This is part 3 of a story.
Part 1- Supergirl: Prometheus
Part 2- Supergirl: Legacy Of Krypton
Though you're welcome to start at this point, I strongly recommend you read those first two parts, otherwise it may take some time to understand events and characters that are key to the story.
Things were different. Even technically being an employee here, Kara had been away from CatCo for quite some time. Lena had shifted her role to a more freelance style position to allow her to contend with a more Supergirl orientated schedule. There was also the ring, the persistent chorus of shouting and incoherent anger was more of a background hum she had grown accustomed to outside of fighting. Despite always being loud enough to keep itself heard at almost all times, it was overridden by the clacking of keyboards and low-level chatter of the CatCo top floor. The modern look was bathed in the natural morning light and the desks were more spaced out than before. There seemed to be more breathing room for each employee to use the space while maintaining that open feel with a lack of interior walls. A cart stacked with a load of coffee cups had recently been wheeled in, it was a potent earthy smell to her heightened senses. The ring sent a pulse of heat through her body, no-one in the room was agitated enough to get its attention so it took it upon itself to kick up a fuss. It was currently invisible, yet with its constant presence of noise and stirring it was impossible to ever forget it was there.
"Why are you here?" A voice addressed her.
"You're saying that like it's normal for you to be here," she said. It was Dorn, or at least that was the name he had told her was real. He had settled on that name, with the occasional dip into his old habits of numerous different ones. He was clean shaven and casual as ever. He had swapped his usual styling of a plain hoodie for one with an L-Corp logo on it. She figured it was probably to irritate any staff that were still loyal to Ms. Grant after the takeover had been finalised, though from what she had heard they would be few and far between.
"I galivant, I roam, there's no place in National City that isn't normal for me," he said. He took a coffee from the cart, the name scrawled on the side was "Sarah."
"Seriously, stealing coffee? Put it back," she said, the ring flared. A brief rise in the hum of shouts and a mild taste of blood shot through her senses. She swallowed it back and took a deep breath. She tolerated Dorn for Lena's sake, those two had become good friends for reasons she could barely fathom. Lena's trust in him went a long way in being able to contain her amplified irritation at the man, there was also the fact that he had worked out she was Supergirl and so far, kept that secret.
"Always thinking the worst of me, that's fair. I'm not actually stealing this, I'm delivering. The desk is on the way to Lena's office," he said. He shimmied awkwardly between her and an empty desk despite there being an open route on the other side. She rolled her eyes and stepped aside.
"I'm here for Lena as well," she said and started to walk with him. She subtly kept an eye on Sarah's coffee through the busy office. It was mildly frustrating going at Dorn's sauntering pace, with Lena's office door in sight it was tempting to speed ahead of him. Jimmy still occupied the main office, albeit with blinds now put in place. This left Lena's workspace in a side-room that was converted for her. Jimmy was left in charge of the day-to-day operations as Lena spent most of her time back at L-Corp. Today was an exception, Lena popped in every now and then to see over things for herself. Lena had invited her to drop by, she assumed Dorn was here unannounced. In the moment she had looked toward Lena's office she noticed that the coffee was no longer in Dorn's hand. It was sitting on a desk they had walked by. Despite the re-arranged space, she recognised the various knick-knacks and decorations on this desk. They belonged to a man named Malcom. As she moved back, Dorn spoke up.
"Leave it there, trust me," he said, without looking away. Kara gave in, whatever was going on was not worth the hassle of correcting this minor offense. There was a stabbing heat in her finger from the ring, it was its way of huffing. She was inclined to agree with it.
Lena's door was closed, her usual policy of openness meant that she must have been on a call. Dorn leaned against the wall as the two waited, he knew not to bother with small talk. After a couple of minutes of blissful silence from him he finally spoke.
"Have a listen," he said, and pointed at Sarah's coffee. The desk was half-way across the open office space. Though Dorn's Krpytonian powers were intentionally limited, his senses were as good as hers and could listen in as well as she could. Malcolm was a good-looking man, his long strides matched his tall figure when he approached his desk. He spotted the coffee and made a small, amused noise to himself. He picked up the coffee and set off again. Kara's attention was split, watching this scene unfold and trying to discern what Dorn was playing at. Dorn watched intently as Malcolm worked his way to the other side of the office and planted the coffee down at a woman's desk. The woman had pretty features and long, tied back hair.
"Third time this week," Malcolm said to the woman. She looked up from her keyboard, concentration turned into a smile.
"It really is strange, Malcolm and Sarah don't look very similar when written on a coffee cup," she said.
"Bizarreness aside, I feel like I almost owe you a coffee myself at this rate," Malcolm, looking to get back to his own desk again. Sarah's face dropped, with Kara's enhanced thinking speed she could see the eternity of conflicting thoughts in Sarah's face despite the fact only a second had gone by.
"I'd like that," Sarah blurted out. Malcolm stopped himself and turned back.
"What was that?" he said.
