It was the day after the Red Kryptonite wore off. Kara was slowly trying to ease her way back into normal life at the office. After walking around like she was better than everyone else, and Cat now believing she was "more like an adult", it felt strange. The way Earth felt to her when she arrived at 13 years old.
She stood in the elevator, between two other employees, John and Danielle. She held a tray of lattes in her hands, gripping them tightly and pressing them against her chest. Her anxiety was rising. John and Danielle were practically against the walls, leaving as much space between them and Kara as possible. Danielle's eyes shifted to her. Kara felt her watching and turned to look at her. Danielle's eyes quickly darted to the elevator door, just as it opened. If Kara didn't know better, she would have thought she had super speed with how fast she rushed away. Kara frowned, then turned to look at John. She smiled, hoping to calm his obvious nerves. His wide eyes locked on hers, and his hands shook. He stood there, frozen and speechless. Then, before she could speak to him, he ran off, bumping into everyone in his path. Kara sighed. This was going to take some time.
She walked off the elevator, shoulders back and the straightest posture she could have. With a big smile on her face, she pushed up her glasses and headed for her desk. She past Winn's, setting a latte down, startling him.
"Good morning," she said, extra enthusiasm in her voice.
Winn looked up at her with a forced smile. His eyes planted just above her eyes. "Morning," he said, his happy tone fake and just as forced as his smile.
Kara didn't even need her x-ray vision to see right through his bullshit. "You okay?" She asked.
He rummaged through some papers on his desk, still avoiding eye contact. Usually he would have drank half of the coffee already, but he barely noticed it was there. Something was clearly wrong. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he replied.
Kara was about to ask again, but she could hear Cat coming up in the elevator. "She's here," she whispered to Winn, spinning around. The doors open, and Cat strutted out. Kara held a latte out in front of her for Cat to take when she walked by. "Here you are, Ms. Grant."
Cat stopped and peered at her over the top of her sunglasses. She looked her up and down, then took them off. Taking the latte, she glared at her assistant. "You seem to be more chipper than usual this morning, Kira," she exclaimed. "I didn't know that was possible."
Kara's braced herself for whatever offensive thing Cat would say next, but Cat's scowl turned into a grin. "Whatever it is that you're doing, or taking, don't stop."
Kara gave her puzzled look, then followed her into her office. "You seem awful chipper yourself, Ms. Grant," she said. Cat pulled out her chair from her desk and stood next to it. She looked up at Kara. "You say that as if I'm some kind of monster that never expresses happiness or joy." She paused, looked off to the side and cocked her head. "Well, I guess I often come across that way," she added. She sat down and opened her laptop. "I spoke to Supergirl last night. Her troubles must have had some kind of sympathetic, yet inspiring affect on me. How odd."
Kara adjusted her glasses and cleared her throat. "Well, may I just say that I enjoy this side to you."
Cat smiled at her again. "Yes, I can see the appeal," she said. "But it shouldn't last long."
Kara waited to see if she would be given any orders, but Cat looked down at her computer and started typing. After a few moments, Kara cleared her throat again. Cat glanced up at her. "Oh, uh, I don't need anything right now. You may go."
Kara nodded and backed out of the office. When she was standing by her now desk again, she noticed Winn was no longer at his. The latte she brought him sat in the exact spot she had placed it before. She walked over and picked it up; still full. She sighed. I'll talk to him later. She thought.
It was 5:30 in the evening now. Winn had dodged Kara all day at work. Every time she attempted to talk to him, he would tell her he was too busy. When five o'clock came and he wasn't packing up to leave, Kara decided to stay as well. Maybe he would talk if no one else was around.
Winn sat at his desk, a video game lighting up his screen. Kara stepped out of the corner she was hiding in and walked over to him.
"Hey," she said softly. "What're you still doing here?"
He nonchalantly pressed a few keys, his character falling off a platform and dying. "Game over" flashed in large red letters on the screen, but he didn't press "Play Again." He also didn't respond to the question.
"Winn," Kara started. "We've been here before. You only let your character die when you're upset. Tell me what's wrong."
His head snapped up and he finally made eye contact. "Why?" He asked. "Why do you care?"
She furrowed her brow and frowned. "What? What kind of question is that?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He turned back to the screen, his hand hovering over the keyboard.
Kara pondered, going over any possible explanation for Winn's attitude. Then it occurred to her. No one asked Winn how he was doing after the incident with Kara. She had apologized to Alex, James, and Ms. Grant, and she remembered being glad she hadn't done anything directly to Winn. But it was evident now that it had still affected him and was eating him up inside. "Is this about what happened with the Red Kryptonite?"
Winn took a breath, and leaned back in his chair. "You may not be human, but you were no different than rest of them. I wasn't the biggest fan of you with your brain altered, but at least you were honest with yourself."
Kara's face dropped. Those words hit harder than any punch from any alien. "What do you mean?" She asked hesitantly, not sure if she wanted the clarification.
"The things you said and did weren't random, Kara. There was truth in it all. "This," he said, gesturing to her pale blue checkered skirt, light pink sweater and laced white collared shirt peeking out from underneath, "persona as 'Kara Danvers the office assistant' has never been the only you. Everyone has a dark side, and yours had a pretty loud message."
Kara couldn't believe what she was hearing. Is that really how Winn saw her? The words, "everyone has a dark side" were like an echo. She had said something similar to Cat the other night. She knelt down on the floor by her friend's feet, took his hands, and said, "Winn, you know I love this job, and being Kara just as much as Supergirl, and you know I love you. You're my best friend. And you have to know that I regret everything I said and did."
"Even the things that held some truth?"
She stood up slowly and took her glasses off. She placed them on his desk and leaned back on it. "I've had a lot of bad thoughts since I came to Earth. I built up so much anger inside me. And Alex did the same because of me coming to live with her. Her house, her parents, her life all became mine too. She always denied it, but I could tell part of her didn't want me around." She paused, scanning the office. "I won't lie to you, Winn. Some of the things I said and did were things I had imagined saying and doing for years. But it's not who I want to be. Who I try to be. I wouldn't trade any of this for anything. I'm the same person you've known since I came to Catco, and not even Red Kryptonite can change that."
Winn stared at her, and she could see his eyes were glassy from the tears starting to form. He batted them to prevent any from falling. He managed a small smile as he stood up from his chair. He stayed quiet as he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Kara. She hugged him back.
"Do you want to come over and eat potstickers and watch bad reality TV with me?" Kara asked.
Winn laughed and pulled out of the hug. "I'd love to," he answered. He turned his computer off and picked up his jacket from the back of the chair. Kara linked her arm in his. The two of them walked to the elevator together, stepped inside, and Kara pressed the "down" button. They smiled to each other as it took them to the ground floor, then they made their way back to Kara's apartment.