Conversations on a Balcony

74

A/N: Conversations in a Kitchen ;-)


Cat was stumbling out of the SUV and running toward the tunnel entrance before Alex had even put it in park. Supergirl stepped out into the moonlight, Abby in her arms and, despite the police officers milling around in their car headlights, there was no one else in the universe for Cat, but her family.

Abby reached out for her as soon as she saw her. "Go to Mom," Kara whispered, and the little girl threw herself into her mother's arms to hug her around the neck.

"Mom…." she said, kissing Cat's face. "Clo. No good."

Cat held her close and rocked her gently. "I know. Chloe should have asked Mom and /:ieiu/ before she took you out. We were so worried about you. I love you so much, Abigail. Oh my God." Tears crept down her cheeks and she shook her head as her voice was stolen.

"Cat," Kara said softly, and the older woman saw the anguish in her face. She was suddenly conscious of the fact that they weren't alone though.

"Supergirl," she said, trying to inject as much love into her tone as she could. "Thank you for finding her."

Kara blinked and let out a breath. "You're w-welcome, Ms. Danvers-Grant. I sh-should go." She took off, circled around and landed out of sight, quickly changing clothes and then running back to her family. Alex had her arms around Cat and Abby and Kara joined them, almost crushing them all against her. She rested her head against Cat's and just closed her eyes, letting the relief course through her as the adrenaline abated. She suddenly felt emotionally exhausted.

Cat eased back a little and watched as Chloe was led away in handcuffs and guided into the back of a police cruiser. "Part of me hates her but part of me feels sorry for her."

Alex nodded and then looked at her sister. "What happened?" she asked gently.

The hero's breath hitched. "I… I went in there with the intention of killing her," she said quietly. "I had her up against the wall and I was about to drive my fist right through her head when Abby stopped me." She stroked her daughter's blonde curls back from her forehead. "Didn't you, Sweetie? You stopped /:ieiu/ from doing something bad."

"/:ieiu/ good," the toddler warbled. She put her hand in her mouth and blinked loving blue eyes.

"She's really smart," Alex said. "And her moral compass is extremely advanced. I've never heard of anything like it," she marveled. "She's just… amazing."

"She scared Chloe to death," Kara chuckled. "I think she threatened her with heat vision." She paused then. "Oh… um… so we have another problem," she said sheepishly. "I may have revealed my identity to her… accidently on purpose."

"Accidently… on purpose?" Alex repeated slowly.

Kara shrugged. "At that point, I didn't think it mattered. I was going to kill her." But the anguish was back in her face and Cat stroked her cheek gently.

"Can J'Onn pull a Men in Black on her maybe?" the older woman asked.

Alex chuckled. "First, nice movie reference. Second, I'm pretty sure he'll agree to that, under the circumstances."

Just then, Detective Graff approached them. "Ms. Danvers-Grant, I'm so glad you got your little one back. I need to get a statement from Supergirl. Do you know where she went?"

Kara shook her head. "She was called away to help someone else, but I'll get her to come to the station to make a statement as soon as she can."

The detective nodded but she tilted her head and held out her hand. "Can I speak to you for a moment in private?"

The hero looked a little surprised but nodded and followed the detective. "What is it?" she asked.

"Ms. Danvers-Grant, I'm a big fan of Supergirl's and I'm thankful every day for the things she does for National City, so I'd like to give her a heads up. Ms. Maines seemingly has no intention of keeping her identity secret so, if there's something Supergirl can do about that, I'd suggest that… she… do it as soon as possible. I've given an order that she should only be questioned by me for the meantime but that won't fly for long." She chuckled. "No pun intended."

Kara nodded and squeezed the detective's shoulder gently. "Thank you," she said simply. Then she turned and went back to her family. "She said that Chloe has already told her my identity. She was giving me a heads up."

Alex sighed. "I'll call J'Onn as soon as I get you home. I'll ask him to take care of the detective too. Come on."

Cat nodded and they breathed a sigh of relief as they headed back to the SUV.

Xx

Abby was deeply asleep, sandwiched between her two mothers in the middle of their king-sized bed. Cat and Kara were holding her with their fingers entwined over her stomach, just gazing into each other's eyes.

"I scared myself tonight," Kara said softly, eyes shimmering with tears. "I… I just… shut down emotionally. I couldn't feel… I… I was going to kill her, Cat, without hesitation or remorse."

