Notes: This is a belated birthday present for butch-kickassidy. I hope it makes your teeth rot.
Warning: If your teeth fall out, it's not my god damned fault.
Thanks to butch-kickassidy for betaing his own birthday fic, because I'm the kind of friend who posts unbetaed birthday fic. Yes I am.
Cat finds out Kara's in love at 8:21 PM on a Monday. They are standing on Cat's balcony outside her penthouse, looking out over the city. It's been a rough day for both of them. Oliva's in the hospital, Agent Liberty's stirring up fear and hate, and the specter of Cadmus has reared its ugly head again. Kara, her wonderful, precious Kara, is doing everything she can, but it's an unfair burden for anyone, to have to stare into the face of those who hate you and be the voice of reason and compassion.
Kara does it well. Better than anyone Cat has ever seen. There's so much light, so much innate goodness there, that it's hard not to believe everything will work out whenever Kara is with her.
"I'm glad you decided to stay," Kara says, her voice almost a whisper.
"It's hardly a burden," Cat says. "National City is my home, and I never got along with Baker."
Kara turns to face her. "Your being here makes this easier," she says. "Knowing I can come to you when I need to."
"All you ever had to do was call," Cat says, because it's the truth. If Kara had called her, asked her, she would have walked out on Olivia in a heartbeat.
"I was afraid to," Kara says, and Cat can see the truth of it in her face.
"Why?" Cat asks, more than a little hurt. Didn't Kara understand how important she was to Cat?
"Because I was afraid I wouldn't be strong enough to let you go again," Kara says. "The first time was hard. The second time almost killed me. I think if you tried to leave a third time, I'd wrap my arms around you and never let go."
"So dramatic," Cat says, turning away, trying not to feel what she's feeling, what she's always felt, because she's sure Kara doesn't understand how her words sound, but Kara's there, suddenly, turning Cat to face her.
"I want to kiss you," Kara whispers. "I have for so long." Kara steals a move from Cat's own play book, reaching up and tucking a strand of Cat's hair behind her ear. "Tell me if I should stop," Kara says, so close Cat can feel the words on her own lips.
"Please don't," Cat says, not sure why she's chosen this moment to lose all sense of reason, but when Kara's arms close around her, and Kara's lips cover hers, she's glad she has.
Alex finds out Kara's in love at 9:38 PM one random Thursday. Sister night is in full swing, and the two of them are surrounded by pizza and pot stickers. There's a huge bowl of popcorn smothered in butter, tubs of ice cream, Dorothy is just meeting the Scarecrow for the first time, and Kara clearly just isn't feeling it.
Alex doesn't blame her. Not really. With Olivia still in the hospital after the assassination attempt, the growing tide of anti-alien sentiment in the wake of Reign's attack, and the resurgence of Cadmus, the return of the jumpy, depressed Kara that Alex hasn't seen since Kara's first weeks at CatCo isn't a surprise. She's spent more than a few nights staring into the bottom of a glass of scotch herself.
What is a surprise is the noise. The chime isn't familiar, not Kara's normal message alert. Even more surprising is when Kara breaks the "No phone" rule, giving Alex a sheepish, guilty smile as she checks the message.
What is a surprise is the very real and unabashed smile that lights up her sister's face like dawn illuminating the city.
It's a smile she recognizes. It's unmistakable, and the surprise is the realization that she's never seen it on her sister's face before.
There's another chime signaling a new message, and Kara's face falls, the smile replaced with a look of longing and regret. Alex understands immediately.
"Go," she says.
Kara looks up at her, hope and guilt on her face in equal measure.
"Really?" Kara asked. "But it's sister night."
"Go be happy," Alex says, and laughs as Kara hugs her hard enough to knock the wind out of her.
"I want details later!" she yells as Kara races for the window, and she's only a little mad that she has to clean up their mess by herself.
