Two Times Alex Accepted Her New Normal

by brinshannara

My take on the two Alex/Maggie scenes from Medusa (2x08).

1. But It Is My New Normal

"Agent Danvers, come in, it's Supergirl."

Alex Danvers frowned at her sister's voice through the earpiece. Why the formality? Kara must have had a good reason for it, so she rolled with it. "This is Agent Danvers, Supergirl, I copy. Go ahead."

"I'm en route to headquarters with an injured friend of yours," she said.

Confused, Alex blinked. "What? Who's injured?"

"Alex... it's Maggie."

Alex's eyes widened and it took all of her training to keep her emotions in check. She immediately switched into a professional mode. "Can you give me the precise nature of Detective Sawyer's injuries?"

"Yeah, uh, she was shot in the shoulder by Hank Henshaw's eye laser, causing a distraction, which let him get away. There's blood. She's weak. She was conscious and talking, but she passed out and I thought I'd bring her to you. I'm maintaining pressure on the wound to help stop the bleeding. It doesn't seem to have gone all the way through," her sister said. "I also x-rayed her, nothing seems to be broken."

Alex took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm going to go set up Med Lab 1 to receive her. We'll have agents waiting for you both. What's your ETA?"

"Three minutes, maybe?"

"Copy that," Alex said. She tapped a button on her console that would allow her to broadcast throughout the DEO. "Attention, please. Agents Grey and Torres are to report to Med Lab 1 immediately and prepare for incoming. Agents Robbins and Bailey, please wait for Supergirl's arrival and bring the patient to Med Lab 1 when they arrive," she commanded, pulling the earbud from her ear and dropping it on a console. She turned and ran, flat-out, to the medical lab.

Agent Grey, an excellent female medic who was about her own age, was prepping the area in case they needed to operate. Alex always appreciated the agent's excellent work. She rarely found fault with Grey, as she found that the other woman would generally do things quite similarly to herself. Meanwhile, a Latina woman, Agent Torres, assisted Alex in getting various medical instruments ready, plus hauling out bandages, pulling out a unit of O negative blood and getting the defibrillator in place, just in case. Alex appreciated Torres, as well. She was well-practiced at what she did and that was one of the reasons Alex had asked her to report to the lab with Grey. Nothing but the best for Maggie.

'Maggie.' Alex shook her head to clear it. She had to stay focused.

Robbins and Bailey, two other female agents, arrived with Maggie Sawyer on a stretcher a few moments later, having taken custody of the detective from Supergirl. Alex looked at her, surprised by how young the woman looked when unconscious, how open her face looked. This was a Maggie Sawyer she'd only caught glimpses of before, one who was vulnerable, who was- She shook her head again, interrupting her own thought. She took a breath and forced herself to assess Maggie as a patient, as an injured soldier, as anything but the woman for whom she had fallen.

She snapped on a pair of standard, blue latex gloves and moved to Maggie's side. "All right, let's get her O2 sat levels, her pulse, BP, everything," she instructed Grey and Torres. Robbins was maintaining pressure on the wound while Bailey was getting the heart monitor in position.

Alex noted that the shot had gone right through Maggie's kevlar vest, which was disconcerting. Maggie hadn't been hit in an otherwise vulnerable area. The laser could do serious damage to basic body armor. "We'll need to remove the vest," she ordered.

Robbins maintained pressure on the wound, while Grey and Torres carefully lifted the unconscious Maggie up into a seated position and held her there. Alex didn't even dare to look at her face. She forced herself to look at the woman clinically. It was the only way she'd be able to do this. While she was aware that she probably shouldn't be the one to examine and treat Maggie, Alex wasn't about to let anyone else do this. Her fingers, nimble even in the gloves, worked to unfasten the various clasps on the vest. Together, they worked to pull it off Maggie, leaving the right side, her injured side, until last. Finally, they removed pressure from the wound, slipped off the vest, then applied pressure to the injured area again with a new sterile piece of gauze to replace the bloody one Robbins had been holding since Maggie's arrival at the DEO. This time, Robbins held the gauze to Maggie's skin, having slipped her hand and the gauze underneath her shirt through its loose neck. Carefully, they slowly moved Maggie back down to rest on her back.

"What are her stats?" Alex asked.

"BP is low at 90/60, but relatively stable," Bailey said, pulling the cuff off Maggie's left arm and removing the earpieces of her stethoscope from her ears. "O2 sat level at 98, heart rate is 87," she read off the monitor connected to the pulse oximeter sensor.

Alex nodded. "Okay, good. Bailey, can you please bag the vest and store it?" she asked. "We might be able to get some information about the nature of the laser with some analysis on the burn pattern." The short, dark-skinned woman nodded and, with some help from Grey, she placed the vest into a plastic bag, whereupon she brought it to a storage area on the other side of the lab. "Robbins, is she still bleeding?" Alex asked.

The blonde agent pulled the gauze away from the wound and checked. "Some, but I'd wager that it's a lot less than it was when she came in." She reapplied the pressure.

Alex let herself relax for a moment. "Okay, good. Grey, Bailey, Torres, I think Robbins and I will be okay here. Thanks for your help."

