What We Found In The Ashes

by Argyle.S

Kara runs into Maggie at a crime scene, and over the course of the next few months, they become tentative friends. When Alex's mind wipe starts to take an emotional toll on Kara, she'd turns to Maggie for comfort, and finds herself falling for the last person she ever expected.

14. American Dreamer

Notes: This Chapter contains canon dialog from the episode "American Dreamer"

Warning: This chapter contains an implied threat of sexual violence.

---

March 22, 2019

Maggie stepped out of the bathroom, still scrubbing her hair dry with a towel. It had been a long day at the end of a long week and all she really wanted was to eat, and then curl in with Kara and sleep. Actually, the eating part was optional, but she knew if Kara didn't get some calories in her, they were both in for a restless night.

"Did you have a preference for dinner?" Kara asked.

"I'd love a cheesesteak," Maggie said.

"Extra cheese, extra pepperoncini's, grilled onions and peppers?" Kara asked.

"Yeah," Maggie said. "A basket of fries to go with."

Kara took out her phone and started entering the order.

"I was thinking tomorrow, we could start going through the financials for AmerTek," Maggie said.

"There's not a lot there," Kara said. "All I have is the publicly available investor reports."

"It's a place to start," Maggie said. "We know they're involved, and maybe it will give us a clue as to how and why."

"Yeah," Kara said. Maggie could hear the frustration in her voice, and she understood it. After Kara had decided to lay low as Supergirl, Maggie had decided, since she was on indefinite leave from the NCPD, to use her skills as an investigator to help Kara figure out what the hell Lex was up to. James had been more than a little surprised to see her sitting at one of the empty desks in the bullpen, but Kara had just told him she was there to help with the investigation. James had taken it in stride, but the last four days has mostly been them banging their head against a wall, trying to figure out what the hell Lex was up to, and the stress was starting to take its toll on Kara.

She stepped up behind Kara and slipped her arms around Kara's waist, pressing against her. Kara sat down the phone and turned around in Maggie's arms.

"We shouldn't be doing this," Kara said.

"I know," Maggie said as she went up on her toes and kissed Kara. It was soft and gentle, but she moaned softly when Kara's arms tightened around her. She pulled back then, because she knew what would happen if she didn't. Both of them knew. It's why they kept the kissing to a minimum, and always kept them short. It would be far, far to easy for them to end up in bed together, and that would only make it harder when the day came when they finally had to stop.

Maggie buried her face in Kara's neck, and squeezed her eyes shut. They shouldn't be doing this at all. They shouldn't be hugging, they shouldn't be kissing, and Maggie sure as hell shouldn't be practically living with Kara. She hadn't been home since the night before Kara went to Stryker's Island. She hadn't spent the night away from Kara since the night Lex escaped. Most of her clothes were hung on one of Kara's rolling racks. Her Bonsia trees were up on the roof, mixed into Kara's rooftop garden. It had been a week since she realized she had feelings for Kara, and their lives were already up than Maggie and Alex had been at any point before Alex had proposed. Maggie honestly didn't know how she was ever going to bring herself to walk away.

A knock on the door pulled Maggie out of her thoughts. "That was fast," she said.

"Especially since I didn't finish placing the order," Kara said. She let go of Maggie and turned to look at the door, and Maggie could feel the panic roll off of her. "It's Alex!"

"Calm down," Maggie said as she choked down her own panic. She looked at Kara, who was standing there in a pair of pajamas, then down at the tank top and pajama pants she was wearing. It was obvious that they were getting ready for bed, which actually gave Maggie the perfect solution. "Go get a pillow and a couple of spare blankets and put them on the couch, then put on your glasses."

Kara disappeared at super speed as Maggie walked over to the door. She glanced back to check that Kara had her glasses on, and the blankets and pillow were laid out on the couch, then opened the door.

"Hey, Kara I… Maggie?"

Maggie smiled at Alex. "We keep running into each other like this, Danvers, and people are going to talk."

"What are you doing here?" Alex asked. "And where's Kara?"

Maggie opened the door wider and glanced back, to see Kara wave from where she was sitting on the couch. "Come on in, and I'll explain."

Alex stepped inside, and Maggie closed the door behind her, and locked it.

"What's going on?" Alex asked.

"Supergirl was worried that Lex might make a run at anyone connected to her, the way he used to do at Lois Lane and James when he was going after Superman. Lena's got an army of corporate security, and you've got the whole DEO to protect you. As long as James has the Harun-El in his system, Kara's the most exposed of the people publicly connected to Supergirl, so Supergirl asked me to stay here, in case Kara needs someone and you're not available."

"Oh," Alex said. She still had a dubious look on her face.

Maggie shrugged. "Not going to lie. I think part of it was Supergirl wanting to keep Kara and I in the same place, so there was less chance she'd have to pick one of us to rescue if Lex came for both of us at once."

Alex relaxed a little. "I suppose that makes sense."

Maggie smiled. "She worries a lot about the people she cares about. I think that's part of the reason she got so upset when the DEO fired her. She can't be there to pull your ass out of the fire when you get in over your head."

Alex gave her an indignant look. "When have I ever gotten in over my head?"

"I have a list," Kara said. "Do you want it in alphabetical or chronological order?"

Alex turned to Kara. "Really? Stabbed in the back by my own sister."

"If it makes you feel any better, the list is a shared google doc," Maggie said. "Kara, J'onn, James, Winn, Brainy, Susan, Lucy and your mom and I all have access."

Alex glared, but Kara laughed.

"You both suck," Alex said. She sighed and turned towards Kara. "I was kind of hoping for a sister night, but since you have company…"

"I could head out for a few hours," Maggie said. "Give you two some time alone."

"No," Kara said. "Don't be silly. We can totally do sister night. All three of us."

Maggie looked at Alex. "I'm game if you are."

Alex nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Totally."

"Great!" Kara said. "We were going to order from Vinny's. You want a Pastrami Ruben?"

"Yes! And-"

"Chili Cheese fries with extra cheese sauce," Kara said.

Maggie shook her head. "Same old Alex."

---

March 25, 2019

"You sure James doesn't mind us using his office?" Maggie asked as she dropped the box of bagels on the table.

"Yeah," Kara said. "He said I could use it until he gets back."

"Still no luck extracting the Harun-El serum?" Maggie asked.

"Lena said she thinks she's got the extractor figured out," Kara said. "Alex, Lena, Kelly and Brainy are all spending the day in Lena's lab, working on it."

"Fun," Maggie said as she picked up a folder and started reading another report. "You make any progress while I was getting bagels?"

"Not really," Kara said. "I know that AmerTek is involved, but we knew that four days ago. We know Lex stole Lena's research, we know Eve was working with him, we know that there's some connection to Ben Lockwood. I just can't figure out how it all fits together."

Maggie looked up at the murder board Kara had put together on the window, following the lines and the connections, and one thing was glaringly obvious. "That's because we're still missing something big."

"I know," Kara said. "I feel like, if we knew what his endgame was, we could put it all together, but this is like trying to do a jigsaw with half the pieces missing when you don't even know what the picture looks like."

"We'll figure it out," Maggie said. "We just need some way inside AmerTek."

"Yeah. I-"

The sound of Maggie's phone ringing cut Kara off, and Maggie sighed. She pulled the phone out and glanced at the caller ID and saw her Lieutenant's name. She hadn't given work her knew phone number, but she'd had the old number ported over to an encrypted voice over IP call forwarding service, which she'd then pointed to her secure phone. The calls could still be tapped on the other end, but it allowed her to be able to communicate with the outside world without IA being able to follow her or bug her through her phone, which meant her communications were as secure as Lena Luthor could make them. She wasn't sure how far she trusted that, not enough to put anything that might out Kara as Supergirl in a text or an email, or to say anything which would out her over the phone, but enough that she didn't feel the need to disassemble the phone or put it in a Faraday cage before talking in the same room as it.

The question was, why was her Lieutenant calling her, and there was only one way to find out.

"Sawyer," Maggie said.

"I need you to come in," Isaacs said.

"Is my suspension over?" Maggie asked.

"No," Isaacs said. "Internal Affairs wants to talk to you again."

"Then I want a lawyer and my union rep present," Maggie replied.

"Will you actually talk if they are?" Isaacs asked.

"No, but if the department is going to waste my time, I want to make sure it costs them as much as possible."

"Damn it, Maggie, you're going to lose your fucking job," Isaacs said.

"If that's what it comes to, then I'm okay with it," Maggie said. "But I'll tell you now what I've told you every time I've been interviewed. Supergirl never told me her secret identity. To the best of my knowledge, none of the agents working at the agency I liaised with who were there during my tenure know her secret identity. My best suggestion for how you can contact her is to go through that agency. And you're wasting your time looking for her, because she didn't do this."

"She was caught on a dozen different cameras," Isaacs said. "She's guilty as sin. She needs to turn herself in."

"If I see her, I will be sure to pass along your recommendation that a person with no legal rights or standing under US law should turn herself over to a legal system which has already predetermined her guilt in violation of its own fundamental principals in a country that thinks torture is acceptable and appointed an anti-alien terrorist to the office of Secretary of Alien Affairs."

"Sawyer… Damn it, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but the State's Attorney is Preparing Obstruction Charges. You need to come in and tell us what you know."

"I've already told you what I know, sir," Maggie said. "I can't tell you what I don't know."

"Then I suggest you find a lawyer. A really, really good one, because no union hack is going to be able to make this go away."

"I'll take it under advisement," Maggie said before she disconnected the call.

"I'm sorry," Kara said.

Maggie shook her head. "It's my own fault."

"I do know a really good lawyer, if it would help."

"Are they cheap, because I'm about to be unemployed and very broke."

"How does free sound?"

"Just about right," Maggie said.

Kara took out her phone, pulled up a contact, and hit the call button.

"Hey," Kara said. "Yeah, it's been a while. How's Susan? That's great. Look, I know this is kind of out of the blue, but can you get away from DC for a few days? I have a friend who's in trouble, and she could use a good lawyer. Really? That soon? Great. I really appreciate it, Lucy. Give Cat and Susan my love."

Kara disconnected the call and sat her phone down on the table. "Lucy will be here in about eight hours," Kara said.

"Lucy Lane?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah," Kara said. "She's a terrific lawyer."

"And apparently extremely hot." Maggie couldn't stop herself from smiling at the blush that colored Kara's cheeks.

"Yeah," Kara said.

Maggie reached over and grabbed Kara's hand, giving it a small squeeze. "Well, she better not try to steal my girl while she's here."

The words came out in a gentle, teasing tone, without Maggie even really thinking about it before she said them, and Kara's lips turned up in a smile that made Maggie's heart skip a beat, and for a moment, it was okay. For a moment, it was just a couple sharing a joke about a crush one of them had once. For a moment, it was an innocent bit of teasing that made them both happy. Then reality settled in, and Maggie closed her eyes to avoid the pain she knew would settle into Kara's face at any moment.

"I'm sorry," Maggie said. "I shouldn't have said that."

"It's okay," Kara said.

"No, it's not."

"Maggie, look at me."

Maggie opened her eyes, and saw Kara giving her one of those sad little smiles that always managed to rip Maggie's heart right out of her chest.

"I wish I was," Kara said. "I wish I could be."

"I know," Maggie said. She gave Kara's hand another small squeeze, before she let go. "We should get back to work."

