It had been over a month since the Blue Springs invasion. As Maggie had predicted, a full-scale investigation was underway of the council members in Blue Springs, and it had spread into Wymore. Kara was even running an article series about corruption in small town America, and it featured some pretty specific data about particular people. Assets had been frozen as the investigation was underway. To say it wasn't looking good for most of the Sawyer family was honey coating things.

Since the Blue Spring invasion, life in National City had returned to normal so hectic and dangerous. The city was being rebuilt, and things were dangerous for aliens in the wake of the Daxam invasion. Both the DEO and the Science Division of the NCPD both did their parts to calm concerns and restore the peace. It was slow going, but at least it was going.

"Hey, you're late," Alex said as Maggie got home from work. They had moved in together less than a month ago, and it was still such a treat to come home to their place together. "You called and said you were leaving work nearly thirty minutes ago. Was it traffic or an incident?"

"I had to head to the manager's office," Maggie replied. "Apparently, we had something in the mail today that required a signature, so he had to sign for it."

"That took fifteen minutes?" Maggie said, stirring pasta sauce.

Kissing Alex on the cheek, Maggie sighed into the other woman, then inhaled her scent. "Mmmm. You and the sauce both smell delicious. Sorry, didn't realize I was talking that long. I'm chatty. Were you worried?"

"Nah. Maybe. This is a dangerous town."

"I'm a cop."

"I'm a worrier," Alex replied, dumping the pasta into the boiling water. "So, what came in the mail?"

"Don't know. It's a big envelope."

"You should open it."

Hand to her chest, Maggie feigned a gasp. "Wow that fancy education of yours was good for something. Huh, it's from Wymore, Nebraska. That's weird. It's from the high school there."

She didn't notice Alex looking over as she opened it. Inside were dozens of smaller envelopes of varying sizes with her and Alex's names hand written on them. There was also an envelope, larger than the rest, thicker and more substantial, with their names on a label. She dumped everything on the counter, going directly to the largest of the envelopes. It had a piece of cardboard backing and a picture against it along with yet another envelope within. As Maggie picked up the picture, she smiled deeply, her dimples making an appearance.

"Okay, well that's a good sign," Alex noted. "What's got you so happy?"

Holding up the picture Maggie said, "It's us from that picture thing at the prom. They sent it to us. We look good too."

"Hey, yeah!" Alex noted wiping her hands on a small dish towel before coming over to inspect things. "Okay, my hair looks better than I thought it would. I'm glad we got this picture done before the fight at the bank. I looked like shit after that."

Maggie laughed, attaching the photo with a magnetic clip to the fridge. She took out a beer and said, "You looked awesome. We both did. There's something about stopping an alien invasion with an ample supply of C-4 that brings out a woman's natural beauty. Beer?"

"I won't say no to that."

"I thought so," Maggie replied handing over another beer before she made her way back to the counter as she started to go through the letters splayed out there. She picked up the other one that had come with the picture.

"So, what's the rest of this?" Alex asked.

Maggie read the other letter twice, not quite sure she was comprehending what she was reading. Her brows furrowed, and her lips pursed more with each moment.

"Babe, are you okay?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, but…okay, this is awesome but weird," Maggie said, finally making eye contact with her fiancée. "So the prom committee took a vote, and they named us honorary queen and queen of the prom."

"They did what?" Alex asked, beer paused at her lips.

Maggie held up a small card, a piece of card stock with their names on it in fancy penmanship. "Babe, you're prom queen."

Alex snorted, placing the back of her hand to her nose. "Sorry, I mean that's cool and so sweet of them. It just feels… Does that feel weird?"

"Mega weird but so sweet. I'm right there with you. It's adorable that they got together and did this for us. I'm sure they have a regular king and queen, but my little high school in the Midwest has a gay queen and queen too. That's…yeah. I don't have words for that."

"Progress," Alex supplied. "We're adults, and it might seem a little weird to us, but to the next gay or bisexual or whatever kid who comes along, we broke a barrier. That could make a difference. I'm not saying things will be easy, things never seem to be in high school, but maybe things could be a little bit easier now. One generation at a time, we make a difference, right?"

"Cheers," Maggie said clanking her beer bottle against Alex's. "I'll drink to that."

"Me too, but I'll drink to pretty much anything."

