My lovelies! I have survived, a little ragged, a lot more stressed, but alas... alive! Something tells me this story will be my salvation during the semester. Thank you for all the reviews and new follows!
Kara made it to CatCo, only a few minutes late. She slipped into the content meeting in Cat's office without drawing anyone's attention but Ms. Grant's. The CEO eyed her without missing and beat or uncrossing her arms as she inspired and then brow-beat her investigative team. She flipped open her notepad and sank into the words flowing, grateful that no one listened to or noticed her much. It meant she could slip in late, undetected. It didn't matter anyway because she was probably getting fired. The extra time with Lena had been worth it, even if her pancakes tasted like wet paper. How had she messed up pancakes that badly? Kara grinned, felt flush creep up her chest and neck. She had an idea. It probably had something to do with Lena's breasts pressed against her back and the teasing hands on her chest. She stared at her notepad, hand poised but unmoving. Her body still hummed with the feel-good endorphins their morning sex had released. Cat dismissed her crew, and Kara stood beside the door, pretending to be absorbed in the notes she'd not taken. "Enjoy your weekend off, Ponytail?" She had, actually, enjoyed it very much, but she wasn't going to tell Snapper that. She grabbed James' arm and tugged him from the swarm.
"Hey, I know I've been a little distant lately. Game night Thursday? I, uhhh… I have something I want to tell everyone," Kara added. Cat's stare burned a hole into the side of her face, but Kara kept her eyes on his, her smile growing when he gave a little nod.
"Yeah, that sounds good."
"Great!"
She spared a glance at Cat, and he followed her thoughts, squeezed her shoulder, and dismissed himself without comment. Cat watched her with calculated eyes but said nothing when Kara's energy fell somber and she closed her office door, an event rare enough to keep Cat silent. Kara kept her head down, approaching the queen of all media with humility. Cat remained perched at the edge of her chair with a rigid spine and piercing eyes.
"Am I going to need a drink to hear whatever it is you're about to say?"
Kara went to the wet bar and poured her mentor a finger of bourbon, dropped an ice cube into it, and went out onto the balcony without comment. Dropping onto the sofa, Kara crossed her arms over her knees. She shouldn't have worn a dress for this conversation. Her cute little sundresses weren't appropriate for fall temperatures or fashion, but she really liked the yellow one with the little frills of lace at the bottom. Cat appeared, wearing her coat and an expression somewhere between confused and exasperated. Kara couldn't blame her. She was supposed to be her chosen heir, her golden reporter. It hadn't been said, but people weren't wrong when they called her Cat Grant's protégé.
Cat sat at the edge of the cushion beside her and took the glass of bourbon from her hand, downing it in one go. The ice cube clinked when she set the tumbler on the glass-topped table in front of them. Kara stood and paced on the other side with her hands on her hips. The pose made her feel powerful, and she needed that. She loved her job, loved being a reporter. She wasn't going to make her name this way, not with favors and stories offered on a neat and tidy platter that she never worked for or earned.
"Okay, Kara, just… just say it. It's like ripping off a band-aid, not that I know what that's like, but it's…" Kara babbled and paced. Cat watched, eyes moving with her former assistant but not her head. "I should just do it, just… say it. There's not a good way… to … and I… This is the right thing to do, and I…"
"And you should do it before your employer grows old and dies."
"I'm sleeping with Lena Luthor," Kara blurted. Cat's eyes widened, but she wasn't particularly shocked. Cat already knew, Kara realized.
"We're trying to figure out what that means, but…" Kara made a growling sound as she exhaled, waving her arms in front of her like a mad woman. "Oh my god, Ms. Grant, it has been so long and it's so good, and I…"
"Bup bup bup…" Cat cut her off, holding up a hand to emphasize her point, and Kara stopped pacing to look at her mentor. The older woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling as she opened them.
"Nope. No, Sunny Danvers, the less you tell me, the less the board will have to work with in terms of ruining all our lives. Honestly, they are a pack of jackals, and if you think the way they stab me in the back is bad, they will feast on your innards, Kara."
Cat paused for dramatic effect, but the point sunk into Kara's brain and shook in her fingertips. She rounded the table and slumped into the sofa, hands clasped in her lap.
"Now, what I need is bare facts, when it started and when it stopped," Cat continued.
"Oh, it… it started about a year and a half ago. I was still your assistant then. I broke it off a couple of months after she took over Luther Corp. How... how did you know it..."
"Please, Kara, I know you. I see you, better than most I think, better certainly than you think I do. You shone brighter than I thought possible, and then…" Cat waved her hand. "Your work was still impeccable, but suddenly, it lacked warmth and heart, which is something you've always poured into everything you do."
"Oh... thank you," Kara mumbled, not expecting the unprovoked compliment.
"Mmhmm, now, when did it start up again?"
