The lights of the mobile amusement park lit up the stretch of parking lot, filling the night sky with bright colors, flashes only slightly less harsh than the accompanying sounds. Each ride, each booth, had its own resonance. The voices of couples and children rode along air still warm into the evening. Welcome to California in late May. You could smell the sugar as a breeze wafted by, cotton candy and slurpees being two of the major food groups served here. Pimply faced youths in red and white striped shirts hocked their wares and tried to lure testosterone laden men into parting with their dollars for the sake of winning a prize for the lady on their arm. It didn't take much urging. It's a good night to be young. It's a good night to be alive. It's a good night to be out with someone that you love and with a few disposable dollars. These are memories in the making, where for just thirty-seven dollars you can win a two dollar stuffie, but the look on her face when you hand it over to her…priceless.
"You feeling lucky, Danvers?" The hand of Detective Maggie Sawyer of the NCPD, Science Division, hovered over the pistol.
"Don't need luck when you have skill, Sawyer. You'll have to take my word for that," Special Agent Alex Danvers of the DEO replied, almost keeping the grin off her face as her fingers wiggled over her pistol in turn.
"I hear you talking. I see you talking. I can practically smell you talking," Maggie said, sniffing at the air in the way of demonstration. "Huh. You must be all talk."
Alex snickered, mumbling, "Damn it." As she broke character a bit at the other woman's humor. Clearing her throat, the agent smoothed her expression back to neutrality. "Let's settle this once and for all. Let's do this."
"Fine by me," Maggie replied casually. "On three?"
Alex nodded.
Together they counted off, "One, two, three!"
Hands drew air pistols as they fired quickly, knocking down targets of tin cans and ducks while avoiding the faux sticks of T-N-T that will stop any other targets from counting.
"Time!" They shouted together, slapping their pistols down on the counter for the carnival attraction as they each took a step back.
"Who…? Which…?" Alex looked at Maggie, then back at their matching target scores. She stepped forward, her fist banging down forcefully on the countertop. "God damn it! A freakin' tie? Again!?" Whirling on the teen who stared at them, with more than mild annoyance, from the other side of the counter, she pointed and demanded, "Who won!?"
"You both did, and I lost…again!" He replied, his arms lifting and falling with exasperation. "Look, ladies, you're cleaning me out. You took almost half my stock already, and there are no more little kids hanging around for you to give it to. Maybe you could just go and ruin someone else's night for a little while…pretty please?"
Hands on hips, Alex rocked back and forth from toe to heel, eying the kid. Her brown leather jacket hung loosely open over a green t-shirt, tight jeans in place of slacks which noted the casual evening. The look she gave the kid was neutral because he's probably right. Still, even with the 'pretty please' thrown in at the end, it felt a little bit like someone was telling her what to do. People don't tell Agent Alex Danvers what to do. Eight foot tall, steroid laden, bullet proof aliens don't tell Alex what to do, so even a suggestion from some kid got her hackles up. She leaned her head to the left, flipping her short auburn hair slightly to the side, and prepared to do whatever it was this kid didn't want.
"Babe." Maggie's smile grew slowly, a matching set of dimples you could lose a finger in up to the knuckle appearing. Her dark eyes lit up to match that smile. She looked up several inches at Alex, teeth especially bright against her tan skin. Her dark hair slid along her leather jacket as her head cocked to the side in a way that had melted the hearts of many women before. Just like them, she could see Alex falter under the gaze. "I want cotton candy. Do you want cotton candy?"
"I…" Unable to help herself, Alex felt herself smiling in return. "I'm thirsty. I could go for a drink."
"Beer and cotton candy it is," Maggie said with a smile that had somehow grown impossibly brighter.
"Thank God," the kid mumbled.
"Hey!" Alex snapped, whirling at the counter, her arm out and across it as she pointed at the kid. "We leave under one condition."
Eyes widening, the kid swallowed and began to nod before Alex even spoke. The look in her eye was one she'd used on many DEO agents in the past. The skinny-ass kid never stood a chance.
