Author's Note: Like all Sanvers shippers I was terribly sad when I heard Floriana Lima was leaving Supergirl. When I realized the writers planed to break-up Alex & Maggie over a disagreement about having kids, this idea popped into my head. As you will see it follows the show up through S3Ep3 then it heads off into my own little fantasy world. Lest there be any doubt, this is a Sanvers fic and they will end up together!

One cautionary note: I normally don't start posting until I have the entire fic written at least in draft. That is not the case this time. At this point, all future chapters are still in my head. I hope to post at least weekly but I can't make any promises.

Finally, I do not own Supergirl, Alex, or Maggie. If I did it would be the Alex and Maggie show and Floriana Lima would not want to leave because she would be one of the lead characters!

Maggie was glad her father had come even if things hadn't gone the way she had hoped. Seeing him again had brought closure to the painful memories from her childhood but going through it had been emotionally exhausting. She wanted nothing more than to fall into bed and let Alex play big spoon while she cried it out. She marveled at that thought. None of her previous romantic partners had made her feel safe enough to let them see her cry and yet with Alex she didn't even give it a second thought.

But as tired as she was, as much as she wanted to let herself be wrapped up in the love and protection of Alex's arms, a niggling doubt at the back of her mind wouldn't let her do it. She knew she had to talk to Alex about the proverbial elephant in the room. She had seen how hopeful Alex was that finally reconciling her past would change her mind about having children and how half-hearted her assurances were that it didn't matter that Maggie still didn't want to have children.

As much as Maggie wanted to pretend that Alex was telling the truth and just move on, she knew she wouldn't be able to rest until they had talked it out. She dreaded it but as she had just demonstrated with her father, Maggie Sawyer was many things but an emotional coward was not one of them.

So as they were getting ready for bed she said "Alex, I think we need to talk".

She saw the fear flash in Alex's eyes and knew that this woman, who knew her better than anyone ever had, knew exactly what she wanted to talk about.

"It's late babe, can't it wait until tomorrow morning?" Alex tried to sound nonchalant but the crack in her voice gave her away.

Maggie gave her a sad little smile "I don't think it can."

Tears welled in Alex's eyes. "No I guess not."

So they opened a bottle of wine and sat facing each other on the couch in the living room. Maggie was the one who insisted they talk so she figured she should be the one to start. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly she said the hardest words she'd ever said. "I don't think we should get married Alex."

"What? No!" Alex looked shocked by Maggie's words. Clearly she had not expected such a suggestion to be Maggie's starting point. "Maggie, lets just postpone the wedding, take some more time to work this out."

Maggie's eyes shone with unshed tears but she didn't back away from what she'd said. "Alex, I don't want children and I don't think that's ever going to change. You want to be a Mom and you should get that chance. I can't be the person who keeps you from fulfilling that dream. I wont."

Alex took Maggie's hands in her own, held them tightly and looked Maggie straight in the eye. "Maggie, sweetheart, listen to me. You're right I'd like to have kids with you. I think we have more than enough love to share with a child or two and I think we'd both be great parents. But Maggie, when I picture my future I can imagine it with or without kids. I can't imagine it without you!"

"You say that now Alex but I've seen the way you look at kids playing with their parents in the park. I've seen how you are with Ruby. Eventually, you'd resent me for keeping you from having that and, Alex, that would kill me." Tears were streaming down Maggie's face. "I thought I'd been in love before Alex. I thought I knew what that meant but you showed me the truth. You healed me Alex when I couldn't even admit to myself that I was broken."

Tears streamed down Alex's face now too. "Look who's talking," she said with a sad smile. "Maggie, before I met you I just assumed something was wrong with me. I figured I wasn't working hard enough at my relationships or that I wasn't smart enough to figure out how to have a career and a relationship. The truth is I hadn't met the right person yet. I hadn't met you. Maggie with you it's like all the pieces fit perfectly, my career, my family, and my relationship with you. I never thought it could be that way, I never thought I'd have that."

"But one piece doesn't fit" Maggie said sadly, pulling her hands out of Alex's grip. "You want kids and I don't."

"I want you more." Alex voice was little more than a hoarse whisper. She knew she wasn't going to win this fight. Her stubborn detective had made her decision and nothing Alex said would change Maggie's mind. Her heart told her Maggie was wrong but in her head a voice she hadn't listened to since she met Maggie told her maybe Maggie was right. Maybe they should end this while they were still in love. The ghosts of all her failed relationships reared their ugly heads telling her this relationship like all the rest would end badly and Alex, like Maggie, didn't think she'd survive that.

So she stopped fighting. In her heart she knew that she'd never replace Maggie but she let her head make the decision. "I'm sorry," she said brokenly avoiding Maggie's eyes.

"Alex, no," Maggie said, gently taking Alex's face in her hands and making her look up. "This isn't your fault. It isn't anybody's fault. It just is." Maggie's voice cracked and she pulled a sobbing Alex into her arms and held her tightly as they both mourned the loss of the only true love they'd ever known. In there hearts they both knew that love like this doesn't happen every day. It was a once in a lifetime thing.

Eventually, after they'd cried themselves out, they separated. Maggie looked at Alex sitting now at the opposite end of the couch. Her badass, beautiful, ex-fiancée looked so small and broken. She couldn't imagine how they would get through this break-up and move on while living in the same city, working jobs that constantly brought them contact with each other. Right then and there she made a decision.

"Alex?" In her voice Alex heard something she couldn't identify but knew instinctively it wasn't good.

"Yes?" she said with a tremor in her voice.

"I've been offered a temporary transfer to Gotham PD to help them set up their own Science Division. I wasn't going to take it because of the wedding and everything but I think now maybe I should. It will give you a chance to move on. I think it will be too hard on both of us if we're both here, especially considering how closely NCPD Science Division works with the DEO."

Once again devastation showed in Alex's eyes and Maggie knew she wanted to argue with her, beg her to stay but all she said was, "how long will you be gone?"

"A year."

Alex nodded unable to speak and not sure what she would say even if she could.

For her part Maggie was glad that Alex hadn't picked up on her word choice when she had said it would give "you" not "us" a chance to move on.

Even now, even though it would have been with Alex's best interest at heart she couldn't bring herself to lie to Alex. And the fact was that, Maggie like Alex, knew in her heart that Alex was the only girl for her. She didn't plan to move on, to look for someone new to love. She just wanted Alex to be happy and she didn't see how that could happen with her as long as she didn't want a family.

Perhaps if Alex had caught on to what, exactly, Maggie had said she would have realized that Maggie felt the same way she did about moving on. Perhaps they could have avoided being separated for the next year but then some very important, very positive things wouldn't have happened either. So maybe it was just as well.