"Maggie, we all know what a badass you are. But is this such a good idea?" Alex was concerned.

Maggie's jaw was set firm. "It's a half hour flight. I am coming with you and Addie tomorrow. I don't want her to think flying is anything to be scared of."

Alex held up her hands in surrender. "Okay, honey," she kept her tone light. "Just remember, you don't have to do this."

"It'll be fine," Maggie unclenched her fists, forcing herself to try to relax. "You're a good pilot, right, Danvers?"

"The best," Alex grinned.

"And so modest too," Maggie teased her. She would be alright. Alex would make sure of it. She knew her fears were irrational. Flying was the safest mode of transport. Driving to work in her car was more dangerous – to say nothing of the times she took her bike. She was a badass detective; a small plane shouldn't scare her.

SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG

Maggie tossed and turned all night, images of planes going up in flames, or nosediving into the ocean, plaguing her whenever she drifted off. More than once, Alex turned in her sleep and pulled Maggie to her.

At 5am, Maggie gave up on the idea of sleep, and headed downstairs. She hoped she hadn't disturbed Alex too much. She wanted Alex to be rested before she took the controls of the plane that would fly them all – including their precious daughter, and Alex's assistant Kate.

Maggie thoughts turned to Addie. Addison. Their daughter. The adoption wasn't yet finalized, but they had every reason to believe that everything would be legal within the next few weeks.

Addie had brought so much light to their lives. The little girl was a gift, pure and simple. She had her own demons, though her nightmares had lessened. Sometimes she went a whole ten days without a bad one. And she seemed to calm faster, when she, or Alex – or, more often, both – went to her when she cried out in the night.

Addie was, against all the odds, an optimist. She loved to try out any new activity, and entered into everything with the expectation that she would enjoy it. And, of course, then she did. She was constantly delighted by the world around her.

Maggie brewed herself some coffee, and slipped outside, to sit on the step in the yard and watch the day coming to life. She turned when she heard the door creak open, and saw Alex moving toward her, her own coffee in her hand. Alex settled on the step next to her, resting one hand lightly on her thigh.

"Hey, Danvers," Maggie smiled.

"You're up early," Alex tried to keep the worry out of her voice.

"Didn't want to miss this," Maggie gestured to the view. The weather was spring-like, and the yard looked beautiful in the early morning light. "I hope I didn't wake you."

Alex shook her head, but it was a lie. She had lain awake half the night, worrying about Maggie. And when the bed had dipped and Maggie had left, she lay still for a half hour before she couldn't stop herself from going in search of her. "Bed's kinda lonely without you," she smiled.

Maggie looked deep into her eyes. "I don't think you realize how beautiful you are," she said, softly.

"Back atcha, Sawyer," Alex kissed her very softly.

"What time do we leave?"

"About 10am."

"I'll be ready," Maggie said, firmly. "Addie's so excited. She's going to love it."

SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG

Addie heard the doorbell ring, and she scampered to answer the door.

"Wait!" Alex called. "Let me look first." They had taught Addie never to answer the door on her own.

Addie jumped up and down as Alex reached around her and checked the peephole. Alex opened the door, and Addie ran toward the visitor with excitement. "Sergeant Kate!" she yelled. "You're gonna come with us. We're going to go flying. This is the best day ever," she laughed as Kate picked her up and spun her around.

Alex's phone rang. "It's Kara," she gestured to the phone. "I've just got to..."

"Go," Kate smiled, as she walked into the house.

"Help yourself to coffee. I'll be back real soon."

Kate poured herself a mug of coffee, and went into the living room, where Maggie stood, looking out of the window. "Detective," she said, with a smile.

Maggie turned around sharply. "Hey," she breathed. "Sorry, didn't see you there. Good to see you, Sergeant Kate," she said with a small laugh.

"I have told Addie lots of times just to call me Kate," Kate laughed.

"She won't. You're her hero soldier. You're stuck with Sergeant Kate for ever, now. Until you get promoted, that is," Maggie teased.

Kate grinned. "I'm aiming for Sergeant Major," she said.

