with you?”

“Definitely going to Alex then.” She gently takes her hands off of Kara’s shirt. “Do you want some coffee or me to call a cab?”

“I’d like a coffee, but I can get home pretty easily.” Kara smiles. “What do you want from me? Space?”

Maggie smiles. “I just want a few days of us just talking through texts and gifs. I’m not asking for anything more than a bit of physical space.” she takes a step closer and kisses Kara’s lips again, a short, soft one that leaves them both smiling. “After you leave, though.” She goes to the kitchen and starts to work on the coffee.

“I noticed you liked the outfit.” Kara teases, as she smoothes out the wrinkles Maggie left by grabbing her shirt.

Maggie laughs. “I still do.” Then she goes a bit quiet, her gaze locking with the coffeepot.

“What’s on your mind?” Kara asks, from her perch on the back of Maggie’s couch.

“Wishing I had club soda right now.” Maggie smirks.

Kara blushes at the underlying implication.

Maggie smiles, proudly, but her cheeks match Kara’s.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Kelly emerges from the elevator, carrying a suitcase in one hand and a tray of Starbucks coffees in the other. She dodges a few people rushing to catch it before it closes. She peeks into Kara’s office when she walks past it and finds it empty with a little note of ‘out until 2, leave a message - KD”.

Kelly makes it to the large, almost open office of her brother, finding him reviewing a stack of files and related videos with his computer. She knocks on the glass door with her foot and offers a smile to him when he looks up.

James drops what he’s doing and opens the door for her, relieving her of the suitcase rapidly, he sets it on one of the couch. “Hey, thanks for the visit, wasn’t sure when you’d be free for it.”

Kelly set the tray of coffee on his desk. She takes a deep breath, as she watches him reach for her with open arms. There’s a moment of hesitation that seize her heart and mind, but it melts the second she feels his warmth. Her entire composure disappears alongside it, and she cries into his chest.

“I’m sorry you had to go through this, I’m here now.” He squeezes his sister hard with his arm and sways from side to side a bit.

Kelly tries to stop the tears from flowing, tries to contain her emotions, but with the floodgate open it’s all but impossible. All she can do is to mitigate the noises she ends up making. “It hurt so much.”

“You want to talk about her? About it?” He asks, looking to the door. “I’m the boss here, I can just leave and no one will question it.”

Kelly shakes her head. “Not here, I’d like to drink my coffee and maybe just talk.” she sniffles and wipes at her nose, looking for tissues. “I don’t think I understand my life right now.”

James chuckles, passing the tissue package he has in one of his drawers and then takes a seat next to his sister’s luggage, quietly inviting her to do the same. “How did it go at your new job?”

“Almost got infected by a Kryptonian bio-weapon, Flirted with Supergirl’s girlfriend on accident.” She raise fingers as she enumerates “Got offered to help shape a new field in psychology, met two telepaths from Mars, Got diagnosed with ‘little shit’ sibling disease by Alex Danvers. Busy day.” Kelly enumerates and draws a deep breath, as if to weather the weight of it all.

James blinks at the sheer amount of things happening at once to his sister. “Yeah, the D.E.O. is an exciting place like that.” he winces and wraps an arm around her shoulders, holding her firmly. “Hopefully it calms down from there.”

“I like the opportunity I’ve been given there, I like what they’re trying to do. I love what J’onn told me about you too. I’m proud, James.” Kelly takes another deep breath.

“J’onn? He told you?” James inquires.

“He did, I figured out Kara and Detective Sawyer and what happened with you.” Kelly smiles, drying her tears with another tissue. “Oh, I also met with Miss. Luthor, briefly.”

“I haven’t met her either her or the detective yet. Probably over Thanksgiving though.” James smiles

“Oh yeah, I was told I had a seat reserved at that table if I wanted it.” Kelly looks ahead, into the office space. “Am I really welcome there James?”

“You will be. Eliza insisted, Kara and Alex were very excited for me to bring my sister there so they’re no longer the only siblings. Winn is going to love you, if you haven’t met him already.” He smiles at her. “It might be a little much at first, but it’s all genuine.”

“Okay, good.” Kelly rapidly retrieves their coffees.

“Seems like that’s leading to another piece of conversation.” James says, a little quirk of his eyebrow.

“Do you think we could save it for later?” Kelly asks.

“Of course, I’m happy to just have coffee with my sister for once.” He tip his drink against hers.

A comfortable silence grows between them.

Maggie makes her way up the stairs, her heart beats in her ear she’s so nervous.
She approaches Alex’s apartment door and knocks on it. A few moments pass and her heart drops her chest when the door opens.

Eliza smiles at her and tilts her head. “Alex is out at work, can I help you?”

“You’re Eliza?” Maggie makes an easy guess.

“And you are?” Eliza narrows her eyes.

“I’m Maggie, I was kind of hoping to talk with Alex about…” Maggie’s voice trails off when Eliza pulls her into a hug.

“You wanted to talk to her about what Kara told you last night?” Eliza steps back from the hug, a smile so bright she matches the sun.

Maggie nods and looks everywhere but Eliza, drawn by the intricacies of Alex’s floor design. “Yep.”

“I can listen to you if you’d like. Come in, Alex won’t mind.” Eliza pulls Maggie inside by the arm and closes the door behind her.

“Of course.” Maggie hangs around the door while Eliza goes to the kitchen. “I’m not sure where to begin.”

Eliza looks over her shoulder. “You can start by taking off your shoes and coming to sit down while I make some tea?”

“Alex has tea?” Maggie narrows her eyes suspiciously.

“No, but I brought some.” Eliza smiles at the accuracy of Maggie’s sentiment between Alex and tea.

“Then sure, I’ll take a cup, please.” Maggie watches Eliza work on the tea, staying quiet while that happens, trying to find what to say and what not to say.

Eliza finishes the tea and serves Maggie a cup of tea, bringing a pot of honey along. “Alex has honey though, I was a little surprised.”

Maggie shares a little laugh over the remark. “Thanks for letting me in and for the thanksgiving invitation.”

“My pleasure, it will be a full table.” Eliza says with a big grin. “So, how did your first date with Kara go?”

“It was a karaoke night with my colleagues, so it went pretty well. Both my partner and my captain liked her.” Maggie explains. “I didn’t make a total ass of myself when I started singing.”

“What song did you pick?” Eliza inquire.

“I picked Zoot suit riot and my partner picked Kara’s song in exchange for a free club soda.” Maggie smiles “She ended up singing Careless whispers.”

Eliza smiles. “You know that was the real her too?”

Maggie goes quiet, but nods.

“Good” Eliza smiles.

“It’s a lot to take in.” Maggie croaks, almost too emotional to speak fully.

“What is?”

“I know it’s a question of perspective, but, do you know how people can look at Supergirl when they don’t know her?” She clears her throat. “Do you think about how faith can mix into that and how, for once, it seems like there might be some kind of creator that cares about this whole mess?”

Eliza blinks once but she catches on rather quickly. “You figured Supergirl was an angel? Is that what you’re getting at now?”

“I don’t believe in a way a church would approve of.” Maggie admits. “But It’s hard to look at the way she saved us, the way superman saved us and not feel like there’s a connection there.”

“And your first reaction to meeting the angel was to shout at her that her work wasn’t up to snuff?” Eliza asks with a little amused smile. “Are you Jewish?”

Maggie laughs a little. “No, but I learned that from a girlfriend that was.” she shakes her head. “And I apologized to both her and Kara for it.”

Eliza laughs a little. “I know, she told me about it.” she leans forward, setting down her cup “Can I tell you something a little abrupt?”

“Sure.” Maggie nods, sipping her tea.

“Kara comes from a different culture, a different world, a different people.” Eliza speaks softly. “I know you understand that” she reaches across the table to rest her hand on top of Maggie’s. “She’s not an angel, she’s a person with losses heavier than any other I’ve seen. She has flaws and insecurities, some of which come from her world, some of which come from how terribly Jeremiah and I messed up.”

Eliza leans in. “She thinks you have a place for her, for the whole of her and I know you do.” she squeezes the hand. “I just want you to understand that you’re not dating someone who’s been sent by a god or another. But someone that’s been beleaguered by the trials they put in her path and yet still rise every morning and fight for this world.”

Maggie stares at the hand over hers and smiles sadly. “I’m sorry…”

Eliza squeezes Maggie’s hand again. “I didn’t say that to make you feel terrible, Maggie. I said it because it’s something I think you can understand.“

“I know, thanks.” Maggie takes a deep breath. “And I’ll be there for Thanksgiving, I promise.”

J’onn sits down in one of the meeting rooms, watching some agents leave the room.
Alex and Susan remain behind. “Okay, the plan about Cadmus, you said you two had come up with something?”

Susan nods and motions to Alex first. “I think Agent Danvers has it down better than I.”

“We’ve tracked down 4 different locations using their spies in the D.E.O. and we know they approached several other agents.” Alex motioned to the various agents that left after they spent an hour detail how they were approached. “They don’t have what they need to fully adapt the Medusa Virus and I feel like we’re chasing the crumbs they’re leaving us willingly.”

