Any other time, it would have been only too easy to know why Alex chose to lead her through the twisting halls of the DEO until her guiding ex was sure they weren't followed nor overheard as she found a room more suited to whatever plan was forming in her beautiful genius mind.
Phantom desire, overshadowed by remaining pain, swept through her, nearly making Maggie trip over her own feet. If it hadn't been for Alex seeming to understand the tidal wave of emotions within her and surrendering Maggie's wrist for her hand after glancing over her shoulder at Maggie's low intake of breath the further, they moved away from the familiar activity of the DEO hub.
"I've got you Mags." Alex promises a breath of a sound really for how softly the words were spoken.
How could she know that it was only driving the unintended knife deeper into Maggie's still-beating heart?
But then Alex was pulling them to a stop without releasing Maggie's hand as Maggie herself redirected her gaze to the floor than risk losing it all in catching Alex's eye.
The special rawness in those eyes Maggie always felt so privileged to catch.
This had to be some remembered memory anyway, Maggie thought to herself. However, that would also mean she'd unintentionally fallen asleep during Alex's statement recording and was now probably drooling on her own shoulder or, worse, onto Eliza's.
"Not a dream, Sawyer." Alex laughs as if reading her thoughts.
"You're with Kel-"
Alex's hand lifts to cover Maggie's mouth with a single finger yet it's the sound of Alex's giggled laughter that draws Maggie's downcast eyes with an intrigued glance. "Sorry, just- last time I tried this, I was dealing with puppy paws." Alex says flexing the rest of her fingers without lifting the one pressed so lightly to Maggie's chapped lips.
The mood dimmed when, instead of a smile as Alex had been hoping for, Maggie only backed away a few steps, her arms wrapped in defensive tightness around herself as her eyes darted around untrusting, looking anywhere but at the pouting expression Alex was sending her.
"What do you want from me, Alex?"
The use of her actual name stead of Maggie's usual "Danvers" only earned another deeper punch to Alex's already fragile heart. "I- I just wanted to talk with you."
Maggie gives a deep intake of breath at the broken hesitance in Alex's whispered answer and, for an equally held heartbeat, had Alex petrified that she was going to walk away all over again.
"Go head then. Talk." Maggie prompts. "I'm sure Kelly isn't so happy about this so I'd rather her not…"
"There is no her for me. Not anymore." Alex tells her cutting right to the heart of this. "We've broken up."
"Well, as breakups with you go, that was…." Maggie starts to comment only to stop herself with a hard shake of her head and a huffed "You know what, doesn't matter." Comment trying all over again to erase the memory of witnessing the almost kiss with her ex and her replacement as Alex's girlfriend.
"Maggie."
A pained kind of glare answers her as Maggie looks up at her through the half-shielded covering she'd created with her hair.
With an actual growl in frustration, Alex stomps the last few separating steps to punch the door of the room they'd been heading for out of her way with only a called "I'm assuming you've changed your passcode?" over her shoulder that clues Maggie in on the fact Alex was now holding the cop's phone hostage.
"What the hell, Danvers." Maggie sighed in frustration as she followed. "Hand it over."
Alex was grinning in pleased triumph as she looks from the phone screen to Maggie and back again. "Does Gracie know you've changed your lock screen?"
"What are you talking about? That one was before the two of you were…."
"Guess again, Mags." Alex smiles, glancing again at the chosen background image. "This was right after our switch. I remember cause it was also the first time since I'd been changed that puppy me allowed a bath without wetting myself like half a dozen times."
Maggie recoils at her own memories she'd rather not drag up. "Still wouldn't have noticed. Gracie has been known to pee herself at bath time, and that is more because she enjoys bathing." The cop says, fidgeting a little more under Alex's scrutinizing gaze as she looks from the locked phone screen to Maggie and back again.
"More she likes when you sing to her." Alex sighs "I know I did." She adds in a low sigh of a confession as a hazy 'puppy memory' drifts back to her.
The water might not be as cold as last time, but still wet. Still weighing her down.
More rushing in, the splashing of it scrapping like wet sandpaper dropping against Alex's furred ears as she scrambles for some kind of safety.
"Maggie. Maggie help. Maggie, I'm going to drown." Alex begs, trying again to jump her waterlogged, fur-covered body out of the half-filled trap.
"Hey, easy, Gracie." Maggie soothes at Alex's panicked attempts to scrabble out of the deep walled sink. "Easy. Sweet girl." Her ex-calms misunderstood Alex's fear for that of the still rumbling storm outside than the remembered terror at being a captive of her high school stalker. "It's just bath time, sweetie."
But then, after helpfully pulling the wet-furred Alex into her arms, she leads to Alex's floppy puppy ear, immediately seeking out the calming beat of her ex's heart against her furry cheek.
The moment was made even better when Maggie began to sing to her.
Well, hum to her more like. Reminding the quickly calming puppy that was her ex-fiancée that although Maggie wasn't the best at true singing like Kara or maybe Kelly, she could slay at lip sync battles, and she did carry a tune well if she kept to the instrumental side of it.
A lullaby tune Alex had heard her use once or twice in comforting Kara when her sister's demons would crop up. Kara had been trying to seek Maggie's comfort over Alex's in Kara's small attempt to draw Maggie closer to their chosen family.
"I don't sing; you knew that well before you gained those cute puppy toe beans." Maggie argues.
"Some people still count humming as singing, Mags." Alex points out with a shy smile.
"Whatever." Maggie groans, her hand still held out. "My phone?"
"Trade ya for it." Alex bargains.
"For what?" Maggie asks warily. "And I thought you wanted to talk?" she reminds, rubbing her seeking hand over her face in quiet frustration. Mostly at herself when she only wanted to kiss away the pained look clouding Alex's expression. That is until a fash of the 'almost kiss' replayed in her mind, earning a low intake of breath as she got herself back under control.
"Oh, I do." Alex nods, still cradling Maggie's cell phone like it was the most precious thing to her. "but right now… I—" she hesitates but takes a breath, forcing her chin up to catch Maggie's equally shy gaze. "I just wanna dance with you."
Maggie blinks, surprised by the admission. Obviously not the one Alex was meaning to use but Maggie wasn't about to push too hard just yet to find out what that might entail. "And this is meant to make me believe I'm not dreaming because?" she questions.
"Maggie, please."
Again, the rawness of Alex's voice cuts deeper between Maggie's ribs until she was again sidetracked this time by the sudden crackling of music coming from her hijacked call phone. "Just dance, Sawyer," Alex whispers, sliding the phone onto one of the shelves fixed against the wall behind her, already swaying her body in an attempted dance move not at all in time with the beat of the chosen song. "Just dance."