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They're on their way to Midvale to spend their holiday vacation with Eliza, Kara, Clark, and Lois, although their road trip had hit a rocky start pretty early on when Lucy needed Maggie to pull over on the side of the highway. Now, three hours into the drive and nearly two behind their original arrival time, Alex finally thinks to warn her mother not to expect them when they had first told her they would be getting there.
Alex hits send on her last message just as the rear door opens. Maggie slides into the backseat, carefully balancing two travel cups in one hand and a grocery bag in the other.
“I filled your tank up,” Alex tells her. “Also let my mom know we’re gonna be later than we thought.”
“Thanks.” Maggie passes one of the steaming cups up to Alex over the center console. “They had decaf,” she says, putting her own cup down on the seat beside her so she can dig through the plastic bag. “And this is for Lucy.” She leans forward and places a bottle of ginger ale in the passenger seat cup holder.
“Thank you.” Alex wraps both hands around the warm cup. With the sun going down, the night’s a little chillier than she had been expecting. “How’s she doing?”
Maggie grimaces. “Miserable. And grumpy. But she said she was gonna come out soon. And maybe the bathroom wasn’t the nicest, but they did have both Dramamine and Midol, so we could have picked a worse place to stop.”
Speaking of the devil, Alex sees Lucy push her way out of the front doors and head toward their car before Maggie’s even finished talking. She flops into the front seat as soon as she gets there, face pale and hair all disheveled.
“Hey,” Alex says softly. “Feeling any better?”
Lucy just grunts in response, glaring at Alex through tired eyes. Alex doesn’t take it personally; she’d be grumpy too if she just spent the last half-hour stuck in a gas station bathroom and forty-five minutes on the side of the highway before that.
“Here, babe,” Maggie interjects, passing two packages of pills up. “I know Midol doesn’t always work when your cramps get this bad, but it’s worth a shot, right?”
Lucy just nods wearily, and Alex knows it’s a testament to how bad she’s feeling right now, as she usually puts up more of a fight when it comes to taking pills. Alex helps her rip the package open when her fingers fumble with it, then cracks the cap of the ginger ale bottle open and hands it to her. Lucy swallows the pills back with a careful sip, then seems to notice the second sleeve of pills Maggie had given her. She stares down blankly at the cheesy little cartoon of a person smiling in a car. “What’s this for?” she asks, voice rough.
“Motion sickness,” Maggie answers, her tone a warning not to debate.
Of course, Lucy pouts and tries to anyway. Maggie and Alex have to resist rolling their eyes. They’ve been having the same argument with her since Lucy had first mentioned she wasn’t feeling well, about an hour into their trip. “I don’t get carsick though. I’m telling you; it’s just my uterus trying to kill me.”
“And we believe you,” Alex tries to placate. She knows how bad Lucy’s cramps can be sometimes, although they don’t usually make her this sick. “But this will help with the nausea and hopefully get you feeling a little better.”
Lucy concedes with a sigh, squinting at the package in the waning light to try to read how many she needs to take. “Don’t these make you drowsy?” she tries one more time, although it’s a half-hearted attempt.
“Yeah, but I think we all can agree that you could use a nap right now. I also got you this.” Maggie passes up the last item from the bag: a pack of disposable heating pads.
In the midst of taking the second set of pills, Lucy just closes her eyes with a moan when she sees them, laying back in her seat. “God, Maggie,” she says after she swallows. “You’re a lifesaver.”
Again, Alex opens up the box and scans the instructions, seeing that the pad should automatically start heating up upon exposure with air. She lifts Lucy’s shirt for her and settles one against her lower belly. “That good?” she asks, seeing the way Lucy’s entire body has suddenly gone slack in the last few seconds.
Maggie’s reaching around the headrest, massaging Lucy’s neck and shoulders. Alex’s own shoulders suddenly ache in jealous protest: Maggie really does give the best massages.
“Mm-hmm,” Lucy answers her, cradling her stomach with one hand, pressing the heating pad close as it begins to warm up. “Thanks, you guys.”
Alex picks up Lucy’s free hand and kisses her knuckles. “You ready to start moving again or do you want to wait a little longer?”
“Would you mind waiting to see if I can fall asleep? I’d really rather not be conscious for the rest of this trip.”
“Yeah, we’re in no rush; don’t worry. Just relax.”
Maggie chimes in, “I can move behind Alex if you want to put the seat back.”
They’re quiet then, as Maggie shifts to the other side and Lucy reclines her seat all the way, curling up as much as she can with the seatbelt on. It takes less than fifteen minutes for her to doze off completely.