"Sure thing, ma'am," Grey said. They all pulled off their gloves and disposed of them and headed out of the lab.

"Guess we're going to have to cut open the shirt," Alex muttered aloud. She pulled out the surgical scissors and lifted up the bottom of Maggie's shirt, noticing there was a second shirt beneath it. Alex carefully cut open Maggie's long-sleeved, grey shirt, straight up the middle, revealing a black tank top beneath it. She cut off the grey shirt at the sleeves and slid the whole sleeve off Maggie's left arm before then cutting down the sleeve on the right arm, so they wouldn't move the joint any more than they had to as they removed the fabric. She examined the right strap of the tank top and snipped it, then cut through the underlying bra strap as well, to relieve tension around the area and to allow for better access to the wound. She tucked a sterile sheet around the majority of Maggie's torso, to help prevent contamination, and nodded in satisfaction. "Okay, let's see what we've got." She picked up an irrigation syringe.

Robbins removed her hand and the cloth from the wound and shone an overhead light on to Maggie's shoulder. Alex peered at it and was pleased to see the bleeding had mostly stopped. Still, it was a rather large gash. She irrigated it with a saline solution from the syringe Torres had prepared earlier and inspected the wound again under the light. As she'd suspected, most of the wound had been cauterized by the laser, but the blood had come from the weakening of some minor blood vessels which had then burst. "No major arteries or anything," she muttered to herself as she irrigated the wound again.

"All right, Robbins, let's get some local anesthetic here, please," Alex asked. "It's pretty clean. Doesn't look like we have any melted residue from the shirt or the vest. I think we're going to want to close her up and put her on some antibiotics as a precaution. Maybe some pain meds," she added. "But overall, I think it looks a lot worse than it is."

She let herself breathe. Maggie was going to be fine. Sore, but fine. The relief that coursed through her was almost overwhelming. She took another breath as she felt the weight lift from her shoulders.

Robbins carefully injected the local anesthetic around the wound, which would prevent Maggie from feeling anything beyond a tug or a pinch as Alex stitched her up, if she even woke up. Alex nodded to the blonde. "Thanks," she smiled. "I think I've got it from here." She considered. "See if you can take a piece of the shirt near the entry wound and bag it for analysis like we did for the vest. Then do you think you could please dispose of what remains of her shirt?"

"Of course," the blonde smiled. She carefully collected the scraps of cloth that had previously formed Maggie's shirt and Alex helped hold Maggie up a bit to allow the other agent to pull the back part of the shirt out from underneath her. She examined the cloth and bagged and stored a couple of pieces she'd identified as being potentially useful, tossing the rest into the trash, followed by her blue latex gloves. "Let me know if there's anything else you need, ma'am,"

"Maggie, what the hell happened?" muttered Alex, as she prepared to stitch her up. "Why weren't you in full tactical gear?" she scolded the detective, gently. "What if he'd hit just a few inches to the right?" She shook her head. Her adrenaline was wearing off and it was getting more difficult to stay professional. 'Stop it,' she chided herself. 'Maggie's going to be fine.'

She started in on the sutures, delicately, carefully pulling the needle and thread through the skin, being exceedingly careful not to pull too hard or make the stitches larger than they had to be, aware that her actions would leave a permanent mark on Maggie's skin.

Maggie stirred, slightly, her head moving a bit. Alex immediately stopped her actions.

"Hey, Maggie, it's okay. You're going to be just fine," she said, softly, her right hand gently grasping Maggie's and squeezing lightly.

The detective opened her eyes, squinting. "Danvers?"

"Yeah, it's me. It's okay, you're going to be okay. Supergirl brought you in." Alex moved the light out of the detective's eyes.

Maggie tried to prop herself up on her elbows and winced. "Ow, shit."

"Ooh, yeah, careful," Alex said, helping her lie back down. "Here, let me get rid of this," she said, pulling the pulse oximeter sensor off Maggie's left index finger. "And here, hold this," she said, holding out the needle holder near Maggie's left hand.

She pulled off her gloves, walked around to the back of the stretcher and adjusted it so that Maggie was in more of a seated position. "How's that?" she asked.

"I think that's good, if maybe there's like a pillow or something?"

"Coming right up," Alex said, fetching one from a nearby cabinet. She brought it back to the stretcher and carefully tucked it in behind Maggie. "Good?"

"I think so."

Alex nodded, then switched off the pulse monitor, and pulled on a new pair of gloves before taking the instrument back from Maggie. "Sorry, I was just stitching up your shoulder," she said, apologetically.

Maggie looked down, finally realizing she was just in her tank top. "Danvers, I know you like me, but I swear to God, there are easier ways to convince me to take off my shirt for you."

The normally unflappable agent blushed a deep red. "Uh, sorry, we, you know, we, uh, we had to get the vest off and there was blood and like, we had to access the wound and, uh, I'm, you know, sorry if, uh, that makes you, like, uncomfortable or, or, something, but there's, still, there's your tank top and-"

The detective laughed. "Alex," she said, softly, eyes twinkling, "I'm joking."

She blushed again. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm pretty bad at being able to tell when you're making a joke," she said, honestly.

