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Leo, Catco’s newest board member, had insisted that Cat and her assistant join him and a few other prominent members of the company on a ‘business’ trip. Kara had listened to Cat complain for weeks about how much of a waste of resources and time the entire thing was, insisting that she wouldn’t have allowed it if she hadn’t been pressured into it by the rest of the board.
“If you don’t want to go-”
“And have those imbeciles go on an unsupervised trip supposedly regarding Catco business without me? Have you lost your mind, Kara?”
And so Kara had cleared both their weekends. Made sure the DEO could handle National City without her. Made sure Carter was alright at his father’s house. Tried to make the whole debacle as painless as possible for everyone involved. There really wasn’t much else for her to do, Leo had offered to have his assistant plan the entire trip. Kara really just had to… show up. Which left her feeling vaguely nauseous as she boarded the plane with no itinerary, no hotel information, no emergency numbers of Miss Grant’s acquaintances in the city, and nearly no idea of what to expect from the weekend.
Someone, undoubtedly Leo, arranged for them to go directly to dinner after landing, their luggage traveling separately to the hotel, which Kara still did not know the name of.
“Do you just want me to… hang out with the chauffeur while you all eat?” Kara asked uncertainly on the ride to the restaurant. She’d usually spend business dinners at the hotel, working or playing online Scrabble with Lucy. If she and the chauffeur could find a fast food place with wi-fi nearby, she could probably still get something productive done that evening.
“I hadn’t thought about it, honestly,” Cat said, looking up from her phone for the first time since they’d gotten off the plane. She didn’t like leaving National City for nothing, which was exactly what this weekend felt like. Nothing. She leaned forward to speak to the driver. “Do you know which hotel we’re staying at? My assistant would like to go ahead and check us into our rooms.”
“I was instructed to drop you both off at the restaurant, Miss Grant,” he said, shaking his head, “I don’t know anything about a hotel.”
“Both?” Kara asked, brow furrowing in confusion. “I don’t think-”
“I was told ‘both’, ma’am.”
“Well, that’s… interesting.” Cat scowled, turning back to her phone and ignoring Kara’s confusion. She was already in a poor mood and that information did not seem to brighten it any.
At least I know she doesn’t want me there, Kara thought, feeling Cat’s obvious anger settling in her own chest. Cat’s fingers tapping harshly against her phone screen was the only sound in the car for the next seven miles to the restaurant.
Kara had politely waited for Cat to sit down when they were shown to their table, figuring that was the easiest way for her to get a seat as far away from Cat as possible, no matter how much she wanted to sit beside her. She’d been angry since that morning, angrier after hearing that Kara would be joining them for dinner, for some reason. Kara sat beside the quietest of the board members, Julia, hoping for as little conversation as possible. That idea was roughly shoved out the window as soon as Leo arrived and plopped himself down on the other side of her.
“Hey, Kiera, glad you could join us tonight. Sure it’ll be a real treat, getting to see how the company actually works for when Cat eventually promotes you,” Leo said, smiling at her and not so inconspicuously checking her out. Kara shifted her seat a little closer to Julia, bumping shoulders with the other woman.
“I’m sure she’ll never tell you, Leo, due to her incredible inability to stand up for herself, but her name is Kara.” Kara jumped in her seat, not having noticed Cat coming around the table to stand behind Julia. Cat’s barely contained fury incredibly noticeable in the glare she shot at Julia when she looked up at Cat. “Move, Julie, I’m sure Ralph had something he wanted to speak with you about, anyway.”
Cat jostled the back of Julia’s chair, urging her to collect her coat and purse faster and get out of the seat that Cat had now decided was hers. Cat’s presence seemed to do little to deter Leo from his attempt at a conversation, but it did make Kara feel slightly less at sea. She focused on the flowery, familiar scent of Cat, willing it to drown out Leo’s pungent cologne as he leaned closer into Kara’s space, trying to whisper to her.
“You ever been to a restaurant this nice, sweetheart?” Leo rested his hand on the back of her chair. Kara frowned at it, wondering if it would be rude to knock it off.
“Yes,” Kara said, leaving it at that. No need to tell him that his restaurant choice was not particularly that nice or that she had over a dozen offers of free food at various five-star restaurants across National City. She glanced around, trying to find someone else to talk to, but Cat was the only one in polite speaking distance and she was talking to the man beside her.
