A/N: Thanks for the reviews and comments so far, I've truly appreciated them. There's still lots of stuff for our heroines to work their way through as the challenges of life continue to impact them. Enjoy!
Supergirl is the property of the CW, I own zip, zero, nada, nothing, zilch of it, I just soooo love writing about it.
Cat Grant poured a drink and went outside onto the balcony of her penthouse to check on her sleeping charge, Kara. She smiled at the sight of her sleeping soundly on the lounge chair, obviously soaking up the sunshine. Cat sat down in a chair nearby and started to think about all that had happened to them over the past week.
What is this 'Cadmus' place? From the look on Kara's face and the behaviour of those two goons I suspect that it's not a very alien friendly place at all. Cat shuddered as she recalled the evil look on the faces of the colonel and the doctor who'd tormented her and Kara with the threat of pain. The reporter in her wanted to know more; but the mother in her feared what might happen to her or to Carter if she got too close. Careful Cat, don't let your inquisitive mind take you down a road that leads to a very unhappy place.
Cat sipped her drink slowly, enjoying the peace and quiet; Carter was in Europe with his father for 2 months; she missed him deeply but she also knew that it was going to be the experience of a lifetime and she wanted him to have all the experiences life had to offer, well, good experiences. Kara began to moan slightly in her sleep; her head moving from side to side; her face wrinkling up in pain of some sort.
"Alex?" Kara whimpered, her eyes still shut; head moving from side to side; her breathing was fast and deeper.
She's having some sort of a dream, Cat reasoned from what she could see going on with Kara's movements.
"No! Cat! Alex!" Kara cried out in her sleep, hands up to protect her face from some sort of a blow.
Cat immediately put down her drink and went to Kara's side, "Kara! Kara! Wake up, you're safe, it's okay."
Kara's eyes shot open, her face filled with terror. "Cat!" Kara wrapped her arms around her, "You're ok! Where's Alex?"
"Shhh, calm down, Kara," Cat said as she held Kara, rubbing her back and trying her best to soothe the frightened girl; "I'm ok and so is Alex, she had to leave to take care of some work at the DEO but she'll be back for dinner."
Kara let go of Cat and laid back on the lounge; her eyes were closed but tears were streaming down her cheeks as she remembered the nightmare. After taking a few deep breaths, Kara opened her eyes to look at Cat through her tears, "Sorry about that Ms. Grant. Bad dream."
Cat just sat on the lounge chair facing Kara, watching her as she calmed down from what was obviously a horrible nightmare. "Do you want to tell me about the dream, Kara?"
"Not really, Ms. Grant." Kara said opening her eyes and looking away from Cat; to which Cat raised an eyebrow at her, "Sorry, I mean Cat."
"Ok," Cat looked at Kara's face with concern, "How was your rest; aside from the bad dream that is, are you feeling any better?"
"It was a nice nap, thanks." Kara answered, "I'm doing okay."
"Hmmm," Cat looked at through slightly closed eyes as if inspecting to see if there were any tells on Kara's face as to the truth of the statement. "Care to try that one again?"
Kara laughed a bit at Cat's challenge of her wellbeing, "Seems you're the one with the super-vision; I'm not going to be able to hide much from you, am I?"
"Life will be so much easier for me; and more pleasant for you if you're honest with your answers in the first place. Remember, I do have Dr. Hamilton's number in my phone and I'm not afraid to use it!" Cat smiled at Kara. "Not that I need her to help me with you; but the face you make when I threaten to call her is priceless and I simply cannot resist."
"Now you see, Cat," Kara giggled at bit, "I keep telling people that you're not as mean as you appear to be and then you go and make that kind of a threat. People are not going to trust me if they think I'm a liar."
The two laughed at the joke for a minute or so. "Seriously, Kara," Cat asked, "What's your pain level at?"
"If I tell you can you promise not to give me another of Dr. Hamilton's sleepytime pills? I can handle a little pain for a while." Kara asked with a pleading puppy look on her face.
"Well," Cat grinned, "that depends on just how bad the pain is and on how truthful you are with me. So, what's the pain level at in your head and your side?"
"My head is very low, like a 2-3, but my side is around a 4; I guess the shooting up from the dream didn't help the situation." Kara answered, putting her hand to her side. "Let's give it a few minutes to see if it goes down, please, before we try the pain meds route."
"Ok," Cat agreed, "I'm going to refill my drink, can I get you something? You must be thirsty lying in the sun for the past few hours."
"Thank you," Kara replied, "I'd love a cool glass of water; but I think I can get up and get it myself." As soon as she uttered the words, she knew she'd said the wrong thing, but it was too late to take it back.
"Absolutely not!" Cat pounced on Kara, "It's too soon, you still have stitches in your side and I'm not going to explain to Alex while she's helping me get you up off the floor if you fall why I let you up in the first place. I'll get the water, you lie there, quietly."
A few moments later Cat returned with her fresh drink and a large glass of ice water for Kara; who happily drank nearly half of it before taking a breath.
"Better?" Cat asked Kara.
