Her heart broke as she walked into her apartment after the play and she looked over at her bed. Their bed. Maggie lay sleeping there and all Alex wanted to do was gather her in her arms and hold her. She locked the door behind her and slipped off her shoes and went directly to her side of the bed. She lay there, on her back, hands folded behind her head in the darkness and wondered how to resolve this ongoing battle between two parts of her heart.
Then Maggie, still mostly asleep, turned over to wrap her arm snugly around her waist. Alex took a breath and tears formed in her eyes. She brought her arms down and cradled Maggie's forearm with her own. The soft warmth of Maggie's skin, the other woman's light and spicy scent, they gave Alex a measure of comfort. It was bittersweet. She knew she wasn't going to change her mind. She knew that Maggie wouldn't change her mind, either. How could they remain together while wanting such different things?
This is why it was a bad idea to propose, Alex thought to herself. Just like me. Jumping headfirst into a serious situation I know very little about. She sighed. Who doesn't talk about kids before getting married? Just because I've always pictured kids doesn't mean that everyone has. It was more and more apparent to Alex that if neither of them would change their minds, then any kind of future was murky, at best. She scoffed silently. And we're getting married in 27 days. She blinked rapidly, trying not to cry. Or maybe we're not.
She looked at Maggie, sleeping so peacefully. And I … I lied to her, Alex admitted to herself. She asked me, point-blank, if I felt the same way. And I said I did. She bit her lip. How could she give this up? Give her up? Was it worth it? What they had between them was so good, so real. Would she really give this up for the idea of future children? She was only 28. There would be plenty of time to have kids, right? She could stay with Maggie and maybe they could talk about it, over the coming years. Maybe she'd come around, eventually.
Alex leaned down and kissed Maggie's forehead gently. But maybe she wouldn't. Maybe she wouldn't and maybe she'd resent Alex for marrying her and secretly hoping she'd want to have kids after all. And maybe… Maybe Maggie would leave her. The very notion of Maggie breaking up with Alex made her insides contract. They'd been through so much together already, gone through Alex's freak-out back when Kara had been trapped on Slaver's Moon, dealt with Maggie's hatred of Valentine's Day, handled Alex's kidnapping and near death, survived the Daxamite invasion of National City. Shit, they'd even dealt with her asshole of a father just last week.
This can't be ending, she thought to herself, finally unable to prevent the tears from falling. We haven't even gotten Gertrude yet. They still hadn't experienced so many of those firsts they'd talked about. It's not fair, she thought, over and over. It's just not fair. Alex's body started shaking from the silent sobs, while the tears streamed down her face.
"Babe?" Maggie said, her voice soft with sleep. "Alex? What's wrong?" she asked, sitting up.
Alex sat up and reached out and clung to Maggie, burrowing her face into the other woman's shoulder.
"Alex, Alex, you're scaring me, what's wrong?" she asked, arms coming up to hold her.
"I'm so sorry, Maggie, I'm sorry," she sobbed.
"Alex, you gotta give me more than that. It's okay, whatever it is, I promise, it's okay," she soothed.
Alex shook her head and pulled back to look at her. "I'm so sorry, Maggie."
"Sweetie," she said, quietly, cupping Alex's face and wiping her tears away as best she could with her thumbs. "Talk to me."
She sniffled, trying to get her crying under control.
"That's it, Alex, just breathe. It's okay," Maggie said, softly, dropping her hands from Alex's face to take her hands. "I'm here. Just talk to me."
Alex exhaled and tried not to think about how this moment might be the very last moment where Maggie was loving and understanding and tender with her. She sniffled and took a deep breath. "Maggie…"
"I'm here, Alex, I'm right here," she said, locking her eyes on hers and squeezing her hands in reassurance. "I'm here."
"Maggie… I don't know how to… what to…" Alex sighed. "Maggie, I need to be a mom," she blurted.
Maggie blinked and frowned, somewhat. "Excuse me?"
Alex pulled her hands away and brought her knees to her chest, circling them with her arms. "I just… I need to be a mom."
"Yeah, I, uh, I kinda got that already," Maggie said. "I'm… I'm a little lost, here. I thought, uh, you know, that we… we were on the same page."
Alex just shook her head, tears flowing once again. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
Maggie turned to face the rest of the apartment and leaned back against the headboard. She took a breath. "C'mere," she said, reaching out her right arm.
"Huh?"
"Come here," Maggie repeated, patting her right shoulder with her left hand.
