Warnings and Disclaimers in Chapter 1. Enjoy.
Alex groaned as the bright sunlight hit her eyes. She threw her arm over her eyes to protect them as she carefully opened them slowly. A pill bottle rattled next to her and she turned her head, squinting in the daylight.
"This is all the sympathy you're going to get from me," Maggie said, rattling the bottle of aspirin again. Alex sighed, not even reaching for the pills.
"I know you're upset," she started, only to be cut off by Maggie.
"Upset?" she asked angrily. "When I've calmed down enough to be simply upset I'll let you know." She slammed the bottle on the nightstand and stormed out of the room.
"Maggie," Alex tried, but she knew better than to rush after her right now. She needed to give her fiancée time to cool down. Plus, she didn't think rushing anywhere would be in her best interests right now. Especially since the room started to tilt when she tried to sit up.
"I should be furious with you." Alex jumped at the unexpected voice, which only caused her headache to increase. She reached over, ignoring the pills and instead focusing on the water. When the glass was empty she turned to find her sister glaring at her from the other side of the room.
"You don't know how to be furious," Alex said as she slowly got out of bed. She wobbled briefly, and Kara was there instantly to help steady her.
"I can learn," Kara said as she helped Alex toward the bathroom, "especially after this last stunt. Do you know how worried I was? How worried Maggie and Eliza was?"
"I can imagine," Alex deadpanned as Kara helped her onto the toilet. She looked up, surprised when Kara made no move to leave the bathroom. "I don't need a babysitter Kara."
"From where I'm standing you do," Kara replied, folding her arms across her chest. Alex sighed.
"Look, can we talk about this later?" Alex asked. "I really need a shower."
"Fine," Kara relented, "but I'll be waiting in the kitchen. It's time we have a real talk." Alex nodded, and Kara finally left. Alex finished her morning routine and entered the kitchen area twenty minutes later. She was surprised to find Maggie waiting with Kara. Maggie looked up from the stove, where she was making omelets. She froze when she saw Alex in her black uniform.
"No," she said, pushing the pan away more harshly than necessary. "There is no way I'm letting you go back to work today."
"It doesn't matter if you're letting me or not," Alex said, coming to stand by the table, "I'm going. But I think we need to have a serious talk before I go."
"About last night?" Maggie asked, turning her back to her girlfriend and focusing on the food again. A few minutes later she turned off the stove and brought three plates over to the table. Alex and Kara took their plates and for the next few minutes the only sound that could be heard was the tinkling of forks and knifes on plates.
"About last night, and all the other nights since I was kidnapped." Alex started once the plates were almost clean. "I have something to say, and I need to say it without you interrupting." She looked down at her plate and idly played with the remnants of her omelet while she gathered her thoughts. "Last night," she finally started, "was a one-time thing. I never meant to worry any of you. I know you guys don't understand, and maybe I can't even explain it, but when I heard the news I just had to get away." She looked to Maggie. "Everything I told you last night was true. I was mourning my life, but now I'm going to fight."
"That's not good enough," Maggie said darkly. "You put us through hell last night and you think a simple 'I'm sorry' is good enough? Which, by the way, you haven't said yet."
"You don't think I'm going through hell!" Alex shouted. "Every single day since he took me has been hell. You can't imagine how terrifying it is knowing your body is going to betray you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it. Knowing the only person who can help is a psychopath. I also know he never will, and not just because Edith is dead."
"Don't talk like that," Kara said gently. Alex rolled her eyes.
"Why not?" she asked them. "Because it's the truth. I've been pretending every day that everything will be okay, pretending for you, but the truth is it's not going to be okay. Whatever minuscule hope we were holding onto was totally shattered yesterday, so it's time to start accepting what's going to happen. I am going to die from this."
"That doesn't sound like fighting," Maggie spat out, looking at Alex before lowering her gaze back to her plate. Alex sighed and closed her eyes.
"I am terrified every second of every day," she reluctantly admitted. Maggie looked up abruptly, her focus totally on her girlfriend. "And not about losing any of you, but you losing me." Alex opened her eyes and stared at Maggie. Neither of them broke their staring contest. "At first, I was just afraid of dying. I know you guys tried to hide it, but I found my file. I know what happened when I was unconscious. I knew how easily he could make my heart stop. I knew how easily he could take me away from you. And I wanted to make it as painless for you as possible, so I bowed to your semi-unreasonable demands. I stopped going out in the field. I cut my hours. I let you take away my car and my bike. I let you, and Kara, and J'onn, and my mother dictate my life."
