Chapter Text
“No one’s going to recognize you.”
Scoffing at the confidence in Kara’s tone as they stepped through the front entrance, Alex pulled her beanie further down on her forehead, sweeping her long hair over her shoulder and adjusting her black-rimmed glasses. Glasses that were actually necessary for her vision. Unlike the frames adorning Kara’s face that somehow changed her appearance enough that she could go out in public and no one gave her a second glance. At least Alex’s wardrobe of jeans, tank top, flannel, and Chucks was her normal, everyday wear and so different from what she wore when performing that almost no one recognized her.
Looking around at the nearly full room, memories washed over Alex. She could picture her six-year-old self watching her parents perform on The Bluebird’s small stage for a packed house. The feeling of fear and excitement bubbling in her veins still rushed through Alex as she thought back to her and Kara’s debut at The Bluebird seventeen years later.
Alex blinked back to the present at the feel of Kara’s hand grasping her wrist as the sisters squeezed past a group of people chatting inside the doorway. She once again took in the number of people already filling the space.
“Is there going to be anywhere left to sit?”
“J’onn called and talked to Dave. He said he’d make sure we had a table.” Kara led the way through the crowd and toward the stage. She picked up a reserved card from the lone empty table and held it toward Alex, grinning.
One glance at the name had Alex rolling her eyes. Regina Phalange was scrawled across the card, and it still baffled Alex as to how Kara had convinced J’onn to use the name whenever they needed reservations.
Taking their seats, Alex glanced around at the framed pictures of various country artists that had played The Bluebird over the years. Her eyes scanned familiar faces before easily finding the photograph of Eliza and Jeremiah. Honestly, Alex could have located the picture with her eyes closed as many times as she’d looked at the framed photo of her parents anytime she was in this space.
Pulling her gaze from the wall of pictures, Alex eyed the nearby bar, longing for a beer. Before she could move from her seat, Alex’s plans were thwarted as the host for the evening’s show stepped onto the small stage and began explaining the setup for the evening. Alex recognized him as a songwriter she and Kara had worked with once or twice early in their career. She was relieved when he glanced in their direction but showed no hint of recognition.
The first performer took the stage, a young girl with a guitar and a delicate voice. She performed her three songs, mostly about young heartache, and Alex was reminded of her days as a teenager; sitting in her bedroom, picking at her father’s old guitar, and trying her hand at writing songs.
The next performance was a male duo, best friends since childhood according to the short introductory story they told. As Alex listened to their songs about the one that got away and causing trouble with drinking buddies, the duo’s music style had Alex thinking of the records her parents used to play when she was a little girl. The twangy sound of Willie Nelson or Tammy Wynette filling the house as she and Kara played.
As the men left the stage at the end of their set, Alex felt her phone vibrate. She pulled it from her back pocket and glanced at the message, a question from her mother about her and Kara’s upcoming tour. As Alex typed back a response, she felt an elbow dig into her side as Kara’s way of letting her know the next group was the one they had come to the cafe to see. Alex threw an irritated glance at her sister before going back to her phone to finish typing her message. The sound of a silky, sultry voice coming from the stage drew Alex’s eyes up and away from her phone.
Two men sat on either side and toward the back of the small stage, one at a set of drums and the other at a keyboard. But the person that had Alex’s attention was the woman sitting on a stool in the middle, acoustic guitar resting on her legs. Taking in the sight before her, Alex looked the other woman over, appreciating her style. She wore a casual, white button-up with the sleeves rolled to her elbows, dark wash skinny jeans, brown ankle boots, and a brown wool Panama hat sitting atop her long, flowing, black hair. Wondering if the woman’s hair felt as soft as it looked flitted across Alex’s mind. As the woman continued to speak, Alex felt herself being drawn in and set her phone on the table, unsure if she had actually hit send on her response and uncaring.
“So this tall drink of water to my right is James, and yes, ladies, he is single,” the woman smirked as a few whoops and whistles came from the audience. James threw a hand up to wave as he grinned at his bandmate’s antics. Pointing over her left shoulder, the woman continued, “And this fella here is Winn. If lovable nerds are your thing, then this guy is for you.”
“Hey!” Winn shouted back but laughed good-naturedly.
“Sorry, buddy. You know I love you, but I gotta keep it honest,” the woman responded, smiling wide.
At the sight of two deep dimples in the woman’s cheeks, Alex felt a fluttering in her stomach. At the back of her mind, a voice attempted to whisper that what Alex was feeling was attraction.
The woman readjusted the guitar on her lap, eyes sweeping the room. “My name is Maggie, and we are The Renegades.”
With that, the group began their first song. Maggie’s eyes slipped closed, seeming to concentrate on her strumming. When she started to sing, Alex was entranced as the voice flowed through the room and enveloped her like a summer breeze.
"I see you watch her from across the room
Dancing her home in your mind
Well, it takes more than whiskey to make that flower bloom"
As Maggie’s voice continued to serenade, Alex’s mind began wandering to places she hadn’t allowed it to in a long time, her emotions creating a war within herself. The draw Alex could feel toward Maggie wasn’t new. She’d felt it before for other women. And every time, Alex had fought it back, pushed it down, and locked it in a box. Well, almost every time.
She wasn’t stupid or naive. Alex knew what these feelings meant, had known since she was young and realized she didn’t like boys the way other girls did. Had known since the day she and her best friend Vicki had a falling out, and Alex finally admitted to herself that her feelings of jealousy were because she had a crush on Vicki. Had known since college when Alex had finally allowed herself to explore these feelings.
Another sharp nudge in the ribs brought Alex’s attention back to the present.
