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The door dragged outward with a stubborn grate of metal against concrete, drawing a grimace momentarily to her lips. With a slight stumble over the cracked threshold, she muttered, “Add that to the repair list.”
She sighed at the petulance she noted in her comment and quickly washed it down with a healthy swig from the tumbler in her hand. When she cast her gaze out over the broken silhouette of her once recognizable skyline, she swallowed back any further frustrations over something as petty as a slightly askew door.
Moving quietly across the terrace, she placed as much distance as she could between herself and the raucous blowout transpiring in the ballroom behind her. While she knew it was precisely what the city needed—to come together, to find something to celebrate, to find common ground with uncommon neighbors—she never particularly cared for large crowds or the behavior that followed them.
She leaned against the terrace ledge, head angled back so she could look up. The stars were still muted shimmers hidden by city glare, but the sight of a once-more empty sky gave her the comfort she craved.
A warm breeze tousled her hair, bringing with it the pungency of battle, sharp as flint in every breath. The scent permeated everything, a constant reminder of the war that nearly began right there in her city.
“You don’t have to keep so still,” she finally sighed. “You aren’t going to startle me.”
Soft rustling moved through the shadows to her left, a dark shape pulled forward by her teasing admonishment. However, her eyes widened slightly in surprise at who moved into the light cast from the ballroom behind them.
“Well, seems I’ve severely underestimated Eve if she was able to figure out how to extend an invitation to one of our city’s clandestine government alien fighters.”
The brunette chuckled, a low growl of a sound that amused Cat to hear. “Part of our job is to monitor the city, Ms. Grant. Your soiree this evening has been all the chatter among humans and aliens alike.”
“Are you admitting to crashing my party, Agent?”
“Nope,” she rejoined with a mirthful pop of her lips. “I’m here as the legitimate ‘plus one’ of one of NCPD’s finest first responders.”
The CEO quirked a brow inquisitively. “And you abandoned said date to hang out in the dark on my terrace?”
“I needed a break.” Her eyes reflected the ballroom’s glow when she looked over the CEO’s shoulder. “It’s a great shindig, but—”
“Too much of anything is too much.” She nodded her understanding while leaning against the terrace balustrade.
“Is that why you’re out here?”
A strange blankness settled into the CEO’s stare, her sigh wavering within her throat. However, she spoke with a commanding calm that impressed the brunette now standing beside her. “Just my nightly ritual of checking to make sure our skies are still invader-free.”
Cat found herself instantly soothed by the knowing grunt she received in response. “Understandable that we’d all be a little on-edge at the moment. But I can assure you on deep, deep background, the skies will remain clear for some time to come. The only aliens out and about at the moment are the good ones.”
Chuckling at her unexpected companion’s somewhat teasing response, she countered, “And is that why our most celebrated alien is missing tonight? Out patrolling while you party in her place?”
“And what makes you so certain she isn’t here this evening?”
The CEO’s eyes narrowed to jade slivers at the question. “That sounds like a dangerous dare to offer an ex-investigative journalist.”
The agent’s mouth twisted with roguish glee. “I thought dares were supposed to be challenging.”
“You are feeling frisky tonight, aren’t you, Agent?”
The brunette tipped her head back, her laughter a quiet melody against the muted drone of the party behind them. “I guess I am still feeling a little punch-drunk.” She tipped her beer in salute toward the CEO. “Maybe a little normal-drunk, too,” she finished.
Cat hummed in amusement and reached out to clink her tumbler of single-malt against the agent’s bottle. She caught the shine of surprise to brighten her companion’s gaze and couldn’t help her own responding laugh.
“You feel it, too, don’t you?” The agent’s words barely lilted at the end. “I mean, you’ve got to feel it—that rush from doing what you did to help us. That bad-ass transmission alone must have been like base-jumping Mount Kilimanjaro all over again.”
Even unable to see the CEO’s expression from the ballroom’s glare backlighting her, she knew the scrutinizing squint aimed in her direction. “She tells me everything, Ms. Grant.”
