A/N: New chapter as promised!
Cat sits in her office staring at the news footage loop of the fight. Despite her bravado, she did instruct her chopper pilots to be more careful. The result of that is that she is sitting here watching the fight footage from another station's feed. Seeing the fight for herself, she now understands why Kara was adamant that she back off the coverage. If the authorities are to be believed, then this alien stole a tanker truck and planned to drive it into a transformer. Cat suspects it's more speculation than truth. A soft knock on her open door interrupts her thoughts.
"Hey, I have those stills for you. I think you will be pleased with the last one," James says handing her the photo gallery.
Cat looks over them quickly, then grabs her magnifying glass to look at them more closely. The last photo shows Kara standing atop the overturned truck. Dirt on her face, her hair and cape blowing out behind her, she looks magnificently and tragically heroic, Cat thinks before wondering how such poetic prose managed to find it's way through her usual filter of sarcasm and cynicism.
"This one is good," Cat replies tapping it with her finger. "Use the press release from the NCPD and have someone pull it together with some official quotes, then send it to me. I'll put it out under my byline with a staff credit."
"You don't have to do that," James remarks.
"I do, if these people are as dangerous as I've been lead to believe then I don't want them to go after anyone but me, I have security to protect me for a reason James," Cat point out.
"You think that your security is any match for these aliens?" He asks gesturing to the screen above them.
Cat is still working late when her phone buzzes. She glances and notes that it is a message from an unknown number, she ignores it and continues working.
A few minutes later it buzzes again with another message. "Can you talk?"
Curious and wondering if it is Kara, Cat replies rapidly. "That depends, is this on or off the record?"
"Off the record," is the reply from the balcony.
Cat turns quickly to look at her. "Kara, are you okay?" She asks rushing out and hugging her tightly.
Kara winces a little at the contact, "I'm fine for the most part," she replies softly, before allowing herself to relax into the embrace.
"Why are you doing this?" Cat questions with genuine concern.
"There's no one else who can," Kara replies bluntly.
"That can't be true, there has to be someone else who can do this, it's too much to ask of you," Cat replies, pulling back to look into her eyes.
Kara looks away, there's so much that she wants to tell her, but she can't risk it.
Cat sees the emotion in Kara's face and realizes that the woman is overwhelmed, after all she is a journalist not a soldier.
"I just wanted to see you. I-I don't know why," Kara mumbles.
"It's okay," Cat says pulling her close again. "I'm happy that you're here," she adds.
"I know that I said that I wanted to talk, but there isn't really anything that I can tell you about tonight," Kara admits, her expression a mixture of exhaustion and weariness.
"Okay, then we could talk about something else," Cat says turning to sit on the couch and patting the spot beside her.
Kara sits down carefully and Cat realizes that the woman is physically exhausted and in a bit of pain.
"Does Alex know that you're here?" Cat asks, suddenly realizing that Kara has people close to her.
"Uh, she thinks that I'm in my room asleep," Kara replies closing her eyes as she leans back on the couch.
Cat watches her a moment, she's cleaned up since the fight ended and she's not wearing the usual cape and skirt. Cat is about to say something about the black tac suit being more practical, but then she realizes that Kara has fallen asleep.
Kara startles awake a couple of hours later and it takes her a moment to remember where she is, then realizing that she isn't alone, she smiles as she realizes that Cat is curled up against her.
Unfortunately, Kara's movements seem to have awoken the other woman and Cat sits up, equally confused for a moment before remembering why she was sleeping on her balcony.
"You fell asleep almost as soon as you sat down," Cat informs her.
"I'm so sorry, I guess that I was more tired than I realized," Kara admits as she stretches a bit and notices that she feels much better.
"You look better, how do you feel?" Cat asks.
"Much better. Thank you," Kara replies.
"I didn't do anything," Cat points out.
Kara smiles sadly and looks away. Of course, Cat doesn't get it. It's just friendship to her, Kara realizes.
"It's late. I should get back before Alex sends out a search and rescue team to find me," Kara quips.
"Yes, I should get home myself," Cat says glancing at her watch.
"Do you live far? I could take you," Kara offers, her mouth and brain clearly not communicating.
"I don't live that far and I have a driver on call," Cat points out, unsure of what exactly Kara is offering.
Kara smiles, obviously she needs to be more clear. Stepping closer, she says, "Let me fly you home."
"Are you sure that you're up to it?" Cat asks nervously, slightly overwhelmed with Kara being so close and the thought of flying in her arms.
