Chapter Text
Alex had been this nervous before. She must have. Right?
She laid two plates, two napkins, two sets of forks, knives and spoons on a clean table cloth and thought back: Kara’s first day of school on Earth - Alex had been so stressed she had thrown up in the bushes outside the school door before shaking it off and walking Kara to her homeroom; first mission she commanded at the DEO, her palms were sweating so much she had worn gloves just to be sure she didn’t lose her grip on her weapon.
And her first real date with Maggie last week - she hadn’t been able to eat for a full 24 hours before. Kara had had to insist Alex at least choke down a piece of fruit and a glass of water before she went out.
“Alex, I know you’re nervous, but passed out cold on the floor from low blood sugar isn’t the look you’re going for.”
Alex had accepted the banana Kara had peeled for her with a scowl. But twenty minutes later, when she went downstairs to find Maggie leaning against her Harley saying a soft “Hey,” and giving her a sweet smile that made Alex go lightheaded, she was glad she had eaten something.
Alex had stuttered through a greeting. She was even more glad Kara had insisted when Maggie had leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek before climbing on the bike and inviting Alex to get a helmet on and climb up behind her. Alex’s pulse soared and her knees went weak.
Alex had spent the ride pressed against Maggie, thigh to thigh, breast to back, trying to remember to breathe.
When they had arrived at the restaurant, Maggie had cut the engine, taken her hands from the handlebars and placed them over Alex’s, which were wrapped around Maggie’s waist. She held Alex’s hands for a moment, no pressure, just gentle, warm contact. Alex let out a breath and kept breathing.
It had been easy after that. Maggie had picked a BYOB Ethiopian place for dinner, dimly lit and low key. Alex had sipped the wine that Maggie had brought and felt its warmth spread through her, undo the knot in her stomach. The food was delicious and Alex ate plenty.
After dinner they had walked along the river promenade, taking their time as they made their way toward the pinball arcade. It was a cool night. When Maggie had shivered, Alex reached out, threaded their fingers together, then tucked their joined hands back into her own pocket.
Maggie had grinned up at her, bumped Alex with her shoulder and kept talking.
“…I’m the weird one because I’ve never seen The Exorcist? How have you never seen normal movies like Clueless or like…Sleepless in Seattle. I mean, c’mon thats on tv all the time.”
“You sound like my sister.” Alex said. “I don’t know, I always just got bored…”
“You ever seen a romantic comedy about two women?” Maggie asked.
Alex shook her head slowly, an embarrassed blush creeping into her cheeks.
“I know, I’m such a…”
Maggie had stopped, pulled Alex to a stop by their joined hands. She faced Alex.
“Alex, it’s ok. I’m not trying to…I mean…I’m kinda just angling for a movie night with you.”
Alex stared down at Maggie’s brown eyes. “Oh.”
Maggie had taken a step closer then, so close Alex had to let go of her hands and wrap her arms around her. “It’s just…different when it’s about girls.”
“I’m starting to get that feeling.” Alex’s breath was shaky, but her movements were sure as she bent her head toward Maggie’s.
Maggie was so close her “Good.” was a puff of warm air right on Alex’s mouth, before their lips met.
And now, a week, two lunch dates and one serious make out session when they were supposed to be staking out an alien arms dealer later, movie night had arrived.
Alex had promised dinner and drinks, Maggie had promised to bring a movie called D.E.B.S which Alex didn’t really believe existed, but Maggie insisted, this teen lesbian secret agent comedy was real and Alex was going to love it.
The food was ready, the table was set, the wine was chilled and Alex was trying to convince herself this was just like all those other dates with Maggie, which had been amazing, and the fact that her bed was right there in the next room had no necessary relevance to their plans for the evening at all.
Unless of course they wanted it to.
Alex had a brief flash of Maggie tangled in her sheets, felt her skin prick with heat and her breath quicken. She ran a hand through her hair and wondered if she had time for a cold shower. A second cold shower.
She glanced at the clock. Maggie would be there any minute. So Alex shook her arms out to get the feeling back into her hands and tried to refocus herself on what was definitely relevant. The couch was relevant. They were going to watch a movie together after all. She picked up a throw pillow and moved it to the other arm of the couch. Then she moved it back to its original spot. Then she moved it to the middle. She was leaning over to move it one more time when the door buzzer rang.
