The windows rattled and Kara Zorel looked up just in time to see the familiar black-grey costumed form of Shadow Agent zooming past.
"And there she goes." Winn commented while others in the office let out a little cheer. They had just heard through the radio that there was a multi-vehicular accident on the highway and a school bus full of children teetering on the edge of the bridge. Apparently Shadow Agent heard too and was on route.
"Is one of our news helicopters there already?" Cat Grant's voice made everyone scramble to look busy as she stormed out, having seen Shadow Agent's passage through the city. "We need to get some good shots, people! Hop to it! If I have to string Olsen out in nothing but crotchless chaps to get an interview, I will so help me-"
"Ms. Grant," Kara followed after her boss with a couple of edits she needed to sign off on. "Please don't say that out loud, Lucy already said that it's borderline sexual harassment-"
"Kiera, if-god forbid-the Daily Planet gets this scoop before we do, I will hold you personally responsible!" Cat snapped. Since Shadow Agent had become active in the city, every hack with a blog and a smartphone had been trying to get an exclusive with Shadow Agent but unfortunately, was unable to do so since Shadow Agent was very much like what her name implied, a Shadow Agent. She appeared, cleaned the bad guys' clocks, then left just as quickly. She wasn't anything like Superwoman in Metropolis, who liked to showboat a bit and seemed to especially like showing up whenever Lois Lane needed her.
'Nobody's going to be getting this scoop.' Kara thought to herself secretly. There was no way in hell Shadow Agent would come out of the shadows, pun intended. Shadow Agent was only around to save the day and never stayed for any pictures. Even James 'Jimmy' Olsen's renowned photography skills only got pictures of a shadowy, blurry figure. NOBODY had been able to get anything better.
Kara spent the rest of the day trying to be there for Cat Grant but also trying to make herself scarce because just as predicted, James came back empty-handed and frustrated. Cat Grant had yelled at him and told him to use his connections with Superwoman to get a photo, but even Superwoman balked at doing this favour for her friend. Apparently the one scoop James did get was that Shadow Agent was a very private individual and Superwoman had been sworn to secrecy.
"Finally end of this long day. I cannot stay another minute." James bumped into Kara in front of the elevator and the blonde blushed, feeling like she'll start stuttering. The new addition to Catco was handsome and nice, came with an accolade of awards for photography and was quite intimidating, especially face to face with Jimmy Olsen-though she had to stop calling him Jimmy since that was more a Clark thing to do.
"It's funny, usually whenever Superwoman makes an appearance, I'm pretty happy cuz I'll get lots of pictures and Perry's super happy with me." James continued talking and Kara nodded, trying to show she was listening. "But with Shadow Agent, I'm SOL and Ms. Grant just screams at me."
"SOL?" Kara tilted her head to one side.
"Out of luck." James smirked. "You know, you and Clark are a lot alike sometimes."
"Well, we are family." Kara giggled nervously. The elevator arrived and they shuffled in with the rest of the crowd. "What are you doing after work?"
"Gonna go home and clean up a bit. Lucy's still working right now but I'm gonna meet her later for dinner. She finally said yes to me." James replied with a grin, holding a hand up for a high-five which Kara grudgingly gave. She was happy for James, really, even though his luck in the romance department really made her zero for zero average in National City seem all the more bleak.
Kara didn't have any dinner plans and since she arrived in National City, no close friends unless she counted Winn and other co-workers. And it's been almost two years since she came to National City. Part of the reason why she had no social life to speak of was because working for Cat Grant was a 24 hour job.
"Alright, well have a nice night!"
"Later, Kara."
Kara sighed and shouldered her bag before heading to the bus stop. Usually she would still be at the office but today, Cat needed to leave early since her son had a school event she needed to attend. Her phone pinged and she slipped it out of her pocket, grinning at the name on her screen.
hey supergirl, how's jimmy doing?
Kara typed back quickly.
he likes to be called james. You never told me that
He's being pretentious. Tell him I said so. If jimmy is good enough for superwoman, it's good enough for me
I will not.
