Author's Notes: So for a few weeks I've been toying with the idea of writing a story where Kara is forced to reveal herself in order to save Cat's life. And since Cat didn't learn the truth in the Flash crossover like I thought she would (although I have my suspicions that she might have figured it out again), I decided to write this fanfiction. This is not a SuperCat story, but will instead focus on the mentor/protégée relationship between the two women. I left the timing on when this story takes place kind of vague, but it takes place sometime after Alex and Hank have gone on the run. And once again, I don't own Supergirl.
It was nearly two in the morning and Cat Grant was still hard at work at Catco. Media was a business that was rarely compatible with normal hours. When news broke a good reporter had to jump on it no matter the time of day.
Tonight it had been the Driving While Intoxicated and underage drinking arrest of Beth Newport, the eighteen-year-old daughter of city councilwoman Leslie Newport, who until tonight had been the current mayor's only real challenger in the upcoming election. Of course, once word got out about her daughter's arrest the councilwoman would most likely drop out of the race to spend more time with her family.
Cat suspected that the mayor's office had been responsible for leaking the story to the press. You've got to love election years, Cat thought sarcastically, where even the local city races bring out the worst in people. But she shouldn't complain; nothing boosted news ratings more than a scandal.
"I've finished going over the article for you, Ms. Grant." Cat's assistant, Kara, said when she walked into the room.
Cat had assigned her top political reporter to cover the arrest and he had just emailed his article half an hour ago, pending Cat's approval the story would be the featured story tomorrow morning. And although Cat Grant was fully capable of editing a story herself, she had called her assistant in for an extra set of eyes.
"I couldn't find any mistakes in Chris's article, except for a couple of typos and one inaccuracy about Beth Newport having a 4.0 GPA."
Cat raised her eyebrows. "Oh? Leslie always brags that the girl is a straight-A student?"
"She is, but I looked back at a Newport family interview from a couple of months ago and four of those classes are college credit making her GPA actually 4.66."
"A minor detail, but still a good catch. Email Chris the corrections and then you can call it a night."
Kara didn't leave but hung around waiting for her boss to look up at her. Cat knew Kara well enough by now to know she wanted to say something and was trying to work up the courage to voice whatever was on her mind.
"Are you planning on spending the rest of the night there because I'm still expecting my morning latte? So, why don't you save us both some time and just say whatever is on your mind."
"Did you know Beth Newport has a scholarship to Stanford this fall?"
"Yes, I heard about that," Cat replied, knowing the point Kara was making.
"But that is probably going to change once the administration office finds out about her arrest."
"That sounds like a reasonable assumption," Cat said matter-of-factly.
"And that doesn't bother you?"
"If you are asking if I have any pity on a girl who has just ruined her future, my answer is yes, but whether or not I feel bad for her, really doesn't matter. She made a stupid and dangerous choice and now she has to face the consequences of her actions. If anything she's lucky she just was arrested and didn't manage to kill herself or someone else."
"I know and I'm not trying to excuse her actions or say she shouldn't face the legal repercussions of those choices, but she had a spotless record until now. And no one would even care about her arrest if her mother wasn't running for mayor. And now this is going to follow her for the rest of her life. Ten years from now when she goes to apply for a job all it's going to take is a quick Google search for a future employer to see her mug shot."
"Yes, yes, it's not fair that she's in the spotlight because her mother is running for office, but that's life. This is the world we live in now. Unfortunately, privacy is a luxury that some people just can't have anymore. You think I don't know how stressful being in the spotlight can be?
The story of Beth Newport's arrest is going to be front-page news, whether I post it or someone else. Now is that's all or is that all or do I need to email your notes to Chris myself?"
"No, Ms. Grant." Kara said, retreating from the room, but not before giving Cat one more sad puppy dog look.
Cat immediately started to feel guilty. She hadn't meant to be so harsh to her assistant, but it was late and she was tired and she just wanted to get finished so she could go home. She spent the next half hour trying not to think about Kara's words and what the future held for Beth Newport and instead focused on making sure the story was just right. Once she was satisfied she that it was, she gathered her things and began to head out knowing she had to be back for a morning meeting in a few hours. To her surprise, Kara was still working at her desk.
"Kiera, while I normally commend my employees for going the extra mile, you will be utterly useless to me tomorrow if you are falling asleep at your desk. Go home and get some sleep."
"I will Ms. Grant. I just have a few things I want to finish up first."
"I'm sorry, did you think that was a suggestion? Well, let me make myself clear. I'm ordering you to stop what you are doing and leave. Now come on. My driver can give you a ride back to your apartment."
"That is very generous Ms. Grant, but I don't need a ride."
"Don't be absurd. I don't pay you enough for you to waste money on a cab."
"I wasn't going to take a cab."
"Then how do you plan to get home? You don't own a car and you won't find a bus at this time of night. And I would hope someone I employ would have more sense than to walk home alone at this time of night."
"I'm sure I'll be fine." Kara said, smiling like Cat was missing out on some sort of joke.
Cat narrowed her eyes. "How?"
Seeing her boss' glare the smile disappeared from Kara's face. "I uh...I have pepper spray." Kara muttered, trying to phrase her response as a joke, but Cat was not amused. She continued to glare at her assistant until the other woman became too uncomfortable and averted her eyes, pretending to suddenly interested in the papers on her desk.