"Of course, I wouldn't offer if I wasn't," Kara replies confidently.
"O-okay, so how do we do this?" Cat questions, she's not going to let her anxiety make her miss out on this opportunity.
"Do you need your things?" Kara asks gesturing to Cat's computer and phone on the table.
Cat picks up the computer and takes it inside then shuts and locks it in her desk with her purse, before taking a moment to step into her ensuite to change back into her workout clothes. Returning to the balcony, she picks up her phone and slips it into her pocket and zips it closed.
"Ready?" Kara asks smiling at her.
Cat nods anxiously and Kara slips in behind her wrapping her arms around her.
Cat's whole body goes tense.
"Is there something wrong?" Kara asks letting go, afraid that she hurt her.
"Uh, I'm afraid of heights, would you mind if I held onto you?" Cat asks shyly, turning around to face her.
"Of course," Kara replies picking her up bridal style as Cat's arms wrap around her neck.
Distracted a moment by Cat's breath on her neck, it takes Kara a moment to remember to ask which direction is her penthouse.
Kara lands them safely on the roof terrace and sets Cat down beside a bench. But Cat doesn't release her hold on Kara's neck and instead leans in, kissing Kara lightly on the lips.
"Ah," Cat says pulling back shyly, unsure of what she's just done.
Kara laughs softly. "It's okay. I hadn't considered how intimate flying with you in my arms would be," she admits biting her lip to stop it from tingling from Cat's kiss.
"True, except that I've wanted to kiss you ever since we met," Cat confesses pulling Kara back in for another kiss.
This time, Kara returns the kiss hungrily and Cat pulls her down to the bench.
Reluctantly Kara pulls back. "Cat, I have to go," she says gently extracting herself from Cat's embrace.
"Please stay," Cat replies.
"I'm so sorry, but this. This is not a good idea," Kara answers before taking off. Flying away, she takes a deep breath. Not only has Kara not kissed many people romantically, she has never kissed anyone like she just kissed Cat Grant. And never for a second did she consider that her feelings for Cat would be reciprocated.
Flying off back to the apartment, Kara doesn't notice the alien following her. Nonchalantly, she lands on the balcony at Alex's place and steps inside. The unseen alien watches her for a moment before flying off.
"She's living with one human, but seems to have an affection for another," the man explains.
"I knew that she'd been corrupted by her time on Earth. She has developed a weakness for these humans," Astra laments. "We don't need them, we just need their planet. If we can't convince her to join us then we're going to have to get rid her."
"You'd kill your own blood?" Non asks his wife, surprised that she would consider harming her beloved niece.
"Hopefully, it won't come to that, but we're not going to fail again, Non," Astra replies. "Kara is stronger than we thought, look what she did to Vartox. We would be better off with her helping us," she points out.
"True, but how do you suggest getting her to do that?" He counters.
"I'm going to have a talk with her, but first I need to get her attention," Astra remarks considering which human to use for bait.
"Kara, wake up. Something has happened," Alex says rapidly as she sits down on the bed.
The blonde sits up quickly. Immediately sensing that something is wrong with Cat. Kara fell asleep focused on the other woman's heartbeat and now that she's awake she can hear it beating frantically. "Alex, what happened? Where's Cat Grant?" She blurts out.
"Kara...how do you already know that Cat Grant has been taken?" Alex asks.
Closing her eyes to focus better, Kara replies, "Her heart is beating rapidly and I can hear her arguing with someone," she explains jumping out of bed and spinning into her suit.
"Wait, Kara!" Alex says grabbing her arm. "You can't just fly off without a plan. Whoever took her, they obviously did it to get your attention, it's a trap," she points out calmly.
"Well, I have to protect her. Do you know who took her?" Kara asks quickly.
"Hank's working on that," Alex replies, "we need to go to the DEO now."
"Okay, then let's go," Kara says grabbing Alex's hand and pulling her towards the patio door.
"Kara," Alex says as she hesitates, they haven't flown together since high school.
"Here I thought you were a Badass DEO agent? Are you scared to fly with me?" Kara taunts.
"Kara, I drove you home last night because you were too exhausted to fly, are you sure that you're up for this?" Alex asks.
"Trust me, I'm fully recovered and if you don't get over here, I'm going to leave you here to drive in alone," Kara snaps.
Hank frowns when the two walk into the command center a few minutes later.
"I can assure you that she has fully recovered her powers, sir," Alex exclaims quickly.