J’onn nods once. “I agree, I have Agent Schott watching everything through the city surveillance, but he’s sure we’re out-teched. He believes they’re using Alien technology to hide themselves.”

Susan sits on the table between Alex and J’onn, ignoring both of their judgemental glance. “So we need to get alien technology of our own.”

“Kara and Kal are both at the Fortress of Solitude reviewing what else is hidden there to see if they would share some of the tech they find. Also warning us about other bad surprises they could find there.” Alex takes a deep breath. “I think we should start hiring Aliens to help us, in a more official manner.”

J’onn smiles. “That might be a hard sell to the President, but given that she’s coming to town soon to sign the amnesty act, we ought to have some ground there.” He nods. “We can always use Kara and Maggie to scope out talent out in the field.”

“Lena has a Nth Metal refinery, we could ask her about how she goes about that hiring process and where she finds everyone.” Alex suggests.

“Do you want me to do that, Agent Danvers or do you want to?” Susan asks a sympathetic look.

“Do it and bring her the information she asked about the medical stuff.” Alex points toward Dr. Hamilton’s office.

J’onn nods. “I’ll also talk to M’gann about potentially helping the efforts should It become reality.” he smiles. “I would also like to mention that we have enough evidence to clear Agent Danvers from suspicions about the leak of information.”

Susan chuckles. “I was worrying this would go on for too long and we’d have to find Alex-proof bunkers.”

Alex gives Susan a middle finger. “Keep it up shortstack and I’ll kick your ass in the next hand to hand drill.”

“I thought maybe we could do a counter spy operation on Cadmus.” J’onn says with a lowered voice. “What would you think about that? I’m not entirely sure how safe that would be, I feel like they’d be expecting it.”

“I would suggest it, but I don’t know how convincing I could be when faced with Jeremiah.” Alex shakes her head. “I feel like I’d be too close to it and I don’t know if other agents would be up to the task.”

Susan shakes her head. “I’m not sure I could pull it off to be honest either.”

“And it’s not like they wouldn’t have ways to deal with me, no matter the form I take. I’ll see if I can come up with a way to find a way in.” J’onn considers.
“We can’t just let them stay idle for long, we don’t want them having too much time to work on making Medusa worse.”

“Eliza and I are working on finding countermeasures, we already managed something to help those who got hurt in the last raid.” Alex says with a smile.

“Troop morale is great, all of them are feeling like we’re doing some fine work lately, so we’re still in a good position.” Susan points to Alex. “Us having a solution for the bio weaponry really boosted their confidence in the organization.”

“Okay, I’ll look for a way in. Alex, keep working with Eliza on the countermeasures. Susan, work with Agent Schott to potentially find a new target to hit so we can capitalize on the good morale.”
He stands up. “I’ll also confer with the president on hiring aliens.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The therapist’s office is in a different building than the main D.E.O. base, on the opposite side of the street. An underground passage provides access to the floors the covert agency has sealed from any other accesses; it's like an underground urban maze.

Lena is sitting in the office by herself, it’s a rather threadbare affair with only a desk and an unplugged computer on it. Two different sets of comfortable seating arrangements are still safe in their boxes. It seems they will hold their first session sitting in two high-end gaming computer chairs.

Lena was asked to dress comfortably and did so: She wears a pair of red and yellow sweatpants and a black hoodie depicting various constellations. Her hair is held up in a wild, messy bun.
She awaits, alone on the seat, looking at her phone, reading some ‘urgent’ emails from various investors.

The door to the office opens and a woman, clearly from Indian descent, walks in, wearing a black hijab and an otherwise sober grey skirt suit. “Oh, there you are! I was waiting for you at the entrance of the floor.!” She speaks with only a soft accent, but her English is beyond reproach. “I’m Dr. Leana Kohli.”

Lena turns in her chair, pocketing her phone in the hoodie’s pocket and freezes for just a moment at the sight of the doctor. Surprise overtakes her sense at the sight that greets her. A bright, dawning smile naturally blooms on her, she accepts the handshake. “And I’m Lena Luthor.”

The woman goes to take the only other available seat and takes a moment to adjust its height and comfort. “My son let me borrow his chairs for a few days, while I was still settling my office! But we got everything delivered this morning, sorry for the lackluster accommodations.”

“I understand you’re seeing me even before officially starting to work for the D.E.O. and I appreciate that more than I’d appreciate lounging on a long couch.” Lena teases, her mood thoroughly enhanced by the woman. “And it’s lovely of your son to help you!”

The doctor smiles at the banter and seems to finally find the proper set up so her legs don't quite dangle from the edge of the seat. “He is a blessing on my life.” she comments sweetly, pointing to Lena. “How are you today, Miss. Luthor? I see you’re in a good mood? Talk to me about that.”

“I was expecting a long, dreary conversation with an old man about the intricacies of my childhood.” Lena comments with a soft rise and fall of her shoulder. “Now I will probably get the same topic, but with someone far more appropriate.”

“I will be honest, I did not expect to be surrounded by such a varied team. There is a black woman joining us next month, two Japanese psychiatrists are coming next week and we even have a few unused offices for potential aliens!” Dr. Kohli’s eyes are wide and bright with excitement as she speaks. “Is everything else as good, Miss. Luthor?”

“Not quite, I’m sort of trying to navigate a breakup. Along a few other things, like a missile attack occurring at my company and against my helicopter and…” Lena shakes her head. “I’d like to pretend like I’m over those for the moment.”

Dr. Kohli smiles and immediately dives for the one topic left open. “Let’s begin with the breakup, then. What happened?”

“I couldn’t offer her what she wanted, what she needed for the relationship to work with her. So we ended it.” Lena sighs. “It didn’t even last that long, and it's still almost the only thing on my mind, it’s what’s taking the most space in my thoughts now.”

“What did she require that you didn’t have, Miss Luthor?”

“My trust, I just couldn’t.” She runs her fingers over her jaw, trying to control her thoughts, her reactions to her own words. “She works the D.E.O. and things aligned in such a way that I couldn’t not see the myriad little coincidences that made it suspicious that they’d approach me. I couldn’t not see her as a honey trap used to get my support.”

“Is this your first homosexual experience?” The question comes casually, the Doctor wanting to keep the pressure as low as possible on her new and first patient.

“No, I’ve had several before. I’m bisexual, I’ve dated men too.” Lena shrugs lightly. “I’m not exactly out of the closet, even if the media would like to paint me as something else.” soft chuckles follow the words. “And it wasn’t Supergirl, before you ask.”

“What are the coincidences that made you suspicious?” Dr. Kohli says with just a little smile, amused by the comment about Supergirl.

“Member of a black ops that suddenly discovers that my adopted mother is part of an anti-alien terror group? Only after I’ve engaged in sexually charged encounters with one of their top agents?” Lena says with a little nod “And now I’ve brought up my mother, is that what you were after?”

“Partially.” Doctor Kohli smiles. “I think maybe we’re close to the reason and how you learned how to analyze people’s motives.”

Lena sighs and shrugs. “I suppose there’s no use in pretending it’s not the case.”
she crosses her arms over her chest.

She senses Lena’s reluctance and decides not to press on for the moment. “You said she was your adoptive mother, what happened with your birth mother?” Dr. Kohli asks, gentle and soft.

Lena’s expression shifts away from a frown to a struggle against her tears.

The doctor reaches into the pocket of her suit’s blazer and gives a pack of tissue to Lena. No words, silence fills the office.

Lena: DEO therapist is brutal. [crying selfie]

Kara: You ok?

Lena: Im not sure. Sorry for the sudden texting

Kara: Lena, you’re a friend, you can text me whenever.

Lena: good. Thanks. Im going to go eat now.

Kara: go for Joy’s place & buy yourself a box. It my favorite donut place.

Lena: ty for the suggestion. your taste in donut comes recommended.

“So, why aren’t you using your leave already?” Alex asks, as she leads Kelly through the city base underground level, leaving the secondary building and heading toward the training center.

“I’m planning to start tomorrow, actually. I just wanted to run through all the test and welcoming committees before.” Kelly shrugs. “Only things left are the hand-to-hand evaluation and a meeting with Pam for a few forms I need to fill. NDAs and such.”

“You don’t seem all that enthusiastic about getting a whole month off.” Alex asks, patting Kelly’s back as they take a turn toward a different corridor. “Dreading the lack of routine?”

“No, dreading where my head’ll be at when I have nothing to do.” Kelly admits, taking a deep breath as they finally reach an entirely different room than the training center she’s used before. “What is this place?”

“A high-tech training center where we can simulate different situations using different technologies. Different gravity, heat, cold, light. It’s where me, J’onn and Kara train. Along with a few others.” She closes the door behind them. “Yeah, I got something like that too.”

Kelly bounces in place and starts doing some warming up, keeping a certain distance from Alex, if only to avoid any surprise training maneuvers. “Yeah I caught that, you and Miss. Luthor were close?”

