Chapter 3
Alex Danvers was not one to turn down a challenge.
Even when the challenge came in the form of a very romantic date idea from her very romantic girlfriend.
"I didn't even know National City had an ice skating rink," was the first thing she'd spluttered when Maggie had asked her off hand if she'd like to go skating with her on Holiday Music Night.
The second thing she'd said had been "I'd love to go, babe," because she knew by now that Maggie's off-handed way of asking things often meant that something was really, really important to her and she was embarrassed, or scared, or scarred, into assuming that the other person would find it stupid.
And she was happy to go, happy to learn why ice skating was so important to Maggie; happy just that Maggie wanted to do things with her, still in awe that Maggie liked her enough to want to do things with her. Date her. Kiss her. Ice skate… with her.
Which led to the challenge.
Because Alex Danvers had never been ice skating.
Even if she'd known National City had a rink, she probably wouldn't have ever gone on her own. Unless Kara pouted about it, which she never had. But Maggie asking off-handedly and Kara pouting were about the only things that could get her to go without grumbling, because Alex Danvers liked her feet on solid ground, thank you very much.
But Maggie apparently had her own skates and apparently there was a place she went to other than the bar after work, so the next night Alex found herself wearing the gloves Maggie had sternly instructed her to wear – "Taking a spill on frozen ground is deeply unpleasant with bare hands, even for hardass DEO agents, Danvers" – but with a chip on her shoulder.
"Who's gonna take a spill? Pfft, come on. I'm combat trained, Maggie, I'm not gonna fall doing something children do."
Maggie had just chuckled and told her to wear a scarf, too.
She was nervous, excited, and determined all at once as she pulled up on her Ducati. Her heart melted and leaped all at once when she scanned the area and saw her girlfriend near the rink's entrance. Even though Maggie was standing still, Alex could feel the excitement rolling off her; even though she was leaning, motionless, thumbs dipped into her pockets, gym bag slung over her shoulder, her right knee bent so her foot was resting against the wall, Alex sensed the buzz of excitement in her, and it sent her flying.
Maggie was staring, the ghost of a grin on her face, at the pavement in front of her, and Alex took her time taking in the sight. Not only her stance, which was, well, hot, but also the utter adorableness of the red beanie Maggie had pulled down around her ears, somehow making her look gayer than she always already did. And the leather gloves she was wearing? Alex swallowed to control herself. She secured her bike and walked up to Maggie slowly, slowly, relishing the opportunity to observe the woman she loved in her moments of solitude.
Alex wondered what she was thinking about, what memory, what fantasy, was bringing that small tilt upward to her perfect lips.
"Hey, pretty lady," Alex greeted softly when she was a foot or two away from her girlfriend. Maggie's entire being lit up, from quietly contemplative to ecstatically happy in the milliseconds it took for her to identify Alex's voice, the shadow she cast over her, the warmth of her body coming into her space.
"Alex," she said by way of greeting, and that was all she needed to say. It stood for, 'I missed you. It was a long day at work and I'm so glad I had this to look forward to so I could get through it. It means so much that you wanted to do this with me, even though this ice skating stuff is new for you. You look beautiful. It's so good to see you.'
All in the emotion Maggie put into the two short, sweet syllables of Alex's name.
Alex beamed. "You were thinking pretty hard about something there."
Maggie nodded and her smile shifted slightly from ecstatic to perfectly content and deeply thoughtful.
"My dad used to take my ice skating almost every weekend, every winter, when I was a kid. It was like… our thing. I was just thinking about it, you know? About him. We had a pond that would freeze over. I fell in one year, you know. Almost lost hearing in my left ear. He saved me." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss away the look of horror on Alex's face. "I'm fine, babe. And you can't fall into an indoor rink." She looped her arm through Alex's and they headed for the entrance of the rink, stopping to let three extremely eager children in Santa hats and reindeer antlers through the door ahead of their parents.
"Anyway, I was pretty stoked when I found out they have a rink here. Makes me feel a little closer to home, especially around Christmas, you know?"
