A/N: Hello, dears! I was super-excited (pun intended? Most likely!) about the response to my last Winn/Kara fic, so I decided to post another one. I don't have any more already written, but I could probably come up with some, if people had ideas. ;)
So, explanation for this story: It was a prompt given by an awesome friend of mine, which I absolutely loved writing. I took some liberties with the details of the prompt, but here was the gist of it: "Fireman!au where person A's cat gets stuck in a tree, person B, a fireman/woman gets it down, and they jokingly ask for a date in return and get one."
I had lots of fun with this, and I hope you will, too!
I'm not totally confident in my characterization, though, so I'd love some feedback.
Disclaimer: Is Kara still pining over James? (A nice guy, don't get me wrong, but…Well, that's a rant at the bottom if you wish to read it.) If the answer is yes, I definitely don't own it!
She knew something was up the moment she walked into the firehouse. Hank and Alex were leaning toward each other, whispering furiously across the table. Alex shook her head firmly, glaring at Hank, who shrugged helplessly, nodding to the clock.
Just as Kara was debating whether or not to come back later, they noticed her.
An unnerving grin spread across Alex's face, and she glanced back at their boss, a question in her eyes. He waved his hand casually, in the universally understood signal for "Be my guest," and she turned back to Kara, eyes sparkling.
Instinctively, Kara took a step back. She'd seen that look far too many times growing up, and she was sad to say that, even now, she wasn't immune to it.
"Kara," Alex began, standing and making her way forward, "My dear, sweet, amazing sister. You know I'd do anything for you, right?" She was even pouting now. Honestly, she wasn't even remotely playing fair!
"What do you want?" Kara asked, resigning herself to whatever fate her sister had decided on for her. Goodbye, Netflix and pizza, she thought grumpily.
Alex's face positively lit up, and she threw her arms around her, hugging her tightly.
"You are the best! Okay, here's the thing…We just got a call, and there's a cat stuck in a tree."
"No." Kara said flatly, crossing her arms. She'd do almost anything for Alex, truly she would, but not that. She wasn't even sure cats could get stuck in trees.
"Kara…" Alex wheedled, but it had no effect.
"I said no. Look, in this even in our job description? I thought that was just something they put in cheesy movies."
Hank, who had, up until that point, been watching them in amusement, piped up.
"You're right, but we're a little concerned. It was definitely a kid who made the call, and he said that 'He and Fluffy were all alone.' We want to make sure this isn't a case of neglect."
"Well…" Kara hesitated, picturing some poor little kid, all alone with their kitten, terrified and unprotected.
"Why can't one of you do it?" She asked. It was a last-ditch attempt, though. She knew she'd be going.
"I actually have a date…With Max." Alex admitted, and Kara rolled her eyes.
"Great! Now you have an excuse to cancel!" She regretted it immediately. Disappointment flickered across her sister's face, and she hung her head.
"Kara, we've talked about this." They had. At length. When the well-known playboy met Alex, sparks had flown instantly. To her credit, she had turned him down many times, but after a few major gestures, including swearing off on public television dating anyone but her, she'd caved. Kara was still skeptical.
Still, she had promised to give the guy a chance. And a promise was a promise.
"Fine. I'll go, but if she scratches me, you're doing all of our paperwork for a month."
Alex smiled, a hint of thanks on her face, and nodded.
"Sure. But don't worry, cats love you."
MEOWMEOWMEOW
The first thing she noticed was the distinct lack of meowing. There was, indeed, a tree in the front yard, but no sign of a cat stuck up in it.
The second thing she noticed was the guy on the porch.
He was… Well… Definitely not a little kid. He was wringing his hands nervously, watching her with the same wariness most people gave a ticking bomb.
"I am so sorry," he started off before she even had a chance to speak.
"I was babysitting my nephew, and he and Fluffy went outside to play, and I was going to be right behind him, but he said he played outside alone all of the time, and I tripped going down the stairs, and I had to find headache medicine... I thought he'd be fine for just a minute." He paused for a breath, and Kara bit back a giggle. He was kind of adorable, she thought, and silently thanked Hank, Alex, and even Max for forcing her to come here.
"I had no idea he'd taken the phone with him, or that he'd call the fire department to get Fluffy out of the tree. I called his parents, and he's now grounded, and I quote, 'for eternity and then some.' I'm sorry you had to come all the way out here."
She shrugged, smiling at him reassuringly.
"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad everything's okay."
He visibly relaxed, shoulders sagging in relief. With a nod, he turned to go back inside.
"Wait!" She blurted out, then froze. He glanced back at her curiously, and her mind raced. What was she going to say? I'm actually glad I met you, do you want to go have dinner and possibly get married because you're incredibly sweet and adorable?
Maybe not. Thinking quickly, she nodded back to the tree.
"I take it you got Fluffy down?"
He laughed, shaking his head.
"Nah. I'm going to wait until my brother gets home." She raised her eyebrows skeptically, glancing back at the tree. Did he still see a cat up there? On second thought, maybe she should get out of there. Immediately.
"What?" He asked, obviously not understanding her look. "I'm a little scared of her!"
All gears came to a screeching halt.
In spite of her best efforts, a chuckle escaped.
"What?" He asked, looking slightly affronted, which just added to the hilarity of the situation.