Confused, Alex curled up against Maggie, resting her head on the proffered shoulder, snaking her arm across Maggie's waist.
"I can understand that you want to be a mom. And I think you can understand that I don't want to be a mom," she began. "And I can see how that might be…" She paused. "Scary. Or incompatible. Or whatever."
Alex nodded.
"What I need you to know, right now, Alex Danvers, is that I love you. I have been in love with you for a long time, now. I have never been this deeply in love in my entire life," she declared.
"I'm so sorry, Maggie," she whispered. "I'm sorry that I want to be a mom."
"You can't help how you feel any more than I can, Alex," she replied. Alex couldn't help but smile for a moment. Maggie was tremendously good at being rational and this was proof. "So we should definitely talk about this, but there's no need to talk about it right now. And there's no need to think that, that, I don't know, that this is the end for us or whatever you might be thinking," she said, before kissing Alex's head lightly. "I love you more than I've ever loved anyone or anything in my entire life, Alex." She pulled Alex up a bit to look at her in the eye. "You don't get to be rid of me that easily," she said with an easy grin.
Oh thank God, Alex thought as she moved back in to hold Maggie tightly. "I don't know what to do, Maggie," she said, softly.
"It's okay," she said. "It's okay. We'll figure it out together."
"I love you. You know that, right?" Alex asked.
"Of course I know that," she replied. "And I love you."
Alex let herself be held by Maggie and let her soft, soothing words wrap around her like a warm blanket. She drifted off to sleep feeling very safe and content.
"Got everything?" Maggie asked.
Alex nodded. "Clothes, shower stuff, pajamas, DEO outfit and gun, just in case. You?"
"Ditto, though I'm not sure I should bring my badge. Imagine if I lost it? 'Yeah, hi, sorry, I kind of left my badge on Earth 1…' might not go over too well with the lieutenant," Maggie grinned.
"Yeah, maybe not," Alex smiled back.
They were talking, which was a bit of a change. They'd talked a lot since Alex had woken Maggie up that night with her crying. Over the days that had followed, they'd decided to hold off on the wedding. They were still engaged, at least nominally, but any wedding that might happen would be much further down the road. However, letting Maggie know that she was going to go to a wedding on Earth 1 had not really gone over well, particularly as the date was so close to their own would-be wedding date. Maggie was still kind of annoyed that she hadn't been asked to go, at least not initially. Alex had just planned to go with Kara and be there to support her sister as she was there for Barry, so she had kind of neglected to ask Maggie to go at all. When Maggie had shown interest, Alex invited her, of course, once she cleared it with Kara, who cleared it with Barry, who, of course, had to clear it with Iris. Dealing with another person, more seating arrangement trouble, more issues with accommodations, all of it was stressful just three days before the wedding.
Since then, communication had been less than fabulous between them. It was mostly disjointed, as if the two of them were suddenly and, perhaps, Alex thought, irreparably, out of sync. So it was a nice change to be chatting somewhat amiably about this forthcoming trip to Earth 1.
Barry and Cisco had met the three of them as they came through the portal.
"Kara!" he smiled widely.
"Barry," she replied, smiling back. They hugged tightly. "Can I just say how great it is to see each other without, you know—"
"People being in trouble? Fighting aliens? Being trapped in a musical nightmare?" Cisco suggested.
"What he said," Kara grinned. "Barry, this is Alex Danvers, my—"
"Oh, the sister!" Barry said, pulling Alex into a hug.
"Uh, yep, yeah, that, uh, that would be me," she stammered, hugging him back, somewhat awkwardly.
"We're huggers here," Cisco stage-whispered. Alex wasn't certain if he was kidding or not.
Kara cleared her throat to dispel the awkwardness. "And this, this is Maggie Sawyer," Kara indicated, "Alex's fiancée."
"Congratulations," Maggie said, sincerely, as she shook Barry's hand. "And thanks so much for letting me tag along."
"The more the merrier," Barry smiled.
Barry took Kara to the West house, which was where she would be staying, while Cisco took Alex and Maggie to a nearby hotel, where some of the other guests were staying. They'd all meet up for the rehearsal dinner a little later.
Check-in was, thankfully, not a problem. Alex had been concerned about using their own identification, but Cisco had made copies of both of their Earth 1 doppelgängers' driver's licenses. He'd also handed over Barry's credit card for the room fees and incidentals, almost gleefully. "You should order a lot of room service," he had suggested, a large smile across his face.
