739. Chapter 739

Maggie’s away conducting a training at her old precinct in Gotham, and Alex doesn’t want to intrude on James and Winn’s date night, no matter how many times they tell her she’s more than welcome to do just that.

But four of her agents took hits today – nothing fatal, but it had still taken Alex an hour to scrub all her friends’ blood out from under her fingernails after conducting two emergency surgeries in the field – and she needed… well, she needed her sister.

And she remembered how it was, for Kara, after she started dating Maggie. She’d been distant, felt rejected, felt replaced, even though Maggie had been more than open to both sisters taking all the alone time they needed.

She’d thought it was ridiculous at the time, that Kara felt so put out.

She understands it now, though.

Because it was hard enough to ask for what she needed; to even recognize she needed anything in the first place.

But now? Now, it feels nearly impossible, because all she needs is her sister, but her sister, she knows, is at home with Sam and Lena. With the women she loves.

And Alex doesn’t want to intrude on their happiness, dim their light with her seemingly never-ending darkness.

Kara practically swings the door off the hinges, though, after Alex texts to say she’s fine alone, she promises, nothing’s wrong, no one died, and anyway, she’s got a great new bottle of brandy somewhere in the cabinets.

“Kara, I told you to spend time with your girlfriends – “ Alex starts to object from her miserable sprawl on the bed when she raises her head enough to see that it’s not just her sister making her way into her apartment.

“Oh hush, Alex, you know we’d never leave you alone to stew in all that liquor after the kind of day you had,” Lena casually starts rummaging through Alex and Maggie’s kitchen like she owns it, pulling down cups and plates and napkins.

“Guys, seriously – “

“You really want to fight two Kryptonians and a Luthor all at once, Alex?” Sam arches an eyebrow as she, too, rustles through the kitchen like it’s the most normal thing in the world, setting the pizza she’d been carrying onto plates and pouring Alex an extra big glass of water.

“I could take you,” Alex mutters, to no avail, as Kara shakes her head and hops – two veritable stacks of pizza in hand – onto her sister’s bed.

“Bouncy,” she approves with a small smirk.

Alex tries to cover her sweeping sense of relief with a mock-irritated groan. She utterly fails.

“Kara, I don’t need – “

“Yes, you do. And it’s okay to need things. It’s okay to need your family.”

Sam and Lena, now both in their socks, pad over and hesitate, waiting for Alex’s go-ahead before climbing into bed, too, balancing more pizza and drinks onto the bedside tables.

“But the three of you – “

“And how many times have I cuddled with you and Maggie?”

“But – “

“No butts. Just cuddles, Alex,” Sam winks and Alex can’t help but roll her eyes and surrender to her sister’s open arms and one of her sister-in-law’s offer of pizza.

Kara gathers Alex into her grasp and Lena asks with her eyes if she can rest her head on Alex’s stomach as they all chew their pizza and think their thoughts, Sam sitting back on her haunches toward the edge of the mattress as she eats.

“This is what Ruby’s bedroom always looks like when she has a sleepover,” she grins after a soft moment, guiding Alex gently out of her dark reflections on the day she’d had, the things she’d almost lost.

“I’m not… imposing?” Alex’s voice is small, and her body smaller, nearly covered by her sister and Lena’s protection.

“Alex, we practically broke down your door. If anyone’s imposing on anyone, we’re imposing on you,” Sam shakes her head. Alex lets out a dry laugh as Sam finishes her slice and settles down with her head resting on Kara’s thigh and her own leg swung over Alex’s and onto Lena’s.

None of them are quite sure when they fall asleep, protecting Alex from loneliness and nightmares of unworthiness, but each one of them laughs when they wake up the next morning to find Maggie sleeping, travel bag as her pillow, on the floor next to the bed.

They haul her up to join their cuddle pile as she sleepily explains that trying to tetris her way in last night would only have woken them all up.

“You can always tetris your way around me,” Alex murmurs sleepily as she settles even closer between her sister and her wife.

“Gay,” Sam mutters, and Lena and Kara give her groggy high fives.

“So damn gay,” Maggie grins, squeezing Kara’s hand, grateful, as always, that she and her wife always, always have their family.