513. Chapter 513

They pace and they put their index finger up under their lip and they wait and they gulp and they try, so damn hard, not to panic.

But what if she’s angry? She just came out as a lesbian, for god sake, Ade, what if she only wants… women?

They barely have to wait for a response from Adrian, who – as he promised – is right by his phone.

Mags, she loves you. I mean, loves loves. Like, she’s nuts about you. You. Not your gender. You. And if she’s not, I don’t care how much DEO training she has, I’ll kick her ass.

Maggie grins and scoffs and shakes their head, and then… And then just shakes. Because they hear Alex’s key scraping the door.

Gotta go she’s home. Love you.

Love you too: soooo proud of you.

They hang on to Adrian’s pride with a grip so hard it’s almost painful.

“Hey babe!” they try when Alex steps inside, and Alex’s home to Maggie at last smile fades when she looks at their face.

“What’s wrong?” she asks immediately, kicking off her boots, tossing down her gun, and slipping of her jacket quickly, quickly, the sooner she can get to Maggie.

Maggie shakes their head and nearly vomits: they haven’t even said anything and they’ve already messed it up.

“Nothing, Danvers, it… what do you want for dinner, you must be hungry, I – “

“Maggie,” Alex interrupts, her voice soft, gentle. Worried. “Maggie, whatever it is, you can tell me – “

“Do you know what nonbinary means?”

And Alex Danvers may be new at this, but Alex Danvers is nothing if not studious. She’s done her queer homework. So yes. Yes, she knows what nonbinary means. And she knows, too, what the look on Maggie’s face is.

Sheer terror.

She puts two and two together almost immediately.

“Babe, hey, hey, it’s okay. Everything’s okay. I love you, I got you, I – “

Maggie squirms out of Alex’s arms.

“But you’re a lesbian, Alex, you just made such a big splash about coming out as gay and now you – “

“And now I love the person I love. And I have questions – not because you’re wrong, and not because I want to leave, but because I love you, and I want to know you better. So I want to know things like how you feel about your name and your clothes and how I treat you and how we have sex and all that. But those things… those things don’t… I love you, Maggie Sawyer. That’s not changing. Not now, not ever. A lifetime of firsts, okay?”

Maggie breaks.

They sob like they haven’t since the tank.

“You don’t think I’m a bad partner? For going and changing labels on you?” Their voice is cracked and their voice is destroyed, but Alex’s arms are strong.

“You’re not doing anything to me, Mags. Is that… is that okay?” Maggie nods, and Alex smiles softly, making a mental note. “You’re being yourself. That’s what I learned to do when I started falling in love with you. And that’s all I want for you. To be you. Because I love you.”

Maggie tries to calm their breathing, tries to steady their breaths. They stare up into Alex’s eyes until a small smirk fights its way into theirs.

“Fyi, Danvers, my being nonbinary doesn’t mean I’m getting rid of those shorts you like. And that lingerie. You can still fully expect lap dances.”

Alex bites her lip and tries not to moan.

“Mm… mmhmm,” she squeaks, and Maggie’s smirk reaches their lips.

“You really love me, don’t you?”

“I don’t know how else to function, Sawyer. Loving you, loving our family – that’s all I know now. That’s all I ever need to know.”