Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sister movie night (plus Maggie!) was about to begin when Kara’s head tilts slightly to the side.

“Oh! Ummm! I just realized! That, uh, I left something important! At work! And, uh, I need it now! You guys order the food and I'll be back!”

She runs (at human speed because Kara Danvers is supposedly human, so human speed is a must) out the door closing it before Maggie or Alex could respond.

“It's bad enough with the glasses, but her excuses are terrible! We need to tell her I know so she doesn't put herself in a panic trying to explain the heroics every single time.” Maggie laughs shaking her head.

“I don't know, I kind of enjoy seeing what she comes up with. It's always amusing watching her scramble. I mean she's bulletproof, yet she can't figure out how to leave a room without causing suspicion. It's great!” Alex chuckles as she grabs drinks for her and Maggie. “We should order food. I'm sure she'll be back soon and she'll be hungry.” She grabs her phone and hits the speed dial for Kara’s favorite place with the potstickers she loves so much.

“Ok, well then, pleeeaasseee order however much she normally eats and let's see how she tries to explain that!” Maggie gleefully goes to sit by Alex as she orders.

Alex grins at Maggie’s mischievous smile, “You’re incorrigible Maggie.”

“Me? I don’t know the meaning of the word.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alex leans in and kisses her girlfriend. Still, she orders too much food for three people, after all Kara would be hungry.

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Kara returns before the food even arrives, and finds Maggie and Alex curled up together on the couch laughing at whatever was happening on the Brooklyn Nine Nine episode they were watching.

“Hey Little Danvers! You get that thing from work you needed? I didn't see you bring anything in!”

Alex tries to suppress the smile on her face as she looks between Maggie's oh-so-innocent face and Karas deer caught in the headlights face.

“Oh! Uh, yeah, I, I found it. The paper. I mean. The thing, the paper thing I needed. But, uh, my boss was there? And he told me that I didn't need to worry about it! Sooo I just came back! To here!” She nervously fidgets with her glasses, then somehow manages to smudge them.

Alex chimes in as Kara tries to wipe the smudges off her glasses. “I thought your boss was a real hard ass! Why is he being so nice?”

Kara attempts to glare at Alex, but it's not at all convincing as she's holding her glasses up to the light and squinting to check they actually got cleaned.

Kara places her glasses roughly on her face as she keeps glaring at her sister, “He’s just tough! And I don't know. Maybe he had a nice day! And wanted to be nice!”

The doorbell rings saving Kara momentarily from the inquisition squad, she runs to answer it grabbing the money Alex had set on the table next to the door and pays for the food.

Kara immediately begins to unload the massive bags of food excitedly. “Potstickers!!!”

“Kara. You eat them all the time. Why do you always seem so surprised when I order them?!”

“Because they make me happy! And you know that. So you order them and that makes me happy. So I'm extra happy!” She shoves two into her mouth, and loads a pile more onto her plate.

“Whoa there little Danvers, you may love them, but are you sure you can eat all that?” Maggie tilts her head smirking at the sight of Kara freezing with two in her mouth, the plate in one hand, and two more in the other.

“Whuh uhh whuhbs….” she gulps the first ones down. “Well, uh, you see, I'm very hungry? And… ummm?”

“Ok, relax there Supergirl, just go sit on the couch and enjoy while Alex and I grab our food. And maybe in between a few of those potstickers you can get Netflix started with our movie.” Maggie pats Kara on the shoulder and they move past Kara grinning and grab their own plates for their food.

Kara is still frozen, starting at Alex and Maggie. “What?! Supergirl?! What?!”

“Relax Kara, Maggie knows. You really aren't that convincing. And she agrees with me on the glasses by the way!”

“Oh well. Ok, then wait! That means you're part of the Superfriends!!! You're coming to the next game night right?!”

“Of course! Can't let Alex think she's good at everything!” She bumps her girlfriend's shoulder, teasingly.

They all make their way to the couch with their food, settling in before starting their movie.

“So, how does the X-ray vision work? Because my captain has a locked drawer in his desk that he's super secretive about and we've got a running bet about it that I'd love some help winning!”

Kara grins and nods excitedly as Alex shakes her head at the duo.

