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Finally setting, the mid-summer sun sank on the horizon, robbing National City of its light but not its heat. The air was thick and warm, and the taste of ash lingered on the back of Kara’s tongue as the city’s shadows stretched out longer and longer below.
Wearily, she touched down on the balcony at CatCo. An unexpected breeze stirred her cape and hair, but she was too tired to enjoy it. Smelling like the forest fire she’d been battling, Kara ached for a long, hot bubble bath to wash this day off her. First, though, she’d see it end, needing in some odd way to watch it die.
Kara stilled when she spied the tumbler of whiskey on the table. She picked it up, surprised that it was cold and the ice inside had barely melted. The pungent scent of the alcohol made her nose scrunch in reaction.
“Thought you could use it.”
Turning in surprise, Kara swallowed when Cat Grant emerged from her office looking decidedly… different. Wearing a light blue t-shirt and jeans, tailored to fit her form to perfection, Cat stepped away from the door and let it shut behind her. She sported her own glass, and the amber liquid inside blazed in the last fierce rays of the day.
“Ms. Grant,” Kara blurted, not sure if she was startled more by Cat’s presence or the fact she hadn’t detected it. “I thought…” She bit back what she was about to say about her boss’ weekend plans, knowing only an intimate few would have that knowledge, and Supergirl certainly wasn’t supposed to be one of them.
Cat’s left eyebrow arched neatly, perfectly, but she said nothing, taking a sip from her tumbler instead.
Kara looked down at the glass in her hand, not sure what to do with it. She downed the contents in one go, feeling the burn of the alcohol but none of the desired effects. Wincing before licking her lips, Kara set the tumbler back on the table. “Thanks.”
“Looks like I was right.” Cat drifted closer, studying the younger woman more critically. “Should I pour you another?”
Kara smiled politely. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work for me like it does for you.”
“Pity.”
Cat smiled behind the rim of her glass and butterflies erupted in Kara’s stomach. Startled by the reaction, she cleared her throat. “I didn’t expect to see you here on a Saturday.”
“The fire is big news. Well… was.” Cat looked out past the city to the mountains where the smoke still curled and drifted toward the sky, turning the sunset into something more hellish but no less awe inspiring. “Curious. That… super breath of yours… does that hurt? Ever get lightheaded?”
Kara could still hear the flames, the animals screaming to outrun them, but a fraction of a smile graced her lips as Cat took another sip from her glass, the ice clinking inside. “Always the reporter.”
Cat shrugged. “Curiosity killed the you know what.” She pointed upward at the CatCo sign above their heads and Kara’s smile grew a little wider.
“Good thing you have nine lives then.”
“Well. Someone is feeling her oats this evening.” Cat leaned on the rail, watching the sunset and the city lights as they blazed on below, warding off the coming darkness.
Kara watched her, watched the way the sun bathed Cat’s features in hues of gold and fire. Cat Grant was a spellbinding woman for any number of reasons, but in this space and time she was even more so. Kara looked away with effort. Carefully, she drew closer, detecting the hint of the other woman’s perfume as she leaned against the rail herself. “No,” she said after a moment. “It doesn’t hurt.”
Taking another sip from her glass, Cat continued to watch the spectacle the skies were putting on for them that evening. This high, they had the perfect view, and they lingered in companionable silence as they took it in.
“How about the heat vision? Do you need eye drops afterward for that?” Cat asked a few minutes later.
Grinning, Kara shook her head, sensing Cat was trying to lift her spirits and succeeding. “How did you know I’d come by?” Kara asked. Cat always seemed to understand Kara’s motivations and mindset better than she did herself.
Cat shrugged again. “I didn’t.” She tipped her glass at the setting sun. “But I’ve noticed you have a thing for sunsets, and this is the best spot in the city to watch one. I gambled a glass of my best whiskey and won.”
Kara glanced at the older woman, always amazed at the way Cat Grant’s mind worked, how no little detail ever escaped her attention when it came to the people she chose to allow into her orbit. That talent often complicated Kara’s life, but Cat only noticed you if she found you worth noticing. It was a twisted kind of compliment. “You must feel pretty pleased with yourself.”
“Maybe a little.” Cat took another sip of her whiskey. “That was good work you did today.”
The praise warmed Kara in a way the fire or the heat of the summer’s day couldn’t. “I was just doing my job.”
“The job you do for free.”
“It has its perks. I get to watch the sunsets from the best spot in the city,” Kara teased lightly.