"Really? You? Bad at knowing when I'm kidding? Never," grinned the detective.

Alex tried to shoot her a menacing look, but it came out as a smile, instead. "How's the pain?" she asked. "Do you want to take something?"

The detective shrugged with her left shoulder. "It's mostly numb. How long is the local anesthetic going to last?"

"Probably another 20-30 minutes or so. Here," Alex said, passing her a dose of painkillers. "Take these."

Maggie looked skeptically at the two pills inside the paper medicine cup. "What are they?" she asked.

"Oxycodone," Alex replied.

The detective frowned and looked up at Alex, handing the paper cup back. "Uh, no, thanks," she said.

Alex laughed. "Now who can't tell when who's joking?" she grinned. "It's acetaminophen. Dork," she teased, lightly.

Maggie narrowed her eyes. "Nerd."

She grinned. "Here's some water." She picked up small cup of water that had already been poured in preparation for Maggie's arrival and handed it to her patient once she'd tossed the pills into her mouth.

"Thanks," she said, after having swallowed.

"Of course," Alex smiled. "Okay, so I'm going to keep closing you up here, all right? Let me know if it hurts and I'll put in another dose of the local."

"Sounds good," Maggie said.

Alex repositioned the overhead lamp to shine on Maggie's shoulder and she continued her meticulous work.

"So I'll have a scar?" she asked.

"Yeah, probably," Alex answered, as she deftly worked to sew the wound closed. "Shouldn't be too bad, though. It wasn't too deep." She finished another stitch. "So like, not a Frankenstein kind of scar."

"Frankenstein was the-"

"Was the doctor, not the monster," Alex finished, flicking her eyes to Maggie's. "I know, but most people don't."

"I'm not most people, Danvers," she said, easily.

She smiled. "So I've gathered," she replied, moving the needle again.

"Hey, so you know that portal thing you told me about during your Thanksgiving dinner at your sister's?" Maggie asked. "The one I thought you made up?"

"Mmm hmm," Alex hummed affirmatively.

"Well, a whole bunch of us saw it tonight at L Corp," she said.

"Really?" That was news to Alex.

"Yeah. That's what distracted Henshaw from wailing on Supergirl. And then she got the upper hand and that's when he zapped me," she said. "Guess I was a good distraction, because Supergirl ran over to me and then he got away."

Alex kept a smile off her face and she made a mental note to thank her sister for keeping an eye out on Maggie

"What I thought was weird, though," the detective continued, "is that you saw the portal and then we saw the portal. Why would it open in two separate places? There's nothing in common with your sister's apartment and L Corp," Maggie said.

She worked diligently on the stitches, but she'd already figured out the commonality. It was Kara. The portal was opening around Kara. She filed that away to tell J'onn and Kara about later. "Huh," she said, aloud, "yeah, that's kind of weird."

"Have you guys learned anything about it yet?"

She shook her head. "Not yet." She glanced up at Maggie. "I'll keep you posted." Alex tugged gently on the thread and winced as she saw it pulled at the wound. "Sorry," she said. "You okay?"

"Oh, I'm okay," Maggie replied. "Just a little nervous you're not very good at this," she grinned.

'Ah, another joke,' Alex thought to herself. "Oh," she said, "well, clearly the drugs have kicked in," she continued, noting Maggie's smile. "Because you." She paused, holding the thread in her left hand. "Are." She paused again as she snipped the thread. "Done." She disposed of the leftover thread on a tray behind her.

"Thank you," Maggie said, simply.

Alex smiled and brought the surgical scissors back to cut the thread as close to the wound as possible to ensure the least amount of discomfort for the detective. No need for the stitches to catch on her clothing and risk pulling at the wound or, worse, unraveling the stitches. "No," she said, "thank you."

Maggie briefly inspected the stitching as best she could and looked up at Alex, confused. "For what?"

"Well," Alex exhaled, as she put the surgical tools down. "I told my mom," she said, with a quiet sense of pride.

"You did? How did she take it?" the detective asked.

Alex smiled. "Better than me," she laughed, causing Maggie to chime in as well. She pulled off her gloves and turned back to Maggie. "You know, when you, uhm, when you first suggested that... I was gay," she said, "I, uh, well, I denied it. And then, I thought that it was just about you," she said, pointing at Maggie. "I mean, how could I not like you?" She smiled, enjoying how easy it was to discuss liking Maggie with Maggie, which she thought should have been weird, but it wasn't. "But, you know, deep down, I think I, I still, I wasn't comfortable that that was," she exhaled, "my new normal?" She found herself nodding. "But it is... my new normal. And I'm happy that it is," she said. "Because, uhm," Alex paused, searching for the words. "I, uh, I don't know, I fi- I finally... I *get* me."

She paused for a moment, letting herself feel how good it was to understand herself. From her initial feelings and confusion regarding Maggie, all the way through various events she'd experienced throughout her entire life. It made sense, now. Even Vicki Donahue made sense. She took a breath. "And now," she continued, "I realize that it, it wasn't about you, but it's... it's about me living my life." She nodded. "So," she said, with a shy smile, "thank you." She really was very grateful to the other woman. If nothing else, Alex could finally be herself and live that real, full, happy life Maggie had talked about.

