Prompt: "Why won't you let me braid your hair?"


Supergirl was standing on the balcony at CatCo Worldwide Media, senses extended as she listened to the sounds of the city with her eyes closed.

"Something specific we're listening for?" Cat asked quietly as she came up behind her friend. She'd been watching the hero from her office for a while and had become impatient to know why Supergirl hadn't come in to offer her usual greeting.

"Not really," Supergirl replied, opening her eyes. "Just listening for bad things."

"You hear good things too, right? It's not all bad?"

"No, not all bad," the younger blonde smiled, eyes still on the lights of the city. "I can hear children playing before bed, parents reading bedtime stories, couples talking about their days over dinner, others making love…" Supergirl paused. "Uh… never mind the last one."

"You have x-ray vision," the older blonde laughed. "I never thought about the fact that you can see EVERYTHING."

"I try not to invade people's privacy," the hero chuckled. "But sometimes it's unavoidable."

Supergirl closed her eyes again, folding her arms over her chest but then she stiffened as she felt a touch to her hair. Gentle fingers were riffling through it. "You'd look good with your hair up, you know." Cat said.

Kara had a brief moment of panic. If Cat insisted on putting her hair up, she might figure out her identity. Supergirl's hair was always down. Kara Danvers' hair was always up in some fashion. "I… um… I prefer it down," she replied, as calmly as possible. "It's kind of a look."

"Let me braid it for you?" Cat asked. "Just to see what it looks like?"

The younger blonde shook her head as gentle fingers ran through her locks again. "I… um… should be going, Miss Grant."

"Why won't you let me braid your hair, Supergirl?" The older woman's tone was infinitely gentle, as if soothing a skittish horse. "Afraid I might figure out your true identity if I give you a different hairstyle?"

Supergirl turned at that, letting her eyes meet Cat's. "Yeah, actually," she nodded. She'd promised herself she wouldn't lie to her friend anymore.

"What's the worst thing that could happen?" the older woman chuckled. "Your human identity is not a piece of information I'd repeat. You can trust me on that."

"I do trust you," the hero replied. "I'm just scared of you getting hurt. You or Carter."

Cat eyebrows lifted. "Why would Carter or I get hurt?"

The hero leaned her palms on the balcony wall, shaking her head. "I have a lot of enemies," she said. "I need to keep the people I care about safe from them."

"Enemies… why?" Cat asked worriedly.

"I can't tell you that," Supergirl murmured, looking out over the city again.

"Kara… hey…" the older woman said, stepping right up to the wall and turning to look at the hero. Surprised blue eyes gazed back at her. "Don't you think it's time to do away with these ridiculous secrets between us?"

"But… I…" the hero began weakly as she took a seat on an ottoman, hands laced in her lap, but her promise to never lie to Cat again made her stop speaking and look away. "I'm sorry," she said instead. "I didn't want to lie to you for so long."

There was quiet between them for a long moment, then Kara gasped softly as gentle fingers stroked through her hair again, marking the beginning of a braid. The older blonde just leaned a little closer to whisper in her ear. "I prefer your hair up, Kara. It accentuates your neck."

"Thanks, Miss Grant," the hero replied with a smile. "Me too."