Note: In case anyone missed it, I published a new Supercat One Shot called To The Rescue. Go read it. It's good.


Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Somehow, Cat wasn't surprised when Winn turned up at her door. She was a little surprised when he closed the doors to her office, then came over and sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"I realize I'm probably about to get fired for coming in here like this, but before you destroy my career and crush me like a bug, hear me out."

"Okay," Cat said. "I suppose I can take a minute to enjoy your pleas for mercy."

"I spent some time in the foster system when I was younger. I had a foster sister I really liked. Things got really bad for her at one point. It got out that she was gay, and the kids in our school were tormenting her. It got so bad, she tried to kill herself.

"Afterwards, everyone was there to support her. Our foster parents, the social worker, even some of the people at school. It was good for her to have all of those people who cared about her doing everything they could to take care of her. But what I remember was how hard it was. I almost lost someone I cared about, and no one talked to me about it. No one checked on me to see how I felt. And I felt like I couldn't say anything, like I couldn't ask for help, because it would be selfish. Because we should all be focusing on helping her get well.

"Right now, everyone is focused on Kara, asking about Kara, worrying about Kara, making sure Kara is okay. But I keep thinking about what it was like for me, and what it must be like for you. I don't know if anyone has asked you yet if you're okay. So, I'm here, asking. Are you okay?"

Cat couldn't stop herself from smiling, touched that he cared enough to open up like that, and to take such a huge risk coming into her office the way he did.

"Well," she said, "I might not be my usual unbelievably magnificent self, but Kara and I had a talk about what happened, and about how I felt about it, and we're both seeing a therapist we can be completely honest with."

"That's good," Winn said. "But if you need someone to talk to, a friend…"

"I know where to find you," Cat said. "And Winn."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for asking."

"Any time."

"Well, not any time," Cat said. "I presume you do still do some actual work around here."

Winn smiled. "I'm going to go play with my dolls before you change your mind about firing me," he said. He stood up and headed for the door.

He'd made it about half-way there, when Cat said, "Action figures."


Cat frowned and looked up at the sound of muttering running through the bullpen, only to see Kara and Leslie come into view a moment later.

"Hey, Cat," Leslie said as they entered the office. "I found her wandering around loose and figured I'd bring her back."

"Thank you," Cat said. "She does have a bad habit of running off."

"You might want to think about a collar," Leslie said. "Maybe a leash."

Kara gave Leslie a backhanded smack and a glare.

"Oh, I've thought about it," Cat said. Kara stumbled, and Cat had to bite her lower lip to keep from laughing at the expression on Kara's face, which was about halfway between scandalized and turned on. She reached over and hit the button that closed the doors, blacked out the windows and sound-proofed the office.

"How'd it go?" Cat asked.

"It went," Kara said as she and Leslie sat down in the chairs in front of Cat's desk.

"I thought that Kori chick was going to burn the place down," Leslie said.

"I can't say I blame her," Kara said. "When I found out the Guardians were responsible for the destruction of Krypton, I wanted to bring them back, just so I could kill them myself."

"Kori is Starfire?" Cat asked.

"Yes," Kara said. "She's a Tamaranian princess. The Guardians are behind her exile and they turned her sister into her bitter enemy. She's got good reason to hate them."

"Why are all Superhero origin stories so melodramatic?" Leslie asked. "Why is it never, 'some jerk snatched my grandma's purse?'"

"Because most purse snatchings aren't a big deal," Kara said. "It takes a lot of trauma before your damaged enough to think that putting on a Halloween costume and punching bad guys in the face qualifies as a good life choice."

"Kind of scary what that says about you," Leslie said.

"Hey, you're out there too," Kara said.

"Yeah, but I'm getting paid," Leslie said, "and the costume was your idea."

"Good points. I hate them," Kara said.

"When you two are done," Cat said, not able to stop herself from smiling at the playful grins on Leslie and Kara's faces, "I'd like to know how Sam and Lena took it."

"Sam was a little freaked out," Kara said. "Lena wanted to know why I was so sure Lillian ordered Henshaw to kill her. I told her there was security footage of the whole thing."

"Please tell me you didn't show her the footage," Cat said, already knowing the answer.

