"You went after it without me?!" Kara demanded, standing in the middle of the DEO command center, arms folded tightly over her chest.

Alex was more irritated by her sister's display than anything else. It had been a trying day that had ended with the agent and her team coming up empty-handed after a nasty scuffle. Alex was tired, sore and frankly put out that Kara would choose now to throw a fit about being left out of the opt. She set down her tablet with an exasperated sigh before addressing her sister.

"Yes, we went without you. We had a solid tip and had to act fast. And I know what you're going to say next but we can't always wait for you to join the party."

"It was dangerous!"

"A calculated risk." Alex answered evenly. "One every person in this building has been trained to take, excluding Winn."

"Hey!" He exclaimed feigning shock. "I mean you're right...but still...hurtful." Alex rolled her eyes at him before turning attention back to her sister who continued to brood.

"You weren't even sure how many of them there were! Even I have trouble taking down a full grown K'hund!"

"We have done this before. We knew the risks, knew what to expect. They gave us the slip this time but we'll be ready. There was really nothing you could have done, Kara."

"You still should have waited...dummy." Kara muttered the last word and instantly regretted it when she noted the look on her sister's face.

Oh, she'd done it now.

"Supergirl. Conference room." Alex ground out, eyes narrowed dangerously at her sister.

"Alex, I didn't mean..."

"It was not a request." Alex retorted before spinning on her heel and storming towards the conference room, leaving Kara no choice but to follow.

Winn watched them go with a concerned expression while everyone else in the command center quickly busied themselves, afraid to show too much interest in the brewing conflict between the siblings. Kara followed Alex with a growing sense of dread, casting a pleading look towards J'onn when he passed them in the hall, a look he pointedly chose to ignore.

When she finally drug herself into the conference room, she found Alex waiting, arms crossed, posture rigid. "Close the door." Kara did as she was told and toed the carpet, twisted her cape and did anything to keep from looking at her sister.

"Lexie..."

"No. No you don't talk right now." The eldest Danvers cut her sibling off with an authoritative tone. "I am trying...I am trying so hard right now to find a balance, Kara."

Alex dropped her arms, leaning closed fists heavily onto the large, stainless steel table. Her head hung in defeat as she addressed her sibling, the conversation seeming to sap all her energy.

"You are my sister and I love you. More than anything, possibly more than Maggie and I want to spend the rest of my life with her." She straightened up to look Kara directly in the eyes before continuing. "But in this base, in the field, you are an operative of the DEO and I am your commanding officer and you will show me the proper respect, Kara."

This time, Kara did interrupt even though she'd been warned against it. "I know. I know that Lexie but-"

"Agent Danvers."

"What?"

"From now on you will address me as Agent Danvers or Ma'am when we are in the DEO. There is a hierarchy here, Supergirl, and you need to start acknowledging it."

"I'm not military, Alex."

"No you're not but you're still an operative, one who I will personally keep out of the field if you can't start following orders." The younger Danvers knew her sister would never hurt her but she didn't doubt that Alex could make good on the threat.

"Isn't that a little ridiculous? I mean you're my sister! I'm sorry for what I said earlier but, really?"

"Yes, really. Dr. Browning was wrong about a lot of things but she was right about this. She was right about us needing to find a balance. You can't keep questioning my orders here or in the field and I won't have you undermining me in front of my agents. A lot has changed since I joined the DEO but what has not changed is the fact that those agents out there need to respect me, need to trust my decisions. And they can't do that if you're constantly bucking the system."

Kara stood on the other side of the room, mouth agape because Alex had never come down on her this hard before and she frankly didn't know how to take it. She absently wondered if this was how her sister felt when Eliza would make chastising remarks, bringing each of Alex's perceived failures to the forefront. It definitely wasn't a feeling to relish and Kara found herself shrinking back from her sister even more.

"I'm not trying to hurt your feelings. You know everything I have done up until this point has been to protect you and I will continue to do that but you have to meet me halfway. I am responsible for a lot of lives and I can't protect them if I'm always trying to figure out what you're going to do next."

Alex stepped around the conference table, stopping just a few feet in front of her sibling. She took in Kara's dejected posture and sighed because she had known this conversation would not go over well but it couldn't be put off any longer. With a gentle finger beneath her sister's chin, she tilted the girl's gaze to her own.

"Kara, look at me." She waited for the younger girl to raise watery eyes to hers. "I love you, with all that I am. But things need to change; we need to change. Now, we are going to go back out there and do our damn jobs and when that K'hund shows up again, we will take it down together but only if you follow my lead. No more showboating, no more going off-book and no more crashing hostage negotiations with "Supergirl-shaped holes". Understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Kara sniffled, tilting her head away from her sister in an attempt to hide the tears welling there. "Can I have a moment?"

