Archive of Our Own

Julia is staring at Sam as though she’d just told her she’s an alien.

“Roller derby?” Julia asks for the third time in a matter of forty seconds, like she still needs clarification. 

“Yes,” Sam replies, nodding, the flyer still sitting on the coffee table between them, girls in skates, fishnets, and helmets plastered all over it. 

“Us?” The pitch of Julia’s voice raises higher than Sam has ever heard it. It doesn’t discourage her.

She folds her arms in front of her chest and stares down at her friend, who’s still looking at her like she’s just grown a second head. “Yes, us.”

“I’m a music major.”

“What does that have to-”

“You work in an office.”

“And?”

“When was the last time you got a bruise that wasn’t from bumping your hip into the counter?”

Sam pauses at that, actually attempting to remember before realizing that isn’t the point.

“Julia. It’ll be fun.”

“It’ll be torture.”

“If you give it a chance you might actually enjoy yourself.”

“Uh, does that sound like me? Since when has anybody ever thought Julia Freeman and contact sport in the same train of thought… Actually, did you already start without me? Because I’m pretty sure you have some sort of concussion-”

“Julia-”

“Or an alternate personality-”

“Please-”

“- Like some Jekyll & Hyde shit.”

“Come on.”

Julia crosses her arms and leans back against the couch defiantly. As if to prove she won't give in.

Sam knows what will break Julia’s reprieve and feels a smug smile start to form before she even opens her mouth. Julia has enough sense to look worried at the expression.

“Think of it this way,” Sam starts, leaning down to pick up the poster again and holding it closer to her friend’s face. “Hot gay women.”

“Sam-” she starts, warningly.

“Hear me out. This is a much better way to meet women than waiting for them to approach you at the music store or in some weird hipster coffee shop.”

Julia sighs, placing her head in her hands. “That’s not even fair,” she groans, “Why must you know me so well.”

“You’ll thank me when I get you a girlfriend.”

“God… Sam, I don’t even have skates.”

“I already ordered you a pair.”

“You what?”

A week later, Ruby goes to a friends house for the night, Julia comes over, and the two of them get into Sam’s SUV. They head out almost immediately, so there’s no time for either of them to change their minds. 

“Both of our bags are in the back. Your skates are in there too.”

“What if my shoe size has changed and you don’t know.”

Sam rolls her eyes. “Your feet didn’t grow. Unless you’re pregnant or something which, I know that you’re not.”

Julia grumbles and crosses her arms. “I could be pregnant, you don’t know me.”

“But I know you’re not getting any.”

“Touché,” Julia agrees, accepting her fate. Then she lights up again, “Wait, what about other protective gear?” 

Sam almost hates to hamper her excitement at having a reason to get out of it. Instead, she jerks her head towards the backseat and says, “I got elbow pads, mouth guards and stuff in both bags.”

“God. You’re such a mom, you know that?” Her complaining is met with silence. “I can’t believe I just said that to someone who is peer pressuring me into putting my body in danger.”

“Oh no, don’t blame me! I’m not doing that. That’s all you and your desire to get a girlfriend.”

Julia shakes her head with her own small smile, knowing Sam’s got her, and leans forward to turn up the music. She sings the rest of the drive over.

When they get out of the car, Sam grabs both of the bags and hands one over to Julia before beginning their walk in. She can practically hear her friend’s gears turning as they venture inside, probably still attempting to find a reason not to go through with it.

“Sam, forgive me for not asking this earlier… But where did you even get that flyer?”

Sam keeps her mouth shut, just continuing into the building with her bag slung over her shoulder.

Another pause.

“It was Lena wasn’t it?” Julia sounds exasperated, but knowing.

Sam doesn’t look back at her.

“I should’ve known,” she sighs. “How long has she been playing for?”

“Since last year.”

“Why don’t you two ever tell me anything?”

“I tell you everything about me, not other people.”

“But see… Sam, you’re kind of boring.”

“Is this what you would call boring?” Sam glances back to look at her.

Julia ignores her. “And Lena isn’t other people! I’m friends with her too!”

“Then shouldn’t she be the one to tell you about her life?”

“Yeah, if she wasn’t so damn busy all the time.”

Sam agrees with that.

They change into more comfortable workout gear in the locker rooms beside new recruits and old, as members of all the league’s teams inhabit the same space, laughing and joking. Even Sam can tell who’s been around the block before and who hasn’t. The ones who have seem to be freer, less clothed and much louder than those who haven’t. It’s a good sort of energy, very light hearted and fun. Even when a taunt gets thrown across the room at another player, it’s met by laughs and at most a thrown towel. 

A girl changing a few feet away from Sam must catch her staring, because she says, “Just wait until the season starts.” 

Beside each other on a bench, Sam and Julia lace up their skates simultaneously. 

“Have you ever even tried to stand on these things before?” Julia hisses, her foot slipping out from under her as she tries to adjust it.

“When I was thirteen.”

“So over a decade ago? That’s just great-”

Sam tugs her knot to make sure it’s secure, before sitting up and smacking her hand against Julia’s arm. “It can’t be that hard, okay? Watch.”

Sam stands how she normally would, straightens up at the knees and just goes for it. There’s a moment where she almost loses her balance, but she rights herself quickly. Once she’s up for a few seconds and is sure that’s not going to be changing anytime soon, her face pulls into a grin. She looks back over her shoulder at Julia, but before she gets the chance to rub it in, her feet shoot out from under her and she’s tumbling forward.

Sam closes her eyes and braces for impact, but miraculously, the pain of the ground never comes. Instead, it’s an elbow to her ribs, hands under her arms and hair in her mouth. There’s a scuffle of skates, where whoever it is holding her up has to regain their balance, so they both don’t eat shit. 

Finally, they still and Sam feels steady enough to peek.

Sam is met with warm, brown eyes meer inches from her own, attached to a woman Sam recognizes from the flyer she’d been shoving in Julia’s face a week earlier. Her jaw is set and her brows are furrowed.

She does not look impressed.

“Watch out there,” she says, using her arms to set Sam up right.

Sam doesn’t even get the chance to apologize before the woman is skating off with ease. Sam watches her go, feeling uncharacteristically embarrassed at the encounter.

“Smooth,” Julia’s voice cuts in with a snicker.

“Shut up,” Sam rolls her eyes, moving her feet the tiniest little bit in an attempt to get away from her friend’s teasing.

Alex pulls herself up onto the banked track, going a few laps around to get the urge to skate out of her system, before making her way back into the middle to meet with J’onn, who’s talking to Winn over his clipboard. 

J’onn’s been the National City Supers’ coach from before they were even called the Supers. He was there at the start of it, a few years before Alex was even old enough to put skates on her own two feet. He’s always been fantastic at his job. The Supers, formally known as the DEO (Alex has honestly never been able to remember what exactly that acronym means, but neither does anyone else), have always had a pretty good track record for wins. They’re not always the top team of the season (hell, they’re not always even a runner up), but usually, thanks to J’onn’s expertise in strategy and his leadership, they never go down without a fight, so the scores from all the games are usually really close. 

Winn is another story. He’s been a part of derby for the last few years. He and Kara had met in college and when he’d found out that she was a derby girl (after noticing a particularly nasty bruise on her leg and assuming the worst, just for her to have to calm him down and explain), he’d insisted upon coming to see them play. Afterwards he’d been energized in a way Alex had never really seen him, he’d always been hyper, but this was real passion. He’d even bought a shirt from them on the way out. From there he’d been an ever present fixture at the warehouse. It started with his constant attendance of games, then he’d wormed his way into a practice or two, watching in quiet elation as he attempted to stay out of J’onn or Alex’s way - out of respect or fear, she’s never been sure. Then, he had somehow ended up helping work concessions and then the merch table, until finally, during one of the practices he’d noticed a technical flaw in one of the plays. After quietly pulling Kara aside, hoping she’d address it for him, she’d told Alex, which led to them forcing him to explain it to J’onn. They’d all been impressed by how naturally he’d picked up an aptitude for the sport, and from there his position as assistant coach had just fallen into place. 

She comes to a quick stop beside them, causing Winn to jump with the suddenness of the action. 

“Hey! Watch it!” Winn cries out.

All it takes is her staring at him a few moments before he averts his gaze with a quick apology. She smiles and thanks him, pats him on the shoulder lightly, resulting in another nervous jump.

“Good have you join us, Alex,” J’onn greets. “Ready to find our new recruits?”

“Let’s just get this over with.”

J’onn blows his whistle, calling everyone's attention and bringing them all down to the middle of the track.

He and a few other coaches introduce themselves, as well point out their team captains, including Alex and Sara. They explain that they’ll be skating on their own for a while and then Winn will call for drills. 

“And remember, do or do not, there is no try!” Winn adds, taking on a gravelly high pitched voice that Alex assumes is supposed to be his Yoda impression.

Alex fixes him with a glare that has him straightening up and skating off, before sighing and glancing back at the group in front of her.

It seems, at best, like they’re wasting their time. At worse it seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

“What’s her problem?” Julia murmurs as she and Sam start their path on the track, both of their eyes following one of the team captains, the same one Sam had bumped into just a minute earlier.

“Who? Danvers?”

Sam and Julia both turn to the source of the voice, finding a blonde woman coming to a smooth stop beside them.

“She’s just pissed cause her sister got hurt a few weeks ago while practicing.”

Sam straightens up, “Is she okay?”

The blonde rolls her eyes, “Kara’s gonna be fine. It’s just a broken arm, she’ll be back on the track in no time.” Sam tries not to worry too much about how casual she makes the injury sound. “Alex is just pissed because they’ve been playing together for years and this will be the first season without her.”

Sam nods, hoping she looks sympathetic.

“I’m Sara Lance, by the way. Or White Canary if we’re going by derby names.”

“Uh. Sam.”

“J-Julia.”

Sam glances over to find her friend staring at the newcomer with wide eyes. She fights the urge to laugh.

“No derby names yet?”

“No. Not quite,” Sam answers for the both of them. 

Sara nods, “Well, if you two need any help, let me know.”

“Will do!” Julia speaks up as Sara skates off, easily picking up speed to join the other team captains in the middle of the track. Julia turns to look at Sam, “I’m so sorry I ever doubted you.”

They’ve got the hang of this skating thing. They can both manage a straight line, pretty fast, too. Unfortunately, it turns out a combination of those two things doesn’t help when you don't know how to turn on a round track.

Sam hits the barrier first, Julia next, half of their bodies colliding in the scuffle.

“I take it back,” Julia groans, pulling her body away from the bar. “I was right to doubt you.”

Sam shakes her head, a half hearted laugh fighting its way out of her as she presses her hand to her stomach to soothe the ache.

Alex watches from the sidelines, takes in each of the candidates as they skate, or attempt to anyway, around the track, trying to find potential that would be a good starting point to build off of. In the first thirty minutes there’s a lot of falling as some of the women attempt to learn to skate period, let alone try to build speed or attempt a block.

Alex is concerned for the coming season, to say the least. If she still had all of her teammates from last season, she wouldn’t even have to be here for tryouts. But with Kara’s injury and Maggie’s hasty departure from Alex’s life (and subsequently, the league), they’re down two of their best players. If Alex can’t find two people mediocre enough to whip into decent shape within the next three weeks, they’re screwed and she might as well hang up her skates now.

She’s so focused on her own thoughts she doesn’t even notice Sara approaching until a shoulder is crashing into hers. They both keep themselves upright, hardly budging, but it’s still jarring enough that it makes Alex’s tension build. She adjusts her crossed arms and focuses back on the track, feeling her shoulders locking up with the stress.

Sara rolls her eyes, “Come on. Loosen up!” She shoves at Alex again, trying to tip her. “God, you’d think someone died.”

Alex’s scowl worsens.

“Look at the bright side, you still have five great players and weeks to train the newbies, okay?”

Alex turns to look at her, “If it’s so easy, trade me West and you can do it.”

“Not a chance.”

Alex tries to barter again. “Jiwe?”

Sara starts to back away, shaking her head.

“Saunders?” Alex knows there’s no way in hell that one’s happening, but says it just to hear Sara scoff.

“You wish. Do you think I’d ever ask Kara to trade Lena?”

Alex can’t do anything but smile, allowing the fond look before nodding and turning her attention back to the objective. They’ve gotten close since Maggie left. The same thing had happened a few seasons earlier with Sara’s ex, Nyssa. She’d been a good shoulder to cry on after it happened, as much as Alex hates to admit it. It makes her happy that Sara feels comfortable enough with her to admit she has feelings for a teammate, much like her very, very clueless sister.

Sara nudges her again, a physical reassurance that it’s going to be okay, before backing away.

Before Alex knows it, a whistle is blowing, signaling for the girls to stop. Winn skates out in front of them, enthusiastically explaining that now, since they’ve already warmed up, (Alex hears a few groans and questions of ‘that was a warm up?’), they’ll need to circle around the track in order for him to gage their speed.

J’onn appears by her side as Winn explains. “We need someone who can fill your sister’s shoes.”

“No one can fill Kara’s spot.”

“Of course not, but we need someone who can come close to what she can do. Half of the reason we won as much as we did last season is because your sister is-”

“Fast. I know.”

“Fast is an understatement. Without a jammer that can get through the pack, we won’t get past second place.”

Alex clenches her jaw, but nods. 

Another whistle blows and the girls start again.

“Still. You’re not gonna find anybody even close, to Kara, okay? We’re going to have to come up with another strategy.”

Alex pays less attention this time around, knowing Winn’s timing will be more precise than hers, opting instead to argue with J’onn about the jammer position. They don’t get much further into it before Winn is shouting for them at the other side of the track. They both wave a hand at him, trying to continue their conversation, but then his voice starts coming nearer.

They ignore him until he’s practically standing between them.

“Don’t you have laps to be timing, Mr. Schott?”

“Well yes, but… There’s something you’ve gotta see.” He glances back towards the track, directing their vision towards one of the women.

She’s tall. Unnecessarily tall. But Alex can tell that’s not what Winn’s referring to.

She’s passing everyone on the track up. With ease.

No one is attempting to block, sure, but just her speed is more intense than some of the girls who have been coming here before Alex herself.

She gets one leg in front of the other, arms pumping as she does and she’s grinning, taking the corners close, cutting off time, picking up speed. 

She’s still too loose. Not disciplined enough, but still-

J’onn’s voice starts into the thought before her own brain can. “She’s fast.”

“Maybe even faster than your sister,” Sara interrupts, once again appearing by their sides. Her gaze turns to Alex pointedly.

“Not likely,” Alex snaps, prompting a disaffected tilt of the head from Sara, who’s eyes narrow, like she’s trying to plan her next move.

J’onn must sense the coming stare down, however friendly it may be, because he clears his throat, regaining their attention. “Faster than your sister or not, she’s still fast. It’s an asset we need.”

“She’s inexperienced,” Alex attempts to keep her voice even.

“Which is why we train her. Change that.”

“J’onn-”

“Alex,” he counters, voice firm. It’s the voice he uses when he’s not going to change his mind.

She exhales, but nods.

“Thank you.”

Alex glances back at the woman, finding her skating down into the center, stumbling a bit as she approaches her friend. She sighs, taking in the coordination and thinks, solemnly, how much of a disaster this is going to be.

Julia, as it turns out, picks it up quite naturally. She takes a few spills within the first hour, has a hard time staying on her feet. But things change once she gets stable and they switch to learning blocks, which Julia excels at.

When the existing teams are trying to teach them how to move in a pack, they even use Julia in the example. She’s no professional, but after she helps keep their practice jammer back, Sara high fives her.

Which leaves Julia with a huge, proud smile and she skates back to Sam more enthusiastic than Sam herself has ever been.

J’onn ends up picking their two new recruits out easily and none of the other coaches fight him on it, allowing him first choice with his best player benched.

He hands them each a navy blue helmet and tells them to take good care of them.

Most of their team, who’d arrived an hour or so after practice started, welcome the two with open arms. M’Gann pats them both on the back, Lucy pulls them both into hugs that are surprisingly crushing for her size and Lena, who they’re both already familiar with, greets them with a large grin and a congratulations, as well as a whispered ‘I’m glad we got you. I would’ve been mad if I talked you into this and we didn’t even get to be on the same team.’

Alex, and to her relief, Leslie, both remain skeptical. 

Later, Alex learns from Lucy (who’s grinning and already planning the after party for their first win) that their names are Sam and Julia. 

She watches them leave the warehouse, still in their sweaty workout gear, with bags slung over their shoulders and smiles on their faces.

Alex sighs and brings her mind back to the work ahead.

Half a week later, they’re back at the warehouse for their first practice as their first game looms just days away.

Walking out of the locker room, Sam and Julia have their teammates arms thrown over their shoulders, already readily accepted into the group by all except... 

Danvers (Alex, as Lucy had referred to her just minutes earlier, accompanied by a fond eyeroll) who starts barking orders before they’re even on the track.

“We’ve got a long way to go in the next two weeks!” She continues, when none of them pick up the pace.