"Anytime," Maggie said, softly.

Alex smiled at that. "Now, the last time we patched you up here, I seem to recall that you ignored some perfectly good medical advice in favour of a hot date."

Maggie laughed. "I'd forgotten about that."

Alex, on the other hand, hadn't forgotten about it at all. "So, I'm going to give you a choice."

"A choice?"

She folded her arms across her chest. "Option one: you stay here and rest for a few hours under observation."

Maggie made a face.

"That's what I thought," Alex grinned. "So option two: we get you home and you rest there."

"Really?"

Alex nodded. "I don't think you're in any danger. We cleaned the wound, patched you up... I'll give you a course of antibiotics, which you'll need to follow, but yeah, I think you can go back home."

"Sounds great!" Maggie exclaimed. "Where's my shirt?" she asked, looking around.

Alex cleared her throat. "So about that..."

She looked up at Alex. "Danvers. That was one of my top three favourite shirts."

"It was already ruined! There was a hole from the laser, there was blood..."

The detective gasped as she caught sight of the trash can. "Alex. That had better not be my shirt, in pieces, in the garbage."

"Technically, that's not all of it. We stored some pieces for burn pattern analysis along with your vest…" she trailed off.

Maggie just gave her a look.

"Have I mentioned that after your second time getting patched up here at the DEO, you get a free hoodie? Let me grab that for you," Alex grinned. "Be right back."

"You owe me!" Maggie called after her.

Alex hurried down towards the locker room and ran into Winn on the way downstairs, as he was coming up. "Hey, I'm going to take Maggie back to her place," she said. "Call me if you need me and I'll be back in ten."

He nodded. "She's okay?"

"Yeah, she'll be a bit sore, but she's going to be fine." Alex smiled. "Tell Kara thanks for me, okay?"

Winn nodded again. "Sure thing," he said and continued his climb upwards.

Alex couldn't stop it, she knew she was beaming and she knew it was because of Maggie and the fact that she was going to be okay. And that she was going to bring her home. Alex she knew she probably looked like an idiot, but she didn't care. She got to the locker room and pulled out one of her own hoodies. She didn't tend to wear them terribly often, but she liked to keep one at work anyhow. She shut and locked her locker and jogged, actually jogged, back up the stairs to the medical lab.

"Here you go," Alex said with a smile, as she held out the hoodie.

"Thanks," Maggie smiled back and reached out for it with her right arm. "Son of a bitch," she hissed, immediately lowering the arm. "That's going to take some getting used to."

Alex winced. "Here, let me help." She stood to Maggie's right and tossed the sweatshirt on to Maggie's lap. She then removed the blue surgical sheet, trying not to notice the way the tank top hugged Maggie's curves and she kind of succeeded. "Sit up a bit," she instructed her patient.

Alex put her right hand into the end of the hoodie's right sleeve and bunched up the material around her forearm. "Here," she said, taking Maggie's right hand in hers, careful to barely move the arm. With her left arm, she slid the sleeve off her arm and on to Maggie's, carefully draping the shoulder of the sweatshirt over Maggie's injured arm. Reluctantly, she released Maggie's hand and walked over to the other side of the stretcher, helping Maggie get the other arm into the other sleeve without pulling too much on her right shoulder. "There ya go," she said, smiling. "Oh, let me start this for you," she said, realizing that Maggie wouldn't be able to easily fit the zipper's pin into the base of the zipper. She quickly did that and pulled the zipper up a bit, holding the base of the sweatshirt down as Maggie finished it up with her left hand.

"Thanks," she smiled.

"Okay, let's get you on your feet," Alex said. She lowered the stretcher and Maggie carefully swung her feet over the edge and stood up, slowly.

"Oof," Maggie complained.

"You okay?"

"Little woozy," the cop admitted.

"Sit back down for a sec," Alex said, making sure Maggie did, in fact, sit back down. She walked over to a refrigeration unit and pulled out a juice box, which she brought over to the stretcher.

"A juice box, Danvers? What, am I, like, six?" she joked.

"Drink it all up. You did lose a bit of blood and your blood pressure was kind of low," Alex said, folding her arms across her chest. "It's to be expected," she added.

Maggie gave her a mock glare and then looked at the juice box. "Dammit," she sighed. "Would you please...?" She held out the box.

"Oops," Alex said, "sorry." She took the juice box back and tore open the cellophane wrapping and poked the straw through the opening, then handed it back. "Wasn't thinking."

Maggie smiled a thank you and proceeded to drink the entire juice box without pause. She triumphantly handed the empty container back to Alex.

"Wow, you really don't want to stay here any longer than you need to, do you?" joked Alex.

"Nope," grinned the cop as she slowly got back to her feet. "Now, where's my belt?"

"Let me grab it for you," Alex said, tossing the juice box into the trash can. She crouched down at the head of the stretcher and opened the container that was meant for the patient's personal items, pulling the heavy belt out. She stood and walked over to Maggie. "Uh... do you want me to...?"

Maggie chuckled. "I'd appreciate your help with my duty belt, please," she said, giving Alex the permission she needed to approach her.

