140. Chapter 140

Maggie is destroyed, but Kara is giving panicked a whole new meaning.

Maggie’s jaw is clenched and she refuses to open her mouth because she’ll vomit if she does; but Kara is shaking and Kara is sobbing and Maggie is the only thing holding her back from ripping every Cadmus agent who hurt Alex limb from limb.

Because Maggie already did.

So now Kara’s rage has nowhere to go. Now Kara’s panic has nowhere to go.

Because Alex is in surgery and James is holding Kara and Winn is wiping Kara’s tears while failing to contain his own, but Kara has eyes only for Maggie.

“You took a bullet to try to protect her,” she says in a deadened voice, a deflated voice, a shattered voice.

“Fat lot of good it did,” Maggie answers bitterly, glancing down at the stitched up bullet wound in her side – a clean entry and exit – that she’d quite frankly forgot about.

Kara bites her lip and Kara sobs again, and Maggie gently nudges the boys out of the way.

“Come here, Little Danvers. Look at me. Hey, hey. Look at me, Kara.”

Kara does, and James nods, and Winn turns away because he can’t, he can’t, he can’t.

“You know your sister better than anyone. You know she’s gonna fight. And you know she’s gonna win. Alex doesn’t lose, Kara. Not to anyone, not ever. And we’re not gonna lose her. You’re not gonna lose her. She loves you too much to disappear on you, okay?”

Kara trembles but her breath evens out somewhat, and she stares at Maggie’s face as though listening to her words without blinking, without moving, without disturbing anything, can bring Alex back, can get Alex through surgery, can wake Alex up.

Maggie knows, and she wipes Kara’s tears while her own burn through her throat, and she forces herself to keep talking.

“She’s not gonna be out of surgery for another couple hours, Little Danvers. And you know what she’d want you to do?”

Kara blinks, and tears spill down her face, and Maggie clears them away.

“Potstickers.”

“I can’t have potstickers while Alex is dying.”

“She's not dying. And yeah, you can. Wanna know why? Because she's not dying, and because you got hurt, too.” She pokes Kara just above the burns she’s been refusing to get treated for.

“So you need your strength, and you need to let them take a look at those burns. Can you do that for me, Kara? Can you do that for Alex?”

Kara stares, all wide-eyes and trembling lips, and then she nods.

Maggie grimaces, and Kara lets James call in a medic, and Maggie lets Kara nearly break her fingers with the force of holding her hand.

“Winn,” she says, because he still hasn’t turned around. When he does, his eyes are red. When he does, his eyes are wild.

“She’s gonna be alright, Winn. She’s gonna be just fine.”

He forces a smile, and he nods, and the four of them sit, sit, sit, and by the time Alex is out of surgery – by the time Alex is waking up, by the time Alex is fine, fine, fine – Maggie’s hand is sore from Kara squeezing it so hard, so long, but she doesn’t care at all.

Because Alex is sitting up and reaching for both Maggie and Kara’s hands and Kara is laughing and Winn is pretending he wasn’t crying and James is keeping a steady hand on J’onn’s shoulder and Maggie is breathing again, breathing again, because Alex, Alex, Alex.