Lena shakes her head. She looks over her shoulder at Julia and Sam. “She’ll warm up to you.”

Lucy laughs in response. “Yeah, we promise she’s not as tough as she seems.”

J’onn and the smaller, weaker looking man appear then, the latter of the two babbling on about something as he carries a stack of books in his arms. He’s not even on skates today and somehow he manages to trip over his own feet as he follows the head coach towards the track.  J’onn shoos him away, instead turning to the team and giving out instructions, stating that this week they’ll be working primarily on technique. He then explains that the veteran skaters will be helping the newbies with Alex overseeing it all, while he and ‘Winn’ put the finishing touch on the season’s playbooks.

Lena whispers to Sam that she’ll explain it all later.

Then, practice officially starts off with Alex nodding at Lucy and her leading them through the stretches they’ll need to do every time before they get onto the track to avoid injury. Leslie grumbles about it being a waste of time, but follows Lucy’s lead anyway.

Sam keeps her eyes on Alex throughout, watching her through her hair as she paces behind Lucy, inspecting all of them.

“I already feel tired,” Julia mumbles, when it’s finally over and it’s time to skate.

Lena grins and bumps their elbow pads, “You’re not even at the hard part yet.”

She’s right. Alex is, to say the least, intense. 

First, they practice going around the turns, going high on the straight parts of the track and transitioning closer to the middle at the curve to gain speed and momentum. Sam gets a little too close on her first attempt of the day, wheel hitting the barrier between the track and the center, sending her sprawling nearly into the bench. Tears spring to her eyes and when she glances up, both Alex and Winn are looking at her, as though debating whether or not to approach. She takes a deep breath and gets back up, instantly joining the girls back on the track, pushing to catch up to the line of them. 

After that Alex has them all have to skate around like a race, but they’re all expected to try to pass each other along the way, so really, they just end up in packs, trying to keep their position or not let others pass without turning to force. It’s really messy and uncoordinated, especially because if one of them falls (usually Sam or Julia), everyone in close proximity goes down too. When Alex is done watching them do that (and she’s definitely not satisfied), she moves on. 

Then, it’s time for blocks. Alex joins them for this part. She demonstrates the many types of blocks with the help of M’gann, who explains a bit more fully. When the visual lesson is done, Alex claps her hands and says that now they’re going to try them. Before Sam can ask quite what that means, Lena is dragging them back to the starting line and telling them not to worry. 

Alex explains that Lucy is going to act as an opposing team’s jammer and they’re going to have to block her. With four of them in front of her, two barely learning the sport, it’s a nightmare. Sam had actually moved out of Lucy’s way, despite being a foot taller than her. Which makes Alex sigh and run a hand through her hair.

“You need to learn how to throw a hit, Arias,” she interjects.

Sam gets it. She knows she needs to be able to play offense and defense in a sport like this, but still, it stings a little. However, she also wants Alex to know she’s in this for the long haul.

So Sam tries harder.

They run it a few more times, slowly getting better with each run around. 

Sam still avoids throwing hits and her body aches because it leads to her on the receiving end of a lot of it. She always gets back up though, and receives a lot of pats on the back each time. She’s trying, and she knows she has to be better.

Alex stops her after Sam gets hip checked particularly hard. “You’re going to need to learn how to be more aggressive.”

“I’m trying.”

“Maybe not enough.”

“I-”

“Look. You don’t know what you’re doing yet. Acting like this could get you hurt. Nobody wants that.”

Sam nods and Alex does the same, and then she lets her go.

On their fifth time around, despite being sore and exhausted, Julia is the one to stop Lucy, throwing an apology her way after knocking her over. 

“Looking good!” Alex claps, finally bringing out a smile for the first time all day. 

Julia is practically bubbling over with her own excitement at the compliment as they move back to start over, making Sam laugh, glancing back at Alex as she does.

She thinks Alex looks nice when she smiles. For a moment Sam wishes she could be the cause of it. 

At the end of practice, J’onn hands out the season’s playbooks to the entire team and tells them to study up. This practice had just been to make sure everyone had the basics of the sport down (they’d never gotten around to running plays), so they’d have to work on the fly for the first game. 

There’s an air of worry when the game is brought up, but Lucy just brightens and invites them all out for drinks. Sam and Julia agree, but when they go to follow everyone else into the locker room, J’onn calls them aside.

It’s nerve wracking. J’onn is always, very, very stoic, and as they approach he stays that way, hands clasped behind his back. 

He stares them down for a few moments before Winn appears next to him and hands him two packages. Winn himself is smiling, so it eases their worry slightly. From there J’onn hands them each one of the well wrapped bundles.

They hold them silently for a moment, unsure of what exactly it is they’re supposed to be doing with them.

“Go ahead,” J’onn says reassuringly, and now there is a slight smile on his face and a kindness to his eyes that makes Sam want to smile too.

They do as they’re told, ripping the paper away to find clothes inside. The shirt is a navy blue that matches their helmets, the cloth is thick to protect against rips and it buttons up in the front. The shorts are bright red and a similar fabric. 

Sam clutches them both in her hands as tight as she can, glancing up at him and trying to stop her eyes from watering. “Are these-”

“The standard uniform,” he completes and now his smile is full and welcoming and so dad-like that Sam has the urge to hug him tight. “I’m sure you’ve noticed how everyone’s on the team is different. You two can make whatever modifications you want as long as you’re decent and stay with the colors, and when you figure out your names and numbers I’ll have them embroidered onto the back for you.”

Sam and Julia look at each other, grins mirrored on the both of their faces. Before he really knows what's happening, their arms are wrapping around him. He’s stiff for a few moments before his hands come to rest on each of their backs.

“Thanks, Coach.”

“You’re a part of the team now, both of you. Only right that you should look like it. Now go on, bond.”

They laugh as he shoos them away with a flick of his hands, ignoring how Winn is making sounds like it’s the cutest thing he’s ever witnessed, and head to follow everyone else to the locker room.

From the corner of her eye, Sam registers how Alex is leaning against one of the barriers of the track, watching them go. She wonders why she’s not in the locker room with the rest of them. 

Later, at the bar, Alex never shows up.

They lose their first game.

They’re unprepared. A few hours to train two new members isn’t enough and they suffer because of it. They can’t pull off any of the plays. There’s far more tumbles and spills that lead to the other team scoring more than they should.

The score is 12-78, and the points that they do get are only because Lucy is small and can weave her way through the crowd, even though she’s not particularly fast.

Sam feels it for the week following.

She feels it when she sits, the bruises on her ass making themselves known, the ones on her back screaming as she stretches, and the strike of elbows to ribs because they ache when she laughs too hard or takes a particularly deep breath.

If they had won, the bruises would be a reminder of the victory, but now, when Sam moves, they sting like defeat.

At their second practice a few days later, Kara shows up.

Her teammates come flying off the track to greet her.

Lena’s hug, in particular, lingers. Sam and Julia share a look behind her back. It’s gentle and soft and later Lena will chalk it up to being because of her broken arm, but they both know better than that.

Kara’s arm is in a blue cast and sling, which everyone signs (even Sam and Julia, after her insistence). 

Immediately, they can tell why everybody loves her so much. She radiates warm, kind energy, welcoming them almost instantly into her life. She then sends Julia and Sam an encouraging thumbs up right before she watches them skate for the first time.

(She even tries to suggest various derby names for them, all of which make them laugh, but none feel quite right.)

M’gann pulls Julia off to help her refine her blocks and Lucy does the same to start teaching Sam how to be a good jammer. Kara quickly comes over and starts explaining in this hyper, excited manner the best strategies and methods Sam can use, unbothered by the fact Sam might as well be taking her place. 

She calls out her encouragements from outside the rink when any of them mess up, but she is especially kind to Sam, telling her everything she did well, along with how to improve.

Alex leans against the barrier in front of Kara, scowl firmly in place, as her sister enthusiastically babbles next to her.

Alex and Kara watch the entire practice; Kara with enthusiasm and Alex with frustration. 

It’s the one time Kara has ever chosen just to observe and manage to keep her eyes on anything other than Lena, and while she appreciates the extra pair of eyes, sometimes she just wants someone to notice all the negatives like she does.

They’re getting better, but there’s still so little time and the other teams aren’t starting from square one, they’re starting from the top and only improving. This is a slow, slow process.

“She seems like she’s really gonna be great,” Kara gestures towards Sam on the track, bringing her good hand up to run it through her short cropped hair following the movement, trying to keep the long parts of it away from her eyes.

Alex shrugs noncommittally. She’s not so sure. “They don’t even have derby names.”

“Come on, Alex,” Kara sighs, turning her body to look more directly at her sister. “She’s cool, she’s nice, and not to mention she’s fast. Winn told me about her times at just the try outs. That’s almost as fast as I was going before I got hurt!” She lifts her arm, as if Alex has forgotten that it’s broken. “Imagine what she could do with more training. More time.”

Alex somehow manages to scowl further.

“You can’t just give her a hard time because she’s not me. Or Maggie.”

She gives her a look that’s Alex for ‘watch it,’ but Kara just shrugs and turns back to how she was before, small smile still on her face.

Alex sighs and does the same. She tries to ignore the nagging feeling that she might be right.

When practice is over and everyone goes to leave, Sam takes note of the fact that Alex isn’t there to follow the rest of them out. When Sam leaves the locker room, last after Lena and Julia had wandered off, lost in fervent conversation as they moved towards the parking lot, she hears the sound of skates on the track. She finds it odd, as no other team is set to practice today. 

Curiosity getting the best of her, she walks back from the locker room towards the ring. She gets as near as she can without drawing attention to herself.

Sam catches a flash of dark red hair as the person goes past.

Alex.

She’s practically a blur as she goes around the track, her experience obvious with each turn. 

Sam realizes that she’s never really watched her skate on her own before.

While she’s quick, her skating style is distinctly different than anyone else on the team, or maybe rather, she’s the perfect combination of everyone on the team. She’s got Lena’s grace, Leslie’s aggression, Lucy’s control, Julia’s awareness, the experience level of M’gann, and Sam’s speed.

She’s a powerhouse. Sam hasn’t been doing this for very long, but she can see that Alex has worked hard on every aspect of this sport to become the best possible player. Yet, here she is, still working to get better. The thought makes her smile. 

In the middle of the track is Winn, who’s cheering and shouting encouragements at Alex as she goes around. Alex is on the opposite side of the track from Sam now, but she swears she hears her laugh at what he’s saying.

She’s never even seen them interact for more than Alex antagonizing him, and yet as Alex slows down to approach him, she’s got one of those huge, glowing smiles on her face. She shoves at his shoulder briefly before pulling him into her side in a hug.

Then, Sam watches as she pulls him out onto the track. Before she knows it, Alex is taking off and Winn is stumbling after her, clearly far less coordinated on his skates than she is on hers. They’re both laughing so loud it echoes around the warehouse, fills up the space. 

Sam feels warm all over at the sound, it reminds her how much like home this place, and these people, have already started to feel.

Their second game, Sam hits the track hard on the third bout, landing mostly on her shoulder. The pain rockets through her arm and back. Winn is at her side in seconds, testing for broken bones and sprains and there’s nothing, but it still hurts.

She gets back up, pushes through it and Alex is a few feet away, eyes carefully on her as she waves to the crowd, a sign she’s okay.

In the locker room, she has to choke back tears as she moves it, but Leslie appears at her side with a smirk, making a sarcastic remark about being ‘bulletproof’ and Sam can’t distinguish if it’s a compliment or not. It’s red and already starting to turn just the lightest shades of purple, as Sam is already feeling the repercussions of the fall.

While Alex passes by to leave, she tells her to start icing it when she gets home and then exits before Sam can respond.

A few minutes later, when she moves to go home as well, Winn is waiting for her at the door. He looks concerned.

Winn is sweet to all of them. Alex even allows it when she thinks none of them are looking.

Sam gets the feeling they might be closer than she likes to let on.

After she assures him she’s fine, and attempts to walk out to meet Julia and Lena in the parking lot, he stops her and holds out something metal and shiny that glints in the low light of the hall.

“What-”

“Keys. To the warehouse. They’re my extra set. I come here sometimes on days where there’s not practice. Just to be alone, or clear my head… Or practice skating. I know you like doing this. And if you ever feel like showing Alex up at a practice… Maybe come spend some time here on your own, yeah?”

Sam’s cheeks hurt from trying to hold back a smile and her eyes burn, tears forming there again.

“Thank you.”

He grins back. “No problem.” He moves out of the way, but before she can get too far, his voice catches her again. “Hey! You thought of a derby name yet?”

She glances back at him and sighs.

He laughs. “Don’t worry. It’ll come to you.”

Ruby worries.

One morning, when Sam is cooking breakfast (with slight difficulty) in just her blouse, arms not covered by her usual blazer, her daughter sees the huge mark of purple and green spreading it’s way across her shoulder.

Sam had told her she’d joined a sport, but not something so intense. She hadn’t wanted her daughter to worry. Hadn’t wanted her to insist to come to practice or a game until she was confident enough to know Ruby wouldn’t have to worry. That she could think it’s cool.

Sam assures her she’s fine, keeps herself from flinching as she pulls on her jacket. 

Ruby looks skeptical, her eyes narrowed.

Sam responds only with a smile, and slides her a pancake across the island.

In derby, bruises aren’t ugly. They’re respected. Sam learns as much her next time in the locker room.

When Sam pulls her shirt over her head, careful with the one arm as she does, there’s a chorus of approval as her teammates notice the mark. The chatter picks up to sing her praises. They pat her on the back, avoiding the spot and surprisingly, right before Sam leaves the locker room, Alex catches her, asks her if she’s okay.

It’s a surprising change in pace, but Sam nods and says she’s fine.

That practice, Sam goes harder than she ever has. Gets a few more blocks in, makes her way through the pack when they have her try to jam a few times. Even with her arm, she makes it work.

And then Alex is smiling at her afterwards, giving her a respectful nod, and suddenly the ache in her shoulder is worth it.

Sam does use the warehouse as suggested. She finds a time when no teams are practicing and when Ruby’s going to be gone and she has no work to do and just goes. Skates around and around and around. Practices fast turns and spins and sharper blocks. She falls more than once and with only herself as company, all the encouragement towards getting back up and trying again has to come from within herself.

It’s exhausting, but she doesn’t stop until all of her muscles are aching and she knows next time she'll be better.

The next game is closer. They still lose, but the difference in score isn’t over thirty, so that’s an improvement.

Alex is so excited that she starts to rattle off things to go over at the next practice, leaning back against a cool metal locker as they all change, massaging her neck with one hand while the other gestures wildly.

Sam can’t help but notice and smile.

When they’re walking out to her car later, Lena murmurs, “I thought Julia was supposed to be the one finding a girlfriend,” as if she herself isn’t completely in love with Kara Danvers.

Julia’s laugh from behind them is loud and resonates throughout the empty parking lot.

Sam acts like she’s going to drive off without them for all of two seconds before unlocking the doors and allowing them into the car. Before the door even opens, Julia starts into a rant about not joking around like that which lasts a few, very passionate minutes before it’s pettering off into how she thinks they can both improve for the next game. Lena interjects with her own occasional suggestions and Sam tries not to let her mind wander over to Alex.

“Are you sure you’re having a good time?” Ruby asks for what must be the millionth time as Sam drops her off at school.

“Yes. I’m fine, baby. I can handle myself.”

Ruby huffs and turns her gaze out the window, watching as her classmates walk by and into the school. She thinks for a few moments and Sam is about to ask if she herself is okay, when she looks back at Sam.

“Take me to your next practice.”

“What?”

“Take me with you. I want to see what it is you’re doing.”

“Ruby, no-”
“I just want to know you’re okay,” Ruby says sternly, and Sam thinks she’s supposed to be the one sounding like that. But there’s worry in her eyes and Sam can’t say no.

“Fine, but no getting on the track.”

“Deal.”

On the way to the warehouse, Julia and Lena start attempting to explain how roller derby works to Ruby in the backseat while Sam drives. They don’t want her to be lost when no one is around to explain what exactly is going on around her. Sam, in the front seat, can’t help but smile and check her rearview a few times to watch them, feeling incredibly lucky that her friends care so much about her daughter.

Little does she know that the amount of people who love and care about her daughter like family are about to double.

When they walk in, everyone is already standing by the track, preparing to get started. Their footsteps echo as they approach, prompting the team’s heads to turn towards them.

M’gann is the first to notice Ruby. She stands up from her spot on one of the benches and grins at them.

“Who’s this?”

The question brings more of the girl’s attentions to the newcomer, prompting the rest of them to stand and follow M’gann’s lead. 

Alex’s hands leave her laces and she sits up straighter, but she doesn’t leave her spot.

Sam smiles nervously. Despite how much she loves the team and Ruby, she’d been wary to mention her daughter. She quickly figured out that she was the only parent among them, and while they all seemed pretty cool, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t be assholes when they found out she had a kid at the age of sixteen. It’s happened to Sam before, and it’s bound to happen again. “This is my daughter, Ruby.”

