On Krypton, there was no such thing as Pride Parades.
In fact, there was no such thing as homosexuality.
Homophobia hadn't existed either, because sexuality hadn't been a problem. Thrive and prosper - that'd been the Kryptonian way, and if that meant some couple were made up of the same sex then so be it. It'd hadn't been wrong or right, it had just been. Maybe that's why a thirteen year old Kara was so surprised by the reactions of others when she'd first been exposed to it on Earth. Struggling through the awkwardness of seventh grade had never been on her list of things to look forward to in life, but she'd found slight solace in the fact that Earth and Krypton had at least one thing in common: that love wasn't restricted.
She quickly learned though, that despite that, the views on love were very different.
Ever since then, she'd kept silent about her planet's cultures, and had instead devoted herself to watching and learning about the ways of Earth. Maybe it's because she had still been so young back then, but the ways of her new homeland had easily fit themselves upon her, and she hadn't questioned them since. Of course, she still had her own opinions and views, but she knew enough that no one really wanted to hear anybody else's opinions unless it perfectly matched their own. So she'd continued to stay silent, blending in with the rest of the world: one hundred perfect non-unique and unimportant.
Just the way it was suppose to be.
Of course, nothing goes the way you want it to, and after a series of chaotic events and a few fumbles along the way, she'd become who she is now: Supergirl. Sometimes, she still can't comprehend how it all happened: how life had gotten this good. But she cherishes every moment, because along with the overflowing joy comes overwhelming dangers, and she knows: anyone of them can die at any moment. Which is why, when Alex is abducted and drowning, she lashes out and lets her anger control her - lets her strength dictate her actions.
Maggie almost makes the same mistake she does, but she talks her out of it. Because people are wrong: it's not that 'S' on her chest that means anything, or that cape billowing in the wind behind her back, it's her. It's Kara Danvers, the girl underneath the suit and all the superpowers. She has influence, and so, when she notices that both her city and her family could use a little bit of a moral booster, she takes one look at the calendar and claps her hands in anticipation of the brilliant idea that immediately pops up inside her head.
She whirls around, smiling at the two other people in the room. "Oh no." Alex mutters from her resting point on the couch, her voice muffled by the blanket tucked over her mouth and the various pillows stuffed around her. It's been two days since the whole Rick Malverne fiasco, and even though her body temperature has long since returned to the normal levels, both Maggie and Kara still insist on keeping her as warm as possible. "I know that look - you're planning something, aren't you?" Kara only scoffs at her sister playfully, a smile tugging the corners of her lips upwards a second later.
"I'm not...planning anything." She's a horrible liar and she knows it. Alex cocks an eyebrow at her, and even though her mouth is hidden, Kara doesn't need her x-ray vision to see the grin dancing across her sister's lips. Maggie looks over her shoulder at the blonde from her place in the kitchen, her eyes twinkling in that way that suddenly makes her understand how Alex fell so hard for this sly, back talking cop. "Alright little Danvers, my girlfriend's right: you're planning something." Wiping her hands with a rag and throwing it across her shoulder, Maggie turns around fully and crosses her arms, hip cocked out in that I-don't-give-a-shit way. "Spill."
Kara rolls her eyes at them. "I told you! It's nothing. Besides, you make me planning something sound like a bad thing." Alex rests her head against the arm of the couch, laughing as she directs her attention back to the flickering TV screen. "Because it is. Remember the last time you tried to plan something?" Kara scrunches her eyebrows in thought, moving over to help Maggie with dinner. "What? You mean Eliza's birthday party?" The oldest of the two sisters hums in agreement while Maggie chuckles under her breath, already knowing that this will be bad. The heroine just glares at both of them.
"Yep. You were fifteen, and for...some odd reason you decided that taking her flying would be a good idea." This time, Maggie's laugh is louder, and Kara elbows her in the side with maybe just a little bit too much force. "That...was not my fault. I mean - how was I suppose to know that she didn't like heights?" Alex is laughing too now - a little blob of blankets and pillows shaking up and down with only her head of auburn hair showing. "You grabbed her entire car, and flew her all the way to Hawaii. She told me that she has never been more terrified in her life then she was in that moment."
Kara huffs, trying to just focus on chopping the onions in front of her without bursting into laughter herself. She has to admit, she did feel bad about putting Eliza through that, but it had been somewhat funny afterwards. "Right, because it's not like you've ever messed up, even just a little." A little shuffling sound radiating from the couch tells the blonde that her sister is shaking her head. "Nope." A comfortable silence settles over the three of them, remaining unbroken until Maggie leans closer to Kara, whispering under her breath quietly enough so that Alex can't hear them.
