Chapter 46

Maggie watches her girlfriend with thinly veiled amusement as she urges them all out of the DEO. To the other agents and knights, it probably looks like she, Alex, Winn, Kara, and Lena all have a pressing, important matter to attend to. When in actuality, Maggie's nerdy girlfriend is just really excited to test out the crossbow.

"We will head to the training area and set up the targets." Alex orders. "Kara, you go get the crossbow and the bolts. Meet us there. Okay?"

Kara nods and runs off using her super speed while the rest of them head to the clearing.

"We have some fond memories here, huh Danvers?" Maggie questions with a wink at her girlfriend, who blushes.

"Ugh," Winn groans. "I really don't want to know about my big sister's sex life."

Alex feels a small smile spread across her face before she schools her features. "Big sister?"

Winn's eyes widen and he stutters out a reply. "Crap. I-I... It just slipped out and-"

"Relax, Winn." Alex says with a kind smile to reassure him. "It's nice to know you think of me as a big sister, that means I get to do... This!"

Winn yelps in surprise when Alex puts him in a gentle headlock and gives him a noogie. "Alex! You do that anyway!"

He tries to squirm away from her grasp and after a couple more seconds, she acts like he got out of her headlock (no one gets out of her headlocks unless she wants them to). Maggie's laughing off to one side and Lena's shaking her head fondly, already feeling more at home around these people than she ever did with the Luthors, even before Lex went on his spree.

Kara reappears by them, carrying the box Lena had put it in and gives Winn a confused look. "What happened to your hair?"

Winn grumbles as he runs his fingers through it to try to tame his hair again. "Alex is what happened."

"Alex," Kara draws out her sister's name. "Did you noogie him again?"

"He admitted that I'm his older sister, and that means that I can." Alex says like that logically makes sense.

"What? You never do that to me." Kara frowns, cocking her head.

"Because it would distress you, and it just annoys Winn. If it actually hurt him or anything, I wouldn't do it." Alex explains.

"Aww, you care about me." Winn says, dramatically clutching his heart and beaming.

"Of course I do."

"So," Winn squints. "You both are just okay with me calling you guys my sisters?"

"Definitely, you're practically adopted by Eliza and Jeremiah anyways." Kara pulls Winn in for a hug when she sees happy tears in his eyes.

After Alex rolls her eyes affectionately, she joins in on the hugs in a purely Alex fashion, by awkwardly patting Winn's back and putting an arm around Kara.

"Are they always like this?" Lena murmurs to herself.

"Pretty much." Maggie answers from where she's standing next to her. Lena internally jolts, having forgotten that Maggie was there.

They pull apart a moment later and then continue moving after the Danvers sisters rejoin their girlfriends. Kara takes Lena's hand and Alex tucks her hand into Maggie's back pocket, earning her an amused look from her girlfriend and a quip about how Alex likes touching her butt. Winn groans and covers his ears while Kara squeaks, blushing. Alex powers through the heat in her own cheeks as she glares playfully at Maggie, who's laughing.

"You ready to shoot stuff with a crossbow?" Kara asks, nudging Lena.

"Gods, yes." Lena breathes out. "I'm a bit nervous about tomorrow and what could happen. My mother's not exactly known for her empathy, so we should avoid getting caught at all costs."

"We'll be super careful." Kara promises, squeezing Lena's hand.

"Was that a pun?" Lena asks to lighten the mood, raising her eyebrow in her signature move.

Alex and Maggie chuckle beside them. Kara bumps her hip against Lena, who's smile brightens.

They all laugh and joke together as they head to the training area. As soon as they arrive, Alex and Maggie get to work setting up a target while Lena finds the best spot to shoot at it from. She draws a line with the tip of her shoe in the dirt.

Alex struggles to carry the bulky target, stubbornly refusing her sister's offer for help. With Maggie guiding her, she sets it down on the frame they had set up earlier.

Alex adjusts the cover, ensuring the middle ring is in the center. She used a metal pin and sticks it in the top and the back to keep the cover in place.

