Chapter 5 – Coffee Talk
Sitting in the cafeteria with Dr. Hamilton, Cat listened to her explain the sun lamps.
"So you see, since Kara gets her powers from our yellow sun, the medical sunlamps provide a more concentrated form of its solar radiation and promotes healing," Dr. Hamilton said, sipping her coffee.
"But she was like us, on her planet . . . which had a red sun?" Cat asked, fascinated. Lois' articles had mentioned that the sun gave Superman powers, but never mentioned the Kryptonians were not born with powers. But then, Lois' superhero had never really lived under a red sun.
Dr. Hamilton nodded.
"So on top of everything that had happened to Kara, losing her whole world and hurling through space in that tiny ship for years, alone, she had to deal with suddenly having powers?" Cat asked with a frown, not able to imagine how a young girl could deal with such drastic changes in her life and still be so . . . happy.
"They were not instantaneous," Eliza offered with a small smile as she joined the women at their table with a bottle of water in hand.
Dr. Hamilton was relieved Eliza finally showed up. She did not like being on the receiving end of Cat Grant's probing questions, which she was not entirely sure she should be answering.
"Everything ok?" Cat asked gently. Dr. Hamilton eyed the two women curiously.
"For the moment. But Alex is stubborn," Eliza said vaguely. "I did, however, manage to get her to rest in the bunk-room."
"She definitely needs it," Cat said nodded and Dr. Hamilton chimed in "amen!"
"So, Kara didn't have her powers right away?" Cat asked, continuing her line of questioning.
"Well, her body took a few weeks to fully absorb the yellow sun and trigger all her powers," Eliza said. "But when they started to manifest themselves… let's just say, my husband and I got really good at repairing furniture, appliances, doors . . . walls," Eliza admitted with mild amusement.
But Cat was not smiling, she was just thoughtful and . . . sad, considering Kara must have felt horrible for breaking the Danvers' possessions, on top of everything else she must have felt.
Eliza glanced to Dr. Hamilton, who shrugged and sipped her coffee, grimacing at the taste.
"And Superman came as a baby, not knowing what life on Krypton was like, or what was lost," Cat said, realizing how . . . alone . . . Kara must have felt.
"He has an idea from the information his parents sent with him and the stories Kara has shared," Eliza offered, though they knew that was not the same.
There was a lull in the conversation as Cat digested that information.
"So . . . how are you holding up, Eliza?" Cat asked, having noted the prominent darkness around her eyes that almost rivaled Alex's.
Eliza looked at her with surprise, then actually pondered the question. "As well as can be expected, I suppose. I wish there was more I could do," she sighed and sipped her water.
"I would imagine that is not the first time you had that feeling with Kara," Cat said softly, staring at her Styrofoam cup of cooling coffee.
"I think that is not an unusual feeling with any of your children," Eliza countered, getting a nod of agreement and small smile from Cat.
"Or with patients," Dr. Hamilton chimed in, prompting Cat to lift her Styrofoam cup in quiet salute before she took a sip.
Cat coughed. "Dear god!" Cat blurted and placed the cup immediately back down, staring at it as if it had the gall to taste that bad.
"So how did you manage to get inside a top secret Government installation," Dr. Hamilton tossed out, eyeing Cat with interest. "Especially as the Queen of All Media."
"Well, I am very persuasive," Cat said with amusement. Dr. Hamilton nodded, not doubting that one bit.
"And Alex was a tired mess," Eliza added critically, looking at Cat. Dr. Hamilton glanced between the two women, feeling decidedly uncomfortable.
"Alex was a tired mess," Cat agreed bluntly. "She was also drinking a bit, which is certainly understandable under the circumstances," she quickly offered. "And she was in no condition to drive," she said firmly. "I didn't think calling her an Uber to get to a secret Government lair was a prudent alternative."
Eliza sighed. "Amelia, would you mind if I spoke with Ms. Grant privately?" She asked the doctor softly, with a small smile.
Dr. Hamilton did not have to be asked twice. "Sure! Ladies," She said with a smile as she quickly got up and left the two women alone, tossing her unfinished cup into the trash bin before exiting the cafeteria.
Cat looked back down to her cup of sludge, having expected a confrontation at some point – but she expected it from the Director first. But as a mother, she was not surprised Eliza wished to have words about her unexpected presence during a sensitive time and the ramifications to her children.
"I'm not sure what to make of you, Miss Grant," Eliza said bluntly, searching Cat's eyes.
"Cat," Cat corrected again with a slight smile before she continued. "I am not going to apologize for seeking out Alex. It had been five days without one word about Kara and I needed to know what happened. Alex is Kara's emergency contact, after all."
