Work Text:
Alex Danvers adjusted the hem of her red satin dress as inconspicuously as she could, trying to get the damn gun that was digging into her inner thigh to shift. Dealing with concealed weapons was basically in her job description- but getting paid didn't change the fact that the holsters could really, really, itch.
Alex gave up, ignoring her discomfort, and schmoozed her way back into the thicker masses of people. If she had had an option, Alex would’ve been at home right now, reading a book or spending time with her sister. Sadly, attendance at this year’s pretentious “charity” ball, dramatically frequented by most of National City’s elite, was a mandatory DEO responsibility. Or more accurately- protecting National City’s elite was mandatory DEO responsibility.
Her department had had been following a crashed spaceship and had picked up unusual, potentially alien activity just hours before the huge event was scheduled to begin. True to the annoying bureaucracy she’d come to accept, the Ball was still on- because risking innocent lives was better then running the risk of inconveniencing the rich. Instead of an evacuation, dozens of undercover DEO agents were stationed throughout the event and hundreds more were on standby.
Alex made eye contact with a DEO agent in a dark suit, the mysterious bulge in his jacket giving him away. She nodded briefly at him before turning to give her fakest smile to a group of young men and women staring in her general direction.
Trying to maintain her cover, Alex started a conversation with an elderly man.
“Yes, uh, absolutely I think fracking is a valuable investment. That’s very…” Alex trailed off whirling to face the flash of silver she’d seen in her peripheral vision. There was nothing there, just groups of excessively rich people engaging in the same conversations she’d been observing for the past two hours.
“Is everything alright?” The old man asked, peering over her shoulder.
“Yes,” Alex said bringing a hand to her temple, “Yeah, everything’s good.”
The man didn't look convinced but he returned to his previous train of thought without pause. Alex let herself zone out, nodding every now and then to be polite.
“Do you mind if I steal the lady?”
Alex looked up, startled, there was a young man standing behind her. Chiding herself internally for not noticing his approach she fixed him with a smile she hoped was inviting. He blushed and Alex felt just a little bad for leading him on- but at this point she would've done anything to get away from the old gentleman- who’d been talking without pause for the past ten minutes.
“Well I suppose if you absolutely must, although we were in the midst of a riveting discussion on Chinese economics.” Said the old man looking faintly perturbed.
“I’m sure it was, well-uh, riveting, but I would really love to have a dance with this, uh, beautiful woman.” The other man said, placing a hand on her arm. Resisting the urge to shake him off, Alex let herself be led to the dance floor.
“You look really nice.” The man said as they spun. He was a good dancer; confident in his steps as he led her through what she guessed was a waltz. He was attractive too, with a strong jaw and a nice smile- not that it made a difference to Alex.
Alex nodded in thanks, avoiding his awkward advances and scanning the room for potential threats over his shoulder.
“So uh, enough about me. What brings you here?” The man said again. Alex hadn’t even realized he’d been talking about himself.
“I-,” Alex started, the DEO hadn’t exactly given them aliases, “I’m here for work.”
“Oh, so you must be awfully bored huh?” The man asked, fixing her with an overly cheerful smile, “How about we get a drink and I’ll try my best to make it less boring for you?”
Alex winced openly, and she felt bad because the man seemed like a nice guy. Overly friendly, maybe, but genuine and really cheerful.
“I’m, uh,” She tried, but the words stuck in her throat. “I don’t really,”
Damn it Danvers.
“I don’t usually, um,” The man looked at her, waiting.
What was so hard about telling the man she wasn’t into men? That she was, well… gay. Alex knew, of course, that it wasn’t some huge secret. It was the twenty-first century and the president was a woman, but somehow, the words kept getting stuck in her throat.
“Pardon?” The young man asked, leaning a little to close for comfort.
“I’m…” Alex cleared her throat. She had felt less nervous facing off against a murderous alien felon, just hours ago. “I’m-”
“I think what the lady is trying to say is that she’s gay.” A blonde woman stepped up beside the man, grinning at him.
“Oh, uh, I’m sorry, I hope I wasn’t, I mean that I didn’t-” The man looked distinctly uncomfortable.
