2 - Aftermath

Agent Alex Danvers stood barely inside the door of Cat's hospital room with her hands in her back pockets, watching her sleeping sister holding her mercurial boss protectively in her arms. Then Cat stirred a little and snuggled closer, her face pressing to Kara's neck, and Alex suddenly felt like she was intruding on an intimacy she knew nothing about. But Cat and Kara? No, Kara would have told her. Wouldn't she?

Then the younger Danvers sister opened her eyes and smiled. "Hey," she whispered as Alex moved closer to the bed. "Thanks for coming."

"I'm glad she's getting some sleep," the dark woman replied. "I can't imagine what she's been through."

"She was sexually assaulted and it's been just horrible for her. She's been restless and having nightmares but I think she's finally settled down now."

"Oh my God, I didn't realize," Alex replied quietly. "She asked for you to come here?" For a moment, the older Danvers sister sat on the fence about saying anything but she finally decided to ask. "Kara…" she began slowly. "Are you and Cat… um… sleeping together?"

The young woman's brow scrunched confusedly. "Here?"

Alex shook her head. "No, I mean, are you in a relationship? You seem… it's kinda…"

Kara tipped her head back against the headboard for a moment. "I can't say yes, Alex, but here's something happening between Cat and me… Supergirl me… but..." She sighed then. "We can't quite seem to move forward. It started when we hugged the night of the myriad thing and didn't quite want to let go. Since then, we're been…"

"Dancing around each other?" The older Danvers sister pursed her lips. "Ok."

Cat stirred again and opened her eyes, first focusing on Kara, at whom she smiled, and then on Alex. The green orbs were tired and bloodshot. "Agent Scully."

Kara chuckled. "I see your sense of humor is coming back."

Alex reached out and squeezed Cat's uninjured hand. "Cat. I am so sorry this happened to you. How are you feeling?"

"Tired, angry, violated…" She paused as she looked at Kara again. "But safe now. Thank you for coming, Alex."

"Any time," Agent Danvers replied. "You're very important to this family. Is there anything I can get for you? You guys must be hungry."

Kara nodded. "Donuts?" she asked hopefully. "Banana nut bread for Cat. One latte with non-fat milk and two sweeteners and you know mine."

"You got it," Alex replied with a smile. "The sun's up. I'm going to check in with Director Henshaw and let him know I'll be with you. Back shortly."

"Thanks, Alex," Kara replied as her sister slipped out of the room.

Cat cleared her throat. "I can only imagine what your sister thought when she came in to find us in bed together."

Kara grinned. "Technically, you're in the bed. I'm just on top of it. Besides, it's not the first time I've shared a bed with a woman." It was only when it popped out of her mouth that Kara realized how that sounded. "That's not what I… I mean… I…"

Cat actually laughed as her assistant, who was quickly becoming her friend, started to freak out. "I know what you meant, Kara. Besides, haven't we all had our college experiences?"

Kara's heart picked up a little as she sighed. "Yeah, I guess." They just looked at each other for a moment before a doctor entered the room and smiled at them both. The two women untangled themselves and Kara got up to let the doctor speak with the CEO. "I'll wait outside." But Cat shook her head and tugged a little on her hand so the hero just stayed where she was.

"Good morning, Miss Grant. I'm Doctor McMahon. How are you feeling?" He examined Cat's face, eyes and hand.

"I'm feeling ok. Just very sore," she replied. "In multiple places. When can I go home?"

The doctor smiled. "Well, you don't have a concussion and your bruises will heal in a couple of weeks. The x-ray of your hand didn't show any fractures or breaks." Kara discreetly tipped her glasses down and confirmed all that with her x-ray vision. "So really, you're free to leave as soon as you feel up to it."

"What about the possibility of pregnancy. Or STDs."

"We're running tests at the moment and we'll have the results tomorrow but we didn't find any semen which means he was probably wearing a condom. The risk of an STD is lower. In a few minutes, a nurse will bring you a pill to prevent pregnancy. Again just as a precaution." He stepped a little closer and rubbed Cat's arm. "We'll take good care of you, Miss Grant and I'm so sorry you've had to go through all of this. Do you have someone to be with you?"

"Me," Kara immediately replied. "I'm going to stay with Miss Grant at her house."

"Kara…" Cat began. "I can't ask you to do that."

"No arguments. I don't want you to be alone and I know it's going to be at least two weeks before Carter gets back from his vacation with his Dad."

Doctor McMahon nodded. "You should listen to your friend, Miss Grant. This has been a horrible, traumatic incident and you shouldn't be alone."

Alex also spoke up as she set breakfast down on the bedside table. "Plus she has the Danvers stubborn streak and will just do it anyway so I wouldn't bother arguing."