"So this is nice," Alex commented. "Almost doesn't feel like a whole other Earth, does it?"
Maggie nodded, putting her bag by the dresser, while Alex hung up the garment bag holding their dresses for the wedding. "I wonder what kind of differences there are."
"Lots of meta humans, for one," Alex joked, putting her own bag down by the closet. She walked to the other side of the room and opened the drapes fully, allowing them to get a good view of Central City. "But surprisingly few aliens, as I understand it."
"We'd both be out of a job if we lived here."
Alex shrugged. "I don't know. Seems to me as though meta humans are fairly extranormal, wouldn't you say?"
Maggie sat on the edge of the bed. "Mmmm, you have a point." She considered. "So if this is another Earth… but one without aliens… then does Kara not exist here? I mean, we both do," she said, looking at her copied driver's license. "But does Kara?"
"Huh, that's a good question," she said, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back against the window. "I mean, maybe in this universe, maybe Krypton didn't explode? Or maybe Clark and Kara landed on another planet or something." She drummed her fingers against her upper arm thoughtfully. "I wonder if the Alex Danvers here came out to herself early on."
Maggie laughed.
"What?"
"Sorry, I just had a vision of us meeting and you being out and proud already."
Alex grinned. "I bet I would have asked you out."
"I bet I would have said yes."
Alex frowned. "I wonder…"
"Hm?"
"Did Earth 1's Alex and Maggie meet? I mean, they're both in National City."
Maggie considered. "What's the address on your license?"
Alex dug it out of her pocket. "An apartment on Bay Street," she said. "You?"
"An apartment on Seventh."
"So we don't live together," Alex concluded.
"Doesn't look like it, no," Maggie agreed.
There was a silence during which Alex considered the possibility that they might soon not be living together on their Earth, too. She sighed.
"What?"
She shook her head.
"Talk to me, Alex, come on."
"It's just the same stuff we've been talking about," she said. "I… I don't really want to talk about it, you know? Not here. Not now."
"We're at a wedding," Maggie stated. "Stuff is going to come up. And we should talk about it rather than bottle it up inside."
Alex snorted as she moved away from the window and uncrossed her arms. "This from the woman whose preferred way of dealing with things is drinking scotch and losing her cool in private?" She got on to the bed and stretched out on her back, her hands clasped over her stomach.
Maggie rolled her eyes. "That was last year. A lot of things can change in a year." She turned to face Alex.
"Like what?"
"You thought you were straight," Maggie said, smiling.
Alex opened her mouth to answer, then shut it. "I suppose you have a point," she said.
"So are you gonna talk to me?" she asked.
She shrugged. "We don't live together in this world."
"And?"
"And," Alex said, almost angrily, "and what does that mean for us back home?"
Maggie frowned. "Does it have to mean anything? There are hundreds of reasons for why you and I might not be living together here."
Alex sighed. "It just… it seems like a bad sign is all, you know?"
"What's a bad sign is that you seem to think the universe, I'm sorry, no, the multiverse, is sending us signs as to whether or not our relationship will survive."
"No, what's a bad sign is that we've been bickering about everything since we pushed the wedding back," Alex shot back.
"Oh," Maggie nodded. "Okay. So it's about the wedding. Did you want to get married when we're not sure how this whole…" She waved her hand in the air. "This whole thing is going to end up?"
"I mean, it's pretty clear that you don't want to be a mom and it's pretty clear that I do and I wonder every moment of every day if you're just going to leave me or if you're going to make me do it."
She breathed. "So it's decided, then? In your mind, we're doomed?"
"I didn't say that," Alex muttered.
"But you think it."
"I don't see a way around it!"
"The difference between us, Alex, is I still have hope," Maggie said.
"Well then why have you been so angry for the last several days, if you're so hopeful?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because my fiancée wanted to go off to a whole other universe without me?" She stood and paced over to the windows, gazing out at the unfamiliar skyline.
"It was just gonna be for a day. And it's for Kara," Alex tried to explain for what was surely the twenty-seventh time. "And you're here now, so why are you still angry?"
"Because you didn't even think to invite me in the first place!" Maggie sighed and turned back around. "It's stuff like that, the not thinking about me, the not taking me into consideration, that has me worried about our future."
"You don't even know these people! Hell, I don't know these people! They're Kara's friends! Why would you even want to tag along to a wedding for people you don't know?"
