Once Upon National City
A/N: And so we come to the end of the 'Just Another Day' mini drabble series. After this, the drabbles will return to their regular, non-related selves. Maybe. XD
Please read the end Author's Notes for some important details on the posting schedule for this series.
Just a heads up, there's some mild language in this chapter. Nothing really bad though. ;)
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Badassfox – Thanks for the review! :) No worries on being late. I'm glad you enjoyed the drabble. Nothing like some drama to make people realize what's important, right? Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them.
Summary: Maggie was not a hero. She just did what had to be done. But for Alex, she would do anything, become anyone. Because for Maggie, there was no one else in the world more worth it. Sanvers. Romance/Friendship.
*** ~ Just Another Day – Part III ~ ***
~ Present Time ~
"Really?"
This place was like a maze.
"I'm no cartographer, but still," Maggie grumbled to herself. "This is ridiculous."
Like a really, really big maze. One which apparently had no exit. At least, not one Maggie had seen.
Yet.
Shifting the weight on her back slightly to alleviate the growing pain in her sides, Maggie rubbed an aching hand across her bleary eyes, all the while glaring at the fourth dead end she had come across in the span of minutes.
"Four down, only a million other tunnels to go," she muttered. The NCPD officer briefly glanced behind her before turning around to explore tunnel number five.
After successfully bringing Alex back from the dead, Maggie had little time to celebrate her feat, the now noticeable rumble overhead warning just how unstable the area was. Realizing they didn't have much time before the ceiling truly came down upon their heads and buried them alive, it was a race against time to free the DEO agent from her exo-skeleton suit, Maggie barely dragging both their asses into the clear before rock and debris rained down upon the area booming like thunder.
"Maggie…?" came Alex's soft, scratchy voice, Maggie somehow still hearing it in spite of her currently ringing ears.
Adrenaline pumping through her veins from that near miss, her heart threatening to burst from her chest, Maggie tore her wide eyes away from the rock slide which ended just inches away from their feet to look at the woman next to her.
"Danvers," she said, Maggie's gaze softening at the sight of the brunette. "Hey."
Both of them were filthy, a layer of dust smudged across their faces, dust caked across their clothes and turning them an ugly shade of grey. Even so, Maggie's heart fluttered in her chest as the corners of Alex's mouth curled upwards, the look of adoration, even in the agent's unfocused eyes, making Maggie feel giddy.
"You're beautiful," Alex said, her words slurred.
Maggie's cheeks reddened in an instant, her grin mirroring her companion's.
"You getting soft on me, Danvers?" she asked, Maggie tucking a lock of dusty, dark hair around Alex's ear.
The smile on Alex's face widened even more, Maggie quickly getting lost in hazel eyes.
"Maybe," the DEO agent said, Alex reaching up to catch Maggie's hand before she pulled it back. "Is that bad?"
Maggie laughed, gently squeezing the hand intertwining her own.
"No," she said, her heart feeling absolutely full. "No, it's not a bad thing."
Since their close call, Alex had teetered in and out of consciousness, something which worried Maggie greatly. While she knew they should have stayed put, as was drilled into her during her sole survival class at the academy, Maggie had no intention of sticking around, waiting to see how much more of the ceiling would come down upon their heads as they waited for rescue.
Once was enough.
So after taking a moment to catch her breath, and to awkwardly hoist the half conscious and injured DEO agent onto her back piggy-back style, Maggie walked away from the half caved in mess behind them, through what seemed to be the remnants of some earlier era in National City's history, armed with only the flashlight in her pocket. She could only hope their rescuers would not be dissuaded when they found Alex's exo-suit buried under rock.
Standing at the mouth of yet another intersection of this seemingly unending network of underground tunnels, Maggie paused for a moment to figure out what to do next. Slightly breathless with sweat rolling down her brow, she huffed in annoyance as her gaze met stone, stone, and more stone, the walls, ceiling and floor made of the same light grey rock, making everything look alike. At wits end when it came to navigating this place, Maggie did the only thing she could do in this situation, and left things to chance, hoping for the best.
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe," she muttered, the NCPD detective mumbling her way through the age old children's counting rhyme. Eventually settling on the third tunnel from the left, Maggie slowly trudged down the tunnel, silently hoping this would be the one to finally lead them to the surface.
"I don't know about you," Maggie said, more to herself than to the unconscious brunette on her back. "But when I get out of here, I could really do with a greasy burger and those amazing potato wedges from that joint down on Fifth Street. You know the one I'm talking about, the one which serves vegan ice cream."