Everyone smiles wide and greets her daughter with complete and utter kindness, many of them being on skates as they do so. Even Leslie wanders over and shakes her daughter’s hand, before bringing her hand up to attempt to give the girl a noogie, just for Ruby to dodge with a giggle.

Alex simply offers a wave from her spot a few feet away.

There’s a few minutes worth of everyone getting acquainted with her daughter, asking countless questions and cracking jokes that make Ruby’s laugh echo throughout the warehouse. Sam watches with a fondness, unable to shake the feeling that this might be what home is.

“Want us to watch her while you guys go change?” Lucy asks, glancing up at Sam.

It snaps Sam back into the moment, hitting her with another spike of nerves. Sam hardly ever lets other people watch Ruby without knowing them for years, but looking into the faces of her teammates, those she has defended and been defended by… She allows it. Surprisingly, she doesn’t even feel the need to glance back over her shoulder as she walks into the locker room.

When Julia, Lena, and Sam emerge and spot Ruby across the warehouse on the bleachers, her company is surprising. There, hunched over and explaining something animatedly with her hands, is Alex Danvers.

The rest of the team is doing laps around the track, J’onn and Winn watching and directing them, and there’s still Alex, sitting with Sam’s daughter and smiling. Sam watches as Alex laughs, but then she’s turning, gaze landing on Sam watching her.

They stare for a few moments before Alex offers her a small smile as well.

As fast as it had been there, it’s gone, because suddenly Kara is beside them too, excitedly introducing herself to Ruby. 

Then Alex is standing, leaving Ruby with Kara, and joining the rest of the girls on the track.

Sam is in the middle of putting her things back into her bag when Alex leans against the locker beside her. Sam waits for her to speak first.

“I didn’t know you had a daughter.”

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, Alex,” Sam responds, zipping up her bag.

Alex sighs. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. I’ve been hard on you. My sister got hurt, I was upset about it and I took it out on you. For that I’m sorry. Let me make it up to you. I know I’ve missed out on a lot of team bonding with you so… Wanna get drinks? You can tell me about all the things I don’t know.”

Sam stares at her for a few long moments, wondering how exactly she’d entered the twilight zone and when.

Alex shakes her head and sighs, looking down at her feet. “I don’t want there to be any animosity between us. I was an ass, and I didn’t give you a chance. You’re a hell of a player and you’re nice to me even when I’m not to you. So, let's start over?”

Sam throws her bag back over her shoulder and stares, trying to gauge the interaction. Alex is leaning against the lockers, arms and ankles crossed and Sam can tell there’s tension in her shoulders, but her eyes look earnest. She really means it.

Sam had understood before Alex had even made the effort to apologize, and had never been mad at her in the first place.

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

“Cool.” 

They both pause, nodding slightly. There’s an awkward sort of tension in the air and Sam isn’t sure why, but there just is and before she can figure out how to respond, Alex clears her throat.

“So, uh... Are you free tonight?”

Sam spends fifteen of the twenty minutes of the car ride home wondering how exactly she can nonchalantly ask Julia or Lena to stay and watch Ruby while she goes out with Alex. She knows neither of them will say anything in front of her daughter, but there will be a silence that follows and Ruby is intuitive enough to know it means something.

Thankfully, it comes up on its own. Ruby is excitedly talking about the practice, asking questions about the sport and the rules, but finally she starts talking about their teammates. The three of them listen to her rave about how cool they all are. Sam picks up all of it but doesn’t say much, and just lets herself feel happy that her daughter approves of what it is she’s doing and her new friends until-

“- And Alex is awesome. She told me that Mom is one of the best skaters she’s never seen.”

Sam nearly misses their turn.

Then follows the loud pause she knew there would be if Alex’s name was brought up in relation to Sam, but for some reason, this silence is different than what she was expecting, and it makes her heart shake inside her chest.

“... Did she now?” Lena asks, glancing up into the rearview mirror to make eye contact with her.

Sam clears her throat in response and readjusts her grip on the steering wheel. “Speaking of Alex… She wants to take me out for drinks tonight…”

“Drinks?” Lena asks and Sam can practically hear the smirk in her voice.

“Alex… Asked you out for drinks?” Julia joins in, sounding more skeptical than anything else.

“Yes. Tonight.”

“I’ll stay and watch Ruby then,” Lena volunteers.

“I will too,” Julia jumps in.

“NICE!” Ruby shouts and Sam hears the sounds of high fives follow in the backseat.

When Sam walks into the bar that Alex had suggested she finds her instantly. She’s seldom seen Alex in everyday wear. Normally it’s her uniform or exercise gear at practices, and after games she has a tendency to slip into sweats more than anything else. When Sam walks in first she spots her hair, the sharp lines that seem to accentuate her jaw and her cheekbones and all the other sharp lines of her figure. She’s got her back to the door, standing up at the bar, leaning against it with her elbow. From her hair, Sam lets her gaze roam down. Alex is wearing a leather jacket that appears loved and well taken care of, but not perfect, as it has a few scuffs here and there. It looks lived in. The thought of that makes Sam smile, it’s very Alex. From there she’s wearing a pair of jeans that really… Wow. Sam’s noticed Alex’s legs in practice, kinda hard not to when they’re almost always in fishnets or shorts, but in pants? Damn.

She must be standing in the doorway and gawking too long, because eventually people are trying to get in behind her and get impatient, shoving past her with their shoulders and a rude comment. Before she can respond, Alex is glancing back towards the commotion. 

Under the leather jacket, she’s wearing a soft looking maroon sweater. It’s also feels right for Alex somehow.

The guys are already walking away from her, making their way towards a table in the back so it’s not a problem, but Alex’s eyes flick between her and them as she approaches.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just,” Sam waves her hand back over her shoulder towards the men, sure to add a good natured smile in along with her eye roll. “Men. It’s no big deal, really.”

Alex still looks unconvinced, but she shrugs. “Okay… But let me know if you want me to accidentally bump into them.”

The tone of Alex’s voice makes it very clear that by ‘bump into them’ she means body slam them into something, full derby style, before shooting dirty looks to anyone who might challenge her on it. It makes it a little harder to tamp down a real grin as Sam thinks about it.

“I’ll let you know,” she nods.

“Okay… Not that you couldn’t do some real damage yourself… But you know, just if you want some backup.”

“I hip check you once at practice and you act like I broke your leg,” Sam laughs, gesturing towards Alex’s perfectly intact limbs. “I thought you were tougher than that.”

Alex nods, raising her eyebrows as she fights back her own smile, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

They stare at each other a moment. Alex is still leaning against the bar and when the lull in conversation starts, it seems like Alex takes the moment to do what Sam had just been doing a few moments earlier. Her eyes quickly flick down to Sam’s clothing and linger in a few different spots.

It must be a similarly odd feeling for Alex to be seeing her in her normal clothes. Her blazer, the slacks and heels. She’s sure she looks vastly different than how Alex would be used to, but with the way her eyes pause she’s pretty sure it might not be an unwelcome change.

Suddenly, Sam realizes how overwhelmingly similar to a date this feels. Then she really wishes she’d already ordered something to drink from the bartender, because when Alex’s eyes come back to hers they’re a little darker.

Sam is pretty sure Alex hadn’t meant it to go this way. She’d seemed genuine in wanting to make things up to her and be friends, but maybe seeing each other outside of their normal spaces… Maybe it’s all they needed for the attraction to spark into something more. Well, Sam at least had been attracted to Alex before this, she can’t be sure of the same with Alex and her, but now… Now there’s no doubt Alex sees something she likes, because people don’t look at their friends like that.

They stare at each other for a few more seconds before Alex clears her throat, shaking her head as her eyes go back to a normal, warm brown. “Do you want to go sit down?” She’s smiling in a way that makes Sam think she’d do anything if Alex keeps looking at her like that.

“I’d love to.”

Alex nods, “Cool.”

Cool.

Sam fights back the urge to comment on it only because of how excited Alex manages to look as she says it.

Alex leads her to a small booth in the corner, on the opposite side of the bar from where the men had wandered off to. They sit on opposite sides of the booth and a few seconds later one of the bartenders brings over two glasses of whiskey. 

Sam raises a brow in question after he walks away, “How did you know?”

Alex smiles. “I may have asked Lena.”

Lena. So that’s why she had been acting like that in the car. She’d already known what Sam was going to say before she said it.

“I just wanted to make a good impression. To make up for all of my crappy behavior.”

“Alex,” Sam leans forward. “Seriously. There are no hard feelings… But,” she lifts her glass up with a grin, “I do appreciate the gesture.”

Alex lights up and if Sam didn’t know better and the bar wasn’t so dark, she might say she even blushed. 

They both take a second to start on their drinks, Sam suddenly finding that she might need it to steady her nerves a bit.

“So…” Alex begins, “I missed out on all the team bonding… I don’t know anything about you,” she shrugs, a good sheepish smile on her face.

“I don’t know too much about you either.”

“Then we’re both in for a learning experience,” Alex slides her drink a few inches away, the glass scraping along the wood of the table. 

Sam finds herself fighting a smile at the tone of Alex’s voice.

“I’ll start simple. What do you do?”

“I’m a lawyer.”

Alex raises her eyebrows. “Oh, what kind?”

“Financial law.”

“That’s-”

“Boring, I know, but… I’ve always been good at math, so it works for me.”

The corner of Alex’s mouth tips up. “Math?”

“Yeah… In high school I always got perfect scores on all of my tests. Even when I was distracted by other things, math always made sense.”

“I was always a science girl myself.”

Sam perks up at the information about Alex, she’d never been very forthcoming with information about herself (especially in front of Sam), “Oh?”

“Yeah. Work in a lab and everything.” 

Somehow, this is both fitting and wildly out of place at the same time. “What do you do there?”

“We process blood and tissue samples, you know. Help figure out what’s wrong.”

Sam smiles at that, and can’t help but ask more questions, “Why lab work?”

“When I was a kid I really wanted to be a doctor, but as I got older I realized I don’t want to spend my whole life inside of a hospital,” she shrugs. “I needed something a little more exciting and a little less sterile.”

“Lab work is more exciting… And less sterile? Than a hospital?”

Alex shakes her head. “No, no, no. The lab work is… Well, it’s not bad and it frees up more time for me than I’d ever have as a doctor. It makes it so I can keep doing derby without constantly worried about being called in on an emergency,” Alex takes another sip of her drink, “Plus, it pays well.” She seems content with the situation, her tone level and calm as her lips curl slightly.

They sit there for a few more moments, each taking another drink. After they both set their glasses down and there’s still a moment of silence, Sam decides to ask about something she’s been hearing about a lot, but only in bits and pieces. “Can I ask you a question?” 

Alex glances up at her. “You’ve been asking me questions.”

“I mean… More personal? It’s okay if-”

Alex leans forward. “Shoot.”

“So um,” Sam clears her throat, “What’s the deal with Maggie? I know she used to be on the team, but why is everyone so cryptic-”

“She’s my ex.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Um…” Sam exhales. That was a landmine she hadn’t seen coming. She knows this isn’t a date, like officially, but for some reason this topic still feels like something she shouldn't be broaching right now.

“It’s okay. We’re at different places in our lives, want different things… I just wish she hadn’t taken off like she did. I thought we were still going to get to be friends but… Guess not.”

“What?”

“Well, we broke up and she moved out. None of us know where… And I thought we’d still see each other because of the team you know? But then she just… Stopped showing up.”

“That’s shitty.”

“A little, but I get it. It was really hard to be around each other when we were.”

Sam nods. She can understand that. It’s never been her situation, but she’s been around plenty of people where it has been.

“What about you? Ruby’s dad still in the picture?”

Sam laughs. “No way. He split before he even found out I was pregnant and when I tracked him down to tell him… Well let’s just say high school boys aren’t at peak maturity.”

“Where does she go then?”

“Huh?”

“When you’re at practice?”

“Oh. Well, most of the time she goes to one of her friend’s houses or my friend Jack watches her.”

Alex raises an eyebrow, “Friend?”

It takes Sam a few moments to realize what she’s getting at. “Oh. Um… Yeah. No. I don’t… Jack is just a friend.”

“How come?” Alex questions, seemingly genuinely curious. 

“Well… Let’s just say I like that patch you have on the sleeve of your uniform.”

“My-” Alex cuts herself off, but then breaks into a grin. The patch is the varying shades of pinks and reds of the lesbian pride flag. “Oh.” Alex doesn’t really seem surprised by the fact, Sam supposes it does kinda come with the territory of playing roller derby.

“Yeah.”

Alex is still grinning. “I could get you one if you wanted.”

Sam laughs. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good enough for me,” Alex takes a sip of her drink, then brings it back to the main conversation. “So is Ruby going to come to the game on Friday?”

Sam nods, “If she gets all of her homework done and Jack is available to come with her, then yes.”

“Ohhhh. I gotcha. Bribery.”

Sam rolls her eyes. “It’s not bribery, it’s incentive.”

Alex looks amused. “That’s what they all say. Why wait so long to let her come? There have been other games.”

Sam takes a deep breath, a little embarrassed. “Well, Ruby’s seen me… go through a lot. She’s seen me cry far more times than I’m proud to admit, and she’s seen me at my absolute worst... But we’ve been doing so good for a long time. I didn’t want her to have to see me lose anymore. When she first saw me doing this I wanted her to know that I can handle it. That I’m stronger than ever.”

“What changed your mind?”

“She started to worry about me… That’s something I don’t ever want to burden her with either. It’s my job to worry about her, not the other way around.”

“All family worries about each other. I worry about Kara, she worries about me. We both worry about everyone on the team. It’s just what family does.”

Sam shakes her head, “I know that… I just… Haven’t ever really experienced it. I’ve always had to take care of her myself. I’m good at it. It’s just what I’m used to I guess… And I just had to worry so much about everything from a young age… I don’t want my daughter to have to do the same.”

“She won’t. And you shouldn’t have to worry about doing everything by yourself. Now you have a huge family… I’m sure they’d all be willing to help you out if you ever need anything. Everyone on the team is practically ready to adopt Ruby.”

Sam grins. “I’ve noticed. I’m so grateful to the team for that. They accepted her without question.”

“It’s because she’s yours.”

Sam looks up at Alex who’s staring at her. Now her eyes are gentle, and soft in a way Sam had never expected to see coming from her, let alone directed her way. It’s disarming. 

“They all really like you Sam. I’m sorry it took me so long to catch up.”

It makes Sam want to reach across the table and unwrap Alex’s hands from her glass and instead lace their fingers together.

She doesn’t.

Instead she takes another sip of her drink. When she glances back at Alex, who’s taken her lead and done the same, Sam can’t help but bite her lip. Suddenly it occurs to her how nice it might be to kiss Alex Danvers and then she realizes that she really might actually want to.

The rest of their time together goes… Well. Sam finds that in each passing moment she likes Alex more and more. Alex keeps laughing and smiling in ways Sam’s never seen her do at practice or during matches or even after, so she assumes she must be doing something right.

When they walk out of the bar, side by side, and out onto the street, Alex lingers next to her. There’s a nearly a foot between them, but Sam notices how Alex’s fingers seem to twitch a bit, her eyes roaming over Sam again, more nervously than the first time, and the distance seems smaller, like in an instant either of them could choose to make it nonexistent. While Alex may  look nervous and a little unsure, Sam certainly feels that way. She wants to reach out and grab Alex, hold her hand or hug her or- she cuts herself off there. She can’t start thinking about Alex’s mouth again. 

“You okay to drive home?” She asks to distract herself, only to feel stupid as it comes out. They’d each only had one drink in the two hours they’d been together. How ridiculous she feels for asking the question is quickly overtaken by the fact that Alex had asked her out for drinks and instead they’d ended up talking for two hours straight.

Alex’s eyes meet hers again. She smiles softly. “I’m okay, Sam.” 

“Sorry. It’s the mom in me,” Sam laughs, shaking her head. “Just wanted to make sure you get home safe.”

“I don’t mind it…” Alex is still staring at her like she’s the only person in the world. “It’s nice. Thank you.”

There’s so much weighing in the tone of her thank you. Thank you for asking. Thank you for coming. Thank you for caring. 

If the way she’s feeling right now is anything to go by, she’s going to be caring for Alex for a long time.

“Text me when you get to your place?” Sam says, because really, she can’t help it.

Alex grins for a moment before slipping back into that fond look from before, like she can’t bear to look away from Sam. “I will, Sam.”

She takes a deep breath. Hearing the way Alex keeps saying her name is making it more and more obvious that yeah, this isn’t just friendship.

It’s been so long since she’s liked anybody and this… It’s like nothing she’s ever felt before. This is so instant. The second Alex decided to let her walls down there was a connection, and even before that there had been something brewing between them. The chemistry comes so naturally that it’s a terrifying, but Sam supposes that’s what chemistry is in and of itself. Natural. 

Before she can go much further into that train of thought, Alex says, “See you at the game?” Her eyes are still flickering and her hands are still moving like she wants to touch Sam. 

She remembers from high school that some chemical bonds aren’t as strong as others.