Alex hurried over to check herself one last time in the mirror before opening the door. Makeup was ok, hair was fine. She was starting to doubt the outfit, a loose dark blue silk tank top and tight black jeans. But it was too late for second guessing now. She breathed deep and opened the door.
“‘Bout time, Danvers.”
Maggie was leaning against the opposite wall, grinning and holding up the D.E.B.S. dvd box for Alex to see. She was in a leather jacket, a short, tight black dress and low boots, her hair half up, a few loose tendrils escaping to frame the right side of her face.
“W..wow,” was all Alex could manage to get out.
Maggie strode forward and pressed a soft kiss on Alex’s mouth. “You gonna invite me in?”
“Yes. Of course. Sorry. I…” Alex swung the door open and ushered Maggie into the apartment, spluttering through an apology.
Maggie put the DVD box down on a chair and lay her jacket on top of it. She turned back to Alex, a shy smile on her face.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
The stared at each other for a long moment, drawn together until they had each crossed the few steps it took to meet in the middle of the room.
Alex ran her fingertips up Maggie’s forearms, up to her biceps, lightly gripped her by her shoulders. Maggie gave her a full smile then, dimples showing.
“Thanks for inviting m…”
Alex cut Maggie off with a kiss. Immediately, Maggie stepped in closer, wrapped one hand around Alex’s waist, brought the other up to the nape of Alex’s neck.
They kissed each other breathless. Maggie’s left hand was toying with the hem of Alex’s tank top when the stove buzzer went off.
“Ah…I should…I should get that.” Alex reluctantly pulled away.
Maggie nodded.
Alex didn’t move.
Maggie gave her a gentle shove toward the kitchen. “I’m not going anywhere.” She moved toward table, where a bottle of white wine was chilling in an ice bucket. “I’ll pour the wine.”
In a few moments, Alex was back, bearing a bowl and a platter.
“I hope you’re hungry…”
“Starving actually,” Maggie said, taking a sip of wine. “I worked through lunch, had to do all the evidence paperwork for that lab bust from last night.”
“Oh, yeah.” Alex said, putting down a salad bowl. “How’d you end up logging that glowing goo stuff?”
“I just checked “other” and straight up wrote ‘goo, parentheses glowing’. They’ve got it in a fridge in the forensics lab now. But I don’t know, the cold seems to be making it brittle. I hope they can test it against the samples from the body before it degrades.”
“Well, if you need our lab to pitch in, just let me know.”
“I might. Foster’s trying down there but alien particulate matter isn’t exactly in his wheelhouse.”
Alex snorted. “No kidding. Isn’t he the one who thought kryptonite melted at 212 degrees?”
Maggie laughed. “Oh my god, I forgot about that.”
As her laughter faded, she regarded Alex, head cocked to the left.
“What?” Alex asked. She was sliding the platter on to the table, moving a plate to make a little more room.
“It’s just nice to be able to talk about work with someone.”
Alex smiled back. “Yeah, it is.”
Alex returned to the kitchen, calling over her shoulder to Maggie “Go ahead, sit.”
Maggie looked at the table. Alex had set it so they were across from each other. She picked up one of the place settings and moved it so they were next to each other. Only then did she take a seat.
Alex returned with another bowl, this one steaming. She eyed the change in place settings as she set it on the table.
“That ok?” Maggie asked. “I figured it would be easier to talk…”
Alex couldn’t have stopped smiling if she wanted to. She didn’t want to.
“It’s definitely ok.”
She put the bowl down and pulled out her own chair.
“So…um. There’s a spinach and pear salad, parmesan risotto and grilled shrimp. I hope, I mean, I’ve seen you order some similar things, I thought…”
Maggie put a hand on Alex’s arm. “Alex, it looks great. Smells amazing too. I had no idea you could cook like this.”
“Actually,” Alex admitted as she helped herself to some salad, “I can’t. I ordered this from Gourmet Garage. I did however, expertly heat it up and put it in my own bowls.”
Maggie picked up her wine glass and held it up for a toast. “Well then, to heating things up.”
Alex touched her glass gently to Maggie’s. “To heating things up,” she replied.
Maggie held Alex’s gaze as they drank, and Alex blushed, pretty sure they weren’t talking about risotto anymore.