They fell into a pattern, Cat and the Devil, Cat and Kara. Kara would show up two or three times a year at seemingly random intervals, but after the first few times, Cat noticed that those intervals always managed to correspond with the times when she was the most stressed. Kara would show up when Cat was working late, whether at the office or at home, and silently fall into step, helping her edit articles, proofreading Cat's own work, or even just assisting with budgets and other mindless, but necessary tasks. Sometimes Cat would think it was strange, how easily the Devil adjusted to that pattern, learning the trade, but she supposed that it was a benefit of being an immortal Angel, even a fallen one. Kara must be able to see and learn things much faster than your average human.
There was never any mention of a deal, on those nights, as the time spent with Cat, helping her with work, was clearly something different from that first deal, years ago. These evenings were spent trading company for work, but more and more, Cat found that the work aspect was beginning to fade away.
The first couple of times Kara had come to her they had worked through the night, and when the Devil had quietly slipped away in the morning, Cat would realize that they had passed hours together in comfortable silence. She would realize that, where she often found the company of others annoying, somehow she not only tolerated Kara's presence, but that she was even beginning to look forward to her visits, to seeing those strange shadows. What had started out as a half-hearted invitation, born from curiosity and slight interest, had quickly shifted to become something more.
And then there had been a night where Cat hadn't felt like working, and so after just a few hours she had pushed aside her work and poured them both glasses of wine.
Kara couldn't get drunk, but the wine helped to create a more relaxed atmosphere, and soon Cat found herself enjoying the Devil's company. As the years passed, it even began to feel like a strange sort of friendship, and the creature was the one person that Cat felt truly at ease with, the one person that she was free to talk about anything and everything with.
Kara was there for her when she won awards, or when she lost to Lois Lane. Kara was there for her when her company expanded, and when her mother degraded her accomplishments. Kara was there for her when no one else was, or when she wouldn't let anyone else be. Kara was there for her because, despite the fact that she only saw her a few time a year, Kara always knew just when to show up.
The only time Kara hadn't been there for her was when she had gotten married, but the instant her marriage had fallen apart, Kara had been back at her side. It was that that made Cat realize how much she had come to need the creature. Kara had still visited, during her brief marriage, but only once a year. She had told Cat that it was harder because she couldn't appear before anyone else, at least, not now that she wasn't in the middle of a task, not like how she had found Cat's first investor, and so she couldn't come as easily when Cat had another human living with her. Cat had pretended to accept that explanation, it was likely true, after all, but she couldn't help but feel that there was more that Kara wasn't saying. That the emotion she heard behind Kara's voice, as she gave the explanation, was rooted in Cat herself, not the logistical situation.
And Cat found that she wanted to reach out and confront that emotion, that she wanted to understand.
Cat's first thought, then, when she had kicked her husband out, wasn't anger, or resentment, or any other of a number of possible pained reactions. No, Cat's first thought had been relief. Relief because now Kara could come back more, because now she wouldn't have to go an entire year before seeing that person, again.
Could you care for someone? This much? She began to wonder. Could you care for someone whose face you had never seen, who wasn't human, who you didn't really know?
Yes, she had had to concede. Because it wasn't true that she didn't know the Devil. She didn't need the visual to tell her that Kara was caring, and thoughtful, that Kara was strong and passionate. She didn't need to see under those shadows to know that she wanted more of Kara, that she wanted as much as Kara was willing to give her.
She didn't need to know what Kara looked like to know that Kara was deserving of her older name, because Kara really was the Light.
The wine had another, unexpected bonus, because when Cat had brought it out, that first time, Kara's reaction had been priceless, and Cat had realized that she had never had wine before. It was a thought that made her wonder what else the Devil had never done, despite the fact that she was the one who had created the concept of sin.
Cat received her answer eight years into their new arraignment, one year after her divorce. She was home in bed sick with the flu when she felt that telltale tingle at the back of her neck, a sixth sense she had developed that notified her whenever her demon was around.