"Because I love you, Alex, and I want to be with you!" Maggie exhaled. "God, you'd think that would be enough of a reason." She walked over to the dresser and grabbed her room key.
"Maggie," Alex said.
"I'll be back before we have to get ready."
"Maggie, don't go," she said, gently.
"You didn't want me here, so obviously you want some space. I'm happy to oblige," she said, opening the door and leaving the room.
"Dammit."
They'd gotten ready separately, taken separate showers, taken turns in the washroom. When Cisco arrived in the hotel lobby to bring them to the rehearsal dinner, the two women had still barely spoken to one another. Maggie hadn't said more than three words to Alex and Alex was still infuriated that Maggie had just left in the middle of the argument.
"So, uh," Cisco said, as he drove them to the dinner, "engaged, huh? When's the big day?"
Maggie, sitting in the back seat, just sighed.
"It's, um," Alex cleared her throat, "it's been pushed back."
"Oh," Cisco said. "So, like, Earth 38 seemed pretty cool, the couple of minutes I spent there. What's it like?"
"More aliens, fewer meta humans," Alex said, curtly. She didn't particularly want to engage in small talk.
"Gotcha," he said. "Maggie, what is it you do for a living?"
"I'm a detective in the science division of the local police department," she said. "I investigate all weird things."
"Oh, so, like, if they existed on your Earth, metas?"
She nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Mostly it's alien stuff."
"Very cool. Aliens are so cool," he said. "When Barry got back home after meeting Kara for the first time, I was like, actually worried my head would explode in the excitement. Aliens!"
The women remained silent.
He cleared his throat. "Not that, you know, I'm not used to weird things. The whole interdimensional travel thing I can do? Pretty sweet, not gonna lie."
"That reminds me," Alex said, turning to her left to face him. "Why are you guys Earth 1?"
"What?" he asked.
"I mean, my Earth is supposedly Earth 38, right? Yours is Earth 1. Why? Who's to say our Earth isn't Earth 1?"
"Uhhhh…"
"Did Kara not talk to you about this?"
"No?"
Alex sighed. "She said she'd talk to you about it. I just think it's very, you know, Barry-centric. Or Team Flash-centric. Like, why is my Earth not Earth 1?"
Cisco shrugged. "Because it's the first Earth we knew of? Because we live here?"
Alex rolled her eyes. She caught sight of Cisco's face as they arrived at their destination. It was a clear look of relief.
"Well, we're here!" he said, jovially.
"Thanks for the ride, Cisco," Maggie said, nodding at him. She exited through the back seat's passenger door and didn't wait for Alex before she entered the venue.
Alex sighed. It was going to be a long night.
Alex was at the makeshift bar, still angry at Maggie and her behaviour. Ditching her at the hotel. Barely speaking to her as they got ready. Going in to the venue for the dinner without her. She poured herself a shot of scotch and drained it in a single go.
"Somebody who drinks like that," said an attractive blonde woman coming up to the bar, "is looking to make something go away." She took the bottle and poured her own shot.
"Yeah, well," Alex said, clearing her throat. She watched as the other woman downed the shot easily. "What are you looking to make go away?"
"Nothing," she said. "I just like the taste of scotch."
"Fair enough," Alex responded. "I'm pissed off at my… my kind-of fiancée."
"Kind-of fiancé? What, did you catch him cheating or something?"
"Uh, uh," Alex shook her head. She poured another shot, immediately put it to her lips and threw it back. "She and I have been fighting ever since we pushed back our wedding."
"Hm," the blonde said, pouring herself another shot. "So, being at the rehearsal dinner for the world's most perfect couple is probably the last place that you want to be."
"Yup," Alex confirmed, stealing the bottle back and refilling her glass.
"Well, here's to making things go away," the other woman said, raising her glass to Alex.
"Here's to loving the taste of Scotch," Alex replied.
They clinked glasses and both women gulped down their shots.
"Hi," said a very familiar voice. "I'm Maggie, I'm Alex's fiancée," she said, inserting herself between the two women. She held out her hand. "And you are?"
Alex looked at the blonde, wide-eyed, from over Maggie's shoulder, and mouthed "I'm sorry".
The blonde smiled at her and then at Maggie. "Sara Lance," she said, taking Maggie's hand. "Pleased to meet you both," she said, then reaching out to shake Alex's.
"Alex… Alex Danvers," she said, enjoying the warmth of the other woman's hand.
Sara cocked her head to the side. "Oh, you're the sister!" she exclaimed.