“We’re still friends, but yeah.” Alex shrugs and does a bit of warm up too, leaving Kelly some space, taking off the zip-up hoodie and throwing it away in a corner of the room. “How’d you ‘catch’ that?”

“Like your friend Maggie, I can actually detect.” Kelly seems done with the warm up stand there, hands on her hips, waiting for instruction.

Alex chuckles. “What about you? What’s on your mind?” she positions herself with raised fists, facing Kelly. “We can go full contact.”

“You’re a shrink too?” Kelly accuses intending it to be playful, but with a raw emotional vibration to her voice, she squares up too.

They circle each other slowly, watching each other’s movements in a weird, hesitant dance.

“I went through several psychological training classes and had a few experiences with telepathic aliens.” Alex explains stepping closer, throwing a few jabs, just to test Kelly’s reflex.

“Good to know.” Kelly almost ignores the test attacks and uses the momentary lack of defense to shoulder-tackle her as hard as she can.

Alex stumbles back a bit, but not as much as Kelly expects. She retaliates by throws a surprise right hook that catches the woman right in the stomach and makes her bounce back. “Oh, so that’s how it‘ll be.”

Kelly breathes deeply, and she feels it, her fury, her pain, her wound bleeding into her bones, her muscles. She grunts, ignoring the dull pain in her stomach and throws a flurry of hard straight toward Alex’s center mass.

Alex changes her tactics when she sees Kelly’s mood darkens and changes with the attack, she evades and keeps her defense up, waiting for the right moment to return the attack. She remains quiet, managing to defend against most of the sudden attack.

Kelly is relentless for a few moments and when she backs Alex near the wall of the room, she throws a hard, fast kick. It lands against Alex’s side, just beneath her ribs, eliciting a harsh grunt from her opponent.

Alex allows her battle rage to over-take her for just a few seconds, enough to catch the kicking leg with her arm. The moment that follows in a quick blur and she brings them both down. She slams

Kelly’s back against the floor, her free arm landing across her opponent's throat.

They stare into each other’s eyes, breathing heavily. The proximity, the positioning brings both their mind in the exact same place, the exact same moment.

Alex blushes furiously, but maintains the hold against Kelly, feeling the other woman’s heat against her arms and body. “Is that all?” She asks with a domineering glare.

Kelly slaps Alex hard in the face. “What do you think?” her voice choked up with fury and the arm pressing down on her neck.

Alex pushes herself up, intent on helping Kelly stand up once she’s up. She ignores the pain burning on her cheek.

Kelly traps her, grabbing her by the hair and making a strange effort to keep Alex’s arm on her neck. Her fury dilutes mildy with a few drops of bitter flavoring.

“I can’t.” Alex whispers, an understanding tone.

Kelly smirks and releases her grasps as soon as it’s spoken. “I’m sor---” she moans when the kiss follows.

“None of that.” Alex says, as she stands up, she let Kelly stand up on her own, working on unlocking the door.

“Mixed signals. Requesting clarification.” Kelly speaks in a military like manner, as she sits up on the floor.

“I can’t do a casual hookup again.” Alex says, shaking her up.

“Then why the kiss?” Kelly asks, breathing deeply.

“Because I want to.” Alex chuckles with a grim smirk. “I just can’t do that to myself again. And I didn’t want you to apologize.”

Kelly pushes herself up off the floor and moves closer to Alex. “I think I at least owe you an answer to your question when I’m not… in a situation where it’s acceptable to slap someone around.”

Alex laughs at that, a little too loud. “You don’t owe me anything, but if you want to talk, we can always grab a bite together sometimes.”

“Sometimes before thanksgiving? I mean, it’s still far away but… you guys seem to be planning for it a time in advance.”
Kelly says with a smirk.

“It’s a big thing for us, a tradition.” Alex nods. “I’ll text you later tonight to set it up?”

“Good.”

“Kara?” Maggie asks, watching the woman before her reach for a pack of steak. She recognizes the hair, the gray sweats and the glasses from behind. Also her butt.

She startles, and turns around, her smile freezes between uncertainty and pure joy. “Oh, hey. I didn’t know you did your groceries here?”

“It’s four blocks from my place.” Maggie says with a smirk. “What are

you

doing here?”

Kara smiles a little more now. “I’m helping my flying friend with her groceries. Wouldn’t want people to know where she shops. I mean, imagine the energy she burns per day.”

Maggie smiles at the surprising display of subtlety, she reaches out with her hand to grab her shoulders, squeezing. “I’m happy to see you. I spoke with your mom a bit.”

Kara nods. “She mentioned it in a text while I was with my cousin sorting out some old family business.” she looks down at her feet. “I miss you.”

“Come over for dinner?” Maggie smiles.

Kara shakes her head. “I’m sorry, I really wish. But I already promised my time to Lena tonight, she needs a bit of help to recover from an appointment.”

Maggie gasps and playfully taps Kara’s shoulder again. “Hey!”

Kara laughs and steps in closer. “Tomorrow? I know you work, but so do I… we could do a late night thing?” she leans in to limit their conversation to whispers.

“Yes, that sounds very promising.” Maggie reaches upward to cup her cheek, smiling. “Don’t feel like you have to do anything okay?”

“I know.” She leans into the touch of her girlfriend’s hand. “I didn’t forget what you want out of us.” Kara leans forward keeping the whisper as intimate as she can. “Red or Black?”

“Red.” The question makes Maggie turn red, deep red. “Definitely red.”

“Good to know. I’ll leave you to your groceries now, Miss. Sawyer.” Kara presses a very soft kiss on Maggie’s cheek.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Alex waits just outside of the restaurant and watches for Kelly, uncertainty dancing in her mind. Would James’ sister show up? Was this even a good idea? It feels like a dangerous step to take after the hand-to-hand practice. One look in the window, she adjusts her hair, adjusts the collar on her leather jacket.
Eventually, Kelly approaches the restaurant, wearing a loose, black sweater and a pair of jeans and heeled shoes. “Hey. I’m sorry I’m late.”
she looks behind her, trying to find an excuse but instead the truth comes out. “I almost decided against coming here.”

“So did I.” Alex admits and shoulder-bumps Kelly. “Don’t worry, I’m not judging you. Want to grab something to eat? Or just give up? It’s not too late to run.”

Kelly chuckles and shakes her head. “Nope, I’m here.” She opens the door for Alex. “I decided this was worth it.”
They find themselves a booth to the back, order a bit of food and sit there in silence until the basket of cheese sticks and fries arrives. Alex is the one to break the silence first. “What made you come here?”

“Hormones, the idea that I can’t deal with this by just shutting down and the promise of a meal that I don’t have to make.” Kelly offers with a weak smile, her shoulders dropping a little. “You?”

Alex laughs a little. “Well, that was an honest answer. Just about the same, but I feel like what I’m dealing with is different.”

Kelly eats, but with no enthusiasm to it, without joy with each bite. It’s just to sate hunger and nothing more. Halfway through her own portion, she pushes the plate toward Alex, shaking her head, refusing to eat more.

“Talk to me.” Alex asks, as she keeps eating the food, refusing to let an opportunity like that pass her by. A full order to herself is too rare and too precious with Kara hanging about.
“Me and my fiancée were together in the military. We couldn’t be out.” her shoulders drop, defeated. “And she died while on patrol, without us never really having a chance. I can’t attend her funeral.”

“Why not?” Alex whispers, pushing down her own tears.

“Too far, not invited.” Kelly’s lips tremble, her chin twisting as she grows closer to crying. “A restaurant was a terrible idea.”

Alex let out a grim laugh. “The worst idea.”

Kelly laughs too, amidst her growing tears and she hides her face in the nooks of her arm, resting against the table as the laughter quickly devolves into quiet sobbing.
“Why aren’t you invited?” She asks, trying to draw the other woman out of the emotion turmoil she just sunk into.

A shrug comes first, sort of an answer on its own. “They don’t know me.”

“Sharing your grief might help more than you think.” She reaches out, squeezing her shoulder. “Maybe you could attempt to contact them. If they let you in, I’m sure James or me could drive you there?”

“Maybe.” She peeks from behind her arms, tears staining her cheeks and her sleeve, she grabs the nearest napkin, uncaring that they belong to Alex, wiping her eyes and nose with it.

“Do you have their numbers? Do you need help to find it?” Alex inquires, already pulling her phone out.

“I have it in my stuff somewhere.” She nods, breathing a little easier now “She gave it for when we’d both come back home, in case we’d need it.”
Alex put her phone back into her pocket. “Good, then call them.”

“What now?” Kelly asks, incredulous.

“No, after I’m done eating this plate alone, we’re going to your hotel room and I’m making sure you don’t chicken out of calling them.” Alex declares.

“I could slap you right now.” Kelly warns, her expression steel behind the tears.
“It was a good idea you had to come where it wasn’t socially acceptable.” Alex grins triumphantly.

Alex walks into the hotel room right behind Kelly and it’s a tiny one, her stuff is all packed tightly beside the bed, she’s getting ready to move.
It brings a little smile to Alex. “Alright so, now you call them.”

