On Monday morning, Cat greeted her assistant as if nothing had changed, grabbing the latte out of Kara's hand and beginning her usual flurry of demands. The rest of CatCo was relieved to see Kara back, having heard rumors that she'd quit on Friday. The only clue that anything was different between them was Cat's murmured "thank you" as Kara left her office.
The morning went smoothly, and Kara found that she was nearly caught up on work by noontime, with no Supergirl emergencies to interrupt her. She was so relieved that she'd come back to work. She knew that a large part of her job involved fetching lattes and lettuce wraps, but recently Cat had begun to trust her with more important tasks as well, such as proofreading articles before they reached her boss's desk. She was currently reading an article for the sports section that badly needed some editing. She shook her head. Cat would fire the writer immediately if she saw this pathetic attempt. She emailed the author with some suggestions for improvement, and moved on to the next article.
That afternoon, Cat had an appearance scheduled on television. Kara had meticulously arranged for hair and makeup to come by early, knowing that her boss liked everything to be perfect, and then followed Cat down to the television studio in case her boss needed anything. Cat was being interviewed about the changing roles of women in the workplace, and Kara knew this particular appearance was incredibly important to her boss.
She watched with pride as Cat spoke eloquently about the challenges women face today, and the subtle forms of sexism that keep women from getting the recognition they deserve. She explained that it is possible for women to reach positions of power, but only if they have thick skins and hide their emotions well. "It's a shame that women have to act that way to be taken seriously."
The program's host brought up the example of Supergirl as a woman who wore her emotions on her sleeve, but whom the city has fallen in love with anyway. Cat smiled and responded, "Well, it helps if you can bench-press a plane and shoot lasers out of your eyes."
The host laughed, but Cat quickly continued, "I hope that Supergirl can be the exception, although I honestly believe that she's been held to higher standards than her cousin has. I have tried to push her from the start, because I felt that was the key to this city embracing her." Cat paused, thinking for a moment. "But she's not like any other woman I've met. It's impossible not to see her goodness and beauty when you look at her, and I think people can't help but be drawn to that. She is a tremendously important symbol in our society, and I think she can help to change the perception of women everywhere."
Cat risked a quick glance at Kara, sending her a smile, and Kara smiled warmly in return. Just then, Kara's phone rang. "Supergirl," Alex said, "we need your help. There's a bridge in danger of collapsing."
"Be right there," Kara said.
She stood up and looked at Cat, who nodded slightly. Kara smiled at her before ducking out of the studio.
When she reached the bridge in question, the situation was dire. "Alex, what the hell happened here?" She stared at the destruction: there was a hole in the bridge, and another section was dangling, about to collapse into the river.
"It was a bomb. The rest of the bridge is probably safe, so see if you can do something about that part that's about to fall."
"What exactly can I do? Hold it up myself?" Kara shook her head.
"Well, that could work," Alex said, missing the sarcasm, or perhaps just choosing to ignore it.
"Good thing I had a big breakfast this morning," Kara said, sighing. She flew underneath the collapsing section, which was a good twenty feet lower than the adjacent part of the bridge, and lifted it slowly, bringing it level with the adjacent part of the bridge. She held it there, wincing at the extreme weight, while cars slowly made their way off the dangerous section of the bridge.
Once the last car had escaped, Alex said, "Okay, you're all set. But Kara, do you think you could carry that section over to the shore, rather than dumping it into the water? It's probably not good for the fish."
"I'll try," Kara said, sighing. "This thing's kind of heavy." She grunted with exertion as she slowly carried the mass of metal and concrete toward the side of the river. She dropped it onto an unoccupied section of the shore, and sank to the ground in relief. "Why would someone bomb a bridge?"
"Still working on that, Supergirl. But I think we just got a clue. Lord Industries has been attacked."
"It was a diversion," Kara concluded. "Of course." She sighed and took off. "I'm on my way."
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By the time she reached Lord Industries, there was no sign of the attackers. She knew, from the descriptions given by security guards, that it must have been the work of Astra and Non. Lord's human guards stood no chance against such a formidable enemy.
Hank and Alex arrived not long after Kara did, and spent a few minutes trying to pry information out of the always-elusive Maxwell Lord. About the only thing he was willing to admit was that they'd hacked into his computer systems, but he would not allow the DEO's experts any access to those computers to determine what they were looking for. He assured the agents he would take care of the problem himself, and asked them to please leave his property.
The agents and superhero glared at him, but they couldn't exactly arrest him for being hacked, so eventually they agreed to leave.
It was late when Kara returned to CatCo, so she was not surprised to see that everyone was gone, even her boss. Out of habit, she glanced down to the parking garage, and saw that Cat's car had left, but… what was that? It looked like there was a man tied up and blindfolded in the corner of the garage.