“How long have you worked for Catco, anyways?” Kara pretended she didn’t hear, pretending she was trying to listen in on Cat’s conversation instead, leaning away from Leo. He only raised his voice. “I said, how long have you-”
“She’s worked for me for longer than you’ve ever held a job in your life,” Cat said, barely turning around, but raising her voice and looking over her shoulder so Leo would know she was speaking to him. Her eyes skimmed over Kara like she wasn’t even there. “There’s no need to yell about it. Keep your voice down, for god’s sake.”
The rest of the dinner was basically a fun cycle of rebuffing Leo, waiting for Cat to say increasingly rude things to everyone around her the more she had to drink and the longer she was forced to stay there, and trying not to dig her fingers too hard into her silverware. It was like a dinner party straight out of her anxiety induced nightmares. She rushed through her dessert far faster than she should have in the hopes that it would mean they would get to leave quicker.
When she was shuffled out of the restaurant and into a car, Kara nearly cried out of relief that it was over before she remembered that they’d still have to do this for another full day and she would undoubtedly be invited to more of it, if Leo had any say in the matter. Cat slid into the car beside her, slightly tipsy and still unexplainably upset. She didn’t acknowledge Kara’s existence until they were on the sidewalk outside the hotel.
“Don’t let anyone touch my suitcases, Kiera,” Cat muttered barely loud enough for a person with normal hearing to catch, waving for Kara to pick them up as soon as the driver got them out of the trunk. She didn’t even slow down to wait on Kara, just left her alone with both of their luggage.
“What happened to ‘her name’s Kara’,” Kara huffed quietly to herself as she got the bags onto a dolly and followed behind Cat. The anger made… some sense. She was being forced to spend a weekend away from her son and her company, for a ridiculous trip set up by a ridiculous man. What didn’t make sense to Kara was why the anger was being directed at her, as well. She’d thought that she and Cat were getting along fairly well, for them.
“I’m sorry, we just don’t have a room under the name Danvers,” the desk attendant said, apologetic. “Is there another name I could try?”
“Um…,” Kara glanced around her, hoping for Cat to help her. But the other woman just stood there, looking off towards the other side of the hotel, resolutely ignoring Kara and her conversation. “And there’s not two rooms under ‘Grant’?”
“No, ma’am, just the one.” Kara frowned, already planning her walk to the next nearest hotel, hoping for a vacancy.
“Is there an issue here?” Leo. Kara groaned audibly. Cat finally looked at her, raising an eyebrow in disbelief at the sound. She stepped closer to Kara as Leo walked up.
“Your useless assistant didn’t book her a room,” Cat accused, her hand going to rest on Kara’s shoulder. Kara gaped at her, eyes darting between Cat’s hand and Cat’s suddenly calmer face. “And your second-rate hotel choice is so small that it’s full on a random weekend in January.”
“Hey, you know, my room’s a double if there’s really no other option,” he said, shrugging and holding his arms out in a what-are-you-gonna-do gesture, seeming entirely too slimey about the whole thing. Kara had to stop herself from shuddering, imagining him lying in the same room with her while she was asleep. It was not an option. She was half a second away from offering to sleep in one of the rental cars when Cat offered her a different solution.
“Absolutely not. She’ll stay in my room, don’t argue, Kiera,” Cat said when Kara turned to her to do precisely the opposite of argue with her. Kara was about to fall to her knees and offer Cat her eternal thanks for saving her from that nightmare. Cat turned on her heels, her hand still firmly on Kara’s shoulder, pushing her along in front of her. The minute Leo was out of earshot, she starting in on him. “Who the fuck does that disgusting excuse for a human being think he is? How much money would it cost for me to get him a job offer with the Daily Planet? Or with anyone, really. Kiera, do you think he’d accept a job in upper management for Walmart? I could call Angela and see-”
“Thank you, Miss Grant,” Kara muttered when the elevator doors closed behind them, trapping them together for the ride up to the seventh floor. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Right,” Cat said, looking her up and down, “Because you and your matching sweater set were going to tell him no?”
“Yes, I was, actually,” Kara said indignantly, crossing her arms over her sweater. “He’s a pig. I don’t want him in the same building as me, let alone in the same hotel room with me.”
Cat rolled her eyes and looked away from Kara, ushering her out of the elevator as soon as it opened, pulling the dolly by herself before Kara could offer her assistance. Kara awkwardly followed behind her, hoping she’d gotten over at least a small amount of her earlier anger with the help of a full stomach and the two glasses of wine Kara had watched her nearly chug before they’d even gotten their food.
