Author's Notes: This story represents a few firsts for me. First, this is my first Supergirl story. In fact, this is my first time in a comic book type world, which means I can do, and did, pretty much anything I could think of. That being said, I am not into comic books and have never read any of the Supergirl comics. Everything I use is based on the TV show. If there is anything I'm messing up from the comics, I apologize.
Second, this is the first time I've ever intentionally written a ship story. I love Sanvers, and in my world there are no alternative commitment which breaks them up, so Maggie and Alex are in it for the long haul.
Third, this is the first time I've written a story while the series is ongoing. I started writing this right after season two ended. I hoped, when I thought it would be a little one-shot fluff piece, that I would get it out before season three started. Then it took on a life of its own. It picks up about two months after the Daxamite invasion, but veers into AUville based on what season three did. I did manage to incorporate a little of season three, but its safer to label it as an AU from the end of season two.
All right. Enough of my ramblings. Time for the story. As always, it is finished. Since it is such a huge story, my longest one to date, I will be changing my posting schedule. Instead of daily posting, I will post a few chapters every week. I hope you enjoy.
No warnings that I can think of. If any chapter needs additional warnings I will put them in.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Supergirl characters. I am merely playing with them and promise to put them back when I'm done.
"Knock, knock." Kara glanced up, surprised to see the dark-haired detective leaning casually on her desk.
"Maggie?" she gasped, standing up and engulfing the detective in a massive bear hug. The other workers glanced up at her excited squeal. Some with amusement on their faces, some annoyance. "I am so glad to see you," she continued, letting the detective go after a minute. "Wait. Is it Alex? Is there something wrong?"
"Alex is fine," she started, but Kara was already back around her desk, pulling out her phone. Maggie sighed as Kara quickly checked for any messages. When she didn't have any, she shot the detective a confused glance. "Have you ever thought that maybe I might want to come see you?" Maggie asked, her lips smirking at Kara's confused expression. "That maybe I want to check up on you? Because we're friends?"
"We're not friends," Kara deadpanned back. It only took a second for her to realize what she said. Her eyes got big and her hands came up to cover her mouth. "Oh my gosh. I can't believe I just said that."
"Relax little Danvers," Maggie said, her smirk growing ever bigger at Kara's discomfort. "I know we're not BFF's, and we probably will never be BFF's, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you." She stopped and took a deep breath. "I promised Alex that I would try harder with you, and now that everything is calming down again, it's time to work on it some more."
"I'd like to work on it too," Kara said, smiling brightly.
"If you want to stand around and chitchat I can have you assigned to the gossip column," Snapper barked as he made his way through the bullpen. "If you want to be a serious reporter, you need to be typing that article. I need it on my desk before I go home, so I can tell you how you screwed up and you can fix it before I send it down to copy in the morning."
"I'm almost done," Kara told him, throwing a glance over her shoulder before focusing on Maggie again.
"Is this a bad time?" she asked, gesturing to all the activity going on around her. It wasn't too late, just barely after seven, but the bullpen was crammed with people. More people than normal for after hours.
"We're putting the finishing touches on the special Cadmus edition of the magazine," Kara explained. "And with Ms. Grant back everyone is trying to be extra perfect, and she's taking a special interest in this edition so everyone's a little extra crazy too. And the congressional hearings started this week, so we're getting new information every day, so just when you think you have it nailed you have to start over. It's just been a crazy couple of weeks." She let out a frustrated growl before smiling at Maggie. "So, did you need something?"
"Can we talk for a minute?" Maggie asked. "In private?"
"Um, sure." Kara frowned as she led the other woman to the outdoor patio. "Are you sure everything's okay?"
"Yeah," Maggie said as she followed Kara. Once they were outside, Maggie rested against the railing, taking in the city below her. Kara copied her pose, but her gaze was focused on the detective. "I want to start by saying I'm sorry about Mon-El." Kara gasped, turning her head so she was staring at the city as a feeling of sadness overtook her. It had been two months since the Daxamite invasion was thwarted. Two months since she had put Mon-El into the Kryptonian pod to save his life, banishing him from the place he chose to call home. Two months of feeling numb, eating ice cream on the couch by herself while she watched sad movies. "He was a good guy. I wish we could have found a way to save him."
"Me too," Kara whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. She discretely wiped them away. Maggie gave her a second to regain composure before turning to her.
"How are you really doing?" she asked, with so much compassion that Kara nearly broke down again.
"I'm taking it day by day," she responded before laughing. "Trying to stay busy." Maggie chuckled. Staying busy was not hard to do these days, at least not for them. Being on the front line for an alien invasion had left National City in chaos. The first few weeks had the city resources stretched nearly to their breaking point. Government agencies, like the DEO and the NCPD, were working around the clock, many of their people putting in twenty-hour days, seven days a week until relief efforts finally arrived. Fortunately, the city banded together during this time. Criminals, both human and alien, became concerned citizens, helping their city instead of causing chaos, which gave Supergirl very little to do. She was still around, helping whenever she could, but the most important thing she did was give people hope.
And it wasn't like Kara didn't have enough to do on her own. This was one of the biggest stories ever. Every media source and news outlet was scrambling around for any little bit of information they could put out there. The competing agencies weren't even trying to scoop each other at first, just putting out any information they could find. Then it was revealed Cadmus had gotten involved in the save. Then they found out about the attacks on Air Force One and the President. Everyone thought Supergirl had rescued both the President and Cat Grant, and after a quick conversation with President Marsden, it was agreed to let everyone think that to keep the President's alien identify safe. When Congress decided to open an investigation into the invasion, everything was brought out into the open. Including Cadmus and the DEO. It was all one giant headache from a political view, one that wasn't going away any time soon, but from a news perspective it was solid gold.