“Lucy was right. They’re really good.” Kara leaned forward in her seat, elbows on the table and chin cradled in her palms as she took in the performance of the group on stage.
"She loves Wild Horses and Tumbling Dice
She don’t have a single tattoo
She’ll drink all the liquor and leave you the ice
That’s too much cologne, she likes perfume"
Maggie’s eyes landed on Alex. Unable to pull her own gaze away, Alex felt heat rise to her cheeks and her heart stutter. Alex was certain a slight smirk appeared on the other woman’s lips, as though she knew exactly the effect she was having. Alex was relieved the moment Maggie looked away, dropping her own eyes to the table in front of her and urging her fluttering heart to calm.
Not for the first time, the list of everything Alex risked losing if it came out that she was gay appeared in her mind. She and Kara had worked hard for their career and had chosen to pave their own way, despite so many people offering the duo a leg up because of who their parents were. It was a career they were both immensely proud of, and their upcoming tour was a testament of their success.
A tour that was the reason for Alex and Kara’s presence tonight. Planning their third run as headliners had been flawless until their original opening act had to drop out mere weeks before the sisters were supposed to be heading out on the road. Alex couldn’t blame Nia for stepping down. She knew how devastating it was to lose a parent so suddenly. But that didn’t change the fact that the tour now had no opening act.
Having convinced J’onn and the record label to let them find an unknown and unsigned artist and give them the rare opportunity of performing on a nationwide tour, Alex and Kara had started their hunt for the current favorites among Lower Broadway. Lucy had mentioned her ex’s band were making a name for themselves at The Bluebird Cafe, and that they might be just what Alex and Kara were looking for to join the tour.
Alex could admit that Lucy was right. The band was good, and their sound would complement the sisters’ own eclectic style. Now as she watched the band and their frontwoman, Alex could feel attraction bubbling below the surface and found herself worrying that her buried secret would begin to claw its way back to the surface.
The final chord of Maggie and her bandmates’ last song died out as the room filled with applause, and Alex realized she’d missed the rest of their set, lost in the abyss of her own mind. Kara clapping loudly next to her spurred Alex to raise her own hands and clap. She watched as Maggie thanked everyone, her eyes landing on Alex once more before she stepped off of the stage.
Alex followed Maggie’s movements toward the opposite end of the room, convincing herself it was so she and Kara would know where to find the band after the final performance of the night. Half listening to the next two bands, Alex continued to glance in Maggie’s direction every few seconds. She watched the other woman drinking and laughing with her bandmates and a couple of other people that had joined them at their table. One of those other people, a woman with long, blonde hair, placed her hand on Maggie’s arm, and Alex felt irrational jealousy bubble up in her chest.
It wasn’t until Kara was pulling on Alex’s arm that she realized the evening’s show was over. “C’mon. We need to catch them before they leave.”
Alex followed her sister toward the other side of the room where the band was settled in with another round of drinks. As they approached the table, Maggie’s laugh rang out, and Alex felt her stomach flip flop.
Kara stepped up to the group, smiling brightly. “I’m so sorry to interrupt, but we wanted to tell you guys how much we loved your set! Your music is so good!”
The enthusiasm was met with a grin from the drummer that was nearly as blinding as Kara’s. “Hey, thanks! Always great to meet fans!”
Alex let her eyes wander to Maggie only to find her seeming to be studying Kara, head tilted to the side and eyes squinted. Suddenly, she straightened, recognition filling her face. “You’re Kara Danvers.”
Kara reached to fidget with her glasses, spluttering unconvincingly, “Um, what? I mean, what...would make you say that?”
Alex dropped her head in her hand with a sigh.
“Sorry, but the glasses don’t help,” she heard Maggie say.
A strangled sound left Kara’s mouth as she swung around to look at Alex.
“Hey, don’t look at me. I always said the glasses were ridiculous.” Alex held her hands up and shrugged.
Maggie’s laugh pulled Alex’s attention back to the other woman, whose eyes seemed to sparkle as she focused them on Alex and then swept her eyes over Alex from head to toe. “That must make you Alexandra Danvers.”
Able to feel the tips of her ears heat up, Alex shoved her hands in her pockets as she cleared her throat. “You can call me Alex.”
The head tilt was back as Maggie smiled. “Nice to meet you, Alex. And you too, Kara.”
Secret unavoidably out, the cheery smile returned to Kara’s face. “We actually came here tonight to see you perform, and we have an offer for you.”
Maggie’s eyebrows rose, “What kind of offer?”
Kara glanced at Alex who nodded. Turning back, she looked at all three members before speaking again, “We would like your band to be the opening act for our upcoming tour.”
Silence followed as the three stared back. Then Maggie’s eyebrows furrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you serious?”
Unsure how to decipher the body language of the woman across from her, Alex stammered out, “Uh, yeah. If….if you’re interested.”
Another moment followed before a wide grin formed on James’ face. He reached over and thumped a shocked Winn on the back as he wrapped an arm around Maggie’s shoulders, pulling her into a side hug. She laughed in shock as James boomed, “Hell yeah, we’re interested!”
In the next instant, Winn was pulling his bandmates into hugs, and then James was insisting that Alex and Kara join them for another round of drinks. Kara was quick to accept, and it wasn’t lost on Alex how her sister’s gaze seemed to linger on James as he went to the bar for more drinks.
Joining the band at the table, Alex gratefully accepted a beer from James when he returned and allowed Kara to take lead in talking about their tour schedule and answering questions. As she sipped on her beer, her eyes drifted to Maggie who was laughing at something Kara had just said, and Alex felt both a spark and a heaviness in her chest.