“I don’t want to have a twenty minute long conversation about your lack of a skin care routine or why you own pajama pants with pugs on them, I just want to go to bed,” Cat said, opening the door and letting Kara into the room before her.
“What makes you think my pajama pants have pugs on them?” Kara asked defensively, wishing she’d brought the flannel ones instead of the shorts decorated with puppies and kittens. She immediately amended her wish to include never having come on this trip in the first place when she realized there was only one bed. She stopped in the middle of the entryway, a frustrated Cat pushing past her with her luggage. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, that’s disgusting,” Cat said, crinkling her nose. “It’s only one night. We’ll just share the bed. Don’t tell me you’re afraid to share a bed with another person, I really don’t need to spend my night dissecting your reasonings for that one.”
“No, no, I’m not afraid,” Kara stuttered, trying to look nonchalant. Trying to look like she wasn’t panicking at the idea of attempting to fall asleep next to an angry Cat Grant. An angry Cat Grant without the awareness of awakeness. “It’s better than sharing a bed with Leo.”
“He said he had a double,” Cat muttered, not looking at Kara as she starting digging through her suitcase. She slammed the lid closed, suddenly, startling Kara and nearly shoving the suitcase off the chair she’d set it in. “He did this on purpose, you know. Please tell me you know that and aren’t actually the naive little fawn he thinks you are.”
“I… what?” Kara blinked at her, shaking her head, trying to figure out what they were so suddenly and angrily talking about. “Are you talking about Leo? He did what on purpose?”
“The whole goddamn trip, Kara,” Cat said, throwing her hands up in front of her. She started taking off her jewelry, dropping it a little too roughly onto the counter and turning away from Kara as she continued. “Not telling us where the hotel was, inviting you to dinner, not booking you a room. He’s twice your age and trying to seduce you with my company’s money.”
“I did notice the… trying to… seduce me, part,” Kara whispered, cringing. She crossed her arms again, trying to fade into the wall as Cat paced the room, shedding her jacket and shoes as she did so. Cat’s fury suddenly made a lot more sense. The trip was even worse than a nonsense business bonding trip. “I kind of thought it was incidental.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Cat seemed incredibly sure of it, and the more Kara thought about it, the more she was tempted to believe her. Cat sighed, running a hand through her hair, trying to calm herself down a little bit before they went to bed. She reopened her suitcase, grabbing her toiletry bag and pajamas and heading towards the bathroom. “I assume you’ll want the side closer to the window.”
“Sure,” Kara muttered, going to set her own things down in the proper part of the hotel room instead of the entryway. She used a burst of superspeed to change into her pajamas and settle herself before Cat got back, smiling a little when she remembered Cat’s comment about her puppy pajamas and wondering if she’d mention them again when she came out. She missed… not happy Cat, exactly, but the Cat that didn’t seem so angry and frustrated all the time. Kara knew it wasn’t her fault, but she felt guilty about the whole trip anyway.
Cat didn’t mention her shorts when she came out of the bathroom. Hardly even looked at Kara. Just told her that the bathroom was hers and sat down cross-legged on the bed with her tablet.
“I’m sorry Leo wasted your time and money this weekend,” Kara said, leaning against the bathroom door. “I feel… mildly responsible.”
Cat sat her tablet down in her lap, looking at her in confusion. Slightly angry confusion, Kara noted, but the confusion was definitely the more prominent of the two emotions.
“You aren’t,” Cat said, “Not even slightly. You have nothing to apologize for.”
“Then why are you so angry?” Kara snapped, shrinking back into the bathroom door the minute the words left her mouth. She could feel embarrassed tears stinging at her eyes and willed them away, fairly certain Cat would yell at her if she let them fall. It was stupid even being this upset over it, Cat had been angry at her before. Cat had spent weeks hardly speaking to her before. Cat had taken her lunch out of Kara’s hands and dropped it off the balcony before and then screamed at Kara to go retrieve it. The anger was definitely not new. But it usually had a source. One that Kara could pinpoint and try to fix or at least try to avoid.
“I’m not angry with you,” Cat shot back, shifting to sit up on her knees. “Oh god, don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying,” Kara said, her voice breaking, “I’m fine.”