She could tell Kara wanted to say more, but she apparently decided to let it go. She turned back to the file she'd been reading before Maggie's phone rang, and Maggie did the same, doing her best to focus on anything that could give them a clue as to what Lex might be planning, but the focus didn't come easily.

After the near miss with Alex a couple of days earlier, they'd tried to back off. Maggie was still staying with Kara, and they were still sleeping in the same bed, but there were no more stolen kisses. They were trying to be friends, and they were doing a good job of fooling most people. Maggie was pretty sure Nia had figured it out, but she had been mercifully silent, and selectively deaf when one of them slipped and said something that any reasonable person would realize was a sign that there was more going on than friendship.

The problem was the slips were getting more and more frequent. Maggie was so far past pretending this was anything she would ever recover from. She didn't used the word, not even in her head, and Kara had kept her promise not to say it, but that didn't mean the feelings didn't exist. Not saying it didn't keep it from being hard, and it was so very, very hard. It was hard being so close to Kara, feeling the way she did, and not being able to say it. It was hard not being able to kiss Kara any time she wanted to. It was hard not being able to tell her how amazing and special and wonder she was.

It was hard, knowing that however much they wanted to be together, they couldn't be.

The hardest part though was lying to Kara. Kara thought that when all of this was over, that they would still be friends, still be family. Maggie knew better. She hadn't wanted to believe it at first because it was going to kill her but from the moment Alex had seen them together the night the imposter attacked, this thing between them, whatever it was, had an expiration date. The look on Alex's face when Maggie opened the door of Kara's apartment had driven the truth home. The day Alex got her memories back, Maggie would have to fall on her own sword and take all the blame. She would have to sell the lie that she was an idiot lesbian who had a stupid crush on her ex-girlfriend's straight baby sister. She'd have to keep her distance to sell the lie that it was one sided. Stay away while she got over her hopeless feelings. Except, it wouldn't be temporary, because she wasn't going get over Kara.

She knew it would hurt Kara, but there was no way out of this that didn't end up with both of them getting hurt and walking away would hurt Kara less. Alex and Kara were each other's home, they were each other's world. Losing Maggie would hurt Kara but losing Alex would kill her. So, when the time came, she would walk away. She would do it without hesitation or regret, because she loved them both too much to do anything else.

Maggie looked up from the file she was staring at as she felt a shift in the room and saw what she thought of as Kara's 'Superhearing face'. Eyes unfocused, her slightly tilted, brow creased in concentration. She expected Kara to frown and go back to work the way she had some many times in the time since she put away the cape, but Kara leapt to her feet and headed for the bullpen. Maggie scrambled out of her chair and followed her. She caught sight of Nia at the other end of the bullpen and thought for a moment that was where Kara was headed, but Kara stopped at a desk and bent down.

"Were you just talking to someone that works at AmerTek?" she asked.

A man Maggie has seen in the bullpen before stood up with a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. "My sister."

"Well, I'm working on an article to expose Lex Luthor and I know AmerTek was involved. Do you think your sister would be willing to talk to me?" Kara asked.

The man stammered for a moment, and Maggie could see the fear and reluctance on his face. "I don't know. It's..."

"Franklin, did you sleep hear last night?" Nia asked as she walked up.

The look on Franklin's face shifted from fear and reluctance to embarrassment and anger. "Lockwood and his men raided the building across the street from mine."

"I am so sorry," Nia said.

"Me too," Kara said. "But that is why this is so important for us to put a stop to. Have your sister call me?"

Franklin nodded.

"Thanks, Franklin," Kara said, then she turned and headed back towards James' office. Nia followed, but Maggie stayed.

"It's Franklin, right?" Maggie asked, and Franklin nodded.

"Yeah," he said.

"We haven't met. I'm Maggie Sawyer. I'm a friend of Kara's."

"I know who you are," he said. "I've seen you around."

Maggie was pretty sure he didn't just mean CatCo. "You're an alien, right?"

"Dryad," Franklin said.

Maggie glanced around to make sure there was no one who could overhear them before turned back to Franklin. "If I give you an address, you think you can remember it?"

"I think so," he said.

"It's important. You can't write it down or put it into GPS. You have to remember it."

"Okay," he said. "What is it?"

"It's a safe place. A shelter for aliens who don't have anywhere else to go. It's called a Kara House."

"You think they'd let me stay there?"

"Yeah," Maggie said. "Your sister too. And any other family you have."

"Where is it?"

---

"Thank you," Kara said as Maggie sat down.

"For what?" Maggie asked as she dug through one of the file boxes.

"For what you just did for Franklin," Kara said. "I'm ashamed I didn't think of it."

"Don't be," Maggie said as she pulled out the file she was looking for. "Your focus is elsewhere."

"That shouldn't matter," Kara said. "He's in trouble, and I didn't even think about a way to help him other than catching Lex."

Maggie sat the file down. "Kara, don't do this to yourself. What you do out there as Supergirl isn't like what I do. I know when we were talking about you going back to Argo, I compared you to a cop, but the similarities only go so far. You're like some weird combination of a motorcycle cop, an FBI agent, a SWAT team, and fire rescue, with a little bit of DHS thrown in there. You respond to crises and emergencies and huge, world ending threats, and you save a lot of lives doing it. But you don't have any experience with community policing or walking a beat.

"Cops, the good ones anyway, learn things on the beat. They learn what the community resources are. Shelters, missions, foodbanks, community centers, big brother and big sister programs."

"You showed me the Kara Houses," Kara said.

"Yeah, but it's not just about knowing that the resources are there. It's about developing a habit of using them. A good cop will learn to spot when people need a lift to the shelter or the food bank more than they need a ride to central booking. They get into the habit of using those resources. You've never had the chance to develop that habit, so I stepped in and filled the gap. Stronger together, right?"

Kara's smile lit up the room. "Right."

"So what did Nia want?" Maggie asked. "It looked like it was a pretty serious conversation."

Kara sighed and the smile faded. "She wants me to suit up and go back out there."

"Is that what you want?" Maggie asked.

"Yes," Kara said. "But nothing has changed. If I go back out there as Supergirl, I'm still a danger to anyone I try to help."

"Sounds like you know what you need to do," Maggie said.

"I don't know," Kara said. "What do you think?"

"You really want to know?"

"Yes."

"I think Nia is young and inexperienced. I think a lot of her idea of what it means to be a hero comes from movies and comic books. I think she means well, but she isn't looking at the bigger picture. I think right now, you can do more good as Kara Danvers than you can as Supergirl. I know that sucks. I know that sitting behind a desk, pouring through files feels like you're not doing enough, but I also know this is how we find Lex. This is how we bring him down, and put his bald ass back in a cell, and with any luck at all, we take that motherfucker Lockwood down with him. Hell, if we're really lucky, we might bring down Baker's whole administration."

"Thank you," Kara said. "I think I needed to hear that."

"I'm sure you did," Maggie said. "I've been where you are. You get a case, and you want to be out, chasing clues, busting heads, kicking in doors. But what we're doing solves more cases than any of that."

"Then I guess we should get back too it."

---

Kara hung up the phone and sat it back on the table.

"Good news?" Maggie asked.

Kara nodded. "Franklin's sister is willing to talk to me."

"When?"

"She wants to meet around one."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

Kara looked over and Maggie and took a moment to brace herself. "I think it would be better if I went alone."

"Okay," Maggie said before she looked back down at the file she was reading.

"Okay? That's it?"

Maggie looked up from the file again. "Yeah."

"You're not going to argue?"

"No," Maggie said. "Did you expect me to?"

"After what happened when I said I didn't want you to go to Stryker's Island, yeah, I did."

Maggie frowned. "Kara, I don't want you to think I'm going to fight you every time you need to go somewhere without me. I want you to go with you, the same way I wanted to go with you to Stryker's. But you made a good point. You and Lena could walk into that situation, and if it went sideways, the consequences for either of you were hardly worth mentioning. But if I walked in there, and I was seen with you, it would be the end of my career at best. So, I'm guessing, if you don't want me to go this time, you have a reason."

"She's nervous. I'm afraid if you go with me, she won't talk."

"Okay," Maggie said. "Thank you for telling me, but I want to be clear. You didn't need to. I was willing to accept it on your word. I trust you. I should have trusted you that night you told me you didn't want to go with you to Stryker's. I might have gotten my back up because you were taking Lena, but that's my issue, and I shouldn't have put that on you. You are competent, you're capable, and you can take care of yourself. That doesn't stop me from wanting to take care of you, but I'm not going to get in the way of you doing your job. Either of them."

"Thank you," Kara said.

"There is one condition though," Maggie said.

"Okay," Kara said. She had a pretty good idea of what Maggie was about to say, and she knew she wasn't going to like it, but if it was what she thought, then Maggie had every right to ask.

"You can't ask me to hold back just because something is dangerous. You have to respect that fact that I've been one of the people who run towards danger a lot longer than you've been wearing that cape. I may not be a follower of Rao, but that doesn't mean I don't feel the same need to make the world a better place. You have to let me do that. You have to let me help. Okay?"

Kara wanted to say no. She wanted to tell Maggie that she needed her to be safe, because it would kill her if anything ever happened to Maggie, but she didn't. She'd had this same fight with herself over Alex years ago. The burning desire to protect her sister that was at odds with the need to have her sister by her side in the middle of the fight. To know that the person she could trust in any situation had her back. She knew that Maggie was just as competent in the field as Alex, and she knew she had to let her be in the field, because Maggie would never be satisfied on the sidelines.

"Okay," Kara said. "I promise."

"Good," Maggie said. "Now go see your source."

---

Maggie frowned as she looked at the two files she had spread out in front of her, wondering if she'd finally found a lead. It was paper thin, but the timelines added up. The purple sky incident which had led to the alien super drug happened the same day Lex had left his cell for places unknown. He'd come back a few days later, and his inquiries into Lena's research had picked up. He was diagnosed with cancer a couple of weeks later. She couldn't see the whole picture. It was frustrating, like the rest of it. There was something missing, some piece of connective tissue she wasn't seeing, but the timing wasn't coincidental.

She leaned back, sighing in frustration. "You're staring," she said, without looking at the figure standing in the doorway of James' office.

"I'm sorry," Nia said.

"Have a seat, before I throw an empty bagel box at your head," Maggie said.

Nia took the seat next to her and Maggie turned to look at her, so she didn't have to stare at the files anymore.

"What's on your mind?" Maggie asked.

"You and Kara," Nia said.

Maggie closed her eyes, reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose. At least Nia wasn't beating around the bush about it.

"If I said I didn't want to talk about it, would you leave it alone?"

"Well, I mean, this is me, so probably not."

Maggie laughed as she opened her eyes and looked at Nia. "At least you're honest."

"Yeah," Nia said. "I learned that lesson the hard way."

"Sounds like there's a story there."

"There is. I don't know if you're heard of my species. Well, my mother's species. I'm half Naltorian."

"I've heard whispers. 'The witches of Naltor'."

"Witch isn't the preferred term," Nia said. "Some of the women on my world have the power to dream the future. The stronger ones can do other things. Astral project, conjure items of pure dream energy. I can do all of that. The thing is, the powers are passed mother to daughter. When my mother was pregnant with my older sister, Maeve, she had a dream that her daughter would become a hero called Dreamer. Growing up, everyone in the family, including me, assumed that Maeve would get the powers."

"Because your mother had the dream while she was pregnant with Maeve?" Maggie asked.