Alex blushed lightly. "Uh, sure," she said. "It, uhm," she cleared her throat. "It might be easier if we do this," she said, stepping behind Maggie and reaching her arms around the other woman's waist. She tried to keep her distance, tried not to press into Maggie's back, but it proved impossible. She found herself practically hugging the smaller woman, feeling the warmth of Maggie's back against her chest. She buckled the belt as quickly as possible, hoping that Maggie didn't see how her hands were shaking, and pulled back as soon as she could. "Sorry," she muttered.

"It's all good, Danvers," Maggie replied, easily.

Alex snagged a bottle of antibiotics that Torres had put out and pocketed it. Then, together, the two of them walked towards the DEO garage where Alex helped Maggie into one of the standard black SUVs. She took a moment to buckle Maggie in and even adjusted the seatbelt so it wouldn't rest on Maggie's shoulder. She then shut the door and climbed into the driver's seat. "All right, where to?"

Maggie gave her the address and Alex nodded, knowing roughly where it was.

"So Henshaw got away, huh?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah," Alex said, pulling out of the underground parking. "That's what Supergirl tells me."

"But he didn't get what he was after?"

"No, he didn't get the isotope for the virus," Alex said, turning down one of the main National City roads.

"So everything should be okay?" she asked.

Alex shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know. Cadmus is pretty determined and since Lillian Luthor is behind it, it's possible that Lena Luthor is in on it, too."

Maggie frowned. "If Lena Luthor is in on it, they wouldn't have needed to send in Henshaw, right?"

"That's my thinking. Supergirl's going to go talk to Lena, I think, and see if she knows anything."

Maggie nodded. "Cool." She yawned.

"Tired?" Alex asked, somewhat lamely.

"Yeah," Maggie replied. "It's late, it's been a long day."

Alex nodded. "At least it's about over for you."

"True." She paused. "Do you have to go back to the DEO after?"

She nodded again. "Yeah, there's..." She thought of Mon-El, she thought of her mom doing the hard work of analyzing the virus, she thought of the possibility of the virus spreading through the city, she thought of the fact that these portals were opening near Kara. She exhaled. "There's stuff."

"Classified?" grinned Maggie.

Alex chuckled. "Some of it, definitely," she said, "but a lot of it is just... stuff, you know?"

"I get it," the other woman confirmed. "Oh, take a left up here," she said.

"I was just about to turn on my signal," Alex said, with a smile, as she hit the turn indicator.

"Sure you were," Maggie teased. "I believe you." She paused. "That was a joke, in case you didn't recognize it, Danvers," she smiled.

"Ha, ha," Alex responded dryly as she took the left turn. She took a quick glance at the woman to her right. "You doing okay, by the way?"

"The anesthetic's wearing off," she admitted. "I think I might need something a bit stronger than the Tylenol you gave me, but it's okay," she said. "Just sore."

Alex nodded. "Okay. You let me know if you want something else."

"I will," she said. "Thanks."

Alex stopped at a red light. "I was actually wondering how you're feeling, though, not just your shoulder."

Maggie looked at her.

"I mean... are you doing okay?" she said.

The light turned green and Alex pressed the gas as she waited for Maggie to speak.

The detective exhaled. "I feel okay, I guess. But I suppose that maybe I'm in shock?"

Alex nodded. "Probably. So keep that in mind and, you know, I'm here if you need to talk, but you should also consider speaking with a counselor."

Her suggestion was met with silence.

"Or," Alex suggested, trying to remember the words clearly, "drink something a little harder and lose your cool?" she joked.

Maggie smiled. "That is how I like to deal with things, yes."

She nodded. "Yeah, me too."

"Oh?"

Alex cleared her throat as she navigated the vehicle down the street. "I, uh, might have, you know, done exactly that after…" She trailed off, hoping she wouldn't have to paint Maggie a picture of how absolutely wrecked she was after she'd kissed her at the bar. She swallowed. After Maggie had rejected her at the bar.

"After?"

"After that time. In the bar," Alex said.

"Which time?"

Alex glanced at Maggie. "That time."

"Oh, when you came out to me?"

"No, the… the other…" She sighed, exasperatedly before it clicked. "Wait. You're messing with me, right?" Alex asked.

Maggie grinned. "You really are bad at this whole knowing when I'm joking thing, Danvers."

"Here I am, driving you home, instead of keeping you for observation, and this is the thanks I get?" Alex joked.

"Sorry, sorry," Maggie said, "I just can't help myself."

"Try real hard next time," Alex instructed her, with a smile.

"This is it, up here on the right," her passenger said.

Alex parked and helped Maggie out of the car and, without hesitation, accompanied Maggie all the way to her apartment on the third floor of the building.

'Well, this isn't awkward at all,' she thought to herself, as she watched Maggie carefully pull out her keys and work the locks. Should she offer to help? Should she leave? While Maggie had been over to her place a couple of times, this was the first time she'd been to Maggie's and she didn't want to intrude. So when the detective got the door open and walked in, turning on a couple of lights, Alex was a little surprised that she just left the door open for Alex to follow. Which she did, shutting the door behind her.

