Kara barely manages to maintain the level of control she'd gained over her powers the next day, distracted as she was by Alex's words. She'd all but pushed her attraction to Cat out of her mind once she'd realized where it was heading, and with just a few sentences Alex had completely undone all of it. Only the knowledge that her abilities would absolutely be able to harm her sister and the woman she's growing to care about allow her to keep them in line, though the strain does keep Kara fairly quiet for the beginning of the drive.
Cat seems to notice, and Kara knows Alex does, but they both seem content to leave her to her thoughts. Cat wordlessly offers her snacks every time she shifts, and Alex keeps the radio on a comforting volume in the front. Conversation occasionally flows between the two of them, but they never push to involve Kara, and the few times she chimes in, she can feel Cat studying her, making sure she's okay.
It's enough to send a flush of warmth through Kara each time, which would be pleasant if not for the way she can feel it gathering at her eyes if she dwells on it for too long. She has to get better at control, or she risks the safety of the two women who have come to mean so much to her.
It's what makes her grateful when they find an abandoned field, because now she can practice, can learn to control the heat even when she's thinking about Cat. Kara already knows she'll need the practice, no matter what does or doesn't happen between them.
"Is she okay?" Kara hears Cat ask as she's focusing on the targets in front of her, the distance between them not seeming to matter when it comes to overhearing. Despite the low volume of Cat's question, she can hear it as clearly as if Cat is talking to her instead. "She's been quiet all morning."
"That's, well, that's probably my fault," Alex admits, surprising Kara and making her miss the target. Thankfully her accuracy still isn't always the best, so the slip seems to go unnoticed. "I pointed something out to her this morning, and I'm sure she's dwelling on it more than she should be."
"That sounds like Kara," Cat says with a laugh, the warmth in her voice making Kara flush, and lending a little extra punch to her heat vision, the target exploding just a bit more violently than the previous ones. At least she was on target. "Is it anything I need to worry about?" the follow-up question comes after a pause that Kara knows means the extra punch had been noticed, but when she goes back to the usual shots they seem to accept it as a fluke.
"Probably, but it's not something I'm going to talk to you about." Kara knows Alex is only trying to help, that she hadn't really told Cat anything personal, but she can't help twisting around, heat vision kept carefully in check as she glares at her sister. Whatever is happening between Cat and herself, it should be Kara's responsibility to face. Not Alex's on her behalf.
"Everything okay?" Cat calls as Alex falls silent next to her, confusion clear on both of their faces. "What's wrong, Kara?"
"Apparently hearing is one of the things that's not quite normal about me," Kara calls back, wincing at the way her own voice echoes in her ears. Even from across the field Alex spots the grimace, and quickly starts to Kara's side, ignoring the way the look turns to a glare. "Why'd you have to tell her that?" Kara whispers as Alex reaches her side, struggling to shut out the sound of her sister's breathing so she can focus.
"Because one of you needed to do something about it," Alex says just as quietly, reaching out to carefully place her hand on Kara's shoulder. "And the investigative reporter is probably the one who's most likely."
"You shouldn't have told her," Kara says, voice dropping even further as the wind picks up around them, the rushing sound overwhelming in power as she struggles for control. "It's so loud, Alex. So loud."
Kara barely notices the quiet, comforting reassurances her sister offers when she sinks to the ground, hands covering her ears in a futile attempt to block out the noise. She notices even less when Alex leaves her side, knowing that her sister wouldn't just leave her for no reason. And before she has a chance to feel even a flicker of abandonment Cat has taken her place. It's just as overwhelming as Alex's presence had been, but more familiar despite having known Cat for a much shorter time. She's broken down while near Cat more often than she has around Alex, at least lately, and somehow that's enough to make her presence reassuring.
"Focus on me, and me alone," Cat keeps whispering, until Kara manages to filter out what she's saying from the noise around her. It's hard, harder than controlling her heat vision, but slowly she manages. Not perfectly, the wind is still loud in her ears, the rasp of her clothing against her body is louder even than that, but she can tune them out, keep them from overwhelming her. As long as Cat keeps talking, Kara can focus on her and not breaking down.
When Alex slips noise cancelling headphones over her ears, Kara jumps in shock, because even though she'd heard her sister coming she'd been too focused to register it. And the headphones don't work to completely block the overwhelming surges of sound around her, but with them muted it's easier to focus through the background noise and on Cat. And with that help, she manages to get some control over her hearing, not just tuning the wind out but managing to shut it out completely. And through it all Cat keeps whispering, grounding Kara and serving as a solid anchor.
"Thank you," Kara says once she gets the noise under control, relieved when she can speak at normal volume without wincing at the volume. "I don't know how you two don't get tired of me and all of this."