Cat finds out Kara's in love at 7:05 AM on a Tuesday. She looks up at the sound of a knocking at the sliding glass door leading to her balcony, and Supergirl is standing there with a bouquet of flowers. Cat smiles as she walks over to the door, unlatching it. Kara presents her with the bouquet, and stands there, looking like nothing so much as a puppy who's just returned with the stick in a game of fetch.
Cat takes the flowers, and looks down, realizing belatedly that they're tiger lilies, and when she looks up and sees the smugness in Kara's face, Cat finds herself grinning, because she's positive Kara understands the meaning in the flowers.
Kara is saying, as clearly as if she shouted it from the top of the CatCo building at the highest volume her super powered lungs could manage, "I dare you to love me!"
Cat wonders how it's possible the girl doesn't know that Cat already does.
Or maybe she realizes it, and that's the challenge. To be bold enough to live that truth. To take what Kara is offering.
Cat smiles, looking into Kara's eyes, because she's never once backed down from a challenge.
J'onn finds out Kara's in love at 11:16 am on a Sunday. Kara's late for bunch, and Kara is never late for a meal unless there's a Supergirl issue involved, but Alex is sitting right there, and both of them are checking the news feeds for any sign of trouble. After ten minutes, Alex calls the DEO to see if there's anything Supergirl worthy, but there's nothing. Not a peep. It's a lazy, quiet Sunday morning in National City.
Kara finally arrives sixteen minutes late. Her hair is mussed, she's wearing one blue stocking and one black, she's smiling, and even though she's there, she's a million miles away, in some happy daydream, that's filled with kittens and unicorns and rainbows, judging by the look on her face, but it's the flower that gives her away. Because there's Kara, late for food, strolling lazily down a street in National City, with a single, bright blue flower in her hand.
An iris. A symbol of faith and hope.
He doesn't need the amused grin on Alex's face as they watch her lift it up, and gently inhale its scent to tell him what it means, any more than he needs to be able to read Kara's mind to know who is the one person in her life who would chose that particular flower.
He's a little surprised, though. He wasn't sure they would work it out. But when Kara looks up, and tilts her head in inquiry at the warm, pleased smile on his face, all he has to do is reach across the table and take her hand.
"I'm happy for you," he says, and the smile she gives him makes him so happy that one of his daughters, at least, has found someone to soothe away her pain.
Cat finds out Kara's in love with her at 12:07 PM on a Thursday when she answers a knock at her front door and finds Kara in a well-tailored suit and tie, her hair tied back in a bun. The effect is delicious, and all Cat can think is that Kara looks good enough to eat.
Kara steps inside, forcing Cat back a bit, and takes the door, swinging it shut. There's something in Kara's face that excites Cat. Some hint of Supergirl, but also some hint of the Kara that Cat has seen when she decides to own her power.
Before Cat can say anything, Kara is kissing her, picking her up, and pressing her against the wall. Cat wraps her legs around Kara's waist and her arms around Kara's shoulders, and she feels a bulge where there shouldn't be one. She moans as Kara squeezes her ass and whimpers as Kara holds her up with one hand, while the other slips between them, ripping away panties, and working open a zipper, and when the strap-on slips inside, Cat just clings to Kara.
Kara tips her head just so, looking Cat in the eyes, and what could be nothing more than a primal, carnal moment becomes something more. Kara's inside her body, fucking her, pumping in and out with each thrust, and Cat loves everything from the pleasant burning as the cock stretches her open to the way the nylon straps of the harness rub against her inner thighs, but it's the look in Kara's eyes that turns it into an act of love and worship. Kara is taking her, but Kara is giving herself to Cat at the same time.
Cat doesn't look away, doesn't break the connection the whole time Kara is fucking her, not even when she comes with Kara's name on her lips.
Nia finds out Kara's in love at 10:47 AM on a Tuesday morning. It happens by accident. It's Kara's turn to get coffee, so Nia is alone in Kara's office. She pulls open the drawer where Kara keeps her spare notepads, because she doesn't want to run out to the bullpen, and grabs the one on top. It's only when she flips it open that she realizes it's not as empty as she thought.
