When Alex stirs the next morning, she can feel a familiar weight pressing down on her left side. She blinks open her eyes and looks over to see Maggie, lying on her stomach and half on top of Alex. Maggie's hair is all over, on Alex's chest and draped over Maggie's face.
Alex lifts her right hand, not wanting to disturb Maggie by moving her left. She carefully moves the strands of hair in Maggie's face behind her ear. Maggie hums in her sleep at the gently touch, snuggling closer and nuzzling her head slowly against Alex's shoulder before getting back to a deeper sleep.
Alex chuckles at Maggie's movements and watches her girlfriend with a soft expression. She startles a bit when she hears a soft snore coming from Maggie's mouth, which she has never heard before. Alex finds it adorable. She wonders if Maggie's snoring because they slept together last night.
Alex leans back and closes her eyes, letting her mind wander back to what happened with them last night. A dopey grin lights up her face but once again, she doesn't care. She opens her eyes and looks at Maggie again, watching how her body moves as she sleeps. She resists the urge to run her hand up and down Maggie's bare back and settles in to wait for her to wake up. It doesn't take as Alex expected.
Maggie takes a deep breath and her nose scrunches up, like she's not happy about the fact that she's waking up. She tiredly stretches out her limbs and then forces her eyes open. It takes them a moment to focus, and when they do, she immediately looks up at Alex's face.
Her face lights up in a sleepy smile that show off her cute dimples. "Morning." Maggie mumbles in greeting.
"Good morning." Alex murmurs, tracing Maggie's spine gently with her fingers now that she's awake.
Maggie shivers at her touch and presses her lips to the nearest expanse of skin, which just happens to be Alex's neck. Alex's breath hitches and she doesn't know if her girlfriend did that on purpose or not. She turns her head so that Maggie has easier access to her lips, which Maggie takes advantage of almost instantly.
She scoots up a little and kisses Alex. Alex melts into it, gently cupping Maggie's face to bring her closer. Maggie ends up practically sitting on top of Alex's lap. Alex can feel how her heart begins to pound in her chest again.
"This position seems familiar." Maggie murmurs against Alex's lips and Alex blushes as she remembers exactly what her girlfriend is referring to.
They continue making out, with Alex eventually sitting up to be able to kiss Maggie better.
It's Alex that pulls back much later before it can go any further than just making out.
"Is something wrong?" Maggie asks worriedly.
"No, no. We're good." Alex assures her. "We just have a lot of work left to do. And if we don't pause this, I don't think we'll leave bed all day."
Maggie hums, a tiny smirk playing on her lips as she gives Alex a quick peck. "And what's wrong with staying in bed all day?"
"Absolutely nothing." Alex breathes out. "Except that we will have a lot more work to do tomorrow."
Maggie lets her head drop against Alex's chest and groans. "Ugh. Why don't we bring in the nerd twins to help?"
"The nerd twins?" Alex questions.
"Vasquez and Winn." Maggie says, lifting her head to look at her girlfriend as she says that.
Alex stares at her for a second before bursting out laughing. "I am definitely telling them you called them that."
Maggie groans. "Allie..." She earns a kiss for that nickname and a smile spreads across her face. "You know, now that I think about it, they aren't the nerd twins." Alex hums, encouraging her to continue. "With you, you're the nerd triplets."
Alex lets out a faux affronted gasp and uses her newfound knowledge of Maggie's body to tickle her. Maggie squeaks in surprise and giggles, squirming in Alex's lap in an attempt to get away. When Alex stops, they're both beaming and breathing hard.
"You know..." Maggie says conversationally. "When I think about us being sweaty and panting in the bed, I don't think about it being because you tickled me."
Alex flushes deep red and Maggie laughs at her response, leaning in to kiss one burning cheek.
"Come on, Allie. We have work to do." She kisses Alex's lips again swiftly before getting out of bed and padding over to the bathroom.