“If it wasn’t for all the robots, monsters, and aliens trying to kill you all the time, I’m sure it would be perfectly lovely.”
Kara snorted at that, a light chuckle stumbling past her lips. Cat looked at her in surprise, pleased that she could amuse Supergirl.
“None of that today.”
“Just irresponsible campers who burned down part of a two hundred-year-old forest.”
Wincing, Kara couldn’t argue with that. She leaned her arms on the rail, bringing her close to Cat’s height as she eyed the other woman, dismissing the sunset and the maudlin reasons she’d come to watch it in favor of solving a little bit of the puzzle that was Cat Grant. “So why are you here?”
“The fire…” Cat started again.
Kara lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “You have an army of reporters who could handle that story.”
Cat looked like she was about to deflect further before she sighed and rolled her eyes. “My son is with his father this weekend.”
A pang of empathy ached in Kara’s stomach, but she kept the mood light. “So you were bored and thought you’d come terrorize your staff?”
“Someone has to.”
Kara frowned. There had been no text or call for her to come to the office. Cat always called her in when she was at CatCo. No matter what time it was. There was no way to ask her about it, though, so Kara held her tongue and tried not to read too much into it. She had enough other things to worry about, anyway. She sighed.
“You all right?” Cat asked, her tone deepening.
“Tired,” Kara admitted. The events of the last few weeks had been catching up with her, but at least this, this odd, undefinable relationship she’d developed with Cat, had evened out again and given her a place of respite once more. She wasn’t sure what she would have done if she’d lost Cat’s trust forever.
“That happens?” Cat turned her head and looked at her curiously. There was an odd note to her voice Kara couldn’t place. “Do you sleep?”
Feeling slightly self conscious, it was Kara’s turn to shrug, her cape swishing against the rail with the motion. “I don’t need sleep like you do, but I do need rest from time to time.”
“And you haven’t been getting it lately?”
“Is this an interview?” Kara recognized the stubborn set to the older woman’s jaw immediately and knew Cat wasn’t going to be dissuaded.
“Why aren’t you sleeping?” Cat insisted in a tone that brooked no argument.
“Life is complicated right now.” Kara wasn’t sure why she admitted that, but if felt nice to say it to someone. “I recently lost someone close to me, and someone I love very much is…” Kara sighed again, refusing to let her worry for Alex intrude on this moment. “And then there’s the whole city still kinda hates me thing.”
“They’re warming up to you again.”
Kara stared at the sunset, now just a sliver on the horizon. Through the lingering smoke and haze, the sky had gone a familiar red, a color she usually only saw in her memories, and the ache of loss made her chest hurt. “They are,” she agreed softly. “And that's… amazing, but I did some real and lasting damage to everyone’s faith in me.” Her gaze shifted back on Cat, and some of the melancholy that had begun to set in eased a fraction. “I still don’t understand why you’ve been so quick to forgive me. I threw you off this balcony.”
“Thank you for that reminder.” Cat’s tone was wry. Slowly, she drew closer, dragging one finger along the rail until she was standing just shy of Kara. Cat tucked a loose strand of hair behind one ear, almost seeming as nervous as Kara felt at her nearness. “You sleep. You drink, obviously. Do you eat?”
Kara’s brow furrowed, as she sensed an uptick in Cat’s heart rate she couldn’t explain. “If you ask my…” She clenched her jaw, biting down on the word “sister” before it got any further. “If you ask some of the people in my life they’d probably tell you that’s my favorite hobby.”
Cat’s eyes narrowed with interest at the near slip, but she let it go. “Would that I could, Supergirl.”
Kara smiled at that, her mood improving with Cat’s company as it strangely always seemed to. “Still angling for an exclusive?”
“Always.” Cat swirled the ice cubes in her glass, thinking. “Have dinner with me,” she said abruptly.
CatCo collapsing under their feet couldn’t have blindsided Kara more than the invitation she’d just been extended. She blinked, her brain furiously trying to make sense of it. “I…”
Cat turned and sauntered back into her office, not waiting for a reply. “I was just about to order take out. The fire, or what’s left of it, still has traffic tied up, and I’m not interested in sitting in the back of my car while my driver attempts to make small talk.”
Swallowing, Kara ordered herself to follow. She stepped across the threshold of Cat’s office, hesitating to enter the space she occupied nearly every day. “Isn’t that what we’re doing? Making small talk?”
Cat paused, considering, a takeout menu in her hand that she tapped lightly against her chin. “Hmm. I suppose. But you’re much more interesting to me than baseball.”