She paused, took a long, slow pull from her bottle. As she glanced back out over the city, she sighed, “Even when she doesn’t say a word, she tells me. She can’t help it, really. Funny if you think about it—how terrible she is at keeping secrets.”
“Agent—”
“Then again,” the brunette promptly interrupted, much to Cat’s annoyance (and possible amusement, though she would never admit to that), “you’re most definitely not an easy read at all.”
The CEO preened at the compliment, surprising the agent with how distracting her smirk could be. She shook herself from the moment, finishing with, “And yet even the enigmatic Cat Grant has repeatedly told me all I need to know.”
Hackles rising at the agent’s insinuation, Cat drew up slightly. “And what exactly have I told you that you find so intriguing?”
Pivoting the conversation as though Cat hadn’t spoken at all, the brunette twisted her position enough to lean her hip against the ledge beside her. “You really did do a great job with your speech to the city. You helped us immensely in rallying the troops, so to speak.”
Cat instantly averted her gaze, shifting it out toward the skyline once more. “I only said what they already knew was true.”
“It was more than that.” She caught the way Cat’s head tilted slightly toward her. “You believed in them. You gave them hope.”
“I know that you inspired them, because you inspired me.”
The memory twirled through her thoughts in a flash of cobalt and crimson and the softest smile and the bluest eyes.
“Yes, well, I did what I thought would be best for the city. The last thing I wanted to see was my home destroyed by that tin tiara tyrant.”
“Is it still? Your home?”
“Of course. I have been gone for a while, but I believe now is the perfect time to come home. I want to help the city rebuild.”
“And then leave again to accept the opening in President Marsdin’s cabinet for a new press secretary?”
Cat huffed dismissively. “It seems even the DEO can get bad intel.”
Amusement slowly unfurled across her features at the responding frown. “Yes, the President did indicate in a recent interview she was interested in having me as her new press secretary. However, she only mentioned it after she spoke with me—and I politely declined. We’ve been friends far too long for her to ever leak something like this without first talking with me.”
Regardless of the relief she felt at Cat’s response, the brunette still couldn’t resist the temptation of her curiosity. “But why?”
“Why did she mention it if I’d already declined?” At the barely visible nod, Cat shrugged. “A professional and personal courtesy. Beyond our friendship, Olivia understood that even the offer of such a prestigious placement would be a fantastic boost to my career—and ego,” she teased at the end.
“But why say no if it’s so prestigious?”
“Because I’m not finished here.” Fingers fluttered over her shoulder toward the building behind her. “I might not be out there on a beat, breaking my own stories anymore, but being a journalist is who I am—just as much a part of me as all that Kevlar and riot gear is a part of you.”
She laughed at the way the agent’s lips pulled to one side in a quirky smirk.
“No, if I were to flip from hack to flack, I would instantly relinquish my journalistic objectivity. I could never go back to reporting, even if I wanted to, and I wouldn’t in good conscience be able to have anything to do with my company without sullying its reputation for unbiased journalism. I’m just not ready to let go of such a huge part of who I am.”
“I don't know what I'm going to do after this. I don't know if there is anything I can do.”
With a swift motion, she knocked back the rest of her drink and set the empty tumbler on the ledge. “Which is why it’s imperative I come back now—before I lose it completely.”
The sentiment drew her companion’s full attention. “Who would dare try to dethrone the Queen of All Media, especially after your globally broadcast ass-kicking return to your kingdom?”
Eyebrow arching impressively high at the brunette’s question, Cat rejoined, “Public sentiment is in CatCo’s and my favor now, but it’s been on an almost steady decline since I left. James might have saved Winslow and me from the Daxamites, but he’s left my company painfully vulnerable while he’s been off trying to placate his cape envy.”
The agent didn’t bother to hide her snort of laughter at Cat’s too-astute observation about the Guardian.
Cat watched as the agent glanced out over the city for several beats. When she once more returned her attention toward Cat, she smiled with unexpected giddiness. “So, definitely sounds like a long-term commitment that will keep you here for a while, right?”