Kelly turns around and gives an incredulous stare at Alex. “Oh you’re really going to make me do this?”

“Of course, I’m going to make you do it. You should be there for your fiancée’s funeral, are you crazy?” Alex slaps Kelly’s shoulder “Come on, get that number and call.”
Kelly opens a nearby drawer, opening a small book from within, she flips a few pages and finds the number. She sets the little book on the bed and sits down onto the bed, pulling out her phone out of her pockets. Her fingers hover over the screen, and she freezes there.

Alex kneels in front of Kelly and takes each of her wrists into her hand, squeezing comfortingly. She sees the unfocused, glassy eyes now, and she slowly pries the phone out of Kelly’s hand. “Okay I didn’t think this through, let me call them for you.”

Kelly let go of her phone.

Alex dials the number and hits the call button. “Hi, I’m calling on behalf of Miss. Kelly Olsen. She… can’t talk at the moment.”
The replies are not audible for Kelly and she scoots back from Alex, to the middle of her bed, watching and listening.

“She was a dear friend of your…” Alex gets cut off. “Yes, she’d like the chance to pay her respects at the funeral.”

Kelly seems a little surprised at the turn of events.

“She’ll be there, possibly accompanied.” Alex smiles. “I got to check on her now, I’ll make sure she makes it.”
She closes the call and sets the phone aside on top of a shelf.
“Thank you.” Kelly breaks down crying, she gets caught quickly into Alex’s arms.

The screen flickers and freezes for just a moment and the familiar, exhausted yet warm face of Samantha Arias appears on it. “Hello, Miss. Luthor. What can I do for you today?”

“Hey. Do you mind if we have a more casual conversation, like we used to have back when I was still in Metropolis?” Lena asks, uncomfortable in her chair, squirming, weighed down by the heavy stress of the day.

“That’s no problem, I was just trying to look super serious and at work for my daughter.” She waves the potential issues away easily.
Sam nods. “What’s on your mind, Lena?”
“I’ve been seeing a therapist for a few problems and...” Lena admits and almost immediately, it feels like her world is just about to shut down, her vision blurs and she becomes slightly disoriented. “And I’ve been having a hard time dealing with the consequences of it.”

Samantha stares for a moment, incredulous, stunned even. She leans forward the camera and breathes into the microphone, incidentally.
“Oh boy, okay, going big. One second Lena, and then I’m all yours.” Sam covers the microphone badly. “Ruby, can you please go to the cafeteria to do your homework, Lena’s got something personal to tell me and I’d like to keep it between us.”

Ruby’s response is inaudible, but by the smile Sam gives on the camera, it’s evident her daughter did what she requested.
Her attention quickly returns to Lena. “Alright, sorry I just wanted to make sure you could be as open as possible.”

Lena smiles, her eyes blurring with tears this time. “I’ve been talking about my mom and Lillian and Lionel a lot.” She rolls her eyes. “And the explosions in my lobby, the attack on the helicopter and the press conference.”

“That’s a lot of things in a short period of time.” Sam concedes nodding to Lena. “What did she say?”

“A lot of things I didn’t want to hear.” Lena looks into the screen desperately. “That I should take a sabbatical.”

Sam can’t help herself and laughs.
Lena joins in the laughter too, knowing full well why Sam was laughing.
“Oh god, how much of a fit did you have?”
Samantha asks with a melancholic smile
“I broke her chair, by accident.” She pouts almost pitifully. “I think I might have to do it.”

“And you want me to take over as interim C.E.O. of L-Corp.” Samantha correctly guesses.

“Please.” Lena’s lips twitch as she forcibly restrains herself from adding more and more to the simple, one word request.
“I’ll do it. But I need to have actual security for my daughter. Can you promise that?” Sam asks

“One of my current partners will provide that in spade. Supergirl is also a possibility, if it can sweeten the pot a bit.”
Lena’s smile peeks through the mask she’s trying to put on.

“Not that I don’t trust you, but I’d love to have more details.” Sam asks, tapping her fingers on the table.
“Let me make a few calls and I’ll get you the details.” Lena agrees. “I’ll contact you in about thirty minutes with what I can tell you.”

Maggie is busy today, as predicted, there’s two cases she had to visit court for and a third one which she needed to review after they found a fellow detective guilty of corruption.
Just as she’s about to grab lunch, she’s assigned to a crime scene.

The crime scene is a mess, three people found dead in a small apartment, all of them with incongruent injuries to the scene.
Maggie supervises every evidence gathered, and it takes just about the whole afternoon. She’s watching the boys wrap up the scene, gather their things as the sun finally sets.

“Hey Sawyer, got you some coffee so you have some juice to get home.” Gibson shoves a Starbucks cup into her hand and pat her on the shoulder. “You did a superb job today.”

“Was that a compliment Gibson? You’re getting soft.” She teases and smiles his way.

“And you’re not? I know what’s on your phone lock screen.” Gibson wags his eyebrow and gets into his own cruiser.

“Nosy fucker.” Maggie scolds with just a smirk. Her lock screen is a picture of both her and Kara at the Karaoke night. As she looks at it, a message rolls in from Kara and she opens it immediately.

She’s greeted by the sight of Kara, in her apartment with an opened shirt, and unzipped jeans, offering a tantalizing peek at a red set of lacy lingerie, without her glasses, hair up in a ponytail. “I got red like you wanted.” is written at the bottom of the picture. She texts Kara with one hand.

Maggie: Omw in 10

Kara: ;)

Truth be told, the ten minutes that Maggie takes from there is mostly just staring blankly at the picture she just received, blushing furiously as she slowly finishes her coffee, leaning against the wall, trying to look casual and nonchalant to her colleague, thankfully Gibson is already gone and the rookies don’t know her as much. As soon as the last Science Division officer is done packing, Maggie gets into her own car and drives away from the scene.

As smooth as the picture was, as excited as Kara is, she feels the nerves twist and turn every inch of her body, turning and turning making her head spin.
She paces in her apartment, letting her super-hearing pick up on the little noise around her city block, hoping to hear Maggie’s voice or catch the familiar roar of her car’s engine. She takes a deep, deep breath. “Kara, She texted you two minutes ago, that she was leaving in ten. Keep it together.” she super-speeds to her bedroom and sits down at her vanity, looking straight into the mirror as she slowly picks up her makeup brushes. “Use that time to pretty up girl.”
Ten minute passes, twenty minute passes, Kara’s done with her makeup, she’s started coffee and didn’t even blast it with her heat vision. She’s reviewed that lesbian sex tips article twice now and gets increasingly uncomfortable reading the details. “Well, this is going to be a disaster.”
She closes her laptop.

A knock on the door.
Kara’s heart rate picks up in a frenzy and she exhales in a shuddering breath, cooling the air around her significantly. She makes it to the door and opens it.
Maggie stands there, leather jacket, jeans and flannel button up. “Hi.”

Maggie offers a mirthful smile which turns into a laugh. “Oh my god, you look ready to run.” she steps inside the apartment and immediately captures Kara’s hands in hers. “You worked yourself up in the worst way did you?”

“What gave me away?” Kara chuckles back, holding Maggie’s hands in return.

“The deer in the headlights look, the fact that you used makeup, your breathing’s a little off.” Maggie smiles wider. “And I’m just as nervous as you are.”

“No, you’re not! You’ve been gay for years, this is my first time!” Kara accuses with a matching smile.
Maggie pulls Kara much closer, holding her there. “You still want it?” she whispers the questions. “Because it’s okay if you don’t. We can sit on that couch, cuddle and watch anything.”

Kara takes a moment to take stock of how she feels, beneath the shudder and the tension, she feels the warmth bubbling deep and slow beneath her skin, one glance at Maggie and her need to kiss her cute face rises high again. “I still want it.”

“Then let’s start with something familiar.” Maggie squeezes her hands. “Kiss me.” she asks, in a breathy voice, pushing herself on her tippy toe to meet with Kara’s lips.

It goes from 0 to 100 astonishingly fast, their lips meet and part, their tongue gently playing and twining. Kara surges forward and pushes Maggie against the wall, next to her door. Her mouth leaves her girlfriend’s lips, kissing down her neck along her artery, as if trailing down kisses to her heart.
Kara’s hand partially pulls the leather jacket down Maggie’s shoulders, then her finger tangles with the first button of Maggie’s shirt. She stops, her face turning a different shade of red.
Maggie is seeing stars, her breath almost knocked out by the sheer power and strength behind Kara’s motions, none of it hurting, yet very impactful. “Oh, this will be amazing.” she whispers, encouragingly. Her own hand gripping at Kara’s waist. “Just keep going, I’ll tell you to stop if things go wrong.”

Kara smiles and unbuttons the shirt slowly, discovering the black, simple bra underneath with the clasp in the front, which the Kryptonian undoes as soon as she sees it, using her super-speed to do it, exposing Maggie’s chest. She continues kissing down from her neck from there, slowly lowering herself for better access, until she simply lifts Maggie up in her arms for the moment, kissing and taking in Maggie’s breasts and nipples into her mouth in turn.