Sam decides that it might be better to let whatever this reaction is settle, see if it surfaces again in a few days. 

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Sam grins. 

A few days later, when Sam walks into the locker room to prepare for the game, Alex’s eyes find hers instantly. 

She’d decided, the night after the bar, to let this develop on its own. She really likes Alex and she doesn’t want to fuck it up by forcing it or by trying to seek out something that isn’t there. When Alex’s eyes meet hers with the same intensity from days earlier, she knows there’s definitely still something there for the both of them and it's not going away.

Alex is fastening on her elbow pads, hair falling in her face, but then she sees Sam and immediately her fingers come up to tuck the strands behind her ear. She jerks her chin towards Sam in what she thinks is supposed to be an indifferent greeting, but Sam notices how the edges of her lips are tilted up.

Sam nods back, lifting her hand in a slight wave before continuing on to her locker. She keeps her head down and tries not to notice the way the small details make her stomach flip.

In the moments before the game starts, right before the teams enter the track, they’re waiting on the sidelines, the spotlights falling just shy of them, where the crowd can’t see them. 

Alex’s eyes adjust to the dim light and when they do, she can’t help but stare at Sam. What little light reaches them highlights so much about Sam that she’s never noticed. The steaks of gold in her light brown hair, her hazel eyes, the shadows that accentuate Sam’s sharp jaw, her high cheekbones. 

And when Sam’s lips transition from a small smile to a full blown grin as the announcer begins to hype up the crowd, preparing their entrance, Alex feels like she’s been knocked to the ground, because there’s no air in her lungs. 

She watches her pull on her helmet, glancing back over her shoulder to showcase her excitement to the rest of the team. 

The cheers of the crowd should be deafening from where they're standing, but somehow, Sam is drowning them out.

Alex wonders how long she’d been planning on ignoring whatever feelings she has for Sam, because suddenly they aren’t so subconscious anymore. Well, maybe they never were very subconscious, but at least she’d thought she could get away with not acknowledging whatever they were. But suddenly they’re screaming, demanding every once of Alex’s attention and- 

Yeah, maybe Alex shouldn’t have discounted the way she’s only really been able to focus on one person during practice for the last few weeks.

Shit.

Before she can process it further, the announcer is shouting “The National City Suuuuupeeers!” into the mic and they’re all moving onto the track, the moment left behind, to be dealt with later.

They all come off the track shouting, vibrating with energy.

They won. They’ve finally, finally won. 

Lucy jumps up and down, even in her skates. Leslie’s nose is bleeding but she still looks just about like she won the lottery. 

In the locker room they’re bustling, running into each other, and the benches and lockers rattle with their excitement too. 

Everyone hugs.

Adrenaline is pumping and Alex feels like she’s never going to be able to stop moving. Despite her best efforts to keep on the calm side of things, she can’t. She hugs Lucy, she hugs Lena, she even manages to pull Leslie into her arms before she’s shoving her away, and as she does, suddenly Sam is in front of her.

Before either of them really even think about it, they’re both lunging into each other's arms. Alex’s forearms rest low against the small of her back while Sam’s wrap around her neck, anchoring her close. Alex tucks her head into Sam’s neck. They’re both sweaty and disgusting, but Alex can’t help but breathe Sam in. She’s already overheated and Sam’s skin radiates warmth, but she finds she doesn't quite mind. She moves her arms to hold her tighter. Closer. 

Alex swears she hears Sam take a deep breath against her neck as well.

A locker door slams and an excited cry of, “A win for Winn!” echoes throughout the locker room, prompting boos from the team at their assistant coach’s pun, snapping Alex and Sam out of the moment. 

They both take breaths as they step away, and Alex clears her throat.

Then Lucy is squealing again, shouting something about ‘Achievement Carbs,’ and exiting the room without even changing from her uniform.

Sam looks towards Lena for explanation. She laughs and explains that they go out for ‘disgustingly greasy’ fast food after every win.

Sam agrees, but knows she has something very important to do first.

They find them in the crowd within minutes, because Sam, Julia, and Lena are all still on skates, making Sam easier to spot, as she towers above most of the crowd.

“Mom!” Ruby comes bursting out from the throng of people, arms instantly wrapping themselves around Sam’s midsection.

“Hey, Ruby,” she greets, running a hand through her daughter's hair.

There are a few scattered ‘awwww’s around them from the people, covered by leather and spikes, who are slowly flooding out of the warehouse. Sam offers them all small smiles as they go by.

Sam looks up just in time to watch Jack appear as well, clearly in pursuit of Ruby.

“That,” Jack grins at the three of them, “was absolutely one of the coolest things I have ever seen,” and pulls them all into a massive group hug, Ruby lodging herself in the middle. 

Ruby’s arms move around her waist squeeze tight, and Sam is so sore, but she finds doesn’t really care when her daughter looks so happy. 

“Yeah mom! You were badass!”

Sam opens her mouth to say something, but Ruby cuts her off.

“I know, I know. I get only one of those today.”

“Normally, that would be true, but considering I am a badass… I think I can let it slide,” with a smile on her face Sam reaches up for her helmet and in one motion plops it down onto her daughters head. She places her hand against the dark blue of it, lightly shaking her daughter as she does, grinning wider as Ruby giggles and swats at her. She drops her hand down to Ruby’s shoulder and pulls her in close. “You ready to go home, kid?” She asks.

“Oh no you don’t, Samantha,” Lena cuts in, grabbing hold of Sam by her opposite arm,“You aren’t getting out of this so easy.”

“Oh?” Jack asks, glancing between the two friends. “Out of what, my dear Samantha?”

They know she hates it when they do that, call her Samantha like they’re her mother, but it’s at least better than when they make baby voices at her and call her Sammy.

“We’re supposed to go out for dinner,” Sam rolls her eyes focusing back on Jack.

“Uh, yeah! And we aren’t about to let you bail after our first win!” Julia joins in, appearing between Lena and Sam. “It’s part of the team bonding!”

“Guys, I really should be getting her home-”

“Sam, you’re going. Willingly or not,” Lena raises her eyebrows at her friend mischievously.

Ruby gasps, hand coming up to squeeze her mom’s. “Can I come?” Ruby asks. “Please?”

Sam, Jack and Lena exchange a glance before Sam breaks. “Sure, Rubes.”

She knows it won't be a problem, the team loves her, and they all ask about her so frequently that sometimes Sam thinks they like Ruby more than they like her. It’s not true, of course, but Sam’s more than happy to know she has a team’s worth of aunts willing to defend her honor at the drop of a hat.

“So it’s settled!” Jack claps his hands together, teeth on full display. “We’re all going to dinner!”

“Jack, you-”

“I won't take no for an answer!” He replies, already continuing past them to where the rest of the team has congregated, most still sporting their uniform. As Sam follows the path of his form throughout the crowd, Lena and Julia sparking up a conversation with Ruby over her, she spots Alex in her sweats, staring at her.

After a moment, Sam swears she smiles slightly and glaces away.

The diner is small, definitely not fit for eight full grown women, three grown men and a kid, but still, they make it work, pushing every available table and chair together to make one shared area for the group of them. To the credit of the employees, they take it in stride. Despite tired eyes and obviously aching feet, they take each of their orders with a smile. Even when the group is loud (which, they very often are), they don’t make faces at them.

Sam vows to herself to make everyone leave a lofty tip.

She sits, cramped, in the middle of the group, corralled into the space by her teammates after she’d tried to secure a space close to the wall, all of them cheering about her great success of the night. They plant her down between M’gann and Leslie (who seems committed to only come off as mildly annoyed tonight) while Julia and Lena guide Ruby into the seats across from her. Jack had, very quickly upon meeting the rest of the group, gotten very distracted by a certain assistant coach, so now he and Winn are huddled off to the side, both talking in hushed tones with huge grins on their faces. J’onn is seated between M’Gann and Winn, pointedly trying not to listen to he and Jack’s conversation. Then, once again, Alex surprises her by snatching the spot next to her daughter - that is until Lucy is shoving a chair into the minuscule space between them and starting a conversation with Ruby before she even sits down.

Sam tries not to smile as Alex laughs and tries to pull at Lucy. “You aren’t slick! I know what you’re do- Lucy! Move!” She pushes at her friend, nearly shoving the chair to the ground.

“No way, Alex!” Lucy puts her arm up, blocking Alex with some difficulty. “You had your shot!”

“I was here for five seconds!” Alex shouts back.

“Yeah, but I’m already Ruby’s favorite. Right, Ruby? I’m your favorite?”

“You are so not! Ruby- ugh -” Alex narrowly misses Lucy’s elbow colliding with her face. “Tell her-”

Sam is barely bringing her hand up to rest her chin atop it when Kara appears at her side, stealing her attention from the moment.

“So,” Kara starts, whipping a chair from an untouched table around to straddle it, arms resting over the back, “How does it feel to become the new reigning champ?”

Sam shakes her head. “I don’t know if I’m reigning quite yet.”

“Oh come on. You did great, Sam! Much better than I ever did in my first season.”

“Well-”

“Oh my God,” Lena sits up straighter in her seat on the other side of the table. “Reign!”

This outburst brings the group’s attention back around, everyone focusing their eyes on the three of them.

“What?” Sam questions, looking at her teammate with slight worry.

“You still need a derby name!” Lena gestures towards Sam, grinning like a maniac. “Reign.”

There’s silence for a few moments as everyone processes, the distant sound of fry oil boiling and burgers sizzling the only thing stopping the dinner from being dead quiet, before a chorus of agreements follow from down the table.

“You know? That is pretty good,” Kara blinks, staring at Lena for a few long moments before clearing her throat. She looks at her sister, “What do you think, Alex?” 

Alex’s gaze turns to Sam, their eyes locking for a moment. The side of Alex’s mouth slowly tilts and she nods. “I like it,” she whispers, gulping before turning back to Kara with a larger smile.

The conversation continues until they end up talking about tattoos, all of them discovering, to their great surprise, that Lena has one on her lower back. Sam and Julia have known her for a long time, but it still comes as a complete shock to them, and Julia laughs so hard when she sees it that she cries. 

When she finally calms down, Julia promises that Lena will never live it down and moments later, announces her derby name to be Purity.

They all lose themselves again in an uproar of laughter and somehow, through it all, Sam and Alex’s eyes meet again and Alex looks relaxed, her eyes soft and fond.

Sam’s adrenaline doesn’t ease up until she falls asleep.

Next time they see J’onn they each give him back their jerseys, informing him of their name choices. For their numbers, Sam picks Ruby’s date of birth, 301, and Julia picks 41, which she later explains to Sam is because that’s how many symphonies Mozart wrote (because she’s a music major, and of course that’s what she’d choose).

Somehow, Alex and Sam end up barreling into each other mid practice. Alex takes most of the impact. As Sam laughs out her apology, she thinks back to months earlier when they’d first met, when she wouldn’t have dared been careless enough to hit Alex, let alone knock her over. 

Then, less than a few minutes later they do it again, but this time on the way down Sam accidentally gets an elbow to the face.

In a slight panic Alex leads her back into the locker room to the first aid kit. Her lip is already starting to throb and it hurts to smile, but the way Alex is relentlessly apologizing and trying to help makes her desperately want to.

Alex grabs a towel and runs it under the warm water of the sink. When she turns back to Sam, there’s a moment of hesitation as she stares at her, then she takes a deep breath and takes the steps to close the distance between them.

Gently, Alex runs the damp towel across her lips, sure to clean the wound, even though it’s not busted, as well as to soothe. The whole time she does it, Sam can’t look away from her face. She’s perfectly focused as she’s tries not to apply too much pressure, or maybe she’s just trying to distract herself. After a few moments, Alex’s eyes flick up to meet Sam’s, strong brown to honeyed gold. Suddenly, Sam feels like it's a little hard to breathe as she can’t help but glancing down to Alex’s own, unmarred lips.

Slowly, Alex seems to lean in slightly, then almost as if Sam had imagined it, she pulls back and clears her throat and before Sam can figure out anything to say, Alex is disappearing with the excuse of getting a bag of ice. 

Her lip is swollen for the next few days, and everyone at work keeps looking at her funny, but it’s worth it.

At the next match, they all have their derby names and it feels right, like everything is falling perfectly into place.

Agent Danvers, Miss Martian, Livewire, Ultrawoman, Major Lane, Purity and Reign.

They roll out onto the track as they’re announced by their alias’ and moments later, after the fans their fans realize who Purity and Reign are, there’s an uproarious cheer from the crowd.

Sam grins and waves out at them as she takes her first lap, Julia doing the same as she laughs behind her. 

This week, they’re playing the Star City Speedsters, which is an incredibly accurate title for the team, because that’s all they really are. Their jammers, Iris and Jesse (also known as The Flash and Quick, ironically) are two of the fastest things on wheels - they even give Sam a run for her money. This alone could be dangerous, and they have the potential to be a powerhouse of a team… But thankfully, where they excel in offense they lack in defense.

The rest of their team can hardly manage a hit on any of the Supers. With an upperhand within the pack their jammers don’t stand a chance, leaving Sam free to pass as she pleases, unless Iris or Jessie can get to her. Which, if the rest of her team are doing their jobs well, they can’t.

It ends 84-32.

It’s almost too easy, but a win is a win, which means more laughs. More stumbling. More hugs. If Alex holds on to Sam a little longer this time around, no one comments. 

On days when there isn’t a match or a practice, Sam misses being on wheels. Misses the pulse, the adrenaline of it. Misses her team. Misses how it’s something that feels like hers, that she likes and does for herself, something that makes her feel strong.

So, during the week, when she’s got free time and she’s walking easily around her house, wishing it were more akin to gliding, she gets in the car and goes to the warehouse.

She pays attention to nothing else and heads straight for her locker. She’s there for a few minutes, taking her time, making her breaths deep and even, bringing herself back into her own version of comforting. She sits down for a moment to take off the shoes she’d worn over.

That’s when the quiet of the warehouse changes suddenly.

Sam sits up from her place on the bench, face morphing into a puzzled expression at the unexpected sound. It takes a moment for her brain to register through the shock, but after a moment, she recognizes it. 

Music echoes through the big empty warehouse, reverberating through the bleachers and walls. The song crackles through old speakers, but it’s loud and familiar, and makes Sam feel just a little dreamy, peaceful.

She remembers having a friend in high school who’d always put this song on in the car, back when CDs were still relevant.

“Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack, I went out for a ride and I never went back.”

She finishes pulling on her workout clothes, picks up her skates and stands, wanting to find the source. She wonders who exactly decided to come to the warehouse at the exact same time as her to play Bruce Springsteen at an insanely loud level.

Exiting the locker room, she heads towards the track. As she nears, there’s the unmistakable rumble of skates on the wood, only instead of the aggressive, loud rhythms that Sam’s used to hearing, it’s soft, smooth and precise, almost calm.

Sam doesn’t even have to be close to recognize the figure on the track, however unusual the situation may be.

Alex spins, keeping up momentum as she begins to skate backwards. Her shoulders sway, leading the rest of her body to follow its path. She holds her arms out at her sides as she first starts, then back to allow for more freedom, she swings them at her sides to the rhythm the song is setting for her body, occasionally snapping on the beats. It becomes apparent as Sam nears that her eyes are closed. How she’s keeping herself upright, let alone making her way around the track in the wrong direction while dancing is completely lost on Sam.

Sam isn’t sure how long she watches, but the break in the calm comes when Alex nears the curve and turns herself around and when she does, her eyes are open, and she sees Sam standing there. Immediately, she straightens up, body tensing as she speeds towards the barrier, catching herself on the side to look at Sam better.

They stare at each other for a few long moments, unblinking as they both attempt to figure out how to approach the situation. 

Sam is the one to speak first.

“I didn’t peg you for a fan of 80s music.”

As if on cue, the song switches to Don’t Dream It’s Over, almost punctuating Sam’s point. Sam raises a brow at the song choice. No denying it now.

“It’s a classic,” Alex responds with a shrug. 

Sam has to force back a laugh, “Sure is.”

Alex shugs half heartedly, focusing her gaze on her skates, as if she can’t look at Sam at all. 

“You okay?”

“Yeah… Yeah, it’s just…” Alex glances up at her. “You know, no one's ever seen me…” She gestures back to the track.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know… It’s just.” She stops shaking her head, forcing herself to take a deep breath, like she’s feeling insecure. “When Kara and I were learning to skate, the only place near us was this… 80’s themed roller rink. It was something we did to bond on the weekends in high school.” Alex’s laugh is soft. “Back then I thought it was so stupid.… Like I was too cool for it sometimes, you know?”

Sam nods, understanding fully. She’d thought she’d been too cool for a lot of things in high school, before she’d had Ruby.

“But now, I look back at that and… They’re some of my best memories. So… Sometimes it feels good to go back.” Alex’s hand massages the back of her neck, cheeks turning pink with embarrassment. 

“That’s…” Sam’s heart jumps inside her chest as she thinks about it. She can’t stop herself from smiling at how endearing it is, at how Alex looks when she’s blushing, “Cute.”