Kara’s stomach did a giddy somersault and she swallowed again. “That’s what your driver talks to you about?” she grimaced.
“He’s new. I make him nervous. He babbles.”
“Imagine that.” Kara felt a strange kinship with the man and she’d never even met him.
Evening spilled over the balcony behind her, but Kara still hesitated to step into the light and warmth of Cat’s office. As Supergirl, she’d lost that right.
Cat apparently didn’t think so as she waved her inside impatiently. “I don’t bite,” she groused.
“That’s not what I heard,” Kara volleyed, her hand reaching up automatically to adjust her glasses out of nervous habitat, but she corrected at the last moment, tucking her hair behind her ear. Cat was watching her closely now, and Kara hoped the slip wasn’t as obvious as it felt.
“Hmm,” Cat said again, but Kara didn’t miss the way Cat’s lips twitched in reaction to the playful jab. “Do you like pizza?”
The conversation was surreal. “Do you like pizza?”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Cat studied her for a moment. “I don’t suppose you have to worry about calories like us mere mortals, or does all that flying around, saving the day simply burn them off?”
“I guess I never really thought about it,” Kara admitted, sitting awkwardly on Cat Grant’s couch.
Cat perused the menu a few seconds more before snatching up her phone and punching in the number. Kara realized she was staring at the other woman, but she’d never seen Cat like this. Relaxed, a little disheveled. Kara leaned over slightly, spying the pair of trendy tennis shoes on Cat’s small feet, biting her bottom lip to keep a grin from forming.
“What do you like?”
“Excuse me?” Kara straightened like she’d just been caught passing notes in class.
“On your pizza,” Cat drawled, sounding like she was exercising the kind of patience she would have with a four-year old.
“Whatever you’re having is fine.” Kara deliberately looked away, letting her gaze roam over the familiar space as if she were taking it in for the first time. She listened as Cat gave detailed instructions for preparing their pizza. The woman never changed.
The order complete, Cat crossed to the bar, but instead of pouring herself another drink, she reached into the refrigerator inside the credenza and produced two beers. Kara’s eyebrows rose slightly as the older woman approached, handing her a chilled bottle.
Sensing this was a test, Kara popped the cap off and took a sip, wondering if she passed.
“Not your first one of those.” Cat sat opposite her.
“Today or in general?” Kara smiled, enjoying their banter.
Cat’s left eyebrow arched as she twisted the cap off her own beer and took a long pull on the bottle, watching Supergirl with frank interest. She wiped at her bottom lip with the tip of her thumb, and Kara tracked the motion with her eyes. “You clearly aren’t a fan of the harder stuff if that grimace to my very expensive whiskey was any indication.”
“It’s not like I can just go into a bar and order a drink, Ms. Grant.”
“And why is that?”
“I imagine several of your publications would create some interesting headlines if I did.”
“Point,” Cat conceded. “But what about when you’re not… you?” She leaned forward. “Surely you have downtime. Walk amongst us on occasion. Out of uniform, so to speak.”
Kara hesitated. Something in Cat’s eyes told her to tread carefully. “If this… whatever this is…” she began slowly, “is to try to put me at ease while you pump me for your next full page story…”
Cat held up a hand as Kara started to rise.
“Like you said. Always the reporter even when I’m not trying to be. Please…”
Cat motioned for Supergirl to sit and Kara complied. It was one of the few times Cat had ever asked her to do something nicely.
Sighing, Kara took another sip of her beer. “My private life, what little there is of it, is off limits. Understood?” She tried to soften her tone, to make it not sound like the demand it was, but any talk of her “normal” life put her too much at risk and Cat even more so.
“Understood. Nothing too personal… yet.”
Kara rolled her eyes and shook her head, but Cat merely smiled, coaxing one from Kara’s lips as well. “You’re incorrigible, Ms. Grant.”
“So I’ve been told.”
Slowly, Cat got to her feet and drifted closer. Every step Cat took was purposeful, and Kara watched and learned as the woman exuded power from seemingly every pore. Even in a t-shirt in jeans, Cat Grant was still the Queen of All Media.
“Would you like to freshen up while we wait?”
“Freshen up?”
A small, knowing smirk was on Cat’s mouth, as she finished crossing the room. She reached out and Kara’s breath hitched in surprise as Cat’s thumb stroked slowly over Kara’s chin. When the media mogul pulled her hand away, the pad of her thumb was covered with soot.