Alex watches her go, her mouth dry. She's still not used to seeing Maggie naked. Which makes sense because the first time she saw her naked was last night. But Alex feels like she will never quite get used to it. She doesn't want to. She cuts off her thoughts before she starts planning their wedding or something like that and follows Maggie into the bathroom.
Alex wraps her arms around her girlfriend's waist from behind as Maggie brushes her teeth (she always complains she has morning breath, even though Alex never minds). Maggie hums in response, unable to give her a smile because of the toothbrush in her mouth, but Alex can see it in her eyes. Alex leans down to kiss her shoulder.
Maggie spits out the toothpaste and rinses her mouth with a cup of water before turning around to face Alex.
"I think that was a good idea." Alex says.
"Which one?" Maggie asks, placing her hands on Alex's hips. "The sex, Vasquez and Winn... You have to elaborate, babe."
Alex sputters, her cheeks pink again. "Vasquez and Winn. Why would I mean the sex?"
"Because of my suggestion for us to-"
Alex places her hand over Maggie's mouth, her cheeks even redder than before. Maggie sticks out her tongue and Alex just raises an unimpressed eyebrow, not disgusted by her girlfriend's saliva. After a couple more seconds, Alex pulls back her hand.
"Me licking your hand doesn't bother you now that my tongue has been inside you now, huh?" Maggie asks, grinning widely.
Alex's face gets even redder, which Maggie didn't think was possible.
Maggie laughs and leans in to kiss Alex again. "I meant in your mouth."
Alex gives her a disbelieving look. "Sure you did. Now come on, we need to finish up."
Maggie nods. They go through their morning routine, and the only that's different is that they change in front of each other. Despite the amount of times they get distracted with kissing, that isn't unusual for them.
They make their way to the kitchen before the DEO to grab a quick breakfast they can eat while they work. Alex's stomach grumbles on their way to the DEO as they carry their trays of food.
"Wow, you really are hungry. Are you sure you're not Kryptonian too?" Maggie teases, gently nudging Alex with her elbow.
"I'm sure. I just have a girlfriend that really gave me a workout last night."
Now it's Maggie's turn to blush but she can't help how she's proud that Alex can talk about that outside of the bedroom. Luckily, there aren't any guards patrolling where they are, so there's little to no chance of being overheard.
They head to Alex's lab and Alex sends one of the agents she sees nearby to bring Winn and Vasquez to them. The agent nods and walks off.
Maggie and Alex eat while they wait, going over what they've accomplished so far and what still needs to be done.
"Hey, Alex. Maggie. What's up?" Winn asks as he and Vasquez walk into the lab. "Ooh, are you working on the crossbow? Do you need any help?"
"If you would like go, you can. That's actually why we wanted you two to come here." Alex begins, turning around on the stool to focus her attention on them. "Maggie and I are plotting out all of the pieces of the existing crossbow. If you want, you two can work on possible upgrades to make it better."
"I would be happy to help, Ma'ams." Vasquez says.
"Thank you. Winn?" Maggie asks.
"Do you even have to ask? Yeah, I'm in!"
"Okay. So here's what we have so far..."
***
Kara and Lena have made better progress than they projected. This whole thing may get done quicker than they thought, but Lena isn't quite so optimistic. Her mother is a tricky person, and she doesn't want to jinx the good luck they have had so far.
The night before, they ended up sleeping on the ground in a single sleeping bag. Kara worried about Lena, and how she may not be used to "roughing it" like this. When she asked, Lena reminded her of how her mother often sent her on scouting missions, many of which she did not have room to carry a sleeping bag.
The next morning, Kara makes a quick breakfast with her heat vision, which Lena is more than grateful for. Without it, they would have to build fires. The smoke could have attracted some of Lillian's lackeys.
Some Sanvers fluff and a little bit of what's going on with Kara and Lena! I almost forgot to mention, I'm going out of town tomorrow (the 19th) for a vacation to England with my family until the 5th of July... I'll try not to let it affect my posting, but I don't know when I'll have wifi. Thank you all for reading and for your amazing comments! Stay awesome!