Alex’s eyes find hers again. She blinks. Clears her throat. “Yeah?”

“Yes. Definitely,” Sam nods to reassure her. 

Alex shoulders fall and her mouth opens, but nothing comes out, for once rendered speechless. 

Sam feels proud for a moment, before finally starting to move again, pulling herself under the barrier and onto the track, loud thump following as her bag lands alongside her. 

“Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.” She grins up at her, holding out her hand for Alex to help her up.

They work together to pull Sam to her feet, Alex expertly keeping her balance on the uneven surface in skates. Due to the maneuver, their bodies end up close, looking directly at each other as the music continues to play. 

Sam realizes she’s been holding her breath, but when she opens her mouth to change that, “Will you teach me to dance?” comes out instead.

Surprise flashes on Alex’s face, before she’s laughing, her teeth showing in untamable joy. “Only if you don’t tell anyone about it.”

“I promise,” Sam replies, earnestly, unable to look away from Alex’s eyes. “I’ll go put my skates on,” Sam gestures with her free hand towards the benches.

They’re still holding hands.

“Okay. I’ll be here.”

“Okay.” It’s unnecessarily quiet, but she barely notices.

They let go simultaneously, but Alex leaves her hand hanging in the air for a few moments as she watches Sam go.

Her skates are laced in record time, and as she sits up to stand, she glances up and has to stop again, finding Alex watching her with gentle eyes. Sam blinks as she refocuses back on her hands, tugging on the skates one more time to make sure they’re tight, fighting butterflies the whole way through.

The song is changing again as Sam stands, sliding up to Alex with practiced ease. Alex makes a face.

She’s impressed.

“Is this…”

“Caught Up In You?”

“You’ve seen Whip It?”

“It’s one of the gayest non-gay movies ever and it’s about roller derby,” Alex gestures around at where they are. “Of course I’ve seen it. And apparently you have too.”

Sam holds up her hands in defeat. “You got me.”

Alex shakes her head, like something about this is unbelievable. Before Sam can ask though, Alex’s hands grab her own. “Okay so… I’m gonna pull you, and you just try to sway, yeah? And keep yourself upright.”

“I can promise at least one of those.”

“Stop being so modest. You’ve gotten really good. Wouldn’t even be surprised if you’re on the poster next year.”

Sam looks down, tells herself it’s to focus on her feet. “I had a pretty good teacher.”

They start moving, Alex manunvering them backwards to help Sam stay steady as they gain speed.

“You have natural talent.”

Sam isn’t sure what to say, so they’re quiet for a while, the song filling the space between. They go a few laps around the track like that before Alex starts to instruct her. 

“So, now. You’re just going to want to sway, okay?”

“I’m trying-”

One of their hands drop as Alex moves to tap Sam’s hip, “Start here. Bend your knees. The rest will come naturally,” then her fingers find Sam’s again.

Sam does as she’s told, skates nearly slipping out from under her at the unfamiliar motion, but Alex keeps her steady. She continues trying, eventually being able to bop lightly along, slowly getting more confident.

When Alex is sure Sam is more comfortable about what she’s doing, she finally starts into normal conversation. “How did you even get in here?” 

Sam grins at that. “Well, Winn gave me a key back when you were giving us a hard time. In case I wanted to practice on my own.”

“Winn.” She rolls her eyes. “... But once again, I’d like to apologize for that.”

“It’s okay. I get it.”

“I know but… You deserve better. I could’ve been more receptive.”

“You were worried about your sister. There was other stuff going on. You were forgiven before you even apologized.”

“I appreciate that.”

They skate for a few more minutes, Sam’s finally starting to move her shoulders along, even if she’s not quite bending her knees. 

“See? You’re getting it,” Alex laughs, pulling her closer as they near a corner, then letting her back out as they clear the turn, as if this is really a routine. 

The song changes again and Sam can’t help the instant grin that overcomes her face. “Fleetwood Mac?”

It’s one of the few bands she’d found after being kicked out. She’d gone thrift shopping after she’d gotten her and Ruby’s first apartment, trying to fill the space. She’d picked up a few Fleetwood Mac CDs, back then had never even listened to one song, but now it brings up nostalgia for those times in her life. No matter how difficult it got, it was still something she could sing along to as she cooked, something that would make Ruby laugh and shake her little hands.

“Tango In The Night is one of Kara’s favorite albums… But I’ll also admit, I have a bit of a weak spot for this song.”

“Perfect,” Sam responds, “I do too.”

"Can you hear me calling out your name? You know that I’ve fallen and I don’t know what to say."

With the recognizable song flowing through her system, Sam’s body begins to move more naturally. Hips swaying the way they always had as she twirled throughout the kitchen, finding the familiar beats of the song she's so often danced to, no matter how she’d been feeling at the time. It’s a song that’s always brought a smile onto her face. 

Sam stops thinking, lets the music take over for her. Finds herself grinning as she picks up speed, hair swaying along her shoulders as she swings back and forth, the whole thing suddenly feeling a lot less scary.

Sam opens her eyes to find Alex staring at her, lips also upturned as she continues to guide Sam along the track, never letting her go. 

“You okay?” Alex asks, but her eyes are bright as she pulls herself closer, their faces entering close proximity to one another.

Sam leans in just a bit closer, “Never better.”

Alex increases their distance again, but her eyes don't get any less warm. “Ready to try something new?”

“Hit me with it.”

“You okay with a spin?” Alex questions, looking a little wary.

“Alex. I spin during matches all the time,” Sam raises an eyebrow. “I’ll be-”

Alex lifts her arm, signaling for Sam to do so. Taking up the challenge, Sam tries.

And fails.

Somehow, they get tangled together and before they know it, collapse in a heap against the track, Sam landing on top of Alex.

“Why is it,” Alex groans, “that you mess up but I’m the one that gets hurt?”

“If you stayed steady we’d be fine.”

“I catch you all the time!” Alex laughs, chest shaking as she tries to detangle her limbs from Sam’s. They struggle for a moment, rolling around slightly as they fight for power. Sam can’t stop smiling, the most carefree she’s felt in a long time.

“Yeah,” Sam grunts, trying to keep Alex down, “but when we do go down you’re the one that’s always falling.”

Alex stops moving and it takes Sam a second to notice through her own laughter, but she does notice, because Alex isn’t smiling anymore. She’s just staring, eyes flicking across Sam’s face.

“I guess you’re right.”

Sam gazes down at her a few more moments. Suddenly hyper aware of how hard her heart is beating. Then she realizes their faces are even closer than they had been when Alex had been giving her first aid after she’d accidentally elbowed her. 

Sam licks her lips, and can’t help but glance down at Alex’s.

She clears her throat, trying to snap herself out of it. “Is this the song from Top Gun?”

“Never seen it.”

“Me neither… But… I know how the scene goes,” Sam doesn’t know where the bravery comes from, because it feels like her throat is closing up, but she says it anyway.

Alex blinks a few times and then takes a deep breath, like she needs to prepare herself. “How’s that?”

They stare at each other for a long moment, the slow atmospheric sound of the song allowing them to get lost in it. 

Then Sam takes a deep breath and slowly, starts to lean in. As she drops down, she slides her arm to rest her weight on her elbow, other hand coming up to rest against Alex’s cheek. 

She pauses with what must be only a few centimeters between their faces, glancing between Alex’s eyes and her lips. The hesitation is apparent in these few seconds, Sam is worried about messing this up, about reading the situation wrong or Alex not wanting this as badly as she does.

Staring down into those brown eyes makes it worse and better all the same, Alex is looking at her mouth too, then back at her. Sam can feel each breath she takes, because with each one their stomachs and chests brush and it’s clear both of their breathing is labored. 

Despite the signs, Sam still can’t bring herself to close the space.

And it’s almost as if Alex can read her mind, because suddenly it’s like the moment comes out of slow motion as Alex starts to push up towards her.

Sam moves back for just a moment. It gives her a second to really look at Alex’s expression, all of it. The way her brows are furrowed as she chases Sam forward, just to stop again. Her chest heaves, like it’s taking a lot of effort to keep the space between them. She’s got a kind of desperation in her eyes that also houses worry and hope and it’s so much, to think about what all of it can mean. To think that maybe Alex might be thinking the same things Sam is. That they each have the potential to be it for the other person. Sam has never felt this way before and she can tell that it’s the same for Alex too, it was in the way she’d tried to push Sam away when they’d first met, only to pull her in but still try to keep her distance, which of course had lead to this.

Sam’s always had that feeling that Alex is going to be important, and it’s obvious Alex can see it too. There’s a nervousness that’s found its way into her fingers where they’re resting against Sam’s hip, drumming a slight pattern there.

The fact that they both know that this means something, that they’re both chasing after each other with hesitation, not wanting to hurt each other or ruin their chance but still wanting this. 

It makes Sam’s options clear: keep ignoring it, play it safe and stay friends to make sure she can keep Alex in her life or… She can kiss her. Make this thing that's been forming between them for weeks a reality, start it so they can build from here, find out where it leads.

Sam makes the hard choice, yet the one that’s also the easiest, and leans in to kiss Alex.

At first, it’s just a touch, their lips pressing together for the first time. Sam feels the urge to shiver pulse through her muscles, like an electric current has just been sent thought her body at the contact. Then they both separate, breathing together for a moment before moving back in. 

Alex’s lips are soft and giving and with each movement Sam makes Alex follows. When Sam pushes Alex lets her. When Sam swipes her tongue across Alex’s bottom lip, Alex follows her lead. There’s no fight, Alex just groans against Sam’s mouth, kisses her back with something slightly like need. When she bites Alex’s lip, a few moments later Alex is repeating the same motion to her, with a little more aggression that Sam is more than fine with. 

It’s a dynamic Sam never would’ve expected, but that makes so much sense in her brain, like it’s been programmed into them and with this first taste Sam can tell she’s always going to crave it.

It’s not exactly the most comfortable position to be in, Alex’s back is pressing into the track, the sharp angles of the bones in Sam’s knees and arms against the wood making it impossible to get comfortable, but neither of them care. It’s a hell of a first kiss. 

Alex’s fingertips ghost down Sam’s spine, prompting a shiver and a slight gasp at the gentle contact. 

Then they’re both pausing, mouths barely touching as Alex’s lips pull into a smile. Sam shivers again, knowing this is Alex’s acknowledgement of her reaction. It feels good to finally be the cause of her smiles, to feel them against her. 

Alex’s hands flatten out against the small of her back, holding her there. After a few more moments of catching their breath, Sam presses in again, this time crowding into Alex’s space. She takes some of the pressure off her knees by pushing closer, allowing her hips to settle against Alex’s. Alex sighs in response, hands moving up from Sam’s waist to cup her jaw.

Sam makes a noise, a slight sound that makes her hands start to wander more when-

Alex huffs out a slight laugh against her mouth.

“What?” Sam murmurs. 

“This was…” Alex stretches slightly beneath her, as though trying to bring feeling back to her limbs, “Not how I was expecting today to go.”

Sam shakes her head before kissing her again, unable to stop herself. 

“Not that I’m complaining.”

“You’re an idiot,” Sam chuckles, prompting the same of Alex, before she’s leaning in another time.

They don’t tell the team. They have no idea where to even start, but they all must know, because where they used to not touch at all, now they’re all fingertips and hands and lingering gazes and shared smiles.

Leslie smirks at them. M’gann groans as she slips Lucy a twenty, asking why they couldn’t have waited until after the finals. Lucy herself shoots them both knowing winks and makes sure to congratulate them both when she can get them alone. Julia and Lena both wrap Sam in huge hugs, mumbling things about how happy she looks or how much she deserves it. 

Sam is happy. She’s been happy for a long time, just her and Ruby, but now with Alex in the picture it feels like more. Alex is the addition to her family she didn’t know she was looking for. It feels like the start of a life, of forever. 

Sara’s team is just called The Legends, because they aren’t all really from one specific area and for some reason they’re cool enough to get by on the name alone. Sam supposes that name is fitting.

When their teams hit the track Sara nods at Julia and Sam in approval, as she’s yet to see them in person in their uniforms or with their names.

The game is, admittedly, one of their most challenging ones. Sara loves to joke around, but she loves to win even more.

Never once do The Legends give them any breaks. Sara, Laurel, and Kendra are vicious blockers, never wasting an opportunity to slow them down or halt Sam’s progress though the pack. Defense is their biggest strength.

Fortunately, Sam is one hell of a jammer and theirs are no match to how fast she really is. 

Sam of course does take a few hits, a few spills, but still, she manages to gather them a total of 52 points to The Legends’ 48. 

It’s close, but the match goes to the Supers.

Sara catches the way Alex pulls Sam into a hug the second the buzzer goes off. She notices how it doesn’t even catch Sam by surprise, her arms just wrap around Alex instantly, accepting her presence against her body. Sam catches Sara’s signature smirk as they pull away, and watches as she winks at them before turning back to the crowd that’s still screaming her name despite the loss, as charming as ever.

They win like that for a few more weeks. 

Game after game, they add up victories that put them higher up the leaderboards, bringing them one step closer to the championship.

Alex comes over on weeknights when they’re both done with work and have the time to spare. She eats dinners with her and Ruby and Ruby doesn’t comment, but there’s a sparkle in her eyes that tells Sam she caught on quite a while ago, maybe even before she had. They watch movies with her daughter, sitting on opposite sides of the couch to prevent wandering hands, but allowing their legs to tangle up together in the middle. Sometimes, after Ruby’s gone to sleep, they stumble into bed, wandering hands gentle, sure not to press too hard against the bruises that cover both of their bodies, surrounded by sheets and skin and arms that are so much softer than anything they encounter in their day to day lives.

Occasionally, Alex even visits her for lunch at work, and brings her anything from burgers to Chinese. It adds an entire other layer to Sam’s week, gives her something to look forward to, and makes her less bored throughout the week.

They both complain about how sore they are, and Alex lets Sam rant about spreadsheets and cases and how idiotic Ruby’s teachers can be sometimes, among other things she’s sure Alex doesn’t really understand. But Alex nods along each time and agrees with her anyway. 

Alex herself talks about how Kara’s doing, as well as her own work, which is when Sam gets to see how smart she is. 

She talks about her job, about how rewarding it is to figure out what’s wrong with the samples she receives. She talks about nursing school. She talks about different scientific theories as they come up, and sometimes when her and Sam are tangled up on the couch, Sam asks her random questions and Alex always knows the answer.

Alex also, apparently, has taken a lot of self defense classes. Sam doesn’t know it until they’re making out against the same couch and suddenly Sam is being flipped from her space above Alex and onto the ground, her girlfriend grinning down at her, the switch smooth and well practiced. Later, much later, Sam finds Alex teaching Ruby how to punch and get out of certain holds and suddenly what they have going on feels a lot more real. Sam finds it doesn’t scare her like it probably should.

Alex also talks a lot about Kara, and about their childhood together. From all the times they’d nearly killed each other when the Danvers had first adopted Kara, to skating, to the time Alex had nearly scarred Kara by allowing her to watch The Shining.

With each slight detail of her life Alex lets her in on, the picture of her becomes clearer and Sam finds herself falling for her harder.

Sam takes a nasty spill during a match when someone, whether accidental or on purpose, she can't be sure, trips her as they go around the turn, and while it takes down a few members of the pack, Sam is by far the worst off. She tumbles out from the middle, being on the receiving end of a few more hits as her teammates and competitors fall beside her.

Alex comes to an abrupt halt, eyes immediately finding Sam curled into herself on the track. Her heart stops. 

The crowd goes silent.

Winn appears at Sam’s side, talking in hushed tones as he checks on her.

For what feels like an eternity, she doesn’t move, but then her shoulder shifts and she’s holding her hand out. She sits up with Winn’s help and from a few feet away Alex can see her grimace, but then, she’s forcing a smile onto her face and with her free hand, waving at the crowd.

The cheering is deafening.

Sam’s eye catches Alex as she turns around and this time, her smile is smaller, meant for Alex, a reassurance. 

It feels like Alex can breathe again.

After, when they’re all done congratulating each other on the win and everyone files out to get to dinner, Alex and Sam stay behind, waiting to be left alone.

When it’s just them, Alex is on her immediately, hands roaming against Sam’s body, checking her. She stops as Sam hisses when her fingers hit a particular spot. 

Alex eases the pressure of her hands but keeps the contact, then slowly she lifts the back of Sam’s shirt, pressing soft kisses against the battered skin.

“You okay?”

Sam leans back into Alex, resting her weight in the other woman’s arms for a moment. “Mmm,” she hums, closing her eyes, allowing herself to forget the pain in favor of feeling Alex against her. Alex’s arms wrap around her waist to hold her steady. Alex’s lips press gentle to the side of her neck. Sam’s shivers in response earn her a few more.

“Sam?” Alex whispers against her ear, reminding her of the question.

“I’m great,” Sam chuckles, turning around in Alex’s grasp to kiss her. 

“You scared me out there,” Alex breathes, as they pull away to catch their breath. 