"Don't just stand there," she said grumpily, turning her head towards her bedroom door and seeing the shadowy figure waiting uncertainly at the entrance. "I've been cooped up for two days, come in and find some way to amuse me," she ordered.
Still, Kara hesitated, forcing Cat to roll her eyes. "What's wrong, Kiera? Don't tell me you're afraid of getting sick?"
"It's not that, Miss Grant," because yes, Kara was still calling her 'Miss Grant.'
"Then come over here, already," Cat ordered, her annoyance showing.
"I… but this is your bedroom," was that… was the Devil scandalized? Was that what Cat was hearing in her tone?
Suddenly, despite Cat's pounding headache and nausea, she couldn't help but laugh. "You're the Devil, Kara, surely you can come into a woman's bedroom without fainting from embarrassment."
"But… are you sure it's all right, Miss Grant?" Cat had long since given up trying to convince herself that Kara was not adorable, and this interaction was only serving to further that belief.
"Damn it, Kiera. I'm sick, just get in here and bring me some fresh water, already," she decided that authoritative command was the way to go, and she smiled to herself a moment later when the figure appeared at her side, a glass of water in hand.
It was something Cat had figured out long ago, that when in doubt she should always take on an air of command, not only with employees, but also with Kara. Because Kara had been telling the truth, when she had told Cat that she existed to serve humans, and Cat had realized that it was in Kara's nature to help when asked, it was in her nature to bend to Cat's will.
"Good girl, Kiera," Cat said as she took the water, and she could have sworn that the shadows almost shivered in response.
/
Hell had never seemed so bad, before, in the time before Cat.
In fact, Hell, as a location, was really rather pleasant. She had free reign to do whatever she wanted with the place, and there was no one else to interfere, to disagree with her designs. When she had met Cat, her Hell had been a vast palace, ice and glass intricately intertwined, impossible to tell apart visually, but clearly different to the touch. It had been amusing, pointless, yes, but the time she had spent getting it just so, just right, had helped to pass her expansive, immortal, lonely existence.
It had been beautiful, but empty.
And that was the trouble with Hell, the reason why Hell was considered a place of torture and desolation. Because, for all that it had, for everything Kara was able to do to it, it very simply, was not Heaven. And after knowing Heaven, Hell was Hell.
Still, it had been nice, it had been comforting and familiar, but only because she had forgotten what it was like to have a family.
But now she was remembering, now Cat was making her remember, and each time she returned here, each time she left Cat back there, each time made her realize just how much she wanted to stay in that place, in the mortal realm, or more directly, how much she wanted to stay with Cat.
Over the last few years her palace had begun to take on a new shape, a very human shape. Where once it was had been an empty piece of art, now she had made tables, chairs, individual rooms. Now she was turning it into the model of a home. But instead of making her feel better, it only made the place worse, because she knew that there would never be anyone else to sit in those chairs, to gather around those tables.
She was pretending to be human, and like most humans, she was learning how to hate the idea of being in Hell.
She had moments, long moments, when it had been a few months since she had seen the human, where she would begin to think that maybe she should stay away. The passing of a few mere months should have been almost meaningless to her, especially here in this place where time itself was abstract. And yet… and yet it was becoming increasingly apparent to her that even while in Hell, her mind was still on Earth, still measuring existence by human standards, still wishing, hoping, craving, another visit with Cat.
And so each time she began to question whether or not this increased pain was worth it, she would begin to count the seconds, to measure the distance between her and that woman, to look in on her to check that she was all right. And she would always, always, go back.
Because what she felt when she was with Cat, that was something that made all of this worth it. It made her glad that she could feel the pain, if only because without that, she would never be able to feel this other thing, the growing something that she felt when she was with Cat.
The longest she had ever managed to stay away was when Cat had been married. It had hurt her, even as she was glad that Cat was happy, and she hadn't really understood why.
She didn't understand what it was until that day when Cat was sick, when Cat had invited the Devil into her bedroom.
In those first few years Kara had learned what it was to have a friend, but she had believed that that was all there was to it. She had believed that each time Cat opened herself up just a little bit more, letting Kara see the woman underneath the powerful mask, that her own reaction, her joy at receiving that gift was rational. Emotional, yes, but still within the bounds of logical control.
