The conference call with the president, Colonel Preston and General Rogers didn't go well. It lasted only five minutes. General Rogers refused to accept that Alex had every right to arrest General Lane. He had gotten so frustrated by the presidents orders to keep Sam Lane locked up until a proper hearing could be held. With General Rogers no longer a part of the call Alex noticed Colonel Preston relax. The call should have only lasted another 10 minutes at most, but Preston told Alex and the president exactly what he told Lucy when she had called and asked if she could take a breather before telling the team in Washington the details of the mission. He also went into great detail about the conversation he had with General Lane two hours after his conversation with Major Lane.

What Preston had told them had Alex worried and she could see the worry in the presidents eyes. Alex had no doubt that a full investigation would be made with several members the army brass and any other military officers that General Lane has worked with in recent years.

The president dismissed the Colonel and she looked at Alex pensively. Then asked for full audio and video files of the exchange between Lucy and her father. As well as statements from everyone who had witnessed it. They discussed a few other DEO matters and then with the usual pleasantness that Alex was used to seeing the president ended the call.

It had lasted 2 hours. It had drained Alex emotionally. Then she remembered that Lucy was going to tell her and Vasquez about what had happened between her and her father. This was a conversation she wasn't looking forward to. She was on her way back to central command when she realized she would need to stop by Pam's office and fill her in on the updated status of the General Lane incident. The fact that Pam had a secret stash of booze was just an added bonus.

She knocked on Pam's door and let herself in, walking toward the paining that hid her stash of booze. She found a bottle of cheap whiskey. No doubt the one her girlfriend had drank from earlier. She sat across from the woman who she had begun to look at as the matriarch of their band of misfits at the DEO. Pam knew everything and hated that they managed to get into so much trouble all the time but deep down she loved them all.

"At least you have the decency to knock. The only reason your girlfriend gets away with it is because she was never a major pain in my behind. Which I guess I should offer my congratulations. You two love birds finally got your heads out of your asses."

Alex looked at Pam slightly appalled at the language the woman had used. Shaking her head, she poured herself a shot and downed. "Thank you, I think. Anyway the reason I'm here is the shot and I just finished the conference call. General Lane is staying here until they could get the hearing date nailed down. Lucy is going to be in for a hell of a fight. I know she feels like there are some fishy things happening in her father's close circle of people and after watching General Lanes superior get pissed that Lane was to stay locked up raises some concerns. Then Colonel Preston told President Marsdin and I some information that doesn't look good for General Lane."

Pam shook her head, "No that can't be good for him. Just make sure he isn't treated unfairly while he is here. It would give him a solid case to fight any charges presented. I also think it would be a good idea to hold off on bringing Lucy on until this mess is cleared up with her father. Or at least until he is no longer in out custody."

"I hate that I agree with you, but I know that would be best for everyone involved. I also hate that I have to take myself out of this equation entirely because Lucy and I are together. The General doesn't know that and I would like to keep it that way for now. Obviously, I'll keep a close eye on how the General is being treated but I have to keep my direct contact with him to absolutely necessary situations."

Pam was shocked that Alex Danvers would come to that conclusion herself. She just hoped she stuck to her guns. Pam had seen the footage of Alex, the woman hadn't stepped in until Lucy was in danger of being knocked out by her father. "Do you actually think you'll be able to keep your distance Director?"

"For Lucy's sake I have to. Well I gotta go check on the General and see if Hamilton has been able to check out the Generals injuries."

Alex put the whiskey and the shot glass back in their hiding spot and walked back to central command. What she wouldn't give to have J'onn back right about now.

Lucy went to her storage unit and took a couple of boxes of clothes. Right now, she was glad she had taken the time to use space bags to sort and store her clothing. She was able to grab just what she would need until she and Alex had a chance to really talk about them living together.

The place was Alex's by right and Lucy didn't want to overstep any boundaries before they had a chance to discuss things. She knew Alex wasn't kidding when she had said this always felt like their home. Even if Lucy had weaseled her way into it at first. In addition to the thoughts of a naked Alex Danvers beneath her she had revisited memories of nights on that couch with her best friend watching movies while she was gone.