Suspicion swirling in her jade gaze, Cat queried, “Why does it matter to you this much?” Her tone sharpened noticeably when she added, “And what did you mean earlier about me telling you everything you needed to know?”
The teeth-rattling screech of the terrace door opening shattered the moment.
“Alex? You out here, babe?”
The agent turned toward the call before glancing back at Cat with a devilish grin. “Oops. Gotta go.”
She began to take backward steps away from Cat, watching her with enervating delight at her barely contained frustration. Absently tugging her ear, Alex gave a final low growl of laughter. “Enjoy your stargazing, Ms. Grant.”
Ignoring the disgruntled responding huff, she spun around and picked up her pace. “Right here, Mags.”
She moved from the shadows of the terrace, a bright smile gleaming in the light coming from inside. “I just needed to get some fresh air.”
“Is that even still a thing right now?”
Hitching her shoulders, she replied, “If you aren’t a Daxamite, sure.”
She frowned after a beat as she wrapped an arm around the detective’s waist and guided her back toward the ballroom. “Just—maybe just don’t breathe too deeply for a while, okay?”
Cat watched the pair disappear once more into the chaotic swirl of partygoers, her brain already replaying the conversation that had so abruptly ended. The temptation to march inside and demand answers from the enigmatic DEO agent grew stronger with each passing moment until she could feel her muscles tensing in preparation.
Just as quickly, she froze in place at the familiar sound of a rapidly incoming roar. The previous quiet of the evening suddenly swirled into a vortex of wind, blowing her hair into her face. As she smoothed back her tousled curls, she jumped back in surprise at the heavier-than-normal slap of boots against the terrace deck.
“Alex, what’s wrong? Is something happening—”
The rest of the question warped into a startled squeak the CEO couldn’t have imagined coming from the Hero of National City had she not witnessed it herself. Unable to stop herself, she laughed lightly at the surprising sound. “Well, that’s an unexpected noise for a superhero to make.”
Hands gripping the edges of her cape, Supergirl scanned the terrace quickly before staring into the ballroom behind the CEO. Tapping at her ear, she frowned and finally responded, “I’m very sorry, Ms. Grant. I-I thought—well, I think I’m having technical difficulties this evening.”
She tapped at her ear once more with a confused pout before dropping her hands to her sides. The straight line of her shoulders noticeably slumped as she glanced once more toward the ballroom. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
“Nonsense. I’m happy to see you, Supergirl. I was quite disappointed when I thought you weren’t going to even make an appearance at my shindig this evening.”
She crossed her arms while leaning once more against the railing. “After all, tonight wouldn’t even be possible without you.”
Surprisingly, the hero recoiled from the words, golden hair framing a suddenly somber face. “I was just one part of a much larger team, Ms. Grant.”
Rather than fire back with one of her more convincing rebuttals, Cat leaned further back against the ledge. “You don’t have to take all the credit, Supergirl—but I know there are a lot of people in there who would love the chance to thank you for what you did.”
The CEO’s mood sobered as she watched tears glisten in the corners of the hero’s eyes. “I appreciate that—I really do. But I think the true heroes are already inside.”
She brightened slightly. “Except for you, of course.”
Cat clicked her tongue at the unexpectedly earnest comment. “Super smooth, Supergirl.”
Even as she caught the hint of a smile on the hero’s lips, she could see the resistance growing stronger in her posture.
With a gentle push-off, Supergirl rose once more into the air. “Thank you very much for the invitation, Ms. Grant—and for doing what you do for the city. Tonight was exactly what everyone needed.”
Floating up and beyond the terrace balustrade, she offered a tempered smile. “I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Before Cat could respond, the hero spiraled upward and shot off into the distance. The CEO frowned in disappointment as she stared at the once again empty sky.
With a sigh, she grabbed her tumbler and returned to the door, pulling it open with a grunt. Inside the ballroom, she deposited her glass on the bar and gestured for the bartender to serve her another scotch.
Fresh drink in hand, she moved along the periphery while scanning the crowd of jubilant partygoers. Her scan halted instantly the moment she caught sight of her unexpected terrace guest—and the even more unexpected arrival of her former assistant.
