Chapter Text
Catherine Jane Grant did not believe in happily ever afters. Her mother never read those sorts of stories to her when she was a child, and while her father had, his death only seemed to enforce the fact that happy endings only ever happened in fantasy worlds. Cat tried to rationalize away her disappointment at that. Oftentimes, she was able to forget her lack of a happy ending, instead getting lost in her accumulation of power and respect. In fairness, Cat had Carter and in some form or another, that was a happy ending.
Still, there were times in Cat’s life that she wished she had someone to crawl into bed with. Cat had no expectation of someone shouldering her life’s many burdens for her, but, if only for an instant, she wanted a safe haven. It was not unreasonable, she thought, to desire something like that, but so far as she could tell, it was beyond Cat’s reach.
The desire to find her happy ending became even worse when there was a face to go with it. Bright, overly-smiley, and absolutely gut-twisting, Cat hated everything about that puppy dog smile or rather, she hated herself for not being able to push back the desire for her former assistant. Kara, for all her powers that Cat pretended to know nothing about, was apparently oblivious about those feelings. Every time Cat spoke with her, she had to force her breathing to stay calm and prayed to a God Cat didn’t think she believe in that her heart rate would stay steady.
Yet when Kara was leaning a bit too close, glasses hanging on the end of her nose, Cat almost wished Kara would notice. It would be so easy to cut Kara’s long winded explanation of the layout with a quick kiss, but Cat couldn’t. Cat prided herself on her bravery, but somehow, next to Kara, she lacked all courage.
“I think that’s enough for tonight,” Cat said. Besides the two of them, the office was empty, and Cat couldn’t stand the silence. It weighed too heavily when Kara was the only one to share in it.
Kara, of course, did not notice Cat’s quiet rumination. A smile spread on Kara’s lips — she was always smiling and half the time Cat didn’t know why, though she always wondered — and she looked over at the clock. “Oh wow, it’s really late. I’m sorry, Carter’s probably wondering where you are.”
“Carter’s with his father for the evening,” Cat explained wearily. It wasn’t information Kara needed to know, but she was tired and it left her mouth before she could think on whether or not it was something she ought to share.
“Oh.” At least there was no judgement in the syllable. “Okay, well, I guess I’m gonna get something to eat.”
Cat watched as Kara gathered her things from the table. She moved with a strange combination of urgency and delicacy, making Cat wonder how much strength she was holding back as she collected the papers and shoved them into her bag. Cat still did not have an explanation for the two blondes with puppy-dog eyes in her office from before, but there were stranger things in the world and Cat would be patient in getting her answer.
All of Kara’s things were put away, but the girl was still lingering. Cat raised an eyebrow expectantly at her, sending Kara into an awkward stumble for the door. “Goodnight, then,” she muttered in a way Cat refused to find adorable. Cat nodded her head once in acknowledgement.
She was already imagining her night alone on the couch, eating leftovers, and watching a bad movie on t.v. It was so close to coming to fruition, but of course Kara had to hesitate at the door. She spun around quickly, her lips pursed in question, yet not saying a thing.
“Can I help you, Kiera?” Cat bit her tongue immediately after asking.
“I was just wondering if,” Kara hesitated and Cat bit down on the inside of her cheek sharply. “Well, it’s just you haven’t eaten dinner right? I was just wondering if you wanted to get dinner?”
That certainly hadn’t been the question Cat’d been expecting. “Dinner.”
“With me,” Kara added, as if that much hadn’t been obvious. “I mean, if you want. I know you’re busy, but if Carter isn’t home, I don’t know, you might be hungry and stuff.”
Kara was babbling nonsense at that point and Cat hated the way her stomach knotted tightly. She was beautiful, pushing her glasses up self consciously with one hand and the other playing with a flap on her bag. Cat knew she shouldn’t say yes. Saying yes would mean an hour more of biting her tongue and ignoring the butterflies in her stomach.
“Fine.”
Kara’s face lit up before Cat could even realize what she’d said. “Really? There’s this place within walking distance that I’ve wanted to try for a while. It’s a burger joint—” Her face fell for a moment and she shook her head almost violently. “You probably don’t eat burgers, do you? Do you have a place you want to go? I’ll pay.”
Cat smirked as she grabbed her coat and bag and made her way to Kara’s side. “Burgers are fine.”
The grin on Kara’s face seemed to grow impossibly wider at that, causing a sinking sensation in Cat’s stomach. It might have felt nice if she wasn’t so overwhelmingly terrified by the night to come. Once they entered the elevator, Kara started explaining her thoughts on an article one of their newest reporters had written, with Cat only half listening. The conversation continued all the way to restaurant, cut short by Kara opening the door for Cat.
It wasn’t the sort of place Cat would ever enter without Carter — the food was ordered and paid for in the front to a greasy haired boy with a lazy smile and the decor was cheesy. Cat’s nose wrinkled automatically before she could stop it.
“You don’t like it?” Kara asked, her voice soft and nervous.
Cat shrugged off her question. “Let’s just eat.”
She shouldn’t have been, but Cat was surprised by the sheer amount of food Kara ordered. After placing her own order, Cat handed her credit card to the boy behind the counter.
“Hey, I said I was going to pay!”
Cat blinked at her. “I know exactly how much you make. You are not paying.”
Kara murmured a quiet protest again, looking back and forth between the board and Cat, but it seemed foolish to argue the point any further. They were both aware of Cat’s salary and how much she was used to spending on meals — a burger joint was nothing, even with Kara’s extreme appetite.
