Cat was left dazed. That wasn't what she was expecting at all. For the first time, Kara acknowledged her knowing and for the first time they talked about it openly. It wasn't as she always imagined it would be, though. She never thought the moment would come in a such a heavy way, but what was she expecting? Once again, she let her rage take over her, and once again she pushed. She sighed.
"Dammit." She said as she opened her door.
"Mom! You were supposed to be here like an hour ago!"
He said pouting that once again job had kept his mother away. Carter hugged her and helped her with the purse. "Did anything happened? Last minute board meeting sort of thing?"
"The elevator stopped working." She didn't expect her to sound so raw.
"What? With you inside? Mom, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" He hugged her again.
"I am. I wasn't." She said smiling weakly at him and holding his arms. "But I am now."
"I feel so bad now."
"Don't, sweetheart. I'll take a quick shower and we'll start the Settlers of Catan battle you've been craving for all week."
"Are you sure? We can reschedule."
"No, no way. It'll be good. I'll be right back." She kissed his head.
"Was Kara there too?"
Cat was taken aback by his question. "Yes, she was." She answered slowly.
"She was probably scared too then. Poor Kara."
"Yes." She turned to leave again.
"Can I text her?"
Cat thought for a moment. "Sure. I'm sure she'd appreciate it."
"Alright." He said throwing himself on the couch and getting his phone.
"Hey, Kara. I'm sorry to hear about the elevator thing. I'm glad you and mom are okay. Xo."
Kara laid on her bed staring at her ceiling. That was it. The cat was out of the bag. She was so worried. Deep inside she knew Cat knew all along, and more than that, she wanted her to know. Cat has always helped her make sense of everything, either as Kara or as Supergirl. She trusted her, she relied on her, and if anyone deserved to know that was Cat. She kept loyal to Supergirl even after facing her worse nightmare.
On the other hand, Alex was most certainly going to kill her. She sighed. And Hank would watch it. That's it, she was over. She couldn't be trusted to keep her own secret.
Also, Cat was hating her right now. Kara groaned. Whenever they took a step ahead, they had two setbacks, she was tired of that. Her head was a turmoil. So much she found herself refusing food.
Suddenly, her phone came to life and her heart took a leap causing her to hesitate before seeing who the text was from. It wasn't Cat's, but she wasn't disappointed to see Carter's name on her screen either.
"Hey, Kara. I'm sorry to hear about the elevator thing. I'm glad you and mom are okay. Xo."
"Thank you, buddy. That's very thoughtful. Have fun tonight. :)"
Cat turned her shower on and let the water wash over her body as she leaned on the wall with her eyes closed, wishing the water would take away all of the tension too.
"You have to know it's not about that, you have to know, Cat." Her heart sped up. What could Kara be possibly talking about then?
"I trust you with my life!" Cat winced as she heard Kara's confession again.
"I blew off my powers last night, I really just couldn't get us out."
"Shit. Kara..." She ran her fingers on her hair. "I hope you're okay."
The water didn't help her with half of her worries. Right now she was regretting her behaviour. She was mad, she had been terrified, but Kara still didn't deserve that. She'd never deserve that. Cat knew just how much the girl cared about pretty much everyone. And as for what Kara said, she cared a big deal about her too. She wasn't surprised. They've grown closer and grown into each other's life. She'd never be sure about the extension of it, but she had no doubts of Kara's care for her. And she had no doubt about what she felt for the girl either.
She walked into her living room.
"We should have invited her."
"I'm sorry, who now?"
"Kara, mom. I miss spending time with her."
She sighed. "Maybe some other time." Cat sat accross him. "Are you ready?"
"Did something else happen?"
Cat looked at him and couldn't help but smile. "I did such a great job raising you."
"That you did." He smiled back at her. "You know you can tell everything, right?"
"I wasn't fair to Kara today."
"So you do know her name!"
Cat rolled her eyes and he laughed. "I'm kidding. I know you do that to hide the fact that you actually care about her."
"Is that so?"
He nodded. "I'm sure whatever it is, you two will figure it out in the morning."
"I hope so."
"I know so. You know, mom, Kara and you are endgame."
"What's that supposed to mean, Carter?" She raised her voice and her eyebrow.
"You'll see."
"Carter Grant, I swear.."
"No threatening me, we have a competition to start."
"Alright, and if I remember well, I have a title to keep, so I'm letting this go." She narrowed her eyes. "For now."