Kara instantly shot to her feet, glancing worriedly down at the pristine white couch she’d been sitting on.
Cat chuckled. “It really is a shame you can’t get drunk, Supergirl. You’re wound a little tight.”
Kara glared at her, not amused, but her chin tingled from Cat’s touch.
“There is a shower through there, although I think you already know that. Feel free to make use of it, if you like.”
“I’ll just…” Kara wiped at her chin and the tingles that wouldn’t fade, wincing when more soot came away on her fingertips. She could feel Cat’s gaze on her as she crossed the office, stepping through the doorway into the washroom before closing it behind her.
Glancing at her reflection, Kara rolled her eyes at herself again. Her face and suit were streaked with black. Sighing, she grabbed a washcloth and ran it beneath the faucet for a moment before cleaning herself up as best as she was able. “Smooth, Danvers,” she grumbled under her breath.
****
Cat fiddled with the label on her beer bottle, conspicuously aware of the silence in her own office. Her TV screens were dark, for once, and the bullpen, usually bustling with reporters, was empty since she’d sent everyone home. She had the building, and Supergirl, all to herself.
Curious how that made her nervous.
Leaving the drink on the balcony had been a gamble, but it had paid off. If anything, she’d gotten far more than she bargained for. Barring no more disasters, she might actually have Supergirl’s company for a few hours, and an excuse to stay away from her lonely penthouse for a little while longer.
The faucet ran in the next room and Cat took another pull on her beer, willing the alcohol to numb some of her jitters.
Supergirl emerged a few minutes later, her skin freshly scrubbed and her suit wiped clean. Cat experienced the disconcerting sensation of smelling her favorite soap on her favorite subject as the superhero stopped awkwardly before her.
Cat motioned at the couch, amused by Supergirl’s reticence. “You remind me of Kara.”
Supergirl’s reaction was interesting, to say the least. Her head came up sharply, and she opened her mouth to say something only to abruptly close it. “Your assistant,” she finally managed. “The one you thought was me.”
That perception hadn’t changed, no matter how much the other woman might wish it so, Cat mused. Granted, she’d been thrown off the scent for a few days, but she wasn’t fooled. The evidence was there, as plain to see everyday, but for whatever reason, Kara wanted to be at CatCo and was willing to go to great lengths to stay. Not that Cat was especially interested in losing her. So they orbited each other, trying to establish boundaries, but Cat found them constantly shifting where the younger woman was concerned. This night was no exception. “Hmm.”
Cat’s phone buzzed and Supergirl seemed to physically sag with relief at the interruption. “That must be dinner.”
“I can run down and get it.”
“Unless you carry around some spare cash in that suit, I doubt it.” Cat looked her over from head to toe, appreciating the play of muscles in Supergirl’s arms as she shifted nervously. She was such a striking woman and seemingly oblivious to the effects she had on the men and women around her. Another trait she shared with Kara Danvers.
Cat cleared her throat at the inappropriate thought, which unfortunately had crossed her mind more and more as of late. “I’ll just be a moment. I expect you to be here when I get back. I ordered an extra large and I certainly can’t eat the whole thing.”
“I’ll be here,” Supergirl promised, a soft, bashful smile on her lips that did ridiculous things to Cat’s heart rate.
Stepping inside the elevator, Cat released the breath she didn’t realize she was holding. As the car descended, she waffled between being excited at the evening that stretched out before her and being half scared to death she’d say the wrong thing and this golden opportunity would slip through her fingers.
“Don’t screw this up,” she muttered.
****
Supergirl’s friends were right. The young woman liked to eat.
They’d spent a pleasant few hours in each other’s company, chatting aimlessly about relatively safe topics and enjoying the deep dish pizza Cat had ordered. She had to admit she was slightly jealous of Supergirl’s clearly super metabolism.
With a fond smile, Cat watched as the superhero finished the last, cold slice. To look at her, you’d think she never touched more than a salad, but Supergirl had an appetite that would have made men three times her size feel inadequate. Cat wondered if the younger woman’s other appetites were just as impressive. The unwelcome thought made her features flush and the sensation only got worse when it was clear that Supergirl noticed.
“You all right?”
Brushing a blonde curl away from her face, Cat got to her feet and went to the door of her balcony, taking her time to prop it open and savoring what little breeze drifted in with the humid air. “Of course. Just a little warm in here.”
The expression of puzzlement on Supergirl’s face was all Kara, Cat mused. Looking a little lost and a lot adorable while doing it, that expression had thawed Cat’s icy exterior so many times it was a wonder she had any chill left at all.