The sketches are magnificent. Each image rendered in exquisite detail. Each one dated. Each one a work of art. Each one almost heartbreakingly beautiful.
She doesn't read Kryptonian, and for the first time ever, she's glad for that. She knows herself well enough to know that she'd never be able to resist the temptation to read the carefully written text that fills the back of each page, but there's something, maybe some bit of her powers , or maybe just a bit of intuition, that tells her whatever is written there is something deeply personal and intimate.
Nia knows a love letter when she sees one, even if she can't understand the language.
She puts the notepad back carefully, and heads out to the bullpen, happy that two people who mean the world to her have found each other.
Cat finds out Kara's in love with her at 10:43 PM on a Wednesday. Cat's between Kara's legs, fingers in three knuckles deep, pounding away as she licks hungrily at Kara's clit, dragging the most wonderful whimpers and moans out of her.
Muttered phrases fill the air.
"Please, Cat."
"Don't stop!"
"/!sokao:zhaolohd w khap/"
"I'm going to come!"
"I love you!"
The last is whispered just before Kara's body tenses, and Cat keeps fucking and licking until the girl comes again, and again, and when she finally decides to have mercy, she crawls up and lays next to Kara, taking her into her arms.
"I meant it," Kara says, resting her head on Cat's chest. "I love you."
Lena finds out Kara's in love at 3:21 PM on a Friday. She drops by CatCo wanting to talk to talk her friend, who's been surprisingly scarce of late. She steps off the elevator, intending to head straight for Kara's secret office, only to stop short at the sight of Kara sitting on Nia's desk, laughing.
She takes a breath, slow and calming, trying to soothe the jealous streak that reared its head all too often. The part of her that wanted Kara all to herself. The part of her, all of her really, that has never been good at sharing.
She heads over, doing her best to smile, and doing a better job of it than the first time she met Nia. Nia is familiar, and not a threat. Kara has a heart big enough for so many friends. It's something Lena envies about her.
"Kara," she says, and Kara and Nia both look at her and smile.
"Hey, Lena!" Kara says, bouncing to her feet with her trademark enthusiasm. "What brings you here?"
"There's a showing of 'Emma' down at National's Bay inlet. I thought you might like to go." She gives Kara her best smile, waiting for the enthusiasm, and the inevitable yes.
Except it never comes.
"I can't," Kara says, but instead of looking disappointed, she looks excited as she leans forward, whispering in a conspiratorial tone, "I've got a date!"
"Oh," Lena says, feeling the stab of jealousy again. It's fleeting though, because she's been here before, and she knows how Kara is when she dates. Remembers how it was with Mon
El. Knows that she'll still be Kara's priority.
Except it feels different, somehow. Something Lena can't put her finger on. Not until her eyes fall on a spot on Kara's neck.
"Is that a bruise?" Lena asks.
"What?" Kara asks. "Where?"
"On your neck," Lena says, reaching out to push Kara's collar aside. Too late, she realizes her mistake. Her fingers brush warm skin, and come away stained a dark red.
Nia bursts into laughter and Kara reaches up, her eyes going wide as her hand covers the spot. Kara blushes and tilts her head down as Nia digs in her purse and pulls up out a package of coconut water makeup remover wipes from Sephora. Kara takes one and quickly wipes the lipstick off her neck, and when she pulls it away, she looks down at the stain on the wipe, and the embarrassment vanishes, replaced by something else.
Wistfulness.
Lena stands there and watches Kara slip into a memory of where the lipstick came from, and knows this time will be different. That whoever left that lipstick on Kara's neck is the threat Lena's been expecting ever since Kara walked into her office over two years earlier.
Kara has another priority. Kara's in love. And it feels like a knife in Lena's heart, because even more than she's never been good at sharing, Lena has never been able to settle for coming in second place.