"I did," Kara said. "I spent fifteen minutes trying to talk her out of it, but once she found out I had a copy, she wouldn't let it go."

Cat sighed, but she didn't say anything because she knew, in Lena's place, she would have done the same thing.

"Where is she now?" Cat asked.

"She's at home," Kara said. "Astra is with her."

"Well, that's good," Cat said. "Are you two just stopping in before you head off to rescue kittens trapped in trees?"

"Already did that," Leslie said, puffing up a bit. "I zapped a group of bank robbers, and Sunshine put out two fires and helped clear an accident downtown."

"I also have the social media situation covered, too, so I'm free until about five if you can get away," Kara said.

"Give me five minutes," Cat said. "Why don't you call Carter and tell him we're on our way."

"I'll leave you two love birds alone," Leslie said. "Try not to scar the kid." She got up and dropped a hand on Kara's shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze as she passed by.

"Call me if you need me, Sunshine," she said on her way out.


Lena poured herself a generous glass of the Ardbeg 10 Year before walking over and sitting down next to Astra. She sipped the scotch in silence as she tried to get a grip on her emotions. She jumped slightly when Astra slipped an arm around her.

"Is this okay?" Astra asked.

"Very," Lena said, leaning into Astra. "I'm just not used to anyone wanting to touch me."

"I'm not sure I'll be able to stop myself, once I'm free to do so," Astra said. Lena was a little surprised when Astra pressed a kiss to her temple a moment later. "I am sorry, Lena."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for," Lena said. "It does explain why you were so upset when you found out about my mother trying to kidnap me. You knew."

"I would have been terrified had it been anyone," Astra said. "Knowing what I do, the news that she got so close was enough to make my heart stop."

Lena closed her eyes and shifted closer to Astra. "I knew Kara was holding things back, but I never imagined it was something like this."

"I admit there is a part of me that wishes you never had to find out," Astra said. "I know you are strong, and I know your mind will be a great asset to the war effort, but I also know the toll such secrets take on those who keep them. I would not wish that on anyone, but you, least of all."

Lena rested her head on Astra's shoulder. "Eighteen days suddenly feels like forever," she said.

"I am sorry, / eh shed krighia/," Astra said. "I wish I had dealt with the matter long ago, but I never imagined I would meet someone who would make me feel the way I do when I am with you."

Lena let out a small laugh. "Flatterer," she said. "I bet you say that to all your lovers."

"I've never taken a lover before," Astra said. "I saw it enough, in the Guild. I knew it was something I was supposed to want, but a few fumbling kisses in the barracks was enough to let me know I didn't care for the touch of men."

Lena lifted her head to look at Astra. "But you were married."

"Marriage on Krypton for a member of a Great House was more of a business arrangement than a declaration of affection. When we reached an age where our biological drive was an issue, our attendants instructed us on how to relieve the urge ourselves, and once the marriage is complete, it's acceptable to take lovers as long as one is discreet, and no shame is brought on the Houses. Love and romance were considered anything from fanciful notions to vices," Astra said.

"But you have rules for courtship," Lena said.

"When a society has fifteen thousand years of recorded history, much of it awash in the blood of our fathers, you have rules for everything," Astra said. "But the rules concerning courtship are more practical than you might expect. Lovers are allowed, but the one immutable rule of courtship on Krypton is that you if you take someone as a lover while you are still bound to someone else, you may never bond with them."

"Because marriages are business arrangements," Lena said. "If there was a temptation to divorce in order to marry your lover, then taking a lover would become a danger to those arrangements. And when it happened, people would lose money."

"Wars were fought over such things. Lovers were murdered to remove the threat. Spouses were murdered to clear the path. The rule was a dam against chaos," Astra said.

"That's why you want to wait?" Lena said.

"Yes," Astra said. "I don't know if I will make the sort of lover who will make you happy. If I'm honest, I didn't even recognize that my feelings for you were romantic in nature until Kara confronted me about it. But once I did understand, I wanted all of it. Or at least, the chance to have all of it."

Lena leaned forward and set the glass of scotch on the coffee table, then straightened back up and looked at Astra again. "Eighteen days is going to be a very long time," Lena said.