Alex nodded, loving nothing more than hearing Maggie's stories, and kissed her forehead as they walked into the utter holiday explosion that was the rink. Nearly at the level of Kara's apartment in terms of the utter explosion of holiday decorations, Mariah Carey blasted into their ears as soon as they were through the interior doors.
Alex had expected Maggie to send her off on her own to figure out what to do: it looked a little bit like a bowling alley set up, with different lines for food, admission tickets, to rent and return skates.
She should have known better.
Because Maggie immediately started bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet as "All I Want for Christmas is You" washed over them, and she tugged Alex – somehow in time to the music – toward the skate rental line. Alex smiled when she realized that Maggie was absently singing along with the song to herself.
"Nerd."
Maggie's smile only brightened as the sound of metal in ice – a more pleasant sound than Alex would have expected – coated their ears from the rink, off to the left side.
"Takes one to know one, Danvers."
Alex's smile brightened then, too.
"Okay, so we'll get you your skates here – "
"We don't need admission?" Alex asked.
Maggie winked up at her. "I've got a frequent flyer pass."
Alex leaned down so their mouths were a mere breath from each other, as children clomping in ungainly fashions in their skates on the padded ground raced their parents around the two of them, oblivious.
"Do you now?"
Maggie went still and her eyes fluttered closed slightly.
"Mmmmmhm!" she hummed in sing song, by way of reminding her that, helping keep the cover of one of the alien employees so he wouldn't be targeted for harassment or not, she'd probably be asked to leave if she tried to rip off her girlfriend's clothes right then and there on the skate rental line.
"Detective Sawyer!" the college aged boy working the rentals called, an eager glow on his fae. Maggie backed out of the spell that was proximity to Alex Danvers and laughed as the boy jammed a Santa hat on his head while waving the couple – how they go to be next in line neither would ever know – over to the desk.
"How goes it, Elián?" Maggie called as she locked her fingers with Alex's and strolled forward, dimples out in full force.
"Good as ever," he returned as he engaged Maggie in the most complex handshake Alex had seen since Winn and James got drunk that night at the bar.
"A pair of 10s for my lady here, please," Maggie told him when their handshake ended in an over-the-counter hug that had Maggie practically jumping to be able to reach his Elián's shoulder.
"So you must be the famous Alex Danvers!" the boy exclaimed, and Alex flushed, spluttered, and reddened.
"Elián," Maggie muttered through gritted teeth, but her smile told him she was pleased, and the way Alex shook his hand warmly told her that she wasn't the only one.
"So how do you two know each other?" Alex asked, always marveling at how many people Maggie seemed to know, but how few she seemed to really let in.
Elián held up a finger and scampered away to get Alex's skates. When he came back and put them on the counter, he leaned over to Alex's ear and whispered conspiratorially, "She helped me with some… ah… immigration issues, if you know what I mean."
He finished off with a broad wink that let Alex see the hint of maroon rimming his pupils, and – she'd changed so much since that first night she reached for her gun in the alien bar – she nodded with understanding and winked right back at him.
Maggie's heart glowed, and she tugged down Elián's Santa hat playfully as they thanked him and went to pick their way through teenage couples, exhausted parents, and exhilarated kids to find a bench to put on their skates.
"He's a good kid, Elián," Maggie said as she plopped down next to Alex and bent to zip open her gym bag. A sleek pair of black skates – so unlike the scuffed, gray rented pair Alex had – accompanied a jump rope and boxing gloves.
"Planning to box on the rink?" Alex teased.
Maggie shrugged as her body bounced to the tune of "Jingle Bells." "Didn't have time to dump my regular gym stuff, so I just shoved it all in the same bag."
Alex gulped at the idea of Maggie going at a heavy bag and Maggie licked her lips, knowing exactly what Alex was thinking and loving it.
"Such dirty thoughts amongst such innocent children," she chided in a low voice, and Alex pffted.
Maggie tugged on her skates with ease and electricity jumped through their fingers when she leaned over to show Alex how to lace hers up around the back and make sure they were as snug as possible.