There was a pause, then another message from her cousin popped up.
Ma and pa want to know if you've settled in okay. Pa's pretty worried and wants to
come visit.
"Aw jeez," Kara arrived at the stop just as the bus pulled up and she got on the bus before deigning to answer Clark.
Tell them i'm fine
Ya but they still worry
I know. I'll call them later. Oh, cat says don't take her scoop on shadow agent!
No promises cuz!
"I guess it's just me, myself, and I again tonight!" She said cheerily under her breath. She kept a positive outlook though: it just meant that she would be able to order whatever she wanted and as much as she wanted! She stopped by the Chinese take-out place she liked with the potstickers and bought enough food for two people. On her way to her apartment, she made a mental note to herself to get Cat a couple of shots of espresso in her drink just to smooth over how badly today had gone.
She arrived at her apartment to see the wide-open door of the apartment directly across from her. Kara could see boxes piled around and new furniture that had been brought in.
'Someone's finally moving in.' Kara could hear someone moving inside, so Kara shuffled over to her own door to try to get inside. Unfortunately, being ladened by Chinese take-out boxes sure wasn't conducive to opening doors!
"Whoops-"
"Woah, hey. I gotcha." A hand darted out to catch the take-out box full of potstickers before it could fall on the ground.
"Oh geez, thanks!" Kara turned around and her smile almost fell from her face as she took in the sight of her new neighbour. Messy, chin-length auburn hair, bright hazel eyes framed by black-rimmed glasses, and the most perfect skin in the world. Her black tank-top exposed well-defined arms and the red shorts the stranger wore exposed legs that seemed to go on forever!
"-alright?" Her new neighbour was looking at her with worry.
"Oh, yeah! Sure, I'm like, super fantastic." Kara gushed. "And you're fantastic too-I mean, not fantastic. What am I saying? You look hot! Totally great! Like-I-Temperature wise I mean-"
"You sure you okay?" The gorgeous being in front of her was now smirking at her and the way she pushed her sliding glasses back up her nose made Kara's stomach do a little flip-flop.
"Yeah! Sure! Fine!" Kara chirped before turning to her door and frantically jiggling the handle, hoping she had forgotten to lock the door this morning. Unfortunately, she had not and this angel from heaven was chuckling behind her and Kara just wanted the floor to swallow her up and let her just die from embarrassment.
"Here, let me help. Seems like you've ordered enough food to feed an army!"
Kara felt herself unloaded of her many bags of food and the polite thing to do would be to turn around and thank this magnificent specimen of femininity, but the blonde fixed her eyes on the door and willed herself to stop blushing because her face felt like it was on fire.
"Do you have your key?"
Kara fumbled in her purse until she found her key and finally managed to unlock the door and let herself in, mortified beyond belief.
"Thank you-"
"I'm Alex Danvers." The striking woman supplied, holding out Kara's take-out containers. "Here. Have fun tonight."
"Thanks, you too!" Kara quickly shut the door behind her and groaned out loud. "Idiot. I'm an idiot."
Kara sighed, dropping her food on the coffee table in front of the TV. It was another night of Netflix and chill, party of one. And seriously Netflix and just chilling by herself. Still bemoaning the fact that she was a complete idiot, she put her bag away, plugged in her phone, and put on her comfy home clothes. Just as she was about to start digging through her pile of food, there was a knock on her door.
"Huh." Kara listened for a follow-up knock, but when none came, she shrugged. "Must be my imagination-" The knock came again, this time sounding more insistent. "AUGH!"
Kara put a hand over her pounding heart before going for the door and opening it a crack. Her new neighbour, Alex, stood on the other side.
"Hey," She gave an awkward wave. Kara tried to keep her eyes on the other woman's face since Alex had decided not to change out of her clothes that were entirely too skin-revealing. Kara noted Alex had a laptop tucked under her arm. "Um, I didn't catch your name before-"
"Oh. Zorel." Kara's cheeks pinked. "I'm Kara. Zorel. Kara Zorel."