Alex was in bad shape. While the DEO agent seemed to have avoided the worst injury from their fall due to the exo-suit she had on, Alex hadn't escaped completely unscathed. Using the right sleeve of her shirt to wipe away most of the blood from Alex's face, Maggie ended up ripping off her left sleeve to make a haphazard bandage of sorts, one which wound around Alex's head, covering the brunette's left eye in an attempt to stem the bleeding above her eyebrow.
Rolling up her NCPD jacket, she bound Alex's right arm up in a crude sling, Maggie discovering that injury when the agent complained about it during one of her more semi-conscious moments. It was hard to tell whether it was a dislocated shoulder or a broken arm, as Maggie was no doctor, but she did her best to make Alex as comfortable as possible with what she had.
Thankfully, nothing else seemed to be horribly wrong between the two of them, aside for some minor scrapes and bruises, and probably a concussion on Alex's part, and possibly Maggie's, the latter debatable. While her sides still hurt a lot, the burning pain now wrapping around from her ribs towards her back, Maggie continued to ignore it, focusing everything she had instead on getting them out of here. There had already been a second cave in behind them after that initial one, and not being particularly keen on testing their luck a third time, Maggie pressed on, even if it meant gritting her teeth the entire way.
"Mmm…" Maggie murmured through clenched teeth, exhaustion starting to weigh her down. "What I wouldn't give for some vegan ice cream right about now…"
After what felt like forever, the tunnel she was walking down started to slant upwards, hope blossoming inside Maggie's chest as the air here seemed a bit fresher and not as stagnant. Then the path opened out into yet another crossroads, this time with double the amount of passageways than previously, making Maggie hang her head in exasperation. Too tired at this point to even care where they were going now, Maggie unenthusiastically headed for the right most passageway, the closest one to them, only to stumble over her own feet after a few steps in weariness.
"Jesus Christ, Danvers!" she grunted, nearly toppling over. "What the hell do you eat?"
As fit as she was being NCPD and all, there was no doubt in Maggie's mind that Alex had a higher muscle per pound ratio than she did, making this walk increasingly challenging. Not that she was really complaining. Maggie would gladly walk ten thousand miles with Alex on her back if that's what she had to do. Yet as willing as her spirit was, her body could only take so much, and the aches and pains were really starting to make themselves known now. But Maggie was stubborn, as all Sawyer women were, so she continued her torturous walk forward, albeit grumbling the entire time.
"You're only taller than me by like what? Three inches?"
Maggie huffed, swiping at her forehead for a moment before shining her flashlight ahead once more.
"How are you this heavy?"
The slight curling of fingers.
"You calling me fat, Sawyer?" a groggy voice slurred next to her ear.
"Danvers!" Maggie exclaimed, immediately halting in her steps. Head whipping to the side, the flashlight shining upwards between them, Maggie turned just in time to see bleary brown eyes open lethargically. One of them at least.
"How are you feeling?"
Alex's head dropped back down to Maggie's shoulder, the DEO agent sighing deeply, her eye closing again.
"That's up for debate," the brunette mumbled.
Maggie chuckled. "That good huh?"
Her only response was a groan.
Inhaling deeply, her ribs and back really starting to give her hell, Maggie scanned the area for a spot to rest. Finding none, none that she deemed relatively defensible should something actually come after them down here, she reluctantly continued her way down the tunnel, a bit more alert than she was previously.
"How are you doing back there?" Maggie queried with a pant, after some more discontented mumbles sounded in her ear. Her eyes and flashlight darting left and right over the path ahead, Maggie frowned when a muffled murmur was her reply, one she didn't quite understand.
"What was that?" she asked, her gaze shifting back to the brunette over her shoulder. Maggie stopped walking.
"Danvers?" she repeated when she didn't get an answer after a few seconds, the NCPD officer wondering if Alex had passed out again. Maggie almost dropped the DEO agent when the woman started squirming, trying to clamber off of her back.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Maggie exclaimed, fumbling to maintain her hold on both her flashlight and Alex. "Danvers! What are you doing?! Stop squirming!"
At her words, the brunette gave up her escape attempt, Alex raising her head from Maggie's shoulder to squint at her.
"I can walk on my own," the agent grumbled, not looking very impressed. Well as unimpressed as Alex could look with only one eye visible.
"Not right now you can't," Maggie countered.
"Says who?"
"Says me," Maggie said, very much amused by the banter going on between them currently.