Minutes later with beers, cotton candy, and their stuffed animals in hand, Alex and Maggie wandered through the make-shift park. They bumped shoulders while they walked, hands too full to grasp together. All-in-all it was a good night by Sanvers standards. They shot things, won things, and now they're drinking. It's the trifecta.
"The Ferris Wheel," Maggie said with an elbow nudge to her girlfriend's arm. "You game? They are très romantic."
"Très," Alex repeated with a snort and a shake of her head. "You sure you're not afraid of heights?"
"Is that a short joke?" Maggie asked with mock offense.
"Nah," Alex replied as she kissed the shorter woman soundly on the cheek. "You're perfect. You know that, right?"
"Pretty damn close," Maggie agreed, taking a sip from her beer. "What about you? Scared of heights?"
Alex rolled her eyes. "Please. I repel off things higher than that before breakfast. Let's go on your romantic Ferris Ride." They headed over in that direction, Alex drinking some of her beer before she said, "You know, I haven't been to a carnival since I was a teenager."
"You've been busy," Maggie commented while Alex nodded, then the detective added, "Maybe you haven't had someone worth going with."
"True," Alex beamed. "Last time I went it was with Kara and my folks."
"Oh, good memories?"
Eyebrows high, Alex responded, "A thirteen-year-old Kara at an amusement park? Oh, God no, it was horrible. We weren't used to her, and she wasn't used to herself yet. She got separated from us for maybe five minutes, but that was enough to send my folks and Kara into a panic."
"Not you?"
"Freakin' Kara." Alex exhaled loudly. "I love her, but man she was freakin' annoying when she first got here. I spent so much time babysitting her and making excuses for her. I mean…it's not her fault. We didn't understand just how overwhelming a place like this would be for her. She still isn't a carnival person, too many sights and sounds."
There were a few seconds of lull in the conversation and then Maggie said, "You're a great big sister, you know? Kara's lucky she has you."
Alex casually shrugged off the compliment. "We're lucky we have each other. Family, you know?"
"Hrmmm," Maggie said noncommittally. As they reached the Ferris Wheel, her eyes sparkled. "Hey, here's our ride."
They got in line, waiting while the Ferris Wheel finished its current set of rotations and people unloaded. They chatted casually, avoiding certain subjects like the DEO, aliens, Alex's sister's oddities so more aliens. The conversation was casual and light, the right mood for their evening and it kept them both smiling.
At one point Maggie was talking about her work, mentioning how she busted a guy's nose when he got rough with her and wasn't coming along peacefully. It drew uncomfortable looks from the couple in front of them in line so she put on her million dollar smile and changed the subject. "So, what are we going to name our monkeys?" She asked, squeezing the two stuffed monkeys she held in her arms. They had their arms wrapped around each other and their lips pursed for a kiss.
Brows furrowed, Alex replied, "We have to name them? Why? They're not pets. They don't come when you call them."
"Alex, we won them at the shooting booth. It's a romantic thing, you know, a couple thing. Plus people name stuffed animals. They're cute, like us. Let's give them cute names."
"Uh…eh…the line's moving," Alex pointed out as people up ahead of them shifted forward.
Maggie just grinned, shuffling forward to join the others. She held out two tickets to the man running the ride when they arrived at the front.
"No drinks on the Ferris Wheel," he said, gesturing to the beverages in their hands.
"You think we're going to puke?" Maggie asked with a cheeky grin.
"Kids toss things off," the guy replied with a shrug, then pointed over at a metal sign that outlined some rules. One of them did indicate no drinks on the ride.
"No problem," Maggie said, taking a step toward the trash can which was located near the sign.
"Hey!" Alex slapped the cotton candy into Maggie's chest, forcing Maggie to fumble to press her forearm against her body to grasp it as both her hands were occupied. Then Alex grabbed the beer from her girlfriend's hand. She downed her beer, then dropped Maggie's cup into her empty one, repeating the process. Once both cups were empty, she gave a smile to the guy that held no humor, dropping the double plastic cup into the trash.