"Hi Kara." Alex's smile made her heart skip a beat. It was beautiful. "Could I use your Wi-Fi? Mine isn't working and I just want to check my email and I broke my phone recently…"
"Oh, sure, of course!" Kara opened the door, grinning brightly. "I mean, nowadays who asks for cups of sugar! It's Wi-Fi passwords now!"
"Right…" Alex chuckled. Kara reddened in embarrassment and waved Alex in, leading her to the couch. She pushed away the take-out boxes, still bright red.
"Oh shoot, you're having people over, right?" Alex looked at all the food on the table. "I'm sorry, I'll just go to a Starbucks or something-"
"No, no this is all for me!" Kara blurts out, then slaps her hands over her mouth in horror as Alex looks at the table of food with new eyes.
"Oh my god." Alex burst out laughing and now Kara was hiding her face in her hands.
"I'm such a loser!" Kara exclaimed, but couldn't stop the sheepish grin from stretching across her face.
"But maybe we can come to some arrangement. I have to admit when I saw all this food I remembered I didn't eat and I just wanted Wi-Fi so I can order take-out." Alex closed her laptop and glanced up at Kara. "I'll split the bill on this with you and you share your hoard with me."
"No deal." Kara shook her head. "How about I treat you this time because, hey, welcome to the building, neighbour!"
"Doesn't seem like it's very fair." Alex rubbed her chin in an exaggerated thinking pose. "How about I treat next time? We can go out for food."
Kara's face brightens. She digs through plastic bags and takes out a container of beef fried noodles for Alex, then opened up a container of spring rolls for them to share.
"So why are you here? Not that I don't want you here but," Kara waves her chopsticks around. "But yeah. Work? Boyfriend? Where did you move from?"
"HA." Alex almost chokes on her food, hitting her chest with a fist until she can speak without choking. "Yeah, it's definitely work. I'm… from around. My work takes me places."
"What do you do?" Kara asked curiously.
"Oh, uh, I work at a lab." Alex shrugged. "No biggie."
"Oh, a super secret lab?" Kara teases, not noticing the way Alex tenses up and eyes the blonde suspiciously before relaxing and forcing a smile.
"More like I work for a super not-secret organization who is a contractor to the government, and we make affordable vaccines for children." Alex pressed a finger to her lips. "But don't tell anyone."
"Well, I guess that's cool, too." Kara says a bit too casually, a mischievous smirk on her face. "So, you're a superhero, then. Saving children and all that."
"Well, I'm just a lowly bio-engineer. A scientist. Did I mention I'm also a medical doctor?" Alex says humbly. "I work out of National City University."
"A lowly doctor who saves babies." Kara flutters her eyelashes at Alex and the auburn haired woman flashed Kara a grin.
"What about you? What do you do?"
"Oh, I'm just a personal assistant," Kara ducked her head, looking into her box of take-out, suddenly feeling insignificant. "I'm nothing special."
"What, are you trying to keep things from me, Ms. Zorel?" Alex stole a potsticker from Kara's plate.
"Hey!"
"Just tell me," Alex smiled encouragingly. "Or else I'm going to think you're a serial killer."
"I work at Catco for Cat Grant." Kara shrugged. She was self-conscious in front of this brilliant woman who was a bio-engineer, a doctor, a scientist… she didn't even know really what a bio-engineer did. But if she was swiping through dating profiles, she would've swiped left. Not because this woman wasn't gorgeous, but because Alex Danvers was so far above Kara it would've been ridiculous to think Alex would even give her the time of day.
Alex snorted, drawing Kara out of her thoughts. "Oh my, god, are you for real?! YOU are a superhero! I've heard Cat Grant is just horrible to work with!"
Kara laughed, letting the laughter wash over her and sweep away her insecurities. "She's really not that bad. She has a real… strength of character and even though she's harsh at times… all the time… I can trust her to do what's good. Even if I don't agree with her, but I know she does everything for a reason and she plans far into the future. Long-term goals, that's Ms. Grant."
"Well, what about her witch hunt for Shadow Agent?" The easy air around Alex was now sharp and attentive. "She's offering a reward for an exclusive on Shadow Agent?"
