A soft whimper and the low click of hurried puppy paws on the hardwood after jumping down from her dozed nap on Maggie's lap pulls the equally sleepy detective from her mind-numbing task of pouring over yet another case file she had yet to solve.
"What's up Gracie girl?" the tired detective yawns pushing her tangled hair out of her eyes when the pup she'd adopted less than a month previously didn't move from her seated place beside the door. The way her little head was tilted toward it hinted she was listening to something Maggie wasn't able to. "Someone out there?" the more human of the two mouths the brief instant the pup turned expectantly toward her before resuming her quiet contemplation of the door.
When Maggie doesn't seem to understand her current longing the Huskey Pit mix began a light pawing at the edge of the door with an impatient whine.
"Good thing I know you're already housebroken." Maggie sighed setting down the case file but pauses to pick up at least a letter opener for some kind of weapon as she crept toward the door. Her service weapon having been locked away in the safe as soon as she'd stepped through the door least Grace's eager greeting led to some kind of mishap.
Grace seems to be ignoring her for the moment to intent on scratching at the door only to go hurrying out of it before Maggie had opened it more than a few inches after a glance out the eyelet showed no visible threat outside the door.
"Well, hello there."
Maggie freezes at the low whisper belonging to the object of her pup's fascination.
Gracie lets out another pleased puppy-like growl tugging against the cuff of Alex's jeans when Maggie catches up to them just before the door to the stairwell.
"Should have known this little one was yours." Alex jokes having spotted the owner tag on Jamie's rainbow collar the same time the pup in question was making it her mission to bathe every part of Alex's face and neck in kisses.
"What are you doing here?" Maggie questions
"I was in the neighborhood?" Alex shrugs tenderly scratching the happy puppy under her chin.
Maggie's arms crossed tightly across her front "Try again." she prompts.
"Kelly and I broke up last week." Alex confesses "For good this time."
"So, what you thought you'd just come back, and you and I would…."
"Of course not." Alex steps in her tone angry now earning an upset whine from the puppy she was still holding. Gracie now nuzzling under her chin attempting to calm the upset human. "You know what this was a bad idea." Maggie's ex sighed moving just close enough to the dazed detective to attempt to pass her the still whimpering animal.
Grace however didn't seem to want to be passed over so easily if her grumpy growls and excessive squirming around were any indications.
"Nope sorry Danvers, you have to hold her till she says otherwise." Maggie translates at her ex's puzzled expression. "Told you." She adds when after another failed attempt to pass over the animal came with the same results, yet the pup settled down as soon as Alex moved her back against her chest. "Come one then."
Quietly Alex follows the shorter woman back down the hall.
"Wanna beer?" Maggie asks almost as soon as the door had closed behind them.
"Um Water please," Alex answers shifting the dog in her arms when the mixed breed cutie still refused to be put down.
"Ice?" was the other woman's only response as she crossed toward the kitchen.
"Sure." Alex agrees with a nervous node.
Maggie tries not to smile at the cute shyness pouring off her ex in spades as she unconsciously rocks Grace as she waits unsure of what to do next.
"Go sit down, Danvers. Make yourself comfy at least." Maggie suggests gesturing with the half-full beer bottle toward the living room of the small apartment.
"So why are you here?" Maggie probes as soon as it seemed both were as comfortable as they could be on the cozy sofa. Grace yet to move from her snuggled spot on Alex's lap. The nearly four-month-old pup now happily using the corner of her current human's jacket as a chew toy. Something Alex didn't seem in the least bit upset by not that Maggie guessed she noticed it as she fished something from the inner pocket of her chosen leather jacket.
"I found this."
Maggie's breath catches in her throat when she spies the bit of paper Alex had just gingerly slid onto the open sofa cushion between them.
A napkin from the Dollywood dive bar.
"You kept this?"
The question was just shy of being audible to human ears but Alex nodes along in agreement non the less. "I only found it yesterday when I was going through a desk looking for." she paused thinking it over before letting out an amused giggle of a laugh "you know I don't even remember what I'd been looking for actually. "
Maggie doesn't answer still looking at the stained scrap of written on paper laying between them.
