There were few times in her life where Maggie Sawyer could say she was happy, truly content. Tonight was one of those nights. She leaned back in her chair and observed the people around her, watching with a lazy smile on her face that had appeared around the time of her third beer. She'd called it quits after that, happy to stay at a contented buzz and no further. Now she was simply musing on just how happy she was finding herself, tonight and these past few weeks, truth be told.

She turned her head and felt a swelling crest of emotion in her chest when her eyes touched on the reason why she'd been so blissful lately. Alex Danvers; possibly the most incredible woman she'd ever met. They'd announced their relationship to all of Alex's friends tonight and Maggie felt the pleasant warmth of relief and the joy of being accepted roll through her. She'd dated closeted girls before, and although she respected the women's decision not to be open about their sexuality, she couldn't help feeling like a dirty secret.

But tonight, Alex had proudly declared them as a couple, had invited Maggie to be with her friends, and had spent the night showing her affection. Everyone had been kind and welcoming to Maggie, and the night had passed jovially. After Maggie kicked Winn's ass at pool, she had challenged James to a game of darts and he had taken her down, unfortunately. The group had then settled in for a couple more rounds of drinks and laughter all around.

Now the night was starting to wind down. Kara and Winn had already gone home, James was talking to a woman at the bar, and J'onn was dozing in his seat. Maggie turned her bright smile to Alex, and when she caught her attention Alex placed a sloppy kiss on Maggie's cheek. She then threw an arm around Maggie's shoulders and said, "You're pretty."

Maggie chuckled and placed her hand on Alex's thigh for a moment. She allowed herself to soak up this moment for a little while, leaning into Alex and resting her head on the woman's shoulder. But she was starting to feel the tug of a long day and a long night pull at her senses, making her drowsy. So she picked her head up.

"I think it's time we called it a night, huh?" She said as she sat upright once more. As she did so, she noticed just how many empty bottles were on the table. She counted six, one of which she knew to be her last beer. The other five had to be Alex's. She and Alex were the only one's drinking beer. She began to count in her mind how many rounds Alex had ordered. At least five, but the bar tender had cleared away some of the bottles earlier. From what she could recall she was fairly certain Alex had had at least ten beers.

Alex was starting to stand now, and Maggie didn't miss the wobble to her tentative balance. But it also didn't escape her how remarkably composed Alex was for someone who had drunk so much. If you looked for it you could see the woman was clearly plastered. But Alex wasn't being very obvious about her drunken state.

The two women bid goodbye to J'onn, Maggie wishing him a good night, and Alex tossing out a slightly slurred "See you later." Alex tripped over her own feet and stumbled a little as they were heading through the door into the alley entrance of the bar.

Alex slipped her hand into Maggie's as they walked around the block towards her bike. Maggie squeezed the hand in hers, but pulled Alex to a stop as they approached the motorcycle. She looked Alex up and down and pulled out her cell phone.

"No way you're driving tonight. And I don't think I'm really good to drive either. I'm calling a cab." Maggie said as she directed them to a bench nearby.

"'M fine." Alex grumbled, but her protests ended there. She was beginning to grow sleepy, and Maggie hoped she didn't pass out before they got back to Alex's apartment. And though Alex closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall behind them, when the cab pulled up to the curb and Maggie shook Alex's shoulder, she roused easily. They both climbed into the taxi and settled in for the short drive back to Alex's place.

Except Alex seemed to be very awake now, because as soon as Maggie had given the driver Alex's address, Alex began placing clumsy, wet kisses on Maggie's neck. Her hands began wandering; she wrapped one arm around Maggie's waist and slid that hand up underneath Maggie's shirt along her back, while her other hand grabbed her hip.

The driver was smirking at them in the rearview mirror and Maggie's cheeks were beginning to burn with embarrassment. She gently pulled Alex's hands off her body and nudged the woman into her own seat. Alex gave her a wounded expression, completely confused as to why her amorous efforts were rebuffed.

"We're in a cab." Maggie said in a hushed whisper, trying to impress on Alex that she was very uncomfortable with their audience. Alex looked at her for a moment, staring as though she were trying to sort out a very complex logical conundrum. But eventually she seemed to understand because Alex's eyes lit up with comprehension and she began nodding her head.

"Gotcha." Alex said, still nodding her head.