"Not everything was unreasonable," Maggie chimed in. Alex smiled at her gently.
"And then, despite all the precautions, all the bubble wrap you could cocoon me in, the first trap was triggered. The fever." She paused to give them a minute to regroup. "The fever wasn't that bad, as far as your body betraying itself went. Nobody ever said working at the DEO was the safest job in the world. There is a high possibility of aliens using bioweapons, intentionally or unintentionally. I've made peace with dying that way long ago, so when it happened, I took it in stride. That one didn't shake me, except to negate any illusions I had that the procedure didn't work."
"Alex," Kara said, her voice completely sympathetic. She hated watching her sister in pain without anyway to fix it. Alex flicked her eyes to her momentarily before flicking back to Maggie.
"The second one is the one that terrified me," she continued. They watched her intensely, this was the first time she had really talked about what happened to her during the second trap. "I didn't know what was going on. I woke up in a sea of nothingness and I had no idea how to escape. I was panicking, and then suddenly I knew I wasn't alone. I could survive because something, someone, was right there with me." She looked over at her sister again. "I don't know how you got through to me, but you gave me the strength to keep on fighting. But I have never been more terrified in my life. Because it wasn't a fight for my life, but for my soul. One that every day I got closer and closer to losing."
"Babe," Maggie interjected, tears in her eyes. But Alex just shook her head.
"The worst part wasn't that I was going to die, because I read Hamilton's report. You could have kept me alive for years in that state. The worst part was not being able to tell you goodbye. And that is what terrifies me the most. Not the dying part, but not being able to say I love you one last time." She looked between the women. "Last night was not a mistake, it was a catharsis. I've been trying to be so strong for you, all of you, that I didn't realize how much I needed the release. I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you any of this before last night, and I'm sorry I made you worry about me, but I needed to mourn while I still could. I needed one night where I didn't have to be strong before I held up the sky again." By now Alex had tears in her eyes.
"You are such a dork," Kara cried as she reached over and grabbed her sister in the biggest bear hug she could. A second later Maggie joined and for a long minute the three women just held each other and cried.
"You don't always have to be strong," Maggie whispered. "Not for me."
"Or me," Kara added as they broke apart. "And the next time you need a pity party, just let us know about it, even if we aren't invited." Maggie nodded her agreement.
"Deal," Alex agreed as she left the table and reached for her keys.
"And where do you think you're going?" Maggie asked, wiping her tears away. Kara headed to the doorway, clearly intending to head her sister off. "Just cause we've had this heart to heart does not mean that we aren't still furious with you, or willing to let you kill yourself without a fight.
"To the Bunker. I have a few things I'm working on that I need to finish," Alex answered. Maggie moved to intercept, but Alex backed away. "I'm not going to break. And I'm not so far gone that I can't safely drive my car. When I reach that point I will hand you my keys personally, but until then I can't live with the unreasonable restrictions."
"We're just worried about you," Kara said. Alex softened.
"I know, but I can't do it anymore. I have to live my life. If you have a valid reason for me not doing something, I'll listen. But I'm wearing the Bio-reader, which will shut the car down if anything falls outside the set parameters. Please. I need as much normalcy as I can get."
"Fine," Kara said as she moved out of the way, "but I hope you don't expect us to stop worrying about you, cause that's never gonna happen." Alex smiled slightly. "What's so important about the Bunker anyway? Nothing is going on there. Your recruits aren't even there."
"We're revolutionizing the training of DEO agents," Alex told them. She looked to Kara. "I won't be there to watch your back, these agents will. And I'll be damned sure I teach them every trick in the book before I trust my little sister's safety to them. It's the only way I can protect you now."
"Fine," Maggie huffed. "But I'm still mad."
"I know," Alex told her. "You have every right to be. But I still love you."