"So, what are you planning?" The heroine glances at her sister's girlfriend out of the corner of her eye, irises shimmering with excitement. Usually, she would keep surprises like the one she's planning a secret, but for this to work she needs Maggie's help, so she tells her. "June starts next week." Maggie lifts a single eyebrow in question. "Uh huh, and that answers my question...how?" Kara glances over at Alex, making sure that her sister isn't eavesdropping. She isn't: she's watching The 100 with rapt attention, never even sparing the two a glance. "June is...the month." She gives Maggie a kinda serious look. "You know...the month. With the marching and the flags..."
The detective blinks once, twice. "Um..." For a second, Kara wonders if the other woman is messing with her, but one look and she knows she isn't. "Wait, you mean to tell me -" She cuts herself off, her mouth trying to form an abundance of words, but she can't decide which ones to use. Finally, she takes in a deep breath, setting down her kitchen utensils before turning towards Maggie. "June is Gay Pride Month." She can see the second it all clicks inside the ravenette's head. "Right! Uh..." She watches as Maggie shifts uncomfortably under her gaze, fiddling with the rag hung over her shoulder.
"Are you...are you okay?" Kara asks in a low whisper, brushing her fingers across the other woman's shoulder in a comforting gesture. Maggie shoots her a look out of the corner of her eye, giving her a strained smile. "Yeah no, I'm just... It's all good, really." She grabs a tomato out of a small bowl set next to her on the counter, getting to work on chopping it into squares. This time, it's Kara's turn to cross her arms. "Really?" She asks, straining the word. Maggie stiffens, sighing in defeat after a few seconds.
"Fine. Look, it's just that...as a kid, growing up, my parents weren't really...open minded." Something in Kara's chest constricts around her heart, sympathy for her friend showing through her soft tone. "Oh Maggie...I'm sorry." The detective nods, accepting the apology, before quickly shrugging it off with a halfhearted laugh. "I don't really care about it anymore, I mean - I'm happy, now." She raises her head to look at Alex, her eyes softening and the stress lining her face immediately fading away at the sight of the oldest Danvers sister.
Kara smiles at that, happy that the two have found one another, but still concerned about Maggie. "But?" The blonde asks quietly, making sure that the other woman knows that she can deflect the question if she's prying too much. But Maggie just frowns, looking over at the heroine. "They just...discouraged me. I didn't feel proud of myself, I felt...wrong. Then I moved in with my aunt and somewhere along the line I guess I just forgot all about June and..." She shrugs. "What it means, y'know?" Kara nods, bumping her shoulder against Maggie's in a show of support. The ravenette rolls her eyes at her good naturedly, but shoots her a grateful smile all the same.
"Well, what do you think about...celebrating it?" Kara asks carefully, making sure she isn't crossing any lines with her newfound friend. Maggie pauses for a second, thinking, before smiling. "You want to do this for Alex, don't you?" The blonde shrugs, unable to hide her own grin. "Maybe." The two share a quiet laugh, finishing up chopping the vegetables. "She's lucky to have a sister like you." Maggie says, and Kara scoffs, but looks over towards her sister. "No." She says after a few seconds. "I'm lucky to have a sister like her."
Maggie gives her contemplative look, before shrugging. "Alright well, whatever you have planned, count me in." Kara whips around to look at the detective, almost squealing with glee. "Really?" She asks, eyes narrowed with playful curiosity. Maggie nods. "Ah yes! Thank you thank you thank you thank you -" Alex's voice cuts her off. "What are you two doing over there?" The DEO agent asks, her questioning eyes peeking over the edge of her fluffy blanket. "Oh nothing!" Kara replies quickly, trying to mask her previous excitement by throwing an arm over Maggie's shoulder. "Just...cooking, like pals. We're cooking pals."
Alex hums in faux agreement, laying back down, but not before yelling over her shoulder, "Hands off my girlfriend little sis." Kara immediately pulls her arm back to her side, muttering a quiet, "Right, sorry." under her breath while Maggie just rolls her eyes at the two's antics. "Alright everybody, dinner's ready." The detective says, clapping her hands together to get their attention. Alex sits up on the couch, moving over to the kitchen's island table before either of them can chide her and tell her to continue resting. "Smells good." Alex says, grinning at Maggie before pecking her on the cheek.
Being ignored by both of them, Kara pretends to gag in the background. Once everything's set up (with either Kara or Maggie scolding Alex every time she tries to get up and help) they all take a seat and serve themselves. The rest of the night is spent sitting in front of the TV, watching Alex's choice of whatever while slowly drifting off. It's the oldest Danvers sister that succumbs to slumber first, unconsciously making small noises in the back of her throat every time her girlfriend runs a hand through her hair, scratching her nails against her scalp in the way that Kara knows is Alex's weakness.
