794. Chapter 794

For James, it happened when he met Clark. He developed this brilliant ability to manifest what he saw in his mind into a three-dimensional projection so that other people could walk through his perspective, really experience the world like he did.

The ultimate photographer.

For Winn, it happened when he met Kara. His fingers became transmitters for what his mind saw, giving him the ability to craft spaceships and quantum computers and anything his imagination could dream up, because his power let him create and invent and move.

He thought it made him like his father, at first, but Kara told him it made him the opposite: because he only wanted to create, and never to destroy. To help, and never to hurt.

For Kara, it happened when she met James. She wasn’t attracted to him, not sexually, but all the worry that she’d had in high school about whether being ace meant she’d never manifest her powers – despite the other aro-ace kids reassuring her that powers didn’t discriminate against queer platonic love – all that worry faded when she started being able to touch someone, skin to skin, and explain to them without even needing words what she needed them to understand most.

Ever the journalist.

But Alex?

According to Max Lord, Alex should have manifested her powers when she met him.

The idea made her vomit more than a little in her mouth.

And even the men that she dated that were fine, that were nice enough, she never…

She would never manifest her powers.

She would forever be the woman without powers working as second-in-command at a covert organization dedicated to protecting the Earth by using people’s powers for good.

“You’ll find them one day, Alex,” James tried to reassure her.

“It’ll happen for you, Al,” Winn clapped his hand on her shoulder before retreating playfully from range because he’d experimented with her name again.

“I’m always here for you, Alex, powers or no,” Kara promised.

And she knew her sister was telling the truth.

She knew her friends loved her. And she loved them, powerfully.

But she hadn’t found her person. The one that would make her powers emerge.

And she was starting to lose hope.

No. She’d lost hope a long time ago.

Sometimes – late at night, alone in her bed, or late at night, with Lucy and a bottle of whiskey at the bar – sometimes, Alex thought she knew the reason.

But she explained the reason away, or she drank the reason away, because no, no, no.

She already had enough trouble figuring out how to move in the world.

She knew Kara was both ace and bi – everyone knew Kara was both ace and bi – and she remembered just as vividly as anyone the night when she cradled Kara all night when her little sister came out to her, telling her how important she was and how perfect she was and how brilliant she was.

But internalized shame was intense, and Alex was very, very good at shaming herself.

And then she met Maggie Sawyer.

Smart, and tough, and beautiful.

So beautiful.

She didn’t even have to wait until their lips met.

She just met her – it was her crime scene, dammit, but this cocky, smart-assed woman with a perfect smirk and a confident walk had said “see you around, Danvers” – and after a long night of rolling over and over what her name had sounded like on that woman’s lips…

Alex woke up with her powers.

Just like that.

She’d always wondered if it would feel different. Having powers. Her friends, all the blogs she read – almost everyone said it didn’t really feel all that different.

But still. She’d always wondered.

But when she woke up, it was true: she didn’t feel all that different.

She didn’t realize anything had changed (except, maybe, that she kept wondering about running into a certain detective again for no apparent reason).

Until she reported for duty to find that Agent Vasquez had fallen off a ladder trying to hide Agent Davis’ boots in the rafters.

Vasquez was laughing it up, but her wrist was broken pretty badly.

And all Alex had to do was touch her – a routine exam, she even had her gloves on – and Vasquez’s wrist started… healing.

Because of course Alex’s power was healing.

Of course it was.

Which is when she knew. It was Maggie.

It was Maggie, and it was women, and it was undeniable.

She had a phone call to make and a question to ask.

And she’d never been so excited.