"I love you too," Maggie responded, wrapping her arms around her lover and kissing her. The kiss started gentle, but Alex quickly deepened it and soon they were oblivious to everything in the world except the two of them. Until Kara coughed discretely. Reluctantly they pulled away. "You gotta promise me one thing."
"What's that?" Alex asked.
"Be home by seven tonight." Alex arched her eyebrow questioningly. "I feel the need for angry, make up sex." Alex grinned, and Kara blushed as they opened the door and headed to their respective workplaces. That night Alex was home at seven on the dot. And the sex was amazing.
"C'mon Alex," Maggie said, eyeing the clock for the fifth time that hour. The time stubbornly remained the same. Seven past twelve. Alex was seven minutes late. Alex, who hated being late, was seven minutes late for their lunch date. Maggie was torn. After their serious discussion the other morning, she was really trying to give her fiancée some space. Trying not to panic at every single thing. Besides, she tried telling herself, it's only seven minutes. Any number of normal, not near-death things could happen that could cause her unusually punctual girlfriend to run a little late. And if it was a big thing, Alex would call her. She looked to the clock again, just in time for the minute hand to move to eight. "Screw it," she mumbled to herself, picking up her phone. She quickly hit Alex's number.
"Danvers," Alex answered after the first ring. Maggie could hear beeps and twirls in the background and knew she was still in her lab. With the recruits still out with Dontay, she knew Alex was starting a couple of lab experiments she had been putting off. And she knew from personal experience how her lover's mind tended to wander when she was in her lab.
"Alex?" Maggie asked. "Aren't you supposed to be somewhere right now?"
"What?" Alex asked. Maggie could picture her eyes scrunched up in thought until she had her breakthrough. "Oh shit," she said, right when Maggie thought she would. "I'm sorry. I forgot. I was just going to get everything set up and then come get you, but I…"
"Just got swept away," Maggie finished with a grin.
"I am sorry," Alex said again. "I can leave now, and we can have a late lunch, or I can make it up to you in other ways tonight."
"After Little Danvers leaves you mean," Maggie specified.
"Right," Alex spluttered on the other end and Maggie could just about see the blush rising on her cheeks. "Or I can call her and reschedule sister night."
"That sounds even better," Maggie answered.
"So I'll make it up to you tonight?" Alex asked hopefully.
"Tonight," Maggie confirmed. "I love you."
"I love you," Alex repeated, until something drew her attention away. "I gotta go. Bye."
"Bye," Maggie barely got out before the connection was lost. Maggie smiled as she put down the phone. With the extra time she now had she should be able to finish the report she was working on. She began typing, lost in her memories.
"Sawyer," she looked up to see the Chief heading towards her.
"Chief," she said, adding the finishing touches and quickly hitting the submit button. "I just finished it," she told him, showing him the finished report.
"This isn't about your paperwork," he said, looking at her intently, "or lack thereof." Maggie gulped. She was trying to keep up with her paperwork, but with everything going on it was so hard to give any priority to something so bureaucratic. She was valiantly trying to think of an excuse when he continued. "How's Alex?"
"She's doing fine for the moment," she said, studying him intently. He was the only one at the NCPD who knew the whole story regarding her fiancée. He helped her whenever he could, whether it was giving her weeks of leave at the drop of a hat or rearranging schedules to make it more convenient for her. "She's pushing herself too hard, which is kind of a relief. It's like having the old Alex back." The Chief nodded and continued to stare at her, and she held his gaze. "Sir. Is everything okay?"
"No," he said, glancing around the bullpen before turning around. "My office." He didn't wait to see if she was following until he got to his door. He held the door open for her then shut it tightly before rounding his desk.
"Sir?" Maggie asked, staring at the closed door. The closed door was never a good sign.
"Have a seat Maggie," he said, his usual gruffness gone. She did, her knees suddenly trembling. "There's been an attack. In Gotham," he quickly told her, knowing her mind would automatically go to her fiancée. "Detective Ogana."
"Tash?" she whispered, her face paling. "Is he dead." He shook his head.
"He's listed as serious," he told her gently. "He's in a coma. The doctors say his chances are about fifty-fifty at this point. He was lucky they got to him quickly." Maggie nodded numbly.
"What happened?" she whispered.
"The drug dealer he was tracking in Gotham found him first," the Chief told her. "He was camped out in an abandoned warehouse while undercover. The entire place was shot up like nothing they've ever seen."