"So." Maggie whispers, lowering the volume of the TV to make sure that they don't wake the DEO agent up. "What are your plans for...June?" Kara lays her head back in thought for a second, stretching her arms out over her head before yawning. "Well, I actually wanted it to involve more than just...us, y'know?" Maggie gives her a questioning look, but nods nonetheless. "I wanted to talk to Winn and James about it too, maybe even Hank and a few others." The other woman gives a breathy huff of laughter, shaking her head with a small smile on her face. "Whatever you're planning, it's gonna be good, isn't it?"
Kara nods, sitting up slowly while trying not to jostle her sleeping sister. "I've gotta go, but I'll text you with the details tomorrow, okay?" Maggie gives a thumbs up, before stretching out her other hand for a first bump. "Oh." The blonde says, slightly surprised, but bumps her own fists against the detective's. Maggie laughs. "See ya around, little Danvers." Kara rolls her eyes at the endearing nickname, but waves goodbye before leaving her sister's apartment. By the time she returns to her own loft, she's shaking from so much excitement that she's barely able to dial the numbers on her phone.
She makes more than a few calls that night.
"Alright, so we all know why we're here -" Winn cuts her off, raising his hand in the air before pointing out helpfully, "Actually, you guys might know why we're here but uh, I don't so..." Kara mentally scolds herself, pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose in habit when she realizes that no, she hasn't explained to the others why she's gathered them all in the secrecy of her loft yet. "Right, sorry." She says, brushing it off with an erratic wave of her hand.
"Can you make this quick Ms. Danvers? I do have an organization to run." J'onn's voice is only slightly humorous, and he has his hands propped up on his hips in that way he does when he's trying to get a point across. Kara nods, clapping her hands together. "Right, so I've gathered you all here today to talk about next month. June is coming and with it..." She lets her words trail off, giving the others a pointed look to finish her thoughts and let it click. "More crime?" James says, cocking an eyebrow in question. She shakes her head.
"Oh wait! I know, is this about your...girl thing? I mean, do Kryptonian women even have per-" Kara scrunches up her face in discomfort, a clear signal that she does not want to talk about that. "No Winn! That's not what I was getting at...at all." The DEO techie shuts up immediately, going back to munching on the bag of twizzlers he'd decided to bring to the meeting once he notices the looks everyone is giving him. "Sorry." He mutters under his breath, words slightly muffled by the candy in his mouth.
"What little Danvers is trying to get you knuckle heads to figure out, is that June is Gay Pride Month." Maggie chimes in: arms crossed, head tilted, hip cocked, and that damn trademark smirk that screams don't fuck with me plastered across her lips. Kara can't help but smile at the other woman, something about the way she's holding herself making her seem so...admirable. An immediate chorus of "Oh." escapes both James and Winn, while an understanding look crosses J'onn's face. Lena takes a step forward, speaking for the first time. "So, if this meeting was so important that you had to call all of us here, and yet Alex isn't here, and it has something to do Gay Pride Month - then I can only assume that we're doing something for her."
Kara turns to look at her girlfriend, beaming at her. Lena's bound in a burgundy dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and a few buttons undone, fitted nicely with black slacks, pumps, and her trench coat currently discarded on the coat stand next to the door of the loft. Her liquid green eyes clash beautifully against her ebony tresses, making the heroine's heart flutter in a way that she knows only can be cured by kissing her and never stopping. Instead, she just reaches out, twining their fingers together and squeezing softly.
Telling the others that she'd fallen for someone had been...fairly easy, despite the endless teasing that had ensued. Telling them that someone was actually Lena Luthor...well, that had warranted a fair bit of a different response. But she'd been through hell dammit, and she deserved happiness. Alex had been the quickest to judge and the fastest to accept, and after a stern talking too from her sister that had apparently traumatized them so much they refused to speak about the experience, the rest of her friends had followed in understanding. A few friendly gatherings and family dinners later, the others had started to see Lena the way she did: as an amazing, kind, and selfless woman who only wanted to make the Luthor name stand for something good - something better.