“Better luck next time Ray.” The woman teased in a tone that was warm and familiar. “I’m Sara.”
Alex shook the proffered hand and fell in beside the woman when she turned away, pulling Alex with her.
“Let’s go get that drink.” Said Sara, looking sympathetically at Alex. “Ray can take a while to catch on. You’d think with all those brains he’d be better at basic human interaction.”
Alex smiled in return, not exactly sure what opinion she should have on the man, Ray’s, brains.
“Care to sit?” Sara asked, pulling out two chairs at the nearest bar station.
Alex accepted the proffered seat gratefully.
“I’m Alex by the way. And thank you for coming to my rescue.” She said, leaning her elbows on the table. “I still, um, have trouble saying that.”
“I’m gay?” Asked the woman, grinning at her. She was really pretty too, with a sunny, open face and bright blue eyes. Still, there was something lethal about the way carried herself, and Alex’s heart was too hopelessly caught up on a certain detective to really appreciate it.
Alex nodded.
“It gets easier.” Said Sara, touching her shoulder companionably. Alex couldn’t help noticing the distinct outlines of lean muscle beneath the sleeves of her gown.
“Do you…” Alex stated, trying to avoid eye contact. “Speak from experience?”
“Oh.” Said Sara, smiling largely now, “Definitely.”
“Although,” Sara began again, “I never really had to tell anyone important to me. I had, uh, other stuff going on that sort of took the cake”
“Like what?” Asked Alex, allowing herself to relax for the first time that evening.
“Things like you wouldn’t believe.” Said Sara softly, shaking her head.
“Try me.” Said Alex thinking about her job at the DEO and her very own, alien sister.
Sara cocked her head, half her mouth tilting up into a smile. “Okay,” She said, “Like, uh, I came back from the dead, I was a super vigilante and I was dating the heir to an international order of assassins.”
“Oh.” Said Alex, laughing. Sara laughed with her, although Alex was almost completely sure that the woman had not been joking.
“Do you want something to drink? The bartender won’t charge me.” Asked Sara, flashing a thumbs-up at the bartender, an immense man with close-cropped hair and thick features.
“I would love something,” Said Alex, before remembering the job. She scanned the room for anything abnormal before amending her statement. “No alcohol.”
“Right.” Said Sara still smiling. She addressed the scary looking bartender. “You know the drill.”
“The hardest liquor you have.” The man growled in a deep, gruff voice that sounded like the living embodiment of a boulder.
“No the work one.” Said Sara, punching the man in the shoulder- with extremely excellent form, Alex noted carefully.
“Right.” Said the man, lumbering off.
“I have a sister who doesn’t drink.” Said Sara accepting the drinks from the scary bartender. “I hope you like root beer.”
“It’s uh, not like that.” Said Alex, gratefully accepting her drink.
“Of course.” Sara’s eyes moved deliberately to Alex’s inner thigh, where a loaded gun was strapped in.
“I have a sister too.” Alex said, trying to change the subject.
Sara flinched, drinking deeply before turning back to face Alex.
“Yeah.” Said Sara, and her tone sounded a lot more forced then before, like she was trying too hard to stay cheerful.
“I’m sorry.” Said Alex, trying to judge where she’d gone wrong.
“It’s not your fault.”
They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, sipping their root beers.
“So,” Said Alex finally, “How does saying… it get easier?”
Sara looked up from her cup, licking a line of foam from her upper lip.
“Well, first of all I think you need to fully accept who you are.” The woman said, fixing Alex with a knowing expression. “Then, you need to stop caring what other people think.”
Alex laughed. “I am so new to this.”
“I can tell.” Sara smiled. “That’s fantastic.”
Alex sighed, letting her words trail off. “Yeah…”
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Sara said gently, “What tipped you off?”
Alex thought for a moment, collecting her thoughts before answering slowly and embarrassingly awkwardly.
“Well I never really liked…guys, you know, but I… always thought that it was…. just me- I think.” Sara nodded at her encouragingly, “And well, there was- is, this person. She, well, we talked a lot and...”
Alex trailed off again, the memory of Maggie’s rejection still fresh and painful.
