Authors note: Until recently I have read, and occasionally written, almost exclusively in the Rizzoli and Isles community. However, the Alex and Maggie pairing has really caught my attention and I have started reading a lot of Sanvers stories. This little drabble popped into my head the other day and won't leave me alone. So this will be my first story for the Supergirl fanfiction community. I hope you like it.
Maggie took a break from her hostess duties to look around the room and get a feel for how the New Year's Eve party was going. She was happy with what she saw. She and Alex had been nervous about hosting their first big party since moving in together two months ago, almost exactly one year after their first kiss. Well their first real kiss. Maggie didn't count the first time Alex kissed her and she, like an idiot had turned her down because she was "fresh off the boat".
The party was going well. Aside from some good-natured rivalry, her NCPD friends were mixing well with Alex's DEO family. From her vantage point in the kitchen door, looking out over their living room, she could see Kara chatting with her NCPD Science Division Sergeant, no doubt trying to develop a source within NCPD for future articles. Hank, James, & Winn were huddled up with a few of her fellow Science Division detectives having an animated conversation about something. She wondered what her NCPD colleagues would think if they knew they were talking to a green Martian, the Guardian, and his sidekick. She herself had learned about those three and about Kara's secret identity a few months after she started dating Alex but there were still times when she could hardly believe it.
Perhaps most surprising was the laughter coming from the sofa where Eliza Danvers was chatting with Maggie's mom. The two had just met for the first time the day before and seemed as different as night and day. Her mom had stayed at home to raise a family and Eliza was an accomplished astro-biologist. Her mother still tried to set her up on dates with men while Eliza had offered Alex unconditional acceptance and encouragement when she had come out. But anyone looking at the two of them at this moment would have thought they were life-long friends. Maggie sincerely hoped some of Eliza's attitude would rub off on her mother.
Searching the room Maggie realized there was one face she didn't see, Alex's. Doing a quick check of the bedroom, office, and bathroom Maggie still couldn't find Alex and was becoming a bit concerned when Kara slipped up beside her and pointed out onto the balcony. "She's out there." Kara told her, having noticed Maggie searching the apartment and guessing who she was looking for.
"Of course" Maggie said, smiling at Kara, "should a looked there first". Alex liked a good party as much as the next person but she was essentially an introvert and occasionally needed to slip away and take a breather from the press of people, even friends and loved ones.
Maggie stepped out onto the balcony and closed the door behind her. Alex, deep in thought, didn't even hear her approach. Maggie recognized the look on her face, Alex was thinking something through, dissecting it in her mind so, like any good scientist she could analyze, categorize it, and put it in it's proper box in her mind. "Such a serious face for such a fun occasion" she teased slipping an arm around Alex's waist.
Alex jumped slightly then melted into Maggie's side and smiled that smile that turned Maggie's insides to goo. "Hey, you startled me, I was thinking."
"I noticed" Maggie said smiling and placing a sweet kiss to Alex's temple. "What about?"
"You" Alex replied, "and me, specifically me before I met you…and after".
"Okay, I think I'm going to need a little more than that" Maggie responded grinning. She really did love the way Alex's mind worked. She couldn't wait to here Alex explain her previous statement.
Alex blushed and ducked her head before looking up again to meet Maggie's eyes. She got lost for a moment in the look of adoration there but shook it off. She really wanted to explain her thoughts to Maggie but she needed to get it right. It was important to her that Maggie understand what she was about to tell her.
"Before I met you I had a good life. I loved my job and I loved my family and friends but something was always missing and I felt like it was somehow my fault because if I had this great job and these great people around me how could I be unhappy." The unshed tears in Alex's eyes broke Maggie's heart but she kept quiet knowing Alex's needed to get through this.
"So I decided that I had to work harder; be a better scientist; a stronger agent; be a more caring sister, daughter, and friend. And I failed miserably because I still felt like something was missing even though I couldn't imagine trying any harder." Alex's voice had gotten higher as she spoke and the previously unshed tears had started to fall.
Maggie took Alex's face into her hands and brushed the tears away with her thumbs. "I'm right here", she said holding Alex's glistening eyes with her own.
Alex took a deep breath and let it out slowly and continued never looking away from the gaze that gave her such comfort and courage. "Then I met you and I never realized what was happening. Even before you called me out for liking girls, before I realized what my true feelings for you were all about, I wanted to spend all my free time with you.
Do you remember, right after we broke up the alien fight club you were forced to release Routlette and I offered to take you out for drinks to commiserate?" Maggie nodded.
"You couldn't because you had a date with your girlfriend. I've never wanted to punch someone in the face just for existing as much as I did your girlfriend."
"Kind of wish you had," Maggie replied only half joking, "might have saved us both a lot of heartache".
Alex raised her eyebrows and gave Maggie a little head tilt that showed her agreement. "In that moment", Alex continued, "watching you walk away with her, that missing piece of me seemed so big, I was afraid it would swallow me whole and still I didn't figure out what was happening." Alex shook her head at her own folly.
"And finally after CADMUS' cyborg shot you, you came to my apartment and kissed me and told me you liked me and, I don't know, maybe I was so busy adjusting to my new normal, and figuring out what it meant to have a girlfriend, and how to really share my life with someone for the first time, but even then I didn't figure it out.
It wasn't until this moment Maggie, standing out here looking out at the lights of the city and reflecting on the best year of my life that I finally realized. That missing piece of me isn't missing anymore. It's right here, standing beside me. It has been since the moment we met and I was too blind or to preoccupied to see it." Alex took Maggie's face in her hands and paused for a moment to gaze into the most beautiful brown eyes she'd ever seen. It's you Maggie, you're the missing piece of me, the missing piece of my heart.
Maggie started to cry and made three attempts to respond before she was able to whisper a horse "Thank you Alex".
Alex pulled Maggie into her arms and whispered into her ear. "You never have to thank me for loving you!"
Maggie pulled away enough to look into Alex's eyes. "No not for that. Thank you for putting into words the way I feel about you. I've been trying to figure out how to tell you how much you mean to me Alex, how much better my life is because you're in it.
I know exactly what you mean about feeling like something is missing in your life and thinking that it must be your fault. I may have figured out my sexual orientation when I was a teenager but that doesn't mean I'd figured out relationships. Every time another girlfriend left me I just knew it was my fault. I spent too much time at work. I didn't give enough of myself to them or work hard enough on making it work. And all the while, even when I was in those relationships I could feel something was missing." Maggie was looking away from Alex, even now having a hard time sharing so much of herself.
She fought the impulse to hide from Alex, giving a little shake to throw off old tendencies. "I haven't felt that way since I met you, Alex. You complete me, you are the missing part of me and I want to be with you always." Maggie paused for a breath and took Alex's hands in her own and looked up into her eyes. "I hadn't planned to do this here and now, I don't even have a ring yet."
Alex gulped "Oh my God" and Maggie could feel her begin to tremble, or perhaps Maggie was the one trembling, she wasn't sure.
"I love you Alex Danvers, more than I ever thought it was possible for one person to love another. Will you marry me?"
Alex's smile was brighter than Maggie had ever seen, "Yes, my love, yes I will marry you".
Both women could have sworn they heard Kara shout "Yes!" from the other room just before they sealed the deal with kiss but Kara maintained that she was just celebrating the birth of the New Year and since it was sure to be a year worth celebrating they both decided to accept that explanantion.