"That was part of it," Nia said. "But part of it was that I'm trans. I was assigned male at birth. I think, when I transitioned, it just never occurred to any of us to go back and reconsider. By that time, we all just knew that Maeve was going to get the powers. By the time the powers showed up, my family had spent twenty-seven years expecting Maeve to become dreamer. So, you can imagine my surprise when I started dreaming the future."

"Yeah," Maggie said. "That had to be a shock."

"That's an understatement."

"What did you do?"

"I had a major freak out," Nia said. "I think I was entitled. I mean, there I was, two weeks away from getting on a plane, moving to National City, and starting my dream job. I was going to be working for Kara Danvers as a reporter at CatCo. And suddenly, I'm dreaming the future. I never expected the powers and I never wanted them. So, I did the worst possible thing.

"I lied. To everyone. To my mom, to my dad, to Kara, to James, to Ms. Grant, and to my sister. Especially to my sister. It… didn't end well."

"What happened?"

"My mother died, and it was my fault. I had a dream that she died, and I didn't tell anyone. I tried to stop it, but I'd never studied dream language. I didn't understand the symbolism, so I missed the real threat. When my sister found out that I'd been hiding my powers, she blamed me for our Mom's death. She said, 'How did someone like you get them? You're not even a real woman.'"

"Fuck," Maggie said. It was the only thing she could say, the only word that could express what she was feeling. She could feel the pain radiating off of Nia, and she remembered the way she'd felt the day her father had thrown her out. The feeling of having someone you loved ripped away because of who you are, and how they felt about an immutable part of you. "Nia, I'm sorry."

"Thank you," Nia said. "You know, my whole life, Maeve was Maeve. She was my hero. My big sister. She was my first and best friend my whole life. My champion, my protector, my advocate, and my biggest supporter. And when she said that to me, it felt like she reached into my chest and tore my heart out. And living without Maeve in my life has been hell. I feel like I lost my mother and my sister the same day. It's like pieces of me have been cut off.

"The only reason I've survived it is because of Kara. She stepped in, she called made me a part of her family, taught me how to use my powers, and she reminded me that I should never be ashamed of any part of who I am."

"That sounds like Kara alright," Maggie said.

"You know, she told me you're her family too. And if I'm her family, and you're her family, then we're each other's family. I don't know what we are to each other, exactly. Sisters maybe. But I do know that you're important to Kara, and I do know that you're important to me."

"Thank you," Maggie said. "That means a lot."

Nia nodded. "I've been watching the two of you this past week, and it's hard to miss the fact that the two of you have feelings for each other."

"See, this is the part I don't want to talk about," Maggie said.

"I know, and I know Kara doesn't want to talk about it either. I picked that up that first day you and I met. I have been trying to respect that, but Kara made me promise to take care of you, and I promised myself I would take care of Kara, so I have to talk about it, because last night, I had a dream."

"What kind of dream?"

"The prophetic kind," Nia said. "Kara is going to go somewhere, and Lena is going to go with her. I don't know where, but I know they're going soon, and I saw two possible futures. In one future, you don't go with them. In that future, something horrible happens. The details are vague, but I saw Kara trapped in a crystal cage filled with green light. She was weak, and crying, and she felt so much pain, like her skin was being seared off her bones, and there were nails running through her blood. And that was just the beginning. I saw a war between her and someone. A figure I could never quite see, but someone who knew everyone about Kara, every way to hurt her. In the other future, you do go with them. I don't know what you do, or what you change, but in that future, there's no war. No crystal cage, no green light, no searing pain, no nails in her veins."

"Can you see any other details?" Maggie asked.

"I see them on a plane. A small private jet, I think. There's a military installation. A green stone. Kryptonite, I think. A room with burning walls. And Eve Tessmacher. That's all I could see."

"Thanks for the warning," Maggie said.

"Of course," Nia said. She started to get up, but she stopped and sat back down. Maggie could see the hesitation on her face, but Maggie watched as she screwed up her courage.

"Something else?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah. Look, I know you don't want to talk about it, and I know things are complicated because Alex doesn't have all her memories, so she doesn't know Kara is Supergirl. But when this is over and Alex gets her memories back, I think you should tell her the truth."

"Is that more advice from a dream?"

"It's advice from someone who may never speak to one of the people she loves most in the world because of a lie. I don't want to see that happen to Kara, or to you."

"I'll think about it," Maggie said. It was true. She'd think about it. She'd fantasize about it. She'd dream of it. She's just never actually do it.

"Good." Nia stood up. "I should get back to work," she said as she headed for the door.

"Nia," Maggie said.

Nia stopped and looked back at her. "Yes?"

"Thank you. For caring about Kara, and about me."

"You're family," Nia said.

Maggie watched her go, wondering how the hell that happened.

---

"I hope you don't mind Big Belly Burger again," Kara said as she walked into James's office.

"I'm pretty sure they'd take my badge if I did," Maggie said. "I mean, if I still had it."

"I got you the Carolina special," Kara said. "I figured you might want something different."

"Please tell me you got me a slice of the Red Velvet cake?"

Kara smiled. "Of course."

Maggie took the bag and started pulling out her food. "Did you find anything at AmerTek?"

"Something," Kara said as she sat down next to Maggie. "I'm not sure what, but it's definitely something."

"Well, that's vague."

"Someone named Sebastian Melmoth bought a missile base in some place called Rubniu, which would be helpful, if I knew who Sebastian Melmoth was, or where Rubniu is," Kara said.

Maggie pulled out her phone and plugged 'Sebastian Melmoth' into google. "Well, unless Oscar Wilde is investing in Communist Block military installations, I've got nothing on Melmoth."

"Oscar Wilde?" Kara asked.

"He apparently traveled under the name after getting out of prison," Maggie said as she googled Rubniu.

"Anything on Rubniu?" Kara asked.

"Um… Nothing useful, other than a life lesson in why safe search exists," Maggie said, giving a small shudder.

"Porn hub, or Hentia?" Kara asked.

"Both," Maggie said, a little surprised Kara knew what either of those things were.

"Oh, both is never a good answer when that's the question," Kara said.

"When this is over, remind me to get you to throw this phone into the sun," Maggie said as she closed the browser and tucked the phone into her pocket. "Melmoth sounds familiar though."

"You a big Oscar Wilde fan?"

"I was more into Emily Dickenson," Maggie said.

"I'm shocked," Kara said. "This is my shocked face."

Maggie laughed and shook her head. "Look, I was gay and filled with teenage angst."

Kara gave Maggie a look she hadn't seen before, and she raised her index and middle fingers, waggling them a little. "Which one was 'teenage', and which one was 'angst'?"

"KARA!"

"What? I've read those poems. Or are you telling me you don't know what she's talking about in 'I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed'?"

Maggie sputtered for a moment, before she broke down laughing, because even at fifteen, she'd known exactly what Emily Dickenson had been talking about. Kara just sat there, giving her a beatific smile.

"You looked like you could use a good laugh," Kara said when Maggie finally caught her breath again.

"Yeah," Maggie said. "I had a chat with Nia."

"What about?" Kara asked.

"She said she had a dream about you going somewhere with Lena, and that I needed to go with you," Maggie said.

"Where would I go with Lena?" Kara asked.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say Rubniu."

"Well, first we'd have to know where Rubniu is," Kara said.

"Maybe Lena knows," Maggie said. "Hell, maybe she knows who Sebastian Melmoth is for that matter. Don't all those executive types have fancy parties where they wear clothes that cost more than we make in a year and spend the whole time looking down on us normal people together?"

"It's less about looking down on normal people, and more about gossiping about who's cheating on who with who this year," Kara said. "Also, occasionally about having sex in the bathroom or a spare office in the venue."

"Really?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah," Kara said. "One of the disadvantages of super hearing. I know things I never wanted to know."

"Anything juicy?" Maggie asked.

"Maxwell Lord is bisexual and has a daddy kink," Kara said.

"Oh, God, why did I ask?"

"I don't know, but I did warn you," Kara said.

"Yes, you did."

"But you do have a good point. Maybe if we can figure out how Lena is connected to all of this, we can figure out where Rubniu is."

"Easier said that done. In all of this, the only thing I've seen from LCorp is that… Oh, shit!" Maggie said. She stood up and started looking through the files scattered on the desk.

"What is it?" Kara asked.

"The Black Budget from LCorp," Maggie said. "Can you find it?"

Kara stood up and started going through the files at superspeed. "Here!" she said.

"Check it for Melmoth's name," Maggie said.

Kara flipped open the file and looked at it for a moment. "Here it is," she said. " withdrew 5.8 Billion dollars from LCorp on October 10th. The same day AmerTek bought the missile base in Rubniu."

"Well, there's our connection to Lena," Maggie said.

"I guess we're going to LCorp," Kara said.

---

"Hello?" Kara called as they stepped into Lena's office.

"Kara? Maggie? What a surprise," as she came into the office from the balcony and headed over to the bar.

"Your new assistant let us in," Maggie said.

"She seems nice," Kara added.

Lena picked up a decanter and started pouring herself a drink. "Let's hope she doesn't stab me in the back."

"Lena, I'm… I'm so sorry about what Eve did to you," Kara said.

"Thanks."

"It's actually why we're here. Uh I'm writing an article about Lex. I wanna expose him. I want to take him down and put an end to all of this," Kara said.

Lena stiffened for a moment, and her whole demeaner shifted as she turned towards Kara. Something about it got Maggie's hackles up, and she had to stop herself from stepping in front of Kara.

"An expose on Lex. That's quite an Everest."

Maggie frowned at Lena's tone. She watched as Lena headed over towards the couch.

"What about you, detective?" Lena asked as she sat down. "Why are you here?"

"Supergirl's laying low, but she's worried about Lex going after the people who have a public connection to her. You've got an army of corporate security. Cat Grant's got enough private security at her lobbying firm to conquer Markovia. Alex has the whole DEO. J'onn is nowhere to be found. Dreamer is a superhero in her own right. With James here, Kara's the most exposed of all the people with a public connection to Supergirl. Since I'm still suspended from the NCPD, I'm playing bodyguard, and I'm helping her with her investigation."

"I see," Lena said.

"Uh, there was actually something we were hoping you could answer. Has L-Corp done business with AmerTek? Maybe on a military project?" Kara asked

"No, of course not," Lena said in a dismissing tone, with a fake little laugh, and Maggie had to bite her tongue to keep from telling Lena she was lying right to her face.

Lena picked up a tablet and started fiddling with it. "Look, I'm sorry I can't help you with this right now. I'm… I'm trying to help James."

Lena sat the tablet down on the table, and her body language shifted again, and Maggie knew what has going to happen next. Lena was about to go on the attack.

"You know, Alex is here. You haven't been around. Supergirl's been there for me. Person who judges me on the very premise of my last name but my best friend hasn't."

"Lena, I'm... I'm sorry," Kara said.

"Supergirl doesn't judge you because of your name," Maggie said, cutting Kara off.

"What?" Lena asked as she turned towards Maggie.

"She doesn't. She's defended you when she had every reason to believe you were guilty as sin. I had you on fucking video holding a Kryptonite heart, and she was ready to clean my clock for arresting you."

"That was two years ago," Lena said. "You've missed a few things."

"You mean the part where you were cooking Kryptonite in your basement lab?"

"Maggie," Kara said.

"Or the part where you lied about where you got the Kryptonite when you were caught with it? Or the part where you knew who Reign was and didn't tell anyone?

"Maggie!"

"Because from where I'm sitting, those are pretty good reasons to be less then entirely trustful where you're concerned."

"Maggie, STOP!"