It was one night in particular that she was on watch and freezing her ass of that she had remembered the first time Alex had come home to find her in the kitchen cooking them dinner. It was the first night Alex hadn't been surprised to find Lucy in her apartment unannounced. It was Lucy's favorite way to rile up Alex. She would usually complain about the reason she had given Lucy the key wasn't, so she could show up unannounced and help herself to whatever she wanted.

That memory had helped chase away some of the chill and was also the night Lucy realized that once she was back state side that she had to tell Alex how she felt. Even if she had already moved on from Maggie with someone else. Alex needed to know how Lucy felt. Because the night that Alex had walked through her apartment door to Lucy cooking in her kitchen had changed everything for them both but neither of them realized it.

2 years ago…

Lucy knew Alex had a rough day she knew Alex would give her hell when she walked through the door, but she also knew that after the kind of day Alex had a good home cooked meal would do wonders for her soul. She heard Alex's key scrape in the lock and in walked Alex. She saw Lucy but didn't say anything she dropped all of her stuff and took her shoes off at the door and came to sit at the bar across from Lucy.

Lucy looked at Alex's slumped form resting on top of the counter. Alex must have finally realized that she shouldn't be surprised to see Lucy in her apartment randomly. Or she really was too exhausted to put up a fight. "Rough day at the office Danvers?"

She heard what sounded like 'shut up Lane' but Alex still had her head buried in her crossed arms on the counter so she wasn't sure. "I'm sorry I couldn't quite make that out?"

Alex jerked her head up to glare at her "You're an ass you know that right?"

"I do but I only do it because I love you. But seriously you ok? I haven't seen you like this since after we disabled Myriad."

"Yeah, Luce I'm fine just sleep deprived is all." Alex pointed a finger in her direction, "Before you say anything I was under orders. J'onn had been injured badly and I had to stay and command the DEO. J'onn is ok now. He has to take it easy for a few days but that mostly means he gets to catch up on office work. He should be back to normal a few days before the President comes to visit National City. Because that is something I don't want to help set up security for."

"Well I'm glad J'onn is ok and if you're that exhausted you should go to bed. You've been up for 36 hours if I remember correctly."

"38 actually and I couldn't go to sleep now. Whatever your cooking smells amazing. I also haven't eaten in 10 hours and I'm starved. If I tried to sleep my stomach would just wake me with all its growling.

"And that is exactly why I'm here. I was banking on your last meal being last night when I dropped off dinner but I'm glad you managed to eat something other than that."

"You make it sound like I don't know how to take care of myself."

Lucy couldn't help but chuckle at the pitiful look Alex gave her. Alex was trying to look offended and failing miserably. Lucy pulled the chicken out of the oven. She knew she should let it rest for at least 10 minutes but she didn't want to risk Alex falling asleep at the table, so she plated up the green beans and potatoes and pointed Alex toward the table while she cut up the chicken.

She set the plate of chicken in the middle of the table and sat across from Alex. She watched as Alex dished out her food. This was the kind of thing she had wanted once with James. Early in their relationship she had dreamt of nights like this. James coming home from the Daily Planet, dinner almost ready and waiting and an easy banter that would flow between them. The longer Lucy stayed with James the less likely this kind of thing was going to happen.

If Alex wasn't so far in the closet she wouldn't mind having this become a permanent thing. Talking with Alex had always been easy. Well after Alex forgave her for arresting her and they learned that they actually had a lot in common. Alex had given her a key to her place when she was expecting a repair man but wasn't going to be there to let him in. Lucy had tried to give it back, but Alex had told her to keep it. Under the impression that it would just make her life easier when she came over to hang out. She could just let herself in.

"You cook better than my mom, but don't tell her I said that."

"Your mom isn't a bad cook Alex, but don't worry your secret is safe with me."

"Your secret is also safe with me. If Eliza finds out you can cook this well she'll ask you to help with every Thanksgiving until the day she dies. She might be a little upset that I can't cook. I can cook breakfast food if it came down to it but even that is a bit of a stretch. Kara is just as useless. But she can bake some pretty amazing muffins if she puts her mind to it."

"Oh, so your expecting me at all the Danvers family Thanksgivings now?"

"You know your part of the family so…Plus I figure you probably don't want to spend more time than necessary with your father."

"This is true, and Eliza reminds me of my mom. Not exactly like my mom but she has those motherly qualities I haven't had since mine died."

