Chapter Text
“Kara, this is an emergency, I need your help.” Not even a greeting, Kara sighed. Generally, she’d be more worried; frantic phone calls from thirteen year olds were pretty panic inducing things. But this was the eleventh time that Carter had called her in the same speedy, choppy manner, reminding her so much of his mom. His mom, who she hadn’t spoken to in weeks. Who hadn’t even bothered to shot her a text message when her first article went to print.
“Kid, I get that, I really do, but don’t you think your mom might be a little… upset… if she finds out that you’re calling me about her?” Kara winced at the hesitant sound of her voice. Of course Cat would be upset. A DEO agent shot her a strange look as she walked down the hall of the building talking stealthily into her phone. She turned her head, trying to be more discreet than she already was. Alex was the last person she needed to find out about this.
“She’s losing it. Really,” Carter said quickly, ignoring Kara’s worries, “This morning she baked a cake.”
“Oh god,” Kara muttered sarcastically, “baking. The true mark of insanity.”
“At 4 a.m., Kara. I woke up at 4 a.m. to pots and pans being rattled around in the kitchen because she was drunk baking at 4 a.m.” Kara could hear something crashing to the floor on the other end of the call. “Crap, I’ll call you back, she’s coming down the hall.”
He hung up, leaving Kara to stand struck in the middle of the DEO. She couldn’t actually do anything to help. Could she? It would be unethical. Or something like that. Cat wasn’t her boss anymore. She wasn’t her assistant. And it definitely sounded like this was worse than the eleven phone calls she’d gotten about Cat forcing Carter to play board games for days on end or go out for ice cream three times a week.
But they both had their own lives now. That very distinctly did not involve each other. Cat had made that one pretty clear with the silence from her end of their… relationship. If you could even call it that.
“You look vexed.” Kara jumped, turning around to glare at Winn, who held his hands up defensively from where he was leaning against a doorframe. “Woah, calm down, Supergirl, just me.”
“I’m not vexed .” Kara scrunched up her face, letting her hands flail uselessly around her. “I’m… conflicted.”
“Those words legitimately mean almost exactly the same thing.” Winn wrapped an arm around her shoulder, tugging her into the lab he’d been working in. “Take a seat, tell Winn about it.”
“Pass.” But Kara hopped up onto a clear counter anyway, patting the spot beside her for Winn to join her.
“I don’t think technically we’re allowed to sit on those.” He didn’t hesitate before jumping up beside her, though, glancing around to make sure no one was looking at them after he was already on the counter. Leaning his elbows on his knees, he looked up at her from his hunched over position. “Did Carter call you again?”
Kara’s scrunched up face returned, this time with added lip biting. Winn didn’t need to know everything.
“He did… he’s just worried about all the free time Miss Grant has now,” Kara muttered, reaching up to adjust her glasses before remembering that she wasn’t wearing them. Sometimes she still forgot that things had changed with her and Winn. That he mostly interacted with Supergirl-Kara, now and not Kara-Kara. She still felt like Kara-Kara when she was around him, even at the DEO. “I wanna help, but-”
“But you’re terrified that Miss Grant will bite your head off and then eat you alive?” Kara dropped her head to hide behind a curtain of blonde curls.
“How would I be alive if she bite my head off?” Winn smacked her shoulder, giving it his best effort to push her off the counter. She hopped back down as she heard the telltale crackle in her ear that signaled a situation that was about to need Supergirl. Sure enough, Alex’s voice followed, asking if she was in the building yet. She spun around on her heel, planting her hands on either side of Winn’s legs, effectively trapping him in place and throwing on her best threatening look. “If you tell anyone that Carter’s been calling me, I’ll throw you into the sun, Winn.”
“Wow, maybe someone should change their name to Sensitive-girl.” Kara rushed off towards the command room, leaving Winn behind, still muttering to himself. “Or Touchy-girl. No, no, that sounds porn-y. Sensitive-girl, it is.”
“She’s writing poetry.” Carter’s voice crackled through the static. But Kara was sure she’d heard the word poetry . He couldn’t be talking about- “My mom, she’s writing poetry.”
