Chapter Text
They’d been engaged for two weeks and were yet to tell a soul. In fairness, they hadn’t had much time to do so. The city was still reeling from everything that had happened, resulting in hands-on approaches from both the DEO and the NCPD to help the city recover.
Then there was also the fact that they liked their little secret. They were yet to exchange rings, so it wasn’t as if their engagement was obvious. J’onn knew, of course, but he had simply smiled his congratulations at them and never said anything more – like Alex's coming out, it wasn’t his place to say anything. Other than him, no one else was aware and as they lay in bed together, on their first day off in forever, they had no immediate plans to make any announcements.
The sunlight that filtered in was warm on Alex’s bare back. ‘I can feel you staring.’
‘Admiring,’ Maggie corrected. She’d been admiring, her head propped up by her arm, ever since she woke face-to-face with her fiancée.
‘Ugh, you’re so in love it’s disgusting,’ Alex said with a smile.
Maggie reached out to brush strands of Alex’s hair away from her face. ‘I can’t help it. Have you seen how beautiful my fiancée is?’
‘Flattery.’
‘Honesty,’ Maggie countered, her eyes and smile soft and both full of love. ‘So, our first day off in forever…what do you wanna do?’
Alex’s eyes flitted open and they were bright and happy, the combination of a much-needed good night’s sleep and from being in the presence of her love. ‘Is nothing an option?’
‘It is.’
‘Then let’s do it.’
‘Hmm,’ Maggie said, scrunching up her nose.
‘What? You don’t like that plan?’
‘No, no, it’s just that I don’t want to do nothing.’
‘What do you wanna do?’
‘For starters, I want to kiss you.’
Alex grinned. ‘Go for it.’
And Maggie did and leaned forward to close the distance between them, to place her lips on Alex’s, to gently nibble on Alex’s lips.
The content groan that escaped Alex turned to one of frustration as her phone started to ring. ‘Please don’t be work, please don’t be work,’ she muttered as she rolled over to reach for her phone, her sleepy eyes squinting at the display. ‘It’s Kara.’
‘Answer it.’
Alex nodded and hit accept. ‘Hey Kar--. Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down…oh shit, are you okay?...I’ll come over…no, seriously, it’s fine…yes, I know you can look after yourself but I’m still coming…okay, good. See you soon.’
If there wasn’t concern all over her fiancée’s face, Maggie would have been severely pissed at how quickly the prospect of a lazy day in bed had disappeared. ‘What happened?’
‘Someone broke into Kara’s apartment.’
‘Is she okay?’
‘A little shook up by it but otherwise okay. Lucky for the assholes who broke in, she wasn’t home at the time.’
It wasn’t quite as simple as that, though. Maggie knew that and that was why she continued with her questioning. ‘You think there might be more to it?’ You know, since your sister is the Girl of Steel?
‘Maybe, I don’t know and she doesn’t know either. But better being safe than sorry, right?’
‘Right.’
Concern was replaced by annoyance as Alex sighed and sank back into her pillow. ‘One day. Is it too much to ask that people stop doing shitty things for one goddamn day?’
‘Yep.’
Annoyance transformed into worry yet again. ‘This is going to happen on our wedding day, I bet you.’
The word wedding and any other allusion to it and marriage, never failed to make Maggie feel giddy at the prospect and she smiled as she placed a hand on Alex’s chest. ‘Knowing this city, probably. But babe, it’ll be fine. We can kick ass in the morning, dresses and all, and be at the alter in the afternoon. Nothing will stop me from marrying you, I promise.’
Her words made Alex sit up. Well, only one word did. ‘You’re wearing a dress?’
‘Maybe,’ Maggie said coyly.
‘You were talking about a suit the other night.’
‘I was.’ That wasn’t a lie and she had spent quite some time discussing why she was considering wearing a tailored tux on their big, and as of yet undetermined, day. The dinnertime discussion had left Alex salivating over much more than the paella.
‘So? What are you wearing?’
‘I don’t know, I haven’t decided yet. And I haven’t decided if I’m going to tell you yet either.’
‘You’re a tease.’
‘Uh-huh,’ Maggie grinned. ‘And I’ve got a lifetime full of teasing you to come, so let’s put on some clothes and head to Kara’s.’
‘It’s your day off, you don’t have to--.’
Maggie was already up, standing naked before Alex. ‘I’m coming, Alex. I’m spending today with you just like I planned to.’
/ / /
Before working homicide and joining the Science Division, Maggie had worked robberies. The busted in front door to Kara’s apartment was an all too familiar sight.
As deduced from the phone call, the youngest Danvers sister was shaken by the event but, as expected from Supergirl, not scared. And there was anger lacing her usually joyful tone. ‘Where should we start?’
‘The basics,’ Maggie replied. ‘What’s been taken?’
‘Well, the TV obviously and my purse and--. Are you kidding me? They took my Wii and Mario Kart!’
Maggie pinched the bridge of her nose as she continued to pace, to think, to wonder why someone would take a decade old games console and not the year old MacBook that sat in plain view on the coffee table besides a bunch of…wedding magazines? Her heart leapt in her chest at the discovery but she tried to play it cool and casual as she called after Kara. ‘Hey, uh, what’s with the wedding magazines?’
The question made Alex sharply turn around, her eyes just as wide as Maggie’s. She wasn’t as cool or as casual, stammering. ‘W-wedding magazines?’
There was a shakiness in Kara’s voice too. ‘Oh, um, they’re not mine.’
Maggie arched a brow and pressed on with her questioning as a million questions ran through her mind. Did Kara know? Who told her? J’onn would never, would he? Or did Kara’s extra-sensitive hearing allow her to overhear something? ‘Then who do they belong to?’
