Chapter 91

Maggie swallows her nerves and bows over-dramatically as she holds the door to the garden open for Alex. She smiles when she hears her girlfriend chuckle at her antics before following her outside.

Maggie had chosen this entrance to the garden specifically because it's one of the few where when you walk out, you can't immediately see what Maggie has set up. She watches Alex wander over to a patch of flowers along the path and smell them.

"What kind is that?" Maggie asks.

Alex glances up at her with a smile. "It's a dahlia. Specifically, it's a kasasagi dahlia. It's Mom's favorite dahlia, so whenever the gardeners can, they like to grow it. Mom always says if reminds her of a sunrise, how all the petals go from that deep yellow to red."

Maggie hums. "It's very pretty."

"Yeah, I think so too. It's become one of my favorites, too. Though Kara always says it looks like someone stuck as many petals as they could on a flower."

Maggie bursts into surprised laughter. "That's fair, I can see that."

Alex chuckles, grinning up at Maggie. "Yeah, I can too."

"So tell me about dahlias, Danvers. I know you must have some facts about them in that big brain of yours, babe. Especially if they're your mom's favorite." Maggie encourages.

Alex grins at her. "I don't know about the kasasagi type, but I do know about dahlias. There are 42 species, but hybrids are usually what are grown in gardens. They have a lot if diversity, like that one over there is also a dahlia." Alex points.

Maggie's eyebrows shoot up. "Wow, yeah. I can see the diversity. They both have a bunch of petals crammed on them, but they look so different."

"Mm hmm. And this variety, it's partly because dahlias are octoploids, which means they have right sets of homologous chromosomes, though most plants have two."

Maggie nods. "Okay."

Alex pauses as chuckles. "You know, you're one of the few people I've spouted scientific stuff at that hasn't gotten completely lost."

"Not everyone has the brain for science. Plus, you're a genius Danvers."

"Pfft, I'm not a genius." Alex says, blushing.

"You are." Maggie says without any hesitation. "Now give me one more factoid so we can get to our food before it gets cold."

Alex huffs but complies. "Most of the species don't attract pollinators by scent, which is why they're so brightly colored."

"Cool. Hang on, Danvers. If they don't smell, why were you smelling them?" Maggie asks as they begin walking slowly down the path.

"Because they smell like flowers, and I like it." Alex answers.

"Alright, I can understand that. Hey, if there are so many kinds of flowers in this garden, do you have that one weird one that opens only every couple of years and smells like corpses?" Maggie asks curiously.

"No. For some reason, the gardeners seem to think that it would take away from the beauty of this place, to have it smell like corpses every couple of years."

Maggie chuckles and the nerves return as she they pass another lamppost, as seeing Alex illuminated among a beautiful garden at sunset is breathtaking. She takes Alex's hand in hers and relaxes slightly when Alex squeezes.

The brick path beneath their feet opens up into a secluded area in the gardens that not everyone knows about. Maggie can hear Alex's breath hitch and fights the urge to fiddle with something, watching Alex's reaction.

"Maggie... You did all of this for me?" Alex breathes out.

"Well, Winn helped." Maggie admits. "But yeah. You're worth it, Danvers."

The secluded area is covered by a small tree, blocking most of the sun, but the sunrise and sunset are still visible, making this the perfect spot at any time of the day. Underneath the tree is a single table covered in a white tablecloth, candles on top of it as well as the food, covered to keep it warm. Hung from the tree are small candlelights, casting a warm glow on the area.

"Do you like it?" Maggie asks, trying not to sound as nervous as she feels.

"I love it." Alex turns to her. "I love you."

"I love you too."

They make their way closer and Alex notices her favorite wine on the table. "You really didn't have to do all of this, babe. It's not even our anniversary or anything."

Maggie sees Alex squint and knows she's beginning to worry about if she's wrong and if there is a special date that she forgot about.

"No, it's not. I just wanted to do something special for my girl." Maggie says.

