Disclaimer: I do not own Supergirl
Author's Notes: I really like the idea of all Kryptonians being bisexual and was thinking about this story at work but haven't sat down to write it until today. In case I don't put this in the story, I did not misspell Andrea; her name is Andra which is short for Andromeda.
What We Don't Know
"Aunt Kara!"
Kara looked up from her desk and a grin spread across her face at the thirteen year old girl with short brown hair coming from the elevators. She glanced briefly into Cat's office to make sure she was still occupied with her phone conversation before she stood. "How was the plane ride, Andra?" she asked wrapping her arms around her cousin's daughter.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes before winking at the older Kyptonian. Kara nodded knowingly, guiding them toward her desk and seating herself once more. "Is that her?" Andra pointed toward the fishbowl office.
"Yup. That's Miss. Grant," Kara replied smiling fondly at the woman who was aggressively scooping out M&Ms into a tumbler. Apparently the meeting wasn't going as planned. She made a note to bring in some ibuprofen when Cat was finished.
"Wow...mom's always making digs at her height, but I thought she was exaggerating," Andra whispered with a giggle. Kara joined for a moment before holding up a finger to hush her.
"She's pretty average height, she hangs around taller people. Lois is about my height after all," Kara offered. Andra's eyes narrowed slightly, watching the glint in her cousin, more like aunt's, eyes.
"She is just as angry and spiteful as mom says right?"
"No...no, not at all. That's just the exterior she gives off. A facade to get where she is now. Women in the positions of power is hard enough, we have to work twice as hard and Cat's perfected the right amount of fear and aggression to inspire loyalty, hard work and a brilliant brand," Kara explained, only noticing that she had been staring at Cat near the end of spiel, forcing herself to blink and face Andra once more. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Oh, nothing! Not really...I mean...if I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a crush on The Cat Grant," Andra said, a laugh bubbling under the surface.
Kara floundered for only a moment and adjusted her glasses. "What if you don't know better? Who's to say that Cat's unaware of my crush, or that I'm not already dating Cat? Hmm?" Kara spoke lightheartedly.
"But...you dated Jimmy Olsen."
"He prefer James now, but yeah...we dated for like...a month. We weren't right for each other, better as friends," Kara smile faltered when she saw Andra's eyebrows knit together. "Why does that matter?"
"It's just..." Andra paused, looking down at her hands folded in her lap. "Mom and dad keep asking if there are any cute boys at school. Why dad of all people is wondering if beyond me... You'd think he would be less excited about that, but...it's like it's my only option, ya know?"
"Oh...I see," Kara nodded sagely then glanced at the rest of the office for a moment. "Well...what your father doesn't know because...well, he was too young to know, but we're...not limited in who we love. It seems like everyone around us believes that there is only one type of love. A man and a woman, or two women or two men, not the possibility of loving men and women in the same way. It's less...accepted or believed," Kara spoke carefully, to not say 'our kind', or Kryptonians, or humans, or Earth. She hoped her point was clearly understood by her cousin.
"That doesn't make it any easier!" Andra exclaimed standing up to glare down at Kara. The blonde's mouth opened slightly in shock, unsure what to say until she heard a delicate clearing of a throat and turned to see Cat watching them from her office doors.
"Why don't we take this conversation elsewhere," her suggestion came off more as a demand as she angled herself to invite them into her office.
Andra hung her head in embarrassment, but didn't budge, confusion etched into her face at why Cat was offering up her own office for this. Kara smiled gratefully at Cat before walking around her desk and placing her hands on Andra's shoulders and urging her into the office, Cat following behind after closing the doors. Kara waited before taking a seat, allowing Andra to decide.
"I'm sorry, Aunt Kara..." she mumbled as she sat down on the righthand couch, curling into the corner of the cushions to make herself feel smaller.
Kara's hand came up to wave off the apology, an all too Cat-like movement, "It's okay, Andra."
"Why are we in her office?" Andra asked, pointing to Cat when she sat down on the opposite couch with Kara.
"Because she's one of the few people who know we're from Krypton," Kara explained.
"You're from Krypton. I'm not," the girl huffed, wrapping her arms around her knees.
"That we're...Kryptonian," Kara adjusted her phraseology. Andra looked up at Cat who shrugged and pulled out her phone, feigning disinterest in the scene. "So...what is difficult?" Kara asked. "Your parents pushing you to like guys? I could talk to Clark about it," she offered.