‘Uh…’
Maggie kept asking. She needed to know. ‘Did the person who broke in leave them?’
The question made Kara sigh. ‘Okay, okay, fine. I bought them.’
‘Why?’ Alex asked.
‘I, uh…I have a vision board okay?’ Kara sighed again, this time shrugging. ‘Vision boards are totally normal for people my age to plan out their dreams and aspirations.’
‘Most people your age use Pinterest for that now,’ Alex remarked, looking just as relieved as Maggie felt.
Kara shook her head. ‘I tried but I don’t understand it.’
They spent another five minutes going over the apartment before Maggie decided that she had seen enough and gently took hold of Kara’s forearm. ‘Hey, why don’t we go down to my precinct to file a report?’
‘What about the door?’
‘Alex can wait here and we can get someone to fix it. Let’s go now. No time like the present.’
Maggie waited until they were in the safety of her car before she broke the news.
‘We need your place swept for bugs.’
‘What?’ Kara said with wide eyes.
‘C’mon Kara. They took your Wii but they not your laptop? Or your iPad? That’s slightly weird, don’t you think?’
‘Kinda, yeah.’
Maybe it was an overreaction, maybe it wasn’t but, after everything that had happened recently, Maggie couldn’t help but be extra careful. And things right now didn’t seem to add up. ‘Did you have your phone with you when you were out?’
‘No, it was charging. Oh.’
Maggie nodded. ‘Exactly. Don’t use it again, just in case. I’ll text Alex and get her to get someone to sweep the place. I’ll take you to the precinct.’
‘Are we going to file a report? What if it’s Supergirl related?’
‘That’s why we’re not filing a report. But if they’ve bugged your place, they’ve probably bugged your phone and will be expecting you to head to the precinct.’
‘What if they haven’t bugged anything? And they just really wanted to play Mario Kart?’
Maggie suppressed a laugh and a smile. ‘Then that’s cool. But let's not take that chance.’
/ / /
They did nothing at the precinct but sit in the breakroom, drinking coffee and getting to know each other better. Sure, they had known each other for over half a year but they didn’t really know each other. The only time they’d spent any real time together, just the two of them, had been when Alex had been taken and exchanging life stories hadn’t been much of a priority.
Now, it kinda was. At least for Maggie who had the insider knowledge that they were going to become in-laws at some point within the next year. Getting to know her future sister-in-law was important, and she wanted Kara to know certain things now, rather than risk them coming out at a time that caught her by surprise, like it had on Valentine’s Day. Or in the run-up to her wedding day, when Kara inevitably wonders why only Maggie’s aunt attends.
Maggie manages to work it into the conversation when they’re discussing their love lives. ‘I came out when I fourteen. Not by choice.’
‘You were outed?’
‘Yeah. By a girl I liked. She told her parents and they told my parents and my parents kicked me out.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry. That’s horrible.’
‘My aunt, bless her, she took me in without even hesitating. She already hated my dad, some old argument from years ago. That was the thing, my dad loved to pick fights with anyone who didn’t see things how he did. So I stayed with my aunt until I moved away for college.’
‘What did you study?’
That question made Maggie smile because Kara listened and Kara understood how hard it was for Maggie to discuss her outing and, so, let the conversation move naturally on. ‘Initially, communications but I never really liked the course so switched to English Literature. The degree was always meant to be a back-up though. I always wanted to become a cop.’
‘Always?’
‘Always. I loved cop movies as a kid, I thought they were badass. Now, I think they’re woefully inaccurate, make zero sense and are, generally, laughable.’
‘Like Die Hard then.’
‘Hey, Die Hard is still a good movie.’
‘Questionable.’
The debated ceased there as Maggie’s phone began to ring and she answered it. ‘Sawyer.’
It was Winn. ‘Hey Maggie. Would you like the good news or the bad news?’
‘Um, good news?’
‘I may be hearing the sound of faint wedding bells in the distance.’
Her pulse quickened. ‘What?’
‘There was a stack of wedding magazines at Kara’s apartment.’
And her pulse slowed back down, relief flooding through her veins. ‘Oh, them. Those were just for her stupid vision board she’s making.’
‘Hey!’ Kara protested.
Winn laughed. ‘A vision board? She doesn’t use Pinterest?’
‘Exactly what Alex said. Bad news now, Schott.’
‘Oh bad news is that her apartment is bugged. Like, really bugged. Every room is bugged in fact, even the bathroom.’
‘Okay, can we like trace the signals or something?’
‘Tried and failed. They’re very advanced and were very well-hidden. Very professional. They also disabled the security cameras in the building around the time they broke in.’
‘Professional yet they can’t pick locks and have to stage a robbery? Weird.’
‘Uh-huh. We left them in there for now. Maybe whoever’s behind it will be drawn out as Kara gets on with her life.’
‘They might have bugged her phone too,’ Maggie suggested, even though she was pretty sure that was a given.
‘Well they did bug her laptop, so most likely. Our best bet is for Kara to live as normal as a life as possible for the foreseeable. Sees if that draws them out because, honestly, we got nothing else.’
‘Yeah, makes sense. Thanks, Winn,’ Maggie said before hanging up and turning to Kara. ‘You’re going to be human for the next few days, how does that sound?’
‘Well, I hate public transport so, great,’ Kara deadpanned.
‘I’ll drive you back to the apartment. Alex and I will stay over and we’ll make it a movie day in case someone shows up. Don’t say anything that a normal human being wouldn’t say.’
Kara nodded. ‘Okay, but we can’t watch the TV.’
‘Yeah, you’re gonna need to work on the whole normal human lingo part.’
‘No, really we can’t. They took my TV.’
‘Oh…shit.’