“Maybe you misunderstood?” Kara pressed her finger to her ear, trying to make sure she was hearing him correctly over the sound of the wind and her cape fluttering behind her. “I’m she she’s not-”
“Angsty, long poetry. And I know I didn’t misunderstand because she didn’t tell me. I found it. Some of it is super gross.” Kara could hear Carter’s scowl through the phone. “Kara, please. Just, like, call her. I think she needs to hear your thoughts on her… extended vacation.”
“I don’t think I’m allowed to have thoughts on it, Carter.” Kara sighed. Seventeen calls. She’d either have to do something about it, or get a phone plan with better long distance coverage. She slid into her bedroom window, careful not to make too much noise that she roused Carter’s suspicion. “She’ll… figure it out, I’m sure. Just give her some time, okay, buddy?”
“I don’t have time , I am losing my mind,” Carter whispered. Kara could hear him dragging the phone closer to his mouth. “I’m suffocating, she’s-”
“Carter?” Kara heard Cat’s muffled call on Carter’s end. “Are you on the phone?”
“Uh, yeah, Mom! Michael had a homework question? About… photosynthesis.” Kara covered her face with her hand, not believing how bad of a liar this kid was. If Cat didn’t see through that one, maybe she truly was losing it.
“Alright, dinner’s ready, though, so tell Michael goodnight.” Yeah, she might definitely be losing it. Kara heard her heels clicking in the background, slowly fading away before Carter dared to speak to her again.
“Photosynthesis?” Kara asks, incredulous. “You couldn’t have come up with better than that?”
“No, you don’t understand. It doesn’t matter what I say. I could tell her that I’m talking to my friend Barack Obama about his thoughts on climate change and she would just soldier right on through the conversation,” Carter groaned. “We had a two hour long ‘conversation’ yesterday about what would happen if we got a cat. She’s allergic to both cats and cat puns; we’re not getting a cat.”
Kara shut her bedroom window, knowing Alex would complain if she saw it when she got there. Her phone buzzed as Carter explained his mother’s newfound joy at discussing hypothetical situations. Alex, texting to tell her she was on her way up. If she tuned Carter out a little, she could hear Alex climbing the stairs.
“I’m really sorry, but there’s really nothing I can think to do, Carter,” Kara told him, kicking some laundry under her bed as she made her way to the front door to let Alex in. “I gotta go, I’ll… talk to you later, I guess.”
Alex didn’t even knock, just barged right in. Kara glared at her as she kicked the door shut behind her. She mercifully heard Carter sigh and say his goodbyes, hardly putting up a real fight this time.
“You should keep it locked if you don’t want people just waltzing in here,” Alex said smugly, dropping a bag of takeout containers on the kitchen island. She saw the phone still pressed to Kara’s ear. “Are you on the phone?”
“Um. No?” Kara dropped her hand, sliding her phone into her back pocket. “I was checking my voicemail. Can never be too diligent about that.”
“Uh huh.” Alex nodded, taking the containers out of the bag and opening them up on the counter. Kara could feel her mouth starting to water as the smell of greasy, cheap Chinese food filled the room. She nearly floated towards the box, reaching out to grab a potsticker with her hand, when Alex snapped the lid closed. “Who were you on the phone with?”
“I wasn’t on the phone.” Kara shook her head, almost violently, eyes never lifting from the takeout box.
“Then just let me see your phone.” Alex held out her free hand, curling her fingers as she motioned for Kara to give it to her.
“You’re not… I don’t have to- I can talk to whoever I like, whenever I like. On the phone. Or in person. And- and I don’t have to tell you about it. If I don’t want to.” Kara held her head up, eyes going wide in mock righteousness. She plopped down on the barstool with a sharp nod in Alex’s direction.
“So you were on the phone?” Alex asked, opening the box again and letting Kara start stuffing her face. “What I’m taking away from that is that you were on the phone. And you don’t want to tell me about it.”
She narrowed her eyes, leaning on the counter to be eye level with her sister.
“Was it a boy?” She raised an eyebrow, smirking like she knew what was going on. Kara nearly choked on her noodles, a furious blush spreading across her cheeks.