The rest of the ride back to Alex's apartment passed uneventfully, and when the cab pulled up to the curb in front of her building Maggie pulled out a few bills and paid the man. Thankfully Alex was still awake because Maggie was sure she couldn't carry the taller woman.

They stepped out of the taxi onto the sidewalk and Alex began fumbling through her pockets to find her keys. After an exhausting search, during which Alex murmured repeatedly, "Damn things where did they go," to herself, she found them in the inside pocket of her jacket. Maggie followed her into the building and watched as Alex stumbled, losing her composure slowly with each step.

When they reached Alex's apartment, the woman began her search for her keys anew, and Maggie had to stop her from looking in every pocket again by taking Alex's wrist and holding up her hand in front of Alex's face to show her that her keys were still in her hand.

"Oh!" Alex said, and let out a laugh that triggered a couple hiccups to follow as she unlocked the door to her apartment. Maggie closed the door behind her, and no sooner had she done so was Alex all over her again. This time the kisses were falling on her lips, and Maggie couldn't stop herself from responding. Drunk Alex wasn't as good a kisser as sober Alex, but it still felt good. But she knew it wasn't right to keep going, so she pulled away.

Alex was undeterred, however, and continued placing kisses to Maggie's neck, sucking roughly on her pulse point the way that made Maggie moan every time. And this time was no exception. She could feel Alex's victorious smirk on her skin at having elicited the sound from Maggie, and she knew she had to stop this now before they went any further.

She took a step away from Alex and tried to catch her breath. Alex wasn't really understanding, because she followed after Maggie, searching out for contact again. Maggie held her hands up, taking Alex's in hers and preventing the woman from groping her again.

"Alex, not tonight. You're drunk off your ass." Maggie said.

Alex huffed, and actually stamped her foot. "I'm fine." She insisted.

"I'm sure you're fine, but I don't want to have sex tonight." Maggie said. Alex stopped then, and clasped her hands together in front of herself.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I thought you were just trying to be chivalrous because I had some drinks." Alex whispered and took a step away from Maggie.

"I mean, I am." Maggie said with a light smile. "Because you didn't have 'some' drinks Alex, you had a lot of drinks. And it just doesn't really feel right when you're this drunk."

Alex crossed her arms petulantly, and said once more, "I'm fine."

"You're drunk." Maggie said again. She paused for a moment before asking, "Why did you drink so much?"

Alex shrugged and flailed her arms in an awkward gesture before replying, "I don't know. We were celebrating! And I wasn't the only one drinking."

"No, but you did kind of overdo it, don't you think?" Maggie said.

Alex shrugged again, and then began walking towards her bed. As she did so she took off her jacket and dropped it on the floor behind her. Next she lifted her shirt over her head and threw it in the general vicinity of her hamper. Maggie watched as her girlfriend stripped gracelessly, eyebrows raised.

Alex turned around, seemingly unaware of the fact that she was naked, and asked, "Well if you don't want to have sex, can we cuddle instead?"

Maggie smiled softly, kicking off her boots and pulling off her own jacket. Alex rummaged through her wardrobe and pulled out two very large sweaters. She handed one to Maggie who was now as naked as her and tugged the other on over her head. She then half climbed, half flopped into her bed. Maggie climbed in after her, tucking both of them in under the covers. Alex instantly snuggled up to Maggie when she lay down next to her, and Maggie responded by pulling her closer.

It was mere seconds before Alex was snoring quietly in Maggie's arms. Maggie closed her eyes and tried to sleep herself. After a night like tonight, and the three beers still in her system she should have fallen asleep quickly, but she found her mind wouldn't shut off. She'd never seen Alex get quite this drunk, but as she was thinking back, she wasn't sure if she could remember a time that Alex went light on the drinks when they went out. Maggie had never really noticed before, because Alex had a remarkable alcohol tolerance, unlike herself, and she had always seemed steady and responsible even when tipsy.

Maggie was getting a bad feeling in her gut, but she was also so unsure of so many things that she didn't want to jump to any conclusions. She decided she had to be overreacting, because the alternative was too scary to consider, and really she had no proof that Alex had any kind of problem. She sighed and pressed her hand over her eyes, hoping sleep would come eventually. And that the niggling feeling of doubt and fear in her mind would settle. It never really did, but eventually exhaustion won out, and sleep took her anyway. She fell into a state of sleep that could hardly be described as restful, but it would have to do. She had a lot to face come morning.