Except that Kara was becoming more and more irrational, throwing herself into the mortal realm despite what it was doing to her, and that day, that day had made her realize just how far gone she really was.
Because she had stood in a bedroom for the first time in her entire existence, and she had known that this room was different. Because Kara hadn't seen just another human room, no, she had seen possibilities. And because she had looked at that woman in the bed, and she had realized that even while sick, Cat Grant was beautiful, breathtaking. That Cat Grant was her Heaven.
Kara had given herself, and humans, the ability to truly feel, but until that moment, she hadn't understood just how far that could go. She hadn't understood that emotions could overpower everything else, that they could sweep away logic and understanding, that they could be that… that unstoppable.
When she had returned to Hell after that visit she had made a new room in her palace, a room with a bed. And even though seeing that large, empty bed, made her want to scream, it also made her want more.
Kara knew that her relationship with Cat was hurting her, but even so she couldn't give it up, because Kara had fallen before, but not like this, never like this.
The Devil was falling in love with Cat Grant, and that feeling was becoming her everything.
Still, it was another two years before Kara came to Cat with her request.
/
"I know what I want, Miss Grant," it sounded nervous, almost, but it had been so long since Cat had thought of Kara as the Devil, or since she had considered the impending favor, that she almost didn't realize what the shadowy figure was referring to, at least, not at first.
"Hmmm?" She asked, not looking up. They were in her bedroom again. Cat had just returned home from receiving an award, and she was in the process of removing her heavy jewelry.
"My favor, I know what I want," and now it sounded breathless, even though Cat was sure that Kara did not need to breathe. As realization set in, however, Cat's hand flew to the mark at her wrist, and she felt the stirrings of that old panic, the worry she had felt in the Devil's presence so long ago.
Because despite everything that had happened since, all those long evenings together, she had made a deal with the Devil, and the Devil had come to collect.
At the next words, however, she found herself relaxing, remembering why she could look at the Lord of Hell in fondness, why she wasn't afraid.
"You can say no, if you want. You can say no, and I'll pick something else, I'll-"
"Kiera, stop," Cat cut her off. Leave it to this Devil to ramble when calling in her deal. "What is it that you want?"
"I… I want…" Cat moved closer, smiling when Kara backed up, running into the wall.
"Yes?" She prompted, moving until there was only a foot of space in between them, and Kara had nowhere to run.
"I want a kiss," the words came out too fast, and Cat realized that Kara was afraid to ask, afraid that Cat would say no. As if she could, as if she could refuse such a simple, pure request from this person.
Because it was pure, at least when coming from Kara. Because Kara hadn't sinned when she had fallen, sin hadn't existed yet, and so her initial act, her moment of defiance, that hadn't been a sin at all. It was the same way that the biblical concept of Original Sin wasn't attributed to the moment when Adam and Eve had eaten the apple. No, Original Sin was that second moment, the moment when they had looked at each other, and had felt lust for the first time.
Kara was the Devil who had never sinned, the Devil who had never been kissed. And Cat was very much going to enjoy changing that.
"I'm sorry, I'll pick something el-"
"Let me see you," Cat had never asked for this. Even after years of friendship, or whatever it was between them, Cat had still never seen Kara's face, heard her real voice. "I can't kiss you if I can't see you."
There was a long silence and Cat almost thought that Kara would leave, but then… then the shadows dropped away and Cat understood why Angels inspired such awe.
The girl standing in front of her, blushing shyly, wasn't just beautiful, she was beyond beautiful. Cat had assumed the Devil was a woman ever since she had been given that name, Kara, but assuming and seeing were completely different. Standing in her bedroom, with less than a few inches of space between them, was young woman, aged twenty-four or twenty-five years at most, with brilliant blue eyes made especially distinctive and alluring by their vertical, cat-like pupils. Reaching out slowly, Cat let the fingers of her right hand come up to brush a strand of soft, golden hair out of Kara's face, noticing the slightly pointed ears as she did so.
