"I'm not. Special. There is absolutely nothing special about me," Kara had said that first day.
Cat still hears the words in her head. In retrospect, that was the first lie Kara told her. In fact it was the first of many lies that the girl had managed to get past Cat from the beginning. Initially, she thought the girl was a terrible liar, although Cat realizes that Kara's strength as a liar has more to do with the fact that you want to believe her.
"Kiera? Where is Kiera?" Cat asks Winn when he enters her office.
"Kara is out sick today," he reminds her.
"Yes, yes, I realize that," Cat says impatiently, "but does that mean she is at home or somewhere else sick?" she asks.
"I'm not sure, she could be at her sister's," he suggests, now worried that Ms Grant is going to check on her.
"But you're sure that she is alright?" Cat asks, trying to mask her concern, adds impatiently, "I can get by one day without her, but not two, reach out to her and see if she needs anything."
"S-sure Ms Grant," Winn stammers and returns to his desk.
"Kara?" Alex asks in a low voice. "Uh, can you come in today, we have a bit of a situation."
"Didn't you see the news this morning Alex? Everyone is afraid of me, no one wants my help." Kara spits out, her voice tinged with anger and frustration. She's been laying on her couch in a flannel shirt and sweatpants eating donuts since she came back from the bank robbery fiasco.
"They're questioning everyone here, trying to figure out who knew about Hank being J'onn J'onzz," Alex whisper shouts into the phone. "Can you get away?"
"Who is questioning everyone?" Kara asks.
"The DEO is being investigated. I will be investigated. I don't know what's going to happen," Alex confesses.
"Alex, I'm on my way," Kara says shrugging off the comfortable clothes and getting back down to the super suit and flying out her window without a second thought.
The situation at the DEO went from bad to worse. Alex was taken into custody along with J'onn and both were being transported to Project Cadmus, which Kara knew nothing about until she talked to James. It was a crazy afternoon, Kara did manage to confront Lucy Lane and convince her to help and with a hastily drawn up plan, the two embarked on motorcycles and managed to stop the transport vehicle and save Alex and J'onn, but now they are on the run. Kara knows that she shouldn't worry, they are more than capable of protecting themselves, but she can't help but worry about what they are planning to do, as she watched them take off on the motorcycles.
After leaving Lucy at the DEO, Kara decides to fly patrol over the city to distract herself from worrying. As usual Kara's patrol finds her flying over CATCO to check on Ms Grant. Seeing the lights on in the office and a familiar silhouette on the balcony, she swoops down and hovers quietly at a distance observing her.
Now that she's dealt with Siobhan again, Cat sighs heavily. Unsure of what to do since Kara has called in sick for the first time in over two years and she is certain that the girl is not actually sick. She saw the news report this morning from the thwarted bank robbery, where Supergirl was treated as a pariah. Cat knows that seeing people afraid of Supergirl has crushed Kara and as much as she wishes that she could go and comfort the girl, she knows that she can't for many reasons. Reaching up to massage the tired muscles in her neck, she lolls her head around in a circle. Then stops, when she hears the telltale snap of a cape in the wind.
"Everything okay Supergirl?" Cat asks without looking up, content to admire the girl's reflection in the glass.
Supergirl lands softly on the balcony, her hands on her hips. The traditional power pose that never fails to send a flutter through Cat's body. "It will be," she says, always confident in the suit. "How are things here?"
"I'm surprised that you have time to ask, but then I did see what happened this morning, that must have been..." Cat pauses a moment to choose the best word, "difficult," she decided.
She nods in agreement. "I'm not sure what else I can do to win them over. Maybe I should track people as they leave IKEA and offer to assemble their furniture," she quips.
Cat smiles, she's not seen the girl like this before, confident, but humble. It looks good on her.
"May I offer you a drink?" Cat asks standing up to go freshen her own.
"Uh, no thank you. I'm flying," Supergirl replies playfully, amusing herself.
"Does alcohol even affect you?" Cat asks suddenly curious.
"No, it doesn't affect me at all actually," the Hero admits. "But I don't really like the taste of scotch," she replies.
"How do you know that I am drinking scotch?" Cat questions curiously, not really trying to trick her into revealing herself.
"Super-senses. I can smell the scotch in your glass from here," she explains.
"I see," Cat says quirking an eyebrow and heading inside to refresh her drink.
Kara sits on the edge of the chair, her thoughts still a jumble from the chaos of her day. Deep in her thoughts she doesn't notice Cat returning to the chair across from her until she speaks.
"Why are you here, Supergirl?" Cat asks softly.