"It's been hard getting pictures or soundbites or-or anything from Shadow Agent." Kara shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "We're the news, and Ms. Grant wants the exclusive."
"But maybe Shadow Agent deserves her privacy." Alex argued. Their back and forth and easy meshing was, quite honestly, a surprise to the both of them. It was so smooth and effortless, the way Alex sprawled across the couch looking at Kara and Kara BEAMED at her with just the brightest smile-
Another knock on their door interrupted them.
"Huh." Kara put down her food. "I'm not expecting company."
Alex was looking over the top of her glasses at the door, squinting, then groaned, smacking a palm to her head. "I think that might be a delivery for me. I'm expecting something."
"How'd they know to come here?"
Alex suddenly looked very nervous. "Uh… you know. I… left a note on my door. Yeah."
"Oh, are you sending stuff over to my apartment now?" Kara raised an eyebrow at Alex. "You know that means I get to keep it."
Kara grinned, ignoring Alex's protests while walking backwards towards the door. That was why when the blonde opened the door, she was not expecting to be confronted by bulging pectoral muscles in her face. The man standing at the door was tall, dark, and chiseled, looking like he worked out at the gym extensively.
"Dr. Danvers, I thought I heard your voice." The man looked over Kara's head. He held up a small box in his hands. "I have your replacement phone."
He looked down at Kara as if suddenly realizing she was there. "Hello."
"Oh. Hello." Kara looked up nervously. This man, for some reason, reminded Kara of the police. Maybe it was the way he held himself and what he was wearing…
"Nelson, thank you." Alex was at the door, throwing Kara an apologetic smile and took the box. "I'll see you tomorrow at work."
He lingered at the door, nervously looking at Alex, opening and closing his mouth like he wanted to say something.
"Nelson?" Alex raised an eyebrow, wondering why he wasn't leaving.
"If you're free, I have some time right now… do want to go out and maybe have coffee?" Nelson blurted out, all nerves, then smiled hopefully at Alex.
"Oh, sorry Nelson, I'm having dinner with Kara." Alex said apologetically but firmly.
"Oh. Oh, you know each other?" Nelson looked back and forth between the two girls. This guy wasn't leaving and Kara could see Alex fidgeting in place.
"Yeah, we're just catching up." Kara slung an arm around Alex's shoulders and her neighbour looked at her gratefully, leaning her head to knock it against Kara's affectionately. Kara tried her best not to glare at this guy.
"Oh, well, uh I guess I'll see you at work tomorrow?" Nelson rubbed the back of his head, the gesture boyish and endearing if you were into that sorta thing. Kara was not and for some reason, her hackles were raised and she felt quite proprietary of her time with Alex.
"Sure, see you tomorrow." Alex closed the door when it seemed like Nelson would just stand outside and not leave. She waited a couple of minutes, seeming to be listening intently for Nelson to leave before her shoulders relaxed.
"Co-worker?" Kara asked sympathetically.
"We went on one date and that was a mistake." Alex started pushing Kara back towards the couch. "I went through a whole, 'try everything once' phase because a friend told me I was becoming-if not already-an antisocial hermit. And some of my co-workers also were… concerned."
"Well, you're doing pretty well right now with the social thing." Kara sat back on the couch. "I'll give you a B-plus for being kinda cool."
Alex raised an eyebrow at Kara, then slowly reached up to remove her glasses, pinning the blonde with a heated look that was hot enough to make steam look cool.
"W-what are you d-doing?" Kara asked nervously, her stomach again doing that weird flip-flop.
"SMOLDERING." Alex's exaggerated pout sent Kara into a fit of giggles. "This amount of smolder, you should upgrade my coolness level to an A-plus-plus."
"More like upgrade your dork level." Kara snorted as Alex's jaw dropped in outrage. "I know a Disney reference when I see one!"