Cat smiled. "Alright," she agreed. "I would appreciate your staying with me, Kara. And of course, come by any time, Alex."

The doctor smiled once more. "I'll prepare your paperwork then, Miss Grant, and we can get you home."

..

Two hours later, Kara and Cat slid out of the back of Alex's black SUV. "Thanks for the ride, Alex. I'll call you later on, ok?" Kara said, kissing her sister's cheek through the rolled-down window.

"Take care of her," the older Danvers sister replied. "And you take care of my sister," she added with a smile for Cat.

As she pulled away, she saw Cat and Kara walking slowly up the pathway to the front door, the younger blonde's arm around her boss and a small suitcase in her other hand.

..

Kara leaned against the door of Cat's bedroom balcony, watching the CEO as she stood looking out over the city. She had a glass of scotch in her hand and she was sipping it absently. It was clear to the hero that her friend was not really there.

Kara crossed the room slowly and stepped out into the warm sun. She felt a surge of energy as her Kryptonian cells sucked the light in but pushed the euphoric feeling aside as she focused on her boss. "Miss Grant?"

"You called me Cat at the hospital," came the quiet reply. "I like it when you call me that."

"Ok," the hero replied with a smile. "Cat, please tell me what you need?"

Cat turned and Kara saw the tears on her cheeks. "I don't know what I need," she murmured. "I'm not even sure how I feel right now." She took a seat on a small couch.

"Tell me what happened, Cat?" Kara asked, joining her there and taking her hand to hold it gently between her own. Cat's fingers closed around hers and, for a moment, Kara thought that she would refuse. Finally, the words came out thick and emotional. "I was on the phone with Carter. He was telling me how bored he was with his father and we were laughing and trying to come up ways to make things more interesting." She sipped on her scotch again. "I got into the car but I didn't notice who the driver was."

Kara sighed. "The police found Sam unconscious in the parking garage. The replacement driver clocked him over the head but he's ok."

"Good," Cat nodded. "I was talking to Carter for a while and when we finally hung up and I looked out the window, I realized that I didn't recognize where I was." She began to tremble and Kara just held her hand tighter. "I called up front and knocked on the glass but the driver just ignored me. I knocked again and again and then started shouting for him to stop but he just kept driving. By the time I was scared enough to call 911, he was pulling up under an overpass. It was dark because he killed the headlights. I could see the cars up on the bridge but they were so far away. I got my cell phone out and I was just about to call 911, when the door opened and a man slid in next to me. He was big and his arms were huge and was wearing a thick woolen mask. I could barely see in the dim light of the car and even less when he closed the door." Tears rose again and spilled down Cat's cheeks but her voice remained mostly steady. "He just said Hello Cat and immediately attacked me." She looked up suddenly. "Oh my… I remember now. I tried to scream for you, Supergirl." Their eyes met but Kara didn't deny Cat's words. Her friend deserved more than that so she simply nodded. "But he had thick gloves on and he covered my mouth. I tried to bite him but the gloves were protecting his hands so I scratched him instead, as hard as I could and I swung at him. I'm pretty sure I landed a couple of blows. He gasped and then he hit me a couple of times and after that… I barely remember… his hands were on me. I felt... tugging at my clothes but I was groggy and I couldn't really move." The scotch was sloshing in the glass from the tremors of Cat's hand so Kara took the glass from her and set it on the small table in front of them. The CEO was gasping, panicked. She pulled her hands away from Kara and covered her face. "It hurt so much. He was on top of me. Panting. Heaving. Oh God…"

Kara was crying now too and she just reached for her friend, crushing their bodies together, wrapping her up in her arms as Cat whimpered and clung to her just as hard. "It's ok, I've got you," the hero murmured as she stroked her hair and rocked her. "I've got you now. I'm so sorry I wasn't there, Cat. I'm so sorry."

They stayed like that for a long time until Cat finally sniffled and eased back a little. "How could you have known?" Slowly, she slipped the glasses off of Kara's nose and let her hair down from its pony tail. "There's no way you could have known, Kara." She gently cupped the hero's cheek. "This was no one's fault except the bastards who obviously planned this and targeted me specifically. They knew exactly what they were doing." She sighed. "When the doctors finished the…" She couldn't quite say the words. "Detective West asked me who she wanted me to call and I couldn't think of anyone else but you, Kara. I couldn't even begin to trust anyone but you."

"I'm glad you asked for me," the younger blonde replied, her voice almost a whisper as she brushed a ghost of a kiss against Cat's forehead. "Because no one would have wanted to be there more than I did." Cat picked up her glass of scotch and took a healthy sip before tucking her feet up and resting against Kara's shoulder once more.