A/N: I've been MIA for a long time. Writing hasn't been top on my list of priorities. But I started a story with Sam and Alex and realized how much I missed Alex and Lucy so I got distracted from that one and this is what I came up with. It is by no means the best thing I've ever written but something I needed to share with you all. As always enjoy.
Alex had been working for a month straight. When she was an agent she wouldn't have cared. But as the Director she wanted nothing more than to have an uninterrupted day off. Once she found someone that could take her old position as Assistant Director she might be able to have a day off every two weeks. But that was the problem she couldn't find anyone she trusted enough with the job. She came close to calling Maggie and offering her the job. She may have ended things with her but Alex knew Maggie would be able to do the job and they might even be able to look past their differences, but she never did call her.
Today she had the entire day to herself. She had told Vasquez to take care of everything and the only reason they should call her was if a situation similar to the Worldkillers was happening.
Alex hadn't planned on leaving her couch the entire day. She had several shows to catch up on. She was halfway through the new season of OITNB when she heard a knock on her door.
Alex paused the current episode and hoped whoever it was would go away when they didn't get a response. What she hadn't expected was to hear keys scraping a lock. Only three people had ever had keys to her apartment. Kara, who rarely used her key, Maggie, who had given that back to her when she had ended things and Lucy. But there was no way it could be Lucy she was out of the country on some black ops mission that Alex wasn't allowed to know the details of.
She held her breath to see who would walk through her door. When she saw that it was Lucy she let out that breath. She was happy that it was Lucy. It wasn't until she had seen her walk through that door that she realized just how much she missed her best friend. She watched as Lucy removed her boots and shed her uniform shirt. Lucy went straight to the fridge. Alex couldn't help admire Lucy in her army BDU's. The tank top she had underneath the uniform shirt was tight and showed off her arms. Alex didn't remember Lucy's arms being so toned and muscular.
Lucy pulled out the left over Chinese Alex had ordered last night for dinner. She must have been starving because she didn't bother reheating it. Or she was desperate for real food. But that wasn't wait struck Alex all of a sudden. What struck her was the simple fact that Lucy was in her kitchen after being away for over a year, acting like she had never left.
Even after Alex and Maggie had moved in Lucy had stayed a semi-permanent fixture in Alex's apartment. Letting herself in to help herself to food if she had to pull a double or just because she felt like it. Alex smiled at the memory of the first time Maggie experienced Lucy letting herself in unannounced. Maggie had nearly jumped out of her skin. Alex had practically rolled around on the floor in a fit of laughter and Lucy just looked like the cat that ate the canary.
The familiarity that Lucy was moving around the kitchen awakened something inside Alex. Something she had buried deep inside. All the memories of their time in the desert came flooding back. All the shared looks, the shameless flirting on Lucy's part and how oblivious Alex had been. She never had to go after Maggie but maybe Maggie was a necessary part of the journey. They journey that had started with Lucy and would have inevitably ended with Lucy.
She is only a little sad that it took Lucy being gone for over a year and suddenly reappearing in her apartment for her to realize her feelings for the other woman. Lucy had been in her apartment for 15 minutes now and still hadn't noticed her sitting on the couch observing her. She got up and slowly walked toward the kitchen. Using her stealth training to make her way behind Lucy. She wrapped her arms around the other woman, resting her head in the crook of her neck, breathing her in. Lucy smelled better than she remembered, fit in her arms better than she remembered.
She placed a kiss on Lucy's neck, "Welcome home Lucy."
Lucy had just gotten back. She had skipped the briefing in Washington. She knew she would catch hell for it, but she had somewhere else she had to be. If there was anything she had learned while she was away it was that she couldn't let Alex Danvers get away from her again.
She hadn't been able to check her phone often and she definitely couldn't respond to any messages she had received but the drunken voicemails from Alex had broken her heart more than she would ever admit to anyone that didn't have the last name of Danvers. She had ended things with Maggie and Lucy wasn't there to help her greave. She had liked Maggie and was sorry she was going to miss the wedding. Alex had finally figured things out and was happy for once. Lucy only mildly regretted that she hadn't had the balls to blow the closet doors wide open on Alex but that plan of attack wouldn't have worked for Lucy anyway.
She had no idea if Alex was home and she didn't care. She didn't have an apartment to go back to and even if she did going back to that cold empty place was less than ideal right now. She needed familiarity. Spending most of her days in a desert with a bunch of sweaty men left her feeling cold and empty surprisingly enough. The moment she opened that door she felt more like herself than she had in a year.
She removed her boots at the door and left them next to her duffle bag. Her uniform shirt was discarded on one of the barstools. She had intended to make her way to Alex's bathroom and take a long hot shower, but she was starving. She had only eaten army rations for the last year and real food was something she needed ASAP. If Alex even had any. When she opened the fridge, she found left over Chinese. She opened the takeout container and found fried rice. Left over cold fried rice happened to be her favorite. She dug in contentedly. She placed the container on the counter and leaned into it heavily.
Staring at the container on the counter she realized how exhausted she was. She checked her watch and confirmed that it had been 38 hours since she had last slept. But sleep would come later. Or so she thought. She felt a pair of arms make their way around her body. They pulled her in and Lucy had never felt more safe, more loved and more at home than she did in that exact moment.
