"Kara, you can't seriously be considering this. This is crazy!"
"How can I not, Alex? Barry needs me. This "other Earth" needs me."
"And what about me? Huh? I need you too!" Alex was pacing the length of Kara's living room, but now she stopped and faced her sister, the deep hurt and anger writ clearly on her face.
"I know that. Of course I know that," Kara replied, stepping forward to pull Alex into her arms.
The other woman was stiff at first, but then slumped against her superhero sister, allowing the blonde to support her.
"It won't be forever, Al - "
"You have no idea if that's true," Alex cut her off and then pushed back to arm's length before swiping her hand across her traitorous teary eyes. "You could die over there, Kara. You could die and we might never know. Or you could be stuck there forever. There's no guarantee that Barry and "his people" can get you back here to us."
Kara took a deep breath and the right corner of her mouth tucked back in that way which meant she was thinking and really considering her next words.
"You're right," she admitted, and Alex looked surprised as she watched Kara begin her own pacing motion across the floor. "You're absolutely right. We don't really know anything about what might happen. But Alex, I can't just sit here and do nothing. How can I when it could mean the destruction of a whole other world? A world filled with families, innocent people, brothers, parents... sisters just like us. Alex, I can't risk that possibility that another world could die while I do nothing to prevent it."
And just like that, Alex knew that she had lost the argument. Kara already lived with the weight of the memory of an entire culture on her shoulders. There was no way she would be able to handle turning her back on a world in danger.
"Then let me come with you," Alex whispered. "Don't make me stay here alone. You promised me I wouldn't have to do this alone."
The tears were back, balanced delicately on dark lashes, blinked back but quickly replaced by more. Kara felt as though her heart was breaking as she saw how vulnerable and frightened her fearless big sister really was.
"You're not alone here. You will never be alone. You have J'onn and Eliza and yeah, Winn and Mon-El are kinda goofy, but you have them too. And Alex, you have Maggie."
That last bit was said quietly, gently, as if the mere words could cause Alex to bolt from the room.
"We're barely friends," Alex whispered.
"I've seen how she looks at you, and I know how you feel. The timing may not be right, but there's something there. You could be happy with her, Alex. And I know she will be there for you while I'm away."
Alex sniffled and Kara pulled her back into a warm embrace.
"I made you promise me once that you would - "
"- be happy. I remember," Alex finished, because how could she possibly have forgotten one of the most painful moments of her life.
"I'm still holding you to that promise."
An hour later and it was done. Alex Danvers watched as a swirling temporal anomaly appeared in Kara's apartment and she watched as Kara stepped through it, flanked by Barry and Cisco. With nothing more than a tiny smile and a wave, Kara was gone. And Alex collapsed onto the sofa, wrapping her arms tightly across her own chest, as if she could contain the pain blooming within. On the coffee table sat her phone, Maggie's number bright on the screen because Kara had insisted on her promising to call her as soon as she was gone. Maggie wanted to be Alex's friend. Being there for each other was what friends did, Alex deserved to have that and Kara was certain that Maggie would Alex to call.
Every rational thought in Alex's brain was telling her to shut the phone off, or better yet, delete the number and forget it ever existed; throw herself into work, spar with J'onn while refusing to really talk to him, accept her mother's disappointed looks, wall herself off and then drink herself into oblivion.
But she had promised Kara, and she wouldn't break a promise to her sister. She picked up the phone and hit the 'call' button, then listened for the dial tone and ringing, all while feeling the emotions she was desperately trying to tamp down come bubbling up to the surface. They tightened her throat and blurred her vision and when Maggie's voice came on the other end of the line, Alex could barely form words.
"Hey, Danvers, what's up?" Maggie sounded cheerful, happy that Alex had called, happy that maybe they could get their friendship back on track.
Alex's breath hitched and she clutched the phone tighter.
"Danvers? Alex, are you okay?" and now Maggie sounded worried and Alex could hear her footsteps and other shuffling sounds.
"It's Kara," Alex managed to choke out. "She's - she's gone."
"Alex, where are you?"
"I'm at - I'm at her apartment," she stuttered, afraid that her voice was about to be taken over by a sob.
"I'll be there in ten minutes."
The line went silent. Maggie made it there in seven.
She had no idea what was going on. Had there been a fight? No, the Danvers girls were tight. No disagreement would be bad enough to cause such a reaction. An accident? Was she hurt? Dead? Maggie rolled different ideas over and over in her head as she sped through the streets of National City.