"Guilty as charged." Alex threw up her hands. They spent the next hour just eating and enjoying each other's company, with Alex interrogating Kara on favourite Disney movies, then Kara asking Alex about what she did for fun, jumping from topic to topic until they landed on tv shows they liked to watch. While going over what they liked about each clone on Orphan Black, Alex's new phone suddenly rang.
"Sorry, I gotta take this." Alex picked up the phone, her face suddenly looking all business. "Danvers."
Kara watched worriedly as Alex's face darkened.
The auburn-haired woman was suddenly on her feet. "Yeah, I'm on my way."
"Alex? Everything okay?"
"Oh, I gotta head to work right now. They've had a bit of an emergency situation." Alex explained. "I'm sorry Kara, I gotta go."
"Oh. It's okay. Are you going to call a taxi? Because an Uber would be fast-"
"No, I can walk. It's not that far." Alex gave her a tight, impatient smile. "Next time, my treat?"
"Yeah, sure. Um. Well, you know where I live!" Kara smiled, walking Alex to the door. They said their goodnights reluctantly and smiled all the way through. When the door finally closed, Kara was left with a feeling of loss, like she never wanted their time together to end. It was funny how easily they got along. All of the dates Kara had ever gone to, Kara had never felt a connection as strong as the one she had just made. It felt like… it felt like a beginning. Not to say this was a date, no. Just a friendly get-together with a new neighbour! That's it! Just neighbours. Not a date. Even if she wanted it to be, which she did not because she didn't want to creep Alex out, and well, it's not a date. She didn't even really know Alex Danvers besides the fact that she was gorgeous, funny, intelligent, caring-
"Oh!" Her spacing out was interrupted by the trill of her own phone. "Hello?"
"Kara, where are you?" Winn's voice on the line was frantic.
"I'm at home. What's wrong?" Kara asked as Winn breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good, good. I'm still at the office and some of the journalists on the night staff bolted out of there saying that Shadow Agent is busting up some high-powered bank robber near your place-"
"What? Where?" Kara queried right before a faraway explosion shook her building. She ran to her balcony to look outside, seeing a pillar of fire roaring into the air and smoke billowing from the same location.
"Oh my god, Alex." Kara whispered to herself.
"Hello? Kara?" Kara had let the phone drop from her ear when she ran outside but brought it back up now.
"Winn! I'm fine! Don't worry! I'll talk to you later, bye!" Kara hung up, slipping the phone into her back pocket and her keys in her front pocket. She ran out the door and down the emergency stairs at the end of the hallway, rushing until she was at the bottom floor. Kara wished that she had superpowers, at least super-speed so she could get to wherever Alex was as quickly as possible.
Kara ran towards the sound of carnage blindly, her heart in her throat as another explosion made her stumble. It was hard, pushing against people who were running away from the epicentre of disaster. There was smoke and fire and-holy hell something just flew right past her and crashed into that store!
"What the bananas-!"
"Ugh…" The sound of someone in distress in the wreckage of the shop had Kara running towards the building.
"Hello? Is anyone in there? Are you okay?" Kara shouted. She stepped through the large hole, newly made by that flying projectile. Kara made it in to see a pile of rubble shift, then a hand punch out and grapple for a handhold out of what had been a wall.
"Shadow Agent!" Kara gasped. The aforementioned Shadow Agent's head turned sharply to glare at her, the smooth mask-a bit reminiscent of something a certain masked vigilante in Gotham would wear-on the hero's expressionless face didn't leave Kara any idea as to what the dark-clad super was thinking.
"What are you doing here?" Shadow Agent's voice rasped out, distorted by maybe some voice modulating thing that the hero's suit must be doing. This was the first time Kara had heard her voice! Nobody had ever gotten a soundbite before! National City's hero was such a mystery, that if it weren't for the skin-tight costume, nobody would have even known Shadow Agent was female!
"Oh!" Kara suddenly remembered, a fresh wave of fear overtaking her. "My friend! She ran off, I don't know if it was in this direction, but I was hoping it wasn't-" Kara suddenly realized how stupid it was of her to run right into danger. Alex might not even be here! "Have you seen my friend? She has auburn hair, about this length-" Kara motioned to around her chin. "-she's really, really pretty. She's wearing these cute glasses."