"And the funny part is, she still won't hear a word against you."

"MAGGIE!"

"Like, right now, when I go back to her and tell her that you're lying to us-"

Lena was on her feet, a look of rage on her face. "GET OUT!"

"Fine," Maggie said. She turned to Kara. "Let's go."

Kara pointed at the door. "You go!"

Maggie shrugged and headed for the door.

---

Kara watched as Maggie strolled out of the office like she didn't have a care in the world, and she had to fight down the anger she felt. How could Maggie do that?

"You should go too," Lena said.

Kara turned around to see Lena standing there, her face cold, impassive, and she wanted to scream in frustration.

"Lena, I'm sorry," Kara said. "I never would have brought Maggie here if I had known she was going to do that."

"No, you just came here to pump me for information about your story."

"No, it's not like that," Kara said. "You know care about you. That's why I'm doing this. I'm trying to catch Lex so you're safe. So everyone is safe."

"I want you to leave," Lena said.

Kara stared at Lena for a moment, reading her body language, the particular set of her shoulders, the way she crossed her arms in front of her, and Kara suddenly felt tired. She didn't have the energy that it would take to placate Lena when she was like this, and she didn't have the time. They were supposed to meet Lucy back at the apartment in less than an hour.

"If you need me, call," Kara said. Then she turned and left.

---

"What was that about?" Kara asked as soon as the elevator door closed.

"Good cop, bad cop," Maggie said, bracing herself for the argument she was sure was coming.

"Lena's not the bad guy," Kara said, but there was something about the way that she said it that was off. A small tremor in her voice that made Maggie looked over at her. She could see the anger she'd expected in Kara's expression, but there was something else there, too. Fear. As soon as she saw it, something clicked for her. Kara had sensed the lie too. She just didn't want to believe it, because she loved Lena, and she didn't want to believe her friend would lie to her about something like this.

"Kara, when we walked into the room, Lena was upset about something, and she was surprised to see us. But when you told her you were working on a story about Lex, she panicked. It was subtle. She's good at hiding her fear. But for a moment, she panicked. Then she got defensive. And then, she decided to attack. That bit about you not being there for her. That was her trying to deflect attention away from the reason we were really there. She's hiding something. I don't know what, but I don't think it's about AmerTek. Something else is off."

"Maggie, we've been through this before. Lena is a good person. She's not the bad guy. She wouldn't lie to me."

"Really? Because you told me yourself that she lied about the Kryptonite and she lied about the Harun-El."

"That was to Supergirl," Kara said.

"Look, Kara, if I'm wrong, I'll apologize. I promise. But, if I'm right, I gave her a reason to come to you. She knows I know she's lying, and she knows that I'm going to try to find out what she's lying about. But she knows you trust her. She knows you care about her. She knows you would do anything for her. Give it a day or two, and she'll come to you. She'll tell you whatever it is she's lying about."

Maggie tapped her chest. "Bad cop." She reached over and tapped Kara's chest. "Good cop. It's cliché, but it works."

"I wished you hadn't done that," Kara said, and the hurt in her voice took all the fight out of Maggie. She swallowed all the arguments she'd had ready, and just nodded in acknowledgement.

"I know," Maggie said. "I won't apologize for doing it, because I'm not sorry I did it."

"You really think she's lying?" Kara asked.

"Yeah, I do."

Kara turned and faced the elevator down, so Maggie did the same. They road down a few more floors in silence, but then Maggie felt Kara's hand slip into hers, threading their fingers together.

"I don't want to be mad at you," Kara said.

"I know, and I don't want you to be mad at me."

"If I am, will you still stay with me tonight?" Kara asked.

"If that's what you want," Maggie said.

"Please," Kara said.

Maggie glanced over and saw the tears brimming in Kara's eyes. Kara turned to look at her and the tears started to spill down her face. Maggie pulled her into a hug. She didn't let go until the elevator doors opened.

---

The ride back to Kara's apartment was weird. Kara clung to her a little more tightly than was entirely comfortable, and Maggie wanted to comfort her, but she didn't know how since she was one of the reasons Kara was hurting. She wanted to turn the bike around and go back to confront Lena and beat the truth out of her, but that would just make things worse.

Kara cared for Lena, loved her, and knowing that Lena was lying to her had to hurt. The fact that Kara had to lie to Lena on a regular basis in order to keep her secret probably didn't help. Kara wasn't always the best at seeing nuance where people she cared about were concerned. It wasn't that she was naïve, it was just that she didn't seem to get that it was possible to care about someone who was a complete dumpster fire of a person, and Lena was an absolute mess.

Maggie thought Kara was right not to trust Lena with the big secret. She'd learned early on to steer conversations with Lena away from any topic related to aliens for the sake of her own blood pressure. The woman was xenophobic in the same way that people who say things like, 'I don't mind gay people as long as they don't shove it down my throat' were homophobic, and she'd always wondered why Kara put up with it. She wondered if Kara thought she could fix Lena, the way she'd been trying to fix Mon-El.

In the end, Kara's motives didn't really matter. What mattered was that she cared about her friend, and Maggie had hurt her by attacking her friend. Maggie had expected her to be mad, to be furious, to yell and scream and walk away. She hadn't expected how soft Kara's anger was. She hasn't expected the silent tears and the plea to stay with her, even if she was angry. She hadn't expected the sick knot of guilt slowly growing in her stomach.

She was right. She knew she was. Lena was lying, and it was plain as day. She's needed to push so they could get the truth out of Lena and get to the bottom of whatever it was Lex was up to. She was right, and the longer the ride took, the less that mattered. By the time she pulled the bike into one of the empty parking spots outside Hammersmith Tower, being right didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that she'd hurt Kara.

They both climbed off the bike and headed inside. Maggie felt her stomach churning the whole way. Guilt gnawed at her every time she glanced over and saw the pain on Kara's face, and she hated herself for putting it there. They rode up to the fourth floor in silence, and Maggie followed Kara down the hall to her apartment.

"I'm sorry," Maggie said as Kara fished her keys out of her pocket. The words surprised both of them, and Kara turned towards her.

"What?" Kara asked.

"I'm sorry for what I did," Maggie said.

"You said before that you weren't."

"I was wrong. Kara, I… I still think she was lying, but I shouldn't have done that. I know Lena's your friend, and I should have respected that. I should have found another way to deal with it. I shouldn't have hurt you, and I'm sorry."

"You really mean that?" Kara asked.

Maggie took Kara's hand, and pressed it to her chest. "Alex said you can tell when someone is lying by changes in their heart rate."

Kara nodded.

"I'm sorry," Maggie said. "I don't like Lena. I never have. I don't like the way she treats you. I think she's xenophobic, and it puts me on edge. And god help me, I'm more than a little jealous, because I know she could give you things I will never be able to give you. But I shouldn't have done that. I acted like a cop, when I should have acted like your friend. I hurt you, and I'm sorry, and I can stand here and give you a dozen reasons why I was right, but none of it means a damn, because you're hurting and I did it and I'm sorry. Please, believe me, Kara. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

She stood there, looking at Kara, waiting for a response, but for a long time, for what seemed like forever, Kara just stared at her. Maggie felt like she was going to cry, because she couldn't stand the idea of Kara being mad at her, but then Kara did move. She shifted her hand, sliding it over Maggie's breast and around her side. She pulled Maggie forward, and kissed her.

It felt so much like there first kiss, surprising and inevitable. Kara's soft lips, the sweet, tart taste of her mouth. The feeling of peace and stillness and home as Kara's arms wrapped around her. The way Maggie never wanted it to end. Something changed, though, and the kiss went from soft and tender to desperate and needy. Kara slid her hands down, cupping and squeezing Maggie's ass as she backed her against the wall. Maggie moaned into Kara's mouth, and that only seemed to make both of them more desperate. Kara reached down further, hooking her hands under Maggie's thighs and lifting her up. Maggie wrapped her legs around Kara's waist and she felt Kara rock her hips. She wondered for a moment if Kara was about to fuck her right there in the hallway, but when Kara rocked her hips again, Maggie decided that she didn't care if they fucked in the middle of CatCo plaza with the cameras rolling, and long as Kara never let go of her.

"Damn, Kara! Get it, girl."

Both of them froze for a moment before Kara pulled away. Maggie couldn't stop the small whimper of protest, and she heard a laugh. She looked over to see Susan Vasquez standing next to a slightly shorter woman who was, by any measure, absolutely gorgeous.

"Hey, Lucy. Hey, Susan," Kara said.

"Ma'am," Susan said in a perfectly neutral tone.

Lucy, on the other hand, was grinning like a mad woman. "You know, when you said you had a friend who was in trouble, I was thinking more of Winn getting busted for hacking. Not you and your girlfriend getting busted for public indecency."

Maggie uncrossed her ankles, and Kara took it as a hint to set her down. Once she had her feet under her, she reluctantly let go of Kara. Kara stepped back and turned towards Lucy and Susan.

"Lucy, this is Maggie Sawyer."

The amused look on Lucy's face vanished, replaced by a carefully schooled neutrality that made it clear that she knew exactly who Maggie was. "I see," Lucy said.

"We should go inside," Maggie said.

"Yeah," Kara said. "That's probably a good idea."

Kara opened the door, and the four of them headed into the apartment. Maggie could feel the tension radiating off of Susan and Lucy. She wanted to say something to smooth things over, but she didn't know how to start that conversation. She might have managed some semblance of it with Susan since they knew each other, but all she knew about Lucy Lane was that she'd dated James, that Kara and Alex both liked her, she had started dating Susan after she and James broke up, and that Susan had moved to DC so they could be together.

"Have you eaten?" Kara asked. "We could order pizza or Chinese or something."

"Pizza's fine," Lucy said.

"Pepperoni, green olive and feta, right?" Kara asked.

"Sure."

"Susan, I'm ordering from Twin Cities. You want the meat market deep dish?"

"I'm fine with whatever you order, ma'am," Susan said.

"Right," Kara said, before turning towards Maggie. "Your usual?"

Maggie nodded, but kept her focus on Lucy and Susan who'd taken the two armchairs in the living room. She reached up and gave Kara's shoulders a quick rub.

"It will be okay," Maggie said.

Kara gave her an uncertain look before she unlocked her phone and pulled up DoorDash. Maggie left her to it and sat down on the couch. Susan was glaring at her, which made sense, but she wasn't at all sure what to make of the expression on Lucy's face.

"So, I'm guessing you're the friend that needs help," Lucy said.

"Yeah," Maggie said.

"What kind of trouble are you in?" Lucy asked.

"That's a long story," Maggie said. "The short version is, I'm a cop, and Internal Affairs thinks that I'm sleeping with Supergirl, and that I know her secret identity."

"So, the truth then," Lucy said.

"Except for the part when I'm sleeping with Supergirl, yes," Maggie said.

"So, if you're not sleeping with her, then what did we see out there in the hall?" Lucy asked.

Maggie closed her eyes, trying to steady herself. She could hear the anger and the accusation in Lucy's voice.

"That was my fault," Kara said as she sat down next to Maggie.

"Yeah, the dry humping looked totally one sided," Lucy said.

"Lucy…" Kara said.

"Damn it, Kara! Have you ever even considered not using your friends and family's boyfriends and girlfriends as your own personal dating pool?"

"Lucy!" Susan snapped.

Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," she said. "That was uncalled for."

"You know, I think maybe I should find a different lawyer," Maggie said.

Kara shook her head. "No, Maggie-"

"I don't want to fight with another one of your friends tonight," Maggie said.