It was very enlightening, witnessing this very childish side of Alex Danvers. No doubt this behaviour stemmed from the assumed concussion the agent suffered, but still. From what Maggie had gathered during their time together, Alex lost what was left of her childhood the moment Kara was adopted into the family and Jeremiah passed away. So to see Alex now, like this, it made Maggie fall even deeper in love with the woman than she already was.
Oh she was so screwed.
"What?" Maggie asked, as the DEO agent continued to stare at her.
"I don't like you very much right now," Supergirl's sister stated.
Maggie laughed softly but quickly thought otherwise when her back complained from that minute movement. The NCPD officer opted to smirk instead.
"Now you're just making fun of me."
Biting back another chuckle, Maggie bit her tongue until the laughter bubbling in her throat died.
"I swear, I'm being serious," she said, in as firm and serious voice as she could manage. "You're really in no condition to walk right now, Alex."
Apparently Maggie wasn't very convincing.
"Liar."
God this woman was something else. If only she had a camera to record this whole thing right now. It would make for great blackmail material. Sadly her phone did not survive their tumble down into wherever the hell this place way, the device probably buried under tones of rock, just like Alex's exo-skeleton suit and Maggie's gun.
"When have I ever lied to you, Danvers?" Maggie challenged, the opportunity to tease the usually stiff Alex Danvers just too good to pass up.
The sole brown eye staring at her narrowed a bit, making Maggie raise an eyebrow.
"There was that one time-"
Christ almighty! Of all of the things Alex could remember right this instant, in her current state no less, she goes on about that.
"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" Maggie huffed, one part exasperation, one part embarrassment. "C'mon Danvers! That was one time! Cut me some slack!"
"You said you could play a Superman under the table," Alex stated, the brunette throwing Maggie for a loop by pouting.
Oh boy. Here we go.
"I never claimed Superman was any good at pool," she said, Maggie tearing her gaze away from the woman on her back to maintain some semblance of coherency. Whoever taught the agent those famed puppy dog eyes deserved to be shot. Seriously, that ridiculous look would be the death of her. And Alex only had one good eye right now too!
"You can't blame me for wanting to impress a pretty girl," Maggie muttered under her breath, her cheeks flushing the same shade of red they did back then. She should have known better than to think Alex couldn't hold her own in something as simple as pool. The brunette was such a nerd after all.
"You think I'm pretty?" came a surprised whisper, shaking Maggie out of her thoughts.
Wide eyes snapped back to over her shoulder when she realized what had been asked, Maggie quickly finding herself frozen under Alex's innocent gaze.
"Uhh..."
Crap. Did she actually say that out loud?
"Maggie-" the agent began.
"You know what?" Maggie said, turning away again and walking over to the closest perpendicular surface on their right. "I think it's time to sit."
Stumbling over to a small patch of ground unburdened by left over debris, Maggie did an about face, doing her best to set Alex down gently, positioning the DEO agent so that her back rested against the wall. That earned Maggie a pained hiss, Alex's dismount not exactly soft as Maggie half rested, half dropped the brunette due to her own injuries giving her problems, but at least now they could both rest, something Maggie was berating herself for not doing sooner.
"Sorry," Maggie mumbled as she all but collapsed next to the elder Danvers, Maggie feeling as if she'd just been run over by a dump truck. Closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the stone wall behind them, she inhaled as deeply as she could, the dizziness currently making her stomach flip easing just a tad.
"You alright?"
Maggie chuckled lightly, her left arm wrapped around her stomach, bracing tender ribs.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Maggie questioned. Her stomach settling a bit, she opened her eyes and looked to the side, meeting the imploring gaze of a one Alex Danvers.
"You first," Alex said stubbornly.
Maggie was so not in the mood for this conversation right now, but it wasn't like she could really do anything to stop it. Not after she opened up that can of worms. So rather than fight fate and knowingly lose, she instead chose to meet it head on, getting lost in Alex's soft look, only silence between them.
"Maggie?" Alex said breaking the silence after a moment, hesitation in her voice.
The soft whisper of her name had Maggie turning away again, the shame of her mistake that night nearly drowning her. The night that Alex kissed her in the alien bar they often frequented. The night she broke the agent's heart, at the same time, breaking her own. The night when everything changed. And then today, Alex almost died and-
Maggie gritted her teeth, her jaw clenching tightly as tears pooled at the corners of her eyes.
Maggie was not a hero. She just did what had to be done. But for Alex, she would do anything, become anyone. Because for Maggie, there was no one else in the world more worth it. Because for Maggie, there was only Alex. And for Alex, she would finally stop running.
"I'm sorry, Alex," Maggie said, her voice thick with emotions. In her peripheral vision, the DEO agent tilted her head to the side in confusion.