"It's only the second day, you're not getting rid of us that easily," Cat says with a determined look on her face, leaning closer into Kara's side as Alex nods her agreement in the background. "And that would only matter if you were being a burden, and you're nothing of the sort."
"I'm going to get a blanket from the car, you're shivering Kara," Alex says in concern, though Kara knows her sister well enough to know while the excuse is perfectly valid, she's also leaving so they'll have a moment of privacy to talk. And she's not sure she's ready for that, but at the same time the way Cat is looking at her so softly, the way her hand carefully rests on Kara's arm to give her another level of steady contact to focus her attention on, every bit of Cat's demeanor pulls her in. Between Alex's comments and the way Cat is looking at her now, the last of Kara's reservations about timing are nothing more than distracting murmurs in the background, tuned out with the wind.
"Are you okay?" Cat asks softly, moving to stop Kara when she reaches up to take the headphones off. "We should probably leave those on for a little while longer, make sure you're ready before we take them off."
Kara pouts a little, if only because she knows it will make Cat smile. She knows it's the right call, but she's tired of having to watch all of her actions, to put up walls just to stay sane and protect those around her. She knows it will be easier with practice, but right now it just feels like everything is conspiring against her.
"I'm fine, just got overwhelmed," Kara says after a minute. Looking at how Cat is kneeling next to her she realizes there's no way the woman can be comfortable, so despite the fact she isn't hurting from the awkward angle, Kara shifts so she's sitting rather than crouched, carefully drawing Cat down beside her. "Thank you, for helping me. I think it would have taken a lot longer to calm down without you."
"I take it you overheard what we were talking about?" Cat asks quietly, waving off Kara's thanks. "I'm sorry if you felt we were going behind your back in any way. I just wanted to be sure you were okay."
"I know, and I wasn't really upset," Kara admits, calm now that the quick flash of anger has faded. "I was, a little, but at the same time I know you both were just looking out for me." She can't quite manage to look at Cat as she talks, staring instead at the hand still resting comfortingly on her forearm. It doesn't feel like the right time to talk about this, but she isn't sure she'll ever really be ready, and at least she's already uncomfortable, so it's not like that can get worse.
"One of these days you'll quite being surprised I care so much," Cat says with a laugh, free hand raising to gently cup Kara's chin and tilt her head upwards until they're making eye contact. "You're amazing, and astonishing, and being able to help you, well, it's given me a direction these past few weeks. I haven't been just wandering around trying to find a story to break. And even if I never tell this story, even if all that comes from this time is helping you, I've learned more from you than I'd thought possible."
The softness in Cat's eyes and voice, the way she looks at Kara almost in wonder, all of it crashes into the jumble of thoughts in Kara's mind as she struggles to put what she's feeling into words. She knows now that she needs to tell Cat what's going through her head, but she can't verbalize it. She doesn't know how, everything that comes to mind seems trite and meaningless. She can feel an emptiness where the words should sit, but somehow even without remembering them she knows they're in Kryptonian. The only words that can explain what she's feeling, and they wouldn't do her any good even if she knew them.
But if she can't speak, then Kara knows she needs to show Cat. Her eyes linger for a moment on lips that look invitingly soft, but her courage abandons her and she instead leans in for a close hug, careful to avoid exerting any real pressure lest her strength be the next power to make an appearance. They hold the hug for a long moment, before Cat pulls back just enough to look her in the eyes again. The emotions in her eyes match the ones still swirling through Kara, and the intensity of the sudden connection nearly makes her gasp. She would, if she thought she could manage the needed breath.
And when Cat ends up being the one to press their lips together, leaning forward slowly as if giving Kara the chance to back away, her breath leaves her completely, following all rational thought as the world narrows to the soft slide of Cat's lips against hers. Somehow, she'd never expected Cat to be the one to take this step, but Kara is grateful that the other woman is apparently braver than she is.
"Come on you guys, we need to get to the motel quick if I'm going to change the reservation to two rooms," Alex calls from where she'd been waiting by the SUV for who knows how long.
Kara blushes as her sister's meaning sinks in, knowing that it's entirely teasing but unable to banish the sudden rush of images from her mind in time to keep from reacting. Somehow she manages to keep the heat confined to her cheeks, despite feeling it inch towards her eyes, and thinks that's probably enough practice for the day.
When Cat sits immediately beside her rather than against the other window, Kara blushes again, catching Alex smirking at them in the rearview mirror. But she can't bring herself to care, not when one arm is draped carefully around Cat's shoulders as the other woman curls into her side.
They'll have to talk about it later, but for now, Kara just wants to sit in this moment.