#sanvarias

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“How many of these bars are there?” Alex finds herself distracted with saying. It’s the very last question she came to ask, and most of all least important question for that matter. But there she was, standing in another alien bar, this one awash with rainbow flags. This one was different from the last, although she loves it now, especially on karaoke night. The atmosphere was different, it didn’t make her want to immediately draw her weapon. Then again, she had changed a lot in the past year. It could've just been that.

Maggie looked smug. She gestured, a quick hand movement only just shy of an exaggerated throw of her arm in reveal. Punctuating it with one word.

“Several.”

Alex’s eyes grew wider, first at the response, then at the sight of two women in the corner, table littered with empty glasses, passionately locked in what looked like a very intimate embrace. What Alex would estimate as intimate anyway. One seemed to be stroking the other’s neck gills. She made herself look away, cheeks reddening with the guilt of maybe looking too long at something private.

She was trying to pull herself together but Maggie was making it impossible. She was doing this on purpose. Alex wouldn’t back down.

Straightening her back she laid in on her first order of business, a sternly pointed finger aimed in the direction of Maggie’s chest.

“You came to my apartment.”

It was an accusation. Alex hadn’t meant it to be but in the adjustment of her posture and focus, her tone defaulted to something more like argumentative than the guarded stone exterior she’d pep talked herself into on the way in.

It wasn’t all that surprising that Maggie’s smug smile disappeared. It was replaced with a regretful expression Alex didn’t think she liked all that much either.

“I only meant to check on you.”

“A phone call would have been fine.”

They were staring at each other, the energy between them as charged as it had been the first day they met.

“I called you ten times Alex.”

Something about the way Maggie said her first name, it always reeled her in. It wasn’t fair that it still did. It softened her. Made her regret countering with that. She’d known her phone had been forgotten in those string of days Kara was laid up at the DEO. Those nerve wrecking days she only remembered as a fog of conflicted emotions over Sam and a belly full of worry for her sister. It felt wrong to then tie that thought cloud to Maggie. To shutting Maggie out.

“I would have called you back.”

Maggie narrowed her eyes, her head tilting almost unnoticeable had it not been so familiar to Alex. She expected Maggie to challenge it. She could see it in unfairly warm brown eyes as plainly as she tasted the lie on her tongue. Then again, they didn’t really owe each other anything did they?

Maggie must have come to the same conclusion. Maybe with the addition of circling around the fact that Alex didn’t call her back. Instead Alex tracked her down. Instead Alex was right there in front of her demanding an explanation for why she would care enough to essentially break into her apartment.

It was starting to dawn on her that this was probably a bad idea.

“I met your new friend.”

It was most certainly a bad idea.

Alex stiffened. Mid motion to begin her retreat, her heart unexplainably flickered around in her chest, panging something like guilt in her ribcage.

“And her daughter.”

Alex puffed out an angry breath, ready to rail against any sore comment about Ruby. She opened her mouth, that accusing finger on its way back up between them but Maggie changed. Her face, her eyes, even her voice grew a little distant as she spoke again before Alex could.

“Cute kid.”

And it stuck there, hanging in the silence between them. It was the worst sort of silence. Worse than the break up silence. Of course tracking-down-your-ex-for-SOME-reason silence was going to be worse.

“Look,” Maggie said before they could get anymore awkward with each other. It was painful to sit through. “I just wanted to make sure you were alright. And that’s the only way I had left.”

Alex only nodded. Her lips pressed together tight, eyes darting around Maggie’s face looking for something. Maybe even hopeful for something she could read between the lines.

“I know.” She finally said and Maggie’s brow twitched for just a moment. A spare glimpse behind the woman’s carefully crafted impenetrable surface.

“You do?” Maggie asked, her fingers circling around her half empty beer for a sip. “Then… what are you doing here?”

“What?” Alex asked distractedly, caught up in the straying of her own thoughts and the entire situation. “Oh. OH!” Alex seemed to remind herself.

“I need your help. We! We need your help. The DEO.” Alex amended, growing flustered. She gestured between them. “The DEO needs NCPD assistance."

Maggie made an abrupt sound, like a snort.