Alex sighed. "Yes, I'm the sister." Did everyone know Kara had a sister? She felt unprepared for meeting all of these people who had heard of her before when she hadn't heard of them. Definitely need more alcohol.
"Can you…?" Sara asked, and made a wavy motion with her hand.
"No, I can't fly."
"Bummer," Sara responded.
Maggie cleared her throat. "So, Sara, tell me, what do you do?"
The blonde smiled easily. "Right now, I drink," she said. "Scotch?"
"I think Alex has had enough," Maggie said, "don't you think, babe?"
"Uh, no, no I don't think I have, sweetie," she retorted and, defiantly, took another shot. She knew she was being childish. She couldn't help herself. The bickering between them was unending at this point.
"May I have a word, Alex?" Maggie asked, in a serious tone.
"Hey, hey, if the lady would like to keep drinking, I think that's her decision," Sara said, "fiancée or not."
Maggie smiled dangerously at the blonde. "Listen, Sara, you seem nice, but this is something between Alex and me, all right?"
Sara raised her arms in surrender. "Just saying, you both seem like adults."
"Yeah, I can make my own decisions, Maggie," Alex said.
"And your choice is…?"
She narrowed her eyes and insolently held out her shot glass to Sara. "Hit me," she instructed.
Maggie glared at Sara and then looked back at Alex. "I'll be over there with Cisco and Caitlin," she said.
Alex downed her shot as Maggie walked away.
Sara chuckled. "She's a piece of work," she commented.
"Tell me about it," Alex replied.
"Jealous as hell of me, too," she said, mildly.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"She's jealous of me."
Alex snorted. "That's ridiculous. You're not even gay."
"No, I'm bi."
Alex blinked. "What?"
"Bi." She frowned. "You know, bisexual? I'm sorry, is your Earth like, weird about it?"
"No, no, no, no, uh, um, no, of course not," Alex stammered. In reality, though she'd thought Sara was cute, she had had absolutely no idea that Sara was remotely interested in women. She looked at her again. Well, that explains the whole suit thing she's wearing, she thought to herself.
Sara laughed, crossing her arms. "You'd better not look too long, there, Alex Danvers, or your fiancée is gonna be pissed."
Alex blushed. "Sorry."
"Hey, hey, I'm not complaining. It's always nice when a beautiful woman can't take her eyes off of you." She winked.
Alex took another shot, mostly to avoid Sara's eyes. "Thanks," she said, after. "You, uh, you're, uh… very pretty, too," she stammered. Why, why, why am I so bad at talking to women?
Sara smiled at her, kindly. "Thank you," she said. "More Scotch?" She hefted the bottle.
"Oh God, yes, please."
They'd barely spoken during the night of the rehearsal dinner. Alex had been too angry and then too drunk. That morning, she'd been too hungover to have any kind of decent discussion. Once again, the women had gotten ready separately before meeting up with Kara at the church.
They sat next to one another, of course, with Kara on Alex's other side. Witnessing the wedding felt like the multiverse was mocking her, that she and Maggie, as much as they loved each other, would never be standing up in front of their friends and family together.
So lost in her fuzzy thoughts, Alex had tuned out of most of the wedding, after Kara had sung her song. She idly wondered if Cisco could breach her out early, during the reception.
Until the minister was vaporized with what looked like… heat vision?
The crowd gasped and everyone turned to look at the rear of the church. Alex, Maggie and Kara stood, as did Harry and Sara.
Alex couldn't believe what she was seeing. Dozens of masked men in dark uniforms, with a red armband on their left arms, entered the church, all holding assault rifles. And, hovering above them, a masked blonde woman. "Peace is overrated," she said, in a deep, modulated voice.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Iris muttered.
"Nazis?" Oliver asked, incredulity in his tone.
"I hate Nazis," Barry, Kara and Oliver said, as one.
The men opened fire and Alex braced herself for bullets that never hit. She blinked and realized that Barry had used his super speed to pluck the bullets out of the air and harmlessly threw them to the ground. Reluctantly, she admitted to herself that speed maybe wasn't the worst super power to have. She watched as two of the guests, whose names escaped her at the moment, clasped hands and transformed into what seemed like a living flame. She then saw that it was the body of the younger man, flames coming out of his head and his hands. Alex watched as he threw fireballs at the Nazi intruders.