"I saw the light on and wanted to check on you," she explains quietly. "It's late Ms Grant, you should call for your car and get home."
"I don't mind you checking on me, but I worry about you Supergirl," Cat replies leaning forward in the chair, concern showing on her face.
"Kara," Cat says trying to hide her relief at seeing the girl the next morning. Snatching the latte out of her hand, Cat strides past her and into her own office.
The fact that Ms Grant said her name correctly does not escape the girl, in fact it makes her extremely happy; which is something she struggles to hide as she bounds after her into the office.
"Please do something about my..." Cat's voice trails off as she sets her latte down and glances at her schedule, somehow Kara has already managed to correct it and make it more manageable. "Well, I see that you truly are back, this will be fine," Cat says sitting down at her desk and looking up to where the girl was standing a moment ago.
Approaching Cat from beside, Kara hands her two Advil and a glass of water, "This will help with your headache and I've already filled your water pitcher, I think you'll feel much better once you're re-hydrated," she explains as her nervous eyes land on the almost empty decanter of scotch.
"Thank you Kara, that will be all for now." Cat says dismissing the girl and then realizing that she's done it again, used her correct name. This won't do. This won't do at all, but after worrying about her for the past 24 hours, her name is stuck in Cat's brain. Looking up, she watches the girl practically glide out of the room. She looks down quickly to hide her own smile, Apparently, it doesn't take much niceness from Cat to brighten the girl's day, which is fortunate for Cat, but a little sad for Kara.
"My 11 o'clock has canceled, do not reschedule it. I only took that meeting as a favor to my mother, now that it's canceled, I'm off the hook," she explains looking up at the girl. "Now why don't you order us lunch from that Thai place you like so much and we can go over the layouts from yesterday. I approved them last night, but there's still something off. I'd like to go over them again before they go to print," she adds.
"Yes Ms Grant, I'll let production know that there's a potential revision and to hold on the layout set up. Lunch here or in the conference room?" Kara asks.
"The balcony will be fine, it's a gorgeous day out and I could use a bit of sunshine and vitamin D today," Cat says taking her glasses off and stretching her arms and neck a bit.
"Should I schedule a massage for you tonight, Ms Grant?" Kara asks noting the tension in her neck and shoulders hasn't changed much from last night.
"Yes, that would be perfect. And Kara see if he can come to my penthouse. I plan to get out of here tonight at a decent hour," she replies.
"Of course Ms Grant," Kara says turning to go back to her desk.
Since Kara spotted the problem with the layout immediately, the two women are sitting quietly just soaking in the warmth of the sun after their lunch. Unusually relaxed, Cat turns almost chatty.
"Kara have you ever had a massage, a real one by an actual masseuse, not a drunken frat boy?" she asks lowering her sunglasses to see the girl's face.
Eyes still closed, Kara replies. "No, the trainer at the gym worked out a cramp once in my leg though," she adds trying to seem normal. The reality was, the trainer was Alex and the cramp was caused by too much exposure to kryptonite when they were training.
"Change the appointment with the masseuse and tell him there will be two of us. You need to experience a decent massage at least once in your life," she replies.
"Uh, Ms Grant that's not ..." Kara sits up quickly and stammers.
"It is and you will," Cat says dismissively.
"Lucy, I'm not sure what's going on. Ms Grant is being nice to me today. I think she's been infected with something, Can you send a team over here?" Kara asks seriously.
The burst of laughter on the other end of the phone is so unexpected that Kara almost drops the receiver. "You're not serious," Lucy asks when she catches her breath. "You're always saying that she's not as mean as she seems, maybe she missed you yesterday," the other woman suggests.
"Lucy, this is serious. She has called me by my correct name all morning. We just had lunch together on her balcony and now she's arranged for me to have a massage tonight at her penthouse," Kara blurts out worriedly.
"Wait, did you say a massage. Is she getting one too?" Lucy asks.
"Yes, I scheduled one for her at her penthouse. Then at lunch she decided that I should have one too. So she made me call and change it to two massages. I've never had a massage, Lucy. What's it like?"
"You've never had a massage?" Lucy asks. Refraining from teasing Kara about getting a couples massage with Cat Grant.
"No, how does it work? I mean I've seen people get them on tv and in movies. What do I wear?" Kara asks nervously.
"Uh, nothing. You're naked under the towel," Lucy explains.
"Wait, you mean they touch your body everywhere?" Kara asks nervously.
"Not everywhere. But she's right though, massages are amazing and very relaxing. After everything that's happened in the past week or so, you deserve a little pampering. In fact, call me if you need a ride home afterward," Lucy offers.