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Cat had exited the elevator into the parking garage while glancing at her phone, and stepped into the open door of her car without even looking up. She was alarmed to see a man in the back seat of the limo with her, and even more alarmed to recognize him as the one who had tried to attack her in the nightclub.
"Well, well, it's Cat Grant!" he said in greeting, as the car took off out of the parking lot. "I didn't realize who you were at first, but when I saw you on TV, I finally put it together. Cat Grant turned me down last week." He leaned closer to Cat, and the woman could smell the alcohol on his breath. "I'm gonna let you in on a secret, Cat. No one turns me down."
Cat was afraid, but she was not about to let him know. "Get out of my car, you disgusting pervert," she spat.
"I'm afraid that's not gonna happen, Cat. Not until you give me what I came here for. I've been thinking all afternoon about putting that mouth of yours to good use." He reached toward Cat and wrapped his arms around her waist, sliding them upward and grabbing at her breasts. She struggled against him, but she knew she stood no chance against his strength. He ripped her blouse open, and slipped his hands underneath. Then he tried to push one hand under her skirt, while she kicked and flailed wildly. "You're a pathetic excuse for a human being," Cat managed to say.
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Kara raced down to the garage in her Supergirl outfit, and was horrified to discover that Cat's driver was the man she'd spotted in the garage. While she untied him and yanked the cloth off of his mouth, she inquired desperately as to Cat's whereabouts.
The man shook his head. "These two guys attacked me, and they took her away in my car. I don't know where they were going with her."
Supergirl nodded, and then took off. She listened carefully, searching for Cat's voice. After a few moments, she heard, "You're a pathetic excuse for a human being." She zeroed in on the voice, and saw the car racing down the street a few blocks away. So angry she could barely breathe, she zoomed toward the source of the sound, and landed in front of the car. The driver slammed on the brakes, but there was no need – she stopped the vehicle with one hand. She yanked open the back door angrily, and saw Cat sitting in the back, with her blouse ripped open and skirt pushed up.
She grabbed the man sitting next to Cat, and dragged him out of the vehicle. "You!" she said in shock, recognizing the man who had attacked Cat in the nightclub. It took her a moment to realize he'd have no idea that she knew who he was.
He stared at the superhero, and began to stammer an excuse. "Supergirl, she got into the car with me, and then she was all over me. It's a good thing you stopped her."
Kara punched him, a little harder than was strictly necessary, and he sank to the ground as he lost consciousness. Then she grabbed the driver out of the front seat, and tied him up with rope she found in the passenger's seat. By now, traffic had stopped and a crowd had gathered, so the police were quick to arrive. Supergirl gave them the basics, and they took the men away.
She slid into the back seat and pulled Cat into her arms. "Are you okay?" she asked softly, holding Cat tightly. The older woman nodded silently, not yet trusting herself to talk. "I'm taking you home, okay?" Another nod.
Kara picked the woman up, and quickly flew her away from the commotion. She took Cat straight to her penthouse apartment, and brought her to her bedroom to change out of her ripped clothing. She stood just outside the door while Cat changed, and then grasped her hand and took her out into the living room, where Carter was waiting.
"Supergirl!" he said in surprise. Then he looked at his mother's tear-stained face and shaking hands. "Mom? What happened?"
Cat didn't know what to say. She was not going to tell her son what had nearly taken place in the car, nor how she'd met the man, and probably deserved whatever happened to her. Kara saved her the embarrassment. "Your mom was taken by a deranged man," the hero said. "Fortunately, I heard her voice, and stopped the car. He's been arrested."
Carter paled. "Mom, are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
"I'm okay, Carter," Cat said weakly. "I just need to be more careful from now on." She should not have been spending her time at bars, and inviting this sort of attention.
Kara gave her a long look. "It's not your fault, Cat," she said softly. "You're not responsible for what men like that do."
"I know," Cat responded, although she sounded anything but convinced.
"Mom, I'm so glad you're okay," Carter said, coming over to give his mother a tight hug. She held on, squeezing her eyes shut to keep the tears from falling. When Carter finally let her go, he wrapped Supergirl in an equally tight hug. "Thank you for looking out for my mom," he said softly.
"Anytime," Kara said, smiling warmly at the teenager. "Your mom is a pretty important to me."
"Yes, well," Cat said briskly, "it's getting late and I'm sure you have other places to be, Supergirl."
"Actually, I thought I'd stick around here for tonight," Kara responded. "I'm not taking any chances on your safety."
Cat was about to object, but Carter smiled and said, "Thanks, Supergirl," and the objection died in her throat. If Kara's presence made Carter feel better, she wasn't going to argue with the superhero.