She watched as Kara ripped off her glasses and yelled for her fellow heroes to get everyone out. She looked around her as most of the guests ran for the exits, but she wasn't going anywhere and knew Maggie would also stay to fight. As would Sara, apparently.
Maggie nudged her arm and planted a gun in her hand. Alex grasped it and nodded her thanks. There were Nazis to fight.
Together, the three of them downed a number of the troops, three human women, with no superpowers, holding their own. Alex had been vaguely aware that Kara had been fighting the flying woman, but it wasn't until she came crashing back through the ceiling that she realized Kara might be overmatched.
She watched as Kara struggled to get up from her knees and she moved to help when Maggie suddenly pulled her back. Alex watched in horror as the masked woman hovered in the air, instructing Kara to stay down.
A moment later, Kara was standing and a deafening sonic boom emanated from her location. The flying woman fell to the ground, everyone else lost their balance and Alex was certain her ears would be ringing for days.
Kara had clearly had enough and she punched the other woman down the aisle, where she collapsed in a heap. The masked man with the bow called for a retreat as he jumped from the balcony to collect her.
There was a bright flash of light and then, they were gone.
Alex could handle being captured. She could handle torture, interrogation techniques, all of that.
What she couldn't handle was the thought of something happening to her sister.
"You stay the hell away from my sister!" she yelled at the Earth X version of Oliver.
Maggie shushed her and the Earth X Kara just chuckled.
"Such loyalty" she remarked. "My sister tried to kill me."
Barry was putting it all together. The stolen prism would replicate a red sun and weaken both Karas enough to render them more or less human… for a heart transplant.
Then, the Earth Xers walked away, allowing the Earth X version of Metallo to approach them.
The next thing Alex knew, she was waking up on the ground, outside somewhere.
Kara, was her first thought. She sat up, looking around, squinting at the bright lights cutting through the darkness. "Where's Kara? They're gonna kill her!"
"It's okay," Maggie said. "We'll get her back, Alex. I promise."
"We will, Alex," Sara agreed.
It didn't do much to reassure her. They were all cuffed, still, though no longer tethered to one another. There were dozens of people, perhaps over a hundred, in their… well, their section. Prisoners, like them, though in utilitarian jumpsuits, without the cuffs, without the collars. Guards, too many of them to count. She looked around, trying to figure out where they were.
"I don't think we're on our Earth," Jax said. At least she thought his name was Jax. She'd been more than a little drunk when they'd been introduced.
"We're on Earth X," Sara confirmed.
While they discussed the incredulity of their situation and how man never ceases to be filled with hatred, more prisoners were being marched down a path just outside their chain fence.
"Stars and triangles," Jax said.
"Badges," confirmed the older man — was his name Stein? "Used to identify reported crimes these people have, quote-unquote, committed to land in here."
"What's the pink triangle for?" Jax asked a nearby man. "What did you do?"
"I loved the wrong person."
A chill went down Alex's spine. The Nazis on her Earth hadn't just done their best to eradicate the Jews, but blacks, the Romani, disabled people, Poles… and, among others, homosexuals. She looked at Maggie, eyes wide.
"They'll want to hurt us even without knowing," she said, "so don't worry about it."
She looked at Sara, who nodded in agreement. "People finding out we're not straight is the least of our problems."
None of them could get out of their cuffs, due to the power-dampening collars. Alex grew impatient.
"Look, they're going to kill my sister!" she said, trying to get the so-called heroes to act, to fight, to do something.
"I know you're freaking out," Maggie said, approaching Alex. "Kara's in trouble and I know what that does to you."
"She's my sister, Maggie," she said, starting to feel panicked.
"We'll save her, Alex."
Before she could even ask how, the others chimed in.
"We're not going to let anything happen to her, Alex, I promise you," Sara said.
"We're going to get back to our Earth before then," Barry agreed.
"How?" asked Jackson. "We don't even know how we got here."
"No, we don't," Oliver barked. "We're gonna figure it out, then we're gonna find a way to get outta this place and get back to the people we love."
"I hope everyone else is okay," Barry said, with a sigh.
Alarms blared, prisoners lined up at the fences and guards entered the enclosure, guns aimed at their group, in particular.
"So these are the heroes," a man said, sarcasm dripping from his words. He was clearly a high-ranking officer in the SS, according to his outfit. Alex shivered. How could any Earth even have a Schutzstaffel in this day and age?
"Yes, Sturmbannführer," one of the masked guards replied.
He approached them and seemed to pause as he looked at Sara.