"Why would I need a ride home?" Kara asks.
"If the masseuse is any good, you won't be in any shape to walk or fly when he's done with you," Lucy explains, "but then maybe that's Cat's plan," she teases the hero.
The ride in the town car to the penthouse wasn't as awkward as Kara feared because Cat had them finish reviewing the final layouts. Then as soon as they arrived she sent Kara into her home office to send the changes back to the office. By the time Kara finished and returned to the living area, Cat had changed into comfortable clothes and plated up the take out. She had even poured two glasses of wine.
Kara almost asks if she's expecting someone because it's difficult to believe that Cat would go to this much trouble for her assistant. "Ms Grant, I don't understand why you're doing all this? I thought that you would be angry at me for calling in yesterday and instead you're treating me to lunch, dinner and a massage."
Cat sits down and gestures for Kara to do the same. "Something happened yesterday while you were out that made me realize that I should show you a bit more appreciation. Thank you for allowing me to do that today," Cat replies simply, before picking up her fork and taking a bite of her dinner.
"What happened? Kara asks worriedly. "Is there something I should do to prevent it from happening again?"
"Winn took care of it and he's explained the new password protocol to you, so going forward, the system will be more secure. Besides, I am positive that it will not happen again," Cat answers confidently, taking another bite.
Kara picks up her fork. Winn did explain the new password protocol to her, but she didn't realize it had anything to do with Siobhan leaving. Taking a bite of her dinner she smiles. "This is really good," she says and quietly hums as she savors the bite.
Cat hears the noise and a slight smile threatens to cross her face. She clears her throat instead and takes a sip of wine. "Try the wine, it should pair well with your dinner," Cat points out.
"Oh, I don't... thank you," Kara catches herself, it's one thing for Supergirl to not be affected by alcohol, but Kara Danvers is human, she reminds herself.
Cat raises an eyebrow, slightly amused by Kara's response. And if Cat is honest, she's rather curious about how this massage will go. She had the table set up in the guest room, instead of her bedroom. She didn't want to give anyone the wrong idea about what was going on here. She even took a moment to call Roberto and explain to him that it wasn't a couples massage.
As they finish their dinner, Kara jumps up to clear the plates and Cat stops her. "Kara stop, I'll take care of this. Now I laid out some things for you in the guest room, why don't you go change and we'll have time for one more glass of wine on the patio before Roberto arrives," she suggests to the girl.
Kara smiles brightly and then scampers down the hall to the guest room. She sees the massage table and looks it over carefully, before examining the clothes that Ms Grant laid out for her. They are brand new and freshly laundered and as she slips them on, they are a little tight and she doesn't want to look like the incredible hulk, so she slips on the robe that is hanging on the back of the door before heading out to the patio.
Cat looks up and smiles at her as she approaches. "You almost look relaxed, Kara." She remarks.
"I feel relaxed, thank you Ms Grant," Kara replies sitting down across from her.
Cat sits forward and leans towards her, then reaches up slowly and removes her glasses, then pulls her hair out of the pony tail. "There now you look more relaxed," she says pleased with herself. Trying not to react to seeing her assistant suddenly transform into Supergirl with those two small changes.
"Uh, Ms Grant. I don't usually..." Kara stammers nervously, knowing that Alex would kill her if she knew about this.
"Kara, first, call me Cat, we are relaxing here in my home. And second, you know that you... your secrets are safe with me," Cat replies, correcting herself at the last minute. Though it is also true that the girl is safe with her. After two years together. Two years of Kara managing to handle everything Cat could possibly throw at her, there really isn't anything Cat wouldn't do for her. The loyalty, compassion and care with which Kara has shown Cat and her sons is beyond anything anyone else has ever came close to demonstrating. It took that foolish email from Siobhan to drive that point home. Cat smiles when she thinks about it: she laughed out loud as she read the first line. There was absolutely no way it was written by her Kara. Even the evil Kara from the previous week, would not have written that and besides Kara had said everything she needed to say then, which made this email pointless. Only someone who didn't know about their altercation on the balcony could have written the email, Cat recalls again. Then she smiles smugly; Kara Danvers is the first person in a very long time, that Cat has felt this close to. Now she just needs to figure out what it means.
"Ms... uh, Cat, Roberto is here," Kara says returning from answering the door.
Cat startles. She didn't even hear the door. "Oh thank you Kara. If you don't mind. I will go first, you can stay here and finish the wine and relax." It's then that Cat notices that Kara put her hair back up and slipped her glasses on before answering the door.
"Thank you, Cat," Kara replies sinking back into the lounge chair and enjoying the view of the sunset and the ocean.