Not commenting, Maggie began to go through the letters on the table while Alex gave attention to the sauce and pasta. They were letters from kids at the school, thank you letters. Maggie smiled reading some out loud to Alex so they could share in them. They took turns reading them over dinner. They were sweet, grateful, and kind. Maggie had originally been worried when she was told that J'onn couldn't alter the memories of so many who had known so much for so long. Between Blue Springs and Wymore, it was over 1,700 people who'd been infected. With this coming on the heels of the televised invasion of National City, it was decided that the best story to go with was the truth…mostly the truth. Aliens had invaded, and two humans had shown up to work with some other locals to save the day. The details of the near destruction of the town, or the fact that this alien was known to be able to take over whole planets, those details were left out. Sometimes ignorance was bliss.

While Alex read one letter, Maggie opened another, her smile fading just a few lines in.

Dear Miss Sawyer,

My name is Hannah and I'm a freshman here at Wymore. We're supposed to write to you and thank you for saving our town. Thanks. I'm grateful. I have questions though. The kids here said that you and Agent Danvers are really dating. Like she's your girlfriend. My teacher said no cause girls don't date girls. Jenny's brother is a senior and he said you kissed her at prom. We heard about the water tower and I rode out and saw it before the council painted it. That looked real. I was just curious if it was real or if it was fake. Is she your girlfriend or were you pretending because of the aliens? I'm going to put my cellphone number here. Our teachers said we could do it if our parents said we could in case you wanted to call us. So if you want to call me it's okay. You don't have to. I'm just curious.

Your Friend,

Hannah Eldridge

Looking at the cellphone number neatly printed across the bottom of the page, Maggie held her body still against the tremor that ran inside her. She carefully slid her phone from the side table as she rose and said, "I'll be back in a few minutes. I've got to make a call."

"Okay," Alex said, not breaking line of sight with the letter in front of her. Laughing she added, "This kid sent a picture of his dog. So cute. I'm going to save it for Kara."

Going to the bedroom, Maggie sat on the edge of the bed as she dialed the number Hannah had provided. On the third ring, it was answered.

A voice, young and female, said, "Hello?"

"Hey, is this Hannah?" There was a pause, so Maggie added, "This is Detective Maggie Sawyer from National City. I just got your letter, so I thought I'd give you a call."

"Oh, uh… hold on." There was the sound of footsteps, and then a door closing before the girl again said, "Yes, this is Hannah. Hello, Miss Sawyer, um, Detective Sawyer."

"Oh, hell kid. Just call me Maggie, okay? I'm not that old," Maggie said, forcing a smile onto her face and into her voice though she was nervous as hell.

The tiny bit of responding smile was priceless as Hannah said, "Okay, Maggie. Thank you for calling me. So, thanks for…saving us I guess?"

Maggie laughed, relaxing a little bit more as she slid until she was sitting properly on the mattress. "You're welcome I guess? No, seriously, you're welcome kid. It's my job though. I'm a cop. I serve, and I protect. I'm just glad I could be there. How are things going at school for you? Is anyone giving you trouble?"

"Not really. Just the usual. It's almost summer vacation, and everyone was being really nice to everyone because we were all under the influence of Veggie Tales for a while there."

"Veggie Tales?" Maggie asked with another laugh.

Hannah's smile was a bit more obvious as she replied, "It's just kind of what we've been calling it. You know, there was vegetation, and then we were all just really nice for a while. That part was okay. People being nice was okay."

"They're not usually?"

"It's high school," Hannah said as if that explained everything.

Maggie nodded, remembering that all too well. The tough, street smart cop with the easy smile, well, it looked like she must have owned the high school. She didn't. She was a scared little girl full of insecurities. The truth was that even those that seemed confident in high school were insecurity ridden. They were just better at faking it until they made it. Sometimes it was about having friends who were supportive. Sometimes it was about having a good support system at home. When you had neither, you either found a way through, found coping mechanisms, or you were part of that unfortunate percentage that didn't, and you became a statistic.

Not wanting to make things worse, Maggie said, "Well, you remember you have my number too now. If anyone is giving you a hard time, you can just give me a call. I can always come down there and take care of them, have a discussion with them I mean. If I need to, I'll call in the big guns and send my girlfriend to take care of them. Alex is a bad-ass FBI agent."

"Your girlfriend," Hannah said, a touch of excitement obvious in her voice. "So, she really is your girlfriend, Maggie?"

"Technically not anymore. She's my fiancée. We don't have the date set yet, but we're getting married. I scored me a hot, sexy, FBI agent," Maggie said with a laugh.

"Oh, um…and your parents are okay with that?"