“You shouldn’t be. I have natural talent, remember?” Sam teases, directly quoting Alex and prompting a nudge in response, accidentally pushing her legs against the bench, forcing her to sit down.

The sudden movement presses them together, faces close, Sam’s arms still wrapped around Alex’s, while Alex’s fingers move to trace light patterns against her neck. 

Looking up at Alex, Sam can see the genuine worry still plaguing her features.

“Hey,” Sam murmurs, “I’m okay. I promise.”

Alex sighs, palms flattening out, the line of her index fingers pressing along Sam’s jaw, thumb brushing over her lips. When she inhales, her breath shakes. 

Sam wants to hold her. Wants to pull her closer. Prove that she’s fine and that it wasn’t as bad as it seemed, but before she can comment, Alex is leaning in, pressing their foreheads together gently. 

This time when she breathes it’s even.

That night, instead of following the rest of the team to their usual diner or the iHOP further into the city and thus closer to their homes, Alex drives them to a different diner. This one is smaller, but that doesn’t mean it lacks character. The other restaurant is one that's right on the main road that most people normally take into National City, whereas this one is further back, on one of the smaller side roads. It’s the kind of place you have to know about to get to. 

Sam’s got her elbow against the door as they drive up, she hasn’t questioned where Alex has been taking them this whole time, but now she glances over at the other woman as she parks. When they’re in the space, Alex removes the keys roughly and they sit there for a moment.

“I was so worried about you,” Alex says, it sounds so small in the quiet of the car. 

The only light in the car is coming from the neon road sign of the diner shining through the windows, bathing them in reds and blues. 

“You made that pretty clear back at the warehouse.”

Alex laughs, but Sam can hear more than see that she’s emotional, can hear in the roughness of her voice that she’s close to tears.

“Alex...” Sam murmurs, reaching over to grab her hand.

“I…” Alex’s breath hitches. “I was scared.” She turns her palm upwards, allowing Sam’s fingers to fill the gaps between hers. “I’m sorry.”

Sam rests her chin against her free hand, leaning to look closer at Alex’s face.

“For dragging you out here,” Alex shakes her head, “It was stupid. If you want to go back and join the rest of the-” 

“Hey,” Sam squeezes her hand. “What was stupid?”

Alex finally meets her eyes, then looks away again, focusing in on the place where her thumb is running soft circles against Sam’s. “I wanted you to myself.”

Sam stares at her, follows the lines of her face illuminated under the neon lights, the shadows making her features stand out further. 

“I, uh…” Alex clears her throat. “I had to make sure you were really okay. That you weren’t just putting on a brave face.”

There’s a beat of silence that follows the admission. 

Then, all Sam can do is bring the hand that isn’t holding Alex’s to the side of her face, fingers grazing across her skin lightly as she gently turns Alex towards her. Before she can think, she’s leaning forward, pressing their mouths together. Instantly, Alex allows Sam to guide the kiss. Gently, Sam’s parts her lips and Alex follows. It’s slow and soft, the intimacy between them making itself apparent. Sam hopes that Alex can tell she’s okay and that this, in some way, can comfort her.

Sam pulls back, resting her forehead against Alex’s temple, “I’m okay, Alex. I’m right here.”

Alex nods, palm pressing into the back of Sam’s neck, holding her there.

“Wanna go share a slice of pie?” Sam murmurs against Alex’s cheek. She feels Alex smile in return with the movement of her face.

“I’d love to,” Alex replies, before turning her head just slightly to catch Sam’s lips in a kiss. “Mmm… What flavor?”

“I’m thinking blueberry.”

Alex kisses her again, quickly, just once more, “Blueberry it is.”

They walk across the parking lot and in through the front doors holding hands, and they don’t let go even as they order. They make it work, needing the connection to one another. The waitress keeps smiling at them in a way that makes them both blush, aware of the fact that they’re now being perceived as a couple and feeling butterflies in each of their stomachs as a response. 

When they get their food, Sam starts to take her hand back, thinking Alex will need her right in order to eat, but then Alex just tightens her grip and picks up a fork with her left.

“You’re left handed?”

“Ambidextrous,” Alex responds with a smirk before plunging the fork into the top of the pie.

Sam rolls her eyes and nudges Alex with her leg, their bruised knees brushing underneath the table. She can’t help but smile at Alex’s flirting as well as the rest of it.

Alex has obviously brightened up since the car, but Sam can still sense her lingering worry in the way she’s touching Sam gently, but also refusing to let her go.

Sam doesn’t mind, not when she keeps catching Alex staring at her when she thinks she isn’t looking or how she smiles whenever Sam starts talking, her eyes full of something that Sam is too scared to name just yet, but knows what it means anyway.

Sam is completely and utterly wrapped up in Alex Danvers. She cares about her so much, more than she’s ever cared about anybody that wasn’t Ruby. Even with her limited experience with dating, she can tell Alex feels the same. She can feel it in the way she looks at her, touches her skin.

But good things never last.

The thought of losing Alex at this point makes Sam’s entire being ache, which is exactly what gets her thinking about how exactly she could lose Alex.

At first, there doesn’t seem to be a clear answer. With the way things are going, they’re so tangled up in each other, a perfect match in all respects, Sam - even in her limited experience - can’t see an end in sight. 

But slowly, an answer starts to come into view.

They get updates about Kara weekly. It’s not until they get closer to the day that Kara’s cast is to come off that Sam starts to worry.

With Kara’s return, Sam knows her spot is the one that’s most likely to go.

Sam’s placement isn’t set in stone. Julia was a replacement for Maggie, and Sam is a stand in for Kara. Of course, there’s more than one jammer per team, but in this league, each team only has seven players and everyone besides her and Julia have been here for years, and Julia is better at blocking than she is.

While she knows that the team loves her, Kara’s been with them for far longer. She’s their star player, even if Sam has beaten all of her records. 

They’ve known Kara for years. They’ve only known Sam for a few months.

Of course there are other teams, but Sam really can’t imagine playing for any of them. Not when Lucy is always forcing her to look on the bright side of things, or when she can joke around with Lena between bouts, or tease Julia at practice, or watch Alex skate and hug her after matches.

It feels wrong when she thinks about being on any other team with any other group of people, but somehow, she seems to be the only one worried about what happens to her when Kara is better.

They lose their next game.

Sam can’t stop thinking about how this will all be over soon.

Her arm gets caught on somebody else and when they fall, so does she and they take down everybody else, allowing the other jammer to score. She does it again when she gets elbowed in the ribs and hits the ground on her knees. 

Julia and Lena send her questioning looks. She doesn’t give them anything back.

“Why are you off today?” Alex whispers to her in between bouts.

“It’s nothing,” Sam counters. She glances over just in time to see Alex’s jaw clench.

The next time she messes up her jam it’s because she looks over into the audience and spots Kara and gets distracted, missing the turn and crashing right into the barrier.

After that, Alex rips her helmet off and storms over to J’onn and they talk for a few moments. Winn shoots her a sympathetic look.

They switch her for Lucy in a last ditch attempt to catch up with only a few minutes remaining. Sam had been expecting it.

It doesn’t work.

Alex doesn’t hug her after.

Alex does however, corner her in the locker room at the next practice.

“What was that last week?”

“What was what?” Sam asks, pointedly not looking at her.

“You know what. Sam, you’ve been one of our biggest advantages this season. You’ve had a knack for this sport from the start. Even when you were bad you were still better than most people could ever manage. Everyone’s watching you, when you fuck up people notice.”

Sam slams her locker shut, clenching her jaw as she finally meets Alex’s eyes, willing her own to be emotionless, flat. She wants to just rip the bandage off. “And?” 

Alex looks hurt for just a moment, before she blinks and takes a step closer to Sam, more in her space, their bodies practically touching. “Whatever it is… I want you to be able to talk to me. Don’t shut me out. I care-”

“Alex,” Sam cuts her off, fighting desperately within herself to keep it together. She takes her own step back, moving her body out of Alex’s grasp. “I’m fine.”

Alex slows down, takes a deep breath, like she’s trying to weigh her options, before nodding and clearing her throat, averting her eyes. “Okay… I understand.”

There’s a long moment when Sam thinks that’s the end of it, but right before she’s about to turn to leave, Alex’s eyes find hers.

Gone is soft brown she’s used to, in its place is the Alex that she’d met at tryouts, hard and distant. It’s the eyes of an Alex she’s not close to.

The idea that she may have just burned the bridge of whatever they were building makes an ache spark deep within her chest, spreading through her until it feels like she can’t breathe.

“But… You,” Alex closes the space between them, but this time the space is less comforting, more serious, “Need to get your head back in the game. Everyone on this team needs to be giving it their all if we want to make it to finals. Got it?”

Now it’s Sam’s turn to keep her head down, but she nods anyway.

“... Good.” Alex shakes her head and back is an Alex she knows a little better, but before Sam can even attempt to breathe that back in, take comfort in the fact they aren’t going back completely to how they used to be, Alex turns on her heels and exits the locker room.

Sam tries to pretend she doesn’t hear Alex’s breath hitch harshly as she rounds the corner.

They lose a few more before Sam finally pulls it back together, before she realizes that she doesn’t want to spend her last few weeks with her team losing. It’s slow going, but they crawl their way back up the leaderboard.

And yet, things don’t go back to normal with Alex. Sam keeps pushing her away, can’t let them get as close as they were if she’s just going to lose her again. She’s already gotten a taste of what it feels like. It’s better to end it before she has to, for it to be under her control, to maybe save them a chance for some sort of friendship later, when it’s less fresh. 

Sam hasn’t felt this way about anyone ever, but she shouldn’t have let it go so far in the first place. Now that she has, she really can’t allow it to end badly, not when Alex is Alex and Sam feels like she could spend the rest of her life content with just being Alex’s friend, just because she cares. She genuinely cares about her and Ruby, something that’s been difficult for Sam to find in her own romantic endeavors, and she’s so smart and funny beneath that cold exterior. 

When their hands touch Sam’s she feels like her heart was never hers in the first place, feels like Alex has always had some sort of ownership over it. 

Alex is warm and soft and feels like everything home should be. Feels like everything Sam could ever possibly want. 

Sam pushes the feeling away and tries not to focus on the way Alex’s eyes linger during practice, or how she always seems just on the edge of saying something.

Sam feels like she’s going to be sick on her skates.

Kara’s cast comes off next week.

This is it. The last game before Kara returns back to her place as the National City Super’s golden girl and Sam is… Well, she’s still not sure what’s going to happen after the season’s end.

Sitting on the bench in the middle of the locker room, all Sam can do is feel the energy of those around her either feeding into or feeding off of her own. Beside her, M’gann is perfectly still. Julia is pacing nervously back and forth on one end, as best she can on skates in a confined area. Livewire, who’s usually the first one to a sarcastic remark, is uncharacteristically quiet. Lucy isn’t giving off her usual peppy aura, she keeps shaking out her hands, rolling her shoulders back and bouncing on her knees, like she’s trying to shake the nerves out of them. Lena keeps checking her phone, occasionally, her lips turn up in a way that means she can only be talking to Kara.

Sam feels sick again.

She can feel Alex watching her. When she risks a glance, because she can’t stand not looking anymore, she pins the gaze as calculating, before she has to rip her eyes away, focus back on tying her laces. 

“Let’s go, ladies!” Winn’s voice calls from just outside the door, accompanied by a tap of his knuckles against the frame. “Time to kick ass!”

The comment is enough to break through Sam’s anxiety for a moment, forcing her lips to upturn at his antics.

“That’s us,” M’gann breathes, getting up.

Lucy exhales shakily, but offers them all a smile. “Well, this is it guys… I just want you all to know that-”

“Save it for after, Lane. You’ll have more reason to cry once you know if we’re in the finals or not,” Leslie butts in as she breezes past them. It’s a try for disaffected, but Sam can see the tension in her shoulders as she skates past them.

“Right,” Lucy nods, but Sam can hear the way her breath shakes. 

“It’s gonna be okay guys,” Julia says in attempt to comfort, placing one arm around Lucy’s shoulders and her other hand on Sam’s. Her friend’s gaze quickly flicks over to where Alex is still standing, but Sam shakes her head and ignores it.

“Let’s go,” Lucy nods, grabbing on to M’gann and Julia, who grabs Lena, as they all head towards the door.

Sam starts to follow, but before she can, Alex catches her arm. 

“I know there’s something wrong,” she murmurs.

Sam can feel her eyes on her downturned face, gauging her reaction. She opens her mouth to respond, but Alex stops her.

“Don’t try to deny it, Sam. I know you better than that.”

“Then why let me go?” She questions, glancing back at her. “Before. The first time you asked.”

“You didn’t seem like you wanted any part of me.”

Sam wants to scream that of course she does, that she wants every last part of her, wants Alex sitting at the kitchen counter with her coffee as Sam cooks breakfast, wants to come home to Alex wearing her shirts, to Alex helping Ruby with school projects, to stumble into her arms after games, and kiss her whenever she wants.

Another loud bang on the doorframe of the locker room. “Game’s about to start!” Winn interrupts. 

Sam lets out a breath of air she didn’t know she was holding, and uses the moment as an excuse to avoid the issue as she skates towards the track.

Sam gives it more effort than she ever has before, hits harder, skates faster, and does whatever she can to give them an edge while staying within the rules.

They win, and Sam feels the prick of tears in her eyes before she can stop them. She skates off the track in the commotion of the win, when the sound coming from the crowd is a deafening roar and Sam knows two of those voices are Ruby and Jack. She doesn’t want them to see her cry. When her teammates are hugging, she knows they’ll be too busy for a few moments to notice her slipping away.

It doesn’t work. Alex corners her again in the locker room, still breathing heavy from the game.

Sam tugs her skates off, not daring to acknowledge Alex.

“I know what’s wrong.”

Sam gulps. “I’m fine.”

“You aren’t.”

“Alex… Don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t make me talk about it, okay? It hurts enough. I’ve never… I’ve never had anything like this before. I look forward to coming here every week and seeing you guys and playing, but I know Kara is coming back and we have too many players and I’m the one who’s logically got to go and-” She’s babbling, but she can’t stop because losing this feels like losing another family and she can’t imagine doing that again.

“M’gann is leaving.”

“She’s what?”

“She’s leaving. This was her last game with us.”

“Oh.”

“So… You’re good.”

Sam blinks, unsure of how exactly to process this information.

Alex plops herself down on the bench beside Sam, who’s still trying to soak it in.

“But what about the finals?” She finally asks, turning to look at Alex.

“Well, she’s still playing in the finals.”

“How?”

“One of the girls on Sara’s team got hurt in their last game, she went to the doctor and… She’s out. She won’t be able to play, so… M’gann’s taking her spot.”

“But,” Sam sighs, still not understanding, “Why would she leave if she won’t get to play after all this hard work?”

Alex looks sheepish. “Don’t tell her I told you, but she’s got a crush on J’onn. She feels it would be unprofessional to act on that with him as her coach.”

“What is it with this team and romantic drama?” Sam blurts out.

Alex’s laugh is a welcome sound and her big, unbridled smile is even better. “There wouldn’t’ve been romantic drama if you’d just talked to me.”

“I know. I’m sorry… I just didn't want to make you choose between me and Kara. She’s your sister and I’m… I’m new to your life. It seemed cruel and unfair, so I just thought I'd... Remove myself from the equation."

“Sam,” Alex places her hand against Sam’s cheek to force her to meet her eyes. “Seriously, if you ever get too in your own head about something again tell me. We’ll work it out. You’re never a burden, Sam, okay?”

“I know. Won’t happen again.”

“Just, trust me, okay?”

“Of course I trust you.”

“Good,” Alex grins and Sam feels like all the light in the room is radiating off of her. 

“Isn’t this where we’re supposed to kiss?” 

Alex shakes her head, but leans in anyway, “You’re such a dork.”

“I know,” Sam responds, before Alex’s mouth presses against hers.

Sam brings her hand up, carding her fingers through Alex’s hair until it comes to rest on the back of her head, holding her close. 

Alex hands keep moving against her back, her palms pressing into a spot for a few seconds before shifting to another position, like she needs to feel Sam under her hands and know it’s her.

Sam tightens her other arm around Alex’s waist, pulling her closer, hoping it communicates that she’s not planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

“Finally! We thought you two would never get back together,” M’gann’s voice cuts through their bubble. 

Sam can’t help it when her lips pull into a smile against Alex’s, and before she can do anything else, Alex presses her forehead to Sam’s to keep close to her.

She can hear what she thinks is Winn sniffling, then a murmur of “they both look so happy,” which is accompanied by another sniffle that sounds suspiciously like Lena.

Then Julia grumbles, “I was the one who was supposed to get a girlfriend,” but Sam can hear the smile in her voice. 

Alex takes a deep breath that shudders, breathing Sam in.

Sam runs her fingers up and down her spine in a motion she hopes is soothing and Alex adjusts slightly in response so she can wrap her arms around Sam, press her palms against her back.

It’s a lot all at once, especially around their friends, but they’ve missed each other so dearly that all they can do to hold themselves together is to hold each other. 