Kara was still on her bed when she heard Alex arriving at her apartment and opening the door.
"Kar.."
"Bedroom."
Alex reached her. "Hey, are you okay? I heard about the elevator. Disaster just keeps following you. I mean, really? Did it have to wreck exactly the day you're powerless? That must have sucked. It's not as if you could have done anything, though, you were with your boss."
"Yeah."
Alex frowned. "Hey, I know that you hate being as vulnerable... actually, more vulnerable than the rest of us – she teased – but take this time to rest, and we do need to catch up on our tv shows."
"I know."
"Are you still on any pain?"
"No, the bruises are already fading."
"That's great." She sighed happily, but Kara was still down. "Alright, what is it, Kara? Spit it out."
Kara winced. "I'd rather talk about it when I'm all super again."
Alex narrowed her eyes. "I'd hunt you down with kriptonite."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Start talking, Kara Zor-El."
"I'm gonna call Eliza on you!" She teased reaching for her phone, but Alex playfully tackled her down on the bed. "Alright, alright." Alex released her. "Just promise you won't.. you know just go around threatening National City and give me some time before you break it to Jonn'."
"What did you do?" Kara kept looking at her. "I promise to give you a fair leverage, but you'd better start now."
"Well, Cat knows."
"What? What do you mean she knows? We tricked her. How could you let her find it out again? Oh, no, no, no, please don't tell me you just told her, Kara!" Alex stood up.
"Can you just listen, please?" Alex turned to her. "Okay, first I did not tell her. Not exactly." She twisted her mouth and bit her lip. "She already knew, Alex, okay? We never fooled her, or maybe we did for a minute or two, but she always knew, she's smart, she's Cat freaking Grant, for Rao's sake."
"But we had the benefit of doubt."
"Trust me, we didn't. She knew. And she's not a danger. She knows since forever and she never did anything to threaten me."
"She almost fired you."
"She just doesn't like to lose. She wouldn't really... fire me." She said, sounding not so certain. "And I like that she knows. I mean, I don't like it right now, she's super mad, she probably wants to kill me right now and... right now.. I don't doubt she could."
"She's tiny!"
"Oh, but she could. And I'm gonna have to face her, to face it all, but it'll be good in the future, you know I always enjoyed talking to her."
"Kara.."
"Alex, I think it's fine. Really. She wouldn't do anything to harm me, I'm her "creation". I'd be more worried about putting her in danger for knowing, but honestly.. everyone knows Cat Grant and Supergirl are close, so she'd definitely already a target." She sighed.
"Why is she so mad at you? She has to understand you couldn't and shouldn't" she emphasized "tell her."
"She's mad because she wanted me to get her out of the elevator, she didn't know I couldn't. She was terrified, Alex. She even passed out."
"I didn't pick her to panic like that."
"Well, she never liked heights. Livewire tried to drop that elevator 30 floors down and I threw her off her balcony, you can't really blame her."
"I won't tell Hank, but we'll have to."
"I know, thanks."
"And talk to her. Or I will."
"Please, don't threaten her."
"Now you're pushing your luck."
"Why is trusting her so important for you anyway?"
Kara looked at Alex. "I.. I don't.. know."
Alex sighed. Kara was a terrible liar. And Alex had an idea about why. "Promise you'll tell me when you figure it out?"
The other day, Cat got up earlier than usual. She couldn't get much sleep, so she'd better just start the day already. She spent most of the night fighting the urge to text Kara, call Kara, show up at Kara's even. But she knew she should wait till the morning, she didn't even know what to say yet. She knew she had to apologize, but where would they go after it?
Cat kept rushing Carter all morning, leaving him at school 20 minutes earlier too. Once she got at CatCo, her heart immediately sped up. At first, she thought it was just because she'd have to confront Kara, but then she remembered the reason of it all. She stood looking to the elevator doors and took a deep breath.
"Don't worry, miss Grant, it's been fixed and it doesn't show any sign of imperfection." Said one of the security men.
Even though she was glad to hear that, she didn't like everyone noticing Cat Grant was afraid of something. Just as she started moving to get into, she heard an exasperated..
"Oh, miss Grant!" Kara looked at her holding her latte. "You're early today, and I'm a little late." She touched her glasses.
Cat turned to her. 'Of course you are.' She thought, even though she knew very well Kara was never late in the morning.
"I'm sorry. Here's your latte." She smiled and handed it over to Cat.
As Cat took the cup she let their fingers brush and linger a little. "Good morning, Kara. And thank you."
