Three years later (ish)
"Hey!" The exuberance with which Ky opened the door had the other girl blinking, hands tightening on her dish, but otherwise grinning back. "You made it!" She glanced around, the yard, spotting Sam hustling up the drive, skirting around Maggie's parked bike.
"Sorry!" She called, fumbling with the packages in her hands. "I'm late, I know!" She clambered up the porch steps, the ramp being built still in partial construction. "I got the cookies!"
Ruby rolled her eyes conspiratorially with her friend at her mother's antics. Ky grinned, stepping aside to let the pair in. "Well, you came bearing cookies, so we'll forgive you."
"There was this conference call with some very unpleasant men-"
"Aren't they all?" Ky muttered under her breath, making Ruby snort out a laugh.
"-yelling at me in German, and then I forgot the cookies and the Italian bakery I really liked, it was closed," She started to strip off her outer layer, still talking into the void while the teenagers looked on in amusement. "So, you know, you get these," she jerked the supermarket bought bag up in indication, finally taking a breath.
"It's all good," Ky offered. "Everyone's out back, food only just went on."
"Who's cooking?" Ruby asked, trying to remain polite but the hesitation spoke of too many burnt meals produced by this family.
Ky grinned, taking the casserole dish from her hands so she could shirk her own jacket. "Maggie and J'onn - you're safe."
"Where's your mom?" Sam asked, hanging her coat up and gesturing for Ruby to do the same. Ky just raised an eyebrow. "The scary one," she elaborated with a grin. When Ky just raised her eyebrow a little higher, Sam finally laughed. "The scary tall one."
Ky frowned, but there was a smile in her eyes. "Busy flirting with Lucy."
Sam laughed, allowing Ky to lead them deeper into the one-story house, following the growing sound of music and chatter. The sheer number of windows made it seem like the entire place could be breezed through, the decorations specifically chosen (by Maggie and Kara) to look airy. Four years trapped in a metal box made Alex and Ky itch windows and light spaces. It was beautiful, and still had that near-new clean vibe.
"And Lena?" They had some business to talk about. The Exodus Ltd resource meeting kept getting pushed back, and Sam was about ready to march into Lord's office and tell him to shove it – if he wanted access to their tech, he'd have to play nicer. But she needed Lena's say-so to get away with it.
Ky grinned now, cheeky and happy and willing to tease. "In the yard, busy flirting with Kara."
Sam chuckled at that, turning the corner into the open plan living room, kitchen, porch combo at the back of the house. The double French doors at the end of the kitchen had been opened completely. This, to achieve free access from kitchen prep (done by Alex) to the stove station (manned by Maggie) and the barbeque (overseen by J'onn). The entire operation seemed to be running smoothly, likely because the couple most likely to cause mayhem and distraction had been banished to the living room.
Ky, despite her earlier frown, found herself smiling softly at her mom. She was leaning against the far wall, bottle of soda dangling in her bionic hand, the other occupied by Lucy's waist. Lucy, meanwhile, had actually managed to inch closer in the three minutes Ky had been gone, and was looking up at the other women with much more inappropriate eyes then was acceptable at a family gathering. The resulting grin on Alex's face indicated that she did not care. Not a bit.
But Sam walking in did cause the taller women too look away from her 5'2 distraction, smile softening into something more kid-friendly.
"Rubs! Sam," she called, raising her voice so that she could speak over Winn and El on the loveseat. Lucy turned to smile in greeting, leaning against her girl's chest. "Glad you could make it!" Alex's arm came around to encircle her waist, pulling her flash against her and making Ky pull a face.
Lucy stuck her tongue out at Ky's antics. The teenager chuckled as she turned away, leading the newcomers into the hectic kitchen.
"Ky! Thank god, can you get the platter from on top of the shelf," Maggie didn't even really look up from whatever it was she was stirring. Adding, under her breath (but loud enough to have J'onn and M'gann chuckling); "Danvers is a damn sneak putting it so high."
Shrugging, laughing, Ky nodded, stepping onto thin air and hovering until she could reach the highest spot in the kitchen. She would put good money on her Ma putting it up there just to make frustrate her partners. Ky was her height now, and she needed to fly to reach it.
"Thank you," Maggie took it, kissing the girl's cheek and enjoying how it still made her blush. "Sam! How are ya?" She gave the other women a one-armed hug, and playfully punched the remaining teenagers arm.
"Late and exhausted," Sam replied, helping place their offerings in the free spaces left on the benches. M'gann took the casserole dish from Ruby with a smile, taking it over to the mid-set table.
"Everyone's out back," she jerked her head towards the yard. Then she lowered her voice, leaning into Sam. "If you need a drink, Lena brought the good stuff."
Sam's smile became just an inch more genuine, reaching over to squeeze Maggie's arm. "Thank you."
As they passed J'onn he smiled, reaching out to give Sam a full hug, but immediately went back to the sizzling food. Detective Sawyer was not a woman he was willing to piss off this evening.
Gertrude, in border collie form today, just this side of unusually large, was excitedly circling the frowning, stiff, Dryl. Ky smirked when she realized he was being shepherded for the companion's own amusement. Drew and Ve were standing back, sharing a beer, cackling between themselves at their friend's predicament. Doing absolutely nothing to assist. Ky finally decided to cut him a break, Ruby a step behind, calling "Gert! Leave him alone!" to no avail.
The Danvers' house generally kept the alcohol to a minimum, so the Luthor was entrusted to bring the scotch for major events – Sam's eyes locked on her boss immediately. Lena had made herself perfectly comfortable on the outdoor longue, using Kara as her backboard. The superhero had one leg up on the suite, arm resting on her knee, bracketing her girlfriend. Sam internally relaxed, just a notch, when the superhero's eyes tracked the kids automatically.