“Oh?” Sara raised an eyebrow.
“Without her I don’t think I would have known.” Alex said truthfully, wishing her root beer was alcoholic.
“She sounds like quite a woman.” Sara smiled again, although something unreadable flickered across her face.
“She is.” Said Alex, swallowing hard at the lump that was forming rapidly in her throat.
“Oh.” Sara met her eyes, “What happened?”
“She doesn’t want...” Alex whispered, mortified to be spilling her guts to a stranger. Sara looked sympathetic and she reached out to rub Alex’s shoulder.
“Are you sure?” The blond asked, looking at her intently.
Alex could have recited everything Maggie had said to her, the words still echoing through her mind, days later. It still hurt.
“She…said relationships with people...new…like me only lead to trouble. She wants …to be friends.”
“Hmm.” Said Sara. “I might be wrong but it doesn’t sound like she isn’t into you.”
Alex looked up.
“I’m not the best at feelings but it sounds like she’s more concerned about you. When you’re just starting to figure things out it can be hard to know what you want. If I was this woman and I liked you, I wouldn’t want to jump right into something either. If she didn’t tell you outright then I wouldn’t write yourself off.” Sara sighed. “Don’t give up on her.”
“You think?” Asked Alex, a disgusting amount of hope entering her voice.
“Keep trying, be friends if that’s what she wants. Show her you know exactly what you want- and if it comes to it, accept defeat gracefully.”
Alex thought about what Sara had said for a while, analyzing Maggie’s speech from a new light. For the first time in a long time, she felt like the cloud of melancholy surrounding her had lifted, if only a little.
“What about you?” Alex asked conversationally.
“Me what?” Said Sara cautiously, accepting another root beer from the bartender.
“Your love life can’t be worse then mine.” Said Alex, shaking her head.
“You have no idea.” Sara buried her head in her hands and groaned. “You have nothing on me.”
“Oh?” Alex tried to return the favor. “Do you… want to talk about it?”
“Not particularly.” Said the blonde.
They sat in awkward silence before Sara let out a lofty sigh.
“Mostly my love life is just one night stands.” The blonde pursed her lips, “That sounded so depressing, didn’t it.”
Alex smiled as sympathetically as she could.
“Seducing my way through history.” Sara snorted, shaking her head. “Old habits.”
Alex decided not to fixate on the history comment, although she wondered briefly if the blonde was the alien she was supposed to be looking out for. Although the alien/ unknown entity that had fallen from space, was supposed to be seven feet tall and covered in metal plating.
“Have you slept with a woman before?” Asked Sara, studying her.
Alex blushed furiously. “Um, no.” She said as quickly as she could.
“Sorry, that was out of line.” Sara said pursing her lips again. “You just had me thinking.”
“About your love life?” Asked Alex.
“The last guy I kissed was vaporized.” Sara said matter-of-factly and Alex decided to take it in stride.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Said Sara, sighing. “It’s in the past now.”
“Was that what you were thinking about?” Alex asked gently.
“Not really.” The woman rested her head on her hand. “I was thinking about someone very…” She trailed off for the first time, and slumped against the marble bar top.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“She’s a ninja warrior princess.” Sara flashed a quick grin but it never met her eyes. She looked deeply sad.
“Now she sounds like quite a woman.”
Sara nodded gently, staring off into the ballroom.
“I’m not good with feelings.” The woman apologized, still not looking at Alex.
“Neither am I.” Alex admitted truthfully. “But if you want to talk I have absolutely nowhere to be.”
Sara was silent for a while and Alex busied herself draining the last of her root beer.
“I love her so damn much.” Said Sara finally, hoarsely. “I’ve hurt her so much, I can’t go back. She deserves so much better then me.” The blonde turned to face Alex, and Alex noticed she had tears in her eyes.
Sara shook her head and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.” Said Alex, her big sister mode already shifting into overdrive. “It’s funny, two complete strangers spilling our sob stories to each other.”
“Anyone ever tell you you’re easy to talk to?” Asked Sara, laughing.
“Not really.” And it was true, Alex was pretty sure most people thought she was cold, not that it mattered to her. Social and outgoing had never been her strong suits.