"Really?" Maggie asked. "We could have bought more beers, babe."
"Throwing away perfectly good beer is alcohol abuse," Alex said taking the cotton candy back. She narrowed her eyes at the guy running the ride, a gesture meant to convey that her actions had as much to do with him as the beer. Then she turned, moving into their seat on the ride.
Behind Alex, Maggie leaned slightly into the guy, her hand touching his as she whispered something before taking a seat next to Alex. A few more people filed into seats behind them, and then the ride really started. They made several circuits of the ride, spinning slowly, while Maggie looked at her shirt more than the view.
"What are you doing?" Alex asked.
"You got cotton candy on my shirt," Maggie replied, picking at her shirt with a finger nail. "I'm just trying to get it off before it stains."
"It's just sugar: carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, that's been caramelized and re-solidified. It's rapidly cooled before it can crystallize. It's mostly air, but it's literally sugar. Water will break it down. Don't worry about it. Your shirt will be fine," Alex assured her girlfriend.
Maggie smiled up at Alex, "I love it when you get all nerdy. Say something else."
"I'm not a nerd. Everyone knows those things."
"Do you know how many atoms are in a sugar molecule…nerd?" Maggie asked, still grinning.
"I'm waiting till we get to the top to push you out," Alex said, her best scalding Agent Danvers look in place.
Still smiling, Maggie replied, "I'm pretty sure there was something against that on the sign down there."
"Call a cop."
"There's an idea. You want to go back to my place afterward and play the doctor and the cop later tonight?"
Alex's eyebrows rose slightly while a smile began to grow on her face. "Which one do I get to be?"
"I've got handcuffs and you've got a Phd. Figure it out, Doc."
"Jeez," Alex replied with an eye roll. "I've got handcuffs. Who doesn't have handcuffs, Mags?"
"You are so kinky," Maggie said, kissing Alex soundly.
After a few moments of enjoying a deep kiss, Alex smiled and said, "And you are in the Science Division, Detective Sawyer. You know exactly what makes up cotton candy."
"Yeah," Maggie agreed. "But it's so cute to listen to you get all nerdy about something. Smart is sexy you know."
"Oh, I agree," Alex replied, sliding her arm over Maggie's shoulder. "You are very sexy."
They kissed again before Maggie's head settled onto Alex's shoulder. The Ferris Wheel made several rotations, the motion circulating the air across the couple pleasantly. Music from the ride filled their ears, loud voices joining in every time they dipped low toward the crowd again. Finally, they rose high and stopped, the ride frozen with them at its peak, the only motion the swing of their cart as it settled into place.
Leaning forward, Alex looked down and said, "We stopped."
"Babe, chill."
"No one's getting on or off, and we stopped."
"Alex, there's no conspiracy, no alien invasion. Just sit back and enjoy the view," Maggie suggested, tugging Alex fully back into the cart. "Look, you can see the lights of the city and the mountains are out that way. And here, right here, is your girlfriend."
"Yeah, but why did—" Lips on hers cut off anything else that Alex might have said. After several seconds, and with her anxiety much relieved, Alex relaxed with her forehead against Maggie's. "Did you get the guy to stop the ride with us at the top?"
"Maybe."
"You're such a romantic," Alex said, a gentle smile tugging at her lips.
"Mmmmm." The sound hummed from Maggie's lips, along her broad smile. "You know, I haven't had someone worth going anywhere with in a long time either. I haven't had anyone that made me someone worth being with in an even longer time."
Threading the fingers of her free hand between Maggie's, Alex said, "Maybe you should consider keeping me around."
"Yeah, I've been thinking about that." Maggie gently knocked her nose against Alex's, rubbing up and down the length. "I've been thinking that sounds like a pretty good idea."
"Yeah? I mean, yeah, yeah, me too. I really, really like the way things are going with us, Mags. I've been thinking that…" When her cell phone rang, Alex sighed loudly.