"I've waited eighty-one years for you," Astra said. "I think the next eighteen days will feel longer than all of it, but you are worth it."


The flash of the transmat faded away, leaving Kara, Cat and Carter behind. Kara glanced over at Cat and Carter and smiled as she saw the looks on their faces as they took in the entry hall of the Genesis Chamber.

"Cool, huh?" Kara asked.

"Yeah!" Carter said.

"It's a replica of the Genesis Chamber in Argo City," Kara said.

"It's beautiful," Cat said.

Kara smiled a little wider as she reached out, taking Cat's hand. "Come on," she said. Cat took Carter's hand and Kara lead them over to the sentry station.

"Greetings, Lady Kara," the drone at the station said.

"Hey," Kara said. "I need two pass disks."

"One moment," the drone said as it turned towards a cabinet with a transparent door and took out two disks about an inch and a half in diameter and handed them to Kara.

Kara turned to Cat. "Hold out your left arm," she said. Cat held out her arm, and Kara pressed one of the disks against the skin just behind the wrist. A band spread out and closed around Cat's arm. Kara turned to Carter, who was already holding out his arm, and pressed the disk in place.

"Once we're through the door, don't take those off for any reason," Kara said.

"What would happen?" Carter asked.

"The building's automated defense system would decide you are a threat to the children in the Genesis Chamber, and defend them," Kara said. "Kryptonians take the defense of our children very seriously."

Carter's eyes got big and he gave a very serious nod. "Got it," he said.

"You're sure this is safe?" Cat asked.

"Absolutely," Kara said. "Come on inside."


Sam sat on the couch watching Ruby play Splatoon and it was all she could do to stop herself from hugging the life out of her daughter. She wanted to scream at Lena. She wanted to yell at Kara. She wanted to curse the unfairness of the universe. She wanted to run away and ride somewhere where she and Ruby would be safe.

She couldn't do any of those things, because somehow, she'd become responsible for overseeing the financing of the defense of the entire universe, not to mention fifty-two others, so instead, she did her best to quell the shrieking terror in her soul.

She had an MBA and an accounting degree. She didn't want to get involved with vigilantes, superheroes and gods. She just wanted to take care of her daughter and her useless disaster of a best friend.

"Are you okay, Mom?" Ruby asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, Kiddo, I'm fine. Just Lena's mom making trouble again."

"Aunt Lena's mom is a butt," Ruby said.

"You know, since it's Lena's mom, I'll allow it," Sam said, "but don't push your luck."

"What did she do?" Ruby asked.

"She sent Lena some of Supergirl's private files to try and make Lena mad at Supergirl," Sam said.

"How'd she get Supergirl's stuff?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know," Sam said.

"It didn't work, did it?" Ruby asked. "Aunt Lena isn't mad at Kara?"

"Why am I not surprised you know that?" Sam asked.

"Because we have two alien robot butlers and live in a building surrounded by a force field," Ruby said. "Also, I went down to the pool one day and Kara had fallen asleep in one of the lounge chairs."

"How did that help you figure out she's Supergirl?" Sam asked.

"She flies in her sleep," Ruby said.

"Of course she does," Sam said, doing her best not to facepalm and scream into her hands.

"Come on, it's kind of funny," Ruby said.

"A little funny," Sam said. "You want to head down to the arena, so your mom can kick your behind in a little nerf war?"

"YES!" Ruby said.

"Go grab the guns," Sam said.

"Awesome!"

Sam watched as Ruby ran off towards her bedroom where the nerf guns lived and decided she'd finish her panic attack later. Right now, she was going to go play with her daughter. Then she was going to sit down and figure out how to get Kara everything she needed, because Sam was going to make God damned sure nothing happened to her daughter, even if she had to fight a war with a god to do it.


Cat had thought the rest of the building was beautiful, but it was nothing compared to the Genesis Chamber itself. The whole room was shaped like a massive egg, but the interior looked like Fabergé's finest work. A long bridge stretched out from one wall connecting to a round platform in the middle of the chamber. The walls were covered in alcoves arranged in a spiral pattern, and every one of them glowed a deep, warm red. Each alcove was surrounded by the same text, written in gold, and running between the alcoves, in the same spiral pattern, were glowing blue lines of text, filling the chamber with light.