"Really, really pretty?" The amusement couldn't be hidden from Shadow Agent's voice.
"That's what she is, okay?" Kara stomped her foot in a bout of childish impatience. "Did you see her?"
"Miss, I'm fighting a really angry alien from outer space right now." Shadow Agent sounded halfway between amused and annoyed. "If she's buried beneath a pile of rubble, I'll help you find her after-"
"WHICH PILE?!" Kara looked to and fro furtively, close to tears.
"No, miss, I'm saying IF-" Shadow Agent was suddenly tackled through another wall and into a back room.
"Shadow Agent!" Kara screamed in horror. The… man… currently raining down blows on Shadow Agent had a weird ridge bisecting his bald cranium and wielded a glowing axe that emitted heat hot enough for Kara to feel it even from a distance. It seemed to be giving even Shadow Agent some problems.
"End of the line for you, Shadow Agent-"
"HEY!" Kara had picked up a small fire extinguisher nearby and chucked it just as the strange man turned to look at her. It hit him square in the face which Kara gained a lot of satisfaction from. "You get away from her!"
"Human, I'll rip you in two." He stepped towards her menacingly, still brandishing the strange axe. Unfortunately for him, his distraction was all Shadow Agent needed to hammer a blow to his head from behind, again and again until he was on his knees, then she locked him into some kind of hold.
"Let go of me!" The alien man snarled. "Women BOW before men on my planet! How dare you lay a hand on me! I will HURT the both of you-"
"Shut up, you misogynistic shithead." Shadow Agent snarled right back and tightened her hold viciously.
"Shadow Agent!" Several people in military-grade combat gear, all weaponed up and masked converged on the area in a tactical formation, weapons pointed cautiously at the struggling man. At the sight of the men, he struggled even harder, almost rabid in his desperation to get away.
"Agent!" One of the men broke formation, submachine gun abandoned and handgun pulled out for close range combat.
"Get BACK, soldier!" Shadow Agent warned, but the man didn't seem to listen. "Get the civilian out of here, that's an order!"
"I have a clear shot, ma'am, I'm taking it!"
"No-" The gun went off, the alien struggling enough that the shot, of course, missed even at near point-blank range, ricocheting off Shadow Agent's forearm and hitting Kara. The blonde let out a cry, stumbling backwards and falling over some debris.
"Civilian down!" Some of the soldiers surrounded her immediately to provide a human shield. "Civilian down!"
"NO!" Shadow Agent's grip loosened just a smidge, but it was enough for her captive to break her hold on him, swinging his axe around to clear a radius, then launching himself out of the building by punching a hole through the roof as he went.
"Medic!" Shadow Agent was at Kara's side. Even though Kara couldn't see Shadow Agent's full face, the blonde could see the worry and fear. "I need a medic now!"
"No, I'm okay." Kara gasped, though the pain in her upper arm told her otherwise. Shadow Agent carefully loosened Kara's grip on the injured shoulder, looking critically at the bloody mess that was the woman's upper arm.
"I'm fine. Just… if Alex is under a pile of rubble, we have to save her! She's my new neighbour! I'm a bad neighbour if I let her die on the first day to our building!"
Shadow Agent suddenly laughed out loud, throwing her head back and outright laughing at the entire situation.
"It's not funny." Kara pouted.
"It's a little bit funny." Shadow Agent gently replied. The soldiers around them were all looking at Shadow Agent as if she'd grown a new head. "Alright, it doesn't seem like you were that hurt. Seems like the bullet grazed you and you're bleeding more than necessary for such a small wound."
"It hurts," Kara whined.
"Only for a little bit, but you were such a brave girl." The superhero soothed. Kara raised an eyebrow at the tone, even distorted, she could TELL Shadow Agent was using a baby voice with her. Kara's eyes narrowed as she caught the almost imperceptible twitch at the corner of Shadow Agent's mouth.
"You're making fun of me," Kara pouted. "This is not very superhero-y."