Chapter Text

“You should, uh, get some fr-fresh air or, or something,” Winn stammers to Maggie as he hands her a cup of coffee causing her to stop her pacing. “She- They won't, uh, be done with her for a while, I mean that's what Google said, about her injuries, it said surgery takes hours sometimes, and it's, it's stuffy in here and there's the balcony thing over there where you can breathe, you know, in- in private.”

Maggie looks up at him and nods, and he's pretty sure she only heard about a third of what he said.

“I'll keep an eye on their status, I need to do things, I can't not... I'll let you know of anything as soon as I know, okay?” he says clearing his throat, clearly willing himself not to break down, at least not in front of Maggie. Not right now. “Okay?” he repeats and Maggie nods back at him her eyes devoid of everything but an intense worry.

She starts walking down the aisle Winn pointed to, and any outside observer would not notice that her usual swagger is missing. To those that don't know her, she always carries a delirious sense of confidence in her step, like somehow she’s unfazed by things around her. Only a handful of people were privy to the other side of her, and they would notice just how deeply things affected her. But that façade of confidence and defiance came from having to survive in Blue Springs Nebraska as a non straight, non white girl. But few knew that.

Maggie reaches the end of the hallway and the automatic doors open. A fresh breeze bathes her as she takes a deep breath, steps out onto to the landing and looks out to the city. The sun is starting to break the horizon and a group of birds fly in front of the building.

It truly is unfair how the world keeps spinning when Maggie's world is fighting for her life.

“Fuck,” she says in a soft and broken whisper as she forcefully holds back the tears that she should've shed what feels like eons ago.

There is some movement at the far end of the balcony, and when Maggie looks towards the noise she finds Supergirl leaning against the concrete ledge designed to be a form of stable safety.

“I'm sorry, I didn't know, you were… uh, here,” she says lamely and turns to leave the superhero alone.

“No, it's fine, please,” Supergirl extends her arm in invitation.

Maggie walks towards her side holding her cup like a crux, begging the universe for her composure not to fail her now. She steps closer and sees the small cracks and wear on the concrete underneath Kara's fists. She doesn't mention them.

“Is she still-” the words die out in Kara's mouth. She shakes her head ever so slightly trying to will away the events of earlier in the night.

“Yeah, Winn, uh, said he'll keep me, us, posted.” Maggie finally lets go of the coffee cup in her hands and places it by her feet. She quickly moves to hold the edge of the wall, the concrete digging into her palm.

Maggie wants to reach out to Kara, she wants to let her be as vulnerable as she looks, she wants to tell her it's okay to not be strong sometimes, but then again she's not a hypocrite. So instead she stands there, with her girlfriend’s sister, listening to the wind cut through buildings and watching the sun rise over the horizon.

“How are you holding up?” Maggie lamely asks because she can't stand how slowly time is moving.

“I've- I'm-” there's a beat before Supergirl continues “I'm not sure,” and Maggie wants to tell her that she knows about her being Kara, that right here right now she doesn't have to carry this weight alone, that Maggie will share her burden, that Maggie is sharing her burden.

She says nothing though. Maggie Sawyer has always been a doer. She places her hand on top of Kara’s. She still says nothing.

The superhero turns and faces her. There's something to be said about eyes that burn as bright as stars delicately transforming into a confused haze.

Maggie nods an ‘It's okay’ and Kara settles back to looking halfway across the city, her hand still under Maggie's.

“She's a fighter,” Maggie finally vocalizes her repeated mantra, “She's a fighter and she's going to make it.”

Kara nods to the distance, “She's a fighter and she has to make it,” and suddenly the dam breaks free.

Supergirl crumbles over the weight of her sister's wellbeing. Kara collapses onto the floor and Maggie immediately kneels next to her.

“Kara, look at me Kara. She's going to be okay, she's going to make it. She's going to. Kara you have to breathe, please. Kara, please.”

Kara continues to sob uncontrollably, her hands flying to her face.

“I- couldn't protect her!”

“Kara, it's not your fault,” Maggie moves so she's sitting next to Kara and she pulls her into her arms, her own tears clouding her vision.

They sit there for long enough that the sun has fully ascended, its lights no longer a suggestion. Kara is no longer sobbing and Maggie is calling this a win.

“I can't lose her. I can't go through this again. I can't see my family die again . I can't do this.”