Lena's pleased by how far they've made it in such a short amount of time. She had thought they would be much slower. Though she isn't surprised when she thinks about it more. Lena has a high stamina from her training and from her time scouting this kind of place. And Kara, Kara's Kryptonian. Nearly endless supplies of energy, like a humanoid solar panel, and superspeed means that Kara can match any pace that Lena sets. She can't help wondering if that extends to the... She cuts off her thoughts there, her cheeks turning pink.
Lena shakes herself out of her daze and focuses on the terrain in front of them. She's the main guide, since she knows the area better than Kara. They're off any of the paths now in an attempt to stay off of Lillian's and Cadmus' radar for as long as possible.
If Lena's memory is correct, and it usually is, then they should be coming across the edge of the disputed territory. They have been planning on the fact that there are guards patrolling the perimeter, knowing they would be subtle as to not draw attention to their operation, but not so subtle that an expert Markswoman and a Kryptonian wouldn't notice them.
Lena has to admit, it's handy to have Kara with her. Instead of Lena being anxious and constantly on her guard, she can almost relax. As much as she can on any potentially dangerous mission, that is. She can rely on Kara to be her eyes and ears, what with her having super senses.
Kara is more than happy to help, and takes it even more seriously than Lena expected. She's constantly at the minimum semi-alert, ready for anything. Just like Lena.
"Two guards, 36 degrees." Kara whispers.
Lena nods in understanding. Instead of the confusing clock times that people in novels seem to favor, she and Kara have agreed to use degrees instead. The zero degrees is the line straight ahead in their field of vision. Kara has explained it like if someone drew a line from their noses, that would be zero degrees. And then to the left is 30, 45, 60 degrees. As if they had taken a unit circle and set it in front of them, standing and facing the zero.
It makes sense to them, and that's what matters. Especially in situations like this.
"Can we go wide, around them?" Lena murmurs back to her girlfriend as they stop in order to make a quick plan.
"If we go to the left, we'll go straight into their field of vision. We have to go right a bit. There's a guard another couple hundred feet to the right, and I can't tell if he's napping or dead. Oh, napping. His heart's beating, at least."
Lena pulls Kara in for a quick kiss, oddly charmed by her adorable commentary in such a serious situation. Kara gives her a beaming smile and pecks her again, taking Lena's hand in hers and squeezing briefly before letting go. They can't hold hands for too long in case of a surprise attack, where they would have to hastily let go and Lena would have to pull out her weapons. The extra second or two it takes them to let go could end up getting one of them seriously hurt.
On a slightly lighter note, avoiding the guards is an almost laughably easy accomplishment. Her mother's lackeys are either idiots or unprepared for anyone to attempt to come through the territory. Lena would guess idiots, Lillian needs all the help she can get, and she would never let her workers be unprepared.
"Wow. That was easy." Kara remarks quietly and winces exaggeratedly when Lena lightly smacks her arm, even though they both know she could barely feel that.
"Don't jinx it, darling."
Kara frowns. "Oh, right. Oops."
Lena and Kara continue on like that, with Lena leading and Kara as the lookout. They manage to avoid quite a few guards, who Kara says look bored out of their minds. They're coming up on the two possible castles of the four that are closer together.
"We're getting pretty close. I don't want to go too much further." Lena informs Kara quietly a couple minutes later. "Do you hear a lot of people?"
Kara cocks her head and listens for a minute. "Not like you'd expect if it were a secret base, no. There are some heartbeats, but it mainly sounds like they're moving in a fixed pattern, so patrolling. There isn't anyone on separate floor levels, like there would be if they occupied a big castle like that. And nothing's covered in lead."
"So we can cross them off. Castle Hadrian and... Castle Bunny?" Lena gives the list a flabbergasted look, not having known the name for it before.