Pulling herself away from the memories, Kara adds in, "Well, not just her - but yes - that was the main gist of things." She gives them all a second to process the information, fingers crossed behind her back. Finally, James nods. "Alright, I'm in." Winn follows immediately after. "Yeah! Why not? I mean, it's been awhile since Team Superfriends has done anything that isn't related to fighting aliens and...y'know, saving the world." Kara turns towards J'onn, giving him a please-do-this-I-really-want-all-of-us-to-be-in-this-together kind of look. He smiles. "Anything for you two." The blonde squeals, wrapping him in a big hug before turning towards her girlfriend. "And you?" Lena tilts her head contemplatively, biting her lip in that way that makes Kara have a hard time focusing on her face and not her mouth.
Her amazing - Rao, such an amazing - totally magical mouth...
"You know you can count on me for anything." Lena says, ripping Kara from her lip-induced stupor. "Hmm?" She asks quickly, mind blank. It takes her a few seconds to process the words, but when she does she smiles. "Oh! Wait, really? Are you sure? It might interfere with your work schedule - actually, it might interfere with everyone's work schedule - but I don't want this to be an inconv-" The L-Corp CEO gently cups Kara's face with her palms, planting a small peck on her lips that immediately silences the blonde. She doesn't need superhearing to catch the quiet "Aww." Winn lets out at the action, choosing to ignore it and instead listen to what her girlfriend says next. "Always means always Kara."
Temporarily too starstruck to speak, she just nods, lost in her lover's eyes.
It's Maggie's voice that pulls her out of it. "And you say me and Alex are sappy." Lena pulls away with the slight roll of her eyes, a smile gracing her lips nonetheless. "Detective Sawyer's right, enough of that." J'onn grunts good naturedly, his eyes twinkling. "What's your plan?" Ever the Director. Kara muses to herself, ignoring Maggie's previous words and grasping Lena's hand with her own. "Well, I looked it up and the first Pride Parade is set for...well, June first, actually." Winn makes a sound mixed between an excited squeal and a shocked gasp, momentarily choking on his twizzler as he looks at Kara with wide eyes.
"Wait wait wait wait...wait. You mean to tell me, that you want to attend a Pride Parade?" His voice is laced with barely concealed excitement, his eyes glowing in that please say yes way they do whenever he used to ask if she'd gotten him anything too when she'd brought Ms. Grant her lunch everyday at CatCo. This time though, she smiles and nods. "Oh my god yes!" He screams out, hands thrown up above his head in glee. Winn whips around to look at everybody else, eyes narrowing in judgement. "What? No one else is gonna cheer for joy? C'mon guys, this is a Pride Parade. You get to dress up like a rainbow barfed all over you, and - and you get to wave flags and signs around and scream at the top of your lungs. This is a dream come true!"
James tilts his head at Winn. "I think you're forgetting the most important part." He gives pointed looks to Kara, Lena, and Maggie. The DEO techie's eyes widen. "Oh! Of course not. Pfft." He waves James off. "I know that this is all about supporting you guys." He points at the three women with his candy. "And everyone else! I mean, love is love!" Kara shakes her head at her friend's antics, slightly surprised to see Maggie giving the man a fond smile out of the corner of her eye. She shrugs it off. "Right, well - that was my idea. I wanted to take Alex to her first Pride Parade and I wanted us all to be there to support her."
"I think that's a great idea." Maggie says, throwing Kara a genuine smile. Everyone else's agreement follows soon after her's, all except for J'onn's, that is. "J'onn?" Kara asks, eyebrows furrowed in questioning. "Is there a problem?" The Martian looks at her, a slight frown in place. "I'm afraid that - like you said - there's going to be a clash in schedules if you do this." The heroine blinks, slightly taken aback. "Oh, okay. Well, can't you take the day off? I mean, it's not like some random alien is going to spring up on that exact day. And if one does, then the DEO will notify -" J'onn cuts her off, lifting his hand in a plea for silence.
"I'm not talking about myself Kara, I'm talking about you." It's the blonde's turn to frown. "What're you talking about? I'm the one planning this of course I cleared my schedule." The look on the Director's face though, tells her that no, she apparently didn't make sure she had no other plans for that day. "It's not your fault, I didn't debrief you for future plans." Kara opens her mouth to speak, but is cut off by Maggie. "Do me a favor, just spit it out." They all turn to look at J'onn, and he sighs, nodding. "The President called in a few weeks ago. She's coming back here to join the marches, and she wants some of National City's most influential figures by her side. That includes you."
"Oh." Kara mutters, feeling conflicted. On one hand, she loves the President. The lady is just so nice and has this carefree air about her. On the other hand though, Alex matters more, and she really wants to be there with her sister for the first march of the month. And not as Supergirl either - which is who the President will be expecting - but as Kara Danvers. She throws her hands up in the air, feeling defeated. "Well I can't be in two places at once! And if I'm Supergirl then I can't interact with any of you." Well, she could, but she would have to act like she didn't know them in order to keep her identity a secret, which would probably only serve to make things awkward.