Dressed oddly enough in what looked like one of her workday outfits, she fussed with trying to straighten a hastily fastened ponytail. Her glasses sat askew on her nose.
Slinking around the room’s perimeter, the CEO observed as Kara made several gestures during her conversation with the agent. When she pointed at her ear, the agent shrugged but Cat could see a truth withheld in twinkling brown eyes.
Suddenly, Kara’s head snapped up and Cat found herself under the slightly wild-eyed scrutiny of her former assistant. Even hidden by glasses, her eyes shimmered with a sorrow that left a hollow ache in Cat’s chest.
The CEO continued her slow stroll around the room, drawing closer to Kara’s position. However, she froze in surprise at the way the other blonde quickly pivoted and scrambled for the nearest exit. Though Cat couldn’t hear any words, she saw the brunette reach too late for Kara and watch as she disappeared out the room.
Cat stared at the doors even as they slowly returned to their closed positions, confusion and disappointment clear in her expression. When she finally shifted her gaze, she realized the agent was observing her. Cat bristled at the sympathy she saw focused on her—at the way it writhed through her like an itch she couldn’t satisfy.
However, with a blink, the brunette righted her expression and tipped her bottle in the CEO’s direction with a knowing nod and an apologetic hitch of her shoulders. Cat returned the toast in-kind before being distracted by a member of her accounting department who had clearly shared in far too many of his own toasts that evening and wished to express his gratitude ebulliently—and loudly—to Cat and anyone else who wanted to listen.
It wasn’t until much later that evening, after the partygoers had all departed safely and Cat had returned to her still-empty penthouse (there was no way she was bringing Carter home until at least a whole month passed invader-free, thank you very much) that she could focus her full attention on the troubling matter at hand.
The sight of Kara’s desperate departure had darkened her mood more than she wished to admit. More than anything, the sadness so evident in a once perpetually luminous gaze was what twisted most sharply within her.
It wasn’t Cat’s place, however, to care so deeply for her former assistant’s well-being. After all, she had cleanly cut all ties with Kara the moment she had left CatCo and jetted off without word of her destination or the duration of her absence.
And yet nothing had remained clean about the subsequent months of scrounging for every last scrap of news she could find through frustratingly questionable wifi—not of the Hero of National City, but of her hero behind the hero.
Her secret weapon.
Her guardian angel.
Even before the cape, Kara had protected and aided her with a purity the CEO had taken for granted. Kara, who had been by her side so perfectly, so perpetually. Kara, who knew her with an intimacy Cat never should have allowed—except Kara had never given her the option of refusal. She’d merely worked her way through Cat’s barricades with a patience Cat should have suspected from the start was alien—a slow and steady current Cat realized only when she’d lost its constant flow had carved Kara’s mark into the hard grain of her heart.
It wasn’t until Kara’s absence from her daily routine had truly settled within her that she realized how much she had come to—care for the woman. How much she craved Kara’s light. How much she missed Kara’s laughter. How much she wanted Kara’s presence in her life more than she should—more than she ever dared confess.
It took sitting in a yurt in the Siri-picked epicenter of global happiness for Cat finally to realize her own greatest chance at happiness had sat outside her office for two years, tending to her every need and quietly waiting.
Even more irritating was the realization that even Alex Danvers had deduced the CEO’s feelings for her sister, if that evening’s conversation was any indication. The eye roll she indulged in that moment was epic as she considered the agent’s teasing.
“So much for Cat Grant and her world-famous elusiveness,” she huffed as she finished changing and washing up and finally slid into the comfort of her bed.
Curling onto her side, she resolved to herself that she would not fall back into her old ways. Instead, as sleep slipped softly through her, she vowed that she would finally seize her moment to make things right before she lost it again—permanently.
That moment, however, continued to remain frustratingly just beyond the CEO’s grasp for an entire week. Every time she thought, surely, she would cross paths with her newest junior reporter, the prize would elude her yet again. By the end of the week, she was equal parts furious and impressed at how smoothly Kara had avoided even the possibility of running into her former boss.