She hadn't heard any news stories about Supergirl battling any bad guys du jour. Yes, Maggie knew that Kara was Supergirl. As she told Alex, she was a detective; she detected. And it hadn't been hard to translate Supergirl's seeming closeness with Alex to the closeness between the sisters. She'd only met Kara twice, but glasses as a disguise? Seriously? Maybe that worked for people who hadn't met Supergirl first and seen her in scenarios where she wasn't just acting heroic. Those were instances when the hero had bumped shoulders with Alex, and exchanged little looks, the woman's adorable admiration for the President, and the way Alex had rushed to Supergirl's side at the fight club while ignoring the danger all around. All of that, paired with the matching steely looks she'd received from Kara and Supergirl after the ill-fated kiss with Alex had led to only one obvious conclusion.
But again, she hadn't heard of anything happening to Supergirl, so what was wrong? What had Alex so upset she could barely speak? What had happened that would push Alex to call her, of all people, when they were only beginning to renew their friendship and the taller woman still seemed hesitant and awkward around her unless she was lining up a pool shot.
Kara's door loomed large in front of her, and Maggie knocked softly, and then harder, when there was no answer.
"Alex? Alex, it's me. C'mon and open the door."
When she didn't hear any movement from the other side, Maggie prepared to kick the door in, while her anxiety ratcheted skyward. Before gathering herself to drive her foot into a spot beside the doorknob, she reached out to try the knob. She was shocked when it turned easily and the door swung open.
"Alex?" she called out again but it wasn't necessary because she instantly spotted the other woman curled into herself on the pale grey sofa.
"Oh God, Alex, what happened?" Maggie's words were soft and slow and so were her movements.
Her footsteps made no sound as she moved to Alex's side, and then she lowered herself to the sofa and tentatively wrapped her arm around shaking shoulders. She thought there was a good fifty-fifty chance that Alex would flinch away from her touch, but that didn't happen. Instead, Alex let out a stifled little cry and turned to bury her face in Maggie's shoulder.
"Shh... shhh... Whatever it is, I'm here. I'll help you. You're not alone."
The sniffles and heavy breaths from Alex, and soothing noises from Maggie were the only sounds in the apartment for a long while. When words were finally spoken again, they came from Alex.
"I knew it would hurt, but I didn't think I'd feel so hopeless when she left," she murmured, trying to put her thoughts in order, knowing that Maggie was now going to have a hundred questions.
"Left? Your sister left? Not because of..." Maggie waved her free hand aimlessly before continuing with, "because you said she was fine with it and she seemed fine when I saw her at the bar."
"No, no, not because of that. She would never - No, she was totally fine with me being gay. In fact she's the one who made me promise to call you before she would leave."
"But where did she go?" Maggie asked, pulling away just enough to see Alex's face. "And you don't need to think of some excuse for her because I know she's Supergirl."
Alex shook her head almost imperceptibly and the smallest smile flashed across her lips. Of course Maggie already knew.
"I'd say that this will be hard to believe, but you already work with aliens and you've seen the DEO," Alex said.
It took a few minutes and multiple questions and repetitions, but Alex gave Maggie the details about what had happened to Kara. How she was now on another Earth, fight God only knew what. How there was no guarantee she would survive. How there was no guarantee that she could make her way home even if she did survive. By the time she finished, she was crying again and she drew in a few stuttering breaths before she tried to put a respectable amount of distance between herself and Maggie.
She'd already blubbered all over the woman, and Alex was never the most demonstrative person, except with Kara. She needed to pull herself together and push all of those stubborn emotions back down where they belonged. Unfortunately, Maggie chose that moment to grab Alex's hand. She intertwined their fingers and Alex just stared at their joined hands before slowly looking up at Maggie through still-damp lashes.
"Don't move away from me," Maggie said. "I mean unless you really, really want to. Because I am here for you, Alex. I want to hold you. I want to give you whatever you need right now."
Alex looked back down and a quick breath huffed out through her nose before she mumbled, "I don't think you really want to do that."
An almost harsh squeeze to her fingers was the response and she turned startled eyes to the smaller woman's face.
"You can't tell me what I do and don't want, Danvers."
"But - "
"Yeah, and I meant everything I said, but I never meant for you to think that our friendship could never develop into something more. Because I was trying to be all selfless and let you explore your new reality without being tethered to me, but I've gotta tell you that I really, really hope you don't explore for too long."
Alex felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room for a second time that day. Was Maggie really telling her what she thought she was? We're those words really the ones she'd been hoping to hear for weeks now? She knew that she had to find out for sure.
"And what if I told you that I'd much rather do all of my exploring with you?" she asked quietly, gaze still trained on the deep, dark eyes staring into her own.
"Then I would say that I'm an extremely lucky woman," Maggie replied.
Then she tugged on Alex's hand and brought her other up to reach behind Alex's neck, and together they discovered that second kisses could be just as powerful as first. It didn't erase the fear and sadness that Alex was feeling about her sister, but it did give her hope that at least she wouldn't be facing whatever happened alone.