It was a small apartment, Alex noted. Unlike her own, it wasn't open-concept. There was no obvious balcony door, nor was there a fireplace, but it was clean, the layout seemed efficient and there were personal touches here and there. The living room looked cozy, with a comfortable couch and a colourful, handmade blanket draped over the back of it.

Maggie was already in the nearby kitchen, getting a bottle of water from the fridge. "Want some water?" she called.

"No, I'm good, thanks," Alex replied.

She returned to the living area, holding her bottled water in her left arm. She looked up at Alex. "Think you're up for helping me out a bit?"

"Of course."

"Great," Maggie said. "C'mon." She walked down a short hallway to what was clearly her bedroom and Alex followed along, suddenly worrying about what she'd gotten herself into.

The detective walked into the dark room and switched on the small bedside lamp, then turned and walked over to her dresser, pulling some clothing from it with her left arm. It left Alex to look at the queen-sized bed with a number of pillows and another colourful, handmade blanket folded at the foot.

'Oh, God,' Alex thought, 'I'm in trouble.'

Maggie tossed the clothing on the bed and stood in front of Alex. "Would you mind helping me take the belt off, please?"

"Uh, sure," Alex said, hands shaking a bit as she reached for the buckle of the woman's duty belt. She fumbled with the buckle for a moment but succeeded in undoing it and pulled it over to the right as she let go of the belt with her left hand. "Where should I…?" she asked, the belt dangling from her right hand.

"Oh, you can put it on the dresser over there," she said, sitting down on the bed and bent down, starting to unlace her left combat boot.

Alex placed the heavy belt on the dresser and retrieved Maggie's phone from its protected section. "Here," she said, placing it on the bedside table, next to the bottle of water Maggie had put there. She then plugged it into the nearby charger.

"Thanks," Maggie said, smiling while she struggled with the laces.

"Let me," Alex said, kneeling and whipping through the knots on the remaining shoe. She then pried one shoe, then the other, carefully off Maggie's feet. "By the door or…?"

"Yeah, by the door, please," she said, as she pulled off her socks.

"Be right back," she smiled. Alex stood and carried the boots back to the living room, placing them by the door with another assortment of shoes. She walked back down the hallway, realizing just how much the entire apartment smelled like Maggie. It was a gentle, subtle scent, with a touch of spiciness to it and it never failed to cause Alex's stomach to somersault. She took another breath through her nose, deliberately inhaling the scent, and smiled.

She got back to the bedroom to see Maggie standing and looking at the clothing she'd tossed on the bed earlier.

"What's next?"

Maggie looked at her. "Well, I kind of wanted to change into sweatpants."

"Oh, okay, I can, like, go…" she said, blushing lightly.

Maggie chuckled. "That's the problem," she said, "I, uh…" She cleared her throat, blushing a bit. "I don't think I can take off my pants by myself."

Alex's eyebrows raised, looking down at Maggie's legs. 'Skinny jeans,' she thought to herself. 'Why'd it have to be skinny jeans?' "Oh, I see," she said aloud.

"Sorry," Maggie muttered. "I didn't mean for this to be awkward for you."

Alex forced a laugh. "It's, you know, fine, it's not like, awkward, no, it's okay," she babbled.

The detective looked at her. "Danvers," she said, flatly. She clearly wasn't buying Alex's act.

She sighed. "Okay, maybe a little awkward."

"Gotta keep you honest," she smiled. "Okay, let's see, I guess…" She worked the button on her jeans and managed to undo it before unzipping the zipper and then she turned and looked up at Alex, a bit sheepishly.

Alex smiled and, carefully, while being cautious to maintain eye contact, she reached her hands out for Maggie's waist, sliding them beneath the hem of the hoodie, finding the rough material of the jeans contrasting against the warmth of Maggie's skin beneath her fingers. She forced herself to continue and she pressed her thumbs down, gathering the material of the jeans, and only the jeans, between her fingertips and pushed slowly, allowing Maggie to shimmy out of them. Alex found herself dropping to her knees, slowly pulling the jeans down the other woman's legs. She forced herself to look away, to stare at the dresser, at the wall, anything but the vast expanse of skin that was being revealed.

"Ooh, hang on," Maggie said, bracing herself against Alex's right shoulder with her left hand. "Right leg first," she said.

Still averting her gaze, Alex swallowed and grasped the hem of the right leg, allowing Maggie to pull herself free. Then they repeated the action with the other leg. Alex stood and folded the jeans in half and then again, placing them on the dresser. She folded her arms and resolutely refused to look at the half-naked woman behind her, who was working to put on the dark grey sweatpants. 'You're supposed to be friends, Alex, stop thinking of her like that,' she muttered inwardly to herself. 'It doesn't mean anything that you're in her bedroom, helping her to take off her clothes…'

"Okay, part one done," Maggie said.

Alex turned and then realized the worst was yet ahead. The sweatshirt, the tank top and the bra. 'Oh God,' she thought, blushing.

Maggie looked at her and considered. "Yeah, okay, here's a thought. Grab that chair."

She picked up a straight-backed wooden chair from its place in the corner of the room and looked inquisitively at the detective.