The man scoffed. "Blonde hair, blue eyes," he noted. "It's nordic perfection." He took a few steps closer to her. "Why would you align yourself with the unpure?"
Sara didn't hesitate. "Because I like men. And I like women."
Alex took a breath, impressed with the courage of the other woman.
He scoffed again. "You know, I had a daughter who looked just like you. With similar compulsions," he spat. He brought up his hand to brush at her cheek. "And," he said, teeth clenched, "I expunged that filth from my family line forever." He stalked off, then turned back. "Bring them all!" he commanded. "And him!" he pointed to the man with the pink triangle Jax had spoken to previously.
They marched across the field. Alex knew there was just one reason they'd separate them from the rest of the prisoners. They were to be executed, no doubt. Stein was right when he said they had better come up with a plan. It was now or never.
Oliver looked down the line and signaled them with four fingers. Sara flashed two. The others noticed and silently counted down. When Oliver turned to charge at the SS officer, the others turned to charge at the soldiers as well, only for each of them to be brought to their knees by the searing pain arcing across their bodies from the power-dampening collars.
The shock only lasted a few seconds, though it was intense. Alex realized this was the end. There was no more hope here. She'd failed her sister. Kara would die, the Earth X Kara would be given her heart and Earth 1 would fall to the Nazis without any reasonable opposition.
"Up!" he commanded.
Slowly, they got to their feet.
"Go," he said.
Together, they walked to the edge of the field. It was the edge of the field because what lay beyond was a mass grave. Alex blinked back tears. This was how it was going to end. She looked over at Maggie, who met her gaze. "I'm so sorry, Alex," she said. "For everything." She swallowed. "I love you."
"I love you, too," she said. "Forever."
"Forever."
"Turn around," the officer's stern voice instructed.
They did so.
"I know you are not him," the officer said, approaching Oliver, "but I cannot stomach the sight, regardless." He put a hood over Oliver's head before returning behind the firing squad.
"Ready!" he bellowed.
The shooters advanced, bringing their weapons up.
With difficulty, Alex held her arms to her right side. Maggie's hands grasped hers.
"I'm sorry, Kara," Alex whispered, gazing at the rifles leveled at them.
"Aim!"
Alex let the tears fall. In the instant before she knew she was about to die, her thoughts turned to the woman standing by her side, the woman whose hands she was clutching, the woman she loved with every ounce of her being.
"Your jurisdiction ends where I say it does."
"See you 'round, Danvers."
"You guys are fun!"
"Wear something nice."
"I didn't know you were into girls."
"That… maybe there's some truth to what you said."
"About?"
"What you said. About me."
"I'm buying, all night. What're you having?"
"I have been wanting to do that."
"And I care about you… a lot."
"Because I don't want to imagine my life without you in it."
"Pool. Tomorrow night."
"Wouldn't miss it."
"But it is my new normal. And I'm happy it is. Because I finally get me. So thank you."
"I almost died."
"Uh, yeah, no, I would not have let that happen."
"But life is too short. And we should be who we are. And we should kiss the girls we wanna kiss. And I really, just… I wanna kiss you."
"I mean, can't we just quit? And stay here, in this apartment, forever?"
"I don't know about forever, but maybe we can just settle for the morning?"
"We could call in sick."
"Maybe."
"(coughs) I've got the Black Lung."
"The Black Lung!"
"So she let Livewire go."
"Mmm hmm."
"And that means vegan ice cream at my place tonight."
"I never should have taken that bet! Gross!"
"The days of you pushing down your feelings are officially over. So go, go talk to your sister."
"Black coffee, sesame seed bagel, dry, double-toasted. Gross."
"Thanks, Danvers, you know me well."
"Wow, you're breathtaking."
"Alex, you're the one woman who could make me like Valentine's Day."
"May I have this dance?"
"Hey. I'm here, okay? You can tell me anything."
"Oh sweetie."
"Double or nothing? There's no way I'm giving you a grenade."
"I assume you agree with Kara?"
"Actually, I don't. You wanna protect your dad, that's what you need to do."
"Then you'll help me?"
"Ride or die."
"Get outta here!"
"Go away, Bryan!"
"Leave, before I throw you into holding for fun. … Think I scare him?"
"Almost as good as I do. Take me home."
"Look at us. We're that couple, with the yoga mats and the flirtatious bickering."
"I know, it's perfect."