“Thank you,” Supergirl said unexpectedly.
Cat turned and leaned against the open door. “For what?”
Supergirl motioned at the pizza box and the handful of beers dotting the coffee table. “Been awhile since someone bought me dinner.”
Cat paused, sensing genuine warmth in the smile she received from her dining companion, but her instincts didn’t miss an undercurrent of sadness. Those instincts had picked up on the same with Kara lately, and Cat decided it was time to pry, just a little. “Earlier.”
Supergirl waited her out.
“You started to say something about someone you love.”
Kara’s throat rippled on a rough swallow and her gaze dipped to her hands as she wiped them on a napkin. “Ms. Grant…”
“Cat.”
The surprise and shy pleasure reflected back at Cat in Supergirl’s blue eyes made her heart squeeze in reaction. She studiously pretended to feel nothing.
“Cat,” Supergirl said slowly, as if savoring the name. “I… would like nothing more than to be able to be completely honest with you.”
That statement was a loaded one, and Cat wondered if Kara meant that on every level.
“But…”
“You have to protect yourself. I understand.”
“It’s not just about me.” Supergirl sighed. “The more you know about me, the more in danger you become.”
Cat huffed in reaction. “I’ve been in warzones, Supergirl. Been kidnapped. Had an angry mob attack my live truck with me and a hapless photographer inside it. I’ve confronted evil men who have murdered thousands. If I’m not getting death threats on a practically daily basis, then I’m not doing my job. I can hold my own.”
“Cat…” Supergirl shook her head. “There are people who would stuff you in a hole somewhere so deep not even I could find you if they thought you knew too much.”
“The government? I’m not scared of a few men in black.”
“You should be,” Supergirl answered seriously. “But they aren’t the worst. It’s the other aliens who want me dead you should worry about. I wouldn’t forgive myself if something happened to you… to Carter… because I Iet you get too close.”
“That sounds like a very lonely way to live.”
“It is.” Supergirl’s gaze dropped again and Cat experienced the overwhelming desire to hug the damn girl.
Cat stared at her, unnerved by what she was saying but equally as determined to not be frightened away. She didn’t want to examine her motivations, but she would not be pushed away so easily, especially when she still wanted, almost needed, to get closer. “What makes James Olsen the exception?”
“That’s…” Kara took a breath and let it out slowly. “That’s… complicated.”
“Because you’re in love with him?” Cat grimaced at what sounded and felt a little too much like jealousy.
“Because James knows about my cousin. He was already taken into Kal-El’s confidence when I met him.”
“Kal-El? Superman?” Cat easily connected the dots.
“You can’t print that.” Supergirl looked irritated, but Cat suspected it was more with herself for the slip.
The hell I can’t, Cat thought, but she didn’t vocalize, knowing she wouldn’t for Supergirl’s sake. “Don’t suppose you’d tell me your name.”
Supergirl’s blue eyes unexpectedly watered and she looked away. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”
“Fine,” Cat said quickly, when Supergirl started to rise. “Fine. But you seem… burdened lately. I… would like to help, if I could.”
Cat thought Supergirl was going to brush the offer away, that she’d already pushed her too hard and the younger woman was going to run for it, but Kara simply sighed, sitting there on Cat’s sofa in silence for nearly a full minute before she spoke.
“Someone close to me is in trouble, and I can’t do anything to help her.”
Her. The word caused that annoying flicker of jealousy to return with a vengeance but Cat tamped it down. Curiosity raging, Cat set it aside with effort as she crossed back to the couch and settled next to Kara. “She’s… family?” Cat guessed.
Supergirl’s jaw clenched, and Cat watched the play of muscle and skin over Kara’s face in fascination. “As close to it as I’ll ever get now.”
“Is she in trouble physically or…”
“She’s…” Supergirl took a deep breath, clearing torn on what she could safely confess. “Yes. But she has to do this… thing. I have to let her, but I’m terrified that…” She fell silent, and Cat was startled to see a single tear splash onto Supergirl’s cheek.
“You miss her.”
Slowly, Supergirl nodded. “There is no one on this planet that I trust more, who knows me better. I guess I feel a little lost without her.”
Cat considered what she was being told. In some ways, Kara spoke of this mystery woman almost as if she were a lover, but Cat suspected the relationship was something else. “She’s your sister.”