"Place it so it faces the edge of the bed, maybe a foot away from it," she instructed.

"Okay," Alex said, following the directions.

Maggie nodded and straddled the chair, her back to the bed, facing the back of the chair. She turned and looked up. "Now you sit on the bed and I think that should help prevent too much awkwardness," she said, smiling.

"Oh, okay, yeah," Alex said, nodding, understanding how this could work. She moved behind Maggie and sat on the edge of the bed. Maggie's bed. 'Oh my God, I'm sitting on Maggie's bed.' She felt a flare of either excitement or panic, perhaps both, and took a breath to keep herself focused.

"Okay, hoodie first," the detective said, slowly unzipping it. She struggled a bit to pull the pin out of the base, but finally, the hoodie was open.

"Here," Alex said, softly. She reached out with both hands and lifted the fabric, pulling the shoulders of the sweatshirt back, allowing the fabric to fall backwards, towards her. She held the left cuff, which allowed Maggie to pull her left hand out. "Let me know if this hurts, okay?" Alex asked. She reached out and slowly pushed the fabric of the right sleeve down Maggie's arm, carefully, trying not to jar her shoulder. She did all the work, pulling the cuff past Maggie's hand, then pushing the rest of the sleeve off. "All good?" she asked, automatically folding the hoodie across her lap and placing it next to her on the bed.

"All good," Maggie said, nodding. "This might be trickier."

"Yeah," Alex breathed. She cleared her throat. "Okay, let's try this." She grasped the bottom of the black, form-fitting tank top on the left side with her left hand, while lifting the strap up with her right. "Can you get your arm inside?"

Maggie contorted her left arm to do so, while Alex pulled gently at the fabric and then lifted it over Maggie's head and over to the right, carefully over the shoulder and on to Maggie's right arm, at which point she slid it off easily, since she'd snipped the right shoulder strap at the DEO.

"There," Alex said, holding up the tank top to look at it. "Uh, this is kind of… ruined," she said, noting the dried blood, the hole and, of course, the cut strap.

Maggie sighed exaggeratedly. "Danvers, I'm beginning to think you don't like my wardrobe choices," she said, dryly.

"Ha, ha. I caught that joke," Alex grinned, putting the tank top aside. She paused as she gazed at Maggie's back, bare but for the black bra straps crossing it, the right shoulder completely bare due to her cutting that strap earlier at the DEO, too. She swallowed.

"You okay back there?" Maggie asked.

"Uh, I'm fine, yeah, yeah, fine," Alex answered, still in awe of the sight before her. She cleared her throat and picked up the t-shirt that Maggie had picked out. "Uh, okay, I've got your t-shirt here." She paused and cleared her throat. "This next part is going to be… interesting," Alex said, a bit nervously.

Maggie chuckled. "You mean my bra? You worry too much," she teased, as her left arm came up behind her back and easily undid the bra clasp, one-handed.

Alex blinked. "How… but… how?"

The detective laughed and partly turned her torso to the left to be able to see her, her left arm covering her chest, keeping the bra in place. "It's called practice, Danvers. Undoing a bra without looking, or with your non-dominant hand, or both… you'd be surprised how often a lesbian needs to do that." She winked and turned to face forward again, her left shoulder rotating so the strap fell down her arm. "I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunities to practice," she added.

Alex choked at that and was positively crimson.

"Did I break you?"

"Uh, kinda," she managed to sputter.

"Hadn't quite gotten to the point of thinking about mechanics, had you?"

She shook her head. "No, no, I definitely had not."

The smaller woman laughed. "Sorry, that's my bad, Danvers." She slid her left arm out of the bra and clasped it back to her chest.

'Focus, focus, focus,' she thought to herself. She cleared her throat. "Right, so, uh…" She cleared her throat again. "T-shirt," she said.

"Yeah, any suggestions there?"

She took a breath. "I think so," she said, softly. "Let's try this," she said, standing up, taking a couple of paces and kneeling on the floor, by Maggie's right arm.

"Uh oh," Maggie muttered.

"Do you trust me?"

Maggie looked down at her. "I do."

She smiled. "Okay, then." She put her right hand into the end of the right short sleeve and popped it out the bottom of the over-sized, light grey shirt. She moved a bit and delicately grasped Maggie's right hand with hers and slid the t-shirt up her arm. "Like the sweatshirt," she said in explanation. She released Maggie's hand and carefully draped the cloth over her injured shoulder, then spread the neck for Maggie's head and pulled it down, settling it on her left shoulder as well. "Okay, you can put your left arm through the sleeve," she said.

Maggie did so and then pulled the bra out from underneath the shirt. "Well, that was a first," she said, as she stood up from the chair.

Alex stood up hastily from the bed, the tank top and hoodie in her arms. "What was?"

"First time a woman's ever helped me get out of my clothes and not ended up in my bed," she winked.

Alex blushed. She cleared her throat again. "Uh, I'm just gonna, put, uh, these over here, okay?" she asked, heading to the dresser to put the hoodie and tank top on it.

"Sure," Maggie said, pulling back the covers.

