21. Chapter 21

At first, the lack of sleep was from excitement.

A sister. Finally.

Someone to stay awake with at night, to giggle with in the beam of a smuggled flashlight.

Then the lack of sleep came from waiting.

Waiting for Eliza and Jeremiah to fall asleep, to sneak onto the roof, to grab onto Kara’s strong arms and fly off into the night.

Literally fly.

And then she didn’t sleep because she couldn’t sleep.

She didn’t sleep because she snuck up to the roof alone. To watch the stars. Alone.

Because Jeremiah was dead and Kara was sad and Alex was angry and Eliza blamed her for everything.

A few years later, it was studying, and a few years into that, it was partying, because finally, finally, Kara was in a different city and Eliza couldn’t possibly blame Alex for Kara getting a hangnail (even though she certainly did try).

And then it was DEO training and being a DEO agent and then it was Kara being Supergirl while she was a DEO agent, and then, dear god, then it was Maggie Sawyer.

Late nights at the bar, late nights driving out past all the light pollution and making out under the stars.

Late nights seeing who could be made to scream louder, who could be made to cum harder.

Late nights talking and late nights crying and late nights laughing, laughing, laughing.

But then – Alex wasn’t quite sure when – she started… sleeping.

From keeping one ear constantly straining for signs of trouble, for sounds of Kara in danger, for sounds of Kara distressed, for sounds of alien gunmen, Alex went to sleeping past her first alarm, sleeping past Maggie’s second, sleeping past Maggie’s third. Sleeping past Maggie gently disentangling herself from their bed so she could shower, so she could have breakfast ready by the time her sleeping beauty finally stirred.

In Maggie’s arms, Alex found that she loved to sleep. That she couldn’t get enough of sleep.

“Please baby, just five minutes,” Alex whined, and Kara, outside her own apartment door, flinched.

She was happy for Alex – truly, she was – but that didn’t mean she wanted her sister having sex on her couch.

She furiously adjusted her glasses and grasped the handle a little too firmly as she wrenched the door open, face already screwed up about what she was convinced she’d find.

“Alex – “ she started, but stopped immediately on seeing Alex, fully clothed and bleary eyed, yanking Maggie back down to the couch with the exaggerated motions of one half-asleep.

“Just five minutes of a nap, Maggie, please?”

When Alex scrunched up her nose, Kara knew Maggie’s willpower would be history.

And sure enough, it was.

Kara smiled to herself and backed out of her own apartment slowly, quietly, to let her sister have her nap.