"Have you seen Miss Grant?"
Winn looked up from his computer and shook his head. "No, not today. She still not in?"
"No," Kara's brows drew together in concern. Cat Grant had never been late in all the time she'd been working for her. Not even by a minute. Now she was an hour too late already. And it didn't sit well with Kara.
Grimacing, she called her sister.
"Kara, what's up?"
"Alex. Miss Grant hasn't turned up for work yet. You know she never is late. Can you-"
"Find out where she is?" Alex finished Kara's sentence. "Sure. I'll call you back as soon as I learn something. – Relax, Kara. I'm sure she is only running a little late. Maybe something's come up with Carter?"
"Yeah... maybe," Kara sounded unconvinced. Sighing, she said goodbye to Alex and hung up the phone.
She went back to her desk and reheated Miss Grant's latte for the umpteenth time. Where was she?
KDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCG
Cat woke up to darkness. She couldn't see. She couldn't move. Had she died?
No, she refused to think this way. But if she wasn't dead, …
"Ah, Miss Grant," a metallic voice echoed uncomfortably in Cat's ears. "Good to see you're awake. Now the real fun can begin."
"The real fun? Who are you and where am I? I demand-"
"Oh you really are fun. Who are you to demand anything from ME?" The voice cackled. "You are in my care, Miss Grant. I suggest you act the part."
"I don't care who you are or what you want but you will let me go this second! If not-"
"Supergirl will rescue you?" Another cackle. The voice made the hairs on Cat's arms stand on edge. "That's what you were about to say, am I right? Well. Your hero won't find you here. At least not for some time..."
"What do you mean?"
"We're underground, Ms. Grant. I've sealed this bunker with lead. Supergirl won't find you if I don't want her to. And for now, Ms. Grant, it's going to be just you and me. – Have a great day. Or night. One never really knows what time it is down here."
The voice ebbed away and then there was only darkness and the sound of her own rapidly beating heart and her panicked breath. Cat almost missed the creepy voice. It was better than this abyss of nothing.
She tried to get up, even though she was disoriented she was certain she was lying on her back, but failed once more. She could neither move her arms nor her legs. She'd been restrained.
KDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCG
"Alex," Kara had picked up her phone at the first ring and was now pacing back and forth in Ms. Grant's office. "Did you find out anything?"
"I uhm…" Alex didn't know how to tell her sister. She knew of her crush on her boss - and it was quite possible it was even more than just a mere crush - and to hear what she'd found would devastate her. She sighed.
"Alex, tell me."
"There is no sign of Ms. Grant... However, we found her car. And her driver. He's still unconscious from a blow to the head. We've taken him to the hospital and one of our agents is with the police, waiting for him to wake up. The right back door was open; we found no signs of a struggle. But…"
"But what, Alex?" Kara's voice was urgent and Alex could easily hear her distress.
"There was a letter on the backseat. Addressed to you. Or Supergirl, actually. It-"
"I'm on my way, Alex." With that, Kara hung up her cell and raced through the bullpen, barely able to refrain herself from using superspeed. She punched the elevator button and impatiently squeezed herself inside before the doors had fully parted. Once she was on the roof, she changed into her costume and flew towards the DEO headquarters.
KDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCG
"Kara, calm down," Alex tried to comfort her sister, who was staring off into the distance while tears were flowing down her cheeks, the kidnappers letter crumpled in her hand.
"Calm down?" Kara's voice was tiny and it scared Alex. "How can I calm down? Some psycho took Cat and now…" She hiccuped and her voice broke. "Now they're forcing me to decide…"
"Kara, you know this isn't a real decision." Alex frowned when Kara didn't react. "You DO know that, right?"
Finally, Kara nodded, her face stony and her eyes full of desperation. "There's no choice."
"Kara, I promise you we will do everything we can to find Cat Grant. – But until we do…"
"I'll have to play his game…"
KDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCG
"Hello?" Cat called out hopefully when she heard a metal creak.
"Ah, Miss Grant," the voice sounded more human this time and less mechanic and Cat knew he must've used a voice distortion module the last time he was here. Nonetheless, it was still a voice that brought goosebumps to her skin. "Happy to see me?" The man chuckled. "Ah, I forgot about the blindfold. Sorry to disappoint, love. We won't be taking this off today."