Alex took advantage to brush the hair falling on Maggie's neck to kiss the exposed skin between her shoulder and neck. Maggie shivered and shifted so she could look Alex in the eyes. "Ready to go?"
It had been cute until then. Cute, and a little over Christmasy, but Maggie was happy, and Alex was in stable shoes.
And now she had to stand on metallic tight ropes, and the fact that there were children clomping around in their own skates like it was nothing made it even worse.
But Maggie was standing already, hands outstretched to Alex, hips swinging slightly as "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree" started playing, her hair slightly askew under that adorable hat and a glow already in her face from the thrill of it all.
So Alex reminded herself that she fought aliens for a living and could for sure defeat a simple task like ice skating, and stood.
She'd told herself she'd taken Maggie's hands just because she liked touching her – loved touching her – not because she actually needed the help.
She'd told herself that. But it was a lie.
She swayed the moment she stood up, and Maggie arched an eyebrow and pursed her lips but said nothing other than, "Takes some getting used to."
Alex scowled down at her unsteadily, and Maggie's eyes glistened this time. "You're better than me at pool."
"Who said I won't be good at this?" Alex pffted. She wobbled again as she took a step, and Maggie bit her lip but kept silent, taking Alex's hand and helping her hobble to the entrance to the ice rink.
"Okay, it's gonna feel really scary at first. But I won't let you fall, mmkay?"
If anyone else had said that to Alex, she might have decked them. She might have raged that she didn't need any help, that she was Alex Danvers and was afraid of nothing and no one, certainly not an ice rink that children were currently speeding around in Santa hats and reindeer antlers.
But Maggie? Maggie managed, somehow, to make Alex feel loved, not inadequate; to make her feel protected, not stupid; to make her feel perfect, not insufficient.
So she followed Maggie onto the ice, not forgetting to marvel at her girlfriend, who casually glided onto the ice backwards, not bothering to get her own bearings as she held both of Alex's hands in her own while Alex awkwardly stepped out onto the ice.
And promptly lost her footing.
But, true to her word, Maggie didn't let her fall.
Maybe it was the jump rope and boxing gloves in her gym bag, or maybe it was something in her physical cop training; or maybe it was sheer determination never to break her word to Alex, but – size difference notwithstanding – she stabilized her own skates in the ice and held Alex up, holding her hands and her eyes with her own.
Alex's legs steadied after a moment, and Maggie smiled so warmly at her it was a wonder the entire rink didn't melt.
"All good?"
Alex didn't trust herself to nod, so she just tried to take another step.
"Good," Maggie said, and again, Alex felt cared for, not condescended, and she wondered how in the hell Maggie did that when no one else had ever managed to before.
"Try not to let your ankles flare out, and use the ice to your advantage: it'll help you move forward, just let it take you there."
Still skating backwards, still waiting for Alex to gather her own confidence and bearings and speed, Maggie bit her lip and watched the utter concentration on her girlfriend's face.
"Where Are You Christmas?" played across the rink, and Maggie knew exactly where it had gone, and exactly where it could be found: in Alex's eyes when she took one stride, then two, then three, unsteady at first, grasping desperately at Maggie's hands at first, until she got her own ungainly rhythm and started really moving on her own.
Maggie's dimples came out in full force at the exhilaration in Alex's eyes, and she shifted to skate side-by-side with Alex. Their hands fit together perfectly, and for a long while, neither of them spoke.
Through "Do You Hear What I Hear?", Maggie sang a little bit under her breath, but still, neither of them spoke; through "Baby, It's Cold Outside," they flirt lip-synced, and laughed so hard Alex almost sent them both tumbling; and through "Merry New York Christmas," they rested on the wall for Alex's sake, still holding hands and watching children speed by with their parents, teenagers amble by on their first dates, adults speed by with ice clinging to their gloves.
"Let me watch you," Alex told Maggie after they skated – Alex slowly building her own rhythm – through a few more laps, holding hands, always holding hands, around the rink.
"Yeah?" Maggie asked.
Alex nodded eagerly and let herself slam to a gentle stop against the wall after failing to brake successfully.