Maggie is already trembling, shaking from the feeling of weightlessness in Kara’s arms, her arms wrapping around her head to keep it there. “What do I weigh like to you, Kara?”

“Nothing, it’s like holding a couple of donuts.” Kara quips and giggles, looking up from between Maggie’s breasts.

“Wow.” Maggie exclaims teasingly. “Really? Comparing me to donuts?”

Kara laughs and hides her face between Maggie’s boobs, protesting weakly and her voice muffled. “They’re good donuts.”

Maggie laughs and smacks Kara’s shoulders. “Put me down somewhere comfortable, your wall and door frame aren’t good for my back.” she giggles.

Kara moves Maggie slowly, keeping her up in her arms, same height and steadfastly makes it to her bedroom. “I hope it’s not too presumptuous of me?”

“Kara, you’re sucking on my tits and I’m really, really turned on so yes, you can be as presumptuous as you want.” Maggie urges with an almost pleasure-drunk smile and laughter.

Kara gently lowers Maggie to lay her on her bed, from there, she keeps kissing slowly down her girlfriend’s stomach, removing the jeans without even bothering with the button or zippers, dragging down the underwear along with it too, she tosses the garments out of the bedroom, they land, crumpled on the floor.
“It’ll be fun watching you get them later.”

Maggie laughs at the sheer display of power and she spends a moment fully getting rid of her leather jacket, then her shirt and finally her bra. “Think I could get you out of these too? I’d love to see the full set you’ve teased me with earlier.”

Kara nods and, standing at the foot of the bed, slowly unbuttons her shirt, dropping it to the side, revealing the red bra. She turns around to remove her pants, making a little show of her backside as she bends over to finish removing them, the bikini cut panties concealing just enough to push Maggie’s imagination in the right direction.

“You know, for someone who was super nervous just a moment ago… you’re pretty damn good at this.” Maggie sits up on the bed, arms open and extended toward Kara in a silent invitation. “Pun not intended.”

Kara joins Maggie in the bed and they lay into bed, tangled with each other, skin to skin, forehead to forehead. “I’m not that innocent.” she sings-song to the tune of Toxic.
“I wonder what else Supergirl keeps a secret from the world…” Maggie laughs at the little sing-song, capturing Kara’s lips into a fierce kiss. “Show me, please?”
she practically begs, as her hands slide down her girlfriend’s body to grab at her hips and bottom.

Kara’s cheeks turn a deeper shade of pink. Her mouth moves down to her lover’s throat, her chest, her stomach and belly. It roams her inner thighs, tasting the sweetness of her dripping core delicately. She hesitates for a moment.

Maggie smiles and reaches down, grabbing her girlfriend by the shoulder and pulling her up. “Lay on your back.” When Kara rolls over, Maggie crawls on top of her, smiling. “You still want it?”

Kara nods. “I just…”

“I know, let me go first.” Maggie winks. “Let’s start slow …” The moan that escapes Kara’s mouth just a moment later sends shivers down her spine. With just a brush of her fingers in the right place. “Wow, how worked up are you?”

“Very.” Kara laughs, trying to hide her face in a pillow.
“Good to know.” Maggie teases, both in tone and touches. She restricts it to only touching over the damp fabricher
of Kara’s panties. Featherlight touches, slow drags of her fingertips that moves the fabric against the sensitive core. Each pass causes Kara to tense and squirm. “Do you mind if I keep doing that all night long?”
“I won’t last that long.” Kara hides her face behind her hands.

Maggie smiles. “We’ll see.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Maggie makes it to the D.E.O. in the morning with a very stiff walk. She even avoids too much scrutiny from the various agents that she crosses path with on her way to the med bay.
Unfortunately, however, it’s not Dr. Hamilton in the med bay, but Alex.
She sees the other woman through the many windows into the area and has to stop at the door a few seconds to gather her courage.

She pushes the door open, groaning slightly at the exertion, and pain shoots up her back, again. She has to lean against a nearby table, though she keeps her expression from giving away just how much pain she’s in right this moment. “Hey, Alex.”

Alex looks over her shoulder, eyes narrowed at the detective, a mild look of suspicion touching on her expression. “What is it?”

“I was hoping to talk to Hamilton about that.” Maggie can’t keep her voice from growing strained. “Kind of threw my back out last night.”

Alex runs her hands down her face, letting out a long-suffering sigh. “For the love of everything I hold dear, don’t give me more details than that.” She keeps a hand over her eyes and uses the other to point to an examination table

“I was trying to be vague.” Maggie defends, rather weakly, as she makes her way to the examination table with a serious limp in her step. She sits on the edge of it and lets out a shuddering breath.

“I wish Hamilton didn’t take the day off.” Alex laments as she approaches the table. “I just need you to lift your shirt so I can check your back for any signs of injuries.”

Maggie makes a face, suppressing a touch of laughter, away from Alex as she reaches behind herself, with some difficulty. As her shirt raises, it shows a rather nasty set of bruises and scratches all over her back.

“For fuck’s sake.” Alex curses under her breath. “I’m going to disinfect the scratches and give you an oral analgesic so you don’t have to deal with a cream or liquid over them.” The agent moves toward a nearby cabinet, making every effort she can muster not to look directly at Maggie.

“Alex, I tried to see someone else!” Maggie tries to defend. “But I can’t go to my normal doctor, what would I tell them!?”

“That you fell down your bed and into your cat?” Alex provides un-helpfully. “I don’t know, I don’t want to think about that.” she returns to the table with disinfectant and some discardable towelette. “Is your partner in a similar state?”

“Oh fuck off, Alex, you know I couldn’t do it even if I tried.” Maggie hisses as Alex applies the dreaded disinfectant.

“There’s so many scratches!” Alex exclaims. “I’m sure your physician would’ve bought the cat excuse.”

“I’ll pay you a round of drink if you just fucking shut up and make the pain go away!” Maggie sighs with exasperation. “This is mortifying.”

“It is.” Alex grows quiet as she continues the work. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“Good.”

The girl of steel is flying high above the clouds of National City, heading to her sister’s place, hoping to share a moment with her.
The hour is reasonable, and she’s usually out of work by now, so she thinks her decision sounds when she dashes in the apartment through the open window and lands in the kitchen. “Hey, Alex?”

An unfamiliar scream greets her. A plethora of random thoughts and fears suddenly comes to the fore, all at the same time. Was she not in the right apartment? Was she too distracted by her time with Maggie that she picked a random building while she wasn’t paying attention?

The short, distracted moment is just enough that the girl of steel does not notice the sudden movement on her right. A rather sizable book connects with the side of her head, damaging the spine and splattering to the floor to the rough rustling of its pages. From the couch rises a rather surprised Kelly. “Oh god, I’m so sorry, are you okay!?”

Then it hits Kara, figuratively, she is in her sister’s apartment: Everything is in the same place, but it’s not Alex who’s here.
Kelly has grown quiet now, wide eyes staring at her in fear and confusion. “I’m okay, I really was not expecting… someone else here.” She grabs the book from the floor and hands it back to Kelly. “It’s okay, I’m impervious to normal weaponry... and I… probably should’ve texted before coming in.” Kara fiddles with the sides of her cape for a moment. “Wha-... what

are

you doing here?”

“I needed to hide away for a few days.” Kelly explains, dropping the book on the couch unceremoniously. “Alex offered.” The younger Olsen looks around a bit, maybe looking for an escape.

“That sounds like her.” Kara smiles at Kelly and nods. “I’m glad you two are getting along that well, it’s been a while since she’s had a friend.”

“Yeah, it’s been nice too.” Kelly’s expression barely shifts, but the girl of steel catches the little quirk of the mouth that the other woman does.

“Oh, I didn’t really think you two would or that…” she shakes her head. “Nevermind, I won’t bother you longer, just let her know I came by, okay?”

“Or you can keep me company for a while until she comes back and you can have some time with her? I’m not here to stop you from meeting with her.” Kelly offers with a warm smile. “I could use more people around, according to Alex.”

The Kryptonian returns the smile and nods. “Alright.”

Kara changes into a more casual outfit, a set of grey sweats she keeps in her sister’s bathroom, for emergency overnight stays. She finds Kelly inspecting the book for damage. “Yeah, throwing things at me does that.”

“I’m going to have to make sure I have a better grasp on my reactions. Things to talk about on my next therapist appointment.” Kelly comments with a little half-smile. “You might not be injured, but that wasn’t an appropriate reaction to have.”

“Maybe I can work on announcing myself a little better too.” Kara sits down on the couch on the opposite end of Kelly’s side. “Anyway, so, how are you holding up?”

“I don’t think I’d be holding up at all if it wasn’t for James or Alex.” Kelly says with a bit of a grim laugh. “The D.E.O. job still feels unreal and I don’t think I’ll be able to wrap my head around it until I’ve made peace with… other things.”

“Yeah, It’s a lot to take in at first.” Kara empathizes, nodding. “Alex and James are good support people, I’m happy to have them around me, I’m glad they’re there for you too.”