Alex's face breaks out into a beaming smile. "I'm your girl."

"You're my girl." Maggie says, mentally swooning and beaming back at her girlfriend. She pulls out the chair for Alex, chuckling when Alex sits and gives her a look. "I'm just treating you like the Princess you are, babe."

Alex raises an eyebrow at her as Maggie pushes the chair in. "You know I'm literally a Princess, right?"

"Yes, I do. It takes away from the sweetness of my words, but I'll take it." Maggie shrugs, grinning at her girlfriend.

Alex shakes her head fondly. "Dork."

"Mm. But this dork set you up with all this and..." Maggie lifts the metal covering Alex's food. "This."

"Gods, that smells amazing. Did Lyra make this?" Alex asks and Maggie nods. "How did you get her to help you?"

"I'm very persuasive, Danvers. I would have gotten her to anyway, but she was very insistent in helping once she heard Winn was as well." Maggie explains, sitting down across from Alex.

Alex nods. "Alright. Have they figured out what's going on with them or are they still dancing around each other?"

"Based on what I've walked in on in the kitchen, they've figured something out."

Alex shudders. "Ew! He's like my brother!"

"Ugh. Yeah, he has this little brother vibe." Maggie nods.

"He totally does! But Maggie, you're still littler."

Maggie groans as Alex bursts into laughter. "A short joke, Danvers? Really?"

"I couldn't resist." Alex says. "I promise I love you, Sawyer, height and all."

"You're not even that much taller than me! How tall are you?" Maggie's not really exasperated but she is curious.

"Five foot six." Maggie swears under her breath. "Why, how tall are you?" Maggie mumbles out an answer. "Sorry, babe, couldn't hear you."

"Five foot three."

"Aww." Alex coos teasingly.

"I'll have you know the average woman is five foot two, so I'm actually tall." Maggie says, having spouted that fact so many times that it's almost instinctual now.

"Then I'm extra tall." Alex jokes. She sets her hand on the table, palm up and Maggie reaches over to entwine their hands. "Okay, I'm done for now. I promise."

"Sure you are." Maggie says, giving Alex a wink so she knows it's all good. "Let's enjoy the food before it gets too cold."

***

Dinner goes better than Maggie had hoped (though that's not saying much, she's not exactly an optimist). Once the short jokes were out of the way, the discussions are a lot more interesting. Alex loves having a partner to talk to about science and anything she's interested in. She knows that even if Maggie doesn't understand, she'll try to and will ask questions until she does. It's one of the many things Alex loves about her.

They talk about Alex's latest projects and her ideas, and Maggie's latest project and how she wants to change some things in the DEO to make it even better and more efficient. They talk about more fun things too, like how they think Lena and Kara will do or how good it is for everything to be semi-calm again.

As the night goes along, Maggie and Alex slowly and without realizing it move their chairs closer until they're sitting next to each other instead of across from each other. Maggie rests her head on Alex's shoulder as Alex pours them each a glass of wine, enough to get them both buzzed but nothing beyond that. Maggie's grateful for the liquid courage and the fact that they won't be drunk or anything. She wants to do this tonight. She doesn't know if she can deal with the anxiety of doing something else.

They sip their wine and Maggie listens as Alex points out the stars. She talks about what constellation they're in and spouts off little facts. Maggie cuddles closer to her, mumbling something about the cool air of summer nights. The night wears on and Maggie's anxiety level rises, and she knows Alex can tell. Alex doesn't push, and for that, she's grateful.

Alex falls silent after a while, their empty wine glasses resting on the table, all the food eaten and the stars still twinkling in the sky. Maggie looks over at Alex, who's staring up at the sky with a small, content smile on her face.

"Want to walk through the gardens, babe?" Maggie asks.

I was going to end it with the question, but then I went back to my notes and decided I like the way I have it planned out better! So that'll happen next chapter! On the plus side, it's not really a cliffhanger like it would have been! Thank you all for reading and for your amazing comments! Stay awesome!