"What does it say?" Carter asked.

"The gold around the matrix alcoves is the Prayer for New Souls," Kara said. "The same one written on the outside of the building. The blue text is from the Book of Rao. It's the story of the creation of Ro and Lara, the first Kryptonians."

"It's beautiful," Cat said.

Kara smiled. "Wait until you see the Birthing Matrix." She stepped up to the console in the middle of the central platform and pressed her hand to a scanner similar to the palm scanners on the doors of the Solarium.

"Greetings, Lady Kara," a female voice said. "How may I assist you today?"

"I would like to see my daughter," Kara said.

"Of course," the voice said.

Cat watched as a drone appeared from below them and flew over to the side of the chamber and reached into one of the alcoves. It removed something Cat assumed was the birthing matrix, then turned and flew back towards the center of the chamber as a pillar rose up out of the center the platform. The drone carefully deposited the birthing matrix on the pillar and drifted off to one side.

The first thing Cat noticed was that Kara was absolutely right. The birthing matrix was a work of art. A shimmering mother of pearl oval two feet long, wrapped in delicate raised silver scroll work, every inch of which was engraved with Kryptonian script.

Kara waved a hand over the top of the birthing matrix and a hologram of a fetus appeared, all oversized head and pot belly, with stubby little arms and legs and the very beginnings of fingers and toes. The chamber filled with the soft, echoing thump of a beating heart. It was an amazing sight, but one that made Cat feel a tightness in her chest was the expression on Kara's face. There was a small, tiny little part of Cat that had been worried that Kara was keeping the child out of some sense of obligation, but she'd end up resenting her because Kara hadn't had a choice in the decision. She needn't have worried. The expression on Kara's face was one of absolute wonder. Cat had seen it enough on her own face in the pictures she had of her holding Carter as a baby.

"This is my daughter," Kara said.

"Does she have a name?" Carter asked.

"Not yet," Kara said. "She was going to be called Karsta, but that doesn't feel right. Not for her. I was thinking of something else, but I thought I should ask your mother first."

"What did you have in mind?" Cat asked.

"I'd like to name her Kiera," Kara said.

Cat stared at Kara for a moment, not sure how to take what she'd just said, but there was a pleading look in Kara's eyes, and Cat felt a lump settle into her throat. She didn't understand what she had done to deserve someone like Kara in her life, much less deserve the love Kara seemed to give so easily. She also didn't understand how Kara had taken a name that Cat had meant to hold her at arm's length, to remind her of her place, and turn it into something to be cherished and held close, turned into a symbol of love; but somehow, she had.

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Cat said.

Kara waved her hand and a screen appeared above the birthing matrix.

"Computer, unlock record and set edit mode. Update name. Kiera El, Daughter of Kara of the House of El, and Cat Grant of Earth," Kara said. She looked over at Cat, and Cat saw the question on Kara's face, and the offer there, and she gave a small nod.

"Commit changes and lock record," Kara said.

The screen disappeared, and Cat felt Kara's hand slip into her own.

"Would you like to see what she'll look like?" Kara asked.

"You can do that?" Cat asked.

Kara nodded.

"Okay," Cat said.

"Computer, run standard growth projections, birth, five / ahmzehto/, ten / ahmzehto/, twenty / ahmzehto/, fifty / ahmzehto/."

The hologram of the fetus disappeared, replaced by the imagine of a chubby little baby with a shock of strawberry blonde hair and ice-blue eyes.

"She has your eyes," Cat said.

"Advance," Kara said, and the infant was replaced by a toddler, a beautiful little girl with long hair, still with a hint of red, and still with those gorgeous blue eyes. "This is about two and a half years."

Cat couldn't bring herself to say anything, because she suddenly understood how Kara had become so attached to their daughter so quickly. For humans, at four weeks, a pregnancy was little more than an idea, but with the technology in front of her, it became something else. The ability to see the future of the tiny life growing in the birthing matrix made it instantly and undeniably real. Cat was staring at the face of their daughter, and she couldn't help but love her.


Eliza looked up from her microscope at the sound of a knock on the wall. She looked over to see J'onn standing in the door to the lab. He held up a bag of take out.

"Hey," she said. "Just a moment."