“I kind of wish I didn’t ... have to burden people with my problems, but they didn’t really leave me a lot of choices.” another grim laugh.

Kara smiles a little. “I wouldn’t be who I am without people around me, I find strength and power in other people. We all share our strength and burdens, so we move forward faster together.”

“Sound like you thought about that a lot.” Kelly comments

“I was raised by a family, a house whose entire creed was El-Mayarah, Stronger Together. It’s how they operated everywhere.” Kara narrows her eyes and sighs softly. “It’s probably one of the few good things I can claim about that family now.” she looks at Kelly. “So yes, it’s on my mind a lot.”

“The cosmic scale of how unprepared for this work I am is staggering. How am I supposed to pioneer a new field in Alien psychology for our planet when I can’t even fathom the effect of an entirely different cultural space on someone’s psyche.” Kelly says, shaking her head.

“By taking care of whatever is causing you to lean onto other people, first.” Kara says “And then learning that you never had to stand on your own in the first place.”

Kelly smiles, though it seems a little more sincere now. “I suppose that’s something I should think about. Thank you, Kara.”

“Always happy to help, especially if there’s food in it for me.”

“Hey, there’s Ice cream in the freezer your sister told me I could steal, so we could share that.”

“Well, if you were worried about a first impression…” Kara super-speeds to the freezer immediately, leaving Kelly laughing on the couch.

The Martian comes into the L-Corp office, burgundy turtleneck sweater, carrying a bottle of wine and a suitcase. J’onn is not surprised to find the C.E.O. at her desk, with a headphone on her head. He waits a few feet away from the desk for the invitation to sit down.

“Sam? The gentleman I was talking to you about earlier has just arrived. I’m putting you on speaker, let me know if you have any technical issues.” Lena unplugs the headset and puts it aside. “Do you still hear me?”

The voice comes from the speaker, soft and amused. “Yes, I can hear you just fine, but I might need you to change the camera angle, so I can see Mister Gentleman in the picture too.”

When Lena quietly gestures for him to do so, J’onn takes a seat on the opposite side of the desk, leaving the bottle on top of the desk. “A pleasure to meet with you, Miss Arias.” his deep gravelly voice welcomes the other woman when Lena turns the screen and camera to encompass everyone.

“Alright.” Lena sits down and mutters a quiet thanks to J’onn over the wine bottle, before pressing a few buttons on her computer, causing the window shutters to come down. “Now that this conversation is private…” Lena leans back into her seat. “Director, this is Samantha Arias, my choice for the Interim C.E.O. position while I spend some time recovering and helping.”

“Pleasure to meet you too. I’ve all but accepted the job, but I had some concerns and questions before I put my name on the dotted line, so to speak.” Sam speaks, adjusting her camera a bit. Behind her, a view of the metropolis Skyline slowly disappears behind similar shutters. “Matters of security and privacy, mostly.”

“I’ve had the situation briefly explained to me by Miss Luthor here, and I understand the need for that.” He tries not to smile too much when Lena reaches for the wine bottle, not so subtly, to read the label. “We have the means to arrange for a presidential level of security, and if that’s good enough for you, we could get it arranged after this meeting.”

“I can confirm that they can provide something to that level, by the way. And like I said, if things get out of hand. We’re on friendly terms with the local Kryptonian.” Lena says while reading the label on the bottle, her quirking eyebrow seeming to ask how J’onn could even get his hand on that.

“I’d like the details, I have a child I need to make sure is safe.” Sam states with a trademark stubborn smile. Which prompts Lena to study the Martian’s reaction.

“Understandable, Miss Arias. If you’ll give me a moment, one of my agent will send an email with a few files shortly.” A few presses of a button and a minute later, a small push notification displays in Sam’s screen.

“I suppose that’s Mr Schott sending everything?” Lena comments, quietly considering the wine glasses sitting on the nearby shelf and the bottle of wine. J’onn agrees to her question.

Sam is quiet while she reviews the files, her eyebrow quirking up more than once through her reading. “Okay, this looks kind of excessive.”

“Presidential security is no laughing matter, Miss Arias. This is standard fare when the President visits the city.” The Martian comments. “We can adjust according to your needs.”

Lena laughs. “There’s nothing like overkill for that.”

“You mean your organization provides protection for the actual President of the United States?” Sam asks, clearly not entirely convinced that it is the truth.

“President Marsdin was invited to this call, but had to rescind her presence.” He explains. “Other matters were more pressing than overseeing new hires.”

“I’m only sad I couldn’t see Sam completely lose her mind to the sudden appearance.” Lena seems amused by the faces her friend is making over the camera.

“Ok, so, let’s get this meeting done before I lose more of my marbles.” Sam says, eyes wide and expression heavy. Lena’s phone pings with a notification.

Sam: What the hell did you get me involved with Lena?!

“Yes, I’ll forward the file from the various potential hires.” J’onn opens the files as the group begins
the early stage of the hiring process.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The church roof and windows are hit by rain in a rapid, calming staccato, and the sounds of the bell fading but still echoing, for a brief moment until it is too distant to be heard, the wind whirls around the building without end, pressing against the window, testing the strength of stone. It whistles, adding an erratic melody to the somber gathering.

The coffin is before the altar, at the end of the aisle, wrapped in a US flag. There is a rainbow flag folded neatly and prominently on top of it, along with a few flowers, displayed in a row. All eyes are on it.

The priest drones on, his voice echoing against the walls of the church, maybe bringing hope to the family, to the others in the room. The woman’s family shocked into silence by the senseless loss, by the drawn-out pain that secrecy required.

Alex watches Kelly slowly crumble, her breath taken away, her mind overtaken by the reality of her loss after pushing it away for so long. She’s seen this pain, way, way too many times. With her mother after Jeremiah disappeared, many times with Kara and sometimes in her own eyes, in painful moments of clarity. She knows what she’s looking at, but for the first time, she’s not sure what to do, what words will bring Kelly out of her pain.

Kelly is completely, utterly quiet. Tears roll down her cheeks, down her chin, and drip down onto the skirt of her dress blues, her hand clutching fiercely at something no one can see, the other pluck at a pack of tissue, discreetly wiping at her nose, her thoughts completely overwhelmed by the simple, single task of not wanting to sniffle and snort in the middle of the funeral service.

The priest must have stopped talking and pushed the ceremony forward, as people, some of them leave their seats now to stand in a neat little line that leads to the coffin, though it remains closed at the insistence of, who Alex assume is, the mother.

Alex tries to help Kelly stand but she feels resistance, one look and it’s clear the pain has completely overwhelmed the woman. A momentary instinct pushes Alex to lean to Kelly’s ear.. “Corporal, March.” she whispers with her best authoritative inflections.

It probably helps that Alex actually outranks her, the command is distant, but Kelly responds to it. Standing up, her legs wobble and she feels herself collapsing for a brief moment. Alex is holding her up.

They claim the last place in the line, letting the family go first. Sisters, cousins, parents. A few very young children are getting obviously and dreadfully bored with the day’s proceedings. No one seems to begrudge them the slight impatience they’re showing.

The family gives them a wide berth when they get to the coffin, it grows quieter, as the children are taken outside hurriedly, by two men who quietly guide them that way..

Kelly makes her way from Alex to the coffin, leaving her alone for a moment, as they discussed. She puts her hand to the coffin, then places a small ring box on top of the coffin. A few people gasp but quiet themselves swiftly.

“I promised you I wouldn’t make some stupid eternal promises.” Kelly whispers to the coffin.”And I won’t, we’ll both be in peace after I’m done talking” She struggles and vacillates slightly on her feet, but she stands firm and speaks a few words, a poem. “I will not leave flowers in the earth where you rest. I will keep yours in my heart, to find when I rest.”
Seconds turn into minutes where she struggles to speak, leaning slightly against the box for support. “I will not take roots in the memory of you, But bloom in the freedom of my promise to you.”

“I left a note with the full poem in the box, so you can read it, whenever you like.” Kelly whispers and takes a step back from the coffin, turning to Alex “I need… I need some air.”

An older woman, presumably the mother of the deceased, approaches both Alex and Kelly. “Before you do that…can I ask you what was so secret about what she was doing that we can’t know what happened?”

Kelly has to try a few times before the words form. “I’ve been told the same thing you did, Ma’am. She went on a patrol and didn’t make it back alive.” She tries her best to remain able to speak “Last I saw her, she was alive.” her voice breaks.

Alex looks between them both and takes a step back. “I’ll let you two talk, okay?” when both women acquiesce, she leaves the church and rapidly gets to her car, grabbing her phone and dialing up J’onn’s number. Out the corner of her eyes, she sees Kelly escorted outside by her fiancée’s mother.

Alex spends about twenty minutes on the phone with J’onn and even a few military officers, trying to glean some answers for Kelly and the family. It’s something she can do to ease their mind, maybe and she can at least reassure something calamitous didn’t happen beyond their immediate loss.

She emerges from her car and finds Kelly sitting on the damp Church steps and speaking with one of the children that left the church earlier, showing her a video on her phone of herself and Supergirl with a filter that makes them look both silly. The giggling that comes from the child, makes Kelly laugh a little bit and maybe, just maybe, Alex’s heart melt a little at the sight.

