Kara Danvers thanked Rao for the self-control she had built up over the years: first, under her mother's demanding enforcement of the rigorous self-discipline that was so essential for the children of Krypton's great Houses, then, learning to keep her powers hidden during the first twelve years of her earthly exile and finally, learning to control her emotions and her powers while facing the challenges of her first months as Supergirl.

Because fighting Vartox, her Aunt Astra, Reactron, Max Lord, Livewire and Red Tornado were nothing compared to this. Some of those fights had made her angry. None of them had made her furious.

For this was not someone attacking Supergirl in her role as defender of National City.

No, this was different.

For the first time since she had gone public with her powers, she faced a direct, personal attack on Kara Danvers, instead of a professional one aimed at Supergirl.

And the attack came from the last person in the world she had expected to stab her in the back like this.

And that made her fury infinitely harder to manage.

For an instant, Kara had been simply stunned. Then she had felt a rising wave of pure rage. As the red mist that announced an oncoming heat vision blast had begun to form in front of her eyes, she had quickly closed them and dropped her head so she would not lose control. For the next few seconds, she fought with every ounce of mental strength she could command to attain a measure of mastery over the rage that she feared would overwhelm her. And even now, despite having her emotions and powers firmly under control again, she was more frightened than she had ever been in her life.

Because she didn't know how she had managed not to fry her tormentor on the spot.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kara had come out on the balcony in response to her boss' call. "Yes, Miss Grant?"

"Sit." The voice was cold and accompanied by a gesture.

The moment she sat down in the plush chair, Miss Grant moved toward her and spoke again. "Look into my eyes, Kiera. What do you see?"

"Um . . ."

"Bags." The two women nodded simultaneously.

Miss Grant continued, "I stayed up until dawn watching the news coverage of Supergirl. All the interrupted muggings and the averted car crashes, and the more I watched, the more I thought about the terrible things that happen while you're here at work."

Kara chuckled. "That should prove to you that I'm not her. I'm in here while she's out there."

Her boss was not impressed, "Oh, please, we both know that Supergirl is capable of pulling off that parlor trick. What it really proves to me is how little this job means to you."

Kara looked like a doe in the headlights. "No, that's not true, I love my job."

Miss Grant overrode her. "Every minute that you waste playing assistant in here is a minute that someone out there is not getting saved."

Kara looked at her boss, "Miss Grant, what are you saying?"

"I am saying that I will not partake in this ruse any longer. So you either prove to me that you are not Supergirl," she stood up, "or you can clean out your desk, tomorrow."

For an instant, Cat thought she saw a flash of light in her assistant's eyes, but the girl dropped her head with an impossible quickness that reminded Cat of a striking rattlesnake. A few seconds later, Keira got up, walked to the balcony rail, and looked out. For fifteen seconds, by Cat's watch, she did nothing, then she took a deep breath, relaxed, then she turned and looked at her boss.

"Then it seems that I will have to go put my thinking cap on. Good night, Miss Grant."

Cat Grant blinked and looked into the eyes of a woman she didn't recognize. Keira's voice was as pleasant as ever, but her eyes conveyed an expression and a coolness that Cat had never seen there before.

"Good night, Kiera."

As the other woman left, Cat realized what she had seen in her assistant's eyes. Keira was judging her, And somehow, Cat knew, she had been judged and found wanting.

Cat Grant began to wonder how just how well she knew Kara Danvers.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As she rode down the elevator, Kara examined the roots of her anger. Less than 48 hours ago, Cat had promised her a job with her for as long as she wanted. Now she had reneged on her promise – and this within a day after Kara had saved her boss' position at CatCo, not to mention having saved her life twice as Supergirl a few weeks before! And being fired was the thanks she got? And that by someone who had no idea of what being Supergirl was really like, nor why a day job was an essential, not an option?

But she had her anger under control now. And she put those thoughts aside to for later consideration so she could prioritize the problems she faced.

She couldn't just let herself be fired. Nor could she just quit. Both of those options would leave Cat still thinking that she was Supergirl. Ever since her boss had commented that she never joked about a good story, Kara had known that she could be hours away from being publicly outed in the Tribune. That would destroy her personal life, and put Alex, Eliza, and perhaps even Cat and Carter at risk. And of all possible outcomes, that was the one that could not be allowed to happen.

Somehow she had to prove she could not possibly be Supergirl. And that within twenty-four hours. How could she possibly do it?

She didn't know how to do it.

But she would do it.

She had to.

And then, she would leave CatCo.

She didn't want to do it.

But she had to.

There was no possible way she could stay.

Even if she could convince Miss Grant that she wasn't Supergirl this time, continuing to work at CatCo would be nothing more than an ongoing wait for the same bomb to explode once again. The strain on her nerves, and on her less than stellar acting skills, would be immense.

So she not only had to leave CatCo, she also had to find a way to justify her departure that her boss would accept without question.

That part was easy. She could already see at least one way she could do it.

Provided, of course, that she could somehow prove to Miss Grant that she was not Supergirl.