“You two are making me sick! Come on, if you’re gonna be in love do it where it won't make me feel ill,” Leslie groans, wandering past them as she says it. Despite her words, her fingertips touch Sam’s shoulder as she passes in what must be her way of congratulating them or showing that she does care without letting everyone know.

Alex laughs, Sam’s eyes are closed but she can feel Alex grinning in a way that makes her so bright, makes her eyes lively and the curl of her lips genuine in a way she rarely allows. It’s Alex at her happiest, when she can’t hold back how much she’s feeling and she doesn’t care to. It’s the expression she hides for everyone that isn’t Kara or Winn and now Sam. It’s an intimate thing, but yet here she is, doing it in front of their teammates.

Maybe it’s because Leslie’s right, she does love Alex. 

Sam slowly drags her hand down from Alex’s hair to rest against her neck, lazily grazing her neck with her thumb. Alex hums and readjusts to put her hands back on Sam’s cheeks, almost a farewell. A promise for more of this mindless, comforting contact later.

Sam feels another burst of joy and brings her hands back from around Alex’s waist to wrap them around her wrists, waiting to hold her hands when she finally lets go.

Then Sam opens her eyes slightly, just to see her so close. All the light freckles on Alex’s cheeks become more apparent, smattering her skin with constellations and stars and destiny. They make her want to wake up next to her every morning so she can trace the space that lies between them. They make Sam want to make future plans.

“Let’s go, lovebirds,” Lucy’s hands find both of their backs, gently attempting to ease them out of the moment. “We’ve got a victory meal to eat and dinner employees to scare.” Then she drops her hands and steps away.

Sam keeps her eyes open because Alex still looks peaceful in a way she rarely is.

It’s a moment that seeps its way under Sam’s skin, deep to her bones and makes her go warm with love. 

Turns out, Sam is faster than Kara.

When she finally gets her cast off, the first thing the whole team does is head to the warehouse.

They call it a practice when they’re texting about it to organize, but it’s not. Not really. They’re all just messing around. No one is worried about technique. They’re all just elated to have Kara back. Sam finds she likes skating alongside her too.

After about thirty minutes, J’onn shows up, Winn in toe. 

All of the girls stop on the track in a group to acknowledge their presence, both a little disappointed for their fun to be cut short, but also the thrill of their final competition making them eager to train.

Despite his best efforts to remain stoic, J’onn’s face betrays his joy as he takes in the sight of them, especially with Kara’s reppearence, Winn is practically brimming with excitement beside him.

“Ready for practice?” J’onn asks as they approach.

Sam glances over at Alex at the same time Alex looks at her. Brown eyes flick over Sam, before a slow smile takes over her face. She nods, and whispers, “Yeah,” in an uncharacteristically soft voice for when she’s on the track. Sam grins back, because she might be the only one here besides Kara who’s ever heard her like that.

“AWWWW,” Comes a chorus from around them, confirming her suspicions.

Sam bows her head, attempting to hide her blush as she does.

Alex clears her throat, bringing her voice back to her steady team captain persona, “Let’s go win the championship.”

The rest of the team laughs. Kara throws an arm over Alex, a wide grin in place, and as she glances back towards Sam she exaggeratedly mouths, “Thank you,” and Sam knows instantly that they’ll be having a talk later.

They’ve played against the Legends plenty of times before, but the games have always been close. Too close for comfort. 

There is no room for mistakes when they play against the Legends, especially now that they have M’gann. 

When the team captains, Alex and Sara, shake hands at the beginning of the game, the rest of the Supers greet M’gann briefly. 

“Good to see you back on skates, Kara,” M’gann murmurs, shaking her friends’ hands briefly as they pass.

“Good to be back on them.”

“Good to have her back,” Lena murmurs, a hand on Kara’s back as she urges her forward to prepare for the first jam. 

M’gann looks back at Sam and they both share a glance at the two before grinning at one another. 

“Good luck out there, Reign,” M’gann claps a hand down on Sam’s shoulder. Months ago, the force of it would’ve made Sam crumple a bit, but she’s stronger now and her muscles don’t waver when it happens. 

“You too, Miss Martian,” Sam nods at her. “I’m going to miss you having my back though.”

“Julia will take care of you. She learned everything she knows from me.”

As if on cue, Julia appears from behind her to tackle M’gann into a hug. Lucy appears at Sam’s side too, obviously wanting to say hi to M’gann before the game begins.

Sam chuckles and continues on, not wanting to intrude on their moment. 

The announcer informs the crowd about the switch with M’gann over the loudspeakers, says something something about ‘tensions.’ Sam knows it’s for the benefit of the crowd, but there’s clearly no tension between any of the Supers and M’gann, especially because when Sam glances back, even Leslie is talking to her. She just shakes her head, but as she turns away finds Sara staring at her.

She skates over quickly, stopping directly in front of her. “What are you so smiley about?”

“Nothing…” Sara shrugs in a way that definitely means it’s not nothing.

Sam fixes her with a mom look and Sara laughs.

“I was just thinking… You looked so lost at tryouts, and I remember how nervous you were about Alex… It’s nice to see that you came into your own. Plus, you make Danvers smile like she’s always just won a match, so…” Sara ends it with a shrug, but she’s still radiating with joy.

Sam knows they’re supposed to be enemies right now, but really they’ve always gotten along well, and no matter who wins, it’s just going to make them stronger friends. Next season the winner will be able to brag and it will drive both teams to work harder, either to protect the title or reclaim it.

She smiles at Sara and reaches to shake her hand. “You ever make a move on Kendra?”

Sara’s face shifts into surprise and Sam feels victorious for a moment, as most people can’t catch Sara off guard.

“Alex told-”

“You’re not as inconspicuous as you think… And yeah, Alex.”

Sara shakes her head. “Maybe I will.”

“You should. Worked out for her and I, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, yeah… Get your ass on the track,” Sara shoves at her.

Sam skates away to join the group huddle with the rest of the Supers as they discuss their first plays. 

The lights are blinding, the crowds are cheering, seemingly more energized than ever before as they chant and shout things. There are so many voices and sights that it’s hard for Sam to stay focused as the teams prepare to start. 

Her brain only kicks into gear when the whistle blows, signaling the start of the game. Then she’s moving, focused solely on winning.

Lucy jams first. She’s good to start. She’s small and can get through spaces easier than Sam, so she’s the best method of getting the team ahead of the curve before the Legends realizes what they’re doing. When Lucy’s done, she skates into the middle to pull off the helmet cover and hand it over to Kara. 

Kara hasn’t played all season, so they’ve made a choice to alternate between her and Sam throughout the last game, spotting Lucy in when she’s needed as well. With their combined skill sets and strengths, using the three of them should maximize their scoring.

Lucy’s got a huge smile on her face as she takes out her mouth guard and removes her helmet for a moment, letting her hair shake loose. She’s drenched in sweat and already looks exhausted after just a few jams. 

Games are always intense, but this time it feels like every round is life or death.

The Legends are not going down easy. 

The thing about Kara is that they’ve always relied on her as a jammer, as she’d been the key to all of their wins in the seasons previous to Sam’s introduction to the team. During all of Kara’s months of being off the track, there’d been no way for her to practice without making her injury worse.

Kara is rusty and the Legends have only gotten stronger in her absence. 

In the months she’s been on the team, Sam’s learned how to best work off of every member of the team. She knows how to skate best with each of their styles to make them as effective as possible, but Kara is an untested variable. Kara is more reckless than Lucy or even herself as a jammer, taking the riskier routes in order to score points faster. Sam has never been the best at defense, but she’s always made it work and now with Kara back on the track she’s got to try hard to keep her just as safe as everyone else. Her arm was just broken and she’s been out for a whole season. She knows how much that affected the team, especially Alex. She’s not letting Kara get hurt this time.

When she can tell someone’s about to try to block or hit Kara, she does everything in her power to stop them without breaking any sort of rules. A few times it ends up with her hitting the track too, but she’s always okay, always getting back up immediately to follow the pack. She feels Alex’s eyes on her a few times after, during breaks or even mid-bout, and Sam always manages to smile back at her.

“You okay?” Alex whispers during a small break, hand on her shoulder as Sam pulls the jammer cover over her helmet.

Sam grins, “Never better.” And really, it’s true. Her body is already aching from the exertion of working so hard and from the bruises she’s sure are already forming, but her adrenaline is pumping and this is fun. She’s excited for every single second of the game, win or lose.

“Good,” Alex nods. Her own smile is smaller, like she’s trying to hide it. 

Alex is sweaty, small strands of hair stuck to the sides of her face in the places her helmet had been covering moments earlier, but her eyes are still bright and concerned, and the determination of being the team captain still permeating through it all.

Sam kinda wants to kiss her right now.

Alex must sense that, because then she’s backing up, lips still upturned as she skates backwards, like she’s still trying to keep up the tough guy act. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Leslie make an exaggerated vomiting face at them, before Lucy hits her arm and she breaks off into a smirk. She wonders if the audience can see how soft Alex really is like the team can.

Sam grins and shoves her mouth guard back into place before skating out to the track.

When the crowd realizes she’s about to do her first jam of the night, the applause shifts to be more organized, a chant. 

“Reign! Reign! Reign!” The echo of the hundreds of voices nearly overpowers the announcers.

She lifts her hand in a wave as she passes and barely catches the sound of Alex’s laugh a few feet away over the sound of cheering and skates.

“Looks like you’ve got some fans there, Arias,” Sara murmurs as she skates up next to her, also wearing the jammer star on her helmet.

Sam just shrugs, not wanting to take out her mouth piece, but hopes her eyes communicate how much joy it makes her feel deep down. 

Sarah smiles back, lifting her hand to pat Sam on the shoulder. “I knew you could do it.” Then she’s shoving her own mouth piece in and within seconds the whistle is blowing and they’re racing to get ahead of each other, elbows into ribs and blocking one another at every turn. 

Sam jams a few rounds, matching Sara point for point, beating her by a few once or twice, just for Sara to bring The Legends score back up, dangerously close to the Supers’.

Finally, J’onn calls them all back to the center. The Legends are getting hyper defensive after all the time spent trying to slow Sam down, so it’s time for a change in strategy. 

Sam hands off the helmet cover to Lucy before he can finish his talk. 

Lucy manages to get them ahead enough to give them room for mistakes, but the numbers are definitely not comfortable in proximity.

Then Kara goes again, and she only manages to maintain the numbers against Laurel, the score actually becoming even closer due to how well M’gann knows Kara’s skating style, making it easy for her to counter Kara’s actions.

Then, with only a few more rounds left in the game, J’onn and Winn make the decision, in a hushed, tense conversation, to put Sam back in.

It’s nerve wracking to know that the win rests on her shoulders, but before she can think too hard about it, Alex’s hand is on her shoulder blade and her nerves evaporate. 

Sam nods. “Okay.”

J’onn grabs her hand before she can go. “You can do this, Sam.”

“Yeah, you got this kid,” Winn reassures, as though he’s not younger than her. She shoots him a small smile before turning back to the track.

Lena and Julia skate along side her, Alex in toe. 

“Everything you need - count on us, okay?” Julia grabs onto Sam’s wrist, stopping them both in place to look her in the eyes. “Seriously, Sam. I’ve got you. No more bruises this round.” 

That’s not possible, but Sam appreciates the sentiment. 

“We’re gonna make this as easy as possible,” Lena promises.

They smile at each other, and Sam wonders how she ever got so fortunate to have them as her best friends. 

Then both of their gazes are shifting to a spot behind Sam, where Alex is lingering, and they back off with slight smirks forming amid their encouraging expressions. Sam turns in place to look at Alex.

“I’ve got you too, Sam.”

“I know you do, Alex. You always do.”

Alex’s chuckle is more of a breath, but Sam finds her heart melting at the way her girlfriend’s gaze tucks down to stare at their feet.

“We’ve got this, Alex.”

“Maybe. But we never would’ve made it this far without you.”

Sam wonders, due to the tenderness in Alex’s voice, if she means the team or them.

“I never would’ve gotten here without you… You let me in even though it was hard, and I’m grateful for that.”

Their attention is completely focused on each other, unable to look away despite the inopportune time to be having this conversation.

“Come on, ladies, we gotta go!” The announcer shouts over the sound system, bringing them back from their moment and putting them into game mode.

The first few rounds Sam manages on her own, but then The Legends start to push back harder than ever. Elbows and shoulders collide into flesh harshly whenever anybody tries to move.

Sam’s body is starting to feel the strain of exertion, as she’s pushing so hard to keep going faster. Even after all these months of training, she feels incapable of pushing for much longer. Her shoulders and thighs ache, but she keeps going anyway. There’s not much time left in the game, and now, as she starts to weaken, is when she really needs her team.

Julia is there right before Sam gets slammed into the barrier by Kendra, jostling her to the side just enough for Sam to squeeze past and make it through the pack. This saves her the physical battle against Kendra’s strength or needing to attempt regaining her speed, something that would take up an incredible amount of energy at this point.

Lena is there when Laurel starts to catch up to Sam in the jam, knocking her just right with a well placed elbow that sends her tumbling. 

Kara appears when someone takes a fall right in front of them, noticing it before Sam does, and just in time nudges her aside so she can escape the wreckage, skating past the tumbling piles of bodies to score four more points before the round is stopped.

Leslie practically knocks someone out when they bump Sam a little too hard. She slams into them so hard with her own shoulder that both of them lose balance and hit the track.

Their efforts bring them well deserved points, but Sara’s team is working just as hard. Where the Supers succeed, so do the Legends, and when the Supers fail, it brings the Legends ever closer.

When the whistle rings after a round where Laurel’s just crushed it, officially tying their points, Sam glances back up at the scoreboard, noticing that there’s less than two minutes left of the clock. 

She knows she’s gotta make a move now. This is it. 

There’s no guarantee that they’ll win now. They have no lead, they have no time, and they have no room for mistakes.

But win or they lose, there’s no way they’re going down without a fight. 

As Sam crouches to prepare for their final jam - their final shot at winning the season - she glances up to find Alex staring back. 

They both know what they have to do.

When the bell sounds, signaling the beginning, Sam pushes just a little harder than before, ignoring the pain in her muscles. 

Alex keeps herself at the front of the pack, and Sam focuses her mind on the fact that she just has to get to Alex.

She makes it into the middle, and Sara, now having taken on the jamming position for the Legends, is trapped firmly outside of it( courtesy of Kara, Lena and Julia).

Then, finally, she reaches her. 

Sam is in desperate need of a break and a burst of speed at all once, and thankfully, Alex is the relief she’s been waiting for. 

Alex reaches back and holds her hand out for Sam to take. 

They’ve never used this in a game before, but Sam figures it’s as good a time as any, and grabs her hand tight.

Alex pulls her forward, saving her from the confines pack, and sends her rocketing forward. Despite Sam’s fatigue, she immediately she starts exerting her legs and using all the strength she has left to build up speed before trying to pass the pack again. 

Her teammates work together to maneuver the Legends out of her way, clearing a small space to allow her to pass. 

She races past all of them a final time and-

The buzzer rings.

The crowd erupts all around them.

It’s an incredibly close game, but miraculously they’ve won.

She can see her teammates celebrating along with the crowd. Everyone is hugging - except for Leslie, who continues her denial of feelings even in her best moments (although, she does make an exception of allowing Alex to pull her in very briefly). Lena and Lucy are crying, Winn might be too, but Sam’s lost track of him in the commotion, and they’re all smiling. As Sam rounds the track, finally slowing down for what feels like the first time all night, she finally takes a good look out at the crowd. She sees all their signs and excited faces, and balloons being released that she’s sure are going to be stuck in the rafters for at least a week. 

Abruptly, she finds herself overcome with an intense amount of joy. It bubbles its way up from deep inside her, through her chest and throat and mouth. All Sam can do is laugh. It’s been months of working up to this and they’d been off to such a rough start at the beginning of the season. It had felt like they’d never succeed, let alone get this far. 

It feels surreal. 

Then, arms are wrapping around her middle, pulling her from the track and into a massive hug that includes every member of the team, even Leslie, who’s bleach white hair Sam can see through the mass of their bodies. Some of the girls are still crying, but they’re all mostly laughing or shouting. Sam squeezes whoever is next to her as tight as she can, her joy nearly overwhelming her face.

Sam doesn’t get to live in that moment too long, because before she knows it, the announcer is calling for congratulations. 

All of the Supers manage to pull themselves together enough to shake hands with the Legends, who also smile, although a little bitterly. Everyone is a good sport about it.

Sam can tell by the light in Sara’s eyes that she’s going to be working even harder towards next year, not wanting to allow a defeat like this to happen again. The thought excites her, as Sara’s team has always been their greatest competition, and it will only push them to be even better.

Then, when that’s over, the Supers take a final skate around the track, waving at the fans with each stride. 

Sam stops at the edge after her first lap, taking another deep breath, still attempting to process the moment. 

“Hey Sam,” Kara appears next to her, a little breathless. 