"You are… Afraid…Of a cat!" She managed between giggles.
He raised an eyebrow, a strange look appearing on his face.
"Fluffy isn't a cat."
Once again. All gears. Screeching halt.
"What?"
He looked amused, suddenly, and he shook his head.
"Fluffy isn't a cat." He repeated.
"Then… What is she?" She asked warily.
Instead of answering, he started toward the tree, gesturing for her to follow. After a moment's hesitation, she did. It was completely out of curiosity, she mentally insisted, not because of…Him.
Once she was close, she gasped, realizing what he meant.
"You have a snake… Named Fluffy."
"Not me," he answered lightly, in an almost sing-song tone.
"My nephew. Leo. He's seven." As if that explained everything, which, okay, it did, but still. He was laughing at her, which wasn't acceptable.
"Give me a boost." She snapped, and he blinked in surprise.
"Excuse me?"
"A boost. I don't want to go all the way back to the truck and get a ladder. This tree isn't even that tall. So, help me up."
He raised an eyebrow warily.
"You're going to get her down?"
"Yep." Was she being stubborn? Definitely. Was she terrified? Oh, yeah. Was she going to back down? Not likely. So sue her. She didn't like being laughed at by attractive guys.
Cautiously, he held out his hands, clasping them together. Without hesitation, she stepped, balancing against the tree, and reaching as high as she could.
Immediately, the snake tightened her grip on the branch, which Kara found very ungrateful. It was a struggle, but finally, she managed to get ahold of the thing, and tug it off the tree.
The guy lowered her to the ground, and she realized guiltily that he was rubbing his hand slightly. She really should have just gone to get a ladder.
The snake wasn't slimy, something she would have known if she'd thought about it, but somehow, she'd expected it to be grosser to touch. It definitely ugly, though, so she decided it counted.
"Thank you so much," no-longer nervous guy sighed, reaching for the snake warily.
"I can carry her, if you want." She offered before she'd had a chance to consider it.
Relief flickered in his eyes, followed by a touch of sheepishness.
"I can…I mean, you don't have to-you probably have plans…"
"Nope!" She answered, grinning.
He sighed, and a smile spread across his face.
"I don't know how to thank you for this," he commented, and she decided to take a leap.
"Dinner."
"Huh?" He looked at her in utter confusion, and embarrassment started to creep in. Great, she'd just made things super-awkward. Well, it was too late to back out.
"I just meant…I haven't eaten dinner yet, and I thought, if you wanted to thank me…. Never mind. You don't need to thank me, I was just doing my job." Lowering Fluffy into what could only be a snake terrarium, she furiously tried to ignore the warmth she felt spreading across her cheeks.
"I'll just go now."
She turned, and started to walk away. She made it all of three steps before he caught up with her, stepping easily in front of her. She studied the floor stubbornly as he spoke.
"I would love to buy you dinner, actually. My brother should be home in about twenty minutes, if you can wait that long. If not, I could try to cook something for you, but I might burn the house down, so."
She laughed, finally meeting his eyes. He was grinning from ear to ear, reminding her of Alex on Christmas morning the year mom and dad bought her a bicycle. Firetruck red, of course.
"I can wait. I should probably go home and get changed, actually."
He shrugged.
"Why? You look great."
Of course he'd say that, and if the look he was giving her was anything to go by, he meant it.
"I'm Winn, by the way." He held out his hand, and she froze, a new wave of embarrassment washing over her.
"Kara. Did I actually-"
"Ask me out without knowing my name? Yep." And if he sounded a little smug, well, she probably would have, too.
"Great."
He grinned, and she found herself grinning back.
"Well, I'm not complaining."
Of course not.
"Okay, I seriously do need to go clock out, at least. I'll see you in-" She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Fifteen minutes or so?"
"I can't wait."
A/N: Ta-da! Seriously, folks, I had a lot of fun with this one. Hopefully you did as well.
For those of you who don't want to hear my James rant, this is the end. Feel free to review and let me know how I did, and have a nice day! Thank you for reading, and God Bless!
Still here? Then let's begin!
James is a nice guy, and a great character. I think there are lots of things they could do with his character, but I don't buy him as a love interest for Kara.
I understand that he was in the comics, but there are several reasons why he isn't a good match.
First, there's Lucy. He still very clearly has feelings-strong feelings-for her. If Kara is the reason they broke up, which she obviously is, at least partially, that will always be between them. She'll always feel guilty, and he won't just be able to shrug off his feelings for Lucy. They'll still be there, popping up at inopportune moments.
Then, there's the fact that she's Supergirl. James Olsen has always had such an awe of Superman, and it obviously extends to Supergirl. But what if she wasn't Supergirl? Kara will always wonder if she would be enough for him without her powers and her heritage. Would he have even noticed her?
I would be comfortable with them being friends, or, like the friend who gave me this prompt suggested, having a brother-sister dynamic, (though any chance of that has been completely shot,) but I feel like them dating wouldn't be the best situation.
I know it's basically inevitable, so I'm quite thankful for fanfiction, but there are some major issues they would have to address before I'd actually be okay with "James/Kara."
Well, rant over. Thoughts? Opinions? Unrelated rant about the amount of wood a woodchuck would chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood? Feel free to comment! God Bless!