Next to her, Supergirl stiffened, and Cat knew she’d hit the bull’s-eye. Alex Danvers, the pretty brunette with the protective streak a mile wide. Cat wondered what ordeal had befallen the woman, but she didn’t dare ask anything more. Kara had already given her more than she deserved, more than she’d meant to.
Before she could think better of it, Cat’s fingers eased over Supergirl’s where they’d clamped down on the edge of the sofa cushion. “I’m sorry.”
“Ms. Grant… you can’t… If anyone knew…”
“I won’t.”
Supergirl swallowed so roughly Cat heard it. She shook her head. “I shouldn’t be talking to you about this.”
“Supergirl,” Cat beckoned. When those startlingly blue eyes met hers, Cat nearly forgot what she was going to say. “National City needs you.”
Kara frowned.
“But everyone needs a support system. Everyone needs someone. I’d like to be one of those people you can count on.”
“Cat…”
“I understand the risks.”
“You don’t,” Kara said with such intensity that Cat doubted herself.
“You’re worth the risk,” Cat changed tactics, gripping the back of Supergirl’s hand and feeling the unnerving strength of the other woman in that simple touch. It was as seductive as it was intimidating.
They stared at each other for a long moment, and Cat felt a flare of hope when Supergirl looked away first. The younger woman’s hand unexpectedly rotated beneath hers and she intertwined their fingers, the contact leaving Cat nearly breathless.
“I can’t ask you to…”
“I’m volunteering.” Cat smiled slightly as Supergirl shot her an incredulous look that nearly made her laugh. “And I’m not going to stop trying to be here for you so you should just accept my help. You’re getting it whether you like it or not.”
“That sounds a little more like the Cat Grant I know and…” Supergirl trailed off, and her free hand came up as if to adjust a pair of glasses that weren’t there. “Why?”
“I have my reasons.” Cat wasn’t sure of all of them herself, but she couldn’t turn her back on this woman. What Kara didn’t understand that was as much as she needed Cat in her corner, Cat needed Kara in hers. They were stronger together.
“Just… make me one promise.”
“Of course.”
“Always put Carter first.”
Cat’s breath hitched. She nodded, knowing she always would, to do anything less was inconceivable. “Does this mean you’re going to tell me your name?”
“No.” Supergirl shook her head, but there was a thread of weary amusement in her voice. “Not yet.”
“Yet. I like the sound of that.” Cat squeezed the hand in hers before getting up and walking to her desk, trying to take the intensity between them down to something more manageable. Her head was swimming, and only distance seemed to be able to get her heart rate to behave.
“Why?” Supergirl asked, apparently not ready to let her off the hook. “Is it because you want to be close to the story…”
I want to be close to you, Cat nearly replied, but that wasn’t a truth she was ready to say or hear let alone speak. “Because…” Cat thought of a hundred flip remarks, some cruel, some kind, all sarcastic, but it was a sliver of honestly that spilled out. “Because I Iike you.”
“That simple?” Supergirl was skeptical.
Cat shrugged. “In my line of work, I’ve met every kind of person you could meet, Supergirl. You’re special. You’re… someone the city, the planet, can’t afford to lose. And I say that not because you have superpowers, but because you’re… you.”
Kara stared at her for a long moment, and Cat wished, not for the first time, that she could find the courage to say the same thing to her assistant, but somehow being honest with Supergirl was easier than coming clean with her charming, bumbling alter-ego.
“Thank you,” Supergirl said, her voice hoarse with emotion. “I think I needed to hear that after everything that’s happened lately.”
Cat stepped back out onto the balcony, a welcome breeze teasing her hair. Given the fire, the night was surprisingly clear overhead and Cat tipped her head back to stare at the stars, reluctant to see this evening end.
A warm hand unexpectedly touched the small of her back. Supergirl came closer, her fingers traveling up Cat’s spine, coming to rest lightly between her shoulder blades.
****
Kara went still. She hadn’t meant to touch the other woman, but the compulsion had been irresistible. She could hear Cat’s heart, the tempo increasing dramatically, as she drew closer, her own heart easily keeping time.
“There.” She pointed to a lonely patch of black in the night sky.
Cat leaned back slightly, leaned into her touch. Kara’s breath caught at the display of trust, that whatever Cat was feeling, it wasn’t fear.
“What?” The older woman asked, following Kara’s line of sight.
“That’s where Krypton used to be.” The unimaginable loss still hurt, but the pain was tempered by Cat’s nearness.
Cat was silent for a few moments. “How was it different from Earth?”