"For what?" the brunette asked, clearly not understanding what Maggie was apologizing for.
"You-"
Sniffling slightly, Maggie cleared her throat, hoping the lump which had formed there just seconds ago would disappear.
"You almost died," she tried again, the hand pressed against her stomach snaring a handful of her shirt in a white knuckled fist. The lump in her throat only got bigger.
"Uh, yeah, no," Alex said, the DEO agent sounding the most coherent she had ever been since they were trapped down here. "You wouldn't have let that happen. You didn't let it happen, Maggie. I'm still here."
"Wait, I know that," Maggie said, her breath hitching in her throat when Alex's uninjured hand covered her own. "But-"
"Maggie-" Alex started, but Maggie wouldn't let her finish.
"I was so stupid," she said cutting Alex off. Maggie shook her head. "I thought that - well I guess I was kinda right - that you came out for me. And that..."
A thick swallow.
"That scared me."
Inhaling shakily, Maggie scrounged up the sliver of courage she had left and turned to look at the woman who had been in her thoughts for months now, and didn't even realize it.
"But life is too short," she said with a smile, Maggie daring to intertwine their fingers together. "And we should be who we are..."
Alex's eye widened considerably, the agent's gaze darting down to their linked hands before darting up to meet Maggie's eyes once more. To Maggie's surprise, the brunette did not pull away from Maggie's touch. In fact, Alex seemed to do the direct opposite, the other woman slowly starting to lean closer to her.
"And we should kiss the girls we want to kiss..." Maggie said, finding herself growing more breathless the longer she talked.
"And I really just..."
Maggie's eyes drooped shut as her last words came out in a whisper.
"I really just want to kiss you..."
Lips met lips hungrily, longingly, and passionately, Maggie's hands cupping Alex's cheeks while the DEO agent's good arm curled around her shoulder. Everything that was left unsaid was finally understood, accepted, and reciprocated, Maggie pressing closer to Alex as their kiss lengthened, the elder Danvers doing the same. But, like all good moments, this too had to come to an end, Maggie pulling away first when she could no longer ignore her burning lungs. Breathing in much needed oxygen, Maggie smiled as Alex pressed her forehead to hers, a large smirk stretching across the agent's face.
"So you're saying you like me?" Alex said, her voice cracking slightly. The hazel coloured eye looking at her was warm and so full of love. "That's what I got."
Chuckling softly, Maggie nodded, her own smile just as brilliant.
"Of course," she replied back, sneaking in a quick, chaste kiss much to the brunette's delight. "You're not going to go crazy on me now. Are you?"
Fluttering her eyelashes playfully, Alex shrugged her shoulders (as much as she could with one good arm that is), before snuggling up against Maggie's side, her head on her shoulder.
"Probably, yeah," the DEO agent said, sighing happily.
"Yeah?"
Wrapping an arm around Alex's shoulders, Maggie rested her head softly against the agent's.
"Yeah," Alex confirmed, making herself comfortable just as shouts could be heard down the tunnel from the direction they came from.
Maggie looked up when a blur of red and blue and blonde whooshed onto the scene. Turning back to the woman in her arms, as Supergirl now rushed up to the both of them, she gently pulled Alex that much closer to her, leaning in so only the agent could hear.
"Good," she said, pressing a kiss to Alex's temple. "Because I'm crazy about you too."
A/N: I know Alex was a bit out of character here, but she did have a concussion, so I blame it on that. Lol.
The character of Maggie Sawyer was first introduced in the Superman comics in April 1987. And hence why she jokes in this drabble about being able to beat Superman at pool. To learn more of Maggie's origins in the comics, read more here (replace commas with periods): en,wikipedia,org/wiki/Maggie_Sawyer
This kind of turned out to be an alternate ending to Season 2, Episode 8 of the show. Except here, Alex is the one who almost dies and not Maggie. Ah well. It was a fun piece to write. XD
Onto to other news, I'm stretching out the posting schedule for this piece a bit. Real life stuff is getting busy again, so I'll be posting to this on a monthly basis instead of a bi-weekly basis. As I still have a backlog of ideas for drabbles for this, I've posted up a poll on my profile page, giving you all, my readers, the opportunity to help me decide which drabble to write next. The poll will be up for roughly a month, at which time I will get started on the drabble of choice, while posting up a new poll. Let's see how that goes for the next few months, and if that doesn't work out so well, I'll try something else. So vote away ladies and gentlemen! Alex's and Kara's fate is now in your hands! XD