"It gets worse." J'onn says, giving her a sympathetic look. "One of the other influential figures the President wants with her is your girlfriend." He gestures towards Lena, who blinks in surprise at the words. "I didn't think the President would risk aligning herself with the name Luthor, seeing as my brother's views directly go against her own." The DEO Director shrugs. "You're not your brother - she knows that." There's silence for a moment, before Winn pipes up sadly. "So...is that a no to the Pride Parade?" Kara shakes her head, trying to get a grip on all the information suddenly being thrust upon her.
"No! No, absolutely not - Pride Parade lives!" Winn fist pumps the air happily, but James looks at Kara with a dejected expression. "I hate to break it to you Kara, but you said it yourself, you can't be in two places at once." His words make her pause, and she tries to wrack her brain for any sudden solution to her newfound problems. "No I know, but maybe there's a way that I can be Supergirl with the President and still...be with you guys. I can have you walk with me - tell the President that I won't accept her offer without you guys."
"That would be a very unwise decision Ms. Danvers." J'onn says. Lena nods in agreement. "Plus, you can't risk people knowing that you're close to them. I'll be walking with you, and the media already knows we have a good friendship, so us being together will be a given. But them..." L-Corp's CEO doesn't need to finish her sentence, Kara already knows what she's going to say. You can't risk it. "Well how 'bout this?" Maggie chimes in, clapping her hands together to get their attention. "We all wear face paint." James cocks an eyebrow, J'onn mutters something that sounds a lot like "How did I ever get myself involved in this?" under his breath, Lena purses her lips in an attempt to hide a smile, and Winn, once again, chokes on his twizzler.
"Face paint?" James asks, eyes narrowing."Face paint!" Winn repeats, more excitement in his words then in James'. "Maybe you would care to explain Detective." J'onn says, looking as if he regrets his question as soon as he asks it. A sly smile flashes across Maggie's face, and she crosses her arms. "Well what I'm saying is: if we all wear face paint - like full on face paint - then there would be less of a chance of people recognizing us. Then we could all interact with each other and no one would be the wiser." Before she even finishes her sentence Winn is nodding rapidly.
The DEO techie points at Maggie. "I'm with her - I fully agree with her idea it's great let's do it." James runs a hand over his head, looking conflicted. "Uh well...I'll have to assign someone my position for the day - take care of assignments ahead of time and do a ton of preparation but that - that I can take care of. This whole face paint thing though...do you seriously think it'll work?" Maggie rolls her eyes. "C'mon Olsen, you're bff is Superman - people aren't going to be surprised to see you strolling down the street with Supergirl. You don't have to wear any face paint. Besides, if you really want a cover, you can just say you're there to snap some photos."
Kara blinks in surprise. "Huh, that's actually really true. I...can't believe I didn't think of that sooner." Maggie looks at her, tilting her head with a small smile on her lips. "I'm smarter then I look little Danvers." The heroine just shakes her head while James sighs, nodding to himself more then anyone else. "Alright." He finally says, agreeing. "I'll do it." Kara claps her hands together happily, biting her lip in an attempt to hide her ever growing smile. Lena speaks up. "So that takes care of James, Kara and I. J'onn you can just shift if you really want to, and Alex, Maggie, and Winn can deck it out in face paint."
"Yes!" Winn cries out, all of them sharing happy smiles. "This is gonna be so awesome!" J'onn starts moving from where he's standing, checking the watch wrapped around his wrist. "It's time for me to head out - I'm never this late, and Alex is probably getting a search squad ready." Kara laughs, turning to look at James when he speaks. "Wait, speaking of Alex, when're you going to tell her?" The blonde tilting her head in thought, turning to look at Maggie. "I think we'll...both tell her?" It comes out more as a question then a statement, but the detective nods at her. "We'll surprise her." They share a smile.
"Right!" Winn says, backing away towards the door slowly with his half eaten bag of twizzlers in hand. "So I'll see you all later - gotta go to the DEO. Then I'll be out shopping and getting ready for the big Parade! Ah, so exciting, amirite?" Kara shakes her head at him, smiling so wide that her face is starting to hurt. "Bye Winn." He snaps his fingers at her, winks, and then is gone. J'onn follows him soon after, along with James and Maggie who agrees to text her later so that they can come up with a breaking-the-news-to-Alex plan. Soon enough, it's just Kara and Lena left in the loft.