Maggie's laughter only grew. "Oh, hell no, but they're not marrying her. Look, I could live the life my parents wanted me to and live unhappily ever after, or I could be really happy. Alex makes me really happy, and she says I make her happy. I remember high school. I remember being scared and confused. Life isn't like that anymore."

"It's not?" Hannah asked hesitantly.

Smiling gently, Maggie replied, "No sweetie, it's not. I got older, and I met my family, the one not related to me by blood. They love me for exactly who I am. They never ask me to change. I'm not worried they'll find out something secret about me and stop loving me. I want them to know more about me, and I want to know more about me. Our love is unconditional."

"That's your girlfriend."

"Alex, her sister, our friends, some of my work friends. Hannah, there's a whole world of people out there who aren't like the people in that little town of yours. Sweetie, if you think you're different, and that means something is wrong with you, don't worry. There's nothing wrong with you. As you grow older, you'll learn your differences are the most amazing things about you. You can buy the same off the rack thing cheap at Wal-Mart. Unique and diverse things, they don't come easy or cheap because uncommon is valuable. You're differences are some of the most valuable things about you. Don't underestimate them or you."

"That's, okay…thanks, and you like girls," Hannah pointed out.

"Yeah, I sure do. Girls are damn beautiful. I can't understand why everyone doesn't like girls, but hey, more for those of us who do."

Hannah was quiet for a little while and then she asked, "So, when did you first know you liked girls?"

"First?" Maggie took in a deep breath, falling back on the bed as she exhaled. "Well, I know the first girl I told I liked, but looking back on it, I can see I liked other girls before that. There were just other girls I wasn't ready to be open with, like older girls and girls on TV. I think I knew before I was ready to come out to myself if that makes sense."

"Yeah," Hannah half said, and half breathed.

Smiling, Maggie kept talking. "Coming out isn't something you do once. It's something you do again and again. You do it in little bits and pieces to yourself first. I know I denied it myself more than once. Then you finally come out to one person. You think once you've done that it's over, but you have to keep doing it. It gets easier every time, though. Eventually, you don't even think about it. You'll say something casual like, 'So, my girlfriend Alex and I were heading down to the beach this weekend…' and you see people look at you with that face where you can tell they don't quite know if you mean the word girlfriend as in friend or as in banging."

Across the line, Hannah laughed. "My mom would freak out if I said…banging." She whispered the last word.

"Good thing I'm not your mom," Maggie replied. "My point is, you keep coming out your whole life, but eventually it's easy. Eventually, we recognize each other, and we don't really have to come out."

"What do you mean?" Hannah asked.

"I mean tribe. Tribe knows tribe most of the time. I can't even tell you what it is. Sure, some of it's the way we dress and sh…stuff like that, but it's just more of a sense. Have you heard the term gaydar?"

"Not really."

"It's a sense you get about whether or not someone is straight or if they're part of the tribe."

Breathing coming hitched across the phone line, Hannah, asked, "People can tell if you're gay?"

Understanding the teen's fear, Maggie quickly said, "Well, tribe can. You know, other gay people and others who are LGBTQ."

"Oh," Hannah said with a sigh. "I thought...oh."

"Sweetie, I can't tell you no one can never out someone who's in the closet, but there are ways to be careful until you're ready. Look, just tell me what you want to talk about. Really, I'm here to chat. I'm a pretty good listener, and for some reason, people think I'm pretty good at giving advice. You tell me what you need. If you want to hear more about my gay life, I'll talk about that, but it can be anything."

"Anything?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. Just tell me how I can help. I'm never going to tell anyone from your town about it. Trust me. Unless I thought you were in danger, I wouldn't interfere."

"Well…okay. So, I was thinking…"

It was twenty minutes later when a curious Alex wandered into the bedroom. She found Maggie on the floor, back to the bed. One of Maggie's hands still held a cellphone and the other a letter. Alex smiled, stepping into the room.

"Hey, so this is where you got to. I was wondering…" Alex stiffened, falling to her knees when she saw the tears running down Maggie's cheeks. "Oh, my God! What happened!? What's wrong!?"

Shaking her head, Maggie fell forward onto Alex's shoulder, mumbling something incomprehensible as she sobbed.

Alex held her, sliding into a seated position and half pulling her fiancée into her lap. As Maggie curled up, tears still streaming down her face, Alex took the letter and began to read, the only clue available in her investigation. The facts began to unfurl in Alex's mind as to what Maggie had been doing in here, and at the same time, amid Maggie's strangled weeping, one repeated set of words became clear.

"We did it for her."