Cat nodded gently. "Kara, one of the things I love so much about you is your unwillingness to kill. You're the most powerful being on this planet and yet you're so gentle and so so good. BUT every species has an instinct that will drive them to do both amazing and terrible things in the defense of their offspring." She squeezed Kara's fingers gently. "And you're no different, Sweetheart." She sighed softly and closed her eyes. "Abby gets her moral compass from you, Kara, not me."

Kara's mouth dropped open. "But… Cat…"

"I've been thinking a lot about it since we got back. Kara, I don't know that I would have stopped myself from hitting her. I know I probably wouldn't have killed her by hitting her but still… she walked away today without a scratch on her and she's VERY lucky."

The hero mulled that over for a moment and Cat waited patiently. Finally, blue eyes met green again. "So, I didn't do anything wrong," Kara said.

Cat smiled and squeezed Kara's fingers again. "You didn't do anything wrong and I believe you would have stopped yourself, whether Abby had stopped you or not."

"We don't know that, Cat," Kara replied seriously. "But I suppose we never will for sure. I HOPE I would have.

"I know," the older woman smiled. "And that's why I believe you would."

"Thank you," Kara said, stretching across their child to kiss her wife. "I love you."

"I love you too, Baby," Cat replied. "Now let's get some sleep. I'm worn out."

"Me too," the Kryptonian replied.

Xx

The sun was barely up when Kara woke abruptly. Abby was awake and smiled lovingly at her. "/:ieiu/," she said.

Cat was still deeply asleep, so Kara slowly slid out of the bed and lifted Abby into her arms. "Mom's really tired. We have to be quiet," she whispered as she tiptoed out of the bedroom, through the living room and into the kitchen. "You want pancakes for breakfast, Sweetie?"

Abby nodded and clapped her hands as her mother sat her into her highchair and strapped her in. "Good!"

"Cool." Kara pulled the skin off a banana and gave one half to her daughter to gnaw on while she took a bite of the other. "Mmm… yum," she said with a grin.

"Yum," Abby repeated with an identical grin.

Kara took a moment to stroke her daughter's hair back from her forehead. She could see a lot of herself in Abby's face, but she could also see Cat. While the toddler had blue eyes, their shape was more like Cat's. She had Kara's nose and mouth, but Cat's chin, and the Kryptonian had to admit that their daughter was probably going to break some hearts when she was older. She chuckled softly and then went through the cabinets to get the things she needed to make pancakes. "Think Mom might like some eggs too?" she asked.

"Yum," Abby said again, the skin around her mouth covered in the slimy fruit.

"Yum," Cat repeated as she wandered into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around her wife. "Good morning." She kissed Kara for a long, pleasurable moment and then went to her daughter to kiss her head.

"It is now," Kara replied, licking her lips and grinning. "We were going to make you breakfast in bed, Mom."

"That's sweet of you both, but I just want to be with you." Cat set up and turned on the coffee machine. "I don't want to be a moment apart from you both right now."

Kara totally got it. "Well, take a seat and let Abby and I do the cooking."

"Ok," the older woman replied. "We're taking today off. I already let Eve know."

"Good," Kara replied. "I'll text Nia to let her know too." She headed into the bedroom and texted her friend. Then she read a message from Carter as she went back to the kitchen. "Carter's on his way. He texted us a few minutes ago to pick him up from the airport later."

"But his classes…" Cat began. But then she shook her head and smiled. "You know what, I'm glad he is. I need our kids here." Her face turned sad for a moment and Kara rubbed her back gently. Adam still wasn't responding to Cat's olive branches and they weren't sure he ever would. The older woman got up and went to the coffee machine to pour a mug for herself and Kara. Then she went to the refrigerator for creamer and a juice box for Abby. The normalcy, and pleasure of that, hit her suddenly, along with the realization that she could have lost it and she gasped in a breath, leaning heavily on the counter as tears rose in her eyes. Then a panic attack hit her so suddenly, it was shocking, and she doubled over with a wrenching sob.

"Cat!" Kara said. She left the pancake batter she was stirring and went to her wife's side. "Baby, what's wrong? Is it your heart?" Cat shook her head, unable to speak or breathe and Kara held her close, suddenly realizing what was happening. "Ok, Honey, just breathe with me, ok? In and out…" She pressed her hand to Cat's chest and Cat's hand to hers, feeling as well as hearing her heartbeat thundering inside. "In…. out… in… out… Everything's ok. Abby's safe, we're all safe here together."

It took a while but finally Cat's breathing and heart rate eased, and she clung to Kara with a desperate strength that surprised the Kryptonian. "We…" the older woman finally wheezed. "Are getting… a fucking security system… installed… and we're putting… a virtual cow bell on our child."

Kara chuckled. "I'll get Brainy right on that."