Kara could tell Cat was genuinely curious and she smiled, just a little. She’d been asked about Krypton by many others, but not in such a unique way. “We had a red sun, so light was different on my planet. It’s hard to explain.”
Cat considered that. “The sunset tonight, with the haze… It was redder than normal. It reminded you, didn’t it?”
“Yes.” There was little use denying it, Cat was too damn perceptive anyway. “I miss it.”
“But have you found happiness here?” Cat turned to look at her, Kara’s fingers skimming over her back before reluctantly falling away.
“I have.” Kara smiled, but it took effort. “But that was my home. My family. My culture. It’s all gone.”
“I’m sorry.” Cat’s voice was hushed and sincere. “But I’m not sorry you’re here.”
Kara’s smile eased into something more genuine and the weight of all she’d lost suddenly felt the tiniest bit easier to carry. “Me either.”
They regarded each other before Cat’s gaze dropped to her watch. Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. “It’s after midnight.”
“Seriously?” Kara leaned forward to see Cat’s watch for herself.
“I suppose my driver is off the clock now. I should call a cab.”
“I could…” Kara paused, not sure how the offer would be received, but she didn’t like the idea of Cat Grant in a cab alone at this time of night.
“You could call me a cab?” Cat teased. “You’re not my assistant, Supergirl. Or so you claim.”
Kara gave her a look that made the other woman’s eyes sparkle mischievously.
“Just give me a moment.” Cat started for her office but Kara reached out, gently clasping her elbow.
“I could… take you home.”
Cat’s eyes widened enough to almost be comical. “You mean…?” She flicked her wrist toward the sky.
Kara shrugged. “Why not? You’ve base jumped Mt. Kilimanjaro. This should seem like a breeze.” There was a faint challenge in Kara’s words, a dare she wanted Cat to accept.
Cat considered the invitation. “Very well… Supergirl. I’ll just get my things.”
Biting her lip, Kara couldn’t stop smiling. Cat had no idea what she was in for, and despite her feigned nonchalance with the idea, Kara hadn’t missed the way Cat’s breathing had accelerated at the prospect. This was going to be fun.
Cat returned, purse in hand. “So… how does this work, exactly?” She motioned at Kara’s body. “Am I supposed to put my arms around your neck and hold on like a piggy back ride for the ages… ride your back like you’re a flying pony?”
The mental image was enough to make Kara blush, but she chuckled. “I was thinking something more like…” She came closer, smiling disarmingly at Cat, before she bent slightly at the waist and scooped Cat into her arms. Her boss let out a soft yelp of surprise, but as Kara straightened, holding her easily, effortlessly, she relaxed marginally.
“Show off.”
That got a much more robust laugh from Kara. “I thought the flying part would be more impressive.”
“I guess we’ll see.” Cat swallowed nervously.
It was a rare flash of fear from the older woman, and Kara’s gaze gentled. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” she promised, meaning it. Cat had no idea the lengths she would go to in order to keep that promise.
Cat’s chin came up, her bravado resurging at any hint she might be scared. Her brown eyes captured Kara whole as they challenged her to say another word on the matter. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“How about you just hold on to me.”
Cat’s arms eased around Kara’s neck, the older woman watching her curiously. A shiver of expectation slid down Kara’s spine and she held Cat a little closer. “Ready?”
“I suppose.” Cat sounded bored, but Kara wasn’t fooled.
Smiling knowingly, Supergirl shot skyward. Cat’s arms tightened their hold in reaction, but the other woman kept her eyes open, looking behind her shoulder as National City soared by below. The night air had cooled, but Kara’s warmth was enough to chase away the chill from Cat’s skin.
Kara took her time, in no hurry for this evening to end. Cat felt good in her arms, warm and solid, a light to keep Kara’s darker thoughts at bay. Kara breathed her in, savoring Cat’s perfume and the scent of her favorite soap, feeling her nerves, fears, and worries settle, if only for a few minutes, with Cat’s closeness. Determined to hold onto the feeling for as long as she dared, Kara took the scenic route.
“My God,” Cat whispered after a moment, the city brilliant and awash in light below. She looked at Kara, her gaze seeming to memorize everything about her. “You must love this.”
“Flying is my favorite thing about my powers.” They were traveling slow enough to be heard, the wind strong, but nothing compared to what Kara experienced when she went full out.
“I can see why. It’s peaceful. Beautiful.”
There were prettier things to look at tonight than the city, Kara thought, her own gaze intent on Cat as the other woman smiled and embraced the experience. Kara aimed them lower and slowed her speed further, practically floating past the moonlit waves along the coast.