"Aiming high. That's good. You'll get there," Maggie said. She liked this new recruit. She had already had a stellar military career, but she had chosen to put all that to one side to work with Alex at the DEO. She believed deeply in the work at the DEO, and she was a loyal assistant to Alex. She was also super-smart. Not quite in the same league as Alex, Maggie mused, but then nobody was quite at Alex's intellectual level.

"Are you okay?" Kate noticed the pallor in Maggie's cheeks.

"I'm good," Maggie answered almost too quickly.

"Alex told me you're not a fan of flying," Kate said gently.

"Maggie's scared of planes," Addie had come back into the room. She raised her arms, her way of demanding that Maggie pick her up.

Maggie obliged. She nodded. "Flying is not my favorite thing," she admitted. "But I've never been up with Alex behind the controls. And we've got a spare pilot now, too," she smiled, knowing that Kate had flown a wide variety of aircraft.

Alex came back into the room. "Kara's not coming," she said. "She's … she needs some time. She and Mon-El have broken up. Again. I think that's it this time."

"What did he do this time?" Maggie's eyes hardened. She loved Kara like a sister, and hated that Mon-El had been the cause of so much heartache over the past two years. He was not a bad person, but he was incredibly immature, and he kept making Kara believe he would grow up, and then he'd do something dumb again.

"Nothing. Nothing in particular. She just … she says she wants more. Needs more. She wants somebody who'll put her first. He's just not that person." Alex tried to pull herself together. She wanted nothing more than to go to Kara, to hold her, to tell her that she would find the right person, and that it would be worth it. So worth it, she realized as she looked at Maggie. She had never once imagined that her life would be as perfect as it was now. She had the best girlfriend in the world, and a beautiful daughter.

"She'll be okay, Danvers," Maggie said softly, reaching out to touch her hand.

SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG

"I'll drive," Kate offered. "You wanna ride shotgun, Bug?" she asked Addie. Kate was the only other person apart from Alex that Addie would allow to call her Bug. Even Maggie wasn't allowed to do it.

Alex was relieved. She could tell how anxious Maggie was, and she thought it would help if they rode in the back seat together. Surreptitiously, she reached for her hand and folded it between her own. It was a little clammy, and Maggie's face was deliberately neutral.

As they drew up to the small airfield a few miles out of the city, Alex could feel Maggie's hand tightening in her own. She was pale. "You don't have to do this," Alex whispered.

Maggie ignored her, and got out of the car when it drew to a halt.

Kate released the buckles on the child seat, and lifted Addie out. The girl was overwhelmed with excitement. "You gotta hold my hand, or one of your moms' hands, at all times while you are here, okay?" Kate was very firm. "We have to make sure you are safe."

"Okay, Sergeant Kate," Addie promised, taking her hand.

Maggie had thought she would be able to cope. She really did. She had tried deep breathing, and a range of visualization techniques. As they stepped into the hangar, though, it was as if something was clenching at her heart. She took a deep breath, but that didn't work. She didn't seem to be able to get enough air into her lungs. She tried again, and again, but as she did so, the ground tilted alarmingly.

Alex watched Maggie anxiously. Her girlfriend had gone whiter than she had ever seen. Her breathing quickened, and when Maggie put out a hand to steady herself, Alex slipped one hand around her waist. She watched in alarm as Maggie turned green.

Maggie felt Alex's supporting arm. She knew she was going to be sick, and looked around desperately for a trash can or something similar. Before she realized what was happening, Alex was guiding her to a tiny bathroom, taking much of her weight. Her stomach started to heave as Alex wrenched the toilet lid up.

Alex held Maggie in her strong arms as she vomited violently into the toilet, her knuckles white as she gripped the sides of the bowl. Black spots danced in front of her eyes. She felt Alex's cool hand on her brow, taking the weight of her head. With her other hand, Alex rubbed slow circles on Maggie's back. She was saying something to her, but Maggie couldn't make it out. She heaved again, feeling helpless and embarrassed. She hated that Alex was having to take care of her, but she didn't think she could even stand up.