As Cat moved through her Friday schedule, she tried not to think about the impending weekend that would interrupt for two whole days her attempts at connecting with Kara and finding out why exactly she was avoiding her. Unfortunately, even ignoring the issue left her feeling unsettled and so on edge, every second dragged by with hellish languor.
By the time she’d finished her morning meetings, she was ready to call off the rest of her day and leave to regroup and reconsider exactly why Kara’s behavior was so damnably galling. Gliding through the bullpen with commanding ease, she had already mentally finished rearranging her own schedule when she found herself assailed by her markedly distressed assistant.
“Ms. Grant, I-I’m so sorry. Someone’s in your office. She—she marched in and I-I told her she needed to make an appointment, but—but she just—she wouldn’t—and I couldn’t—I mean, I-I—”
When Eve stammered into silence, Cat shot her a perturbed glare. “You what, Ms. Teschmacher? Lost your ability to complete sentences? Forgot the number for security? No longer want this job?”
The assistant stumbled slightly, her eyes widening with noticeable panic. “N-no, Ms. Grant! I mean, yes! I-I just—she told me she needed to speak with you in an official capacity and—and, well, she’s very intimidating.”
Realization clicking into place, Cat glanced into her office, frowning at its emptiness. “Let me guess: She was dressed all in black and looked like she just walked off the extras lot of the latest Terminator movie.”
Blonde curls bobbed fiercely with Eve’s exaggerated nod. Dismissing her assistant with a disinterested flutter of her hand, she stalked into her office and toward the balcony entrance.
Outside, confirmation came the moment she spotted her unexpected visitor leaning against her balcony railing, staring out over the city.
The click of her heels against the concrete deck announced her approach, though Cat suspected the agent knew of her presence long before. “Back to enjoy more CatCo balcony time, Agent? What’s the matter? Is your clandestine agency’s base of operations underground?”
“Not anymore,” she quickly shot back, a teasing smirk stretched across her lips.
With feigned annoyance, the CEO drew up behind her, hands resting against the curve of her back. “You do know you’ve terrified my assistant.”
The brunette continued to look out over the skyline, now dotted with cranes erected beside buildings still salvageable. “She’s bubbly like your last assistant, but not nearly as impossible to intimidate.”
Remembering the way the agent had so daringly teased the truth still unspoken about the woman in question, Cat rejoined, “Invincibility does have its perks.”
She delighted in the amused snort her observation received. The brunette finally turned away from the view, leaning back against the balcony wall with her elbows on the ledge. Ignoring the CEO’s comment, she said, “Looks like you’ve gotten your office back to your preferred layout.”
“Minus still being unable to remove the smell of testosterone and inferiority complex, yes.” She caught the flicker of relief in the piercing gaze fixed on her. “I told you, Alex, I’m here to stay.”
Lips pressed together as Alex contemplated the words. When she absently ran her fingers through her hair, Cat caught the gleam of sunlight against a ring on the agent’s left hand.
Eyebrows hitching at the sight, Cat gestured in acknowledgement. “It would seem congratulations are in order since the last time we talked.”
Confused at first by the CEO’s comment, Alex glanced down at her hand. A beautiful shyness threaded through her expression as she stared at the ring. Cat recognized the blush of elation to dust the brunette’s cheeks.
“Thanks,” she finally sighed, her smile refreshingly earnest and true.
Enjoying the more carefree side of the agent, Cat queried, “Did NCPD’s finest propose, or did you?”
Alex drew herself up, pride gleaming in her gaze. “I did.”
She shrugged, a wistful smile diminishing her delight slightly. “Although Kara made me realize that time was too precious a gift to waste on even a second of indecision.”
At mention of Kara, Cat’s stance stiffened, her mood growing perceptibly colder. “Yes, well, your sister clearly has made her own decision, to become as difficult as possible to locate since I returned. I’m beginning to wonder if she actually works here anymore, or if Snapper has finally figured out a way to punk me for more pay.”
