"Give me a few minutes, Mags. I've got to get this information for J'onn and then we can go." Alex was bent over her computer, lips pressed together as she focused on the screen.
Maggie would die before telling her she found that expression cute. "No worries. Winn won't die if his favorite Mario Kart competition is a few minutes late." Dropping into the chair next to her girlfriend, she got comfortable. "What are you working on?"
The pictures and bulleted information she caught on the computer looked like it had come from a law enforcement database. One for aliens, given the number of spikes emanating from the current "person".
"The Joint Chiefs are asking for a rundown of all the Fort Rozz escapees we've either detained or eliminated." Alex's sigh seemed to come all the way from her soul. "It's a fucking long list."
"That's because J'onn's Number One Agent is a complete badass," Maggie boasted. She rubbed her foot along Alex's calf. "I hear she scares all the DEO rookies and always hits what she shoots."
Alex snorted. "If only."
About to tease Alex, Maggie froze when Alex tapped a key and a new picture came up. A woman with piercing green eyes and a white streak in her dark hair. "Who's that?" she asked in a tight voice.
Silence filled the room for a minute. "General Astra In-Ze of Krypton." Alex's hand hovered near the image. "Kara's aunt."
Kara's aunt? Jesus fucking Christ.
"We…I…" Alex faltered.
And Maggie rushed to fill the sudden lack of conversation. "It's OK, Allie. You don't have to tell me." Alex really didn't. Maggie had no desire to hear what bleak fate the DEO had dished out to Astra. Wrapping an arm around Alex, she lay her head on Alex's shoulder. "I've got you, babe."
The truth was, though, that Maggie needed Alex's warmth. The strength in the slim form pressed against her as she remembered a calloused palm cupping her cheek in her shitty Gotham apartment.
"It was way before I met you." Alex cleared her throat. "I swear I was going to tell you."
"Hey! Kara doesn't seem to blame you." Not surprising. Kara thought the sun rose and set on Alex. And, if her aunt had been in an alien prison, Kara might have considered Astra the black sheep of the noble House of El. "It's none of my business why you had to kill her aunt."
Alex went stiff and still.
Shit! Maggie silently cursed her tone-deaf comment. "I'm sorry; that wasn't what I meant to say." It had just been such a shock to see Astra after all this time. To learn…to learn that she was… Maggie couldn't even think the word.
Alex slowly swung her chair, so she faced Maggie. "Astra isn't dead," she said softly. "Not that General Lane didn't try to kill her when we had her in DEO custody." Glancing up, Alex sighed. "Remember when I told you about the Black Mercy?"
Black Mercy. Maggie frowned. "The thing that made Kara dream about Krypton?"
"Yeah." Alex rubbed the back of her neck. A sure sign that she was uncomfortable or embarrassed. "Astra's the one who told me how to save Kara."
There was more to the situation than that. Maggie waited Alex out.
"I convinced her to turn herself in and eventually she gave us the information to stop Myriad and beat Non." Alex's gaze slid away. "J'onn lobbied the President and got Astra a Presidential Pardon – but Astra had to be supervised until she proved she was going to be an asset to the DEO."
Maggie started to piece together the rest of the story. The part Alex wasn't telling her. "She's the roommate." The owner of the odd article of clothing in a drawer and the collection of art supplies that Alex didn't have the skill or inclination to use.
When Alex blushed, Maggie made the final connection. "Unless you bought a new couch, Danvers, there's only one bed in your apartment." They'd shared Astra as a lover. Maggie started to laugh.
"Hey!" Alex slapped at Maggie's arm, skin a fiery red.
It only made Maggie laugh harder.
Still blushing but beginning to look annoyed at Maggie's mirth, Alex turned back to her computer and pounded a few keys. Astra's image disappeared as Alex finalized the report. The tight line to Alex's jaw helped quell Maggie's laughter. "Don't be like that, Danvers. You'll think it's funny, too."
Waiting until Alex sent off the report, Maggie leaned back in her chair. "You ever play pool with Astra?"
"What?" Alex stared at Maggie in confusion.
"Bear with me, babe." Maggie gave up on lounging and scooted as close as possible to Alex. "I'll explain in a minute."
"A few times. She's a shark, though. I wasn't much of a challenge." Alex tilted her head, and Maggie smirked. "She reminds me a lot of you. I stopped playing with her. It's too demoralizing."
The smirk grew. "Once upon a time, a cop and a Kryptonian walked into a bar…"
Alex glanced over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow. Maggie clearly read the unspoken question: Are you ready?
So, so ready. Maggie stepped behind Alex as Alex knocked on Kara's door.
It sprang open immediately. Someone had been spying. "You're late! I thought you weren't coming!" Kara grabbed Alex and towed her inside, leaving Maggie to trail behind. It worked perfectly for their plan.
"I had to work." A chorus of voices called hellos. "Stop gripping me, Kar. I'm not sure my feet are on the floor anymore." Their forward progress halted. "Plus, Maggie and I stopped to get something special for tonight."
That was her cue. Maggie stepped around Alex, and only years of training disguised the way she searched the room for one guest in particular. Alex's hand landed on her shoulder. Fingers tightening. "Aldebaran rum." Maggie's voice tangled in her throat as Astra's eyes widened at the announcement. "It's supposed to a favorite on Krypton."