"God, no!" Andra spoke quickly, shaking her head. "No, that's fine. It's just...there's this girl I really like. All the boys who've dated my friends suck and do stupid things, but...this girl is really kind and smart and considerate and shy and funny and she likes to spend time with me too I think. I get...flustered and blush around her and I...I just...I dunno how to tell my parents cause I dunno if she feels the same way and how to find out if she does," she rambled, stumbling over her words as she face tinted in recollection of her crush.
The grin on Kara's face could light the office if hooked up to electrical wires, but she reigned in her happiness and nodded as she contemplated her response. "I doubt very much that your parents would be displeased with you. Surprised a little but they still love you. They've accepted the fact I prefer women over men and they understand I'm interested in both. So I don't think they will dislike you," Kara spoke adamantly.
"Like your crush on Cat?" Andra supplied, unable to help the smirk on her face. Deflection was a tactic she had quickly picked up on from her mother and if this eased her own embarrassment, so be it.
"Crush?" Cat asked, looking up from her phone. "It's certainly more than a crush, little Andra."
"Don't call me little," she sniped back, glaring at Cat for a moment before her face softened in mild fear of the woman. "What do you mean 'more than a crush'?" she asked timidly.
"You didn't...tell her?"
Kara chuckled nervously and shook her head.
"We've been dating for a few years now," Cat said simply.
Andra's chin met her chest as she gaped at the two across from her. The way Kara had been acting made it seem like it was as girlish a crush as her own and that nothing had been acted on. That goofy love-struck expression her father couldn't contain at work for her mother wasn't present, the shine of love in her eyes her mother had when she gazed at her father...nothing! It was... "Different," she muttered.
"What?"
"It's different..." Andra began to explain. "I didn't think you were in love or dating, whatever it is you quantify it as, cause...it looks different than my parents. I dunno if it's cause you're both women and it's not widely accepted, or what, but it's not as...childish looking."
"Lois and Clark look childishly in love?" Cat asked bemused.
Andra shrugged, uncertain how to justify her parents. "It also...looks nice. Subtle and sweet..." she attempted to explain.
"Is that what you want, Andra? Subtle?" Kara asked. "We're subtle at work to maintain a professional decorum, but once we're off CatCo property we're more couple-y," she added.
"'Couple-y'? Really, Kara?" Cat asked, raising a single brow at her.
Andra glanced down at her lap, fiddling with a stray strand of jean fabric. "I wish it were easier," she mumbled, the adults looking at her once more.
"It's easier than it used to be. Getting easier ever year," Cat assured in a strong voice. Andra looked up, gulping.
"But...my parents..."
"I'll lay into Lois if she has even a single issue with your crush on this girl."
"Why? I'm her daughter and you've never liked her."
"Doesn't justify stifling a child. Besides, you matter to Kara so you matter to me," Cat promised, waving her hand blithely.
"I don't know if I've had the conversation with Clark, but really I have no issue reminding him that this issue on Earth about sexual orientation isn't in our nature, that all Kryptonians are bisexual but have preferences. Arranged marriages were quite commonplace on Krypton after observing until teen-hood to determine which gender to pair them with," Kara said.
Andra had begun to chew on her bottom lip, contemplating what both Cat and Kara had told her. They were both acting so very empathetic to her and it was the most supported she had felt in a while. Her parents tried so hard and she could never say anything bad about that, but their insistence on cute boys and dates to dances was tiring and so mainstream. Why did they have to assume?
"Thank you," Andra said thickly, gulping around the lump in her throat. Kara smiled slightly before moving around the coffee table and finally wrapping her arms around her little cousin.
"Always," Kara replied.
"I think...I wanna watch the sky," Andra told her after the hug.
Kara nodded her head. "Okay," she said, watching Andra stand and leave the office, a quick glance and a smile before she left entirely. "Well, that was interesting," Kara plopped back down on the couch she had vacated.
"It went well," Cat informed her.
"Really?"
"Definitely. I know my mother preferred to brush things like this off the table, tell her rich and mighty friends when I'd bring a female companion that it was a phase and I was experimenting. No matter how often I told her I liked men and women, she would change the subject, so one day I stopped sharing, stopped trying," Cat said, engrossed in her phone once more.
Kara placed an arm around Cat's shoulders and leaned her head against Cat's. When Cat looked at her she grinned widely and stole a kiss. "I love you," Kara informed her.
"I hate protocol," Cat mumbled with her eyes still closed before pulling Kara in for another kiss.
Andra hadn't left for the roof just yet and was peering around a corner into Cat's office and smiled lightly at the sweet display between her cousin and girlfriend. Yeah...she wanted that.