"You know I'm tempted to let you walk just to let you learn a lesson in the dangers of naivety, but since there will be no one to answer the phones tomorrow if you get yourself mugged and killed, I'm going to insist that you come with me."
"Thank you for your concern, I guess." Kara said and gather up her things.
Cat had Kara accompany her in her private elevator. On the way down, she phoned her driver to let him know they were on the way out and pick them up at the entrance, but the phone went straight to voicemail.
"There better be a good reason why he is not answering or he is fired," Cat muttered.
"Maybe his battery died or he's on another call." Kara offered.
"When I say a good reason I don't mean he better be dead or dying, not some lame excuse. I don't pay him to talk on the phone and when he's on the clock I expect him to make sure his phone is charged."
Kara did not try to say anything else and they rode down the rest of the way in silence. When they reached the lobby, they headed out to the street to where Cat's car was parked halfway down the block. Once she was close enough to the car she could see Sam's head leaning against the windshield.
"He's asleep!" Cat was outraged.
"I'm not sure." Kara took off her glasses and squinted at the man. After a second she suddenly ordered, "Ms. Grant, stay close to me!"
If Cat had not been so furious at Sam, she would have immediately turned to Kara and reminded her that she did not take orders from her assistant. She also would have picked up on the urgency in the young woman's voice, but as it was, she was mentally preparing a termination speech for Sam and simply ignored her assistant.
Cat jerked the car door open, hoping to jolt the driver from his slumber, but instead, Sam toppled out of the vehicle and landed at Cat's feet.
Cat gasped when she caught sight of his face. His eyes were open, but lifeless, forever frozen in that expression.
"His neck's broken," Kara said. "we need to get back in the building; whoever did this could still—"
Before Kara could finish her sentence, she suddenly went flying backward for about twenty feet until she came to an abrupt stop as she collided with the concrete side of a building. The girl hit with such force it caused large cracks to splinter up the wall. Her limp body then fell three stories onto a parked car, leaving a large dent in the top and shattering the windshield.
"Kiera!" Cat cried as she stared at the still, lifeless form of her assistant.
"She seemed nice." A voice said from the shadows. "Too bad she made the unfortunate choice work for you.
The voice was somewhat familiar, but Cat could not place it. Nor was she interested in trying. The second she heard the voice the adrenaline that had been surging through her ever since they'd found Sam's body was now forcing one clear message through every cell in Cat's body, run. But when Cat tried her best to obey that instinct, she found her feet could not move. It was like she was buried up to her knees in cement.
"It's like watching a mouse stuck in a glue trap." Came the voice again, but now it was making its way out of the shadows until it formed the silhouette of a man. The silhouette walked over to Cat until it stopped under a streetlight illuminating the man it belonged to. "Except, I might feel just the slightest bit of pity for the mouse."
The man, like the voice, was vaguely familiar and gave Cat the sense that he was someone she'd had known a long time ago, but still, she couldn't remember who he was.
"Who are you?" She demanded.
"What's the problem, you've ruined so many lives, you can't keep them all straight?"
"More like I've been accused of ruining so many lives, I can't keep them all straight." Even in her terror Cat managed this small sliver of defiance. Besides, she knew with the casualness in the way the man had disposed of Sam and Kara, both of whom had not even been his target, that there was nothing she could do to get him to spare her. "But I would have remembered someone who can do whatever you're doing."
"The telekinesis is relatively new development, the product of years of hard work. Work that you nearly put an end to with one article."
"Mitch Masters," Cat said aloud when her brain finally made the connection to who this man was, but the man before her barely resembled the one she remembered. No doubt he must have had extensive plastic surgery.
Ten years ago Mitch Masters had been one of Maxwell Lord's top competitors. Except Masters had an even bigger ego and less than half of Lord's charisma.
Then Cat had published an article exposing Masters' unethical and illegal medical research. That article turned into the first domino that was soon followed numerous lawsuits, a federal investigation, and finally a warrant for Masters' arrest. But Masters had been tipped off about the arrest and had fled the country before he could be taken into custody. While she'd been investigating him, Cat had heard rumors that Masters had been looking for a way to give humans superpowers by combining their DNA with that of extraterrestrials, but at the time she had dismissed those rumors as crazy conspiracy theories.
Masters smiled at seeing Cat finally recognize him. He lifted his hand and a parked car beside him simultaneously flew into the air. Master held the car suspended just long enough for Cat to grasp what he intended to do with it. Then once he saw the terror cloud her features, he flung the car straight at her.
Cat screamed and did her best to shield herself from the two-ton projectile. But before the car could reach her a figure dressed in blue and red flew between her and the vehicle, catching the car in midair.
Cat stared at Supergirl for a moment, then to confirm what she already suspected would be the case, she turned to place where Kara had landed. Sure enough, there was no body, only a discarded sweater, and some dress pants. Supergirl followed Cat's eyes, figuring out the connection the other woman had made. Suddenly she no longer looked like a superhero, but instead like a small child that had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
Cat glared at her frighten assistant, the fear of Masters taking a back seat to this revelation, and declared. "So I was right all along."
Thanks for reading. I hope to have the next chapter up within the next couple of days.