She stepped out of the bathroom and flicked off the main light, hiding her tears in the half-dark room lit only by Cat’s bedside lamp. She sat down on her edge of the bed, as far away from Cat as she could get, pulling her knees up to her chest.
“I’m not angry with you, Kara, I promise.” Cat sighed, crawling over to Kara’s side of the bed. She reached over Kara and turned on the second lamp before settling down beside her. “I’m angry with… Leo? Myself? Not you, Kara. And I really do need you to not cry.”
Kara blinked away her tears, ran a hand under her nose, and tried to steady her breathing. Cat’s hand was on her back, rubbing in small circles. Kara whispered between unsteady breaths, “Why are you mad at yourself?”
“For letting this happen at all?” Cat offered, sounding unsure. “For… reacting so poorly to it? I don’t know, does it matter?”
“It kind of feels like it does,” Kara said, brow furrowing at hearing Cat sound so lost. It happened so rarely, Kara didn’t particularly care for the unconfident, hesitant tone.
“How did Leo’s attention make you feel?” Cat asked, leaning away from Kara and taking her hand away from her back.
“Like… I don’t know, like I was only around for him to stare at or something. Gross. It was gross.” Kara remembered his hand on her knee momentarily during dinner when her skin had felt like it was going to peel away from her muscle in protest. “But that isn’t your fault either, Miss Grant.”
“You’re right. You’re usually right, regardless of how often I tell you the opposite,” Cat said. “In fact, you deserve so much better than what you usually receive from me. I’ve been selfish, Kara.”
“Wait, wait,” Kara said, turning to face Cat on the bed, the twisty-turny conversation giving her whiplash, “I don’t…selfish? What does that have to do with- I’m sorry, what?”
“I was selfish. You said it yourself, it’s gross for me to… to think of you like- dammit, Kara, have you seen yourself? Have you look in a mirror recently?” Cat snarled, waving at Kara’s exposed legs stretched out on the bed. It took Kara about two seconds to catch up, to understand what Cat was trying not to say.
“You think I’m pretty?” Kara asked, the disbelief showing on her face. Cat actually laughed, covered her face with her hands and laughed.
“Pretty. Is that what Leo thinks you are?” Kara frowned, shaking her head.
“That isn’t the same at all. You’re not… you don’t… it’s not the same. He’s gross.” Kara tucked her legs underneath her, suddenly aware that Cat was looking at her. Wasn’t ignoring her anymore. She didn’t mind all that much, but it was too much for the moment.
“Twice your age. Position of power over you, although I far surpass him in that one. Married twice, two kids. Hard-headed, hot tempered-” Cat listed off quickly, sounding like she’d put thought into this. A lot of thought into it.
“Can you stop comparing yourself to that man?” Kara asked, interrupting her. She didn’t like it, hearing Cat denigrate herself like that. “I already told you, it’s not the same. You’ve never treated me like… like…”
“I hardly treat you the way you deserve-”
“Like someone who’s only there for you to fuck,” Kara finished. “You’ve never done that.”
Cat looked stunned. She started to speak again, refute Kara maybe, but Kara held up her hand, immediately and surprisingly actually shutting her up.
“You’ve done some… pretty questionable things. But for at least the last eight or nine months, you’ve treated me like a person. Like someone who’s worth your time. And, no… you’re not, like, nice all the time. But you aren’t gross, Cat,” Kara said, throwing caution to the wind. Cat thought she as pretty. Or something. She’d never actually said the word pretty. But Kara was high off it, anyway. “I don’t think Leo’s disgusting because he’s older or because he’s rich or whatever. He’s gross because of who he is as a person. And you are nothing like him, I promise.”
“Well,” Cat said, considering everything Kara had said. “I didn’t know your mouth knew how to form the word fuck.”
“It probably will not happen again,” Kara said, blushing. “I think you’re pretty, too, by the way.”
“I never said pretty,” Cat muttered, a matching blush rising up her neck. She tucked her hair behind one of her ears and cleared her throat, sitting up straighter and shuffling back onto Kara’s side of the bed. “Pretty isn’t good enough.”
“For you, either,” Kara agreed, smiling at her own knees. Cat thought she was better than pretty. Cat reached out, and for a moment, Kara thought she was going to kiss her as Cat leaned towards her, but she just leaned over her and turned off the lamp before sliding back towards her side of the bed.
“Don’t pout,” Cat said, turning off her own light. “We’ll talk about it in the morning, I promise.”