"Who are you and what do you want?" Cat's voice was still firm but less challenging than the last time she'd spoken to her captor. "If it's money you-"
"Money," he snorted in contempt. "Money can't give me what I want. And I already have enough of it. – Now, I promised you we'd have some fun, didn't I?"
KDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCG
"Anything?" Kara asked as she walked back into the DEO, her shoulders slumped and her blue eyes full of anticipatory fear.
"Kara, I… You really shouldn't see-"
"See what?" Kara's eyes widened when she recognized Cat's beautiful face on the screen behind Alex. She moved closer to the wall, touching a hand to the unmoving screen. "Show me."
"Kara, please don't-"
"Show me!"
Alex nodded in defeat. She'd known there was no chance in hell that she could keep Kara from watching the video. Still, she'd had to try to safe her, protect her from the pain she knew was to come.
Hesitantly, she pushed the play button and the video started. She moved to Kara's side, knowing she'd need her support. She'd watched it 2 times already, trying to get a clue on Cat Grant's whereabouts or the kidnappers identity. No such luck.
Kara stared at the screen and watched how a man wearing a ski mask stepped up to Cat who was strapped to a metal stretcher, a blindfold covering her eyes.
She watched how the man pulled out a gleaming scalpel from the pockets of his black sweater.
She watched how he pulled up the right sleeve of Cat's white tunic. She watched how he lowered the scalpel onto her inner forearm.
She squeezed her eyes shut and wished there was no sound when Cat started to scream as the tiny blade cut deep into her flesh.
She felt Alex' arms wrap around her as the tears came and the sobs racked her body and her legs threatened to give out.
Alex was whispering something to her but Kara couldn't hear. She only heard Cat's anguished cries, her whimpers.
She forced her eyes back open when the screams stopped.
He'd carved five capital letters into Cat's formerly unmarred skin. S, U, P, E, and R.
"Next time, we'll do the remaining four," the man's voice said. "You know, love. Supergirl could've saved you from this. I gave her a choice."
"You're a liar," Cat forced her voice to be firm and Kara felt a wave of pride flush her entire being. Cat was strong. And brave. Probably the bravest woman she knew. She would survive until she found her.
"Am I?" the man chuckled without real mirth. "I did let her choose. It's safe to say it wasn't you."
"Supergirl will find me. And I pray for you to be long gone when she does," Cat spat at her unseen attacker, her voice defiant.
The man slapped her cheek, hard, and ended the recording.
"Kara," Alex held tightly onto her sister, afraid of what would happen if she let her go. "Kara, this isn't your fault. You know it wasn't a real choice, there was no other way."
And there really hadn't been. Still, it didn't eradicate the guilt that had settled in Kara's heart and mind.
Shortly after they'd found the first letter, a second one had been delivered to the hospital they'd taken Ms. Grant's driver to. The DEO agent had immediately taken it to Alex, who had passed on the note and a burner phone to Supergirl.
"Getting Ms. Grant's location or saving a child from burning alive? Your choice. Message me."
Of course, they'd 'chosen' to save the child. They'd sent a text message to the only contact in the burner phone – creatively called CAPTOR – informing him of their choice, and seconds later they'd gotten a GPS location in the suburbs of National City. Kara had taken off and had barely been in time to rescue a four-year-old boy from an apartment fire. The single mother of the little boy had been knocked out in the hallway of the building.
Unfortunately, neither she nor the child could tell them anything about their attacker. The DEO was investigating the building but it was rather unlikely that they'd find anything.
"I called Winn," Alex now said, still holding her sister upright. "He's going to check the video for any hints to Ms. Grant's location and he'll also check the phone."
Just then, the phone from hell gave a single beep, informing them of an incoming text.
Kara had picked it up in less than a second, using her super powers to get to the counter it was lying on.
"Enjoy the show? The fun has just started. I'll text you tomorrow at noon with another choice. Sleep well, Supergirl."
Kara turned to Alex but didn't really look at her. Instead, she started at the frozen screen on the wall, showing Cat's pale face. She lowered her gaze to find her sister's eyes. "Find her, Alex."
KDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCG
Cat could still feel the blood running down her arm and soaking the right side of her tunic. She was cold and her head was throbbing in pain, the cuts on her arm were burning like fire. She knew that he'd carved letters into her flesh but she had been too overcome with pain to make out our really care what they spelled. Now, she was back alone, lost in her own thoughts, her eyes open but unseeing.
She wondered if Carter was alright and if he was with his father. He didn't get along well with his grandmother - who really did with Katherine Grant? - and his nanny was on vacation. Would John think about his medicine? Carter had had the flu a week ago and still needed to finish his antibiotics. And what about his science project? She'd been supposed to help him. Well, actually, she had been supposed to ask Kara to help him. Now, he probably wouldn't get any help with it at all, he was way too shy to just call Ms. Danvers and ask her himself.
She wondered if anyone even knew of her kidnapping. Surely her absence had been recognized at the office. At least her assistant would have.
How much time had passed anyway? Was it one day? Or two already?
She tensed at the thought of losing all of her sense of time. She really hoped she got out of this place before that happened.
KDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCG
"There is a bomb about to go off at one of National City's primary schools. Would you like the address? Or would you rather save Ms. Grant? It would be a pity if I didn't get to finish what I started yesterday."
Kara groaned in frustration and threw the burner phone away with all of her strength. Panicking, she remembered that she still needed it and rushed after it, only just catching it before it could hit the wall.
"Give me the bomb's location," she texted back and received a GPS code shortly after.
Her heart hurt when she realized that she'd just signed Cat on for even more pain.
KDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCG
"Winn, please tell me you found something," Alex stepped up behind the IT genius, with one eye glancing at a TV screen to see Supergirl evacuating the National Park Primary School.
"The video has been encoded several times. If we're lucky, I can find out the camera model. Nothing much more though I'm afraid. I'm moving on to the phone now."
Alex nodded and was about to step away when the phone pinged. Grimacing, she took it from Winn and connected it via Bluetooth to one of the screens mounted on the wall of the DEO control room.
Hank strode into the room, joining Alex to watch the new video.
"Winn, you can step out if you want to," Alex offered before hitting play. They knew Winn couldn't help with the videos – he shouldn't have to see them. Or even have to listen to his boss's inevitable screams.
Nodding, Winn quickly left the room, running straight into Kara.
"Kara, you really shouldn't..."
She didn't even hear him. Almost mechanically, she walked into the control room and joined her sister and Hank in front of the monitor.
KDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCG
"Hello there, Ms. Grant."
Cat's head shot towards the sound of his voice. He'd been there just an hour ago (at least that's the amount of time she thought had passed since his last visit), feeding her – and stopping when she tried to bite off his finger – and giving her water. Why was he back already?
"Ah, you're clearly wondering why I'm here," he walked up to her and stroked her cheek, almost lovingly. But his fingers were cold and his touch unwelcome. "We still have to finish our little art project on your arm, love. But don't worry, only four letters for today."
He roughly pulled up her blood crusted sleeve, whistling to himself as he saw his handiwork. "Beautiful," he said. "I'm sure you'll love it. If you ever get to see it that is. Supergirl doesn't seem to be as fond of you as I thought she was... See, she didn't choose you today either."
"Then clearly you have not given her a real choice," Cat said through angrily gritted teeth. "What are you waiting for? Get on with it!"
"Oh, eager, are we?" he chuckled. "You are a true little bitch, aren't you? So eager to be branded with her name."
He set down the scalpel and made the first cut, enjoying how it divided her skin and watching how the blood started to pool out. "Once I'm done with you, you will beg me to kill you."
KDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCGKDCG
Alex was worried. Now that that psycho was done with marking Cat Grant for eternity, what would he do? Would the next time Kara didn't choose Cat be the last time they saw the woman? Or would he have a new creative way to bring her pain?
She didn't let Kara know about her fears though. Her sister was barely holding herself up as it stood. If Cat died... Well, Alex didn't like to entertain that possibility
AN: Soooo. What do you think? I've never written for Supercat before but I really enjoy this pairing. It's a crime Calista Flockhart won't be in Season 2 a lot. Not sure I'm going to watch it without having my beautiful snarky Cat Grant in each episode...