It was easy to find a booth, due to the late hour. Kara let Cat choose and slid across from her, still smiling brightly at her. “Can I ask you something?”
Cat took a sip from her water and nodded with extreme hesitation. It was Kara — sweet, innocent, kind Kara — the question couldn’t be that terrible.
“What do you normally do when Carter’s out of town?”
Cat exhaled audibly, extremely thankful that was it. Perhaps it crossed a line, but Cat had just bought her dinner and they were sitting across from each other in a tasteless restaurant where anyone could walk by and see them. “I’m either working or going to work functions,” she answered, as if there was any other answer to the question.
“No one—” Kara cut herself off quickly and Cat tried to convince herself that there wasn’t a blush creeping across Kara’s cheeks. “I mean, I guess that’s not surprising.”
“No,” Cat said with a click of the tongue. “It’s really not.”
Kara was worrying her bottom lip in an all too endearing manner. It wasn’t supposed to be seductive, Cat reasoned, but it was. “Carter’s a really good kid, by the way. I’m sure you know that, but he really is.”
“He is.” A smile found its way onto Cat’s face, as it did nearly every time Carter’s name was mentioned. “I’ve gotten lucky with him.”
“I don’t think it’s luck. He was raised by an amazing woman.” Kara beamed at her. “I really admire you.”
Cat refused to blush at the kind words and convinced herself that her smile was because of Cater, not Kara. “Shut up, Kiera.”
“I mean it.” Kara looked up at her with irritatingly beautiful eyes. Cat wanted to wipe the look off of her face, but the only ways to do so that were coming to mind were highly inappropriate. “Thank you. For paying, I mean, I didn’t thank you earlier.”
“No, you didn’t.” It was supposed to be a jab, but it came out like a joke and Kara grinned. “You’re welcome.”
Their food arrived relatively quickly, due to the lack of other customers. Kara looked visibly pained to not scarf it all down at once, causing Cat to chuckle lowly. She appreciated the attempt at politeness, but if it wasn’t for her supposedly not knowing Kara’s secret, Cat would’ve given her permission to eat it at her own pace. Then again, that wouldn’t have been in character for the Queen of All Media.
The conversation had shifted away from Cat, for which she was extremely grateful, and back towards Catco. It was a comfortable conversation, the sort of thing that gave Cat some grounding. But in Kara’s excitement over some recent project, she payed a bit less attention to how quickly she ate. A bit of sauce went unnoticed by Kara on her cheek.
Without even thinking, Cat grabbed a napkin, wetted it with her tongue, and wiped the speck off. When she realized what she was doing, Cat pulled back quickly to see a fierce blush creeping up Kara’s neck. Not only that, Kara was staring at her with an open mouth.
Cat forced a mask onto her face. “Close your mouth when you chew,” she ordered.
Kara nodded dumbly and swallowed. Cat stared her directly in the eye — looking away would be weakness and Catherine Jane Grant did not show weakness. Not to former assistants who smiled too often and too brightly. Kara’s blush did not move from her face. They ate the rest of their meals in silence, Kara sneaking glances every now with Cat raising an eyebrow each time.
Before they were finished, Kara somehow managed to muster up enough courage to ask, “Are you seeing anyone?”
It came out as a squeak, high-pitched and clearly terrified, and Cat had to pause for a moment to make sure she’d heard it correctly.
“Excuse me?”
“Are you seeing anyone?” Kara repeated, still shaking. “Romantically, I mean.”
“I think that’s none of your business,” Cat said slowly. Well, that was unexpected. “You’re still my employee, Kiera.”
Kara squirmed in her seat, clearly still wanting to speak, but having lost all courage to do so. Cat forced herself not to act too quickly. There were strangers all around, the restaurant was tasteless, and Cat was still trying to process what had actually been asked of her.
They were finished after roughly two more minutes of painful silence. Cat found herself smirking down at her unfinished fries, the butterflies in her stomach suddenly taking on a pleasant quality. Even without super hearing, she could tell that Kara’s heart was racing too quickly.
“Come with me,” Cat ordered once Kara was done, her voice dropping an octave. Kara looked startled by the order, but followed Cat out of the restaurant, saying nothing as Cat’s hand clasped around her wrist possessively.
Cat pulled her into an alley slightly out of sight from the busy streets of National City and pushed Kara up against a brick wall. It was thrilling, having that sort of control over Kara, knowing full well she wouldn’t stand a chance against the alien’s strength.
“I am not in a romantic relationship,” Cat murmured. She moved her hands to Kara’s hips and leaned in, lips brushing against Kara’s ear. “So there is absolutely nothing to stop me from kissing you, unless you tell me not to.”
The stutter that came from Kara made her shiver. This was most definitely not the way Cat expected the night to end, but she was never one to pass up an opportunity. It was probably a mistake, but knowing Kara returned her feelings in at lease some form gave Cat an electric form of courage that she couldn’t help but act on.
Kara was still staring at her dumbfounded, so Cat prompted her with a, “Well?”
“Please.” Her voice cracked on the word. “Kiss me.”
Cat leaned forward and pressed her lips into Kara’s, almost groaning at the contact. When she pulled back, Kara’s eyes were still closed and her lips were parted, slightly pulled upwards into a smile Cat had never quite seen before.
It wasn’t a happy ending. Cat refused place that expectation on her, but as she leaned back in to kiss Kara once more, it didn’t feel entirely out of reach. For the first time in her life, she at least understood why some people believed in happy endings.