“I don’t think this is the direct route.”
“Nope,” Kara agreed. “Now I’m showing off.”
Cat chuckled softly, and the sound did funny things to Kara’s breathing. Cat’s laugh was a rare thing, especially when Kara was the cause of it, and she tucked the memory away as one to cherish.
“You take a lot of people flying, Supergirl?”
Kara’s gaze snapped back on Cat, hearing a hint of something in her voice she couldn’t quite place, but the question brought about another somersault in her stomach. “I’m not exactly Uber.”
Cat was staring at her now, and Kara felt an unexpected surge of heat wash through her. “What?” she asked softly.
“Nothing.” Cat’s voice was so faint it was nearly lost to the wind, but Cat’s eyes held Kara spellbound, suggesting whatever was on her boss’ mind, it was far from nothing.
The older woman shifted slightly in Kara’s arms, her fingers ghosting over the back of Kara’s neck. The tingles that shot through her body made her inhale sharply in surprise.
“You okay?” Cat asked, the wind teasing her loose blonde curls around her face and making her look more beautiful than ever to Kara’s eyes.
It would be so easy to just lean in, to pull Cat just a few inches closer… “Fine,” Kara lied, overwhelmed by a compulsion to do something that would most definitely get her fired.
A few minutes later, Kara gently touched down on the balcony of Cat’s penthouse. Reluctantly, she released the other woman, but Cat wasn’t so quick to let her go. Kara looked down at her worriedly only to have her breath catch deep in her chest when warm, soft lips pressed lightly against her cheek.
“Thanks for the lift,” Cat murmured as she withdrew, unaware of the chaos she’d ignited in Kara’s body.
The world tilted and spun, leaving Kara delightfully dizzy at the contact, her stomach in a giddy freefall. She had to remind herself to breathe as Cat stepped back and their eyes met, the air charging between them.
“You’re… welcome.” The words came out breathless, and Kara watched as Cat’s eyes darkened noticeably in reaction.
“I have to say, Supergirl, this was the nicest… date… I’ve had in weeks. Perhaps even months.” Cat’s tone was teasing, but something in her gaze held Kara enthralled.
Kara licked her lips, her gaze straying to Cat’s mouth before guiltily jerking up to her eyes. “Date?” she managed, her head spinning.
Cat merely smiled before brushing past her to open the door. This high up, there wasn’t much reason to keep it locked, and the door slid open quietly.
Kara stood motionless, breathing in Cat’s perfume and trying to make sense of her body’s sudden craving for more than casual contact. Cat was her boss. The Queen of All Media. A harmless crush on the powerful woman was one thing, but what Kara was feeling now was far from harmless.
Cat stepped inside, turning to eye Kara openly.
It was an invitation, Kara realized. An invitation she desperately wanted to accept but felt wholly unprepared to handle. “I guess we’ll have to do it again sometime,” she said softly, hoping Cat could tell she meant every word.
Cat’s gaze dropped, but the smile that shaped her lips was one Kara wouldn’t be able to escape in her dreams in a few short hours. “I’d like that.”
They stared at each other for a moment longer, reveling in the thick current arcing between them.
It was Cat who had the strength to walk away. “Goodnight, Supergirl.”
“Goodnight, Cat.”
When the door closed and Cat padded away into her apartment, Kara rocked back on her heels, sucking down a shaky breath before releasing it in a rush. She needed Alex. Her sister would tell her that she was imagining things, that whatever Kara had just felt couldn’t have been desire, especially when it was so much stronger than anything she’d ever felt for James. But Alex was nowhere to be found, and Kara was on her own.
She stood there, trying to even out her breathing, aware that Cat was trying to do the same inside her apartment. The moment felt like a dream, but Kara acknowledged that if it were, she was in no hurry to wake up.
What would happen if she knocked? What would happen if Cat let her in? The possibilities came to her in a cascade of images, each more provocative than the last. She took a step toward the door only to stop herself, a little whimper forming at denying her body what it clearly wanted.
Who it wanted.
Turning away physically hurt, but Kara did it. She could feel Cat’s eyes on her, could still feel the pull toward the other woman that Kara now had to admit she always had, but she needed to think things through before she made a mistake that could damage them both. She’d meant what she told Cat. Getting too close to Supergirl was dangerous for both of them, but maybe they’d unwittingly crossed that line already.
Leaping into the night, Kara had the distinct sensation she was trying to outrun something.
Something inevitable.
The End?