"I hope that you're right Agent Danvers," Hank says returning to the screen. "They've taken Ms Grant to an abandoned warehouse on the waterfront," Hank explains as he points out the plan on the 3D rendering of the warehouse. "I've sent Vasquez out with the first team to set up here, Alex you'll take the next team and set up here. Kara and I will go in this way and distract them, while team one extracts Ms Grant. Alex, your team is there to protect the extraction team. Now follow me to the armory," he adds striding down the hall.
"Do we know who took her sir?" Alex asks.
Hank stops walking and turns slightly around. "It would seem that the leaders of the prison ship have taken her. I suspect that they want Kara to stop helping us and this little stunt is just to get her attention," he explains.
Alex and Kara exchange nervous glances. On the flight out, Alex asked her about her feelings for Cat Grant and Kara admitted everything.
"Sir is this really necessary?" Alex asks worriedly as Hank unlocks the door to the Armory.
"It's completely necessary, if we're going to engage with these aliens, we need to be able to fight them equally," he points out handing her the lead case with the Kryptonite bullets and a knife to slip into her utility belt.
"What exactly are these weapons?" Kara asks concerned.
"These weapons were made with matter that was confiscated from the crash sight. We call it Kryptonite, since it appears to be debris from your planet," Hank explains, "And it seems to have a quelling effect on your kind," he adds pulling the knife out of the sheath.
The sickly green glow from the knife causes Kara's knees to buckle, Alex steps into catch her.
"Put it away Hank, you don't want to weaken her before we go in," Alex snaps.
"Y-you've had that stuff this whole time and you're just now telling me about it?" Kara asks angrily.
"I wanted to tell you, but Hank said that we had to make sure that you were on our side," Alex blurts out.
"Kara, don't hold this against Alex. She wanted to tell you right away, but I wouldn't permit it," Hank replies quickly.
Alex moves towards Kara, but she brushes her off. "Not now, but we're going to discuss this later," Kara snaps before leaving the armory.
"She just needs time, now you should get going," Hank says clapping her shoulder as they leave the armory.
"She's in there and she's scared," Kara says as they approach the warehouse.
J'onn closes his eyes as they hover a moment, he connects to Cat's mind and senses where she is inside the warehouse and relays the information to Kara and she informs the other teams. Since no one at the DEO knows that Hank is a martian, he doesn't have a coms link, but he doesn't need one since he has telepathic abilities and can read all minds except those of the Kryptonians.
Team one moves into position and Kara bursts into the warehouse through the roof, J'onn stays on the roof out of sight.
"So it's true, Little One. You are here on earth and you are working against us," Astra shouts out to her niece.
"I am not your Little One any more, Astra. And you have no right to terrorize this planet. The humans have done nothing to deserve this," Kara argues.
"They are destroying this planet," Astra replies. "We are here to save it," she explains.
"You're here to save the planet, but not the people on it?" Kara questions.
"These humans are a drain on the resources. If we don't kill them, then the planet won't be able to sustain us all," Astra snaps.
"Sustain us all?" Kara questions.
"Your parents have lied to you for months, why do you think that your mother sent Fort Rozz into the phantom zone after telling you that she wouldn't? She had to. Argo City resources are being depleted and the prison was draining them even faster," Astra explains angrily.
Distracted by the argument with Astra, Kara almost forgot that Cat was sitting there until she spots Alex on the catwalk above them with a sniper rifle pointed right at Astra's heart. Kara launches herself at Astra, knocking them both through a wall and into another part of the warehouse.
Vasquez's team takes this opportunity to burst in to grab Cat, but they have trouble cutting through the handcuffs and two of Astra's men swoop down to stop them. Alex takes a shot and it hits one of them in the chest and he cries out.
Astra and Kara stop fighting in the other room and both fly back to find out what's happening.
"He's dead," the other man says shocked.
"Dead, that's not possible. The humans do not possess a weapon that can hurt us," Astra replies, before looking over at Kara confused.
The panic on Kara's face confuses Astra even more and just as she's about to ask what is going on, she looks down at the dot on her chest and then follows it up to where Alex is positioned on the catwalk. Angrily, Astra's eyes flash red, the lasers slice the supports and the catwalk swings wildly. Alex barely managing to hold on.
Kara freezes a second looking from Alex to Cat, when suddenly J'onn swoops in and grabs the catwalk and Alex, giving Kara enough time to rush over to grab Cat and break the cuffs. They turn around quickly but Astra and the others are gone.