"You know, Alex is lucky to have you as a sister." Lena says, turning towards the youngest Danvers sister. Kara gives a disagreeing laugh, pushing her glasses closer to her face. "First of all, that's completely and utterly untrue. Alex has always been there for me, and she's the one who I'm lucky to have." While speaking, the blonde wraps her arms around her the taller woman's neck, a shiver shooting up her spine as Lena responds by resting her hands on Kara's hips. "Oh really?" Lena asks playfully. "Mhm." Kara hums, voice becoming quieter as they come closer together. "Although I will admit: Maggie said the exact same thing to me the other day. Almost word for word, actually."
The CEO's eyes widen in faux fascination. "Then I must be right!" She lowers her voice even more, her liquid green eyes shimmering with so much love that for a second Kara can't breathe. "Your sister and I may not see eye-to-eye all the time, but we have one thing in common. You - Kara Danvers - are our hero." The heroine smiles at the words, leaning in until her lips are just barely skimming over Lena's. She listens as the other woman gasps quietly at the soft contact, her superhearing catching on to her quickening heartbeat. "Well." She whispers, eyes closing as their lips brush once more. Her next words are spoken like a promise. "Then it's a good thing you're both my Supergirl."
She seals it with a kiss.
"So it's agreed then? We've got this all set in stone?" Kara asks, leaning back against her couch as she nibbles on the most heavenly food to ever exist: a potsticker. The speakers on her phone crackle as the person on the other end lets out an exasperated breath. "Yes, little Danvers, it's all set in stone. Don't make this sound like a drug trade." The blonde laughs at that, finishing off her food as she reaches out towards her coffee table for another one. "Right, sorry. Talk to you later." Maggie makes an, "Mhm." sound before hanging up, leaving Kara to stuff her phone back in her pocket and pull her side of the blanket over herself.
"Hey! No hogging the blanket." Alex says, lightly tugging on her end of the covering. "Sorry sorry." Kara mutters, rolling her eyes good naturedly at her sister before sticking her tongue out at her. Alex just frowns playfully, knocking a pillow against the heroine's face. Once their laughter subsides, Alex turns towards Kara, head propped up on her knee. "So, who was that?" The blonde shrugs it off. "Just James and work - he informed me that Snapper doesn't expect me at work tomorrow until I've 'pounded the pavement' and found him a story." The DEO agent gives her a sympathetic look. "You know, I know you really love your job, but sometimes it sounds like it really sucks."
Kara laughs, twisting around so that she can lay her head on her sister's lap. "It can sometimes but you're right, I love it. No matter what. Kinda like how I love you." She adds that last part in slightly teasingly, but looks up quick enough to catch her sister's embarrassed smile. "Oh shut up you dope." Alex says, rolling her eyes. Kara just shrugs. "It's true! But shhhh - time to be quiet." She nods towards the TV. "This is the best part." The older Danvers sister chuckles under her breath, but goes back to watching the screen, occasionally running her hand through her little sister's hair.
They fall asleep like that.
"Today's the day!" Kara whispers to herself excitedly, turning towards Maggie with wide eyes. "Oh my Rao today's the day!" The detective rolls her eyes, a small smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. "Relax little Danvers, you're gonna give yourself a heart attack." They're both standing in Alex's apartment, waiting for her to get home. Kara looks down at her phone, reading the text her sister had sent her six minutes ago. There's a traffic jam. I'm going around the long way - be there in ten. She looks around for the digital clock setup on the kitchen counter, reading the time. 10:26 - so then she should be here by 10:30. "You're thinking too loud." Maggie suddenly says, giving Kara a slightly stern look out of the corner of her eye. "It's starting to give me a headache."
"Sorry." The blonde mutters under her breath, tugging at the ends of her cape. "Can't help that I'm nervous." The ravenette sighs loudly. "It's going to be fine. We've gone over this a million times - nothing can go wrong. She'll love it." The heroine turns towards her friend, giving her a shaky smile. "I hope so. I just don't wanna...overwhelm her, I guess." Maggie opens her mouth to respond, but is cut off by the jiggling off the doorknob. To preoccupied with her jitters, Kara had failed to notice Alex's arrival, but now that she's here...
Alex opens the door, not looking up as she rifles through her purse. "Sorry I'm late, traffic was a bit-" The DEO agent cuts herself off as she looks up, blinking at the sight before her: her little sister standing in her living room, decked out in her full Supergirl outfit, and her girlfriend standing next to her, wearing that infamous smirk on her face while looking as sexy as ever. "Um...is there something going on? Did the DEO call in?" The oldest Danvers sister asks, quickly checking her phone to make sure she hasn't missed a call from J'onn or an urgent work related text from Winn.