“Well you are.” Sara sniffed, scoffing at herself as she wiped her nose on the sleeve of her dark blue gown.
“Sara,” Said Alex gently, “Don’t you think your staying away would hurt this woman more?”
Sara scrunched her face up and exhaled slowly, in a big gust of air.
“I don’t know.” She said softly, her words just a murmur. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know, or you don’t want to know?” Alex said as kindly as she could.
“Yeah.” Agreed Sara, not really giving a definite answer.
“I mean,” Alex started slowly, “I am the opposite of an expert on this, but you should talk to her too. You obviously care about her. You shouldn’t let her go just because you’re… scared.”
Sara opened her mouth to speak. The woman looked deep in thought.
“Captain.” Said the bartender loudly from the far side of the bar where he’d been serving a handful people, “He’s here.”
“Yeah I got that.” Said Sara, her hand at her ear. “Move out, now!”
The blond woman reached under her large skirt and detached it, extending a slim, silver staff to its full length in a smooth, fluid motion. Underneath her skirt she had black leggings with patches of what looked like reinforced leather covering sensitive areas.
Alex reached for her gun, sliding it out of the itchy thigh holster with a sigh of relief.
“Agent Danvers, Department of Extraterrestrial Affairs.” She said, wishing her skirt detached as well.
“Sara Lance, uh, ex League of Assassins, current, uh, Time Vigilante.”
“What?”
“You’re on the verge of a potentially catastrophic time aberration!” Said Sara lance, listening into what was probably an invisible earpiece at the same time. “A time pirate crashed here weeks ago and he’s targeting this ball to try and wreak havoc on the time stream.”
She motioned for the bartender to follow her, and he did, carrying a huge gun that was almost, definitely, not commercially available.
“If we don’t stop the pirate one of the men who dies tonight will never father one of the most influential politicians of your world.”
“My world?” Asked Alex, trying to wrap her head around everything Sara had just said.
“We followed him to another dimension.” Said Sara as if it was a perfectly logical conclusion.
“We’re time travellers.” growled the bartender, hefting his gun.
“Okay.” Said Alex, staying in formation as the edged back into the main fray of the Ball. There would be time to puzzle over everything the woman had said later. Now she needed to focus on staying alive. “My department registered the crash a few days ago and was notified when he came out of hiding. There are many of us here tonight, and more waiting outside. What can I do to help?”
“Well-“ Sara started, but was immediately cut off by a huge crash. A section of the ornate ceiling had shattered, and a figure clad in immense silver plates climbed out of the wreckage below.
“Meet your end!” The creature bellowed, shooting bright blue blasts out of a streamlined gun. The blue bolts exploded on the ground in showers of sparks and debris. People ran shrieking from the building, pushing, shoving and trampling in their haste to leave.
The DEO agents quickly surrounded the creature; with more black clad figures pouring in the exit civilians were still trying to force their way through.
They converged on the creature, firing real bullets that ricochet dangerously off of the shiny silver armor, leaving the creature mostly unharmed. Supergirl would’ve been useful right about now, except now she was tied up fighting with her cousin in Metropolis. Fantastic, thought Alex as she watched more of her bullets ping off without harming the creature.
A bright blue bolt took down a DEO agent, the man crumpling, his weapon falling from a hand that was still outstretched. Suddenly, a man made of fire swooped down form the ceiling, huge jets of roaring flames shooting from his hand and head.
Alex blinked, watching the unlikely man head directly for the bright silver creature. A woman surrounded by the ghostly silhouette of a great animal sprinted from the outer edge of the room, one hand on a large necklace she wore around her neck and the other outstretched like a claw. Alex could hear the cacophony of shrieking and roaring animals as she passed, hundreds of voices forming one, toneless roar that drowned out all thought.
The Bartender’s gun turned on with a mechanical whine and pure heat blasted from the end, the heat of it burning Alex’s skin, even from her position far from it.
Under their attack, the monster fell quickly, his armor melting off of him, and the animal-woman keeping him pinned down, even as he screamed and thrashed. Sara approached him, and the DEO agents let her pass, keeping their guns trained both on the creature and on the woman.