"Just, um, recently... like, very, in the last couple weeks..." Kara stared hard at the corner of the coffee table where the glass looked black from the frame beneath. "I thought I would just do a couple of articles and then move on to something else, but Snapper kept assigning her to me and I remembered how much I love her and how much I was hurting not being with her. And it was okay because we weren't… together, but I think that is changing, and I want it to change even if I don't know exactly what it is changing into, and then you wanted to do the expose, and I…I can't."
"Well, that explains a few things." Cat let the thought linger between them. She grabbed her glass and disappeared into the office.
Kara looked up when she returned. "Ms. Grant… am I... am I fired?"
Cat took a sip of bourbon and sat beside her, much less rigid than before. She patted Kara's arm and sighed. "Not today, Kara, and not ever if I can help it, but for now, let me work and take the day off."
"Ms. Grant?"
"Snapper is going to have an aneurysm when he finds out, so let me worry about him."
"He's going to murder me," Kara lamented and dropped her face into her hands. Cat chuckled and rubbed her back.
"He'll throw a fit about journalistic integrity and bluster and rant, but let's face it, he's not nearly as eloquent as me."
Kara grinned and looked over at Cat, still holding her head in her hands. "That's very true." She was going to be okay. Ms. Grant wasn't angry. Kara chose the truth over notoriety and a promotion, and Cat Grant was going to the mat for her because Kara was protecting her and CatCo, too, by refusing to do the story.
"The articles I've done aren't biased. I made sure," Kara said.
"I know. I read them." Cat finished her second drink, and Kara wondered how many more she would have before the day was over. She'd put her in a precarious position. It would have been easier to fire her and preserve CatCo's integrity.
"Now, off you go." Cat stood and swept a hand towards her office. Kara saw the tension in her shoulders, the stoop of her neck. Very little affected Cat Grant like that, and Kara knew she saw a fraction of the emotion swirling inside of her mentor. She was upset, and there was nothing Kara could do about it. She'd disappointed Cat. "Go Netflix binge something or research the city's budget deficit or whatever it is you do in your spare time."
"And then?"
Kara stood and followed her into the office. Cat returned the glass to the wet bar and turned with her hands on her hips and a determined glint in her eyes.
"And then you let the Queen of all media do what she does best."
"I really thought I was going to get fired." Kara twisted her fingers in front of her belly, not sure if she wanted to run from or hug Cat Grant.
"If this had come out after the expose was published, you would have been, and I would have been the one making that decision," Cat said, casual though the crinkles around her eyes belied the pain that would have caused. "Don't ever walk into another content meeting again unless you are on time."
"Right, yes. Sorry about that… I was…"
"Daydreaming about your girlfriend, yes, I saw you," Cat said in a tone that Kara wasn't quite certain was a teasing tone. She laughed nervously.
"She's not… my girlfriend," Kara mumbled. It was a stupid defense.
"Out, Kara. Do not come to this building again today."
"Right, going." Kara turned to leave, looked over her shoulder. "Thank you, Ms. Grant."
"Don't make me regret it," Cat said with a flip of her hand.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Grant. I never meant to disappoint you."
That made Cat stop trying to shoo her away, but the stillness unnerved her more. Tears shimmered in the older woman's clear blue eyes. She clicked her tongue. "Kara." Kara flinched when Cat moved towards her and sank into the hug that moment Cat wrapped her arms around her, giving her a good squeeze.
"I'm not disappointed, Kara," she said close her ear. "I'm proud of you. It's been a challenge getting the world to take CatCo's investigative team seriously. I've gone too far off track with gossip and fashion. You…" Cat pulled back, one hand still on Kara's ribs and the other squeezing her shoulder. "Your criticism the past few years, while irritating, has inspired me to turn a new page for CatCo Media. We won't simply sell papers, we're going to help change the world. I'd have fired you on the spot and given up if you hadn't been honest with me."
"Again," Kara joked, and they shared a little laugh to break the tension.
"Permanently," Cat said with a smile. Kara nodded and hung her head a little. "Is she worth it? The risk of writing puff pieces for the rest of your career here?"
"Ms. Grant…" Kara sighed. "I'll fix my career. You said it yourself that I was lacking something. I just… I know Lena is a Luthor, but I just want someone to be happy about this, as happy as I am."
"Right now, I'm less concerned with your happiness and more concerned about your career trajectory. Please send… Mixie, Miranda…" Cat waved her hand at her new assistant.
"Morgan," Kara said. "Her name is Morgan."
"Yes," Cat hissed and turned towards her desk. "I need to move some appointments."
The tension had returned to her shoulders, and Kara left not quite feeling good about the situation. She relayed the message, took Cat's elevator, and blasted off the roof. Supergirl cruised over the city for a little while, but she wasn't mentally equipped to help anyone. Plus, she had her work bag hooked to her shoulder. There was no clear destination, but when she spotted the cave out in the desert, she knew what she'd been wanting to do without being conscious of it. Landing without her usual flare, Kara walked inside and took the back way around the main room and went into the training room. Alex would be on recon missions right now, monitoring the aliens they'd located to determine if they posed a threat or not.