"Alien?" Maggie asked. The Chief opened up a file and placed a picture on the desk between them.
"Alien," he said simply. The picture showed total destruction, but to the trained eyes of the Science Division, they could easily see signs of heat vision, flame throwing, and even acid splatters.
"It looks like the work of more than one species," Maggie said, her detective mask firmly slipping into place. "If we could get a copy of the forensics, we could narrow it down for them."
"There is no forensics," the Chief told her. "The Crime Lab got there and barely got a few pictures when the whole building imploded. We were lucky no one else was hurt." Maggie looked up at him. He sighed. "They're in over their head. The Commissioner assigned the case to several other Detectives. They were attacked as soon as they left the precinct."
"They have a telepath," Maggie mused. The Chief nodded in agreement.
"We don't know where the leak is. Could be a dirty cop. Could be a vendor or janitor. Hell, it could be a punk in lockup who let themselves get caught to be the inside man." He sighed again and gathered up the picture. "The bottom line is they have a situation that they have no idea how to handle. And they've reached out for help."
"We can't send a team," Maggie said. "If they've been infiltrated, they'd gun down whoever we sent as soon as they walk in the door."
"I know," he agreed. "Which was why I wasn't sending in a team." He stared at Maggie until she finally understood.
"I'll do it," she said.
"You'll have no backup," he told her solemnly. "You'll have no team. And if things go south, the police are more likely to shoot you than arrest you. I'll tell the Commissioner I've sent an Officer, but it will go no further than that. You will be completely on your own. This will probably be the most dangerous situation you will ever be in, and given your record, that's saying something."
"I'm in," Maggie said, steeling herself. "I've been undercover in Gotham before. I've got contacts and connections. Plus, I am the leading expert on aliens in the department. I'm the logical choice."
"Plus, you're one badass, tough as nails cop," the Chief smiled slightly, "but this has nothing to do with logic. You also are recently engaged, have a family that you never did before. And there's Alex's situation to consider." He took a deep breath before looking her in the eye. "Take the afternoon and think about this. Talk to Alex. Find out what she thinks." Maggie shook her head.
"With all due respect Sir," she started, "I don't need to talk to Alex to know what she would say. She would say it's my decision, and she supports me one hundred percent whatever I decide. Then she would say the only thing she has a problem with would be not going undercover with me." The Chief nodded. He had only met the woman a few times, outside of official meetings which he usually left in Sawyer's capable hands, but nearly everyone knew about the agent who always stood by Supergirl's side. She was almost as tough as Maggie. "I'm in."
"I thought you would say that," he said, sliding the folder her way. "That's everything they have on this dirtbag. It's the same case Tash was working on when he visited last month, so whatever you guys talked about is probably relevant."
"What's the play?" Maggie asked, perusing the file.
"You don't tell anybody you're going in," he said. "You are strictly doing recon. Surveillance. When you have enough evidence, you call me. I'll come with the big guns."
"SWAT?" Maggie asked. The Chief smiled and shook his head.
"DEO," he told her. "You know, the ones you love running around with so much." Maggie blushed slightly. "Once the threat is neutralized we split up the spoils. DEO gets the aliens, Gotham PD gets the criminals, and first rounds on me."
"And if things go south?" Maggie asked.
"Try to get arrested, not killed," the Chief deadpanned, "and use your one phone call to call me. I'll get everything straightened out from here. And if it ever gets too much, you can simply walk away." Maggie nodded.
"The DEO is in on this?" she asked. He nodded.
"They've even agreed to let you borrow some of their gear. I have no idea what that means. Honestly, I was trying to see if the world was about to end for them to be so generous." Maggie smirked. She closed the folder and got to her feet.
"If you'll excuse me, Sir, I need to see a man about a gun." The Chief nodded.
"Just be careful," he told her, getting to his feet to see her out. "I know you run around with aliens all day, but not all of them are warm and fuzzy."
"Believe me Sir, I know," Maggie said as she left his office. She stopped at her desk briefly, just long enough to pull up the files she and Tash talked about and copy them onto a flash drive before leaving the police precinct. She made a beeline for the DEO. Time to get some goodies.