Sara kicked his gun forcefully from his hand, with a satisfying crunch of bones. Using the tip of her staff, she flipped the creature’s helmet off, revealing a middle-aged man with a balding head and light burns dotting his face.
“You are done here.” Said Sara viciously, her lips drawn into a snarl. She raised the tip of her staff high, and made eye contact with the man who moaned and squirmed fruitlessly in an attempt to get away. Sara slammed the pointed tip of her staff into the man’s throat and her went rigid, choking and gurgling before lying still.
“Hey!” Called a member of the DEO, “You can’t just do that!”
The strange people went stiff, staring at the dozens of DEO agents they’d previously ignored. Sara put a hand to her ear. “Fall out, regroup at the waverider!”
The flaming man, shot upwards through the ceiling, more broken ceiling tiles hitting the floor.
“Ma’am we need to question you!” Called another DEO agent and Alex almost wanted to laugh at him. She highly doubted that they would stick around for the DEO’s hour-long interrogation processes.
Sure enough, Sara and the woman sprinted from the room, the bartender covering their path with the blistering flames from his heat gun. Just before they reached the exit, Sara turned and looked over her shoulder.
“Don’t give up on her!” She called, locking eyes with Alex, before turning back to leave.
“You too!” Alex called back, although Sara had disappeared from sight. Somehow, Alex felt sure she’d heard.
______________________
Hours later, Alex collapsed on her couch; still in the stupid red dress she’d worn to the Gala. The debriefings had taken much longer then she’d anticipated, the arrival of the new team had complicated things considerably. Alex as a key witness had been forced to tell of her encounter with the woman, Sara, over and over again. (Although she left out some parts)
Now, Alex was exhausted. She buried her face in her couch cushion and just lay there for a while, savoring the lack of activity. She pulled out her phone, checking her texts. There were a handful from Kara, reading her in on every little detail of her time in Metropolis, a few from the DEO and, her stomach lurched, two from Maggie Sawyer.
“Hey Danvers, everything okay?” the one read,
“Alex please talk to me?” Said the other one, sent two days ago.
Alex hadn’t had time to check her regular phone, the DEO had been on high alert ever since the alien (or human apparently), had crash-landed and then disappeared. She sighed and looked at the texts, lowering her phone. She was about to call it a night and turn in when she remembered Sara.
Gritting her teeth she tried to find her inner resolve. She hashed out a quick reply, immediately deleting it. Way too cheerful. She went over a few other responses in her mind, damning all of them. Finally, she decided to keep it simple.
“Hey.” She wrote, looking at the single word for a while before, hesitantly, she pressed send.
_____________________________
Miles, years, and three universes away Sara Lance sat alone at the helm of the Waverider. She listened to the little clicks and hums and creaking, shuttering sounds the ship made as it navigated through time and space. The constant noise had become a comforting curtain of background noise kept her mind from straying to the many dark placed it sometimes dwelled in.
Sara Lance stretched her legs and curled up against the large chair, watching the waves of time whirl by as the ship floated aimlessly, docked for all intents and purposes. She would’ve retired to bed hours ago, but sleep didn’t come easily to her anymore. She didn’t trust her mind when she let her carefully, crafted defenses fall, and didn’t trust her mind not to force her to relive things she would rather not see. She would sleep when she had to.
Sara let her thoughts drift, catching herself with mind numbing mantras whenever she though about something she couldn’t bear to think about. With little prompting, she immediately recalled the woman she’d met today. Alex.
Or more specifically; what the Alex had called out to her as she sprinted back to where she’d parked the waverider.
Sara groaned and thunked her head against the soft plush of the Captain’s seat.
“Gideon?” She asked.
“Yes Captain?” Gideon replied immediately, the melodically computerized voice as clinical and dispassionate as always, although, Sara thought Gideon sounded distinctly amused.
“Can you send a message to Nyssa al Ghul?”
“As soon as we reach a related temporal zone, certainly Captain. What would you like me to say?”
Sara paused, thinking. Finally she spoke.
“Tell her; hey.”