“No! God, no! It’s not-he’s not… No, Alex, just no,” she said as soon as she regained the ability to talk, her face twisting into disgust.
“But it is a boy?” Alex asked, confused. “Just not like a boy ?”
“He's thirteen. So, no,” Kara said, sighing. Alex was bound to find out eventually. Especially if the frequency of Carter’s phone calls keep increasing the way they were.
The additional information of age did very little to assuage any of Alex's confusion. She dragged a barstool around the island and sat down across from Kara, ignoring the food entirely.
“I think you need to tell me what the hell is happening.”
Alex sat still and quiet through Kara’s explanation of Carter’s phone calls, Cat’s out of character behavior, and Carter’s pleas for her to do something about it. She didn't interrupt, didn't even move an inch for the entire story. But Kara could feel the anger beginning to radiate off of her as she tried to stay relatively calm.
“And this is what's been stressing you out for, like, a week?” Alex said, dragging out her words. Kara got up and began pacing the kitchen, trying to avoid Alex's glare. “Kara, this isn't your job anymore."
“Okay, but it wasn’t my job to go check on Winn after he got food poisoning from that weird food truck, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t go make sure he was okay,” Kara reasoned, arms gesturing wildly beside her as she paced, “That’s what friends do, Alex.”
“She’s not your friend,” Alex said, getting up to go stop Kara’s pacing with two gentle hands on her shoulders. “She was your boss. And from what I remember, she wasn’t even a particularly nice one-”
Kara opened her mouth to protest, but Alex shook her head, not letting her interrupt before she made her point.
“You have no responsibility to this woman or her kid anymore.” Kara frowned, lightly shaking her head as her sister spoke. “The absolute best thing you could do is stop answering the phone.”
“That’s not the best thing I could do for Carter,” Kara muttered, “Or Miss Grant.”
“No, but it’s the best thing you could do for you .” Alex turned Kara around with a shove to her shoulders, pushing her towards the living room. “Now come on, stop thinking about them, like a normal, rational person would if their crazy ex-boss’s son keep calling them, and let’s watch Gilmore Girls.”
Cat leaned up against the bedroom door, listening to her son talking desperately on the phone. She scrunched up her nose, trying to figure out who he could be calling this late at night. Not his father, that’s for sure. Or at least, he wouldn’t sound so animated about it. She couldn’t quite make out the words, but he definitely sounded emotional as he spoke.
He’d been pulling away from her. The more she tried to be in his life, the less he seemed to want her in it. She wasn’t an idiot; she knew what it felt like when someone didn't want her around. She just didn't think she'd feel that with Carter.
She sighed, walking away from his bedroom door, letting him carry on his conversation with a stranger that he clearly wanted to talk to more than her. She’d go back in a few minutes, after letting him finish up his call. Try to get him to come out and talk to her. He was allowed to have friends, she told herself, even if she didn’t allow herself the same luxury.
It had been amazing at first; having all the time she wanted to spend with Carter. They’d both relished the time together, having not had that sort of thing before. She’d have breakfast with Carter. Take Carter to school. Pick Carter up. They’d spend a few hours walking around National City; shopping, eating, talking. Of course, she let him have some time to do homework, but she’d even tried to help him with that. Not that he needed it. Or particularly wanted it.
If she was honest with herself, she was a bit lonely. She’d thought all she’d need once she left Catco was Carter. But without the endless chatter of the day, the arguing and the bickering with employees, she was getting downright bored.
She pulled herself up onto a barstool in the kitchen, tapping through the messages on her phone. She’d never sent fewer text messages than she had in the last couple weeks. She could… call someone? Ask then if they wanted to- no. She didn’t need to beg people to spend time with her. If they wanted to see her, they’d call.
Not even Kara had bothered to stay in touch, and she’d been beginning to think she’d never get rid of that girl. Especially after she’d nearly broken down in her office at the news that Cat was leaving. She’d expected frantic emails with questions about sources, text messages asking for advice, at the least she’d expected one or two phone calls when Kara’s articles were published to ask her opinion. But all she’d gotten was silence from the girl who’d taken up so much space in her life just a few months prior.