Lucy was sparring with a man three times her size… and winning. Kara winced when the tiny woman did some fancy flippy thing around the guy's neck and brought him down to the mat with a grunt. She bounced onto her feet, cheeks flushed, adrenaline pumping.
"Hey, Lane," Kara called. "Want a real challenged? I'll even turn on the Kryptonite emitters."
Lucy smirked, and Kara knew that she was going to follow her from the room and into the specialized space where Alex had taught her technique to match her strength. In the end, she'd needed it. Alex had been right about that. Lucy came in a few seconds behind her, towel around her neck and sucking from a white bottle. She closed the door, still holding the bottle in the air and working the liquid down her throat. Lucy tossed it to the floor and pulled the DEO-issued, long-sleeved spandex top over her head and dropped it onto the water bottle. She snagged the towel and rubbed at her sweaty chest as she sat on the raised platform in just her sports bra.
"You didn't call me in here to spar, Kara. What's up?"
Kara sat beside her and twisted her fingers in her lap. Lucy pushed the towel between her breasts and rooted it about trying to get the sweat before it started itching.
"You know DEO procedure and protocol better than anyone here, except maybe J'onn," Kara started. Lucy threw the towel on top of her pile and dropped her hands into her lap.
"Yeah, I'm a lawyer. It's an annoying habit of mine," Lucy said, rolling her eyes at herself. "What do you want to know that you couldn't ask J'onn or Alex?"
"I want to tell someone that I'm Supergirl and about the DEO, but I…"
Lucy chuckled. "Big sis doesn't approve." Kara sighed, nodding.
"I'm stuck. Please, don't… don't tell Alex I asked. I was just… I'm not ready to share everything just yet, but I want to and I don't want to be worried the entire time that my partner is going to be thrown into some black ops site that I don't even know exists."
"This… person… really has you torn up, don't they?" Lucy wasn't lost on the lack of pronouns. Kara really didn't care, but she appreciated the wink and nudge Lucy gave her.
"Enough that if came down to a choice… I wouldn't chose the DEO," Kara confessed.
Lucy blew out a breath, puffing her cheeks. "Okay. Technically, you don't work for the DEO, so revealing that you're Supergirl won't be an issue, but Kara, this place…" Lucy waved her hands around the room. "It doesn't officially exist. I'm assuming the reason you're asking is because this person would be perceived as a threat to the operation. I'm sorry, but if that's the case, there would be no need for an arrest warrant or a trial or anything. The best you could hope for is to get J'onn to read their mind and know that they are telling the truth, but he has to answer to people, too."
"People like your father," Kara murmured.
"And the president and secretary of defense and a dozen other intelligence and national security advisors. If this person is not above reproach, you'll put them in a bad position if someone found out that they knew. The DEO is under constant scrutiny, and if the powers that be thought for a second that J'onn invited someone into the fold who then betrayed the government?" Lucy wiped sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and looked over at Kara.
"Kara, it wouldn't only put this person in danger, but it could start a cascade of events that could land you, J'onn, Alex, and all of your superfriends in prison or worse. I understand how much it eats at you not being able to tell people your whole truth, but… keep this one to yourself because the DEO could become something evil if given to the wrong hands."
"Thank you." Kara grinned over at her. It was the truth, the cold hard truth. It wasn't an impassioned plea from a jaded and controlling sister. It was just the truth, spoken in a neutral tone by someone who knew what she was talking about.
"Sure." Lucy shrugged. She bumped Kara's shoulder a second later and smirked. "Do I get to know more about this mysterious lover?"
Kara laughed, holding the smile as she looked over the room. "Want to come to game night Thursday? It's been a while. James is coming, so if you don't…"
"Sure," Lucy cut her off. "James and I are in a good place, and besides, I think I met someone else anyway."
"Oh? Do tell." Kara pulled one knee onto the platform and turned towards Lucy. She'd forgotten how much she actually liked Lucy. Why had they not hung out more?
"I…" Lucy giggled and covered her face with one hand. "We met at an art gallery. I didn't know he was the artist and bashed one of his paintings."
"Uh oh."
"No, it was good. He said it was the most honest feedback he'd been given and bought me dinner."
"Who would have thought badass Lucy Lane had a thing for artistic guys," Kara joked. Lucy's smile was infectious, and she felt her own mimicking it.
"Tall… artistic guys," Lucy corrected. "Anyway, I'm not putting any pressure on it yet, but it's nice right now."
"I know the feeling," Kara murmured. She and Lena still hadn't defined what they were. It was okay, she hadn't needed a definition to love Lena. They just… were.
"Hey." Lucy punched her shoulder. "Still up for that sparring match?"
Kara went to the panel on the wall and turned on the Kryptonite emitters. She felt the hum of it in her blood neutralizing her super-charged DNA. "You better be ready."
Lucy stood in the center of the mat in a relaxed but poised stance. "Bring it, Kryptonian."