"I'll set up in the office," J'onn said.

"Thanks," Eliza said.

She picked up her pen and jotted down a couple of quick notes, then pulled the slide out of the microscope and put it in a slide case. That done, she stripped off her gloves and headed over to the sink to wash and sanitize her hands.

"Sorry," she said. "I just didn't want to forget what I was working on."

"No problem," J'onn said as he plated the food.

"What have we got this evening?" Eliza asked.

"I went by Nikki's," J'onn said. "I got you meatloaf, mac and cheese, collard greens, mashed potatoes and gravy and cornbread."

"Oh, please tell me you got dessert," Eliza said.

"Peach Cobbler," J'onn said.

"Bless you," Eliza said.

J'onn smiled at her as he passed her a plate. He reached back into the bag and pulled out a bottle of A1 and handed it over.

"How did you…?" Eliza asked.

"A few weeks after I met Kara for the first time, I stopped by to pick up some intel she had on a Fort Rozz fugitive," J'onn said. "We had dinner, and I watched her drown her meatloaf in that. She mentioned picking up the habit from you."

"Guilty," Eliza said as she opened the bottle and poured the sauce on. "In my defense, my mother's meatloaf was terrible, and this hid the taste. *My* meatloaf is actually very good, but this is kind of comfort food."

"You like to cook?" J'onn asked.

"I do," Eliza said. "Cooking, baking, sewing, gardening. I've got all the clichés."

"You also have an MD and how many PhD's?" J'onn asked.

"Six, now," Eliza said. "But honestly, the last four were awarded on the merit of my published work. All I had to do was write a dissertation, and I just submitted an article I was going to publish anyway, so it was really double-dipping."

"You say that like it makes it any less impressive," J'onn said.

"I suppose it is impressive," Eliza said. "It doesn't feel that way. Most days, I was just trying to put food on the table, do right by my girls, and keep the lights on, but every once in a while, I look back at my life, and I just go, 'wow, I did all that'."

"I know what you mean," J'onn said. "I look back on my life, and I hardly believe some of it happened."

"Well, you have a better excuse for the disbelief than I do," Eliza said. "You've lived an incredible life."

"From what I've seen, yours has been pretty amazing too," J'onn said. "Speaking of… How are you holding up?"

Eliza shrugged. "I don't know, honestly," she said. "I loved him. I thought I knew him. Thought I knew the kind of man I married. Now everything we had just feels… tainted."

"You shouldn't let what he did ruin your memories," J'onn said.

"It's hard not to," she said. "I'm just so angry right now."

"And you have every right to be," J'onn said. "But whatever Jeremiah may have become, I have to believe that he was a good man once. He saved my life, and he nearly died doing it."

"The part I'm having trouble with is, for us, that was ten years ago. For him, that was a month ago. Can someone really change that much in so little time?" Eliza asked.

"People can change completely in a single moment, if something bad enough happens," J'onn said. "I'm angry about what he did, but I pity him. He held on to the past so hard that it cost him his future, and that's a hard thing. I know. I nearly let it happen to me. The irony is, Jeremiah is the one who helped me move forward again. Who gave me hope for a better future."

"This must be hard for you too," Eliza said.

"A little," J'onn said. "But I only knew Jeremiah for a few hours. It's you, Alex and Kara I'm worried about."

"We'll survive," Eliza said. "Alex is strong, and I'm used to being angry at him. It's Kara I'm worried about. I hadn't realized her mental health had deteriorated so far, and another blow so quickly after what happened Christmas night… It's not fair."

"No, it isn't," J'onn said. "But it's not fair to you or Alex, either. I just want you to know that if any of you need anything, I'm here for you."

Eliza reached across the table and squeezed J'onn's hand. "Thank you," she said.


Kara frowned a little at the sight of Alex on the screen. It wasn't that she wasn't always happy to see her sister, but she was completely exhausted after the debrief at Sanctuary, the trip to the Genesis Chamber, and the funeral for Non, and she wasn't sure she was up to a conversation about Jeremiah. It was Alex though, and she would never turn away her sister, so she opened the door.

"Hey, Alex," she said, forcing herself to sound a lot more chipper than she actually felt. Fortunately, that was something she had decades of practice at.