"It's okay, Mags," Alex whispered. "Get it all up. You'll feel so much better. And again, huh? That's it. I've got you. I've got you. You're fine, Maggie. It's over now. It's over. Your're okay," Alex held her as she slumped back into her arms. "All done. Just try to steady your breathing. Slowly, Maggie. That's it. You're doing so well. I'm here for you. There you go. All done, it's all done now," Alex was relieved as Maggie's shaking lessened and her breathing finally calmed a little.

Maggie curled into Alex, on the cold stone floor of the bathroom. She felt Alex's hand continue to gentle her back. "'m sorry," she gasped out.

Alex dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "You don't have to be sorry. You tried, Mags. You were so brave to try. We'll just go home now, okay?"

Maggie shook her head, and tried to sit up.

"No, baby, give it a minute," Alex could feel her shaking.

"We can't go home," Maggie said weakly. "Addie's so stoked about this whole thing. You've got to take her, Alex. She'll never forgive me if you don't take her up."

"She will. It's okay."

"No," Maggie was adamant, her strength returning. She gave a sheepish grin. "I'll find some coffee. I'll wait for you here. Please, Alex?" Maggie got carefully to her feet, allowing Alex to steady her.

Alex eyed her carefully. Maggie's color was returning, albeit more slowly than she would have liked. She reached out for Maggie's wrist. Her pulse was slowing, too. "Okay," she said, a little reluctantly. "I just need to make a call."

When they came out of the bathroom, Kate and Addie were standing just where they had left them.

"We should go home," Addie said. "Maggie's sick," she was desperately trying to hide her disappointment.

Alex knelt at her level. "It's okay, Bug. Maggie's fine now. She just got real anxious. Maggie just really doesn't like planes. But she's okay now."

"But she got sick. I heard her," Addie said, a blossom of hope starting.

Maggie was embarrassed. "I did, Addie," she admitted. "But I'm not sick. I just had a bit of a panic there. Alex and Kate are still going to take you up. I'm going to get myself a coffee, and then I'll watch you up in the air. Right, Alex?"

"But who's going to take care of you, Maggie?" Addie persisted. She could see that Maggie was still shaky.

"That would be me," Kara appeared at Maggie's side, to everyone's astonishment. "Right, Maggie?" she grinned at her sister-in-law.

Maggie smiled. So that was who Alex had called. She was very touched. She knew Kara was having a bad day, but she had put her sadness about the break-up to one side to support her family.

Addie grinned. "So we can really go flying?" she bounced on the balls of her feet with excitement.

"We can," Alex agreed. "And Mark has towed the plane out to the runway for us. All we need to do now is a visual inspection, and check everything on the checklist. And you can tell me what all the parts are called, while we check that they're working fine. Okay, Bug?"

Addie's face was pure joy.

"Keep a hold of Kate's hand," Alex reminded her.

SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG

Kara found two chairs in the hangar, and set them out on the tarmac, at a safe distance. She reached out for Maggie's hand, touching it briefly. "How are you feeling?"

"Foolish," Maggie said wryly. "But I'm okay. You didn't have to come."

"Alex was worried about you. And I'm always happy to spend time with you, you know that."

"How are you?" Maggie wanted to know. "I was sorry to hear about your break-up."

Kara shrugged. "It wasn't anything dramatic. He just … he's just not right for me. He's a good man."

"Just not your man," Maggie added.

"Exactly!" Kara agreed. "It's all Alex's fault," she said, with a grin.

"How so?"

Kara looked straight at her. "She found you. I want a relationship like yours. And if I can't have that, I'd rather not be in a relationship at all."

Maggie smiled at her, her eyes crinkling with affection. "For what it's worth, Little Danvers," she said, "I think you've made the right decision."

She settled back in her seat, and watched as her girlfriend, and her assistant, took Addie all around the small, two-engine aircraft. Alex was gesticulating – talking with her hands, as she always did – clearly explaining everything to their daughter. When Alex helped her up onto the wing to get into the plane, Maggie felt her nerves start again.

Kara's super-hearing picked up on the rise in Maggie's heartbeat. She reached out and rested her hand on Maggie's arm. "You know I could be there in a heartbeat, if they needed rescuing, don't you?" she said, quietly.

Maggie nodded. "And that's the other reason Alex called you. So there was nothing I could be anxious about."

Kara grinned. "She loves you," she said, simply.