Carter slipped into the kitchen, smiling at her like he was afraid to hurt her feelings. Tentatively, he sat down beside her at the counter. She clicked her phone off and flipped it over on the countertop before he could see her sentimentally scrolling through text message from her former assistant.
“Hey, I have a question.” He fidgeted with the buttons on his shirt sleeve as he spoke, eyes flicking between Cat’s face and the button he was popping in and out of the hole.
“You don’t have to tell me you have a question, Carter, you can just ask it.” He flashed a bright smile at her, before ducking his head back down.
“Okay. Okay, don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but…"
“But?” He leaned onto the counter, propping his head up on his hands and staring across the kitchen.
“Do you not, like, have any friends, Mom?” He winced as he said it, wishing he’d been a little less direct. But Cat preferred direct, and he didn’t particularly want to dance around it, either.
“Friends?” She tried to laugh, reaching out to run a hand through his hair. She made an irritated face when he nodded, but quickly schooled her features back into something kinder, not willing to risk putting off the one person in her life who still spoke to her. Trying to keep it light, she responded with a smile, “Why do I need friends? I have you.”
“Yeah, I have noticed that,” Carter deadpanned, finally turning to look at her, his eyes almost pitying. Cat pulled back, drawing her hand away from him. He immediately changed tone, leaning his forehead on her shoulder and letting the worry fill his voice. “I really mean it, Mom. I’m worried about you being so… bored all the time. And I love you, I really do, but I need some air. I just thought maybe if we both spent some time with other people-”
“Are you breaking up with me?” Cat joked, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him into a hug. He sighed, sinking into her arms and sliding off the barstool he’d been sitting on.
“I think you need to call Kara.” Cat tensed, pushing him away with her hands on his shoulders so she could look him in the face as he talked about complete nonsense.
“Call Kara ?” Cat asked incredulously, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Why the hell would I do that?”
“Because I like her. Out of all the people you’ve spent any amount of time with who I think you could call, Kara is the least annoying of those options.” He had a point. But she wasn’t going to call her former assistant and beg her to come… come what? Have dinner with her? See a movie? What did people even do when they wanted to spend time with someone?
Carter could see the confusion and indecision on her face. “Or I could call her for you?”
“No.” She shook her head almost violently, letting go of his shoulders. “If Kara Danvers wants to speak to me, she’ll call me. I’m not going to barge into that girl’s personal life after she just got me out of her professional one.”
Kara had stopped arguing with Alex, knowing she wouldn’t be able to change her mind in any short amount of time after two years of Catco horror stories. She’d sat down, dragged all the takeout to the coffee table, and settled in for at least two hours of mindless television. Halfway through the first episode of the night, she stopped keeping up with the plot, letting her mind wander back towards Cat.
It wasn’t right. For her to just ignore them. To stop answering Carter’s phone calls and leave the kid out to dry. She wasn’t even sure he had anyone else he could call about this.
But then again, it wasn’t like Cat was hurting anyone… maybe Carter’s sleep schedule. She was just… trying some new things. Not necessarily bad. Just because it wasn’t normal for her didn’t mean that Kara needed to swoop in and try to make her stop. Not that she could make Cat do anything she didn’t want to do, anyway. She’d just… tell Carter that she couldn’t help him. Offer him a listening ear if he needed it every now and then, but adamantly refuse to get involved.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Alex didn’t look away from the television, but Kara could see her jaw tighten as the phone continued to go off. She slipped it out from underneath her, glancing at the screen to confirm that it was, in fact, Carter, before sliding off the couch.
“No.” Alex grabbed her arm, trying to tug her back down onto the couch. “We’re halfway through an episode, just let it go to voicemail.”
“It’s James,” Kara lied, quickly, jerking out of Alex’s grasp. “Five minutes.”
She hit answer, but stayed quiet until she was able to slip into her bathroom, where hopefully, Alex wouldn’t be able to hear her unless she really tried.
“Hey,” Kara mumbled, leaning against the bathroom sink. “Is this actually a pressing matter or is your mom trying to make you go to another art class?”
“I’m offended that you think a painting class isn’t a pressing matter,” Carter said.