Sam turns to look at her, a little unprepared for the interaction. “Yeah?” 

“You’re good for Alex.”

So they’re really jumping in deep right of the bat.

“You think?”

“I know. You guys are crazy compatible... It’s kinda scary,” Kara trails off for a moment, “You make her… Really, really happy. I’ve never seen her so…” Kara sighs and shakes her head, hands flailing. She’s smiling. “She worries less when she’s with you. Or well… She worries more, because you know, you and Ruby... But she worries less about herself. That sounds bad. I just mean… She’d had a tendency to overthink in the past and to try and act differently based on the people she’s around… With you she’s just herself. She’s never been like that with anybody but me. She thinks too much with everyone else.”

Sam doesn’t realize she’s teared up until she takes a deep breath and it shakes. She brings a hand up to wipe her eyes.

“Thank you, Sam. You’re family now, okay?”

Suddenly, Sam’s hands aren’t enough to keep the tears at bay.

“Unless you hurt her, then we’re gonna have a problem,” Kara adds, but her tone is teasing and Sam huffs out a laugh through her tears. “Come on, let's get out of here,” Kara smiles, looping her arm over her new sister’s shoulder to pull her close. 

Sam, Julia, and Lena head towards the merch table to help work it before they can leave for the night, but the second they’re off the track, Ruby and Jack intercept them. 

First, it’s the flash of Ruby crashing into her mom, arms wrapped tightly around her middle as she squeals. Then it’s Jack appearing from the crowd, his signature toothy grin directed their way as he opens his arms up. Then it’s Lena rushing forward, arms looping under his to press against his back as she grins into his neck. When they pull away, he clasps her on the shoulder and congratulates her. 

It makes Sam smile. The three of them have been friends for just about as long as she’s been an adult, Lena even longer, and she remembers a time when they could hardly speak to one another after they’d broken up (let alone hug with big grins glued to their faces). 

Then Jack and Julia greet each other. They’ve known Julia the least amount of time, but it doesn’t mean she’s any less a part of their family. Her arms wrap around his neck and his around around her waist, and as he picks her up they both squeezing each other tightly. 

“We won!” Sam hears Julia scream into his ear.

Jack takes it in stride, hardly flinching as he sets her back down. “Congrats!” He laughs.

“You did great, Mom,” Ruby murmurs, the sound of her voice bringing Sam’s attention back to her daughter.

“Thanks, Rubes. Couldn’t have done it without you cheering me on.” Sam runs a hand through her daughter’s hair right before letting her go, allowing her to greet the other two women.

It’s only as Ruby moves away that she realizes she’s holding several big signs on sparkly paper. From what she can see, both of their marker/glitter lettering is immaculate, so it’s obvious Ruby had worked hard on them. There’s a drawing of a roller skate in the corner of one of them, and the other has the Supers logo on it. Sam thinks she even sees her derby name and number on one and on another she thinks she might see Alex’s. 

She has to fight to keep tears out of her eyes.

Then, Alex herself appears at her side, trailed by Kara (who mostly appears to be there for Lena).

“You okay, babe?” Alex asks, hand coming to rest on the small of her back.

Sam nods back before gesturing to Ruby.

She’s talking excitedly to Julia, Lena, and now Kara. Her hands are waving a little wildly, so the posters shift and suddenly a poster with both of their names and numbers is showing in their direction. 

Both of my moms play derby. Reign 304 + Agent Danvers 219.

The poster itself is blue, the words are in gold glitter, and their names wrapped in a navy blue heart.

When Sam glances back at Alex, she’s tearing up too. They don’t get to talk about it much more before Jack is appearing in front of Sam. 

He must see the tears in her eyes and how she’s focused on the signs, because he just smiles fondly before wrapping her gently in his arms, the way he has so many times before. He’s always had a very comforting energy. 

“The signs were her idea,” he says quietly into her ear, “She’s proud of you.”

Sam hugs him a little tighter. 

When he pulls back, he’s grinning. “Although, that many signs has a bit of a downside.”

Sam chuckles and brings a hand up to wipe the corners of her eyes. “How so?”

“Well, each time she’d pick up a new one she’d hand me the old one…”

The image of Jack holding the ‘Both my mom’s play derby’ sign appears in her mind she can’t help but let out a bark of a laugh. 

He shakes his head. “You have always been a mom-friend.”

“Because I’ve always been a mom,” Sam counters, and in that moment Alex’s fingers slip between hers.

She glances to her side, meeting Alex’s eyes. She looks so enamored. The brown of her eyes are warm like hot cocoa; they feel like crawling into bed after a long day. She finds herself feeling less tired after looking at her. Then they’re both smiling and it takes a lot of Sam’s willpower to look back at Jack.

He looks just as elated as she supposes they do. “It’s good to see you too, Alex. Great job with the team, your hard work has made another fan out of me. I’m looking forward to next year.”

“Thanks, Jack,” She holds her hand out and they shake on it.

Before they let go, Jack must hear something because he glances over and whatever he sees causes his smile to widen. 

His mouth falls open as he searches for what to say to the both of them. 

Sam glances over, following his gaze to where Winn is talking adamantly to a group of vaguely disinterested looking people about what she assumes are derby plays (if the familiar hand gestures are anything to go by).

“Oh, hey, um,” Jack glances from Sam to Winn and back again, then clears his throat, “I have to go talk to someone, do you… Ruby-”

Sam can’t help her smile. “I’ve got it, Jack. Go.”

Alex smirks as they watch him approach their assistant coach, Winn instantly straightening up when he notices Jack coming his way. Jack’s hands are shoved in his pocket, like he’s always done when he’s nervous, but he’s keeping his cool nonetheless. Winn, on the other hand, is a blushing mess and grips his clipboard like it’s a life preserver.

When Sam brings her focus back around them, Lena and Kara are also both gone. 

She sighs and shakes her head, really hoping that they’re off somewhere doing something other than insisting that they’re only friends.

“Hey,” Alex nudges her with her elbow, refocusing her attention.

“Hm?” Sam hums.

“I’ve gotta go help, M’gann and Leslie at the booth. Do you care if I take Ruby?” Alex questions.

Sam is overjoyed by the instant inclusion of her daughter. “Not at all. I actually think she’d love that.”

Alex looks equally excited by this. Maybe it's the effect of the sign. Maybe it’s the fact that Ruby is calling her mom and that really it makes more sense than anything else in the world. That it feels right.

“Meet you there?”

“Yeah, of course,” Sam nods.

Alex stares at her for another few seconds, looking unapologetically happy for just a moment before pressing a long kiss against Sam’s cheek.

“Hey, Rubes? Wanna help me work the booth?”

“Hell yeah!”

Sam rolls her eyes with amusement, not even bothering to comment on her daughter's language.

Then Alex puts her hand on Ruby’s back and begins to guide her through the crowd, the two of them instantly picking up a conversation.

Sam watches them go for just a moment, wondering exactly this happened or how she’d ever gotten so lucky.

“Sam?” A voice breaks her out of her reflection.

She glances over to find Julia staring at her with gentle eyes. “Yeah?”

“Thank you for talking me into this. Really.” One side of Julia’s lip tilts up slightly in a smile, but Sam can tell by her eyes that she’s fighting not to get emotional. “You… All of our lives changed because of this. We’re all happier. I’m happier.”

“Julia-”

“No. It’s okay… Just. Thank you.”

The IHOP employees look incredibly tired and incredibly underprepared for a roller derby team to show up at 11PM on a Thursday night. 

It’s a week night, so there’s no doubt they were all probably expecting a calm night at work. They’re clearly a bit understaffed and the woman who comes to take their drink order looks like she’s trying to hide her concern. 

Once again, Sam knows she’s going to have to get everyone to leave a large tip. 

When they’re handing their menus back, Sam says thank you and chorus of them follows from the rest of the team in the same way it sometimes does when it’s just Sam and Ruby out at lunch. 

“You are such a mom, Arias,” Leslie chuckles, rolling her eyes in a way that Sam has figured out by now is at least a little fond.

She laughs and reaches over the table to shove her by the shoulder.

While they’re waiting for their food to be ready, M’gann shows up. When the doors open and she appears, the whole team hoots and hollers, prompting her to nod slowly and lift her hands in defeat. 

“Miss Martian returns!” Lucy shouts with a grin.

“How does it feel to get your ass handed to you?” Julia questions, raising her eyebrow, grinning slightly.

Sam takes a sip of her drink as she watches the interaction, glad that Julia and M’gann have gotten so close after the last few months. It’s nice to see her friend come out of her shell.

“Good job, ladies!” M’gann sighs. She sounds tired and defeated, but her smile tells another story. “You played well.”

“Damn right!” Leslie high fives Alex.

“Let’s just say I went easy on you because I was feeling sentimental,” M’gann responds, sounding sarcastic. She puts a hand over her heart as she nears the table, moving to take a seat.

She’s met with a chorus of ‘yeah right’ and ‘suuuuure,’ both of which make them all laugh a little.

“Shouldn’t you be with your team?” Sam asks as M’gann sits down next to her. “You’re one of them now right?”

“Well yes and I really like all of them but… I didn’t spend the whole season with them. I’d feel like an intruder. There’s plenty of time to bond with them next season.”

“Yeah!” Lucy shouts, throwing her arms around M’gann’s middle in an enthusiastic hug. 

M’gann laughs and returns the hug, keeping her own arms around the smaller woman.

“Yeah I’ve gotta admit, M'orzz,” Leslie interrupts, “It was weird not having you on our side tonight.”

Everyone at the table gasps. 

“Leslie… Expressing her feelings?” Lucy brings a hand up to her chest in exaggerated shock.

“Yeah, yeah, can it, Lane.”

“You know you love us, Lez.”

The other woman rolls her eyes and returns her gaze back to her plate, but Sam can see the small smile on her face as she shoves a forkful of eggs into her mouth.

“Plus,” M’gann murmurs in a way that Sam thinks maybe it’s more for herself than Sam, “I think this is right where I want to be.” Sam follows her gaze over to where J’onn is watching M’gann too, both of their lips upturning slightly when their eyes meet, before glancing away.

Sam feels a bloom of warmth in her chest at the moment, feeling happy for the both of them finally acting on their feelings. At the thought, Sam looks back over at Alex beside her and finds her staring. 

She blushes instantly and is unable to control the way her own lips part as she beams at her girlfriend. Alex mirrors the gaze in a more bashful way before looping her fingers through Sam’s.

After the shared moment, she glances back towards M’gann to offer her own input on the situation, “I said it before you left and I’m gonna keep saying it, you’re always going to be one of us, even if you are playing with the Legends now.” She says earnestly.

“Thanks guys.”

“Can you all just get a room,” Ruby rolls her eyes from the other side of the table beside Lena, Kara, Winn, and Jack. Jack had only decided to tag along after finding out Winn would be at this dinner too, and the whole team can’t help but notice their joined hands over the table top.

Everybody laughs. 

Lucy and Julia beacon Ruby over with promises to save her from all the couples, and Ruby jumps at the chance, then maneuvering her seat between them. Immediately, Lucy starts drawing a tic tac toe board on the nearest napkin. Sam watches them play a few rounds, the losers alternating to play against the winners of each round. Julia teases Ruby in the way she always does but Lucy joins in now too., Unfortunately for them, Ruby has a sharp wit, and Sam hears her burn them both pretty good a few times. Eventually, the small tournament attracts more attention from that side of the table until finally Leslie and M’gann both want in on it. Somehow, Ruby ends up winning against most of them, and when Lucy glances up at Sam she winks and they share a smile.

Although they might be letting her win a little, Leslie’s losses are definitely genuine if the way she swears is any indication. Alex and Sam both go to reprimand her at the same time, only for Ruby to roll her eyes as the rest of the team coos about how cute they are.

Sam just smiles and leans back into Alex. Her girlfriend runs her fingers gently through her hair, fingernails lightly running across her scalp in a way that makes her relax further into Alex’s side.

They only stay at dinner for a little while longer after that. Despite how exhausted all of their bodies are, they still manage to be thrumming with energy.

“You know… I’m kind of not ready for the season to be over yet,” Alex says, arm thrown over the back of Sam’s chair.

“You know… I’m not either,”

Sam turns her head to look at Alex. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Yeah. Wanna get out of here?”

The warehouse is vacant when they return. Winn and Kara fumble with the lock for a few moments, both excitedly shoving at each other, before they get the door open and rush in with the rest of their friends trailing in behind them.

There’s various deris on the ground: water bottles, tipped over soda cans, crumpled up chip bags, abandoned posters, streamers, confetti, and the remnants of popped balloons. 

Sam finds herself wondering who exactly cleans up after their matches and if she can maybe volunteer a little bit of time to help them. (She supposes that’s the mom in her again.)

They all run to the center of the track and sit down, pulling their skates on as quickly as they can, excited to skate just for fun for once. 

Alex, Julia, Lena, and Winn take Jack and Ruby to find skates that fit them while Sam says her farewells for the night to M’gann and J’onn, who apparently have their own plans for the night. M’gann looks happy in a way Sam’s never seen her, and she’s almost soft as J’onn opens the car door for her.

She’s the last one to say her farewells, but she finds herself grateful for that; it’s nice to see rather than just hear that M’gann truly is okay with leaving the team.

After Sam watches their car leave the lot, she retreats back inside to meet her friends on the track.

Everyone is already skating around, laughing cheerfully. It seems like a weight has been lifted off their shoulders, all of them coming off as more carefree in the wake of their win. 

Winn has got his hands on Jack’s hips as he tries to show him how to stand in the skates, the taller man clinging to his shoulders for dear life. Lucy and Leslie appear to be playing a sort of tag, but it doesn’t seem so much as focused on who can go faster but on who can get the other person to break. Leslie will chase Lucy until she taps her hip, instantly retreating back with a smirk on her face before Lucy turns and follows, laughing giddily as she attempts to do the same. Julia and Ruby are putting their skates on together while Lena and Kara talk next to them, the former hiding a blush behind her hand.

Sam notices that Alex is the only one gone moments before the speakers above them crackle to life, the beginning notes of Heroes by David Bowie filtering out.

“Classic!” Kara shouts somewhere to Sam’s left.

It is a classic indeed and immediately Sam knows Alex hand picked it out for them to skate to. It warms her heart, as the song is a perfect end to a long season. Her body is tired and bruised, but her heart is full of love and she never wants to stop skating and playing and being with the team and with Alex.

Sam’s laugh is accompanied by a few tears, because she just likes her so much. She turns to watch her appear from the booth, and Alex is staring right back.

Slowly, her girlfriend starts to move her feet, skating towards her with a grace few can pull off so effortlessly. When they reach each other, all Sam can really do is look down at her with an adoring smile. She isn’t quite sure how she’d ever lived a life without Alex Danvers.

Alex’s expression isn’t much better as she bites her lip almost nervously while looking at Sam, like it’s still the beginning of their relationship.

A sound from across the track has them glancing over to where Julia and Winn are trying to teach Ruby to skate while Kara and Lena attempt to help, despite the fact that their attentions are completely focused on each other instead of the task at hand.

“Do you think they’ll ever figure it out?” Alex questions.

Sam shakes her head. “No.”

They turn to each other simultaneously, laughing softly to each other. 

“I’m glad we did though,” Sam trails her fingers up Alex’s arm.

“Yeah… I am too.” Alex’s eyes trace Sam’s face, her teeth dig into her lip. “Kiss me?”

“You don’t even have to ask,” Sam murmurs, pulling Alex in by the front of her shirt.

Alex’s calloused palms press against Sam’s neck, holding her there, and Sam pulls her closer by the hip. It transitions back and forth between kissing and smiling against each other, because really, neither of them can be expected to stop smiling when they’ve got the other by their side. They’re both still a little sweaty from the game, but it doesn't stop either of them from running hands through each other’s hair.

A few hoots and hollers follow the action, but neither of them could really care less.

“Are we really going to let them teach Ruby to skate?”

“Not if we can help it,” Alex smiles against her lips before pulling away, blushing slightly as she slips her fingers through Sam’s, pulling her along as they start to head towards the rest of their friends. “But… Maybe we could fit a dance in first? I doubt they’ll make any progress anytime soon.”

Sam laughs, the sound ringing through the mostly empty warehouse, floating through the air over the sound of their teammates skates. “You don’t care if they see you? What about your reputation?” Sam mock whispers.

Alex’s expression turns wistful as she slows down and leans into Sam. “I don’t care if I’m with you.”

Sam immediately stops laughing at that and bites her lip. It’s so sweet and Alex looks so, so, sincere, like she just cares so much. Sam knows she does and hopes Alex knows she feels the same way. “Okay,” This time her voice is much quieter.

Alex nods and starts to pull her along, just as she had before their first kiss. Sam lets Alex lead her and all at once feels incredibly, incredibly, lucky. 

She had no idea that this sport, this painful, beautiful sport, that she’s poured her blood sweat and tears into, would become her second love after Ruby, or that it  would lead her to the love of her life, but it did. She finds herself eternally grateful to Lena and Julia for enabling her to find it.