She was now coming to realize that Alex Danvers had always been her home. That she had always felt lost when she wasn't with Alex. She now understood what Kara meant when she said she didn't have a home on earth without Alex. With her arms finally wrapped around her after so long Lucy knew she was home because Alex felt safe and reliable. Lucy never wanted Alex to let her go.
Then she felt Alex's lips on her neck and she wanted nothing more than to get lost in this feeling. She had never felt safe in someone's arms before. Then she heard the sweetest voice utter words that she hadn't known she needed to hear. "Welcome home Lucy."
Home. A place she hasn't had in a long time. She melted into Alex's embrace savoring the feeling for a moment before turning around in Alex's arms. She put a hand to Alex's cheek and searched those soulful eyes. She found exactly what she was looking for. She stood up on her tiptoes to kiss her girl.
She had been waiting a long time to do this and she wasn't disappointed. Alex's lips responded to hers like they had been doing this for years. The warm, tingly feeling she got was a new experience. Kissing James wasn't a terrible experience, but it had never felt this good. She reluctantly pulled away. She loved the dopy grin that had spread across Alex's face.
"My home has always been with you Alex. I wish I had told you how I felt sooner. Then you wouldn't have gotten your heart broken."
Alex leaned down and kissed Lucy again. She pulled away and tucked a strand of loose hair behind Lucy's ear. "I think this was the way it was supposed to be Luce. I had to have my gay awakening with Maggie to prepare me for the woman I was smitten with when I was too stubborn to admit it."
"Stubborn isn't what I would have called that Alex. But still I did like Maggie and I'm sorry it didn't work out between you two."
"If you had asked me yesterday I would have said the same thing. But seeing you walk through that door in your BDU's looking a bit of a hot mess acting like you own the place…"
Lucy gently shoved Alex away from her, "You didn't mind when I would show up unannounced and cook you breakfast."
"I never said your presence was unwelcome. You coming in here acting like you own the place is kinda hot. Also made me realize how much of an idiot I have been the last two years. Also, wasn't aware you still had that key Lane."
"Kept it with my dog tags." Lucy pulled the chain out from between her boobs. "I would have never let this out of my sight. Honestly being able to put my hands on this key the last year and a half kept me going. Knowing I would have a home to return to. When I heard that first voicemail about ending things with Maggie it broke my heart and I hate that it also gave me hope. Because I wasn't going to let you get away again."
"Don't beat yourself up over it Luce. If the situation was reversed I would have done the same. You look exhausted, do you want a shower or a bath?"
Lucy should be annoyed that Alex had said she looked exhausted, but she wasn't. The fact that Alex wanted to take care of her felt good. She leaned into Alex and felt her arms wrap around her. "Honestly a bath but if I take one I'll just fall asleep and I would rather not fall asleep in the tub."
Alex kissed the top of Lucy's head, "Why don't you go do that now and I'll get the bed ready."
Lucy reluctantly pulled away from Alex and walked toward the bathroom she wasn't going to take long. She really was exhausted she just needed to feel clean. Five minutes was all it took when she came out of the bathroom in nothing but her underwear and tank top she wasn't expecting to find Alex in bed. It was still early in the afternoon and apparently Alex's day off. But there she was wearing her glasses and reading one of her science journals.
Lucy forgot Alex wore glasses. She had only seen her wear them once before. She had a fight with her dad and she came over and Alex was getting ready for bed but of course wouldn't let Lucy leave without getting everything off her chest. She had forgotten how sexy Alex was when she wore her glasses.
She walked over to the bed and climbed in. She snuggled into Alex's side and sunk into the mattress. She had missed this bed. She had only slept in it on two other occasions. But both of those times she hadn't been able to wrap her arms around Alex like she had wanted but the heavenly feeling of the mattress more than made up for it.
"I had dreams of this bed while I was gone and a few with you in those glasses."
Alex put down the journal she had been reading and looked at Lucy, "Once your well rested maybe we can make a few of those dreams a reality."
Lucy was a bit surprised Alex had gotten some game since she left. Alex had changed and if she was being honest so had she. They had a lot to learn about each other and Lucy couldn't wait. "I look forward to it Alex. Wake me if anything crazy happens. Oh, that reminds me I need to call J'onn tomorrow and see if he'll give me my job back at the DEO. Don't let me forget to do that."
"You won't need to talk to J'onn about that. Given today's events I'll need to talk to Pam and see if the Assistant Director dating the Director is a problem."
Lucy took a moment to process what Alex had said. She sat up and looked at Alex. Suddenly not tired at all. "When did J'onn step down? He made you Director in his place? I'm not surprised by that. It's the same choice I would have made but I didn't think J'onn was ready to step down."
"It happened almost three months ago. I tried to quit, and he wouldn't let me. He stepped down and gave me the promotion."
"My girlfriend is the Director of the DEO that is something I'll have to get used to. But I'm proud of you. The DEO couldn't ask for a better Director to replace J'onn. If Pam gives you any trouble about me being your second in command send her my way. I'll be able to change her mind."
Lucy snuggled deeper into Alex's side and her eyes closed. She had slept deeper than she had in a year and a half. When she woke to Alex asleep beside her she had to remember that yesterday really had happened. That Alex was her girlfriend, and this was now her home. It was just an added bonus that her girlfriend was the new Director of the DEO. Lucy couldn't wait to explore her new life with Alex Danvers by her side.