Gripping the hand that tried to pull away from hers, Maggie said, "Don't answer it."
"I have to. It's work."
"I know. That's why I'm telling you not to answer it, Alex. Come on. It's our night off. How often do we both get a real night off?"
"We don't," Alex admitted as she pulled her hand free and grabbed her phone from her pocket. "Someone is either getting killed, or an alien is invading or something. We don't get a night off." Hitting the screen on her phone, she said, "Agent Danvers….Yes Sir…I understand Sir…Well, I'm outside of the city limits right now and…He what?"
"Who what?" Maggie asked.
"Winn has my location," Alex said, her hand over her phone before she spoke into it again, "Yes Sir, I'm here. Okay, well will transport be sent then? Just sent me coordinates and I'll meet—"
"Hey, guys."
"Fuck!" Alex yelled.
While Maggie shouted, "Jesus Christ!"
Both women spun in their seats, staring at the person who hovered behind them.
"Sorry," Kara said with a sincere smile. "J'onn didn't tell you I was coming to get Alex?"
"Oh, my God," Alex said, hand to her chest. "Yes, she's here. I…I've got transport. ETA, six minutes." Alex disconnected and put her phone away. "What the hell Kara!"
"J'onn was supposed to tell you. Hey, you have two girl monkeys. I didn't know they made them that way."
"They don't normally," Maggie said. "Your sister kind of threatened the kid running the game into splitting up two of the normal pairs so we could have two girls."
"And now a nice gay male couple will have two monkeys too," Alex said. As Kara flew around to the front of the cart, Alex reached out toward her sister.
"Wait, you're leaving with her right now?" Maggie asked.
"Sorry," Alex said with a shrug. "We have a situation. Everyone is being pulled in. The DEO is going to be fully manned immediately." Alex put her arms around her sister's neck and allowed herself to be effortlessly lifted into the air.
"Whoa! Watch the tipping," Maggie said. "Do you need my help? This sounds serious. I haven't seen you folks this worked up since the Daxam invasion. We're not being invaded are we?"
"No," Alex said. "Actually, Kara?"
"Cotton candy," Kara said, taking the food from her sister and eating happily.
"That looks like a no," Alex said. "A full-fledged alien invasion doesn't stop her from eating, but it does slow her down."
"A little bit," Kara agreed as she took another bite. "You know, I think the blue tastes better, but the pink is good too."
"Hey, call me?" Maggie asked.
"Oh, God yes," Alex replied leaning forward toward the cart again. "As soon as I know what's going on and when I'll be done, I'll be in touch. Get some sleep. You're going to need it."
"Promise?" Maggie asked, dimples showing again.
"Promise," Alex replied.
They kissed again, Maggie leaning slightly forward across the front bar of the seat. Alex's arms were around her girlfriend's neck, the agent held aloft mid-air by her sister's arm around her waist.
Kara ate her cotton candy, but it didn't last long. After a few more moments, she cleared her throat and said, "Come on guys. Enough already. Break it up."
Winn's voice in her ear asked, "What's going on, Kara? Is something wrong? You haven't moved."
"Alex and Maggie are…" The hero sighed. "Issingkay."
"Issingkay?" Winn laughed. "Oh, they're kissing? Oh, that's sweet. They're cute. You should be supportive," Winn's voice urged.
"I am supportive," Kara replied. "I'm literally holding Alex up right now. That's the very definition of supportive. Come on, Alex. I'm your sister, not your bed. Say goodbye. We're going."
As Kara started to drift backward, Alex said, "Bye Mags. Love you, babe."
"Love you too, Alex. Be safe!"
"I will," Alex said, turning until she was looking over Kara's shoulder. "I'll call you…" Alex's voice disappeared as she streaked off into the night.
Sighing, Maggie slumped back into her seat, looking at the monkeys in her arms. "You know guys; this is not the date I had planned. Huh, you neither? Well, at least you have each other. Damn superhero took my girlfriend and my cotton candy."