"Bunnies are cute!" Kara exclaims. "I have no idea why the owner named it that, there aren't any nobles in the Danvers Kingdom with Bunny as their first or last name."
"There is one noble in the Luthor Kingdom that may be the owner... Her name is Lady Anyanka, Anya for short if she likes you, and she absolutely despises bunnies."
"What?" Kara gasps. "How can you hate bunnies? With their little twitchy noses and buckteeth and floppy ears? They're such amazing creatures! I've been to twelve planets and I've never seen anything like bunnies!"
"I don't know why, darling. You would have to ask her. But there are rumors that she hates them because they remind her of who she used to be, or some cheating ex-husband. Something like that." Lena replies.
"Oh, that's fair." Kara nods empathetically. "Okay, so we've knocked down the list of possibles to two!" She glances at the list. "Castle Dalul and Castle Lion! What's with the animal names?"
"Lion." Lena repeats, turning over the name in her head in an attempt to make sense of it. "Of course!" She exclaims excitedly, barely remembering to keep her voice quiet. "Lions were Lionel's favorite animals, he always used to say that it's because his name has 'lion' in it. That's probably where my mother is staying, as a homage to her late husband. We'll still want to check, make certain, but I think we've got it, Kara."
Kara grins at her girlfriend's excitement. "Ok. So where's Lion Castle? We should head there first."
"It's the largest and one of the easiest to fortify. I remember that much from my research on it. It's bit exactly close, but if we move fast, we should be able to make it to a pretty cosy cave to stay in for the night."
Kara looks excited at the idea of sleeping in a cave and urges Lena onward, gesturing for her to lead so they don't get lost on the way. The cave is smaller than Lena remembers, but she's never brought a guest to it, so that could be why it seems tinier.
Once again, Kara cooks their dinner and they cuddle up together in the sleeping bag while they eat, playfully flicking crumbs at each other. They decide to turn in not long after they finish eating, after they discuss tomorrow.
Lena has her head on Kara's chest so she can listen to her heartbeat. Kara reverently brushes Lena's hair from her face and they share a sweet, passionate kiss before they resettle and fall asleep.
***
"She called us what?" Vasquez asks, amused.
They're taking a lunch break with Winn, Maggie, and Alex, who they somehow managed to pull away from her work. Vasquez suspects that Maggie provided an incentive, but they have no proof.
"The nerd twins." Alex says.
"Allie," Maggie groans out, poking Alex's side in retaliation. Alex snorts out a laugh, which makes Maggie grin at how cute the sound is.
"And she said with me, we're the nerd triplets." Alex continues.
"So with Maggie, we're the nerd quintuplets?" Winn asks.
"Not unless you're counting J'onn, too. Quintuplets is five, quadruplets is four." Vasquez points out.
"Right, I knew that." Winn says, blushing.
"Wait. Are you nerds calling me a nerd?" Maggie asks.
"Yes," Alex deadpans. "Babe, you get excited about various weaponry, you know how to use a caliper... I could list a lot more."
Maggie lets out a dramatic gasp and clutches her chest. "It's contagious."
Alex gives her an amused look and leans in to give her a kiss to quiet her girlfriend.
"It's passed through intimate bodily contact." Vasquez teases, moving their eyebrows up and down. They stare when Alex and Maggie exchange a look and blush. "Wait, really? Go Alex!"
Vasquez leans over the table to high five a highly embarrassed Alex.
"You picked a good one," Winn says.
It's such a contrast to Vasquez's more crude words that Alex nearly does a double take. She grins at the man she considers her little brother and resists the urge to give him an affectionate noogie, settling for lightly kicking his shin to get his attention.
"Ow!" He yelps, mainly in surprise.
"Thanks, Winn."
Whoo, hopefully that was good. The time zone I'm used to, it's 5:30 am and I've been up since 8 am yesterday. I've been traveling since 2:30 on and I'm working with about one hour of sleep on the airplane... Thank you for reading and for your amazing comments! Stay awesome!