Cat finds out Kara's in love with her at 7:30 PM on a Wednesday, when Kara arrives for their date, and Cat says they have to cancel because Carter's father is a flake and it's too late to find a sitter. Kara comes in anyway, and she kisses Cat passionately before slipping into the bathroom off the foyer, and coming back out wearing a pair of flannel pajamas instead of the evening gown she'd been dressed in a moment before.
They spend the rest of the evening with Carter, playing Settlers of Catan, Small World, and Smash Up, before ending the night watching Sleeping Beauty.
Carter finds out Kara's in love at 7:21 AM on a Thursday, when he walks into the kitchen, and finds her singing as she makes breakfast for the three of them.
Cat finds out Kara in love with her at 8:31 AM on a Thursday when she kisses her.
"I had a wonderful night," Kara says. "I wish we could do this every night."
Cat is too stunned to answer, but Kara just smiles and kisses her again before disappearing for a moment. She reappears as Supergirl, and steals one final kiss before she takes to the sky, leaving Cat wanting much, much more.
Lucy finds out Kara's in love at 8:47 AM on a Thursday. She's in town to see Alex and go over the latest changes handed down from the Department of Justice that have to be implemented at the DEO. She's walking through the Command Center when Supergirl dances through the room, a DEO agent in her arms, singing 'Once Upon a Dream.'
Lucy turns and looks at Alex, and Alex just shakes her head. "You get used to it," she says.
Cat finds out Kara's in love with her at 9:02 AM on a Thursday, when J'onn emails her the Security footage of Kara singing and dancing her way through the DEO with the subject line, "I blame you for this."
Susan finds out Kara's in love just a few seconds before Lucy. She's walking across the Command Center when Kara grabs her and proceeds to lead them in a waltz through half the floor.
After Kara lets her go, she spends the rest of the day devising a way to make sure everyone else in the DEO is too afraid to even think about what happened, much less ever mention it again.
Cat finds out Kara's in love with her at 6:32 PM on a Tuesday, when Supergirl lands on her balcony, exhausted after a fight that lasted most of the day, and wraps her arms around Cat.
"Shouldn't you be at the DEO, under the sunlamps?" Cat asked, worrying at the sight of bruises that aren't healing, and cuts that are staying open.
"I wanted to see you first," Kara says. "Needed to see you." The words come slow and slurred.
Kara doesn't go to the DEO. Alex arrives thirty minutes after Kara passes out, and sets up the sun lamps in Cat's bedroom.
James finds out Kara's in love at 1:47 on a Thursday. He's standing in Kara's office, and he, Kara and Nia are talking about a story about the resurgence of Cadmus, and about the latest incident with Agent Liberty. It's not a pleasant discussion. There's been another incident. This time someone tried to firebomb a Korugarian midwife's office. Nia's frustrated, and James understands, but he's a little worried about Kara. She looks like she's ready to give up and on the verge of tears when there's a knock at the door.
James, being the closest of the three, turns and answers it, and there's a delivery girl standing there, holding an arrangement of chocolate dipped fruit that's almost as big as she is.
"Delivery for Kara Danvers," the girl says.
Kara brightens as she slips past James and takes the enormous arrangement from the girl and turns to set it on her desk. While she does, James takes out his wallet and hands the girl a hundred, for no other reason than gratitude for the smile on Kara's face.
The delivery girl takes the tip and disappears before he can ask for change, and James turns around, expecting to see Kara on her fifth or sixth piece of chocolate covered pineapple. Instead, she's sitting on her desk, holding a card and reading it as tears roll down her face. When she's finished, she closes the card and her eyes and presses the card to her chest.
The room is quiet for a few minutes before Kara opens her eyes, and when she does, she dives back into the story with passion, enthusiasm, hope, and a fist full of chocolate covered pineapple and strawberries. He and Nia have to settle for apples, bananas, cantaloupe, and honeydew.
It's only when he catches a whiff of a familiar perfume coming from the card that it clicks, and he looks over at Kara, finally realizing something.
They never would have worked, because her heart was already taken.
He finds that he's okay with that, because he can't think of anyone else who would make his friend happier.