Alex sits next to Kelly on the steps, waiting until the video is over and the kid seems to be about to wander about. “Hey, can you go and get your aunt for me? I need to tell her something.” Alex points to the deceased’s mother, having a bit of a quiet time with the men that took the kids outside earlier.

Kelly is silent for the moment, but there is a bit of a curious little gleam in her eyes after the child runs to accomplish the task.

She doesn’t answer even though she understands the wordless question. As Alex had hoped, the child doesn’t return with the older woman.

“What is it?” The older woman asks, joining them on the steps.

“I’ve contacted my superior officer back where Kelly and I work.” Alex offers with quiet words. “The classification on the situation comes from a diplomatic standpoint, it’s an area and zoning issue.” She takes a deep breath. “The patrol she was on fell victim to something that wasn’t meant for them but would have targeted civilians otherwise.” She sighs “That’s as much as I can tell.”

Kelly seems to understand what happened and takes a deep breath, scratching the back of her neck as the weight of it settles. “Thank you.”

The mother wrings her hand together, accepting the information. “Ok, it’s not much but thank you for getting us this much. Are you in the army too?”

“Secret Service is the most honest answer I can give you.” Alex responds, “Also, sorry Kelly for interrupting your showing off time.”

“It’s okay, she was more impressed with Supergirl than me.” Kelly says with a bit of a sad smile. “Do either of you mind if we leave? I don’t feel like staying for the buffet.”

Alex nods quietly, moving to start the car.

The mother puts a warm hand on Kelly’s arm, squeezing gently. “Thank you for making her happy.”

Kelly hugs the older woman and leaves quietly.

National City the Day Before Thanksgiving

“Why are we cooking a day in advance again?” Maggie asks, kneeling in front of Kara’s oven, the door off its hinges and a toolbox right next to her, as she ties her hair back into a bun, planning on diving in the appliance to fix what she can of it.

Kara is unpacking the groceries, slowly sorting what she bought, and placing the various products at the most logical place, casually using her flight and speed to do so. After touching down on the floor again, she set her hand on her hips, looking toward her girlfriend. “Well, first, we’re also cooking for tonight, because Lena is coming over so there needs to be food for all of us.” Kara dashes to her bedroom, returning with a pair of scissors, then cuts some packaging off with them. “And then we have to prepare a few things for my mom when she shows up tomorrow to do the full dinner.”

“Oh right.” A soft sigh from Maggie. ”It’s going to take me a few to adjust my expectation on food.” the smaller woman says, smiling, her voice becoming a bit dimmed by her dive into the oven. “Also, are you sure your billionaire friend is going to be capable of enjoying the food we cook? Because I don’t know that I cook that fancy.”

Kara rolls her eyes and steps closer to Maggie, pushing the toolbox with her foot, so it’s closer to her hands. “Lena needs a bit of company after going to therapy and she doesn’t know what to do with herself when she’s not allowed to work. Also, she’s only fancy in her wine choices.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure I buy the ‘only wine’ bit.” Maggie says with a chuckle.“I imagine getting locked out of her company is not fun though.” Maggie pulls herself out of the oven and wipes her brow. “Enjoying the view I hope?” she teases.

Kara blushes lightly, looking away “Maybe I was mathing out something and I decided to not risk it, I already hurt you really bad.” Kara’s voice fades a little bit at the end there.

Maggie stands up and pokes at Kara’s arms, trying to get a look into her girlfriend’s eyes. “Hey, Kara? Don’t work yourself into that mindset, okay?” She wraps her arms around Kara, drawing her into a hug. “Accidental sex injuries happen to other people too.”

Kara is quiet, but quickly finds it in herself to squeeze back in the hug, swaying left and right with Maggie in her arms.

“I think maybe, just maybe, Lena isn’t the only one who needs to see a therapist.” Maggie comments, completely locked into the hug.

“Ugh.” Is Kara’s only response, which leads to an exchange of grunts and ughs between her and Maggie that lasts until a knock comes to the door.

A deep breath later, Kara calls out loud enough to be heard “It’s open, come in!” Only then, releasing her hold on Maggie.

Lena, who clearly spent the better part of the last hour crying, her face red and splotchy, no make-up, wearing a loose green turtleneck and a pair of jeans, comes in carrying two bottles of wine and nothing else. “Am I interrupting a moment?”

“No, you’re rescuing me from the hug of steel. I still have to finish fixing the oven.” Maggie says with a little smile. “Hey, while I do that, Miss Wine, can you try to convince Kara here that she might need a bit of what you had this morning?”

Kara glares at Maggie as the smaller woman retreat back into the oven with a hammer and a screwdriver, then back at Lena with her eyes still teared up from the little moment. “Hi.” her voice wavers.

“Please call me Lena” She says, setting down the two wine bottles on the counter and looking at Kara she can only respond with a soft wince. “You look like shit.”

Kara gasps and frowns, putting her hands on her hips in the most unconvincing manner possible. Which prompts the both of them to quietly start laughing. “Okay, okay…Maybe Maggie has a point.”

“Damn, that was fast.” Maggie says from inside the oven. “You’re good, Lena. Thanks, would’ve taken me at least a month.”

“You’re welcome, do we want to wait for the wine, or should we try and bit of drunk cooking.” Lena offers.

“No drunk cooking, I’m not good enough a cook to manage what we have to do and keep watch over two wine-drunk hooligans.” Kara says, taking the wine and hiding it in one of her pantries, flying to get to it. “We’ll have plenty of time to serve wine after we’ve eaten.” when she comes down from it, the two other women are staring at her. “What?”

“I think it just keeps hitting us that we’re having a meal with the girl of steel. I never imagined you’d use your power so casually.” Maggie says, picking up the oven’s door and placing it on it’s hinge. “We’ll get over the novelty eventually, I suppose.”

“Yeah, it’s especially strange to me.” Lena comments and smiles. “Do you think your cousin would approve of me being here?”

Kara chuckles and shrug. “I honestly don’t know that I care if he would or not, but I’m pretty sure he’d be fine with getting to know you first.”

“Does he have a normal everyday job?” Maggie asks as she’s screwing the door back on.

“Yeah, or does he look down from the clouds every hour of the day, waiting for when he’s needed?” Lena teases.

Kara turns around to stare at both of them, blinking several times. “Right, you two people don’t know who he is.” another set of blink “Can we change the topic before I spill it out accidentally?”

Both Lena and Maggie shrug and respond at the same time. “Sure.”

“Let’s just start preparing dinner…” Lena says, moving into the kitchen.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Maggie settles behind the counter, a bottle of her favorite cheap wine and a glass that never seems to be empty. She watches the door open and closes so many times. Alex, Kelly, James, Eliza, Lena, J’onn and M’gann. Even Susan came dropped by, having driven Winn over, but left due to having her own celebration.
Kara’s been talking to everyone, hugging everyone, welcoming them into her home. It gets a little hard to watch when Maggie’s mind starts to wonder if there’s going to be any left for her, so she brings her attention elsewhere.
Alex is like her, watching the people, drinking, enjoying her little ocean of quiet among the sea of laughter, stories from the last year. She’s sneakier than Maggie would’ve thought too, always making sure someone is with Kelly, without imposing a presence there, retreating by her drink.
Kelly herself is desperate for contact, for distractions and more than once does she cling to her brother’s side. Maggie smiles at how the group seems to make it their mission as a whole to keep her in.
James is enjoying himself, he’s all happy. The only small blemish on his mood is his sister, who he seems to protect, or trie to when
Alex hasn’t already snatched her from the brink. He comes to the kitchen with Eliza as the food preparation begins.Eliza gives her a hug from the side, whispering a gentle thank you in her ear.
“For what?” Maggie asks, drawn out of her rêverie.
“For fixing Kara’s oven, of course.” Eliza teases gently.
“I am rather handy, aren’t I?” Maggie laughs, finishing her wine and setting the glass aside, electing not to push for a third glass, not before the meal.
Lena is sitting with Winn on the couch and they’re both riveted to Winn’s tablet screen and talking in a language that is technically English, but no one else in the room seems to understand what they’re saying.
J’onn and M’gann are near the window Kara uses to fly out for Supergirl duties and they’re just standing there quietly, Maggie suspects they’re having a telepathic conversation. She gets drawn out of her returning observation daze by James tapping her on the shoulder.
“Are you planning on helping out with the turkey or the stuffing?” James asks, a bright smile, as he sets down various ingredients on the counter, right next to her.“Turkeys, plural and there’s already one full batch in the fridge done. So, I think we only need one more.” Maggie smiles, opening the fridge, revealing the result of their previous’ evening work. “And I can help if you two need it, or I can just get out of the way and go mess with Kara instead.”
Alex appears, grabbing a can of soda from the fridge, pressing the cold metal against her mother’s arm, which causes no reaction, clearly, it’s a usual thing between them. “Just two batches? You know Kara’s going to eat one on her own, right?”
Eliza continues her preparation, looking over her shoulders a few times.
James on the other hand, inspect the content of the fridge closer. “Alex isn’t wrong, is there enough to make a third batch?”
“Hmm, I doubt it, we did groceries last night, and we kind of went through most of it pretty fast.” Maggie turns around, grabs a grape from the fruit bowl, and flings it onto Lena, hitting her square in the forehead, the grape bounces onto her lap. Once she gets the youngest Luthor’s attention, she addresses her request. “Think you could fix a supply problem?”
Lena eats the grape, nodding to the question, grabbing her phone. “Sure, what do we need?” She ends up tapping a whole list, suggested by various people around the room into her phone and placing the order.
While Lena doesn’t seem to think anything of it, everyone who’s placed an order digs into their wallet and hands over a 20 her way.
Which seems to surprise her a little bit. “Don’t worry about it, I can definitely afford a snack run for everyone.”
Following that, only Alex, Kara, and Eliza insist on giving the money back. Confusion springs on Maggie’s face for a brief moment.
“Yeah, they aren’t exactly strapped for cash, they’re generous with it too.” He chuckles a bit. “Didn’t expect Lena to fold that easily though.”
“Well, that’s an interesting dynamic, to say the least?” Maggie looks over at James for a moment. “Are we good, by the way?”
“Yeah, don’t worry about anything. Ego bruises fade quickly.”