Shadow Agent laughed again and this time there was a full-out grin on her face. "I apologize. What's your name, miss?"
"Kara. Kara Zorel."
"It's very nice to meet you. Medic, clean and dress Ms. Zorel's wounds. I'll take her home after." Shadow Agent ordered. One of the men hopped to comply. Another tried to tend to Shadow Agent-the axe had caught her across her shoulder and left a fragment of the weapon embedded in her skin-but Shadow Agent brushed them off.
"But my friend-"
"Is safe. I remember her now. Short hair cut to around here," Shadow Agent motioned to her chin, "really, really pretty."
Kara scowled at Shadow Agent's teasing tone.
"She's safe. I remember bumping into her and telling her to head off away from here. She said, uh, that she going to her lab or something. But she should be heading home."
"But what if she's hurt?"
Shadow Agent pursed her lips, then knelt down so she was eye-level with Kara. "Tell you what: I'll fly you back quickly after you get checked out. She's most likely returned home. She's definitely not here, there were no casualties… except you, of course."
"Okay." Kara said meekly, suddenly feeling drained. Maybe it was the adrenaline finally leaving her, but she was suddenly exhausted. She sat there quietly as one of the masked soldiers tended to her and asked her questions about her health in a calm voice. Kara answered them the best she can, but her eyes kept drifting to Shadow Agent. She had taken one of her people aside-the soldier that had disobeyed her order-and even from here she could hear the angry tones of Shadow Agent's voice as she dressed him down.
By the time her shoulder had been treated, Shadow Agent was back, a smirk on her face. Effortlessly, she lifted up Kara into her arms, nodded to her people, then took off into the sky.
"Holy moly guacamole!" Kara circled her arms around Shadow Agent's neck as they flew towards Kara's building, landing not minutes later on the blonde's balcony.
"Here you are, Ms. Zorel." Shadow Agent was, despite reports from different journalists who had gotten the cold shoulder from Shadow Agent, solicitous and kind. "Thank you, by the way, for helping me with Vartox. And I'm sorry you were hurt, my people should have gotten you out of there."
"No harm no foul!" Kara was chipper.
"There… was harm."
"Yeah, well," Kara stammered and tried to change the subject. "Uh. The guy you were fighting? His name is Vartox?"
"Yeah." Shadow Agent nodded. "But that's all the info you're getting out of me, Ms. Zorel. I know where you work."
"You do?" Kara blinked.
"Well," Shadow Agent hummed suddenly feeling like she was sweating under her mask. "Yeah. Uh, you're Cat Grant's assistant."
"Oh. How did you know that?"
"Well, of course I'm keeping track of the 'Queen of All Media' when she offers a reward for an exclusive interview from me." Shadow Agent replied quickly. "And of course, I would know the people close to her."
"Oh. That makes sense."
"Right. Okay, Ms. Zorel. I'm going to leave now." Shadow Agent announced awkwardly, and Kara giggled.
"You're not very good with people."
"I'm great with people." Shadow Agent sniffed, offended. "I've saved tons!"
"You're super awkward." Kara felt safe enough to tease Shadow Agent, feeling so at ease with the superhero. Enough to grin at Shadow Agent's straightening spine and her offended scoff.
"We all can't be Superwoman." Shadow Agent crossed her arms self-consciously. "She was a baby when she left our planet AND spent her whole life on Earth so human niceties are more her thing-"
"So you're from the same planet she's from?" Kara caught onto that piece of information. Lois Lane had reported on Superwoman and everyone knew the hero of Metropolis was from the dying planet, Krypton. It would make sense since Shadow Agent's powers were almost identical to Superwoman's, from what had been observed.
"In what capacity are you asking me? Is this an interview?" Shadow Agent's stance changed to a more solid one as she eyed Kara critically.
"No, no. I'm sorry." Kara held up her hands to show that she meant no harm. "It's just no-one knows much about you."
"They don't need to know about me for me to protect them." Shadow Agent's shoulders were hunched up defensively. "I deserve my privacy."