"I don't want you too, but Lucy is the best lawyer you can get, and she knows, which will help her do a better job," Kara said.

"Kara's right," Lucy said. "I'm one of the best criminal defense attorneys the JAG office ever produced, and the fact that I know Kara is Supergirl will be an enormous help."

Maggie bit down on the impulse to ask if being a judgmental bitch would help too. Kara sat down next to her, and took her hand, lacing their fingers together, and rubbing her thumb long the side of Maggie's hand. Maggie closed her eyes, focusing on the soft touch, and the feel of Kara's hand in hers.

"I'm sorry," Kara said.

Maggie opened her eyes and looked at Kara. "What for?"

"You're hurting. Something I did made it worse, and I don't know how to help," Kara said.

"You haven't got anything to apologize for," Maggie said. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"I know," Kara said. "You said it in the hallway, and I believe you. I forgive you."

"Ma'ams," Susan said.

Maggie reluctantly turned away from Kara and looked at Susan. "What?"

"We're kind of coming in half way through here, and I've got to admit, I didn't like what I saw in the hallway any more than Lucy did, though my less flattering thoughts were directed more towards Maggie than Kara, because honestly, fucking your ex-girlfriend's little sister is not on anyone's list of things that are okay, and whether or not you've slept with her before, I don't think anyone here believes what was happing out in the hall was leading up to a firm handshake and a friendly goodnight."

Maggie looked over at Kara. "Do you want to tell it, or should I?"

"Could you?" Kara asked. "I don't think I could get through it all."

Maggie nodded. "Okay. But if you need me to stop…"

"I'll ask."

Maggie turned back to Lucy and Susan.

"It started right after Thanksgiving," Maggie said. "Science Division got a tip on the Children of Liberty stockpiling the Infrared masks they used in the Thanksgiving Day terror attacks on the aliens in the city. We went to check it out and walked into their freaking armory. They had serious hardware. I caught a bullet in the arm and had a couple of guys down with center of mass hits. Then Kara showed up and saved our asses. After it was all over, Kara and I talked while she cleaned and bandaged my arm. I was honestly a bit of a bitch-"

"No, you weren't," Kara said.

"I was a bit of a bitch, and Kara is going to be quite while I tell the story."

"Fine," Kara huffed.

"Anyway. Even though I was a bitch, Kara told me if I never needed her, I could just call. Then the shit on Shelley Island happened, and I was on medical leave while my arm healed, so I texted Kara to check on her, and she seemed upset, so I asked if she wanted someone to talk to about it. We met up, and we talked for a while, and it happened a few more times. After she got fired from the DEO, after she got back from vacation. It was nice, having someone I could be honest with, someone I didn't have to keep secrets from.

"Then Colonel Haley started trying to find out Supergirl's secret identity, and shit went downhill fast. J'onn had to wipe the knowledge that Kara was Supergirl from Alex's memory."

"What?" Susan asked. "Please tell me I heard that wrong."

"You didn't," Maggie said. "Haley brought in a truth seeker, and Alex and the other five agents left at the DEO who knew that Kara is Supergirl all agreed to have their minds wiped of the information. After it happened, I found Kara in Al's bar halfway through a bottle of something that could actually affect her. She wouldn't let me stay unless I drank, so I did. When the bar closed, Kara didn't want to go home, so I took her back to my place. We slept in the same bed. There was cuddling, and an awkward morning once we were both sobered up, but it wasn't that big a deal.

"Then Alex threatened to arrest Supergirl, and Kara called me because she didn't want to be along, so I spent the night here. It went on like that for a little while longer. Kara calling when she was having a bad time, me coming over to comfort her. I'm not going to lie. I liked it. I liked being the person she turned to. It made me feel like I mattered to someone.

"Then James got shot, and everything just kind of went straight to hell. Lex escaped and…"

Maggie stopped and closed her eyes, suddenly not able to talk past the lump in her throat as memories of watching Lex slam that globe down on Kara filled her mind.

"It's okay," Kara said. "I'm here. I'm safe."

Maggie nodded, but it took a minute before she could swallow the lump in her throat and start talking again. "The night after Lena healed James, Kara stayed with me. We had breakfast together before she headed back to the hospital to visit James. I walked into the bullpen at work and Debbie, one of my friends, noticed I was smiling. She decided it must mean that I had a girlfriend, which I suppose was closer to the mark that I realized at the time. I told her that I had breakfast with a friend, but she wouldn't leave it alone, so I finally told her I was in such a good mood because Supergirl has spent the night.

"No one believed it. It's was obviously bullshit intended to get her to leave me along. Except that was the morning that Lex escaped, and I watched them fighting on the CatCo news feed. I watched Kara die. Or at least, I thought I did. When Lex hit her with the Kryptonite laser, and then smashed the Globe from the Daily Planet down on her, I thought she was dead, and I had a pretty violent reaction. I spent half an hour in the bathroom puking my guts out.

"When I found out she was alive I texted her. I told her I needed to see her. When she got there I just… I don't even remember what happened, except I kissed her."

"I kissed you," Kara said.

"I mean the first time. I kissed you."

"No, I kissed you the first time," Kara said. "I remember. That's why I ran out the night James got shot. We were talking and you said you were nobody, and I started telling you how amazing you are, and half way through it, I realized that I wanted to kiss you."

"That's why you left that way?"

"Yeah," Kara said. "I just, I realized I was about to kiss you, and I panicked, so I left. And then, after the fight with Lex, you were looking at me and you were touching my face, and I couldn't take it anymore and I just leaned down and kissed you.

"But that's not what happened," Maggie said. "I was looking at you and I was holding your face and I couldn't breath and I just pulled you down and kissed you."

"Look," Susan said, "you kissed, we got the point. Can we move on before I get cavities?"

"Right," Maggie said. "Um… So, Alex called to let Kara know that Lex had escaped, because she was worried that Lex might target Kara because she'd interviewed Supergirl, and Kara left to go look for Lex. The next morning, she gave me a signal watch in case I needed to reach her, and she introduced me to Dreamer, just in case."

"Who's Dreamer?" Lucy asked.

"She's another Superhero," Kara said. "She's Naltorian. She helped me catch Lockwood the first time, and we've been working together ever since."

"Kara spent the day working with Lena and Alex to track Eve Tessmacher. She used to be Lena's assistant, but she'd been working for Lex Luthor for years, and she's the one who stole Lena's research and gave it to Lex. They found a connection between Eve, Lex and Ben Lockwood, and Kara went to Washington to question Lockwood, except Eve ambushed her with Kryptonite and put her out of commission while the fake Supergirl attacked the White House."

"That's when things started getting messy. I hadn't heard about the attack, but dispatch called me and asked me to come back to HQ. Someone had dropped a dime on me to Internal Affairs. They knew about what I'd said about Supergirl spending the night at my place, and they knew how I reacted when I thought she was dead. They assumed that I was telling the truth about sleeping with Supergirl, and that I knew her secret identity and how to contact her."

"Did you answer any questions?" Lucy asked.

"A few. A told them I considered Supergirl a friend, that she wasn't behind the attacks, that I didn't know her secret identity, and that the story about Supergirl spending the night at my place was bullshit to get an annoying coworker off my back. They accused me of lying so I asked for a lawyer and a union rep and shut the fuck up."

"What happened next?"

"They took my badge and gun and put me on paid leave. A team followed me home. Kara had promised to check in after her trip to Washington. I sent her a carefully worded text to let her know I was being watched, and Kara Danvers needed to show up, not Supergirl. Kara came to see me. While we were together, she got a signal from Alex's signal watch, so we went to meet her. I figured if Alex was planning on arresting her, I might be able to talk her down, but Alex and Lena both said they knew it wasn't Supergirl. We spent some time talking to them about how to move forward, then Kara and I went back to my place and spent the night there.

"The next night, Lena told us she had a lead on Lex, that the Warden at Stryker's Island had been letting him come and go as he pleased for months. She also gave me an encrypted cell phone so I could communicate with her and Alex securely. The next day, Kara and Lena went to Stryker's, while Alex went to work, and I waited. Kara figured Lena would be able to buy her way out of any trouble, but if I got ID'd I'd end up in jail. Alex called me and asked to meet. She let me know that Colonel Haley had taken the signal watch, and Ben Lockwood had ordered her to summon Supergirl so he could ambush her.

"I made a show of dropping my regular phone in the middle of the street where the IA tale could see it, then I ditched the tale and found a spot where I could use the secure phone to warn Kara without being seen using it. Debbie showed up a little while later, wearing a wire."

"How do you know she was wearing a wire?" Lucy asked.

"She deliberately profiled it as she sat down," Maggie said.

"What did they get on the wire?" Lucy asked.

"Mostly the truth. Kara's a reporter for CatCo. I ran into her on the job. She used to date James, she's used Supergirl as a source, and she's friendly with some aliens, so when the shit at Shelley Island happened, I called her because I knew she'd be upset. We started talking. Kara's going through some family shit, so she needed someone who wasn't in the middle of it to talk to. Sometimes we spend the night together. When I was consulting for the 'FBI' Supergirl had a boyfriend, but he left Earth not long after the Daxamite invasion. I might have implied that it was because Supergirl found out he had a wife. I might also have suggested that if they wanted to get in touch with Supergirl, they should put Cat Grant in the park under a cardboard box propped up with a stick."

Lucy and Susan both laughed out loud. Maggie looked over at Kara, who was glaring at her.

"What? It worked when Livewire and Silver Banshee did it."

"She's got you there," Lucy said.

"There was no cardboard box," Kara said with the cutest little pout on her face, and Maggie had to stop herself from leaning over and kissing her.

"Moving along," Lucy said,

Maggie turned back to Lucy, and judging by the look on Lucy's face, what she was thinking about must have been a little too obvious.

"After the conversation with Debbie, I ditched the tale again, and I went to LCorp to meet with Lena, Kara and Alex. Kara decided that night to stop being Supergirl until we'd cleared her name, and since that night, I've been working with her at CatCo, helping her investigate Lex, and I've been staying here."

"Okay," Lucy said. "Anything else I should know?"

"Well, Dreamer can see the future, and she said that Kara and Lena are going somewhere in the near future, and if I don't go with them, it will lead to a war, so keeping me out of jail would be a really good thing. There's also the part where Alex keeps trying to set me up with Supergirl, which is pissing me off a little bit. Oh, and the State's Attorney is preparing charges against me for obstruction."

"Why were you to making out in the hallway?" Susan asked.

Maggie looked over at Kara, who gave her a small nod. "We had a fight earlier tonight," Maggie said. "We found something that pointed to a connection between Lex and LCorp, so we went to ask Lena about it. Lena lied to us about it, and I called her on it, and she threw me out of her office. Kara didn't like the way I handled it, and I apologized, and Kara kissed me, and I don't know. I mean, we both know this can't happen, and we hadn't actually kissed since Friday night when Alex nearly caught us together, but I'm not going to pretend it's been easy. We're basically living together, we're sleeping in the same bed, and we both just got caught in the moment."

"How did you find out that the State's Attorney is prepping charges?" Lucy asked.

"My Lieutenant called me today and asked me to come in and talk to Internal Affairs again. When I said no, he told me I needed to reconsider because the SA is preparing charges."

Lucy closed her eyes for a minute and shook her head. "Jesus Fucking Christ, what a fucking shit show," she said.

"Can you help?" Kara asked.