"But Maggie, you don't have to be guarded with me, okay? I'm not here to judge you for things that happened in the past. I am here to help you heal."
"You don't think I'm a bad person?"
"No, actually I always thought that you were perfect, but it's really nice to see that you have problems too."
"Do you want to get a dog?"
"Yeah, let's, let's name her Gertrude."
"See? A lifetime of firsts, that we're gonna do together, so you hold on, okay?"
"Those firsts that you talked about… I wanna have them all with you. I never wanna stop having firsts with you. I love you, Maggie Sawyer."
"I love you, Alex Danvers."
"Maggie! I'm so glad you're okay."
"I'm so glad that when things look their worst, we both thought to run straight to our bar."
"Marry me."
"Excuse me?"
"Seriously. Marry me. Please?"
"I love you."
"You too. Forever."
A blue ray appeared from the right and each member of the firing squad subsequently dropped their weapons as a result.
"I hate fire," sneered a man holding a strange-looking gun and dressed in a parka.
Just about everyone in their group had just one thing to say: "Snart?"
Home. They were finally home, back on good old Earth 38, safe and sound. Kara was safe, too. Alex dropped her bags, took Maggie's from her and pulled her towards the bed.
"Uh?" Maggie questioned.
Alex crawled on to the bed and laid down on her back. She patted Maggie's side of the bed next to her.
With a shrug, Maggie joined her.
Alex pulled her close, Maggie's head on her own left shoulder, the two of them curled up together.
She took a breath. "Maggie… I love you."
"I love you, too, Alex," she murmured.
"As we stood there," she continued, "the guns pointing at us… A lot of things ran through my head."
"Me too," she agreed. "Alex, I—"
"Please," Alex said, "let me finish?"
Maggie nodded.
"Every single thing that went through my head was a moment with you," she said, tears streaming down her cheeks with the emotion of it all. "From our first meeting where you tried to convince me the airport was your jurisdiction to my coming out to you, from kissing you at the bar to you kissing me here, from you being ride or die to us bickering flirtatiously, from talking about all those firsts to us saying I love you for the first time…" She took a breath and wiped her tears away with her right hand. "Maggie," she sniffled, "I don't want to live without you." She pressed her lips to the top of Maggie's head. "I will do anything to be with you. Or give up anything."
Maggie raised her head from Alex's shoulder, propping herself up on her right arm. Her face was wet with tears, too. "Funny you should say that, Danvers," she smiled. "Because all of those moments? They went through my head, too." She leaned over and kissed Alex softly. "And I will do anything to be with you."
Alex frowned. "Wait, what?"
"If you want, we can have a kid. Or two. Or however many you want." She paused. "I think five is probably my upper limit, though."
She blinked, her heart rate rising. "But you don't want kids." Could she really have changed her mind?
"I want to be with you," she responded, kissing her again. "And you do." She smiled. "It seems to me as though we're both a lot more flexible on this point than we were."
Alex laughed. "You could say that, yeah," she grinned, kissing Maggie back. "So now what?"
Maggie shrugged. "We have time. I'm okay with either decision. Sounds like you are, too. So… let's start with a dog and see how it goes."
"I was so sad we hadn't had a chance to get Gertrude yet," Alex confessed. "When we were out there, before Snart saved us… I definitely thought about Gertrude."
She chuckled. "So what do you say? Should we go to the animal shelter later this week?" Maggie asked.
"I'd love to," she said, happily.
"Hey, Danvers?"
"Hm?"
"There's one other thing we should discuss."
"What's that?"
"When can I call you my wife?"
Alex inhaled sharply. "Soon?" she asked, hopefully.
"Soon is good. Any dates in mind?" she smiled.
"Ooh, how about the weekend closest to January 22nd?"
Maggie frowned. "What's January 22nd?"
"The anniversary of our first time," she smiled, shyly.
"Alex!" she laughed. "We are not going to get married on the anniversary of the first time we slept together!"
"Valentine's Day?" she grinned.
"Not a chance."
"Why not? It'd give you a reason to keep liking Valentine's Day," Alex teased.
"May 1st," Maggie countered.
"That's so far!"
"Yeah," she said, "but it's the anniversary of our first I love yous."
"Oh, I like it," Alex smiled. "And it would give us time to plan."
"Mmm hmmm," she agreed.
"May 1st, then?"
"May 1st."
Alex kissed her thoroughly. "I love you, Maggie Sawyer."
"And I love you, Alex Danvers."
"Forever."
"Forever."