For the rest of the meal they had talked about anything that came to mind. Conversations with Alex were always easy. Nothing was off limits and if they couldn't find anything to talk about the silence was always comfortable.

Alex had wanted to help clean up but Lucy wouldn't let her. "Alex your practically dead on your feet. Go shower and I'll take care of clean up."

Five minutes later a freshly showered Alex had come up behind her, wrapped her arms around her waist and placed a kiss on Lucy's cheek, "I know I give you a hard time about showing up unannounced, but I only do that because I love you and I know you get a kick out of it. Also makes this place feel less lonely. Thanks for dinner I'm gonna crawl into bed now. Don't feel like you have to leave when you're done. If you want to hangout its ok."

Lucy watched as a very sleepy Alex trudged over to her bed. She slid underneath the covers and was out instantly snoring softly. She was very glad that Alex had become a part of her life even if it wasn't the way she had really wanted but maybe one day.

Present Day

She had finished up at her lawyer's office much faster than originally anticipated. Ben was going to go over her contract and the one she had signed for the mission she had been on. It had been years since she read her Army contract and wanted to make sure she had just cause to fight her father on keeping her in the Army. If it turns out that she couldn't get out of this she wouldn't put up a fight. She wasn't going to disrespect the uniform.

It's not that she hated Army life. There were aspects that she still loved about it. But she had been in the Army since she was 18. She had gone to West Point, done a few tours in Iraq, gotten her law degree, become a member of JAG and done her fair share of black ops missions over the years. She was ready to settle down. Maybe even start a family if that was something Alex wanted. She wanted to live her life on her own terms now.

She went back to their apartment and dropped off her clothes. She had briefly debated changing into real clothes but decided that she needed to wash the things she had taken out of storage. She threw a load into the washer and went to the grocery store.

She still wasn't sure what she wanted to make. Tonight was going to get heavy so she was thinking along the lines of comfort food, but she didn't want it to take forever to prepare. She knew Vas wasn't a huge fan of lasagna they would eat Lucy's only because she made it so well, but it wasn't their favorite. Also Lucy wasn't in the mood for lasagna, but she did want pasta of some kind.

She finally settled on carbonara but wanted to do it differently. She was studying two different packages of ravioli when she heard someone say her name. She looked around and found the source. A short, tan and dimpled detective. She couldn't help but smile. "Maggie, how are you?"

"All things considered I'm doing well. When did you get back?"

"Yesterday actually."

"Does Alex know your back?"

Lucy could detect the hesitance in Maggie's voice. This was probably the first time Maggie had said her name in a long time. "Yeah she does. I actually blew off a debriefing yesterday so I could come back to her." She wasn't expecting the smile that spread across Maggie's lips.

"All it took was you disappearing for a year and a half to realize that you couldn't keep your feelings for Alex in the dark anymore."

"I'm sorry you didn't get the happy ending you deserved Maggie. Alex hasn't told me yet why she ended things, but I know you deserve all the love in this world with a woman that will make you happy. I wish it had been with Alex."

"That makes two of us. But it turns out we both wanted different things. It's been almost a year and it has gotten easier but damn I miss her. She was the first woman to get me but we both had different ideas about our future and you know as much as I do that Alex deserves everything in this world that she wants. If I find out that you have hurt her Lane I will hunt you down and make you forget your own name."

"You still love her, don't you?"

"I do and honestly I probably always will. Which will make any future attempts at dating interesting. Honestly how do you top Alex Danvers?"

"You don't. But then again I've only had her for 24 hours and I was asleep for most of it. All I managed to do was cook her breakfast and have her save me from getting pummeled by my father."

"I don't think I want to know. I will say I do miss the Saturday breakfast dates. You Lucy Lane are a genius in the kitchen."

"Flattery will get you nowhere detective. I know you and Alex probably want nothing to do with each other for the foreseeable future, but I did always like you Maggie if you want to I would very much like to be friends. We can avoid all conversation about Alex if it would make things easier for you."