"Yeah," Lucy said. "I can call in a few favors. Getting the charges tossed shouldn't be any problem if they have no proof that you know Supergirl's secret identity. Getting your badge back… That's going to be trickier."

"I don't give a damn about the badge. Just keep me out of jail," Maggie said.

"No. Maggie, you love being a cop," Kara said.

"I do," Maggie said, "But if I have to chose between you and my badge, it's not a choice at all."

"Don't fall on your sword just yet. I said it would be tricky, not that I couldn't do it."

"Thank you," Kara said.

Lucy nodded. "Look, Kara… About what I said earlier. Susan's right. That was out of line. I know what happened with James wasn't your fault. James has issues, something I'm guessing you figured out pretty fast, given how quickly the two of you split up. It doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt and finding out who Maggie was just brought up some unpleasant memories."

"It's okay," Kara said.

"No, it's not," Lucy said. "Kara, I know how you felt about James, and I know how hard you tried to keep from getting in the way of my and James's relationship."

"Anger isn't always rational," Kara said. "I understand that better than most people."

"Yeah, I suppose you do," Lucy said. "I should be thanking you though." She reached over and took Susan's hand. "I mean, you helped me trade up in a serious way."

Maggie sat there for a moment not quite sure she believed her eyes as she watched a blush creep up Susan's cheeks.

"I'm happy for the both of you," Kara said.

"Thank you," Susan said.

"How's Cat?" Kara asked. "Does she think…?"

"No," Lucy said. "Of course not. None of us do. Hell, even my dad doesn't believe you did this. Right after it happened, Cat told everyone who works for her that if they believed, even for a second, that Supergirl was responsible, they could find new jobs. She's been knocking on every door in Washington trying to figure out how the Alien Amnesty Repeal happened in the first place. It was a dead letter that morning, and by the evening it was a done deal, and no one knows how it happened, but it given that the Senator who swung the vote is among the dead, the whole thing stinks to high heaven. Cat's been working under the assumption that Lex is behind it."

"She did ask us to get you to pass along a message to Supergirl," Susan said. "She said to tell Supergirl to remember what she said on the balcony during Myriad."

Maggie looked over at Kara, who had a huge smile on her face. She was about to ask what it meant when there was a knock at the door.

"Pizza!" Kara shouted as she got to her feet and headed towards the door.

---

It was just past midnight. Lucy and Susan had headed back to their hotel a little over an hour ago, and Maggie and Kara had gone to bed. It had been a long day, and they we both exhausted, but Maggie couldn't get to sleep, and judging from the fact that Kara was curled up against her side, failing miserably at pretending to be asleep, she was having the same problem.

"What's wrong?" Maggie asked.

"Do you think Lucy's right about me?" Kara asked.

"No," Maggie said.

Kara sighed. "Why am I like this? Why can I only seem to feel this way for people who don't want me, or who belong to someone else."

"I don't," Maggie said.

"What?"

"I don't belong to Alex. I never did. I would have, gladly. I would have walked down that isle, and I would have put that ring on, and I would have been proud to be hers. But she didn't want me. She never did."

"That's not true."

"It is," Maggie said. "I wish it wasn't, but it is. Alex fell in love with the idea of me without ever finding out who I am, and I did the same thing. I fell in love with who I thought Alex was, without finding out who she is. If we'd taken the time to get to know each other, we would have figured out we weren't going to work before we got engaged, before we planned a wedding. Something like whether or not you want to have kids is a pretty big conversation to not have."

Silence filled the room, stretching out for a long time, before Kara quietly asked, "Would you go back to her if she changed her mind?"

"No," Maggie said. "I still love her. I always will. But I'm not in love with her anymore."

"Do you think we've done the same thing?" Kara asked.

"No," Maggie said. "I think we did things the other way around. I think we got to know each other well enough that we couldn't help it, even knowing that we're going to get hurt."

Kara hugged her a little bit tighter. "I don't know if I can give this up," she said. "Knowing what it's like to feel this way."

"I know it will be hard," Maggie said, "but you can't lose Alex."

"We could talk to her," Kara said. "Tell her the truth. Maybe she would understand."

"Maybe she would," Maggie said. "But if we tell her and she doesn't understand, we can't take it back. She's your family, Kara."

"So are you," Kara said.

Maggie leaned down and pressed a kiss to Kara's forehead. "Go to sleep," she said. "We've got a big day tomorrow."

Maggie settled back onto the bed and closed her eyes as the silence stretched out.

"Maggie," Kara said.

"Yes?"

"I don't want kids," Kara said.

"What?"

"I don't want children," Kara said.

"Why not?" Maggie asked, afraid Kara was just saying what she knew Maggie wanted to hear.

"I grew up feeling like I didn't fit in, like I was always on the outside. Kal felt the same way. If I had children, they'd have to go through that too. They'd never really be human, but they'd never be Kryptonian either. They'd be trapped between two worlds. I couldn't do that to them."

Maggie reached up, cradling Kara's head as she leaned down and kissed her forehead again. "I'm sorry, /,kahrah,/."

"I just wanted you to know," Kara said.

---

March 26, 2019

Maggie leaned against the island in the middle of Kara's kitchen, watching as the coffee pot slowly filled with the same overpriced coffee they'd had every morning for the last week. While she watched, Maggie turned the conversation she'd had with Kara over in her mind. It was the same thing Nia had said to her. Talk to Alex about it once Alex's memories came back. Tell her the truth.

It was a seductive idea, because it offered the possibility of hope. The chance that she could have a future with Kara, or at least, that they could see if they could have a future. But it was also seductive because it reminded her of the conversation she'd had with Alex at the hospital, and of what she thought about after. She'd been so angry at Alex for going through with the mind wipe, but she'd also realized that if she'd been there at the time, she would have gone through with it too. She would have done what she believed was necessary to protect Kara, and she'd also realized it would have been wrong.

Was she making the same mistake as Alex had? Trying to protect Kara when it was more important to listen to her, to hear what she wanted?

"I don't think the coffee is going to talk."

Maggie smiled as she looked over at Kara who was standing there smiling at her.

"I was just thinking," Maggie said.

"I never would have known from the smoke pouring out of your ears."

"Brat," Maggie laughed.

"You love it," Kara said as filled a pair of mugs with coffee. "So what were you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about what we talked about last night," Maggie said as Kara passed her a mug.

"Which part?" Kara asked.

"The part about talking to Alex."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure we could tell her the whole truth, but she already knows that I've got feelings for Supergirl. I thought maybe, once she gets her memories back, I could just ask her if she would mind if I asked you out."

"She thinks I'm straight," Kara said.

"Well, I could disappear from your apartment long enough for you to have another sister night," Maggie said. "Maybe come out to your sister, so she knows that there's a chance you'll say yes."

"You think she would say yes?" Kara asked, and Maggie could hear the hope in her voice, could feel it radiating off of her.

"I don't know. But I hope so."

"Well," Kara said, holding out her mug. "Here's to hope."

"Here's to us," Maggie said.

"Here's to us."

Maggie started to raise her mug, but Kara leaned in and kissed her. It was soft and slow and gentle, not like the desperate, needy kisses the night before, but Maggie sat her mug on the counter and wrapped her arms around Kara, holding her tightly as the first kiss became the second became the third. Somewhere along the way she heard Kara set her mug on the counter too, and then she was wrapped in strong arms, and the thought went through her head that she could do this forever, that she could spend the rest of her life wrapped up in Kara and just be happy. She prayed to a god she hadn't believed in since she was fourteen that Alex would understand and that she would get to have this.

A sharp knock on the door broke them apart. Kara reached up and lifted her glasses out of the way to see who was at the door, and Maggie saw the frown spread across her face.

"Who is it?" Maggie asked.

"Cops," Kara said. "Two in plane clothes, two in uniform."

"Fuck," Maggie said as she pulled her secure cell phone out of her pocket and headed it to Kara. "Call Lucy. Let her know I've been arrested."

"Arrested?"

"Unless you think they're here for you," Maggie said as she headed towards the door. She opened the door and saw Russel and Williams, the two idiots from Internal Affairs, standing there with smug smiles on their faces. Bell and Douglas, two of the uniforms from Science Division were standing behind them. Bell had an apologetic look on her face, but Douglas had a neutral expression on his.

"Maggie Sawyer, you are under arrest for obstruction of justice, for aiding and abetting a known fugitive, and as an accessory after the first to twelve counts of murder, and one count of terrorism. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?" Williams said.

"Which station are you taking me to?" Maggie asked.

"Central booking, then headquarters," Williams said.

Maggie turned around. "Kara, call Lucy. Let her know where I am. Then go to work."

"But…"

"Go to work," Maggie said. "Lucy will take care of this. You have more important things to do."

"Okay," Kara said.

Maggie turned back to Williams and Russel. "Bell, search and cuff me. I have a Rugar LCP in an ankle holster on the outside of my right leg, two spare mags on my left leg, a folding knife in my back left pocket, a Taser strikelight, a snap baton and a push knife in holsters on my belt."

"Yes ma'am," Bell said.

---

Kara glanced up from the report she was reading as Nia walked into the office.

"Nia," she said, trying to force a smile onto her face. She gave up when she saw the dejected look Nia was wearing. "What is it?"

"Al's dive bar. He's been using it as a shelter for aliens and Lockwood's goons crashed it last night. I stopped them and got the aliens moved to the Kara House, but the people there still felt so hopeless. And I wanna do more to help them. I just don't know what else I can do."

"I know exactly how you feel. I've been so myopic I think I've made things worse. I made Franklin's sister more afraid, Lena hates me, and Maggie got arrested this morning.

"Arrested? What for?" Nia asked.

"Internal Affairs thinks she knows Supergirl's secret identity and that she's been helping her hide from the police."

"What are you going to do?" Nia asked.

"My friend Lucy is a lawyer. She flew in last night. She was planning on trying to get the State's Attorney to not file the charges, but the warrant was issued last night. I'm not even sure why they waited until this morning to arrest her. Lucy's at police headquarters right now, trying to get it straightened out, but if the State's Attorney won't drop the charges, I don't know what I'll do."

"God, this sucks. All of it. It's like Supergirl was the only thing holding back the fear, and now that everyone thinks she's a murderer, Lockwood has them convinced that all aliens are monsters. I wish we could do your Aliens of National City story with every alien. Then the humans would know that they don't need to be afraid of them."

"Nia! You and I have been so focused on fighting and reporting, that maybe… maybe we forgot the most important part of being a hero is inspiring hope."

"So, Supergirl's coming back?"

"The world doesn't need to hear from Supergirl right now. They need a hero who can speak to the conflict society is struggling with. Someone who is both alien and human. Someone who can bring them together."

"How?"

"I wanna interview you. An exclusive. I want to introduce the world to Dreamer."

"Now?" Nia asked.

"No. Tonight. We'll wait until everyone's gone home and then we'll do the interview. I have a device at my apartment that can override control of the airwaves so Lockwood and his people can't shut us out. We just need a camera man."

---

"You know, you really need to talk to us," Williams said.

Maggie stared across the table at him as if they hadn't already been playing this game for hours already. The idiot forgot that she knew the rules just as well as he did. Drag your heels in booking, delay the lawyer so you have time to sweat the suspect. Use long silences to intimidate. Maggie wanted to laugh at how textbook it all was, but she had better idea.

"Okay," Maggie said. "If you really think it will help."

"Just talk to us, Detective, and this can all go away," Williams said. "You can even go back to work."