“I was hoping she wasn’t avoiding you, too.”
The agent’s word choice sharpened Cat’s glare—and concern. “Too?”
Alex turned to face Cat, understanding instantly how even her sister could find the CEO intimidating. “I’m sure you can understand Kara doesn’t cope well with change. Whether the change is for the better or not, she tends to shut down rather than deal with it.”
Recalling with painful clarity the image of Kara, clutching a pillow, eyes filled with tears that had nearly been enough to push the CEO into breaking her own rule about crying in the office, she nodded in comprehension. “And a lot changed for her this past year.”
Alex hummed her agreement. “Mostly for the good. You promoting her was definitely the best thing to happen to her this year—even if we did worry a couple times we would have to save Snapper from heat vision immolation.”
Even the notion of Kara using her heat vision to blast the irascible editor across her bullpen drew Cat to laugh out loud. Seeing Alex’s confusion, she shrugged. “I could have sold the on-demand rights to that video for millions, just to the Daily Planet staff he terrorized for years.”
The smaller blonde’s break in mood eased Alex’s own worry. “Yeah, well, hopefully you being back will bring him inline some.”
“Oh, I doubt that,” Cat rejoined. “He’s just as inconsiderate and quick-tempered with me.” She hitched a shoulder in disinterest at Alex’s surprised gape. “I just make sure my snark is sharper and more on-target.”
Sidling up next to Alex, she explained, “I knew Snapper would be hard on Kara.”
She turned to meet the brunette’s stare. “But I also knew Kara could take it. She always handled me well enough—and Snapper is B-team at best in comparison with—what did TMZ once call me? The Queen of All Meltdowns?”
Laughter rolled from the agent at the CEO’s comment and subsequent nonchalant shrug. After a moment, she wiped at her eyes, her expression taking a curious affect. “It’s easy to see why my sister is so in—enamored of your presence.”
Cat frowned at Alex’s odd stumble and correction, but decided to let it slide for the moment. “Then perhaps you could explain it to me,” she countered. “I’ve been nothing but—”
“Exactly what Kara needs.”
The agent drew up to her full height, shoulders squared and strong, her whole demeanor shifting with a strength of certitude Cat found most impressive.
“Right from the moment Kara came to us, my parents loved her like she was their own.”
She bowed her head, chuckling in embarrassment. “I was a harder sell on the idea of suddenly having a sister—took a while for me to finally come around on the idea.”
The brunette’s mood sobered as she studied the CEO. “We’ve always treated her like she was a part of our family, but we also treated her for too long like she was someone we needed to protect and keep hidden—someone irreparably broken.”
Her lips twitched into a knowing grin. “You’re probably the first person in her life here on Earth who has never held back in your expectations. You’ve always pushed her, challenged her, demanded more and more of her—treated her as if she were indomitable, even as Kara Danvers.”
Alex watched the words settle through Cat, release the tension from her stance and soothe her curious pique. “Your sister is exceptional—in any of her iterations.”
The agent shook her head, refusing to let Cat brush the truth of the moment aside. “No one else ever thought Kara Danvers was exceptional before you.”
Seeing the CEO’s disagreement beginning, Alex pressed, “Because we all discouraged her from being anything other than ordinary. We didn’t want anyone to notice her. We thought convincing her to blend in would be the best way to protect her.”
She laughed at the memory to surface in her mind. “My mother actually threatened to have Kara’s cousin lock her in his base of operations when she learned Kara was coming to work for you. She was convinced you would figure out Kara’s secret in less time than it would take for her to fill out all her paperwork for the job.”
Cat huffed at the roundabout compliment. “It took me slightly longer than that—but, by all means, thank your mother for the vote of confidence.”
Shaking herself suddenly from the moment, she narrowed her gaze and crossed her arms. “And now, here you are confirming yet again what I’m assuming required DEO assistance to prove to me once before wasn’t true—and I’d like to know why, Agent Danvers.”