Cat finds out Kara's in love with her at 1:22 AM on a Saturday morning. She's wearing the strap-on this time, pumping into Kara. Kara's legs are wrapped around her waist, her arms are around Cat's neck, and they are staring into each other's eyes as Cat loves every moment of it. She loves every little sound she drags from Kara, and when Kara's looks up and whispers, "I want to spend my life with you," it nearly breaks them both.
Eliza finds out Kara's in love at 8:33 AM on a Saturday. She's always out of bed early on Saturday, so she can work on the garden before the day gets too hot. She's been planting and weeding and generally puttering about, dealing with a far more basic, but no less enjoyable form of biology for almost two hours when her youngest daughter walks out of the woods like she's coming home from school.
Eliza smiles and waves at her, and Kara smiles back before disappearing around the side of the house. She comes back a few minutes later wearing a pair of gardening gloves, kneels down next to Eliza, and starts pulling weeds.
They work in silence for almost an hour before Kara says anything, and when she does, it's every bit the bombshell Eliza is expecting.
"I think I want to get married," Kara says, "but I'm not sure how to ask."
Cat finds out Kara's in love with her at 9:43 AM on Sunday, when Kara asks her to join Kara's weekly brunch date with her sister and J'onn.
Brainy finds out Kara's in love at 8:47 AM on a Monday. He's just arrived at the DEO when Kara appears, looking annoyed, impatient, and nervous.
"Where have you been?" Kara asks.
"At my home," Brainy answers. "Was I supposed to be elsewhere?"
"What? No. Never mind. I need your help," Kara says. She holds up a bracelet.
"It's a Kryptonian Bonding bracelet," Brainy said. "I should inform you that while I am flattered, I harbor no romantic interest in you."
"Um, good," Kara says, the annoyed look on her face getting more intense. "Can you make one of these that I won't destroy the first time I bump into something?"
"For what purpose?" Brainy asks.
"Level twelve intellect my ass," Kara mutters. "I want to propose to someone. Someone who's not you, just so we're clear."
"Oh!" Brainy said. "I apologize for the confusion." He takes the bracelet from Kara. "I believe the Valorium alloy used in the legion rings would be of sufficient strength to meet your requirements."
"Can you make enough of that to make two of these bracelets?" Kara asks. "Both bracelets in the pair have to be forged from a single billet."
"Yes," Brainy says. "I should be able to, if you can procure me sufficient quantities of the constituent materials."
"Thank you!" Kara says, and Brainy smiles.
Cat finds out Kara's in love with her at 3:09 AM on a Wednesday. She's back in Washington for a few days, officially handing off the role of White House Press Secretary to her successor, because as much as she loved it, she's not able to leave Kara again. She knows it would destroy both of them.
When she hears the tapping, at first she thinks she's imagining it, that it's wishful thinking, but she gets up anyway and she walks over to the sliding glass door. When she pushes aside the curtains, Kara is standing right there, and it's such a relief, she almost cries as she opens the door.
She finds herself in Kara's arms, and that's where she stays until morning.
Clark finds out Kara's in love at 9:46 PM on a Friday. He's in Gotham, on a rooftop, standing next to Bruce.
"Kal," Kara says as she touches down next to him.
"Kara," Clark says. "This is a surprise."
"Yeah," Kara says, grinning. "Wait until you find out why I'm here."
"Everything okay?" Clark asks.
"Yeah, I just need a favor," Kara says.
"Of course," Clark says. "What can I do for you?"
"As the head of the House of El, I need your approval to make an offer of Bonding," Kara says.
"You're getting engaged?" Clark asks, a smile spreading across his face. "Who's the lucky guy?"
"Cat Grant," Kara says.
Afterwards, Clark is sure it was Bruce who posted the video of him falling off the building to YouTube.
Cat finds out Kara's in love with her at 8:06 PM on a Saturday, when Kara kneels down in front of her, and says, "Will you marry me?"
Kara finds out Cat is in love with her at 8:07 PM on a Saturday, when Cat says, "Yes."