"And now that you know her identity?" Eliza asked sharply.
"I'll continue to protect her the best I can, but she isn't very careful," Cat said with a displeased purse of her lips. Eliza frowned, unable to argue, also knowing the Danvers family wasn't very careful either during the initial Myriad crisis.
"But fortunately, most people are too self-absorbed to notice what is right in front of them," Cat added, getting a surprised, then skeptical look from Eliza.
"Oh, I'll admit I can be self-absorbed, but I do make a living at observing. A very good living," Cat said confidently. Eliza nodded.
"Did she ever fool you?"
"There were moments of doubt along the way, but when I first met Supergirl, I just knew it was Kara," Cat said with that fond, albeit mildly uncomfortable memory; she didn't appreciate being skyjacked in her limo.
"It must have been tempting to expose her then," Eliza probed.
"It wasn't in anyone's best interest," Cat breezily dismissed the accusation. "And I was . . . curious. This girl, a millennial, who walked into my office claiming to be nothing special, hovered above me, like Superman . . . who I learned was her cousin," Cat said with amused satisfaction, recalling how flustered Kara was having let that slip.
Eliza frowned slightly, remembering how unhappy she was that Kara's family revelation had been broadcasted all over the news, let alone Kara being in the news at all.
"When I said her story sounded just like his, she was not happy," Cat offered.
"Her story is much different than his," Eliza countered firmly, irritation seeping through.
Cat to nodded in agreement. "Which I better understand now. But I know I have so much more to learn, if she'll allow it," she said seriously. "Not just for a story . . . but as a friend," she quickly stressed, looking into Eliza's eyes.
The truth of how much she wanted to learn about Kara made Cat uneasy. But she was a reporter, for God's sake; insatiable curiosity was inherent, wasn't it?
"She really doesn't talk much about what she lost," Eliza said softly. "I tried to get her to open up more about Krypton, especially when she first arrived, thinking that might help . . . ," Eliza admitted, then fell silent, feeling somehow like she failed by not encouraging Kara to talk more and mourn properly. But then, what was proper mourning for a young Kryptonian had who lost everything?
"Thank God for Alex. She got Kara to open up more," Eliza admitted uneasily, glancing at her water several quiet moments.
"I would image alien children are less scary to a young girl than alien adults, no matter how kind and loving they are," Cat offered, knowing how helpless a parent feels when a child rejects them. "What about Superman? Didn't he at least share with her feelings of being different?" she asked curiously.
Eliza exhaled heavily. "He . . . didn't visit much," Eliza said stiffly, surprising Cat. "I think she scared him," she added thoughtfully, still never quite forgiving Clark for his hands-off approach. "On one of his rare visits, she got annoyed with him when he tried to speak to her in Kryptonian."
Cat blinked, surprised.
"She told him that if he was going to continue to insult the language and the House of El by speaking it so poorly, he should limit himself to Earth's languages. Then she proceeded to speak to him in Mandarin for the rest of the visit," Eliza said with a poorly hidden smirk. "Thankfully, I had learned it in grad school."
Cat snorted with amusement and looked at Eliza pointedly. "I don't suppose he spoke Mandarin?"
"He does . . . now," Eliza said with a thin smile. The two women eyed each other before they succumbed to a hearty laugh.
"Kara can be stubborn," Cat sniffed after their laughs subsided, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"You allowed your assistant to be stubborn?" Eliza challenged skeptically. Stubborn in her personal life was one thing, but stubborn at work?
"Well, she stubbornly refused to be unhappy, no matter how hard her job or I was on her," Cat admitted. "And . . . she got to know me," Cat offered then confessed, "and I did not make it easy for her."
Eliza could imagine the prickly CEO being wary of one of her employees making an effort to become friends.
"But she was persistent and even before all the Supergirl heroics, was so damn . . . ," Cat said and briefly searched for the right word, settling for "good."
"I wondered what her angle was. No one could truly be that . . . good," Cat said, emphasizing the word 'good' almost distastefully. "But she was," she said with a small incredulous laugh.
"I quickly realized it was not an act to ingratiate herself with me or her co-workers; it is honestly who she is. She actually cared enough to replace one of my decanters of Scotch with M&Ms, so I would have an alternative for stressful situations. She knows when I have horrible headaches, especially after visits from my mother, and has Advil at the ready without me asking," Cat said, still wondering where Kara kept the Advil. "She must have gotten concerned about the rate I fired people - and took to screening work products before forwarding them to me, providing feedback to help the writers, graphic artists, and accountants understand and meet my standards. Even the supposedly seasoned employees came to listen to her! The turnover rate at CATCO has dropped significantly, thanks to her. Every department loves her, especially HR," Cat joked with a small smile.