The nervous creature, this girl, was so clearly not human, but her strange features only served to increase her beauty, to remind Cat that she was something special, something ethereal, someone to be treasured.
And to top it all off, Kara was completely, and gloriously, naked.
"After I do this and the deal is complete, will you still come to visit?" She asked, worried that without the mark on her arm, Kara wouldn't be able to come anymore. It was a very real fear, and it wasn't just because she didn't want the girl to be alone, again. No, it was also because Cat was genuinely afraid that she would never talk to Kara again, never see her again, even if it was just in her shadowed form.
"I'll still have a tie to you, even if the deal is over. So yes, if you want me to, if you'll allow it, then yes, I'll still come," there was a question there, as if the girl was afraid that Cat might not allow her to remain in her life, once she no longer owed Kara anything. As if Cat could continue on with her life once this was over. As if Cat wasn't already bound to the person behind the shadows and the demonic title.
And that voice. Cat had grown used to the voice she had heard all these years, even grown to like it, but this voice, this real voice, there was no comparison. Cat never wanted to stop hearing this voice.
Cat's right hand was still tangled in Kara's hair, she had left it there after brushing back the strand, but now she brought her second hand up and gently traced the girl's cheek. She gave herself a moment to be soft, a moment to enjoy the way Kara moved into the touch, ever so slightly, before she shifted her movement. Her light touch gave way to a more commanding one as Cat's hand gripped the girl's jaw, placing the Devil in her control.
"Good," she whispered, leaning in close, "I would never forgive you if you thought you could ask for a kiss and then disappear."
Kara started to open her mouth to respond, but Cat didn't wait to hear what she had to say, choosing instead to use that moment to claim her kiss. Because she was claiming her kiss, even if Kara, this girl, had been the one to ask for it.
Because Cat had learned to care for the person underneath the shadows, and because Cat had wanted to kiss the Devil for a very, very long time.
And so she didn't wait any longer, taking advantage of Kara's already slightly parted lips to slip past and deepen the kiss without waiting for permission, enjoying the way the girl gave in instantly to her touch. She let out a pleased hum as her tongue darted over sharp canines, slightly longer and more dangerous than a human's, and was rewarded a moment later when she heard Kara let out a soft moan in response to Cat's dominance, in response to Cat's obvious pleasure.
Cat wanted nothing more than to close the remaining distance between them and press her body flush against that of the seemingly younger woman, but she held herself back. She wasn't satisfied with just a kiss, but she needed the girl to know that what happened next wasn't simply because of some deal.
Instead of moving closer, therefore, as she wanted to, Cat gave Kara's lips one more, almost playful nip, before pulling away.
Kara was staring at her, face flushed and wide eyed, "that… that was… thank you."
Cat smiled at the stuttered words, at the effect that one kiss from her had had on the other woman. She watched silently as Kara reached for her, pulling Cat's hand away from her face so that she could trace her fingers along the mark on Cat's wrist for a second time. Cat felt a soft, almost pleasant buzzing sensation, and then the mark was gone.
She was going to miss it, she knew, miss that strange little 'S' in its triangular boarder, it had been a constant on her skin for all these years. But losing that mark was worth it, if she got this girl instead.
"You're free, Miss Grant, you can let go of me, now."
Cat's other hand was still gripping Kara's hair, and Cat was still standing way too close, but instead of pulling back and moving away, she tightened her hold.
"Kara-" Cat started to speak, but the other woman cut her off.
"Kiera," the girl corrected, pleaded, almost. "I have so many names, Miss Grant, so many names with so many different meanings. So please, for you, when I'm here, let me be Kiera."
Cat paused, considering. She hadn't thought about that, about the fact that the Devil was often renamed, that the idea of the Devil took on new meanings based on those names. So was there a difference? Between Kara and Kiera?
Yes, because Kiera was hers.
"Seventeen years, Kiera," and now Cat spoke the name she had given to the Devil, enjoying the way those eyes dilated in response, "it took you seventeen years to ask for that. Seventeen years, over which time you made me care about you, made me crave your presence. And now, after seventeen years, when you finally ask, when you finally reveal yourself to me, you do it here, in my bedroom, while completely naked."