Alex nodded without hesitation. She knew Cat deserved nothing less than a straightforward answer. “Kara has learned well how to pretend to be human. Some of our customs still confuse her, but when it comes to most things, she plays the part very convincingly.”
She tamped down her own regret at once more not being the sister Kara needed to guide her through the minefield of emotions the Kryptonian had traversed in the past year.
“Sometimes, she does and says things she thinks she should—behaves in ways she thinks will make her seem—I don’t know—on schedule?”
She flinched at the way Cat’s eyes began to narrow and quickly began to elaborate. “She’s always thought certain things had to happen in her life at certain times so she could keep up with what she sees as the rhythm of humanity. Relationships, for example: first crush, first kiss, first love, first heartbreak. She’s struggled with that part of humanity most of all.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, as first heartbreaks go, losing your first love to the defeat of an intergalactic invasion is rather impressive.”
“This was not Kara’s first heartbreak. This most definitely wasn’t even her first love. She convinced herself it was because she thought it was what people expected her to choose.”
The agent’s lips curled in disdain from the words she spoke, knowing too well the pain and disappointment that accompanied trying to make a lie of the heart work.
Calming the tension within her that was causing sweat to slip uncomfortably along her spine, Alex finished, “I’ve been watching my sister deal with her real first heartbreak since the moment National City apparently became too shallow for diving.”
Inhaling sharply, Cat felt the nervous flutter of something familiar and dangerous within her: hope.
Alex sighed in relief when she recognized the sound and its meaning. “I know how my sister feels. I’m pretty sure I know how you feel. The question now is, what are you going to do about it?”
With a gentle tug at her ear, Alex nodded once before turning on her heels and strolling back toward the balcony door. “Thank you for seeing me, Ms. Grant. I appreciate it.”
She chuckled at the indignant noise her comment earned. Waving over her shoulder, she called out, “Oh, and maybe you should let my sister know you’re planning on staying in town. It might move things along way more smoothly for both of you—and save me the hassle of having to come back here.”
Thoughts derailed the moment Alex’s words registered. Cat frowned in realization that she had, in fact, failed to tell Kara of her intention to remain in National City—not that it was entirely Cat’s fault.
With a pointed huff, she muttered to herself, “Maybe if your sister stopped playing hide and seek with me, I would have told her by now.”
Further consternation over the matter faded from thought at the familiar roar of wind and crack of heavy fabric settling once more into place.
Spinning, the CEO couldn’t stifle her sharp inhalation at the sight of Supergirl hovering high enough to force her to look up into the hero’s confused expression.
“Supergirl? Is everything all right?”
Wary gaze passed over the CEO before she scanned inside the office. Cat could tell by the increasing bewilderment in the hero’s expression that she wasn’t finding whatever she had expected to see.
Redirecting her attention toward the smaller blonde, she landed and sheepishly sighed, “I owe you another apology, Ms. Grant. I thought—”
She paused while fidgeting with something in her ear and scanning the building floor once more.
Realization settled into the knowing smile the CEO offered the befuddled hero. “Technical difficulties again?”
Supergirl startled at the question before letting her hand fall away from her ear. “I don’t mean to keep bothering you. I’m sorry.”
“You apologize too much.”
The hero gasped at the uncomfortably familiar sentiment, instantly shifting to leave. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your day.”
Seeing the moment quickly slipping from her control, Cat steadied herself and stated as calmly as she could, “Supergirl, wait.”
Muscles flexed and froze beneath the cobalt lines of her suit, holding her steady to Cat’s request. Swallowing the sigh of relief she felt tickling the back of her throat, the smaller blonde instead continued, “I never thanked you for all you’ve done for National City while I was away.”
Cat found the hero’s blush charming, but worried far more about the guilt twisting her features into a rebuking scowl. “I don’t deserve anyone’s thanks. I let down my guard and the city paid for my—my naïveté.”
“This city owes you an insurmountable debt.” Breathing deeply to calm the skittish churn in her belly, she softly finished, “I owe you my life.”
Supergirl moved closer as if pulled forward by Cat’s words. “You don’t owe me anything for that, Ms. Grant. I will never let anything happen to you.”