"Much, I was parched." Kara smiled as she turned to set the glass on the table next to the lounge chair.
The women sat in silence for several minutes; Cat slowly sipping her drink, Kara reclining on the lounge chair continuing to soak up the sun. It was Cat who broke the silence first.
"Kara," Cat asked, "How did your talk with Alex go after lunch? Is everything ok?"
"Yeah," Kara responded, "She told me that she wasn't allowed to tell me about the DEO and also couldn't tell me about kryptonite as it was a DEO classified thingy; the part where they shot me down with the darts and then held me to that table with the cuffs had her really pissed. She nearly quit the DEO, she said they did it without her knowledge and I believe her. So we're good about all that. The next thing I know I'm being woken up by you."
"Good," Cat nodded her head, "I'm glad she gave you the answers you needed and that you two are working through your stuff. She's been terrified that once you two talk about all that's happened, that she's going to lose you as a result."
Kara turned her head to look at Cat, "It's going to take way, way more than anything we've been through for her to lose me; I love her way too much and I know she loves me lots too."
Cat looked down at her nearly empty glass, "Speaking of love, Kara, I meant what I said about our relationship when you were still at the DEO; I've come to see you as a kind of daughter to me, if that's okay with you?"
"Oh Cat," Kara smiled at her, "you've no idea what that means to me. I know I have Eliza, but her and I never really seemed to click in the mother-daughter way; I never seem to be able to do anything wrong in her eyes; you on the other hand are completely honest with me whether I'm doing well or need some correction. In fact, you're a lot like my mom on Krypton was; she was strong but gentle; always encouraging me to do better, to be better; she never let me away with anything; and neither do you."
Cat smiled at Kara, not sure what to say to the young woman. "So, how's the pain in the side now?" Her eyebrow raised just slightly indicating to Kara that she expected the truth.
"It's still about a 4 but I'd rather not take anything for it, it's really not that bad that I can't manage it if I lay still. Look at it as a way to keep me resting and not trying to get up." Kara grinned at Cat.
"Very sneaky," Cat sneered at Kara, "I'll let you away with it for now, but, if it starts to go up, I need you to promise me you'll tell me, okay?"
"Deal!" the delight in Kara's voice was noticeable. "So, I'm just wondering…"
"Oh my goodness!" Cat jumped in, "you're thinking about dinner, aren't you?"
"Maybe…" Kara smiled sheepishly, "Recuperating is very tiring work, a person can build up quite an appetite."
Cat laughed, "At least that's a good sign that you're getting back to your normal self. Any preferences?"
"Pizza and then a movie, or two?" Kara ventured.
"Pizza, yes; movie, definitely not," Cat asserted, "you're on brain rest my dear and rest your brain will get. I'll call Alex and get her to pick up pizza on her way back from the DEO."
Kara let out an audible sigh at the rejection of the movies.
Cat picked up her phone and sent Alex a message regarding the dinner request by Kara; Alex immediately texted back with a bunch of emoji's to which Cat rolled her eyes, "Can't you millennials use your words! I suppose happy faces mean it's a good thing?"
Kara laughed so hard she had to grab her side, "Yep, Cat, smiley happy faces are good things!"
Kara sighed when she stopped laughing, "Cat, I think I need to take that pain medication and go inside for another nap before Alex gets home."
Cat looked at Kara with a bit of concern on her face, "Did the pain in your side go up?"
"Yeah," Kara winced, "and my headache is coming back."
Kara looked away from Cat, trying to hide the tears, but Cat was too quick for it to escape her noticing. "Are you okay?" Cat asked concerned.
"It's just….." Kara trailed off before finishing her sentence.
"It's just…what?" Cat pressed in a bit.
"It's just that I'm a bit scared," Kara answered, "that my powers won't come back; that the kryptonite they stuck in me did me permanent harm and Supergirl is lost for forever." Kara began to openly sob at the admission to herself; and to Cat.
Cat went back over to Kara and sitting down next to her, she took the young hero in her arms and just held her tightly, letting her cry it out before speaking. "Kara, you're going to be just fine, I know that in my heart. They did something very horrible to you and your body needs time to recover; don't try to rush it; just let it happen and before you know it, you'll be soaring through the skies, saving the day again."
"But what if…" Kara tried to speak but Cat jumped in.
"No, no what if's. I believe that your powers will return; but here's the thing, if they don't your life isn't over, it'll just be different and you're a hero at heart, so I know you'll figure out how to help people as Kara Danvers. But, I really and truly to believe deep in my soul that Supergirl isn't gone for good, she's just a wounded hero, she'll be back, you mark my words. Now, let's get you inside and onto the sofa; tackle that pain and have a rest before pizza and your crazy sister get back, ok?"
Kara nodded and with Cat's help she got up from the lounge chair and went inside to lie down on the sofa. As the medication kicked in and Kara began to drift to sleep, she smiled and said, "Thanks Ms. Grant, I love you."
Before Cat could answer Kara was fast asleep. "I love you too, my wounded hero."