Kara frowned and smiled. "So, shall we go? If you want, I can go in your elevator as we discuss your early appointments."
"I'd like that." They both walked into it.
As the doors closed, Cat took a sip of her hot latte and hummed content.
"Thank you. You didn't have to do this for me."
"I get your latte every day?" Cat glared her. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Hmm, maybe for being late for the first time ever right after we both spent miserable minutes inside of this metal box. Yes, it's true, you're proned to disappearing during work day at a daily basis, but you're never late in the mornings. Sometimes, I suspect you open the building. I don't thank you enough, so just take it."
"Sure, miss Grant." Kara blushed and looked at her feet, being caught.
"I really appreciate that. Even though it's not your job, you're always taking care of me."
Kara smiled at her, but Cat could see that she was as nervous as she's been.
"So.. " Kara cleared her throat. "I have the layouts you asked with me. I took the time to review them and I think.."
"Not now."
"Excuse me?"
The doors opened.
"Not now, come to the balcony, please."
Kara frowned but followed her. Part of her expected Cat would ignore the previous day and go professional as usual, but she realised she wasn't so lucky today.
Cat put her purse on the coach, her latte on her desk and went straight to the balcony.
"Sit."
Kara complied and Cat sat by her side. She took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry." Kara's eyes widened, and Cat rolled hers. "Oh, for God's sake, don't act like you've never heard me apologizing."
"It doesn't happen very often..."
"Kara.. " She said on a threatening tone, but Kara knew she wasn't serious.
"I'm sorry." Kara tried to hold back a smile and looked down. She could get used to Cat finally using her name.
"So, as I was saying. I really am sorry. I'm sorry for pushing you once again, I recognize it was out of line, our secrets are our own, and I shouldn't force you to come out. Also, I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that. I'm sorry for all the harsh words, Kara, you never deserved any of that. And I meant it that I don't thank you enough for saving me every day, not only when you're caped. Truth is, you've been saving me and CatCo for two years before Supergirl came around. I know I don't acknowledge it enough, but I hope you know that I appreciate all you do for me."
Kara really wasn't expecting that.
"Thank you, miss Grant. I.. that's very nice of you. And I.. I undestand."
"No, I was way out of line, do take my apologies."
"I do. But I understand that you were terrified and that you trusted me to help you, as I promised I'd always do. You didn't know. And I do trust you back, I hope you believe me. There were other reasons for me to not just tell you everything. It wasn't a matter of trust."
Cat smiled at her. "I suppose a very angry Agent Scully might be a part of that."
Kara giggled. "You have no idea."
"Should I expect her to come barging into my office with her ridiculous black "FBI" uniform threatening to never let me see the sun again?"
"I asked her not to, but yeah, you should."
Cat laughed. "Alright."
"She can be very scary, you shouldn't laugh."
Cat looked at her. "I'm disappointed you're worried about me and not about your sister in this."
Kara swallowed.
"I'm kidding. I'll behave. I'm sorry again."
"Thank you. I appreciate that."
Cat leaned closer to her. "Are you okay?"
"Hmm.. yes? Why?"
"You said you blew off your powers. I didn't even know that could happen, although it does explain a lot, like the broken arm that one day. Are you hurt?" Cat scanned her.
Kara shook her head no. "Just a few light bruises. It's nothing."
"Where?"
"I got hit on my belly with kriptonite, but it wasn't that bad really, the overuse of my power to defeat him and leave was what drained me. I'm fine."
"Let me see."
"What?"
"Let me see."
"You.." She giggled nervously. "You really don't have to worry, miss.."
"Call me Cat. We're at work, but we're alone, you should call me Cat. And please, let me see it."
"But.."
"I insist."
Kara stood up and Cat followed her. She untucked her shirt from her pants, and undid the lower buttons. Her hands were shaking, she was visibly nervous at this. Cat held her hand to stop her.
"I hope I'm not intruding again. You don't have to do this if you don't want. I'm just worried about you. I... I spent all night wondering, worrying. It's a lot easier to think that nothing can hurt you."
"It's fine." She smiled and kept opening them, but not all of them.
Cat watched as slowly Kara's skin was revealed. For a second, she expect a blue suit, but of course she wouldn't be wearing it. Cat glanced at the smoth skin of Kara's abs in awe, but soon a purple bruise called her attention.
"Oh, Kara.."
"It isn't this bad, I promise."