"That just sounds like an exceptional assistant," Eliza noted.
Cat smirked. "She risked my anger and her job to get involved in my personal life to give me a chance of reconnecting with my first son, Adam, whom I did not raise.
Eliza blinked with surprise. "Oh."
"Yes. Oh," Cat said with a smirk, which faded when she took a deep breath. "Adam showed up, out of the blue - because she finished one of my unsent letters to him and mailed it," Cat said, eyeing Eliza, who didn't try to hid her surprise.
"I suddenly found myself with plans for dinner with my grown son. Kara was so excited and tried to prepare me, mentioning the things she would like to hear from her mother if they had a chance to reconnect and I, of course, shut her down. After all, I had great success in interviewing difficult and important people. How hard could it possibly be to chat with my own son?" Cat said sarcastically, rolling her eyes with irritation at her poor behavior.
"Of course, I should have listened to her. After my disastrous dinner with him," Cat said with a grimace at the painful memory, "I was hurt and angry and accused her of failing to prepare me appropriately and was about to fire her. Again."
Eliza frowned.
"But she ignored my anger and became even more determined and promised she'd fix it. She got Adam to agree to another dinner. But this time, she joined us to help mediate our conversation, which I am embarrassed to say was necessary. She stayed until we could figure out how to talk to each other . . . which we finally did," Cat smiled. "Thanks to Kara, I had my first good conversation with my adult son that night."
"That's wonderful," Eliza said sincerely, knowing how hard it was sometimes to talk with Alex. And she didn't have the excuse of not raising her.
"Well, our relationship is still far from comfortable," Cat admitted, electing not to mention her disastrous idea of pushing Kara towards her son and her shameful vindictiveness when that didn't work out. "But at least I have a chance with him. Thanks to Kara."
Eliza smiled.
Cat sighed, knowing she did not deserve Kara's steadfast loyalty. "I wish I could say all my poor, knee-jerk responses have stopped, but I am less prone to them, thanks to years of therapy and . . . Kara," Cat admitted. "The more I am around her, the more remarkable I find her," she said with clear admiration. "Not because of the caped heroics, which yes, are impressive," she allowed with a small smile and roll of her eyes. "But as Kara Danvers. An exceptional hu . . . ," Cat paused with a fond chuckle and corrected herself, "individual."
Eliza closely eyed Cat, whose smile faded under the scrutiny, realizing she had been gushing over the young hero. Though, she still wasn't as bad as Lois.
"I wish I could do something for her now," Cat said, with a more business-like tone.
"You can." The DEO director's booming voice startled them. "Sign these," J'onn said bluntly, as he walked up to the their table and placed a thick folder in front of Cat.
"Agent Mulder," Cat greeted. "Non-disclosure agreements, I presume?"
He nodded once and held out a pen. She rolled her eyes and took the pen.
"I don't suppose you have anything that actually tastes like coffee at the DEO?" Cat asked disdainfully, pointing to her cup of thick black liquid. "I believe you could use this to strip paint," she said, looking up to the tall man. Eliza nodded in agreement, which was why she was drinking water.
"It saves us from having to buy turpentine," he countered dryly, earning a glare. "Ladies," he said and retreated from the cafeteria.
Cat frowned, suspecting she would not be getting a decent coffee anytime soon.
Eliza watched Cat as she started to review the papers.
"Thank you, Cat," Eliza said softly, causing Cat to look up from the paperwork.
"I told you I would do what I can to protect Kara. And if that means I must sign a few ridiculous…." Cat said firmly, but was interrupted.
"No. Well, yes, with that, but also with Alex," Eliza explained, getting Cat to nod in understanding. "Sometimes my focus is not where it should be," she admitted reluctantly. "Alex is so . . . capable, that I tend to forget that she sometimes needs . . . ," Eliza hesitated.
"Her mother," Cat supplied knowingly. "She's an impressive woman, Eliza. You should be proud."
"I am. So much. But sometimes I forget to tell her that," Eliza confessed guiltily. "So thank you, for reminding me."
"Well, I do excel at pointing out other people's flaws. Which oddly enough, I do for free while I pay someone quite handsomely to point out my own," Cat quipped.
Eliza chuckled.
Closely looking through one of the papers, Cat shook her head with a disapproving grunt and immediately started to cross out a few offensive sentences and add her own wording.
"I wish I had my red pen," Cat muttered.
Eliza blew out a breath, having no response.