She leaned forward and watched as he did the same. She waited for a moment, letting the anticipation build. She could see him picturing the commendation he would get for being the one who brought in Supergirl. She waited until he could taste it, then she said, "I am invoking my right to remain silent and I am invoking my right to an attorney."

His face twisted into a mask of fury and he slapped the table. "You think this is some kind of game, Sawyer? Do you know what they do to people who conspire with terrorists?"

Maggie gave him a beatific smile. "I am invoking my right to remain silent and I am invoking my right to an attorney."

"You are going to spend the rest of your life in a six by nine cell in super max. No visitors, no human contact. An hour a day outside."

"I am invoking my right to remain silent and I am invoking my right to an attorney."

"How do you think that hot little blonde girlfriend of yours is going to feel when she finds out she's nothing but a side piece while you're banging Supergirl?"

"I am invoking my right to remain silent and I am invoking my right to an attorney."

"She's not going to wait for you. Why would she? You're never getting out."

The door swung open at that moment, and Ben Lockwood stepped into the room. Williams looked over and immediately stood up.

"Mr. Secretary," Williams said.

"Easy, Detective," Lockwood said. "This is her?"

"Yes sir," Williams said.

"Give us the room, would you?" Lockwood said.

Williams, to his credit, hesitated for a moment. "Um, sir, that's not really procedure. I-"

"Give us the room, Detective!" Lockwood snapped.

"Yes, sir," Williams said. He scrambled for the door, and Maggie downgraded her estimate of him from idiot to cowardly idiot before turning her attention to Lockwood. She watched as he walked over to the chair where Williams has been sitting at a pace he probably thought made him look confident or intimidating. Maggie thought it made him look like someone who'd spent too much time watching action movies. He sat down and pulled his file towards her, making a show of looking it over.

"Margarita Elena Sawyer, born Margarita Elena Rodas on March 29th, 1987. Adopted by your aunt Juanita Sawyer when you were fourteen years old and lived with her until you went to college. Earned a degree in Criminal Justice from National City University in three years. Enrolled in the National City Police Academy immediately upon graduation. Made detective at the age of twenty-five after four years on the force. Did a year in homicide before transferring to the newly formed Science Division. Numerous citations for bravery and for excellent police work. Even a Presidential Medal of Freedom for your actions during the Daxamite invasion.

"On paper, you sound like a hero. Putting murderers behind bars, keeping the aliens in the city in check." He closed the file and looked up at her. "Of course, given that the President who gave you that medal was nothing but a roach, I shouldn't be too surprised to find out you're nothing but a roach lover yourself. See, word is, you spend all your time hanging out with them, helping them with their problems, helping them invade our world. And is if that isn't bad enough, actually fucking one of them. That's disgusting." Lockwood leaned forward. "Maybe we'll get the State's Attorney to add bestiality to the list of charges. It would make a good test case."

Maggie leaned forward and looked Lockwood right in the eye. She swallowed the urge to grab him by his greasy hair and break his face open on the table. Dealing with bigots was old hat for her, and she'd learned to control her temper, to let their words roll off her, long before she'd ever worn a badge.

"I am invoking my right to remain silent and I am invoking my right to an attorney."

Lockwood laughed. "Rights? Terrorists don't have rights. Roaches don't have rights. Collaborators don't have rights. This isn't an interrogation. I just wanted to look you in the eyes before I let my boys have you. They're going to make you talk. All the aliens you've helped, all the aliens you've hidden, and where your… girlfriend is. And if you're nice and cooperative, I might let you watch when I kill Supergirl."

For the first time since Lockwood walked into the room, Maggie felt fear. Lockwood was nothing more than a bully, but he was a bully with power. The resources he had access to, and the threats he was making were terrifying. Maggie knew she would do anything she could to protect Kara, but she also knew that the US government had professional torturers. They might call it 'enhanced interrogation' but that didn't change what it was. People broke under torture. People who were trained to resist, people who had every reason to resist. Given enough time, anyone would break. The human capacity for suffering was only so great. It might not even take that, though. Lockwood had access to the DEO's resources, which meant he had access to at least one truth seeker.

She didn't even want to think about the other, more stomach-churning implication of 'let my boys have you'. The man was a Nazi want to be, and she was a brown skinned lesbian who had, in his mind, been sullied by the enemy. Her mind shied away from where that might lead.

She was suddenly grateful they'd taken the signal watch when they booked her, because she was afraid that she'd call for help if she had it.

"Is that fear I see in your eyes, Detective?" Lockwood asked. He leaned forward. "You know, you can still make this all go away. Just tell me who Supergirl is."

Maggie leaned in and looked Lockwood right in the eyes. "I am invoking my right to remain silent and I am invoking my right to an attorney, you bigoted piece of shit."

"Hmmm… We'll see how-"

The door swung open and Lucy and Susan walked into the room.

"Get away from my client," Lucy said.

"Who the hell are you?" Lockwood asked.

"I'm Lucy Lane. I'm Detective Sawyer's attorney, and I'm here to take my client home."

"She's not going anywhere," Lockwood said.

Lucy sat her briefcase on the table and opened it up. "Actually, she is. You see, it turns out that judges really, really hate when people lie to them in order to get warrants. They hate it so much they dismiss charges with prejudice. They hate it so much they are perfectly willing to uphold a complaint against all of Internal Affairs, and against the FBI and the Department of Alien Affairs under Title 42. Now, I have already delivered a court order, and a signed order from the mayor, preventing Internal Affairs and the Science Division from continuing their investigation into Detective Sawyer, and the order is being delivered to the FBI field office as we speak, but this…" Lucy produced a sheet of paper out of her briefcase with a level of dramatic flair that Maggie never thought she's see outside of a TV show. "This is just for you."

Lockwood took the paper and looked down at it. "What is this?"

"It's a court order, preventing you, or any member of the Children of Liberty, from coming within 100 yards of my client, or her girlfriend. And…" Lucy held up a finger before reaching into her briefcase again, and pulling out another sheet of paper, "a letter from the office of General Lane of Army Intelligence telling you to stop harassing one of his assets."

Lockwood stood up. "You can't do this!"

"Can, and have," Lucy said. "Come on Maggie."

Maggie stood up, and Lockwood took a step towards Lucy.

"She's not going-"

His sentence was cut off by a scream of pain as Susan grabbed is arm, twisted it up behind him, and slammed his face down onto the interrogation room table.

"I'm going to have to ask you to respect Ms. Lane's personal space, Mr. Secretary," Susan said as blood started pooling under Lockwood's face.

"Did I forget to introduce you to my associate?" Lucy asked. "Careless of me. Come on, Maggie. Let's get out of here."

Maggie didn't hesitate.

---

"Sawyer!"

Maggie, Lucy and Susan were halfway across the bullpen when she heard her voice. She turned and saw Isaacs standing in the door of his office.

"You don't have too," Lucy said.

"It's okay. This shouldn't take long." Maggie said. She headed over to his office. He closed the door behind them and took a seat behind his desk.

"Sit down," he said.

Maggie dropped into one of the chairs in front of his desk. "What's this about, sir."

Isaacs opened his desk drawer and pulled out three large plastic bags and sat down on the desk in front of her.

"I signed your things out," Isaacs said. "Figured I'd save you the trip to the property locker."

Maggie looked and saw everything she'd had on her when she'd been booked. Her Ruger was in a separate bag from the rest of her things, and the third bag held her service weapon, a Gen 5 Glock 17.

"Nice gun," Isaacs said, pointing towards the Rugar.

Maggie laughed. "What? A girl can't like pink?"

"Just doesn't seem your style," Isaacs said.

"I'm full of surprises," Maggie said. "I don't see my badge."

Isaacs reached back into the draw and took out her badge. He sat it in front of her. "Whether you get that back is up to you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you told Debbie you wouldn't help us hunt down Supergirl. I can't have a detective who refuses to bring in a wanted criminal. Now, I know the whole thing about you sleeping with her and knowing her identity was bullshit. Anyone with half a brain could have figured that out, which probably explains why IA couldn't let it go. But if you want your badge back, I need you to tell me you'll get on board with hunting down Supergirl."

"I can't do that, sir," Maggie said.

"Sawyer, think carefully, because if you walk out of here without that badge, you are done. You won't ever wear it again. Chances are, you won't ever wear any badge again. You're done as a cop. Forever."

Maggie reached out and picked up the badge, feeling its weight in her hand. It was everything she'd worked for since before her father had kicked her out. Her entire life. Isaacs was asking her to choose been being a cop and Kara. It was a choice she'd faced before. Her job or a woman she'd cared about. In the past, it had always been an easy choice. The job always came first.

She pitched the badge across the room into his trashcan. It was time to make a better choice.

---

"Maggie!"

Kara was up and out of her chair the moment she saw Maggie, and Maggie braced herself for the impact of an excited Kryptonian. Kara wrapped her in a hug, and spun her around, and Maggie laughed, even though she knew she should warn Kara about such a blatant show of strength in the middle of James's office, which had about as much privacy as a fish bowl, but she was so relieved to have Kara's arms around her that she couldn't.

"I told you I'd take care of it," Lucy said.

Kara sat Maggie down, and she watched as Kara hugged Lucy, then Susan. Both of them laughed at the display of exuberance from Kara, and Maggie smiled a little wider. She hadn't seen Kara in this good a mood since before the mind wipe, and she could feel that something had changed.

"What's going on?" Maggie asked.

"I figured out a way to change the conversation!" Kara said, enthusiasm bubbling up even as she dropped her voice low enough so that no one outside of the office could hear them. "I'm going to interview Dreamer."

"Dreamer is that the hero who helped you bring in Lockwood?" Lucy asked.

"Yes," Kara said. "I think, if we can show the people what humans and aliens can come together, that they have more in common than they have differences, then they won't have to be afraid anymore. I think Dreamer's the perfect way to do that. She's half human, half alien, and I think that speaks more to what's going on that Supergirl ever could."

"I think that's a great idea," Lucy said.

"We're going to do the interview tonight. We'll broadcast it live during prime time."

A spike of fear ran through Maggie, as she pictured Lockwood storming the studio with weapons that could hurt or cripple Kara, weapons that could kill Nia. She glanced over at Lucy and Susan, and she could read it on their faces. The same hesitation and fear she felt.

"Kara, are you sure a live broadcast is the best idea?" Maggie asked.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"If you broadcast live, then Lockwood would know exactly where you are, and if Dreamer is on screen confessing to be an alien, he might come for her," Maggie said.

"We could tape it," Susan said. "Record it now and broadcast it during prime time. Post it on the CatCo servers, and the CatCo YouTube Channel at the same time it goes live. Then make sure you and Dreamer are nowhere near CatCo when the broadcast happens."

"That's a really good idea," Kara said. "We'll need a camera person though."

"I can do it," Susan said. "You go get in touch with Dreamer."

"Okay," Kara said.

---

It wasn't quite as simple as it sounded. They ended up pulling in Franklin and another tech to run a second and third camera, and they had to clear the bullpen because Kara wanted to do the interview there, but about an hour after Maggie arrived at CatCo, Kara sat across from Dreamer in front of the CatCo sign in the bullpen while Maggie stood back and watched.

"Good evening. This is Kara Danvers with CatCo Media and this is a worldwide exclusive. I'm here with the hero who has been fighting in the shadows. This is Dreamer."

Kara turned to Nia. "My first question Who are you?

"I'm Dreamer and I am a descendant of a daughter of Naltor."

"When did you come here from Naltor?"

