Chapter 67

Alex walks into a room in the DEO she hasn't been in for a while. Not since Maggie first got here. A small lab she used to spend hours on end in, working on a project she has told no one about. Though she has no doubt that J'onn knows. She had hoped it would never come to this, that her half-finished work would never be needed. But it is. And now she needs to finish it.

The room is lit by a large window that's kind of like what they use in interrogation rooms, where Alex can look out and see everything perfectly, but someone looking in could see blurs and blobs of colors at best.

She takes a deep breath and pulls the sheet from off her work, which she uses to keep the dust off in between her working on it, in case a time comes when she can't come back to work on it for a while. Which is exactly what happened.

The light hits the armor beautifully, causing it to give off an almost ethereal glow. Alex smiles faintly, looking it up and down to make sure it's exactly how she left it. And sure enough, the needle and thread are stuck right where it was. The fact that Alex can sew is a closely guarded secret. She had Winn teach her before she started this project, only beginning it once he was satisfied she had mastered sewing. She threatened Winn with bodily harm to keep him from telling anyone or teasing her when they're alone.

Alex may be a bit of a perfectionist, which why after roughly three years of on and off working on this, it's still not complete. Now she has a reason it needs to be complete, so at least she has a good start. She's not certain she would be able to finish it in time if she hadn't started it yet. Especially with her attention to detail and her perfectionism.

Alex wipes off the needle to make certain it's still sharp and gets to work.

It's hours before she resurfaces, and she only does because the rumbling of her stomach kept distracting her while she sewed. Alex sighs and covers the armor again, leaving the room to take a short break. She blinks in surprise when she looks out the window, realizing that the sun is setting. Alex always tends to lose track of time when she's working, particularly when she's working alone and has no one to remind her to take breaks.

Alex walks out of the small lab, closing and locking the door behind her with her key. She has one of the two keys to the door, the other stays with J'onn locked up in his office that he rarely used.

When Alex reaches the kitchen, she blinks in surprise when Lyra shakes her head and directs her to the dining room. Is there food still there?

Alex pushes open the door and pauses for a second in shock when she sees her friends and family still there. Well, some of them. Vasquez, Winn, Lena, Kara, and Maggie are all sitting at the table, laughing and joking around. Alex hesitantly steps inside, the door closing behind her with a loud noise that makes her wince and makes the others turn to look at her.

"Hey! We waited for you!" Kara says, patting an empty chair between her and Maggie.

"Uh. Thanks, but why?" Alex asks, sitting down.

Winn pushes a plate towards her, full of food. Kara zaps some of it with her heat vision to warm it back up.

"Why not?" Kara retorts as Alex hungrily digs in.

Alex doesn't have an answer for that.

"Plus, we're curious about your secret project." Winn admits.

"Winn!" Kara exclaims. "You're making it sound like we're only here because we're curious!"

Before they can start bickering even more, Alex cuts them off. "I'll show you. I have to eventually, anyways. After I finish eating, I'll take you all there."

Winn pumps his fist in the air like the dork he is and Kara's eyes light up in happiness. Alex rolls her eyes with a fond smile on her lips. She doesn't let her squirming siblings coerce her into eating quicker and takes her time savoring Lyra's delicious creations.

Winn and Kara scramble up when she gets up to take her plate back to the kitchen to be washed. Much to the amusement of Vasquez, Maggie, and Lena.

"I'll meet you outside the DEO, I just have to drop this off." Alex says.

The others all agree and leave, except for Maggie. She stays with Alex and silently follows her to the kitchen. Alex hands her plate to a nearby cook and tells him to thank Lyra for her.

With her hand now free, Alex reaches out to take Maggie's hand as they walk through the castle together. Maggie smiles when she does, her dimples appearing.

"So have you made much progress?" Alex asks when she gets tired of the silence.

"A lot slower now that it's just Winn and I working on the crossbows, but for just two people, we've been doing well. You?"

"I've been doing pretty well, but it's something I've been working on for a while so I'm not starting from scratch, luckily. And Maggie?" Alex says, stopping in her tracks.

Maggie pauses as well when she notices Alex has stopped, turning back to face her. She has a confused and slightly concerned look on her face.

"Yes?"

Alex doesn't trust herself to say the right thing in this moment to express what she wants to, so she does the next best thing. She leans in and kisses Maggie, who's surprised at first but melts into the kiss. When they both need to breayh, Alex pulls back again and rests her forehead against Maggie's.

"I haven't been able to do that in a while." Alex murmurs. "It was weird, being around you so much earlier but not kissing you sometimes like we usually do when we work together."

"Maxwell Lord is a real lip blocker. Like lip locker but blocker." Maggie gives Alex an exaggerated wink that makes her laugh.

"Don't mention Maxwell Lord when we've been kissing, please." Alex says, partly joking.

"Ugh. Good idea." Maggie leans in and kisses her again softly. "Mm." She hums against her lips and pulls away slightly. "Should we be going?"

Alex captured her lips again. "I almost don't care anymore." She admits when she pulls back.

Maggie's low chuckle vibrates against Alex's lips. "Babe."

With that, Alex is the one who melts. "Fine. But we're continuing this later."

"With less clothes?" Maggie asks.

"With no clothes." Alex confirms, squeezing her girlfriend's hand as they continue walking.

If the others notice Alex and Maggie's slightly disheveled presence and their lateness, they don't mention it. Alex leads them through the DEO until she's on front of a door without a label on it, except for the name "Sir Danvers." It's technically her office but she doesn't use it for that.

"You can take off the sheet when you get in there." Alex says.

Alex pulls out the key and opens the door, holding it open for the others. She smiles at the sounds of their reactions as she shuts and relocks the door behind her.

Kara lets out an excited squeak and she even hears Lena let out a soft gasp.

"Dude!" Winn exclaims.

"What?" She hears Vasquez say, like they can't quite believe what she has made.

Alex smiles proudly and turns around to see them all staring at the armor, the sheet on the ground beside it.

"How did you?" Winn asks, his mouth opening and closing. "Dude. You made a cooler supersuit than me! I'm not even mad, this is just awesome!"

"What's it made out of?" Lena asks, looking at it closely but not touching.

"You can touch it if you want. I've been studying some cloths Kara and Superman were wrapped in and made a synthetic polymer similar to it. It's extremely flexible and breathable, but I've only been able to make enough for this so far."

"Gods." Winn says, making her look over at him. "This is why you wanted to learn how to sew a couple of years ago! I thought you just wanted to repair some of your clothes!"

"Hey, they're holey because they have character." Alex responds. "But yeah. It's not done yet. I've been working on it on and off for about three years. And here's why it's different than Winn's designs."

She knocks on the mannequin and there's a faint metallic sound. The others look baffled.

"It has two layers of the polymer, which is why I only had enough for this." Alex begins. "Between the layers in a thin layer of lead, which I've converted into something that easily moves with the person. Which, trust me, wasn't easy. So that layer of lead can serve as a last ditch effort if we can't find a cure or anything for Kryptonite. It should block the worst of the effects. Maybe I should make a helmet and boots..." She muses. "I still have more parts to sew and some minor adjustments and additions and some padding to add."

"I'm going to look so awesome!" Kara says excitedly.

Whoo! We finally got to where Alex explains what she's working on! Cool, right? I think somewhere there are pictures drawn of her in different armor so I'll have to find what I'm looking for... I did find it, but I don't want to link it without it being directly from/sourcing the artist :( Oh well! Anyway! Next chapter, more work! Thank you all for reading and for your amazing comments! Stay awesome!