Maggie spoke while driving but she wasn't even sure Alex was paying attention. Alex hadn't said a word and even had her head positioned in a way that was tilted toward the passenger side window as if she was looking out it.

She had caught at least Alex's part of the conversation with Kara who was clearly not happy at being sidelined for this excursion. And as wound tightly as Alex was, Maggie was certain that it wouldn't take much for Alex to call in her sister or a strike team.

Maggie was going to do everything in her power to prevent that from happening.

From her talk with Sh'ian, she was convinced that this had all been an unfortunate accident. There had been no intention on his part to hurt Alex. He had merely reacted instinctively to what he perceived as a threat to him returning to Melinda with the medication he believed she needed.

Despite all her time being around aliens she had no idea there was an underground maternity ward for cross-species couples. But the conditions some of these families were in were nothing short of appalling. Dustin explained that many of the couples had nowhere else to go. Regular doctors and clinics wouldn't see the women after they learned they were carrying an alien's baby. Not all the women were human. Some were aliens themselves who had been impregnated by humans or by other aliens, not of their species.

All their medical care came from med students or nurses with the occasional visit from an actual doctor.

The fear and uncertainty among those there were palpable at times.

She was trying to get Alex to understand this so she would tread carefully.

"Are you listening to me?" Maggie asked her after Alex continued to remain silent.
"There is nothing wrong with my ears," Alex said.

Great, Maggie thought, this is not going well already. Maybe she made a mistake by bringing Alex into this at all. Maybe she should have gone straight to J'onn.

"You aren't saying much."

"What do you want me to say?" Alex said, still keeping her face pointed away from Maggie. "You apparently want me to become BFFs with this Sh'ian and pretend like I'm not blind because of him."

"That's not what I said, I'm just trying to explain the extenuating circumstances here," Maggie said. "He thought he killed you and was willing to kill himself to make amends, does that mean anything to you?"

This time Alex did look at her. "I know it probably should or at least you believe it should mean something to me, but right now … I don't care."

She stopped.

"You are hurting," Maggie said. "I know this. I have known this since the night I kicked your door in. I'm not talking about the physical pain which was evident from the very beginning. But don't tell me you don't care. You care. I know this because I know you, Alex. You have a big heart and … even in your anger, that doesn't change."

"I guess we will find out," Alex responded.

Maggie didn't say anything else until she parked the car. "I'm sorry for putting you in this position," Maggie said. "Maybe, I shouldn't have, but I believe that there was no malice intended on the part of Sh'ian. He was afraid for his partner and his child. These people aren't getting any sort of support from well anyone that is why they have gone underground like this. They fell in love – it didn't matter that they weren't from the same species. Their kids will face challenges their entire lives because of who their parents are. All of them are just on edge all the time because all they want is for their families to be safe. I asked them to let me bring you here knowing it would be a risk, not for you, but for them."

Alex took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes a moment before putting them back on. "He was on a prison ship," she said. "He was on a prison ship and here on earth, he was committing a crime when I encountered him."

She paused.

"But, I also know that you wouldn't be giving him the benefit of the doubt if you didn't have a reason," Alex continued. "I just hope he is worth your trust."

"Me too," Maggie said. "Are you ready for this?"

Alex nodded and Maggie unlocked the doors and stepped out.

….

Maggie could tell that Alex was uncomfortable by this whole trip, and she felt like she made it worse when she told her that she would probably need to keep a hold of her as they navigated the building. She was thinking that Alex would keep a hold of her hand and Maggie would warn her of any obstacles but Alex opted for Maggie to be in front of her and Alex kept a hand on her shoulder instead.

Outside of giving her a few directions, they didn't speak.

Even if she didn't know that Alex was tense, she would know by the death grip she now had on her shoulder.

"Who is there?" a voice called out and Maggie felt Alex's grip clench.

"It's Maggie," she called out. She got closer and she saw Dustin come out from behind the alien guarding the door.

"Hey," he said. "This is your friend?"

"This is Alex," Maggie said and she peaked into the room, where there seemed to be a lot of movement going on. "What's happening?"

"Two of the women went into labor," Dustin said. "Melinda is one of them and the other is not far behind her in terms of contractions. We're not … I'm a little over my head here. I tried to call the doctor that will sometimes come, but not having any luck."

"How far along is she?" Alex asked.

"She is almost at 10 centimeters," Dustin said. "The contractions … they didn't happen like normal. It just sort of started and fast."

"And the other woman?"

"She is at about 8 centimeters."

"Ok, do you have water and towels, basic medical items for deliveries?"

"Yeah, the bare minimum but we have it."

"Alright," Alex said. "Lead me in there."

"Wait, are you a doctor?"

"Yes, but I don't practice medicine," she tried to explain. "But unless you have a better option, I'm all you got at the moment."

Dustin looked at Maggie who nodded at him to get in there.

"You sure about this?" Maggie asked quietly as she lead Alex in.

"No. A cross-species birth probably isn't ideal under normal circumstances, going in literally blind, even worse," Alex said. "So prepare to scrub up detective because I'm going to need your help."

Maggie followed Dustin to where Melinda was – not that Maggie probably couldn't tell from the noise. As soon as they got there Sh'ian stood up as he saw them.

"Um … this is …" Dustin began to say.

"Alex," Maggie finished for him. "She's a doctor. She's here to help."

"Are you joking?" Melinda said just as a contraction hit her and she groaned in pain.