Eliza is a good cook but she works better with fewer people around her, so Maggie leaves the kitchen after a while to go settle in with Kara on the couch as she’s speaking with Kelly and Alex. She doesn’t really join the conversation, instead opting to rest her head against her girlfriend’s arm and just listen in.
She barely notices how the room goes quiet for just a few moments, before resuming their conversation.
Alex snaps a picture of the moment where Kara kisses the top of her headKelly’s attention visibly drifts over the other people in the room, curious for a brief moment and she finds only smiles and warmth. She leans back into the couch as if relaxing, sinking into the comfort of the couch.
The noise of the gathering slowly lulls Maggie into enough of a calm that she falls asleep, briefly, against Kara’s arms, only waking up when her girlfriend discreetly wakes her up with a few shakes of her shoulder. “Food is almost ready.”
“I think maybe I drank one too many glasses of wine.” Maggie says, standing up by pulling on Kara’s arm, looking about. “Hey, James, think you can throw me a water bottle?”
Kelly immediately hides behind Alex and shouts “Now you can throw.”
James laughs at his sister’s teasing reaction. “Yeah no way I can clock you now, Alex might just knock me out if I hit her.” he throws the water bottle to Maggie, who catches it easily.
“Smart man.” Alex teases and joins her mother at the table, helping her set it up.
Kelly and James sit next to Alex, The Martians sits next to Eliza and Maggie is on the other side, with Kara and Lena following, Winn sits next to Lena as they continue a prior conversation about various programming languages.“Look at those nerds.” Maggie teases them, getting both of them to rejoin a more mundane type of conversation as Eliza and M’gann have questions for Lena.
Kara helps delivering the two turkeys and the various other plates and portions of the meal, helping her mom serves the food. Eliza is dealing with the drinks and seems a little surprised by Alex’s choice of sparkling water, less so by Maggie’s matching decision.
“It’s tradition around our table, for thanksgiving to say what we’re grateful for this year.” Eliza announces. “I know it’s been a difficult year for a lot of us, so this’ll help keep our attention on the good.”Kara stands up first. “I’m thankful for Alex, for the things we discovered we share. I’m thankful for James and how patient and understanding you’ve been with me, this table would be lesser without you.” He raises his glass in thanks. “And I’m also very thankful that I found Maggie... it’s been a fantastic journey so far.”
Alex goes next “I’m thankful for Kara, for the same thing...” A look to Lena in particular. “I’m thankful for Lena and that she decided to be here tonight, even if we don’t understand what language she speaks with Winn.” a bit of laughter. “I’m thankful for James bringing Kelly into our space too, she’ll fit right in.”
Maggie stands up after that, after cheering for the sister’s grateful list. “I’m thankful to Kara, obviously. And I’m thankful for Alex, for J’onn and M’gann and letting me into spaces where I can be me and I can help.” A look to Kelly and Lena “For those two, so I’m the only new ones in the group and for being pleasant drinking partners.”
Kelly is next to stand up. “I’m thankful for James, Lucy and J’onn for helping me get out of my tour and giving me the space to heal that I needed. For giving me a great opportunity to learn and advance my chosen field of work.” A look then to Alex. “And thank you.” her expression twist for just a moment as she get her emotions under control. James rubbing his sister’s back as she sits back down.
Lena stands after Eliza and then Winn stands have a go at their own thanks in a warm, if quick fashion, both of them maybe a little uncomfortable with how mundane their gratitude sound so in comparison.”I’m thankful that the goal I set out to meet when I moved everything to National City ended up being something easy and shared by the other person.” a gentle smile to Kara there. “I’m thankful to Alex, to J’onn and Kara for helping me accept help and find a place.” then she looks to Maggie and Kelly. “And I’m looking forward to more conversation over wine with the new girls in the group.”
J’onn and M’gann stand up together. “We’re thankful for Maggie and Kara, them figuring themselves out allowed us to find out we were not alone. We’re thankful to be working with all of you to make the world better in many ways.”
The meal proceeds quietly, peppered with laughter and quiet moments of warmth.

James excuses himself discreetly once dessert gets brought to the table and cards are brought out. While the group is still trying to hammer out which games they’re going to play, he hide in Kara’s bedroom, behind the curtains that separates it from the rest of the apartment. With her blessing, of course.
After about ten minutes, once the group makes a decision, Kara wanders into the room to invite James back and finds him on his phone, talking and taking some notes.
“James, come on, don’t work on Thanksgiving.” She teases and waves him over, pointing toward the table. “Alex and Lena decided we’d play a round of poker.”
James chuckles slightly, talking to the person on the phone. “One second, I’m being dragged to play card with people.” to which there is a sonorous response, a feminine voice. “Oh don’t do that, Lena’s going to clean you out.” James turn his attention to Kara “I’m prepping my interview with the L-Corp interim C.E.O. It’s tomorrow, didn’t really want to do that next to Lena, kind of rude when she’s on a Sabbatical.”
Kara chuckles lightly. “We’re not playing for money, just tokens.” and her eyes catch the piece of paper on which James is taking notes, causing her to quirk her eyebrow at the sight of a personal phone number. “Oh, sorry i’ll let you...” she does airquote. “... Work.”
James stares at Kara. “Don’t start rumors, this is just for work.”
“Sure, that’s why you got her personal number and the name of her daughter’s name jotted down.” She teases, though her smile and the heart-shaped gesture she gives toward James indicate her acquiescing to the request.
“Gotta get that work-family balance question in!” He justifies with a chuckle he can’t quite control.

The guests are gone, Kara and Maggie are left alone in the rather messy apartment, after the Kryptonian stubbornly refused to let her guest help with any of the cleaning and almost chasing them out by force.
“Hey, do you want me to leave you alone?” Maggie asks, running her hand over her girlfriend’s back as she watches her work on some dishes.
“No, I’d like if you could stay over actually.” Kara says, continuing to focus on the dishes at the moment. “The thanksgiving clean-up is sort of a way for me to calm down from the sensory overload of the evening.”Maggie smiles brightly. “Should I order you a snack? I saw you pout at that empty chip bag.” she swipes at the screen of her phone, trying to reach the call screen. “My treat.”“Only good place at this hour is the greek place downtown, I’ll take two of their salad.” Kara asks, almost meekly.
“Sure thing, I’ll grab myself something for my lunch tomorrow.” Maggie moves to sit on the couch as she dial and orders the food. She turns on the TV once the order is placed, but with extremely low volume, gathering blankets and cushions for comfort.
The dishes gets done as the night goes deeper, as the quiet of the night settles in the apartment and soon, the only noise heard is the lone delivery driver slowly making it’s way down the street. Kara settles next to Maggie on the couch. “Thanks for staying, for helping setting tonight up.”
“Food’s about to arrive, so be patient for cuddles, just a few minutes.” Maggie stretches out and catches her girlfriend into her arm for a hug, kissing her cheek. Gathering her wallet to pay for the coming food.
Maggie pays the delivery driver and returns to the couch with the food, handing Kara her bags and set her own food on the counter, next to the fridge. She approaches Kara from behind the couch, trapping her with a hug. “Thanks for having me over, this was nicer than I hoped.”Kara unpacks her salad, hindered by Maggie’s rather invasive hugging assault. “Wow, you ordered the large ones?”
“Is it too much?”
“No, it’s not too much, I’m just surprised.” Kara smiles.
“I’ll probably need a few more tries to get a real feel for how much food you require. So, I’ll need a lot of practice.”
“Let me treat you too, sometimes.”
“We’ll see-- OH god, no tickles!” laughter rises from them both. “Fine, fine I’ll let you treat me, just don’t tickle me.”
“Fair trade...”
“Little shit.”“Brat.”