"That's true." Kara felt horrible, this woman had just saved her life! "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you angry."
"I'm not angry." Shadow Agent's shoulders dropped and she chuckled helplessly. "I'm sorry, what with Cat Grant offering that reward, I've had to be extra careful. I have PAPARAZZI chasing me. My team is no longer supporting me, they're trying to keep regular people from rushing into a dangerous situation and endangering their lives. That's why I'm kind of snappy. I'm sorry."
"No no, don't apologize." Kara wrung her hands. "I'm sorry. This must make your job so much harder."
"Tell me about it." Shadow Agent turned away from Kara to look out into the city glumly. She could see, with her super-vision, that faraway back at the sight of her showdown with Vartox, the fire trucks have arrived and some of the agents from the DEO tasked with damage control were there to deal with the fallout of her battle with the alien. Director Henshaw was going to KILL HER. She was supposed to move battles away from city centres, contain and detain super-powered criminals, but the reporters and reward-chasers following her was getting a bit much. Today Shadow Agent had to scream at a teenage boy to run while he stood there trying to film her with his cellphone, then she had to restrain herself from throwing him into the sun when he heard the muttered "bitch" under his breath.
Shadow Agent hadn't felt guilty at all for secretly heat-raying his iPhone as he left.
"I could try to talk to Ms. Grant, maybe-I'm not going to mention meeting you of course-" Kara sputtered at Shadow Agent's pointed look. "-but maybe tell her t-that, I don't know. The reward isn't bringing the results she wants?"
"You'd do that?" Shadow Agent tilted her head to look at Kara.
"Yeah." Kara shrugged. "You did save my life. Let me use my influence to try and help you. But, uh… full disclosure, Ms. Grant's like, really headstrong. And… I don't have much influence."
"I appreciate it, either way. If you could do that, Ms. Zorel." Shadow Agent nodded. "Thank you."
"It's fine." Kara thrust her hand out to Shadow Agent. "Um, thank you again. For everything. For what you do for the city. And I'm sorry we're dumb and preventing you from doing your job."
Shadow Agent smiled brilliantly at Kara and reached out to shake her hand, holding it like she was afraid to break the peppy girl.
"Just don't run into anymore firefights. Have a good evening, Ms. Zorel." Shadow Agent backed up then launched herself off from the balcony, flying away and disappearing over her building.
"Wow." Kara breathed out. Shadow Agent was super cool! Winn would FLIP if he knew she had met her! Would Alex think it was cool- "Oh my god, Alex!"
Kara darted out of her apartment and was at Alex's door, knocking frantically.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Alex swung open the door, in her shorts and tanktop. "Where's the fire?"
"Alex!" Kara flung her arms around Alex, getting a startled yelp from the auburn-haired woman. "Oh no, are you okay?"
"Ugh. I bumped into Shadow Agent." Kara looked alarmed and Alex hurried to explain, gripping her shoulder which did look a little red and swollen. "No, no, she didn't do anything to me. I was going back home and this big guy running past shoulder-checked me into a wall."
"Oh no! Do you need ice? Can I do anything for you?" Kara asked.
"Naw, I'm fine. Did you need me for anything?" Alex adjusted her glasses and looked at the blonde pointedly, who flushed under the gaze.
"No, uh, I just heard that there was a superhero fight couple of streets over and I wanted to make sure you weren't around there." Kara laughed awkwardly and lied. "I didn't even know, um, until I watched the news. I certainly wasn't there."
"I'm fine. Thank you for looking in on me," Alex gave Kara a genuine smile. "Want to have dinner maybe, hm, today's Tuesday… Thursday? So I can get settled and I can get you back for the food."
"Sure! Totally!" Kara was smiling so much her cheeks hurt. She was just so glad Alex was alright! "I'll see you Thursday!"
Kara went back to her apartment, still in a bit of a daze. She was glad Alex was alright, but now her thoughts wandered to Shadow Agent and something made her frown. How well did Shadow Agent keep track of Cat Grant's people? Because Kara was sure she hadn't told Shadow Agent where she lived.