Cat gently touched it. She heard Kara gasp and felt the muscles of her belly twist.
"I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"
"N-no." She flushed.
Cat looked at her, trying to read her.
"It's okay, really."
Cat looked at her belly and touched it again.
"Are you sure? If you want, you can.."
"Don't make me go home, please. I can't feel any more useless."
"Just because you're not flying around, it doesn't mean you're useless." Her hand was still on the same spot. "In fact, you're the most effective employee I have, I was just worried that you might need some rest."
"Thank you, miss.. Cat. But I am fine."
"Will you tell me if you need anything?" She dropped her hand.
"I promise." Kara did the buttons again.
"Good." Cat tugged at her hand, and Kara looked down. "Anything wrong?"
"No, I was just.."
"What? Tell me."
"Everything is gonna be different now."
"A little bit, yes. But I think it's a welcomed change, don't you?"
"Yeah.."
"That wasn't very convincing. I'm not gonna force you to tell me everything and give me interviews all the time, if that's what you're wondering. I'd like to get to know you, all of you, yes, but I'd never use anything unless you allow me to."
"I know that, thanks."
"So why are you so worried?"
"I just.. feel kinda jealous?"
"Jealous?" Cat frowned confused.
"Of her."
"What are you talking about?"
"Supergirl."
"You're jealous of yourself? You do know you're one, right? Please, don't tell me you have a personality split, that'd be too complicated."
"No, I know. It's just, I've been two halves for so long it's kinda hard to put me back together. To just be me again. Kara Zor-El."
"Is that your name?" She asked widening her eyes. Kara nodded. "It's beautiful." She smiled.
"And Supergirl is... well, National City's hero. Kara Danvers is.."
"My personal hero, I'd like to think."
Kara looked into her eyes. "You always looked at me in awe when I'm in the suit. But Kara.. Kara is just your great assistant, and now you're here and allowing me to call you Cat and..."
"Kara.." Cat touched her hand again. "I told you, I always knew. I'm sorry at the way I've treated you.."
"No, it's not like it was any different from other employess and Supergirl is not" she emphasized "your employee."
"Yet." Cat smiled teasingly. "Believe me, I'll still call you Kiera and bark you orders when we're in the office. Now that I know for sure you can't get hurt, normally, I might even throw more things at you. But when we're not working, I'd like to think we're... " she swallowed "friends. And I'm not just saying it because you're Supergirl. At first, I treated you.. well, the way I deal with all of my assistants. But you stayed. You always stayed, and I never got that. You manage to surprise me constantly and excell at your job. And I didn't despise you."
Kara laughed at that.
"You always made it so hard to keep you away. That first interview, it was a shock to see it was you. I've never treated you differently before because you wanted to pretend I didn't know, and frankly, that made me so mad at you, so I just kept attacking."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. And yet, you've crawlled your way into my life. Imagine if I hadn't put so many walls."
Kara looked at her. "Cat, I... I.."
"Yes?"
"It's nothing."
Cat stepped closer. "You had a space in my life way before you started putting off fires, Kara, no matter how hard I tried to get you out."
"I.. I don't know what to say."
"Honestly, I was always so mad at you because the reason I could never get rid of you was that I never really wanted you out, scary as it is. And still, you never let me in. That was frustrating."
"Believe me, that was all I ever wanted." Kara breathed out and stepped closer to Cat. "I just never thought you would..."
"For someone with super vision and unnecessary glasses." She rolled her eyes.
Kara blushed, laughed and got into her space. Cat ran a hand down her arm as they looked into each other's eyes. She couldn't believe this was happening. She could hear some yelling in what sounded like her mother's voice at the back of her head giving her many reasons why this was wrong. But Kara touched her face softly, and right now she didn't want to care.
Cat smiled and closed her eyes. Before she could open them, she felt soft lips covering her own and melted into her. Her hand went to Kara's neck as Kara pulled her closer by the waist. They both smiled into the kiss, Kara felt Cat's tentative tongue on her lower lip and was thrilled at the contact. That was a content noise, and none of them knew which did it.
Relunctanly, they let go.
"Wow, Cat.." Kara breathed out and Cat knew she wanted to hear her say her name that way many more times. Kara was still holding her. "That was.. that was.."
"Endgame."
"What?"
Cat smiled, tugging at her shirt and pulling her back to her. "My son told me last night that you, Kara Zor-El, and I are endgame."
Kara smiled at her and felt herself being pulled to another fierce kiss.