“I can’t help you. I’ve told you this already. There is nothing I can do,” Kara pleaded, trying to get him to see reason. “I can’t just casually show up at your apartment and demand that Miss Grant stop doing things she wants to do. She’d literally murder me. Do you want to be responsible for my murder?”
“She wouldn’t. She’d be happy to see you.” Carter was just like his mom. Maybe less angry. Maybe less snarky. But just as determined and just as stubborn. Kara knew he wouldn’t quit calling her until she at least tried to do something. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to come up with an excuse. “Look, she wants to see you, I know it. But she’s afraid of butting into your life or something. If you just called her first…”
“It’s just not a good idea, buddy,” she said lightly. Alex was moving around in the living room, not even bothering to pretend like she wasn’t coming directly towards the bathroom to listen in on Kara’s conversation. So she said the only thing she knew would get Carter to hang up the phone without too much protest. “I’ll… think about it.”
“Really?” He sounded much too excited. Kara was sure his confidence in her was misplaced. There really wasn’t anything she could do that would be of much use. All she could do was take some of Miss Grant’s attention away from Carter by massively pissing her off for about an hour or so. She sighed, listening to Alex lean up against the bathroom door.
“Yeah,” she muttered, “I’ll think about it.”
She should have said no. Should have listened to Alex and ignored the phone calls until they stopped coming. Or at least those were the panicked thoughts that went through her head as the phone rang. Pressing it tighter to her ear, she began to pray that Cat wouldn’t pick up. That she could tell Carter she tried, but-
“Hello?” Of course she’d sound confused. Why the hell would her ex-assistant be calling her in the middle of a Saturday morning? “Kara?”
“Oh, um, hi?” Kara winced, dragging a hand through her hair. She pulled her feet up onto the couch, wrapping her arms around her knees.
“Hi.” Cat sounded… vaguely amused? Or irritated. Sometimes it was hard to tell. Kara hesitated, wishing she’d planned this conversation out on a piece of paper rather than in her head. She couldn’t remember any of the things she’d planned to say. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, pleading with herself to say something sensible, quickly. “Did you need something?”
“Need something? Uh, no. No, I didn’t need anything?” Kara stuttered, wondering how Cat would respond if she tried to play it off like she’d dialed the wrong number. “Uh... “
“Use your words.” Kara could practically hear the smirk. Amused, then, not irritated. Which, admittedly, might not be the better of those two options. Words came rushing out of her mouth before she could think them through, barely discernible.
“I wanted to know if you were busy tonight-” Because I miss you? Because I want to see you? No, no, Kara thought, hardly stopping herself, that wouldn’t do. “Because…”
“Because?” Cat prompted. Kara looked around the room, searching for any idea of what to say. Absolutely anything that would be better than telling her that Carter called. She spotted a splash of red hanging over the edge of a kitchen chair.
“James asked me to call you!” She said, suddenly inspired, suddenly realizing how she could make this all far less awkward for the both of them. Wondering how she hadn’t thought of it before. “Supergirl wanted to talk to you, but she didn’t wanna just… show up at your apartment? Uninvited.”
Cat didn’t respond. Kara hoped this wasn’t the moment when Cat decided to stop pretending she didn’t know who Supergirl was. Hoped she’d just go along with it like she always had.
“And why didn’t he just call me himself?” She could hear the smugness in Cat’s voice, but she didn’t sound angry at Kara’s continued use of the see through ruse. Of course she was going to keep playing the game. Why stop now?
“Uh.. He, uh, was busy.” Kara winced before shaking her head and continuing. “So are you busy? Because someone’s gotta… get in touch with Supergirl and let her know and all that…”
“Don’t you think it would be easier if someone just gave me her number?” Cat asked. Kara was glad she didn’t dwell on that question. Was unsure how she’d answer it right now. “Tell her I’ll see her tonight, 7p.m. sharp. I’d prefer it if she used the front door."
“Okay. Okay, great, Miss Grant, I’ll see- I’ll tell Supergirl to… see you later,” Kara mumbled, groaning at her near misstep. She hung up the phone, tossing it to the other side of the couch. It was almost noon. There were approximately eight hours before she’d have to show up at Cat’s apartment. And she had absolutely no idea what to say to her.