"No, this has nothing to do with the DEO." Kara says, twining her hands together nervously. Maggie steps forward, planting a quick kiss on her girlfriend's cheek. "But, something is going on." She says, eyes twinkling mischievously. Alex gives them both a look. "Okay...what is it then?" Kara turns around, sauntering over towards the kitchen. Alex and Maggie follow her, and the oldest Danvers sister blinks in surprise as her eyes land on the stack of groceries awaiting her on the kitchen counter. "What, may I ask, are those?" Maggie steps away from her girlfriend, taking the items out of the bag one-by-one.
Face paint? Check.
Rainbow hair ties? Check.
A moderate selection of Pride t-shirts? Double check.
Pride flags and banners? Check and check.
Maggie reveals a few other things as well, but once everything is out and the bag discarded, Alex is looking at them with nervous, wide eyes. "W-what is all this stuff?" Kara notes the slight hitch in her voice, as if she knows the answer to her own question, but needs confirmation anyway. Maggie notices too, by the way her eyes soften and she reaches out for her girlfriend, standing behind her and wrapping her arms around her waist as she murmurs gently against her ear. "This is all for you, Alex. It was Kara's idea." Alex's gaze locks with that of Kara's. "Well, what even is...this?" At this, the heroine stands up straighter, finding confidence in the familiarity of her surroundings, the people before her whom she knows and loves, and the cape weighing comfortably against her back and shoulders.
"I - well, we - wanted to surprise you. As you know, today's the first day of June and, well...June is Gay Pride Month." She watches as her sister's eyes widen just the slightest bit with the realization of what she's saying, but she doesn't interrupt the blonde. "And there's a Pride Parade today and I just thought that maybe...you might wanna go." She looks away for a second, her nerves showing in the way she reaches out behind her and fiddles with the ends of her cape. When she gets no response after a few seconds she lowers her head in dejection, accepting the silent no with a quiet, "But you don't have to if you don't wa-"
She's cut off by a pair of arms wrapping around her, blinking as - for the first time in a long time - the arms around her squeeze her midriff so tightly that she can feel her lungs just barely twinge with the sudden denial of oxygen. "Of course of I want to go." Alex whispers into her ear quietly, face tucked into the crook of her neck. Her voice sounds slightly tight, but not with sadness - with joy and...thanks? Kara finally moves to wrap her own arms around her sister, returning the hug as she nods dumbly against the auburn haired woman's shoulder.
They pull away simultaneously, and Alex plants a soft kiss against Kara's forehead, an action she hasn't done since they were little and Kara struggled with learning how to control her heat vision. She opens her mouth to say something, but instead opts against it and just gives her sister a beaming smile. Maggie walks up behind them, wrapping an arm around Alex's waist. "Great." She says, kissing the DEO agent on the cheek. "Because we weren't going to take no for an answer anyway." They laugh at that, before Alex walks over to the odd assortment of stuff they'd bought. "So, we're going to dress up in this stuff?"
Maggie chuckles, shaking her head, leading Alex to pinch her eyebrows together in confusion. Kara speaks up. "It's been decided that Maggie and I will give you a makeover." Alex opens her mouth to immediately start protesting, but Kara ignores the oldest Danvers sister with a slight smirk and continues explaining. "Once you're done, I'll leave and head over to my loft. The others are waiting there - probably getting ready right now, actually. Like we should be doing." Maggie glances over her shoulder to look at the clock, nodding her head in agreement when she sees what time it is.
"Wait," Alex says, the bridge of her nose crinkling in that way that Kara knows means that she's trying to piece the mental puzzle together. "What others?" Maggie shrugs nonchalantly. "Winn, James, J'onn, and Lena." Alex blinks, letting out a small, "Oh." before her eyes widen with a sudden realization and turns towards Kara, a stricken expression marring her features. "But wait, Kara, J'onn didn't tell you: the President-" Kara nods knowingly. "Wants me to attend the march, I know - Lena too." She sighs slightly, but gestures towards her outfit a second later with a grin. "But I already got that figured out. All you need to worry about, is looking as gay on the outside as you are on in the inside."
Maggie snorts at that, shaking her head as her eyes glint with a sly mirth. "Little Danvers, you got some cheesy ass lines." The heroine flips her hair dramatically, doing her famous Supergirl pose: hands on her hips and her back straight. "It's why Lena loves me." She says, voice dropping to a sultry low that causes one of the detective's eyebrows to shoot up comically, before the other woman rolls her eyes and makes a grab for the face paint. "Whatever, let's get started." They both turn towards Alex, who narrows her eyes at them playfully and darts her gaze back and forth between the two. "Mmmmmm fine, where do you want me?"
