March 12, 2019

Kara walked down the street at the head of the march, holding J'onn and Brainy's hands as they marched towards the building where Lockwood was holding his rally for the repeal of the Alien Amnesty Act with over a thousand people, human and alien at their back. The feeling was indescribable, but as she glanced over at J'onn, Brainy and Nia, she could tell they felt it too. The sense of community and purpose as they all came together with a singular goal. To face down Lockwood and the other bigots, to declare that Earth was their home too and that they would not let themselves be turned back into second class citizens.

Protest movements weren't something Kara was familiar with from Krypton. Krypton's last civil rights movement had been almost ten thousand years ago and had resulted in one of the bloodiest wars in Kryptonian history. The memory was something stamped on the collective psyche of her people to the point where political dissent of this kind was almost taboo. It was a cultural blind spot that had indirectly led to the death of her people. On any world other than Krypton, Jor-El, Astra and Non might have stood a chance of warning the people of Krypton in the public forum, but Krypton's aversion to public political dissent was just another stone on the road into Rao's shadow.

Kara hadn't cared much for history classes until her course work had reached the labor movement. Over the next few months, she'd developed something of a fascination for the various civil rights moments that had unfolded over the past century or so. The idea of affecting change in society through public discourse, of taking the truth to the people, had been something especially compelling to a girl who had lost her world because of the secrets politicians had kept. It had been one of the things that had drawn her to CatCo and led her to apply for a job as Cat's assistant. She had thought that would give her a way to make a difference long before she had dared to come out as Supergirl.

She'd never imagined herself at the head of a protest march or a political moment but being out here, being with her people, her community, it felt right. It felt clear and powerful and meaningful in a way being Supergirl hadn't lately. If felt like a chance to speak truth to power without all the of the sticky politics and messy complications at came with being the Girl of Steel.

Somehow, those words still stung. The way Alex had practically spat them out at her.

The came around the last corner before the conference center where Lockwood was holding his rally, and Kara felt her stomach sink as she saw dozens of National City Police in riot gear standing there. They were off to the side, not in the direct path of the march, but one person was.

Maggie.

"What do we do?" Nia asked.

"Let me talk to her," Kara said.

"Are you sure?" Brainy asked. "Historically speaking, police are not friendly to protestors."

"Trust me," Kara said with a confidence she didn't truly feel.

Kara marched right up to Maggie and came to a stop.

"Detective Sawyer," Kara said.

"Supegirl," Maggie said. "J'onn."

"Maggie," J'onn said.

"Are you here to stop us?" Kara asked.

A small smile spread across Maggie's face. "Wouldn't dream of it," she said. "But keep it peaceful."

"We will," Kara said.

"Good," Maggie said. "If you need us…"

Kara nodded, and silently mouthed 'thank you' to Maggie. Maggie nodded, and stepped out of the way.

"Be careful, Kara," Maggie said, so softly the words would be lost to anyone without super hearing.

March 13, 2019

Maggie looked up as Kara flew in through the window of her apartment, and before she knew it, Kara had picked her up in a hug and twirled her around.

"Did you see it?" Kara asked.

"The march, the riot, the part where the new girl was tossing around glowy blue balls of stuff?"

Kara laughed as she sat Maggie down. "That's Dreamer!" she said, like that explained everything.

"And who's Dreamer?" Maggie asked.

"According to James, she's my sidekick!" Kara said, and Maggie couldn't stop herself from smiling at the enthusiasm in Kara's voice. "Did you see the news today?"

"No," Maggie lied. "Anything important happen?"

"Lockwood announced that they're backing off of the Amnesty repeal!"

"That's great!" Maggie said.

"I know!" Kara said. "And yesterday… Maggie, I know that Manchester attacking was terrible, but… I can't help it. Yesterday was amazing. Being out there… You know, I have to hide so much of myself. When I'm Kara Danvers, I have to hide everything about me that's alien, and when I'm Supergirl, I have to hide everything about me that isn't this idealized hero. I have to be this larger than life person. The Girl of Steel. But yesterday, when we were marching, I wasn't Kara Danvers, and I wasn't Supergirl. I was just me. Kara Zor-El. And it was so amazing. Being myself, out in public. Being a Kryptonian again, and not a Superhero. Just a person. I don't know. I felt like I could just be. Great Rao, I haven't felt that way in so long, not since I was on Argo, and it felt…"

"It felt like a weight had been lifted off your shoulders," Maggie said. "Like you could breathe freely for the first time in years."

"YES!" Kara said, floating a little off the ground. "How did you know that?"