"Of course." Alex answered softly before stroking her sister's hair and placing a gentle kiss against her forehead. "Whenever you're ready." She added as she stepped into the hall leaving the distraught super alone.

Alex was acutely aware that all eyes were on her when she stepped back into the command center but chose to ignore them. J'onn approached her cautiously, having picked up on a good amount of the conversation through his telepathy.

"Everything okay?" He asked, knowing the answer but voicing his concern nonetheless.

"I think it will be..." Alex answered quietly, eyes flitting to the hall but there was no sign of Kara. "I hope so."

The "talk" had not gone well.

That much was obvious to Maggie as she stepped into the dimly lit apartment of her girlfriend. She found Alex sitting cross-legged on the living room floor, old yearbooks and photo albums strewn all around her. The bottle of whiskey they kept for special occasions was out but Maggie noted it remained tightly shut, the glass tumbler beside it empty. Alex was clearly upset by the day's events yet she had refrained from using her old coping mechanism.

"Hey, baby." Maggie spoke softly, reassuringly as she picked her way across the room finally perching on the edge of the coffee table facing her distraught mate.

Throughout all of her maneuvering, Alex had not looked up, hadn't acknowledged Maggie's greeting. She just continued to flip sullenly through the albums, her mood growing more dour by the minute. Maggie simply watched and waited knowing that Alex would open up when she wanted to and not a moment sooner. Scant more minutes passed before the agent finally glanced up at her, seeming to notice her girlfriend for the first time.

"Hey you." She said with a tired smile, one Maggie mirrored.

"What are you doing?" She asked softly because she could tell Alex was in a fragile mood, on the verge of breaking down.

"Just looking through some old albums, old yearbooks..." She paused to trace her fingers over a photo of two young girls on the beach. "Kara was so small back then and it was up to me to look out for her...it's still up to me..."

Maggie saw her opening and took it. "Is that what 'the talk' was about?" Alex grimaced before answering.

"I can't protect her, protect my agents if she doesn't follow orders. If she doesn't follow protocol."

"So you want Little Danvers to fall in line?"

"It's not about what I want, Maggie!" Alex snapped then immediately regretted her tone. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have...I just..."

"It's okay, Ally. I get it. You're a solider and every good solider knows when to follow orders, when to toe the line, when to follow protocol. But Little Danvers isn't a solider, Ally."

"I know she's not but she's still an operative. She's still under my command and it feels like ever since she put on that damn cape, I'm losing her! Losing control, losing respect and I just need her...I just need her to follow my lead."

"Did you tell her that?"

"Of course I did." Alex huffed arms curled around her stomach protectively.

"All of it?" Maggie asked softly, scooting onto the floor to wrap her arms around Alex. "Even the part about losing control, losing respect?"

"No. Kind of." Alex sighed, laying her head on Maggie's shoulder. "I was doing this for years without her and it feels like ever since Kara joined the DEO, since she became the 'Girl of Steel', she sees me as this fragile little human who can't take care of herself."

"Babe are you serious?!" Maggie exclaimed, pushing Alex back so the agent could see her face. "You took a Kryptonite super-bullet in the chest for your sister! You face down aliens twice your size every other day, which gives me panic attacks by the way. You kick ass in the lab and on the street. Fragile is never a word I would use to describe Alex Danvers."

Alex cracked a small smile at her girlfriend's enthusiastic reply but couldn't be shaken out of her funk so easy. "Then why does Kara question me in the field? Why does she yell at me at the DEO?"

"That's easy, Ally. She's scared. Little Danvers is terrified of losing you. You're her whole world babe and seeing you run headfirst into danger, knowing she can't always protect you from what's out there...well, that can make any girl act a little crazy!"

"You really think so?" Alex murmured as she snuggled deeper into Maggie's chest.

"I know so." She replied, placing a soft kiss against Alex's hair. "Let Little Danvers stew, let her be mad for a little while, she'll come around."

"Yeah." Alex agreed half-heartedly. "I guess."

Maggie sighed inwardly because the Danvers Sisters were notoriously stubborn and she wasn't going to be able to convince Alex of anything right now when she was tired, sore and emotional.

"Come on baby, let's get you to bed. You've had along day..." Alex let Maggie pull her to her feet and lead her to the bed.

The agent had already showered and put on her pajamas so it was easy for Maggie to get her tucked in. Alex's eyes slid closed the minute her head touched the pillow and she quickly fell asleep, worn out as she was. Maggie pressed a gentle kiss to her temple before she was out the door, her whole body rigid with determination.

"Kara open up!" Maggie whispered loudly because it was well past midnight and though she knew her future sister-in-law could hear her, she didn't want the whole building to. "Little Danvers, I know you can hear me. Open this door or so help me..."