"I wish she was," Alex said. "Now someone needs to get us each a pair of gloves. I will need to check your dilation first and Maggie, you are going to need to be my eyes and describe everything. Dustin, go check on the other woman and see how close she is now. If she hits 10 centimeters, you are going to have to handle it, but for now, just check on her and get back here so you can assist as well."

Alex listened as Dustin moved away and she could tell there was someone near the pregnant woman.
"It's going to be ok, my love," Alex heard a voice say and she knew it must be the father of the child and the alien who blinded her. She tried to block his presence out of her mind even as Maggie handed her a pair of gloves.

In addition to her blindness, the situation was complicated by it not being an elevated medical bed or one with stirrups. After getting a few things moved around, Alex did a manual measurement for dilation.

"Shit," she said.
"What?" about four voices said at once.

"We are officially at 10, this baby is coming," Alex said. Of course, at the rate Melinda seemed to be groaning from the pain of contractions, Alex figured that this was indeed it. She had never delivered a baby before although she had observed it in medical school. But that felt like a lifetime ago.

"What do you need me to do?" Maggie asked.

"Hold on," Alex said as she was using her hands to feel what she could in the cervix. "What can you tell me about the birthing process for your species?"

The question, directed at Sh'ian seemed to catch him off guard, but he recovered quickly.

"Um, males are not allowed this close during the process," he said. "But this is too quick. Labor as you call it takes days for us."

Great, Alex thought, her first cross-species birth and she had no idea what to do.

"Dustin," she called out. "Had Melinda had an ultrasound done and if so, what can you tell me about it?"

"Why are you asking him?" Melinda said before yelling out in pain once more.

"That's why," Alex replied. "You need to concentrate on your breathing. Did you get taught the breathing techniques?"

"Yes," Melinda said through clenched teeth.

"Good," Alex said and thought as she had no idea what to tell her about her breathing. "Dustin?"

"Um, yes, she did at the clinic," Dustin said. "All was normal, or at least as normal as we could tell."

"So the umbilical cord was intact and where it would be for a human?"

"Yes."

Another thing in their favor Alex thought. The umbilical cord could be tricky if it got wrapped around the child, but from what Alex could tell this wasn't the case here.

"Ok, Melinda, I'm going to need you to push," Alex said.

Just as the first push happened, Alex heard someone else yelling off to her right.

"Please tell me that isn't what I think it is," Alex said.

"I'll be right back," Dustin said. Alex heard him leave and a moment later, "Um, Alex, Diane is … I think she's at 10."

"Fucking hell," Alex said, followed by "Push."

She could hear lots of people moving or voices and the noise was almost too much and she feared it would distract her.

"Maggie, take my glasses off," Alex said.

"But you can't …"

"Just take them off, please."

She felt Maggie take them off, but Alex kept her eyes shut. The glasses had been shifting slightly as she realized she was sweating and the moisture must be enough to cause the slight movement of them.

"Ok, Melinda, another big push," Alex commanded.

Time ceased to have meaning as Alex kept on task and occasionally had to call out to Dustin. When she felt the baby's head, she knew it was almost over, but she was extra careful not to rush it.

Maggie kept telling her what she could see and Alex hoped there would be no complications from here on out.

"Come on, one more push," Alex said.

Maggie was there with the towel and assisted Alex in getting the baby secured. Once she was sure Alex had the baby held, Maggie looked around for something to cut that umbilical cord and had to yell to Dustin to ask. They got the cord cut and Alex instructed her on clearing the baby's mouth before she handed the baby to Maggie entirely and then made her way toward the noise of the other pregnant woman.

The baby boy was crying, but Maggie could only stare in wonder at it as she handed him over to Melinda.

"Our son," Melinda said, looking down at the baby. Sh'ian who had held Melinda's hand throughout gently touched his son.

"Thank you," he said to Maggie.

"I'm not the one to thank," she responded looking over at Alex, who had swapped places with Dustin, who had been in a struggle figuring out what to do.

"She helped us after I hurt her," Sh'ian said. "Why?"

"That's just who she is," Maggie said.

"What is going to happen now?" Melinda asked. "Is she going to take Sh'ian away?"

"If she is, I must go with her," Sh'ian said. "It would only be the honorable thing to do after what she did for us."

"I can't lose you," Melinda said. "We can't. I can't do this on my own."

"Yes, you can," Sh'ian said leaning over and kissing her on the forehead.

Melinda looked at Maggie, pleading with her eyes.

"I'm going to go check how they are doing over there," Maggie said. "You two just don't worry about anything but that little boy you are holding."

Maggie walked over to where the newest delivery was happening, but she stayed on the outskirts, watching in amazement at Alex. She truly was a badass, Maggie thought.

It didn't seem like it was that long before another child's wailing could be heard in the makeshift maternity ward and Alex was stepping back after handing off the baby to Dustin. Maggie walked over to her and warned her verbally so she wasn't caught off guard when she took Alex's hand and returned her glasses. Alex wiped her brow off first before putting them back on.

"You know you could have quite the second career if you wanted," Maggie said, watching the father of this baby get the honor of holding the baby first.

"I'll pass," Alex said. "Can you escort me out, I need to make a phone call to the DEO?"

"A strike team now, really?"

"No, not a strike team. A medical team," Alex said. "These babies and their moms need to be checked out by someone better suited than me."

"And what about Sh'ian?"

"I can talk to him later. Maybe see if he would be willing to come into the DEO for some tests."

"I think he would be willing," Maggie said smiling.

"Stop smiling," Alex said.

"Wait, how did you know?"

"I just know you," Alex said. "Now let's get the medical team here."