Alex shoots Maggie a relieved grin in the rearview mirror as she puts the car in reverse and seconds later, they’re pulling out of the parking lot and back onto the road.
They drive in silence for the next two hours, Lucy thankfully sleeping undisturbed. Alex fidgets more than usual, as she hates driving without the radio, but she doesn’t dare turn it on even at a low volume and risk waking Lucy up. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the ones you love, she reminds herself.
At some point though, she catches a glimpse at Maggie, chilling in the back with her headphones in, listening to something on her phone.
“Traitor,” she mouths when Maggie catches her eye in the mirror. Maggie just sticks her tongue out teasingly.
They’re about forty-five minutes from their destination and just starting the climb up the mountain outside of Midvale when Lucy starts to stir. She groans and covers her eyes with the crook of her elbow, then reaches out blindly for the still half-full bottle of ginger ale. She groans again.
“You okay, Luce?” Alex asks a little nervously. There’s nowhere to pull over until they get over the mountain if Lucy needs to stop again. Maggie must hear her, as she sits up suddenly, taking the headphones out of her ears.
“Headache,” Lucy replies, shifting around. “Where are we?”
“We’ve got about a half-hour left, once we get over the mountain.”
Lucy shifts some more. “Anywhere to stop?”
Maggie and Alex lock eyes in the mirror, Maggie grabbing the empty bag from the gas station just in case as Alex racks her brain for the next available pull-off. Then it hits her.
“There’s an outlook up ahead that’s part of the state park. Has a bathroom and everything. But we’re still a couple miles out, think you can make it?”
“Yeah,” Lucy sighs, then seems to notice how her girlfriends are on high-alert, and lifts her arm to look at them both. “I’m okay, guys; I think the medicine worked. I just need to use the bathroom, sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Maggie soothes, putting the bag back down. “We’re just worried about you.” She continues, her voice suddenly icy, “But also if you puke in my car, I will kill you.”
“Haha,” Lucy deadpans, covering her face again as a truck passes them in the other lane with its brights on.
“You think I’m kidding,” Maggie whispers under her breath, just loud enough for Alex to hear. She snorts.
After a couple of minutes, Alex focuses hard on the road, knowing the turnoff for the outlook can be hard to see coming from this direction and not wanting to miss it in the dark. Thankfully, she doesn’t miss it. “Here we go,” she says softly to Lucy, who sits up a little to see where they are.
The parking lot is empty, so Alex has her pick of spots, pulling right up to the side of the small building that houses the bathrooms. The only other building is the visitor center, but that one closes with the rest of the park at dusk, though they leave the bathrooms open twenty-four/seven as a truck stop.
Lucy digs around for a tampon in the bag she has stuffed under her seat and climbs gingerly out of the car with the quiet instruction of, “Give me a minute.”
Alex and Maggie get out too, just to stretch their legs. Alex leads Maggie around to the front of the car, leaning beside her on the hood. Although she hasn’t seen it in years, the view is every bit as breathtaking as she remembers, even in the dark.
“We used to come out here a lot when I was a kid,” she tells Maggie. “There’s a bunch of hiking trails around here that we used to go on all the time. But my favorite times were always when we’d come out at night. We’d come after dinner and my dad would bring the telescope and we’d just sit up here for hours, looking at the stars.”
Maggie takes her hand, looking at all the lights glittering below them from the town and the stars up above. “I can see why; it’s an amazing view.”
“Right? Maybe we can come up here sometime this week. I’d love to show you guys what it’s like in the daytime. I don’t know why I’ve never thought to stop here before now.”
“Sounds good to me,” Maggie says, leaning over to rest her head against Alex’s shoulder. Alex leans into Maggie too, closing her eyes for a moment.
But then she remembers what she promised her mom, and they shoot open again. She jostles Maggie as she pulls her phone out of her pocket.
“Sorry, I just remembered my mom wanted me to text her when we got here so she would know when to finish making dinner.”
She shoots off a quick text and is about to put her phone back in her pocket when it vibrates with a new message. It’s Lucy in their group chat. Maggie reads the message over her shoulder, having felt her phone go off too.
Alex pushes up off the car and motions for Maggie to stay put. “I got it.”
She grabs Lucy’s entire toiletry bag from the front seat, figuring Lucy might be more comfortable for the rest of the trip if she has the chance to clean up a little.
Alex is glad to see that the upkeep of the bathroom is as good as she remembers it being, if only for Lucy’s sake after that last one. They’re the only two in there as well, which is also nice.
Alex pulls a pad out from the pouch Lucy has them packed in and makes her way to the only stall with its door closed. “Here, babe,” she says, holding it out underneath the door.