"I would like that Lane. Yeah Alex would have to be off limits for a while. Who knows maybe one day Alex and I could be friends. But that is a long way away. My number is still the same reach out whenever." Maggie started to walk away but turned around, "Lucy I am happy that you and Alex finally got together. When she ended things, I hoped that she had enough sense to wait for you. I always knew you had feelings for her. It took me awhile to realize why you never made a move and I have so much respect for you because of it. Some days I wish she had realized that she liked you long before I came into the picture but hey Alex realized that she is gay and we both got to benefit from that so I'll count that as a win."

"A win indeed. Take care of yourself Sawyer. I'll text you in a few days. Give you an update on all things Lucy Lane. Updates that don't involve Alex of course."

"I look forward to it Luce. Tell Alex I said hello."

She didn't get a chance to reply because Maggie was walking away. She wasn't going to leave Maggie hanging. But she couldn't reach out until she knew why Alex had ended things. Or she had gotten everything out in the open with Alex about her father and the things that happened on the mission. But she wasn't going to leave Maggie alone if she could help it. Maybe one day she and Alex could be friends again but for now Lucy would settle for them being friends.

Alex walked into an amazing smelling apartment. She wasn't sure what Lucy was cooking but it smelled amazing. Lucy had changed out of her uniform and into a pair of cut off shorts and a loose fitting white t-shirt. Her hair was back to the short waves that Alex had always loved on her.

Alex took off her boots and walked into the kitchen, placed a kiss on Lucy's cheek, "The hair looks good and dinner smells amazing."

"Thanks. It didn't take as long as I thought it might at my lawyer's office. Fate was on my side Angela had a cancelation and was able to fix my crazy army hair. As for dinner I hope it tastes as good as it smells. Trying something different and I'm not entirely sure it will work."

"I'm sure it will. I'm going to change." Alex was about to walk to the bedroom but Lucy took her hand, pulling her into a kiss. Alex could feel the emotions behind this one. Unlike the few kisses they have shared in the last 24 hours this one was the most intense. If they weren't careful Vasquez could walk in on them.

Lucy had been surprised yesterday when Alex had kissed her the first time. She was so gentle. If you told anyone at the DEO that agent badass was just a big old softy at home, they wouldn't believe you. Alex had protected Lucy from her enraged father today. She hadn't really taken the time to process. Here in the safety of home, with Alex she wanted to fall apart. Alex pulled away, took Lucy in her arms and let her cry.

After a few minutes Lucy pulled back, wiped the tears from her face, "Thank you for saving me today."

"Always, Luce." She placed a kiss on her forehead and walked back to the bedroom to change.

Lucy went back to finishing dinner. The ravioli was done, Vasquez should be here soon. Tonight, was going to be a long one. There were certain things that she had to keep to herself because it was classified but the things that weren't she wasn't going to sugar coat. She had lost a year and a half of her life for a mission that she didn't even agree with but her dad had insisted it was necessary for national security. She couldn't argue with orders from a general even if he was her father.

Just as Alex had thrown on her shirt there was a knock at the door. Alex opened it to find Vasquez on the other side with two bottles of Lucy's favorite whiskey. "Vas you are my new favorite person."

"One is a welcome home gift and the other is a gift from the 'daughters with shitty father's club'. I think after today you deserve it. Oh by the way Alex, Hamilton wanted me to tell you that she had to sedate the general in order to set his broken wrist and shoulder. He was still putting up a pretty good fight hours later."

"Thanks, I'll get her report and attach it to everything else I have to send to the president. There is going to be a huge investigation into the higher ups in the pentagon and we've got a huge fight on our hands. I can't go anywhere near Sam while he is in our custody. Once people find out Lucy and I are together it would make it harder for the charges to stick."

Lucy was surprised by that statement she would have expected Alex to forgo the formalities and make sure she was all the way in this situation. Even if she had orders to stay away Alex always found her way back into situations.

"Coming from you Alex that means a lot. So, you think the corruption goes that far? Not just my dad and a few of his superiors?"

"Colonel Preston gave us details of a conversation that he had with your father two hours after you had talked to him. The short version is your father wasn't too happy that you weren't going to be at the briefing and would be emailing it instead of giving it to them in person. There were a few other things mentioned but we can talk about that later."

Damn this was going to be a hell of a fight they had ahead of them. "Well dinner is ready. Let's dig in and Vas I want all the dirt on the Danvers sister's shenanigans while I was gone."

"Where do I start."