In any other situation Kara's voice would've been impossible to make out, her mouth hidden under her hand and her face buried in Maggie's shoulder. But this wasn't any other situation and her words sunk into Maggie like the weight of a dwarf star.

Maggie pulls her even closer and holds her tight. “We- we won't lose her. She won't leave us.”

“She can't Maggie, she can't leave us. I’m not strong eno- I won't survive without her.”

Maggie feels Kara shift her head to allow her ear better access to the outside.

“I still can't hear her. There's too many machines, too much noise, and her heart, it doesn't sound the same,” Kara roughly grips her hands around Maggie, begging for an anchor to this world.

Maggie swallows back another bout of tears, “I, uh, I got her to try vegan ice cream,” she says as she chuckles lightly. “She was so adamant that it was going to be terrible, that it was a violation of the laws of ice cream. But she lost the bet, and she had to try it.”

Kara feels Maggie's chest move up and down with laughter.

“You should've seen the face she made when she finally tried some. She was ready for it to be terrible, for the pint to physically assault her. But she loved it. So she tried to pretend she hated it. But later I caught her sneaking some.”

Maggie's not sure what compelled her to share that with Kara, but the way Kara is looking at her she's so glad she did.

“Vegan ice cream?” Kara says insulted. Maggie laughs again because Kara makes the same face Alex did when presented with the idea of vegan ice cream.

“Don't knock it ‘till you try it Little Danvers. Once we're all back to normal, we'll get you some too. You'll love it, you'll see.”

Suddenly it hit Kara and she freezes, “You know?” It’s a small whisper, but Maggie once again hears her.

She tilts her head and raises her brow at Kara, who is now scrambling to sit up and face Maggie directly.

“You know who I am?” And not for the first time, Kara sounds so much younger than she is.

“I've known since we met.” Maggie shrugs one of her shoulders. “Those glasses don't really hide much Kara. Also, the way Alex worries about you… it really wasn't hard to piece it together.”

Kara looks at Maggie intently, her blue eyes shimmering. “No one, no one had ever noticed before,” Kara looks down at her hands and starts fidgeting with the sleeve of her suit.

Maggie ducks her head so she can grab Kara's line of sight again. “I see you Little Danvers. I see you and your worries. I see how much you care, for your family and, well, for everyone. I see you carrying the weight of worlds on your shoulders while still beaming with optimism and so much hope that it's contagious… And though I don't know your friends all that well, I see and I sense that there's issues there.”

Kara exhaled a breath she wasn't aware she was holding.

“And I see how Alex sees you, and how you see her. And Kara, I see your sister too. Alex loves you so so much, and she'll fight for you. She'll fight with all her might so that you will always have her with you.”

“She'll fight for you too Maggie,” Kara smiles at her sister's girlfriend. Maggie avoids her eyes and Kara can see the light blush creeping onto her face.

They sit silently, Kara reaching for Maggie's hand.

“Thank you Maggie,” Kara says squeezing her hand ever so slightly. “Lately, I've been feeling, well, alone. There's so much… drama, with the guys, and with Lena, and with Cat being gone, and with just life. And I've always been so selfishly used to having Alex there, always, but now she's living her life. And I'm so proud and happy for her.” Kara takes a breath and Maggie looks at her not too differently than how she looked at Alex months before. “It just, Alex living her life just highlighted how alone I felt. And it's not fair and I'm so sorry and I just-”

Maggie moves to hug Kara once more, her shirt absorbing the newfound tears.

“You're not alone Kara. I know we don't know each other very well, but I promise you, you are not alone. Alex and I will always be here for you. Always Kara. And your dumb friends will come around soon, and they'll be here too.”

Kara chuckles and Maggie follows suit. Maggie breaks their embrace and moves her hands to Kara's shoulders, “I promise you are never alone Kara.”

Before Kara can respond Winn hurriedly walks out to the balcony.

“They're moving her to the room! Surgery went well! They were able to get all the debris and stop the bleeding!”

Maggie, Kara, and Winn all share a round of hugs before they practically race towards Alex's room.

They make themselves comfortable as they wait for Alex to wake up: Maggie in the chair holding Alex's hand, and Kara and Winn on the floor holding each other.

As Alex's little siblings sleep on the floor because they refused to leave the room, Kara's words replay in Maggie's head, I can hear her again.

Maggie rests her head by Alex's hand and waits for her girlfriend to return home.