"So," Maggie started after a few minutes, which gave Kara enough time to recompose herself. "I wanted to talk to you about something, and then I want to ask you something." Kara nodded, giving the detective her full attention. "Alex misses you."
"I miss her too," Kara whispered.
"I know you needed some time and space to sort all this out," Maggie continued, "which is why I keep taking her phone away after the tenth text of the morning." Kara smiled. She had wondered why Alex's texts always stopped mid-morning. She had even done a quick flyby, just to make sure Alex was okay after the third day. "But she really misses you. She's trying to give you the space you need, which is why I've stayed away until now, but she misses you so much she's starting to hurt. I love her, and I will do whatever it takes to make her happy, even if it's knocking some sense into that thick skull of yours."
"I don't want her to be sad," Kara piped up. "I want her to be happy. I want both of you to be happy together. I'm afraid that my mood would dampen your happiness."
"I get that," Maggie reassured her, reaching out and grabbing her hands. "I do. But there comes a point when you have to start letting people in again. And even if you sit on the couch and have a night long cry fest, Alex will feel better because she was there for you. You'll both feel better." Kara nodded numbly, tears pooling at her eyes again. "I have to work late tomorrow night. I know Alex is planning to watch movies all night. Seems like a good time for a sister night."
"I don't know if I'm ready for our sister nights," Kara admitted. "Besides, ever since you and Mon-El came, we haven't really been doing them."
"You haven't been doing them weekly," Maggie contradicted, "which is fine, but you still did them occasionally. Just start slow. Once a month, or every other month. Whatever you're comfortable with." Kara looked unconvinced. "Just think about it little Danvers."
"Okay," Kara agreed. "I'll think about it." Maggie nodded. "What did you want to ask me?" Maggie sighed and turned back to the city. She just watched the activity around her for a few minutes.
"Alex asked me to marry her," she whispered, barely loud enough to be heard.
"What?" Kara exclaimed excitedly. "What did you say? When did she ask? Why didn't she tell me she was going to ask?"
"Calm down little Danvers," Maggie grinned, facing the excited woman again. "It was after the invasion was stopped. Right after you left. I came out to check on her and she just blurted it out."
"Did you say yes?"
"I was actually so surprised I didn't say anything," Maggie admitted. "At first, I thought she was just joking, blowing off some steam, but then she just stared at me so intensely. By the time I realized she was serious, I didn't know what to say. Then she was pulled away and I was pulled away and the next time I saw her she acted like it never happened."
"She was probably scared when you didn't say yes right away," Kara thought out loud, before staring intently at Maggie. "You are going to say yes, right?"
"When the time is right," Maggie admitted. "I'm just not sure the time was right then. We were all exhausted, running on adrenaline and bad coffee, and euphoric because we won, and everyone was safe once again." She stopped and took another deep breath before smiling at Kara. "When she asks, or when I ask, I don't want it to be on a whim. I want us to really think about what it means, for us, for our future, and really think if we're ready for that kind of commitment."
"I understand completely," Kara said.
"But it did get me thinking about our relationship," Maggie continued, "and where we are as a couple. In the chaos afterward, I would be lucky if I caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of my eye on a busy street. I knew she was okay. I knew we would find each other after everything calmed down. But all I could think about whenever I went home to that empty apartment for an hour of sleep was how much I missed her. Which leads me to my question." Kara looked at her in confusion. "I want your blessing to ask Alex to move in with me."
"Oohhh," Kara squealed again, giving the detective another bruising hug. "But why do you need my blessing?"
"Want," Maggie corrected. "And I want it because I love your sister with all my heart. And getting approval from the most important person in her life is very important to me."
"I'm not the most important person in her life," Kara blushed. "You are."
"No, you are," Maggie told her, finally squirming out of the hug. "Make no mistake. I'm a close, close second. And sometimes when you do something really stupid and she's mad at you, I do take the top spot, but only for a minute." Kara laughed and went back to leaning against the railing. "You are the most important person in her life, and she's the most important person in yours. It took me half a second to realize that, even before I knew your secret. What's taken me a while is to realize I'm actually okay with that."
"Really?" Kara asked, sounding so lost and small that Maggie pulled the other woman into a hug.
"I need Alex in my life and she needs you in her life, so I need you in my life," Maggie said, holding Kara tightly. "Besides, you're pretty cool yourself. At least when you're not being annoyingly optimistic and condescending."
"I'll work on that," Kara conceded, pulling out from the hug. "And if it makes Alex happy to move in with you, you have my blessing. I might even help her move. If she says yes."
"I might take you up on that," Maggie said, heading toward the door. "Of course, usually when friends help friends move they expect to be fed. For you that would be what? Twenty pizzas?"
"At least," Kara smirked, following Maggie toward the door. "More if you wanted some for yourself."
"You drive a hard bargain little Danvers," Maggie smirked as she opened the door. "Oh, and by the way, this conversation, it's off the record. Except for the first part. I have to work late tomorrow, and Alex misses you."
"Right," Kara replied as they made their way to her desk. "Of course." Maggie casually waved as she made her way out of the bullpen. Kara watched until the elevator doors closed in front of her. Then she used her X-Ray vision and followed the detective through the building until she joined the crowd on the street. She blinked, focusing back on her paper, her heart lighter than it had been before Maggie showed up. She missed Alex so much. But was she ready to start letting people in again?