"Hey," Lena smiled up at her CEO but did not extract herself from the no-longer-youngest Danvers. "Are you okay? I heard what happened with Lord."
"I'm just tired," she uncapped the bottle, pouring herself a drink and dropping into the free seat not occupied by Freyer. "Not enough hours I guess."
"Don't let that bottle of cheap cologne get to you," she laughed, sipping her own drink. "He's not worth it."
"His contracts worth over 50 million," Sam took a sip, relishing the burn after her day.
Lena shrugged, making Kara's smile grow in endearment. "If he wants the tech, he'll have to behave. Or try find his own team of technologically advanced aliens willing to collaborate with him."
"Collaborate?" Freyer asked, voice soft and skin glowing, just softly, in the warm light. "I cannot imagine Leeroy or Ella collaborating with anyone."
Lena smirked again, leaning her head back so it was against Kara's shoulder. "If you think I don't know that Alex makes sure they behave, then you underestimate me."
Freyer laughed, head tipping in acknowledgement. Even so many years later, there isn't much that Captain Danvers couldn't make happen. Especially amongst her crew.
"How does she even have time for that?" Sam asked, relaxing a little into the chair, swirling the liquid in her glass. "The clinic must keep her more than busy enough."
"It doesn't stop her from crashing the DEO every other day," Kara muttered, fingers running the length of Lena's arm.
"I thought Lucy banned her?"
Kara and Freyer snorted, looking over at the new CEO with dubious eyes. "If you think anyone can get between Alex and that equipment, you are insane," Kara said, even as she smiled at the thought of her sister's interference.
"Plus," Freyer's voice always made Sam want to relax. It was just so soothing. "I very much doubt Director Lane wants to be left alone with the amount of Exodus crew they've taken on."
"As someone who employees a number them myself, I don't exactly blame her," Lena added, smirking into her glass.
"Gert!" The shout from Ky had all the adults turning to look. Dryl had been successfully herded into the fence making the ends of the elder Danvers property. Gertrude had not lost interest though, and was sitting guard right in front of him, keeping him in line. "Come on dude," even as Ky tried to make her voice sterner, laughter kept sneaking in. Ruby had given up, and was standing with the remaining crew, hand over her mouth to hide her enjoyment. "Leave him be."
Gertrude didn't even look around at her, just barked once – Dryl eyes narrowed even as he jumped in surprise.
"Yo!" Alex called, making everyone, including Gertrude look over. "Dinner's on."
The ex-Exodus members automatically reacted – used to following this women's orders like a second nature. Gertrude even stopped standing guard and trotted over to Alex, accepting the offered scratches before wandering into the house. The cackling pair kept laughing, but Drew waited to give Dryl's back a hard pat in apology, keeping an arm slung over him as they walked into the house (even though he looked at said arm in distaste).
Lena gave a half-scream half-yelp when Kara lifted them off the furniture, floating directly into the air. Lena's free hand gripped unnecessarily at the Kryptonian's clothes – Kara's arms were strong enough to keep her upright until she gently placed them on the ground. Her smile was just this shy of smug, and she hummed happily into the offered kiss.
Sam laughed into her glass, muttering "showoff" under her breath as she followed Freyer into the house. Ruby bumped into her, knocking their shoulders together as they went, making Sam smile wide and happy. Being included in the Danvers nonsense had been the best thing to come out of their move to National City.
Inside was organized chaos. The table was barely big enough for the numbers, even with the makeshift table extension. But everyone quickly found seats, Alex at the head flanked by her partners. Ky knocked her head against Maggie's shoulder when she sat, grinning when Maggie shouldered her back. Meanwhile, Lucy immediately handed off a glass of red to Kara, who tugged her and Lena down next to her. Eventually, everyone settled around the massive display of food (there were more aliens then people present – they were honestly lucky most of the crew was off-world at the moment otherwise there wouldn't be enough food in the galaxy).
Awkwardly, Alex stood. Soda in hand she worked hard to not look at the pair of grinning women who would happily throw her off her game just to amuse themselves.
"So," she cleared her throat. All eyes on her was different then when she was Captain Danvers. Everyone smiled, eyes happy and light and filled with affection for this very uncomfortable woman. This was not the Exodus, and they weren't looking for a plan of action. This was her family at a housewarming party, waiting for her to speak her mind. "I just wanted to thank everyone for coming. I know that we all lead busy lives, so I really appreciate you coming and celebrating with us."
She paused, looking around at these people – the people she loved. Her sister and daughter smiling warmly, her friends patiently waiting. Maggie's fingers dipped under the table and caught the fabric of her pants. Grounding her. Lucy's smile turned more comforting then distracting. Alex felt her heart settle.
"It's been a long few years, and so much has happened. Not all of it good - but all of it worth it," she flashed a smile at Ky. "Now, we finally have a home that we can build the rest of our lives in," the smiles around the table just about cracked faces. Lucy reached over and tangled her fingers in Alex's free hand.
"I am just so grateful to everyone at this table – you have all helped us get here, helped me get here. I don't know what kind of person I'd be without everyone in this room – so thank you. Thank you for being here for us, today and for the last… three to ten years. I love you guys," and she raised her bottle, trying to bite back her blush.
There was pause where everyone raised their glasses, Winn finally cutting in happily. "To the Superfriends!"
And it was Ky who answered back, eyes locked with her mom's. Feeling the warmth and affection radiating from everyone in the room, particularly the four other Danvers women heading the table. "We should come with a warning."