Kara's eyes widened at that, clearly she hadn't realized that she was naked, or, if she had, she obviously hadn't put any thought into it, not until Cat had spoken, at least. Her hands moved almost involuntarily to cover herself, and the shy action made Cat smile, even as she shifted her free hand to push Kara's hands back, refusing to let the girl hide herself away.
"No, Kiera," Cat took the remaining step closer, finally, finally bringing their bodies into contact, and her smile shifted into a predatory grin as she felt Kara shudder against her, and she knew the girl was enjoying the way Cat's silk dress felt against her skin.
How long had it been since the girl had had any form of real physical contact? Something that went beyond the slight brush of fingers as the Devil traced her marks to seal contracts? Cat felt a sense of pride well in her chest at that thought, that she was the one who was being given this privilege, that she was the one who was being allowed to touch this exquisite woman.
"Miss Grant," it was soft, hesitant, "you don't have to… the deal…"
"This isn't about any deal, Kiera, this is about you, and me. This is about the fact that there is a beautiful young woman standing naked in my bedroom, a woman who has spent the past seventeen years ingraining herself into my life. You know me well enough by now to realize that I am not going to let you go that easily. Not now, not that I finally have you after all this time."
Cat's moved her left hand, trailing her fingers along Kara's side in a tantalizingly slow motion, letting her nails scrape across the girl's ribs.
"Do you want me to stop?" She asked, even as she pressed closer. "Do you?" She asked again, but whatever Kara's answer, it was cut off by a gasp as Cat lowered her head and kissed Kara's neck.
"I-" Cat bit down, eliciting a moan this time.
"Miss Grant, I-" Cat allowed her thumb to brush along the underside of Kara's breast, feeling the girl arch into her, clearly wanting more, despite her indecision.
She could feel it, though, that slight hesitation. Cat knew Kara so well by now, and she knew that Kara thought that she was the one taking advantage of Cat, instead of the other way around.
"I summoned you, Kiera. The only reason you're here is because I wanted you," as she spoke she pulled back, just enough so that she could look at the girl, could let Kara see the desire in her eyes. "You're here because I decided to let you into my life, because I decided that I wanted you to stay."
Cat halted the movement of her hands, stopped her exploitation of Kara's body to let her words sink in without further distraction. Still, she didn't move away, keeping just enough pressure between them to make it very clear to the girl that she wanted this, wanted her.
A moment, two, and then… then Kara relaxed against her, choosing to believe in Cat, choosing to trust that Cat wasn't lying to her, would never lie to her, not about this.
Being given that much faith was exhilarating, and Cat knew that she would never, could never, break it.
"I don't know what to do," Kara finally managed to voice, and even through the uncertainty, Cat knew she had won.
"You told me once that you exist to serve humans, Kiera, that it is in your nature to help us, to do what we want," Kara nodded, "so just give in, Kiera, just give into your nature. All you have to do is listen to me, to let me direct you. Can you do that, Kiera, can you give into me?"
"Of course, Miss Grant," Cat was gratified that the voice sounded more confident now, more sure. "As you say, it's my nature to follow your will," although whether Kara was speaking about humans in general, at this point, or more directly about just Cat herself, Cat couldn't be sure.
But either way, it got her what she wanted.
"Good girl," she whispered, and this time, this time as she spoke the term of endearment, she knew that the Devil shivered in response.
/
When Cat woke up the next morning Kara was gone, but a single, black feather had been left behind, a small offering on the pillow next to her head. It was a black so deep that it became reflective, and when Cat held it up to the sun she could only watch in wonder as the light was magnified and intensified, shining even more brightly despite, or maybe because of, the darkness.
She hadn't seen Kara's wings last night, but now that she knew that Kara did indeed have them, she was very much looking forward to seeing them, to seeing everything about Kara, to claiming everything that Kara had to offer.
"Next time, Kiera," she spoke to the empty room, "I'll be waiting."