Lucy grabs it after a couple of seconds. “Thanks. Couldn’t get the stupid tampon to go in,” she huffs.
“I hate that,” Alex sympathizes. “Need anything else? I brought your bag in case you wanted to brush your teeth and stuff.”
Lucy moans. “You’re a genius. Gimme one sec.”
Alex heads over to the sinks to wait and places Lucy’s bag down on the counter. There’s a bit of rustling from the stall and then the toilet flushes, and Lucy emerges with both hands held aloft in front of her.
“Can you get the water for me?” she asks, wiggling bloodstained fingers to indicate why she didn’t want to do it herself.
Alex does so and also pushes the button for the soap dispenser as Lucy holds a hand under it. “How you feeling? Cramps any better?”
“Still hurt but they’ve gotten duller, I guess.” Lucy finishes scrubbing her hands and hunches over the sink to rinse her face off as well. “I’ve got a headache and feel kind of blah all over, but it’s a lot better than before.”
“I’m glad.” Alex kisses her temple as Lucy pulls out her toothbrush and toothpaste. She starts combing out Lucy’s wayward hair with her fingers as Lucy brushes her teeth.
“I cannot wait to take a shower,” Lucy says after spitting into the sink and leaning back into Alex’s hold. “Also just to lay down… Think Maggie will let me use her as a lap pillow if I lay in the back with her?”
“If she doesn’t, I’ll volunteer,” Alex chuckles. “You ready to go back out?”
Lucy sighs and straightens up. “Yeah.”
Alex helps her gather up her things, carrying the bag back out to the car for her.
They find Maggie laying down on the hood with her hands cushioning the back of her head, looking up at the stars. Lucy makes a beeline for her immediately, climbing up beside her and tucking herself against Maggie’s side.
“Oh wow,” she says, actually taking in the view for the first time. “It’s pretty up here.”
“Mm,” Maggie agrees, shifting an arm out so she can run her thumb along Lucy’s cheek.
Alex climbs up on Maggie’s other side since this seems to be what they’re doing now. She has to squeeze in on her side and awkwardly prop up on her elbow to fit, but it works. Maggie helps a little by untucking her other hand so she can wrap her arm around Alex’s shoulder.
It’s no wonder Maggie had decided to wait for them there; it’s a clear night, and although not as many stars are visible as when Alex was younger thanks to more light pollution, it’s still loads better than the little they usually get to see in the city. Silence washes over them as they lay in contentment for a while, although Alex suspects Lucy’s falling back asleep more than anything by the way she’s snuggling into Maggie.
Lucy proves her wrong a few minutes later, however, as she breaks the silence. “Sorry for ruining the trip before we even get there,” she says only half-jokingly. “This is definitely not how I thought this day would go.”
“You didn’t ruin anything,” Maggie reassures her. “We have a whole two weeks off to look forward to and we’ll get you feeling better so we can all enjoy it together. And although I know it hasn’t been any fun for you, this is hardly the worst trip we’ve ever taken.”
“Yeah,” Alex adds with a laugh. “Remember right before the plane back from Vegas, when Maggie accidentally ate that–”
Maggie shudders and smacks her before she can even finish the thought. “We promised to never speak of that again, Danvers. Never.”
Lucy laughs too, for the first time since before they left, much to Alex’s relief. “Oh yeah. That was definitely the worst.”
Maggie elbows her. "Never. Speak. Of. It."
Lucy sticks her tongue out. “Hey, you’re the one that brought it up!”
“Okay!” Maggie sits up suddenly, sliding down the hood back to the ground. “Moment’s ruined. Let’s go, you two.”
Alex and Lucy accept the hands she holds out for them, still giggling, and even Maggie has to join in as they stand up and brush their clothes off.
When Maggie tells Alex she can keep driving since she knows the way better, Lucy puts on her best pleading face as she asks, “Be my pillow?”
Maggie squints at her with a teasing smirk as she climbs into the back. “Fine,” she concedes after a beat, patting her lap. “But only because I can tell you brushed your teeth. And just remember–”
“You’ll kill me if I puke in your car, yeah, yeah. Love you too, babe.” Lucy rolls her eyes and blows Maggie a kiss as she stretches out along the backseat and settles with her head on Maggie’s thighs.
Maggie’s hand immediately goes to scritch at Lucy’s scalp and Lucy sighs in pleasure at the pressure. “That goes double if you puke on me, you know,” Maggie warns her.
Alex cuts in to ask, “You good if I turn the radio on, Luce?” partly to save Lucy from Maggie’s badgering, but mostly to save herself from having nothing to listen to for the rest of the drive.
Lucy gives her a thumbs up, and with that, they continue on their way.