Work Text:
Kara looks over her shoulder with a quick glance, superspeed enabling her to take in each of her coworkers with that single look. All clear, everyone is focused on their own computers and no one is bothering to pay attention to Cat’s office.
“Your lunch meeting just cancelled,” she says at a normal volume in case someone is listening, dropping to a whisper as she continues, “so I was wondering if you wanted me to pick something up for us. The time is still blocked off so no one should be looking for you.”
Cat smiles, that soft, gentle look Kara’s still growing familiar with. Three months together and they’re starting to relax around each other, learning to lose the rigid set of roles and expectations heavy on their shoulders.
“That sounds perfect after this morning from hell,” Cat says, sitting back in her chair without taking her eyes off Kara. “You’ll text me when it’s ready?”
They haven’t had many opportunities for this, a fact Kara both accepts and hates. Lunches with Cat in the small office two floors up are always amazing, but they’re very careful no one can spot a pattern. Their relationship is still a secret at work until they’re certain it will last and the last thing they want to do is give themselves away.
So with a few quiet plans Kara backs out of the room, smiling at Winn when he looks up from his computer. “Hey, I’ve got to run and get myself some lunch while Miss Grant’s at her meeting, want me to bring you anything?”
“Nah, you enjoy yourself,” Winn says instantly, same as he has for the last few weeks. “I brought something today, James bullied me into trying this new health craze thing. With um, protein or stuff.”
“Next time then!” Kara doesn’t mind that he won’t join her, she’d only offered to pretend everything was normal. If he’d accepted she would’ve needed to drop his food off before faking an emergency call, this is a lot easier.
Soon after that she’s settling into the small empty office Cat had commandeered for them, making sure no one sees her enter. A quick text to get Cat moving and a quick zap of anything too cool with her heat vision and things are perfectly settled the moment Cat opens the door.
“Hey,” Kara says as she pulls the chair out for Cat, loving the way Cat relaxes with the closing of the door. A quick kiss as she sits and Kara is pushing the chair back in before moving to her own seat. “What happened this morning? I know fashion was being slow but I thought you had that handled.”
“It wasn’t fashion,” Cat says as she starts in on her own food. “Carter’s father is up to his usual tricks again. Wants to know if I’ll switch weekends with him because he has a ‘work trip’ and can’t reschedule.”
“I’m sorry,” Kara says, feeling a little awkward. She still isn’t sure what her place is when it comes to Carter and his father. She’s on Cat’s side 100%, she just isn’t sure what is and isn’t her place to have an opinion on things. “Does rescheduling work?”
“No, the weekend he wants is that museum opening Carter is dragging us to. Which means another skipped weekend.”
Clenching the fist not currently holding easily bendable silverware, Kara reminds herself she can’t go dangle the man off a skyscraper. Cat made her promise that the first time this happened and she’ll be damned if she breaks a promise. Even if the jerk does deserve it.
“Maybe Alex can show him around the cover story lab,” Kara offers once the flash of anger settles. “They don’t keep anything dangerous or even remotely alien there, and she’s due to cover a shift.”
The smile and kiss Cat gives her at the neat solution has Kara smiling a dopey grin around her next few bites as they settle the details quickly and switch the conversation to their own plans for those days.
It’s not until they’re nearing the end of the meal that a knock comes at the door, startling them both into silence. No one should know they’re here, and the room is listed as empty in the system. There are others closer to the center of things that should be first choice if someone needs an empty room, so why the knock on the door?
Once the initial shock wears off Kara quickly pulls her glasses down to scan with x-ray vision. When she sees Winn standing there, wringing his hands nervously, she isn’t sure what to think. Had he come looking for her?
“Kara, Miss Grant, I’m sorry to bother you,” the quiet voice calls through the door when they take a second to long to answer. “I know you’re having lunch and usually I wouldn’t interrupt, but Lord Tech just announced something about an anti-Kryptonian defense system he was making available for free to every major corporation in the city and it seemed like you should know right away.”
“That bastard is what,” Cat growls dangerously, standing from the table so quickly her chair falls behind her. “He’ll be giving away tours of his jail cell when I’m through with him.”
“Hey, don’t get mad at work,” Kara cautions, though she’s fighting to take the advice herself. “We can destroy him without letting him win.”
“Oh, I’ll destroy him all right,” Cat answers, giving Kara one last, fierce kiss before striding to the door and wrenching it open. “I’ll go work on that now, Kara, would you be a dear and find out how the hell your cardigan loving friend tracked us down?”
“Right! What the hell, Winn?” Kara asks, her focus redirected from the anger and back to her initial shock.
“I know you guys are trying to keep it quiet, but the whole floor kind of knows,” Winn admits, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else right now. “Becky from accounting had to start assigning her meetings with Cat to a coworker because she can’t look at Miss Grant without blushing. Something about the looks Cat was giving you being too much for her.”
Kara’s blushing herself now, remembering a few of those looks. She’d checked that no one was looking before letting conversation move into personal territory, but obviously she’d missed something. “Okay, but that doesn’t explain how you knew we were up here. Cat’s calendar says she’s off site on a meeting.”
“I, um, I get those security pings for Cat’s elevator when it acts differently than normal, remember? You had me set it up after Leslie escaped the first time? And her routine is usually very straightforward, up from the ground floor and down from the main CatCo floor. So when it goes from the CatCo floor to two levels up…”
Kara feels like hiding, her face is so warm, but she can’t. “So, no one else knows where we are?”
“No, and your secret is safe with me,” Winn promises. “Maybe convince Cat of that before she fires me?”
“She won’t fire you for this. And even if she did you know the DEO would hire you in a heartbeat.”
“Somehow that’s not reassuring,” Winn says, starting down the hallway as Kara follows. “But it’s better than nothing. Why don’t you hurry on ahead and help Miss Grant? I’ll take the slow route.”
“Thanks Winn,” Kara calls as she takes off, speeding to the hidden cubby closest to Cat’s office. Time for some damage control.
And if the whole office already know? Well then she just might be able to keep Cat’s temper from snapping. That’s always easier when she can play dirty.