"That looks different from what I have used in my Kingdom." Lena muses, walking closer to inspect it.

It isn't square like the cheap ones are, filled with old musty hay. It's too round for it to be filled with cloth.

"That's because it's made of a polymer that I accidentally created." Alex explains. 

Lena nods, a silent signal for her to continue. Alex's eyes light up, loving the fact she has another science nerd here that can actually understand what she's saying. Sure Kara can too, as well as Winn, but they aren't interested in science the way she is. Winn likes the technical aspect, building machines and stuff. Kara's from Krypton, a planet light years ahead of them. They're useful as consults, but not as lab partners like she can see happening with her and Lena.

"A while ago, I was trying to make Kara glasses that won't break so easily, since she has gone through twenty four in one particularly stressful month. I accidentally made this, which has proven to be really useful."

Alex lifts up the cover slightly and Lena blinks in surprise. It's a clear, gel-like substance. She glances over to Alex, who nods her permission. Lena presses her hand against it and pokes it.

"It feels like it has the same resistance as human skin." Lena mutters to herself.

"How can you tell that from...?" Alex waves her hand. "Mad scientist brother, right. But yeah, you're correct. It has the same resistance as flesh, which is why it's so useful."

Lena's eyes light up in understanding. "We'll be able to see what would happen if someone got shot by the bolt."

Alex points her finger at Lena, grinning. "Precisely. And the cloth is made up of cotton, commonly used in clothes. So it'll have the same effect if we shot someone wearing regular clothes."

"Fascinating," Lena breaths out and Alex lowers the cover again. "How do you get it so round?"

"Before it turns into a gel, it's a hot liquid substance. So I poured it into a round mold."

"Have you tested it with weapons yet?" Lena questions as they walk back to where the others are waiting, at the line Lena drew earlier.

"Not projectile weapons." Alex answers. "No guns, bows, compound bows, or crossbows. It's actually pretty satisfying to hit it with a mace or something when you're mad."

"I'll have to test that out sometime."

"Hey, Little Danvers." Maggie pokes Kara's side, but it's like poking a brick wall. "Our girlfriends are nerds."

"Yeah they are." Kara agrees with an expression that can only be described as giving Lena 'heart eyes.'

"We can hear you, you know." Alex grumbles, quickly kissing Maggie.

"We do know." Maggie says, leaning in for another kiss. "Just like you both know you're nerds. Own it, Danvers."

Alex chuckles and leans in again for a slow but not quick kiss. Winn averts his eyes, but sighs when his eyes instead fall on Kara and Lena, who are also kissing.

Knowing they'll be occupied for a bit, Winn shakes his head affectionately and picks up the crossbow. He clicks it and it makes a clicking noise, the string staying where it is at the back when he lets go. Winn loads the bolt and aims. He wonders briefly what it'll shoot like, if he should aim above or below the bullseye.

He shrugs to himself and decides to aim for the middle. He'll know after the first shot whether it goes low or high. He places his finger over the trigger and adjusts his grip, pressing the back of it against his shoulder to absorb the kickback.

He shoots, the whooshing noise quickly followed by a thunk and the sound of four women startled out of make out sessions. Alex and Maggie pull out daggers that they keep handy and Kara puts herself in front of Lena, protecting her from the perceived threat.

"Relax, it was just me shooting." He holds up his hands, one with the crossbow in it, which is heavier than he expected when carrying it with one hand. "You ladies were too busy lip locking."

Alex groans and bats Winn's arm, allowing Maggie to steal the crossbow when he winces.

Lena kisses Kara's cheek and approaches the target. She wants to know how the bolt affected the gel but to get a good look at it, she will have to talk to Alex, make sure it's okay to remove the cloth cover.

Kind of a random way to end the chapter, but oh well ;) Next chapter, more nerdiness! Featuring what crossbow bolts does to gel (yay, research!)  And whoa, the day I'm writing this is my last full day of high school O.O Next up in life, exams, craziness, and prom! Anyway! Thank you all for reading and for your amazing comments! Stay awesome!