"I didn't. I was born here in America. I grew up in a small town where humans and aliens lived together in harmony. My mother was Naltorian, but my father was a human."

"So you are both human and alien?"

"Yes. My parents believed that humans and aliens could co-exist. And I'm living proof of that. But growing up wasn't easy. I am also a trans woman. I'm different, Miss Danvers, but so is everybody. And I don't know when that became such a bad thing. The greatest gift we can give each other is our authentic selves and sharing that. Sharing our truth is what will make us strong.

"So, here I am. I am both human and alien. And I am a trans woman. S'mores are my favorite dessert, but I will always choose salty over sweet. I broke my nose when I was 15 during a game of kickball.

"My mother was my heart. And since I lost her, it's felt like a piece of me is missing. But my father is my spine.

"I'm a Gryffindor. Uh, my patronus is a dapple gray stallion. I am an INFP. Uh, a Miranda. House Stark. I love Thursdays and April, brave girls with kind hearts and nerdy boys who think too much, and I am proud of all that I am.

"You should be. Are you afraid of how the world will react to you now that they know you're an alien?" Maggie could hear the small break in Kara's voice as she said it, and it was like a vice around her own heart. She thought back to the conversation they'd had after the protest, about how Kara had spent so long hiding who she was, and about how Maggie had gone back into the closet after she moved in with her aunt. She knew the tremble was because of how long Kara had lived in terror of someone finding out she was an alien, and she knew the way people were judging her now must be adding to that fear and pain.

"Of course, but you know what else? Fear sucks. It sucks. And I am so sick of feeling hopeless. Dawn doesn't come unless we want it to. But we don't have to wait for a new day. We are the new day."

"Your mother would be so proud of you."

The interview ended there, and Maggie waited until the cameras were off before she stepped forward and pulled Kara into a hug.

"You were fantastic," she said before she let go of Kara, and turned to Nia. "You too."

"Do you think it will work?" Nia asked.

"I think it will help," Maggie said. "I think you just showed people that they don't have to be afraid of aliens. Showed them that it's not just Supergirl, Superman and a bunch of monsters. I don't think it will change the world overnight, but I think it's a good start. I think it will give people hope, and that's a hell of a thing."

---

"Thanks, Susan," Kara said. "See you tomorrow? Okay, bye."

Maggie watched as Kara ended the call and sat her phone on the bedside table.

"You were right," Kara said as she lay down and curled up against Maggie's side. "Lockwood showed up about ten minutes after the end of the broadcast with a bunch of Children of Liberty goods looking to arrest Dreamer."

"How'd that work out for them?"

"Not well," Kara said. "Lucy read them the riot act about freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and James showed up halfway through and lit into them too."

"James? I thought he was still at LCorp."

"Not anymore. According to Susan, James said he's stable."

"That's great," Maggie said.

"Yeah," Kara said. Maggie couldn't help but notice a small note of unhappiness in her voice.

"What's wrong?" Maggie asked.

"Nothing," Kara said. "I'm just wondering when you have to go back to work."

"I don't," Maggie said.

"But Lucy said the investigation was over. They can't keep you on suspension if you're not under investigation."

"I'm not suspended," Maggie said.

"But…" Kara looked up at her in confusion.

"I quit."

"What?" Kara asked. She sat up distress clearly written on her face. "Why would you quit? You love being a cop."

Maggie sat up so she could look Kara in the eyes. "I did, most days. Sometimes, I really hated it, because I knew that the people I arrested weren't going to get justice. Not really. But today, they told me the only way could have my badge back was if I promised to help hunt you down, and I couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to promise to try to arrest someone I know beyond any doubt is innocent. Not when I know you'd never get a fair trial, if you got any trial at all."

"I'm sorry," Kara said.

"Don't be," Maggie said. "I promise you, however it goes when we're able to talk to Alex, I won't regret the choice I made today. If it's a choice between my job, and even the possibility of being with you, you win, every time."

"I didn't want you to have to choose at all," Kara said.

"I know," Maggie said. "But I did, and /,kahrah,/, I made the better choice."

Kara smiled at her, and Maggie didn't even think about it before she leaned in and kissed her.

---

March 27, 2019

"You're looking happy this morning," Nia said as she walked into James's office.

"I had a good night," Kara said.

"Any particular reason?" Nia asked.

Kara couldn't stop herself from smiling. She glanced towards the bullpen to make sure no one was in earshot before turning back to Nia. "Maggie and I spent half the night making out."

The squeal that came from Nia made Kara wish she didn't have super hearing, but she couldn't help but smile ever wider at the enthusiastic look on Nia's face.

"I totally need details," Nia said.

"We were getting ready for bed, and we were talking and she just leaned in and kissed me, and we just kind of kept kissing until Maggie was about to fall asleep."

"How was it? Was it good? I bet it was good."

"It was amazing," Kara said. "I mean, we've kissed before, but it was either when we were in a hurry, or we kept getting interrupted, and last night, it was just… I don't even know how to describe it. I mean, I've kissed people before, and I've even had a couple of relationships, but I don't know. Kissing Maggie feels different."

"Different how?" Nia asked.

"Like everything is still. Like the whole world just goes away, and I can be at peace. When I'm with Maggie, I feel seen. I feel like she wants all of me. Kara Danvers, and Supergirl, and all the messy places in between. She's the first person other than Alex who's ever made me feel like I belong."

"That sounds amazing," Nia said.

"It is," Kara said.

"Have you decided what to do about the Alex situation yet?" Nia asked.

"Maggie thinks I should come out to Alex now. Give her a little time to process that I'm pan. Then, once Alex has her memories back, Maggie's going to ask Alex if it's okay if she takes me out on a date."

"Are you sure that's the best plan?" Nia asked. "I mean, you're still kind of lying to her."

"I know," Kara said. "Maggie is really worried about Alex's reaction. She thinks we have to do it this way to protect me in case Alex gets upset."

"Is that what you want?" Nia asked.

"I just want to be with Maggie, and I want Alex to be okay with it," Kara said.

"Maybe this is my own experience with Maeve talking, but I think you should just tell her the truth. I don't know Alex well but from what you've told me she loves you and she wants you to be happy. If Maggie is what it takes for you to be happy, I think she'll find a way to be okay with it."

"I hope you're right about that last part," Kara said.

"So, where is your Ms. Wonderful, anyway?" Nia asked.

"She, Lucy and Susan ran out to pick up food. They should be back soon."

---

"Are you having any luck with those papers Franklin's sister gave us?" Maggie asked.

"Not really," Lucy said. "Everything points back to this Sebastian Melmoth."

Kara sighed. "Maybe I should try talking to Lena again."

Maggie looked at Kara, and bit down on what she wanted to say. She wasn't sure if they were okay where the subject of Lena was concerned. She hoped they were, but they hadn't really gotten the chance to resolved anything between the kissing and Lucy and Susan's arrival and the whole getting arrested thing, and the whole getting fired thing.

Kara seemed to pick up on her thoughts though, because she looked over at Maggie. "What do you think?"

"I think she'll come to you," Maggie said. "Just give it some time."

"Well, I can't speak to Lena Luthor," Susan said, "but I'm pretty sure Rubniu is some sort of cipher. I just haven't figured out which one. The problem is, even if I know the type of cipher, I'd need the key."

Maggie looked over at the murder board on the Window of James's office. "Maybe we could get Brainy to try and crack it for us."

"That's not a bad idea," Kara said. "I'll-"

"Kara…"

All four to them turned towards the door, where Lena was standing.

"Lena!" Kara said. "Are you okay?"

"Can I talk to you and Maggie for a bit?" Lena asked.

"Of course," Kara said.

"We'll just do another coffee run," Lucy said as she and Susan stood up.

"Thanks, guys," Kara said.

Maggie waited until Lucy and Susan were gone before turning to Lena. "Do you want to talk to Kara alone? I know things between us aren't great right now."

"No," Lena said. "You deserve to hear what I have to say."

"Why don't you sit down?" Kara asked.

Lena nodded and took the chair Lucy had just vacated. They waited for a moment, and Maggie could see that Lena was trying to work herself up to saying something, but the longer they waited, the more worried Maggie got.

"I'm sorry," Lena said. "This is difficult."

"It's okay," Kara said. "Take your time."

Lena nodded and took a deep breath. "Maggie was right. I've been lying. Eve wasn't the only one working with Lex. I… I was working with him too. He contacted me four months ago. He knew I had the Harun-El. He had cancer, and he was afraid to die. He's my brother. And in my heart, I knew he was manipulating me but I believed him and I helped him and he betrayed me. And I was weak, and I will never forgive myself for that."

Maggie felt torn as she watched Lena sit there, tears welling up in her eyes. She felt angry that Lena had been so stupid, that she'd helped Lex and put Kara in danger, but she understood too. If Kara, or Alex or Nia were sick, she would do anything to help them. Hell, even after everything that had happened between them, she knew if her father or her mother called, she would help them.

She saw the same emotions play across Kara's face too. Anger, hurt, disappointment, sympathy, understanding. She could see the control, see Kara deciding how she was going to react. Not that there was ever any real doubt as to what choice Kara would make.

"I can only imagine what the two of you must think of me," Lena said. "I don't blame you."

Kara got up and wrapped Lena in a hug. "No, no. You are not weak. You are a brilliant, kind-hearted, beautiful soul. Your brother asked you for help and in life and death situations, you help family. No one can judge you for that."

Lena broke down sobbing as Kara held her.

"I'm sorry you felt like you couldn't tell me," Kara said. "I am so sorry."

Lena looked over at Maggie, and Maggie could see the question in her eyes.

"He's your brother," Maggie said. "I get it. He's a pile of shit, but that doesn't change the fact that you love him. And I get why you didn't want to tell us. And I'm sorry I came at you the way I did the other night. I shouldn't have done that."

"No. You were right. I was lying."

"That doesn't matter," Maggie said. "I handled it badly. I hurt you and I hurt Kara, and I'm sorry. I promise I'll try to do better."

"Thank you," Lena said.

Kara let go of Lena. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I think so. I want to help you with your investigation, if you'll let me," Lena said.

"That would be great," Maggie said.

"Do you need a few minutes first?" Kara asked.

"No," Lena said. "I'd like to get started."

"Do you know who Sebastian Melmoth is?" Maggie asked. "We've tried to find any trace of him, but the only thing we've come up with is a pseudonym for Oscar Wilde."

"That and the fact that Emily Dickinson wrote some really raunchy poems," Kara said.

Maggie laughed and picked up one of the files off the table, then swatted Kara with it. She turned and stopped cold the second she saw Lena, which looked like all the blood had drained from her face.

"You know who he is," Maggie said.

"When Lex was 13, he read the entire works of Oscar Wilde and for weeks, he had us call him by Oscar Wilde's pseudonym, Sebastian Melmoth."

"So, Sebastian is Lex," Kara said.

"Which means Lex bought a missile base in Rubniu, wherever the hell that is," Maggie said. "Great. Just fucking wonderful."

"Rubniu?" Lena asked.

"Yeah," Kara said. "Susan thinks it's a cipher of some sort, but she doesn't know what kind or the key, so until we can break it, we're stuck."

"It will be a double breasted interrupted key cipher. Melmoth will be the key. How is Rubniu spelled?"

Kara pointed to the murder board. Lena got up and picked up a marker as she walked over to the window. She uncapped the marker and started writing a single word. Kaznia.

"Well, I guess we're going to Kaznia," Kara said.

"Fuck," Maggie said.