"I said I'd like that. Coffee, I mean. Me and you, outside of the office," she said. Kara could hear Sarah's heart beat faster. It seemed so weak compared to the booming drumming of her own that the ring blared into her skull whenever it got the chance. Malcolm nodded to himself.
"Sure, I'd like that. I know a good place we can go when the lunch break rolls around," he said and peeled off again. There was a smile on his face and a small skip in his step on his way back. Sarah was doing a terrible job hiding her giddiness.
"Are those two finally getting together," Lena had startled them both, she was stood in a now open doorway. Lena was in a black shirt and light grey suit. It was perfectly tailored, and her hair was tied back in a bun.
"They're certainly on their way," Dorn said.
"I told you Sarah just needed a push," Lena said.
"You also told me the coffee trick wouldn't work," he said.
"No, I said that method was unnecessarily convoluted," Lena paused with a contemplative look. "Then for some reason let you convince me to let you do it anyway." Kara tapped at her arm and her jaw set having already grown tired of this conversation. Lena had asked for her yet here they were wasting time. Kara ignored the hum spurring her to rectify this, as tempting as the subtle suggestions to seize the initiative in that vibration of noise was. Dorn turned to her, his smirk suggested she was doing a much worse job of hiding her impatience than she thought.
"Anyway, I'm not here long. Just here to pass on a message from Ruby," he said. Lena raised an eyebrow at him.
"Don't give me that look, I was in the area anyway," he said.
"I was unaware of my phone being broken," Lena said with a smirk of her own.
"Look, I told Ruby about ciphers and she's gotten a bit carried away. I'm here to tell you the keyword which apparently was too secret to send via any electronic messages. Expect any messages further message from Ruby to need decoding," he said. Lena chuckled.
"Well, what's the word?" She asked. Dorn's face dropped slightly as he looked at Kara awkwardly.
"Seriously?" Kara said, she folded her arms.
"It's meant to be a secret," Dorn said, he shifted awkwardly as Kara growled under her breath.
"Come on then, sorry Kara," Lena said, the tension in Kara's shoulders released slightly when Lena shot her a sympathetic smile. Dorn left the door open as he popped into Lena's office and pulled a pencil from his pocket. He scribbled quickly onto a wayward post-it at Lena's desk. He folded it and put it in Lena's top suit pocket.
"Memorise it, then burn the note. I told Ruby the importance of not leaving a paper trail and would rather not be a hypocrite," he said.
"I'll be sure to take my time to memorise one word. Anything else while you're here," Lena said.
"Nope, I think you've suffered enough of me today. See you around," he said.
"Very well," Lena's eyes shifted to his hoodie. "And as much as I appreciate the brand loyalty, CatCo's been enough trouble without you attempting to stir the pot." He shot her with one of his signature grins and sauntered away. When he was finally out of sight Kara felt her hands loosen, she had not realised they were balled into tight fists for that entire exchange. She sighed to herself as an incoherent shout broke through the hum. Lena touched her shoulder, there was warmth to it that was so different from the blazing heat of her blood. She brushed off a mild shudder and followed Lena into her office. It was cramped compared to her one at L-Corp, a wooden desk sat inoffensively at the end of it with some shelving here and there. A painting of National City's skyline was on the back wall, it was a sad substitute for a window. Lena closed the door behind them and sat in one of two smaller chairs in front of the desk, Kara took the other. Lena's face softened, that caring expression she knew so well at this point. It was infuriatingly soothing, all that tightness from dealing with Dorn slowly fluttered away as she looked at Lena. She adjusted her ring as it seared at her finger.
"How are you, Kara?" Lena said.
"The usual, on edge and impatient. Nothing I haven't grown accustomed to," she said. Lena nodded.
"Sorry about Dorn, I didn't know he was coming in. I…" Lena started.
"Don't apologise," Kara cut in, despite how irritating she found the man, she knew as well as Lena that the anger toward him stemmed from somewhere else. She swallowed hard, she pushed words through a sore throat. "The meditation methods you showed me are helping, it's the closest I'm able to get to relaxing." Lena put her hand on Kara's knee. Kara rubbed her forehead as if it would help alleviate the busyness of her thoughts.
"Any luck getting some sleep? A good night's sleep can work wonders all sorts of ways," Lena said.
"It's been months, I don't even try any more. At this point I think the ring must just prevent it entirely. I'm never tired… not physically anyway," Kara trailed off. Lena nodded, her subtle shift in expression revealed that unending sympathy Kara had come to know so well. Despite everything, it never came across as pity from Lena. The thud of her heart boomed louder at her, the war drum of the ring refused to let the silent moment lie.
"So, what did you want to talk about," Kara said.
"I must admit there's a topic I've been putting off we need to discuss," Lena said. Kara tilted her head, it was unlike Lena to hold back. Lena sat up and reasserted her posture. "I know I've been a bit less available as of late. Now the CatCo acquisition is at last finalised, my time is somewhat my own again. So Kara, let's catch up," Lena shuffled forward with an eager smile. There was a flush in her cheeks, Kara could not help but smile back.