"Hey," Alex said, and Kara knew immediately that something was off, just from the tone of her voice. "Would Cat mind if I came in for a minute?"

"Of course not," Kara said, moving out of the way to let Alex into the apartment. Alex stepped into the apartment and waited as Kara closed the door.

"Can we talk for a minute? In private?" Alex asked.

"Sure," Kara said, the frown creeping back onto her face. "Cat's in her office, and Carter's in the den, but we can use the balcony if that's okay."

"That's fine," Alex said.

Kara led them out onto the balcony and sat down on one of the couches. Alex took a seat next to her, and Kara looked at her, wondering why she was so tense.

"What's wrong?" Kara asked.

"We just had dinner with Maggie's family," Alex said.

"Did it not go well?" Kara asked. She knew that Maggie hadn't gotten to spend anywhere near as much time as Kara had hoped she would with her family and felt guilty because it was almost all her fault.

"It went great," Alex said. "Juanita is really funny, and Mike and Maggie are so much alike it's scary, and Ying Yue is brilliant. You should have been seen Maggie. Kara, she was just so happy I wanted it to go on forever."

"I don't understand. If it went that well, why are you so upset?" Kara asked.

"We were talking about what they were going to do when they go home on Sunday," Alex said, "and it… Kara, they can't go back to school," Alex said.

"What? Why?" Kara asked.

"Maggie's parents cut Mike off," Alex said. "Just like they did to Maggie. And Ying Yue's family disowned her when she refused to break up with Mike. Neither of them can afford to pay for school without help from their parents, and they don't even really want to go back, because a lot of the people on campus were really horrible to them. And Mike can't afford his hormones, and he's been binding his chest using an ace bandage because he can't afford a binder. Yue said it was dangerous, and I looked it up and she's right. It can cause all sorts of problems. Maggie's downstairs shopping for binders right now, but Juanita is supporting all three of them, so money's really, really tight for them at the moment, and-",

"Alex!" Kara said, shocking Alex out of her rambling. "How can we help?"

"You know Maggie would never ask for anything," Alex said.

"She's family," Kara said. "So are Juanita, Mike and Yue. They get help whether they ask or not."

Alex smiled. "I was thinking, have you rented out your old apartment?"

"No," Kara said. "The Super said he's had a couple of inquiries, but I couldn't bring myself to let it go."

"You think Mike and Yue could take it?" Alex asked.

"Yeah," Kara said. "I think that's a great idea. It's too late to get them in for spring semester at National City University, but we can get them in for the Summer Semester. Getting Mike medical care will be easy too. I mean, I kind of own two fully stocked hospitals. Three, if you want to get picky. We won't even need to bother with hormones. The Chrysalis Chamber can…"

She trailed off, as a thought settled into her head, and she wanted to smack herself for her own stupidity.

"Kara?" Alex asked.

"I am such an idiot," Kara said.

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know," Alex said.

Kara glared at her for a minute. "Keep it up and I'll melt your face."

"Try it," Alex said. "I've got heat vision too."

"I knew I'd regret giving you that war suit," Kara said.

"What about the Chrysalis Chamber?" Alex prompted.

"I've been thinking of it in terms of making humans into Kryptonians, but it can rewrite people's entire physiology. Gender confirmation, treatment for genetic disorders, anything that involves physical or genetic modification of the body," Kara said.

"You mean Miguel can just get into and…" Alex waved her hands.

"Well, he'll be asleep during the procedure, so no jazz hands, but yes," Kara said. She chewed on her lower lip for a moment. "We'll need space. FDA approval of the tech. Establish a standard of care. Security will be an issue."

"Security?" Alex asked. "Can't you just transmat him out to Sanctuary?"

"Yeah," Kara said. "For Mike, that's fine, but I'm thinking about for the clinics."

"What clinics?" Alex asked, confusion written on her face.

"Alex, if I can do this for Mike, why wouldn't I do it for everyone else who needs it?" Kara asked.

Alex shook her head. "You really are amazing, you know that?" she asked as she pulled Kara into a hug.


Translated from the Kryptonian:

eh shed krighia
bright one

ahmzehto
(Plural of ahmzeht): 1 Kryptonian Year. 180 Earth days