The door swung open before she could finish her threat revealing a very irritated Kryptonian in fuzzy kitty pajamas. Kara glared at her before snatching her inside, more roughly than she normally would have, Maggie noted.

"What are you doing here, Maggie?" The blonde demanded as soon as the detective was inside. She shut the door behind them but didn't bother locking it.

"I'm here because you and Alex had a fight." Maggie stated arms crossed as Kara cocked an eyebrow at her statement.

"A fight? Is that what she told you? More like she ripped me a new one and wants me to call her Ma'am all the time!" Kara huffed and slumped onto her couch. Maggie followed, guard still up.

"What happened?" she asked gently, seeing that Kara was just as upset as Alex had been.

"I don't know... she went on this crazy, dangerous opt without me and she acted like it was no big deal and then I said some stuff I shouldn't have and she just lit into me!"

"Did you know she feels like you handle her with kid-gloves? That she thinks you don't respect her? She thinks that's why you challenge her Kara, because you don't trust her."

Maggie knew she was betraying Alex's trust by telling Kara all this but she had a strong suspicion that Alex would never say any of those things to Kara on her own and the rift between the sisters could not be allowed to grow further. To her credit, the younger woman looked sufficiently horrified by what she had just heard.

"She what...? I trust Alex! She's the only person I know I can always trust! Of course, I respect her...I love her so much...why can't she see that?" Kara was near tears and Maggie quickly drew the girl into her arms, trying to offer comfort.

"Oh, Little Danvers..." the detective sighed. It was amazing how two people could know each other so well and at the same time, not at all. "Alex is a solider, kid. She's been one her whole life, fighting, protecting, that's who she is, you know that. You also know that she's unbelievably hard on herself, knowing she does her job well, that she has the respect of her peers, it means a lot to her. But having your respect, means everything to her."

"But I do respect her Maggie!"

"I know you do but Alex is more of a 'show-don't-tell' kind of girl. You say it and in her heart she knows it but every time you buck the system, you're not showing it kid. When you question her, it makes her doubt herself and that can get a lot of people hurt."

"I never thought...Alex is just so good at everything...I never thought that I was messing with her confidence. Guess I took the 'bratty little sister' act too far, huh?"

"Seems like it..." Maggie agreed with a small smile. "Hey, maybe it's one of your superpowers!" She added, trying to get a smile out of the younger woman.

"I think my sister would agree." Kara groused but couldn't suppress a smile in return.

"So what are you gonna do about it?" Maggie asked quietly knowing it was ultimately up to Kara to mend things with her sister.

"I guess I better get used to following orders," she mumbled before turning to face Maggie. "Thanks... for um, charging in here and pointing out what a brat I am."

"You're not a brat, Little Danvers. At least not all the time..." Maggie teased her lightly. "We all have those moments where we forget to show the people we love that...well, we love them, I guess. Sometimes words aren't enough but you still might wanna apologize."

"Yeah, probably." Kara agreed quietly. "I probably shouldn't have called her a 'dummy' at the DEO..."

"You didn't!" Maggie gasped because Kara really had been pushing her luck.

"I did." Kara replied sheepishly. "Oh Rao, I really did. What was I thinking?! No wonder Alex hates me right now."

"Alex doesn't hate you, Little Danvers. Is she mad? Oh, yeah. But mostly she's disappointed and sad. And those are all things you can fix, okay?"

"Okay." Kara agreed but still seemed down. Maggie sighed to herself, knowing that as the official 'Spare Big Sister' it was up to her to comfort the younger sibling until she and Alex could reconcile.

She took of her jacket and moved to plop down on the couch, gently patting the cushion beside her. "C'mere kid. Seems like cuddles are in order..." She knew she didn't have to tell Kara twice as the blonde bounded over happily, snuggling under the tiny detective.

"Thanks, Maggie." Kara sighed as she started to drift off.

Maggie just smiled to herself and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of the girl's head as she pulled the blanket off the back of the couch to cover the sleepy hero. She toed her boots off and kicked them under the coffee table before she repositioned the two, ending up with a full-grown superhero on her chest. Kara was out almost immediately and the detective knew she wasn't going anywhere, not anytime soon.

With her free hand she pulled her phone out and sent Alex a quick text. "Babe. Called away to work. See you for lunch tomorrow. Love you." She felt slightly guilty for lying to Alex but she knew the sister's both needed her support, she just hoped her girlfriend would see it that way.

As she was contemplating the consequences of going behind Alex's back, a clumsy hand freed itself from the blanket and poked her right between the eyes. "Crinkle." Kara mumbled as her hand dropped followed by, "Go sleep, Maggie."

The older girl couldn't help but smile at that. "Night, Little Danvers."