"After what happened with my parents, I… I went back in the closet. Three years. The whole time I lived with my aunt, I didn't tell anyone I was gay. My aunt knew, and it helped. She's gay too. But I didn't tell anyone else. I just kept it to myself, you know. The way you hid being an alien. I thought, if no one knew, then I could just be normal. That didn't really work out very well for me. I never had any friends. Not until college. About halfway through my first semester, this girl in one of my classes dragged me over to the student center, and she marched me right into a meeting of the GSA. The Gay Straight Alliance. I have no idea how she clocked me, but I think she saved my life.

"It was weird, at first, but I kept going back, and a few weeks later, this girl, this beautiful girl, walked up to me. Britney, if you can believe it. She blushed the whole time, and I was just standing there, terrified. I thought I was going to have a heart attack, and all I wanted to do was run away, because I knew what was about to happen, but I was too scared to move. She asked me if I was gay, or bi, or just an ally, and I looked at her, and I considered lying. I thought about running out of the room, and never coming back. I thought about my aunt, about the three years she'd spent telling me it was okay to be who I was. I thought about the girl who'd dragged me there. I thought about how it was the first place that felt like home since my dad had kicked me out. And after what was probably the longest thirty seconds in history, I said, 'I'm gay.'

"It was the first time I ever said it out loud, and that's how I felt. Like this huge weight had been lifted off of me. Like I could breath for the first time since I put that stupid fucking card in Elisa Wilkey's locker. It was like, suddenly I wasn't carrying around this whole other person that I had to pretend to be."

Kara reached up, and rubbed Maggie's cheek, and Maggie frowned as she felt Kara wipe away tears she hadn't even realized she'd shed.

"I'm sorry," Kara said. "I didn't mean to bring up a painful memory."

"You didn't," Maggie said. "I honestly hadn't thought about Britney in years, but that was a good memory. I felt so much relief when I finally said it. I think that was the first time since I got thrown out that I felt whole."

She laughed a little bit. "It was such a good feeling, I kind of went overboard on the whole lesbian identity thing after that. I got an undercut, and so many flannel shirts, and a tattoo."

Kara laughed, remembering a conversation she'd had with J'onn the day before. "That sounds like me when I came out as Supergirl."

"What did you do?"

"I slept in the suit," Kara said with a bet of a blush touching her cheeks.

"You didn't." Maggie said.

"I did," Kara said. "Back on Krypton, we always wore our coat of arms. Even on our sleep clothes. It was part of who we were. That was one of the hardest things to give up when I came to Earth. Having that taken away was like having a piece of who I was torn out of me. When I put on that suit, I hadn't worn the coat of arms in almost eight years. Not since my friend Kenny died. Not even a cheap superman t-shirt. Putting the coat of arms on again felt like…"

"Freedom," Maggie said.

"Yes!" Kara said. "Exactly that."

Maggie reached out and caught Kara's hands on her own. "I wish you didn't have to hide."

"Well, with the Alien Amnesty in place, I wouldn't have to if I wasn't Supergirl. Of course, if I wasn't Supergirl, there wouldn't be an Alien Amnesty."

"It's not fair," Maggie said.

Kara shook her head. "I gave up on the idea of fair years ago."

Maggie couldn't quite hide her surprise. "That's a little cynical for you, isn't it?"

"I don't think so," Kara said. "I remember the exact moment I realized how horrible the idea of fair really is. I took a comparative religion class in college. I don't even remember why, but the professor started talking about Karma. About the idea that we cause everything that happens to us. And I sat there, thinking about everything I'd seen in my life, and what anyone could possibly have done to deserve that. I don't think I've ever felt so much horror in my life as I did that day, when I really thought about what it would mean if the universe was fair."

Maggie looked away from Kara for a minute. She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself, and ease the sudden ache in her chest, before she looked back up at Kara. "You know, sometimes I forget how much you've been through. I see you, and you're so happy, and cheerful. Even yesterday, out there marching against a bunch of bigots, you just looked so bright. I don't know how you do it. How you get up in the morning and be who you are."

"How do you do it?" Kara asked.

"Do what?"

"Get up in the morning and be who you are."

Maggie shrugged. "I'm nobody, Kara."

"That's not true!" Kara said with such conviction it stunned her. "Maggie, you are kind and smart and strong and loving and generous and gentle and compassionate and tough and beautiful and just..."

Kara stopped, a look of shock written on her face.

"Kara?"

"I… um… I'm sorry," Kara said, pulling her hands out of Maggie's. "I've got to go. I just remembered, Alex is coming over tonight."

"Kara, what's wrong?" Maggie asked. She didn't doubt Alex was going to Kara's for a visit, but she didn't believe for a second it had anything to do with Kara's sudden change in demeanor.

"Nothing," Kara said a little too cheerfully. "I've got to go!"

Before Maggie could say anything else, Kara was gone in a burst of super speed, and she was left wondering what the hell had just happened.