Maggie leaned up to give her a quick kiss, which made Alex's insides glow, and took off with backwards, neatly glancing over her shoulder to avoid bumping into any other skaters. With a mischievous raise of her eyebrows, she finally turned and let herself gather full speed.
The sight of her moving with such grace, such speed, weaving without difficulty, without error, through skater after skater – and being careful, always, to do so in such a way that it didn't throw them off their own game – took Alex's breath away. She was all the way around the rink and rounding the bend toward where Alex rested, skating backwards, before Alex would have even gotten to the first bend.
"Liked that?" Maggie asked eagerly.
"You're amazing," Alex said, pulling her in for a kiss. Maggie shivered with excitement, and Alex tugged them both, eager to learn more, eager to brake better, inspired rather than intimidated by Maggie's skill. But Maggie pulled her back, pulled her down, pulled her deeper into another kiss, her tongue slipping into Alex's mouth as "Silent Night" calmed the rink around them.
"Awwwww!" a few passing teenage girls squealed, and Alex broke the kiss with a broad grin and very red face.
"Get a room, Danvers!"
She and Maggie both jumped, and Maggie had to grab at Alex's waist to keep her steady. They both turned and saw Winn, followed by Kara and James, slipping out onto the ice.
"Hey guys!" Maggie waved good-naturedly. "Babe, did you – "
"No, I didn't invite them! I didn't even tell them where I was – oh my god, they pinged my phone. I'll kill them, I'll kill all of them. Winn!"
Winn had been approaching, but now he skated backwards with infuriating grace, out of Alex's flailing grasp.
Maggie steadied her hands on Alex's forearms and grinned. "The hell would you have done if her phone was in my bed, Schott?" she called.
Alex blushed and Maggie smirked and Kara groaned and James slammed to the ice with laughter and Winn shrugged.
"Would've brought the party to you there then!"
"Winn – " Kara tried to reconcile, but the shit-eating grin tugging at her face gave her away.
"Oh c'mon, it's all Christmas music, all night! You mean to tell me this date wouldn't be better as a party?" James's voice was rich and happy, and it almost melted Alex's will. Almost.
"I can tell you a lot of things that would be better – "
"Alex, babe, hey. Let's have fun." Maggie kissed her gloved hand as a deeply bemused Kara tugged James to his feet. He chuckled as he brushed ice off his pants. "Maggie, haven't you figured it out by now? This is Alex having fun."
That earned such a laugh from Kara that she brought James back down to the ice along with her, and Alex spurted over to her to make sure she was alright.
"The ice isn't kryptonite, Alex, I'm fine," Kara teased, but pulled her sister down into a sloppy, icy hug. Alex yelped and Maggie and Winn flinched as Maggie tugged James away from Kara and Alex, who was mercilessly tickling a squealing Kara to the tune of "Underneath the Tree."
"Hey, hey, hey, can we be that obnoxious group of adults who all hold hands in one big icy link that no one can pass through?"
Three nos and only one yes rang out, but, as Maggie pulled both Kara and Alex to their feet, somehow Kara and Winn's desires won out.
James took Winn's hand, and Alex took the other, with a crushing grip and a warning look that both terrified and exhilarated the little brother she never had. Maggie took Alex's other hand and called "Little Danvers, over here!" to a still struggling Kara.
Within a few strides, Maggie and Winn were both flat on the floor, having taken the fall themselves so the rest of the chain would stay up.
"Go on without us!" Winn called, and Maggie gasped for air as Alex, stabilized by James, tugged her to her feet as "Grown Up Christmas List" played in the background.
Looking around at the Superfriends around her – at the way Kara included her in their hot chocolate order without needing to be asked; the way James took impromptu pictures of her and Alex skating hand in hand "so you can have a photo for your first ornament together"; the way Winn whispered to Alex and she smacked him upside the head while they both winked at Maggie, telling her in their own ways that Winn was congratulating her on having such a keeper; the way Alex trusted her to hold her up, the way they melted into each other's arms and stole kisses each time Alex was steady enough on her own feet – Maggie knew she had everything on her grown up Christmas list, after all.