Alex also took a moment to put the chair back and then turned around and saw Maggie in bed and her heart just melted at the sight. She was overwhelmed with a feeling of fondness, a feeling of warmth spreading through her chest, enveloping her heart.

"Hey, Danvers, before you go, would you please open my water bottle?" Maggie asked.

"What?" Alex blinked. "Oh, sure, yeah," she said, walking over and twisting the cap off. "Want some now?"

Maggie nodded so she handed her the bottle.

"Oh, that reminds me," Alex said, "here's your course of antibiotics. Take with food every twelve hours for ten days, starting in the morning." She pulled the bottle of pills out of her pocket and placed it on the nightstand. "Finish the whole bottle."

She made a face. "Really? Is that necessary?"

"Better safe than sorry, right?" she replied. "Drink plenty of fluids," she instructed, "and while I'd advise avoiding alcohol, this is amoxicillin, so you shouldn't have any adverse reactions if you have a beer or something."

"You know me so well," Maggie grinned.

Alex blushed lightly and cleared her throat again. "Anything else I can do for you before I go?"

The detective shook her head. "I think I'll be okay," she said. "Phone, water… oh, crap."

"What?"

"I could probably use nearby painkillers if I wake up," she admitted.

Alex nodded. "Sure, where do you keep them?"

"Medicine cabinet, in the bathroom. Just down the hall from here, the door on the right," she said.

"Be right back," Alex smiled. She walked down the hall again and turned in to the washroom. It was, of course, dark, so Alex felt around for the light switch, finding it to the right of the door. She flipped the switch and the room was illuminated in a soft glow. The sink was directly in front of her, the toilet to the right and bathtub with shower on the left. The colour scheme was an inoffensive shade of beige, with just a few accented blue pieces, such as the bathmat, the toilet seat cover, the shower curtain and the towel set hanging neatly off a railing. The medicine cabinet was directly above the sink, a mirror for its door. Alex briefly glanced in the mirror at herself and considered the reflection. 'You look tired,' she thought to herself. She opened the cabinet door and looked for some over the counter painkillers. She found the Tylenol quickly, and, trying not to snoop, grabbed it from the shelf without paying too much attention to the other items in the cabinet, closed the door, turned out the light and walked back down the hallway, trying to open the Tylenol bottle.

"Thanks," Maggie said, as Alex opened up the pill bottle and poured two pills out into her hand, which she placed on the nightstand.

"Anytime," she replied, replacing the lid on the bottle and putting it down on the nightstand. She checked her watch. "Give it at least another three or three and a half hours before you take those," she cautioned. "And let me know if you need something stronger and I'll handle it."

"Yes, Dr. Danvers," Maggie grinned.

"Hah," Alex laughed, "that title is reserved for either of my parents," she corrected.

"You've got a medical degree too, though, don't you?"

She nodded. "I do."

"Then you can be called Dr. Danvers," the detective argued, mildly.

Alex nodded again in acknowledgement. "Well, that's true. But it's never something I really embraced. I mean, I'm using the degree because I use the science of it all constantly, but since I'm not your average general practitioner or surgeon or even academic researcher, it seems a little pretentious to me." She shrugged. "No, Agent Danvers is much more my style, wouldn't you agree?" She indicated her own tactical belt and thigh holster, with a smile.

Maggie chuckled. "Well, Agent Danvers, yes, I would agree. And thank you for your expert medical attention and advice," she said. She smiled. "And Alex?"

"Hm?" She was thrown off by the use of her first name, but she had to admit that she really loved the way it sounded, coming from the detective.

"Thanks for all the help," she said, softly. "I'm sorry if it was, uhm," she paused, visibly trying to find the right word. "… difficult for you."

Alex smiled. "That's what friends are for, right?" she asked. "I'm happy to help." She stood there for a moment, wanting to say more, do more, but she knew she had to get back to work. She inhaled. "Okay, I should go," she said, quietly.

Maggie nodded. "You can just shut the front door behind you. The doorknob will lock."

"Okay," Alex said. "Text or call if you need anything, all right?"

"Thanks," she replied. "Good luck with all the… stuff," she said, making a vague hand gesture, "at the DEO."

Alex grinned. "Thank you."

Maggie looked at her, carefully. "Be careful out there, okay?"

She nodded. "I will. Sleep well, Maggie. Sweet dreams."

She smiled back and Alex took a deep breath and forced herself to walk away, down the hallway, away from Maggie. She switched off the living room lights as she went. Then, standing by the front door, she took one more deep breath, through her nose, inhaling Maggie's scent one last time, before she opened the door, stepped out of the apartment and closed the door behind her. Her thoughts whirled uncontrollably as she walked down the three flights of stairs, feeling as though the last hour or so had been a significant step in their relationship. 'Friendship,' she corrected herself. Certainly, helping her out had been a lot more intimate than she'd thought it would be.

"And," Alex muttered to herself, as she buckled herself into the driver's seat of the SUV, "I am so very, very gay," she said, remembering how Maggie's back looked, how warm her skin was to the touch, how soft she was… If there had been any doubt remaining in her mind at all that she was gay, it was certainly gone now.

She smiled as she drove back to the DEO. 'If this is my new normal,' she thought, 'I could get used to this.'