She can still hear Alex's husky if not more than a little buzzed voice giggling against her ears as she'd watched the baby gay scribbling down a few lines onto the napkin Maggie had been using for a coaster when she should have been lining up her next shot for the pool game, they'd been in the middle of finishing up.
The stakes that night; Maggie wins they get married and the smug coup would finally get that shiny flash grenade she'd always been begging to have, Alex, wins they go back to her place for the night.
Considering how poorly Maggie had been at beating the then DEO second in command at their shared barroom game it had seemed unlikely the tipsily chosen winnings would have been so binding.
"It worked for Dr, McShep and what's her name. Why not us?" Alex had scoffed as she'd written out the still illegible agreement on that small square of beer-dampened paper.
"Someone feel asleep watches reruns of that Seattle doctor show again huh?" Maggie remembers laughing nuzzling her face against Alex's strong shoulder
"Home teams." Alex had laughed catching Maggie's eye over her own shoulder before turning around to trap herself between Maggie's close presence and the side of the game table. "I was a doctor were a while." she'd hiccupped with a proud grin.
"I remember," Maggie had nodded making a point to roll out the shoulder Alex had so smoothly stitched up for her after her first run-in with Hank Henshaw. "And gotta say I like when you play doctor, Danvers."
"Sign." Alex insisted pushing the pen into Maggie's pool que free hand.
"I can't even read that, baby." Maggie had chuckled but stopped once she'd seen the wounded look on her girlfriend's face. "Easy, Danvers. I'll sign. I'll sign." The much soberer of the two had promised jotting down her name before handing the pen back to a once again grinning Alex.
"I still can't read this." Maggie mumbles letting her fingers trace over Alex's name rather than her own.
"Me either actually." Alex confesses with a guilty-sounding chuckle. "I think it's some drunken hybrid of Martian and Kryptonian."
"Now you tell me." Maggie laughs but it was strained as she once again attempts to decipher the clumsy scrawl.
Grace looked between the two then down at the bit of paper that had seemed to pull their attention from her. The pup tugging at the napkin scrap with surprisingly gentle bats of her paws.
"Gracie." Maggie starts to scold but Alex steps in with one of her softer glares as she tugs the napkin close enough for the puppy to reach.
"She's just curious Mags." She defends giving the pup a tender scratch between her shoulders.
It was true rather than attempt to chew on the small square like she'd thought Grace was simply sniffing at it from her perch on Alex's lap. "Married by a bar napkin." Maggie murmurs swiping the remainder of her beer from the table for a steadying sip.
"Hey, it's much more binding than a silly post-it." Alex defends "See Papa Bear even notarized it." Alex jabs her puppy free hand toward the smaller name on the edge of the small scribbled on paper.
"So what? We've been married all this time and we didn't even realize it?" Maggie challenges her tone far harsher than she'd intended. In truth, she was hardly daring to hope considering she still carried deep feelings for the auburn-haired woman currently being held hostage by a not even month-old puppy.
There had to be a reason Alex had decided to bring this all the way to Maggie's new address rather than get rid of it.
"-so obviously it's not you know legally binding, but I don't know I just thought-" Alex stammers to a stop her nervous eyes now peaking up toward Maggie's side of the couch.
Maggie can only stare in a daze. Her mind to stunned to be of any help.
This had to be a dream. That was the only rational explanation for it. She had fallen asleep doing paperwork and she was just dreaming all of this.
"You're right. This is silly."
Grace's loud pleading whimper was enough to jar her owner back to the world outside her head while Grace herself was busy attempting to find some way off the too-high sofa for her puppy-like body to jump from.
"Danvers."
Alex stops her hand gripping the door handle as she meets Maggie's eyes.
"Pool, tomorrow. I know a place close that's pet friendly so we could even take Gracie with us."
Grace makes several loud happy yelps still attempting to jump the short distance from the sofa to the floor.
"Wouldn't miss is for the world."