Before she can even say anything, Maggie - with her goddamned silver tongue and witty, dirty mind - shoots back with a snappy, "Well last night on the couch seemed to do just fine." Alex immediately flushes a bright red, her composure crumpling as she sputters for a reply. Kara on the other hand, tries her hardest not to look at the couch as she scrunches her eyes shut, lifting her hands to her ears like a child. "Nope, no, nuh-uh - I did not need that mental image in my head thank you very much. Please keep your sex lives to yourselves." Maggie laughs, seemingly unfazed. "Oh relax Kara, you talk like you've never had sex before."
The blonde turns towards her friend, glaring at her. "That's not the point! The point is that I don't want to know about you and my sister doing...y'know, that! You do realize I could've gone my entire life without hearing you say that, right?" By this time, Alex has finally managed to grasp a hint of composure, clearing her throat and distracting the two bickering woman. "A-alright let's just...put the face paint on and...whatever else you bought and be done with this." The word 'done' is slightly stressed, and they both get more serious: Kara turning away from the detective and nodding towards her sister, and Maggie agreeing with a wide grin a little to mirthful from the previous banter for Kara's liking.
She regrets this so much now.
It's so much...louder then she thought it would be.
People are cheering and screaming and chanting, while others are just smiling and laughing. Kara notices a few people on the outer edges of the Parade are darting their eyes around, looking for trouble, like lookouts. Of course, they can't see her yet. She's hovering just below the clouds, her ears perked and her eyes sharp. She waits a few minutes, looking for - there! She spots her friends, and immediately smiles once she looks them over. Winn has glitter in his hair and the colors of the rainbow streaked under his eyes like a football player. He's also wearing... She squints. Are those high heels? Shaking it off, she takes notice of James. He's wearing a baby blue shirt that has a quote on it, and his faithful camera is looped around his neck.
J'onn is there too. He doesn't look too different: he's still a tall, older African American gentleman, but his jaw is sharper and his head narrower, and he's got this whole lanky limbs thing going on for him. His stern features are there though (hard to miss), but there's a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. She spots Maggie soon after, wearing a shirt made up all the flags for each different sexuality, and shorts that say 'kiss my gay ass' on the back of them. Alex is standing next to her, decked out more than anyone else. There are rainbow colored pins in her hair, little gay flags in her hands, a shirt that says 'no one knows I'm a lesbian', shorts with rainbow strips attached to the pockets, and a bunch of colorful bracelets wrapped around her wrists.
Of course, they're all wearing full on face paint too.
Static buzzes inside her earpiece, and a second later the President's voice comes through to her. "You ready for this Supergirl?" She taps the earpiece, responding. "Ready." They share a few more words, and then Kara directs her attention back down onto the Parade. The marchers continue on, oblivious to what's about to happen. They turn a corner, only to be met with the sight of the President, her bodyguards, Lena Luthor, Gat Grant, Maxwell Lord, and a few others. Everyone freezes, and Kara takes that as her cue to make herself known. Gliding down slowly, she made sure to give the people enough time to notice her before landing in between the President and Lena.
"Glad you could join us." The President says, smiling. "You kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world." She says back, turning to face the crowd of paraders. They take one look at her: her cape traded out for a large replica of the gay flag, her skirt now lined with the bisexual colors, a crown of colorful flowers perched atop her head, and rainbow lipstick tinting her lips - and cheer. Kara smiles, turning towards Lena. L-Corp's CEO bites her lip in a smile, before nodding. They grab each other's chins before leaning in and sharing a chaste kiss. The crowd screams louder. "Well then," Lena says, her eyes a shade darker. "Shall we?" Kara steals another peck. "We shall."
With that, they turn around and start marching. The paraders eventually catch up with them, slightly distanced because of the President and her bodyguards, but still close enough to share their infectious mood of happiness and glee. Kara and Lena slow down just a bit, allowing their friends to catch up with them. "This is so great!" Winn immediately says, as Alex walks up towards the blonde and swings her arm around her shoulder. "This is great. Thank you, Kara." The younger Danvers lets out a small, "Awww Alex." and then throws her own arm over her sister's shoulder. They continue walking like that, and at some point Cat and her son (he'd been in the crowd somewhere, she hadn't noticed him before), join their little merry band. Kara exchanges a few words with her boss, and gives Carter a special Supergirl once-in-a-lifetime hug. Eventually the Parade disperses at the beach, everyone setting up tents to continue the celebration with swimming, tanning, and beach ball volleyball.
The day ends. They leave. But one thing stays with them, and will continue to stay with them for years to come.
Pride.