In the hero’s eyes, Cat saw a reflection of possibility and promise she realized in that moment she longed for so strongly, it hurt.
“Why?” She stepped closer, pleased at how her question held the hero in place. “Why do you care so much what happens to me?”
“You’re Cat Grant.”
The CEO lifted her chin at the response, her ego sufficiently stroked—but her question unsatisfactorily addressed. “Yes, darling, I know who I am.”
She pressed her lips together tightly at the way sapphire eyes widened at her comment. “But what does that mean to you?”
“Everything.”
The answer was instant and so softly and reverently uttered, Cat almost missed it beneath the percussive crash of her heart beat through her eardrums.
She felt the tendons in her fingers pop at the way she clutched them tightly against her thighs. While she wanted nothing more than to reach out, test the waters of that very inviting word, she also knew the danger of moving too quickly without first taking care of Alex’s suggestion—as well as finally sorting the secret they no longer needed to entertain.
The Louboutins she wore that day gave her enough height that when she stepped well into the hero’s space, she could easily meet stares. “That’s a rather bold sentiment, Supergirl—one that I think requires more than just a passing thought.”
Beneath her boldness, she could feel the chill of uncertainty flushing through her veins. She pressed onward. “But if we were to explore it, we would need two things first.”
The hero’s skirt brushed against Cat’s thighs as she moved to within a hair’s breadth of the CEO. The warmth of her breath slipped across Cat’s skin as she asked, “What do we need?”
Swallowing, the smaller blonde relaxed her hands before raising them to rest against the hero’s hips. Her gaze diverted to the way soft lips parted in a surprised gasp, her focus nearly broken by the temptation to lean in and claim what she now understood was hers—what had always been hers.
Just as she had always been Kara’s.
“It’s not about what you do. It’s about who you love.”
Leaning into the immovable hero, she curled her fingers around the curve of the hero’s waist. “We need time and truth.”
One final, calming breath and the smaller blonde dove as deep as she’d ever dared before. Lips brushing the shell of the hero’s ear, she whispered, “I’m here to stay, Kara. I swear it.”
The tension she expected to feel the moment she let Kara’s name slip from her lips just as quickly turned into a giddy embrace that wrapped completely around Cat’s frame and hugged her with almost painful elation.
When Kara finally leaned back, Cat observed the nearly constant shift of expressions across the hero’s face. Even as she struggled not to betray the happiness Cat could see gathering within eyes once more free of their previous sorrow, she whispered, “Do you mean it?”
Cat answered with her lips, which slipped with warm persistence against a mouth more than willing to acquiesce to her thorough treatment. Tilting enough that their mouths slotted perfectly together, Cat focused on showing Kara the truth of her intention to stay. Only when she couldn’t ignore the lightheaded buzz of oxygen deprivation did she finally relent in her studious examination of the many ways to kiss a Kryptonian.
When speech once more returned to her, Kara enthusiastically stated, “I can think of two more things we need as soon as possible.”
“What’s that, darling?”
“A proper date and a place where we can kiss like that some more without the possibility of interruption.”
Pleased and unabashedly aroused by Kara’s requests, Cat replied, “Fly us to my beach house and we can have all that and more.”
Breathless in an instant from even the suggestion, Kara forced herself to ask, “Right now?”
“No better time, don’t you think?”
She couldn’t resist the laugh Kara’s eager nod inspired.
“One thing though.” Cat reached up and removed the comm device from the hero’s ear.
“No more ‘technical difficulties,’” she sighed as she pocketed the earpiece and slipped more securely into the hero’s strong arms. “But be sure to thank your sister for the ones you did have.”
Kara indulged her confusion only for a moment before tightening her hold on the smaller blonde and rising into the air. As they hovered high above CatCo Tower, the hero’s gaze swept across the city before landing once more on Cat. Smiling brightly, she asked, “Ready to go home?”
Never one to miss a perfect setup, Cat pressed a kiss that hinted at far more against Kara’s lips before whispering, “I’m already there.”